Zane vs Jaden - 28

***

"It's about to start!" Syrus exclaimed with a heated expression. Ayo?

Glancing around, the seating arrangement is extremely weird. Our side is almost empty compared to the rest of the arena. Not that I'm complaining but…

Center of attention, much? We are being stared at.

"Wow. Jaden looks serious." Syrus asks as he plops back down, which is totally different from what he's used to seeing.

"Wonder if he is nervous." Alexis.

"Well he better be." Bastion replied, eyeing the duel arena.

"Yeah, Zane has been preparing for this duel too since it's his biggest day." Atticus comments.

'Makes me question why I'm not even on the stage!' Chazz thinks to himself.

My gaze has been fixed on Jaden for a while now. His soul was initially visible to me, but now I sense something within him—there's a crazy amount of dark energy just lying there, dormant. But what the hell is that? Plot armor? Nah, Plot armor is devised by the world settings. This feels more like… untapped potential! The capacity for growth, perhaps?

Eh, who cares. He's the main character, and with that personality, he's not gonna do anything BAD.

A/N: I don't know if I posted something about Jaden's soul before. So, I'm doing it again just in case :/

***

Zane and Jaden stroll up, getting close for a handshake before heading back to their positions.

Crowler, true to his flamboyant style, announces the duel between Jaden Yuki and Zane Truesdale in dramatic fashion, adding to the already hyped mood.

""Duel.""

4000 LP x2

As both players draw 5 cards.

Jaden takes a quick look at his hand, focusing his attention on Zane with a determined expression.

"Get your game on, Zane! So, who's going first?" Jaden asked.

"You can choose," Zane confidently responds.

"Well, in that case, go right ahead. I'll follow you right after." Jaden decides.

Zane wears a slightly wide-eyed expression, surprised by Jaden's choice of going second.

'By going second, I can force Zane to consume all of his resources (cards) at the start of the game and then decide on what to do from whatever he has left!' Jaden's head was cooking up a plan.

'Did Gojo tell him? No, he's way too lazy. I guess Jaden did his research on his own. The Cyber deck is a little weaker when going first.' Zane smirks as he contemplates Jaden's decision to pick second.

"I draw!" Zane announces, taking the initiative to kick off the duel.

'...' Zane takes a moment, looking at his cards and then nodding in acknowledgment.

"I use Polymerization to fuse all three of my Cyber dragons in my hand to summon Cyber End Dragon."

The classic Zane combination of three Cyber Dragons appearing on the field then swirling together to form a fusion of a three headed cybernetic dragon. It then proceeded to roar at Jaden in a mechanical tone.

"Then I will set one face-down card and end my turn." Zane smiles as he turns to face Jaden now.

Jaden stares gobsmacked at the Cyber End Dragon.

4000 attack points.

"Go on, Jaden, it's your move," Zane reminds him.

Jaden, still taken aback by the Cyber End Dragon's 4000 attack points, regains focus. He draws his card and looks at it.

However, Zane swiftly activates his face-down card.

"REVEALED FACE DOWN CARD! MIND CRUSH!" Zane immediately activates his face-down card upon seeing Jaden draw his card.

"Huh? What?" Jaden gap in confusion.

"Mind Crush is a trap card that allows me to call out a card name and if it's in your hand, you must discard all copies of it. But if I'm wrong, I have to discard one random card. And I'm going to guess the cards you're holding is Polymerization," Zane explains, revealing the effect of his trap card.

"Guuuh." Jaden's jaw drops in surprise, then he groans as he reveals Polymerization in his hand and proceeds to discard it into the graveyard.

The crowd roars in surprise as they witness how Zane dismantles Jaden's fusion summoning methods.

'This is bad. So, Zane doesn't want me to fusion summon.' Jaden is internally panicking but manages to maintain a smile outwardly. 'And here I thought his face-down card was De-fusion.'

'I guess I have to use 'that'.' Jaden looks at his cards in his hand.

"Nice moves, Zane! But that won't stop me!" Jaden responds.

"I activate Fusion Destiny!" Jaden declares.

"I can Fusion Summon a Destiny Hero from my Extra Deck by sending monsters from my hand or deck as Fusion materials, but it is destroyed at the end phase!" Jaden explains.

"In this case, I send Destiny Hero Dasher and Destiny Hero Denier from my deck to the graveyard."

The duel arena glows, and a portal emerges, heralding the arrival of Destiny Hero - Destroy Phoenix Enforcer.

"And say hello to Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer!" Jaden announces with confidence.

From the portal, Destiny Hero Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer emerges, a majestic and imposing figure on the dueling field. This fiery hero is adorned with sleek, dark armor that radiates a vibrant red glow, resembling burning embers. Its wings extend majestically, each feather aflame with a dark crimson aura.

An attack point of 2500 with terrifying effects.

'It's here! A bit earlier than I expected it would be. I didn't think he would have that card in his hand." Zane narrowed his eyes.

"Your monster's attack points are still lower than my Cyber End Dragon," Zane points out the obvious. But he has a plan against this crazy monster.

"Not for long!" Jaden responds confidently.

"Because I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode!" Jaden declares, bringing a monster to the field.

"I activate Phoenix's effect! By destroying Elemental Hero Sparkman, I can destroy any other card on the field, and I will have it destroy your Cyber End Dragon!" Jaden explains, revealing his strategy.

With an intense surge of heat from Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer, Elemental Hero Sparkman meets a spectacular end in a burst of flames; creating a radiant explosion that engulfs the entire field, leading to the destruction of Cyber End Dragon.

Both duelists smirked at each other for a sec.

"Now, Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer, attack Zane!" Jaden commands.

Destroy Phoenix Enforcer asserts its dominance on the field, charging forward with a burst of orange and red energy. Its target: Zane, as the fiery hero landed his strike directly and deplete some of his life points.

Zane 1500 LP / Jaden 4000 LP

"Gonna set two face-downs and call it a turn." Jaden declares, as he prepares for Zane's turn.

"Due to Fusion Destiny, Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer is destroyed, and because he was destroyed, he can come back on the next standby phase, which is during your turn." Jaden explains with a smile.

Jaden's Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer is set to keep returning after being destroyed, creating persistent pressure for any other duelist facing it.

Now this was setting the crowd in excitement, witnessing the back-and-forth action in this Graduation Match between Jaden and Zane. The underdog vs top dog.

***

"Hey, this match looks pretty bad for Zane doesn't it? Who do you guys think is going to win?" Atticus asks.

"Oh, big deal. Who cares? I would win if I were facing either of those two," Chazz snorts, expressing confidence in his own dueling skills.

"I'd say Jaden. Just look at his board. He got his ace monster out and two back rows." Alexis comments.

"Oh, same here sis," Atticus agrees, aligning with Alexis's assessment of the duel.

"I think... it might be possible that it may end in a draw." Bastion speaks up, introducing an interesting possibility.

The remaining group turns to face me as I haven't given my opinion yet.

Lost in thought, I decide to respond after a short contemplation.

"Originally, I was going to say Jaden… But after seeing how Zane took out Jaden's Polymerization and with both duelists going all out, I might have to agree with Bastion here. It might end in a tie, but right now I think Zane has the advantage here." I offer my analysis.

"Huh, but isn't Jaden holding the advantage here? Zane's board is completely empty and he will have two cards when it's his turn. Also his life point is already down to 1500. Compared to Jaden who is really healthy." Alexis points out, emphasizing the significance of the current game state and Zane's limited resources.

'Forget the board; Jaden would have won if he had Polymerization or used PDE to destroy his own face-down card to utilize both of his monsters to attack instead of sacrificing that normal monster. I think it was a miscalculation on his part. He now probably has to resort to unorthodox cards with his opening hand right now.' That's how I see Jaden's deck right now.

The absence of key fusion components is hurting Jaden a lot right now even if he has DPE out and those two remaining cards in Jaden's hand are definitely Elemental Hero monsters.

And here I bet Zane is going to top deck some BULLSHIT.

"Well, I'm sure Zane is going to get rid of that annoying DPE (Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer) right about now." I express, offering my viewpoint on how Zane appears to be using negates and disruptors in his deck.

***

"My turn I draw!" Zane looked at the card he drew and smiled.

"Destiny Hero - Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer returns to my field!" Jaden declares, announcing the reappearance of his powerful monster.

"Fine, I will start off with a pot of greed. It allows me to draw 2 new cards!" Zane continued his turn.

"Then I will activate the spell card monster reborn to bring back Cyber End Dragon!"

"Grr, I will just destroy your Cyber End Dragon with Phoenix's effect by destroying itself!" Jaden immediately counters.

Zane smiles at that.

"Next I activate this card, Card of Demise. This lets me draw cards until I am holding 5 cards in my hand but discard my entire hand on the 5th turn after I activate this card." Zane smirks.

Jaden nervously watched Zane draw four new cards, his gaze fixed on his every action. Zane, for his part, carefully examined his newly fresh hand of cards before returning his gaze to Jaden briefly.

'Jaden's face-down cards are most likely trap cards meant to stop or block attacks from my monsters. The chances of those face-downs having anything to do with a negate are exceedingly slim, especially in the first turns. The chances are even higher if there are no Elemental Heroes present.' Zane quickly analyzes the situation, evaluating the potential threat of Jaden's face-down cards, then decides to use the card.

"To be honest, I considered Destiny Hero Phoenix Enforcer to be very challenging to go against. Its ability to destroy a card, or even sacrifice itself, in order to destroy another card on the field and it could evade an opponent's card effect if it's targeted. Not to mention, its ability to revive itself during the next standby phase after being destroyed is just a headache." Zane admitted.

"So, that's why I will get rid of it." Zane explains, revealing one of his cards in his hand.

It was a spell card, Called by the grave.

A/N: Zane seems to be smiling a lot?

***