Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Heroes

"Unforgivable, absolutely unforgivable!!!"

"A failure like Judai Yuki becoming our school's representative for this year's academy exchange tournament!?"

Recalling yesterday afternoon's duel, Chronos was still fuming with rage. He had thoroughly prepared for Daichi Misawa to counter Judai, yet Misawa still lost to that underachiever!?

"If I can't stop you from becoming the representative… then I'll just make sure you can't compete in the exchange tournament! That way, we'll have a legitimate reason to swap out the representative and replace him with Daichi Misawa!"

This was the scheme Chronos had come up with — and currently the only viable one. It was the only way to ensure his favored elite student, Daichi Misawa, could take part as the official representative.

Entering the academy's chicken coop, Chronos pushed through a chaotic mess of feathers and flapping wings — despite there being no dogs, it was utter mayhem. Eventually, he slipped into what looked like an underground bomb shelter — a secret base.

"Ugh, you filthy chickens… If I don't eat more of your meat from now on, then I'm not Chronos!"

Swatting at his clothes to brush off all the white feathers, Chronos grumbled bitterly to himself.

Once he'd cleaned himself up, he changed into an outfit that looked like a full-blown spacesuit. This was his real reason for coming here — to reach the core of this hidden base.

"Judai Yuki! Thanks to you — and thanks to your incompetence — I'm once again standing inside this place: the secret base that houses the Academy's Pandora's Box!"

Three years ago, this was the domain of the Academy's Number One. Back then, he was even stronger than Ryo Marufuji…

Judai Yuki, I hope you'll "enjoy" the special gift your teacher is sending your way!

——— Cut to next scene ———

The rooftop of the Main Teaching Building

"Phew… finally, finally shook them off!"

Judai collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily. Asuka and Misawa were just way too annoying!

Sure, he wanted his cards to shine during the exchange tournament. And yes, he did like adding all sorts of "weird," "confusing," and "makes-no-sense" cards to his deck. But seriously — that didn't mean everyone could just dump random cards on him!

Take Asuka, for example — she kept insisting on lending him her beloved Fusion monster: Cyber Ice Blader, for use in the tournament.

Cyber Ice Blader — a powerful Fusion monster with three impressive effects:

It can't be destroyed by battle if your opponent has one monster.

It's ATK doubles if they have two monsters.

If they have three, all card effects activated by the opponent become completely invalid!

It was a card even Judai couldn't help but like — but there was a problem:

If you're going to lend me Cyber Ice Blader, then lend me her Fusion materials too — Blade Skater and Cyber Tutu! Without those, how am I supposed to fuse anything!?

Cyber Ice Blader can only be Fusion Summoned by using Blade Skater and Cyber Tutu specifically — you can't even use substitutes like King of the Swamp. No exceptions!

And then there was Misawa, who wanted to entrust his Water Deck ace — Water Dragon — to Judai. It had even higher stats than Cyber Ice Blader and was incredibly effective against FIRE-attribute monsters and Pyro-type monsters.

But again, the same issue—

At least give me the summoning materials too!

Water Dragon can't be Normal Summoned. It must be Special Summoned using the Spell Card Bonding - H2O, with two Hydrogen Dragons and one Oxygen Dragon as the specific required tribute.

"Summon a Water Dragon with four cards? I might as well just use my own 'Elemental HERO' monsters!"

At least those are his cards — Judai knew them inside and out. There's no comparison between that and Misawa's suddenly added "Water Dragon" combo he barely practiced with!

And on top of that, there were still Sho and Hayato — one wanted to force in Power Bond, and the other pushed for his beloved Des Koala. Just like Asuka, both were offering their favorite cards.

Power Bond didn't need much explanation — a Spell Card exclusively for Machine-type Fusion monsters. Same deal as before.

As for Hayato's Des Koala, well, that one might be worth considering. After all, it's a flip-effect monster that activates when flipped face-up — perfect for being attacked while face-down.

(Flip: Inflicts 400 damage to your opponent for each card in their hand.)

A pretty versatile and handy monster card overall.

"Yo-ho~ You must be the strongest freshman this year — the one from Osiris Red, Judai Yuki, right?"

Caught off guard by someone suddenly calling his name, Judai looked over toward the voice. He saw a boy around Sho's height, lying lazily on the rooftop floor nearby. The guy radiated an aura of constant sluggishness.

"Who are you? And how do you know my name?"

From his clothes, he seemed to be from the Obelisk Blue dorm… but why were they so worn out? They looked like they hadn't been changed in years.

"You're a 'special duelist' too, right? One who can harness the power of Duel Spirits."

The boy didn't answer Judai's question — instead, he brought up something surprising: the one card in Judai's deck publicly known to possess spirit energy.

"You mean my AIBO — Winged Kuriboh?"

As he spoke, Judai drew a card from the top of his deck and, without even looking at it, showed it off. Sure enough, it was the little cutie he called his newest AIBO: Winged Kuriboh.

"Well then, let's duel!"

"Huh? Duel?"

Judai was stunned! First, this guy dodges his question, then randomly brings up Winged Kuriboh, and now he's suddenly challenging him to a duel — without even introducing himself?!

Just what is this guy's deal!?

"Senior Motegi Yuugo, I'll be taking Judai's place in this duel proposed by Chronos. What do you say?"

While Judai was still hesitating over whether to accept this stranger's duel challenge, the Obelisk Blue-looking student was waiting for a response — when suddenly, a voice rang out from above, high and commanding.

"Huh?! Yuuya, what are you doing up there?!"

Judai looked up. Standing atop a pillar on the academy rooftop, arms crossed and looking down at them was a figure wearing a red baseball cap — the mysterious boy known for using the new Masked HERO deck series.

With his sharp eyesight, Judai instantly recognized the newcomer and called out his name — it was none other than Sakaki Yuuya, the mysterious duelist with a unique take on the HERO archetype.

"And who might you be? Why are you accepting my duel request in Judai Yuki's place?"

Still reclining lazily, Motegi tilted his head just enough to see the silhouette above, speaking with his usual tired tone.

You didn't even answer Judai's question, and now you're questioning me? Yuuya couldn't help but roast him mentally. Then, without hesitation, he leaped down from the roughly ten-meter-high pillar, landing between the two of them. Facing his supposed senior Motegi, he said calmly:

"I'm Sakaki Yuuya. You could say I'm both a freshman and not one.

Anyway, just like Judai — and like you — I'm a 'special duelist' who can wield the power of Duel Spirits!"