"Next turn is Yugen's," Daichi Misawa said, frowning. "They ended their first turn so simply. They may not get another chance this easy."
Asuka Tenjoin nodded. Only those who had dueled Yugen personally understood how rare it was to freely act on the first turn without interruption.
Yugen said, "My Turn! Draw. I activate the Spell Card 'Pot of Greed' and draw two cards from my Deck."
He then revealed a monster card.
"Summon 'Ojama Yellow' in Defense Position."
A small yellow creature with thick lips and bright red shorts jumped onto the field.
Even Meikyu Brothers frowned. What was this strange, useless looking monster?
"Ojama?"
Even students familiar with Yugen were surprised. The Level Series were known as weak monsters, but in his hands no one dared underestimate them.
Yugen placed three more cards.
"I set three cards in my Back Row. My turn ends."
Three face downs to start. Asuka Tenjoin and Daichi Misawa both showed expressions that said they had expected this, and the students from Yellow Dormitory watched eagerly.
But the two outsiders had not realized the seriousness of the situation.
"My Turn! Draw. I first activate this card."
The younger brother revealed a Spell Card.
"Spell Card 'Scapegoat'! I tribute one monster on my field to Special Summon a Level 7 monster from my hand that can normally be Summoned. That monster cannot attack this turn." (ANIME EFFECT)
He smiled at his brother. "Brother, I will borrow your monster."
The older brother laughed. "Between brothers, no need for courtesy."
"Then I tribute 'Launcher Spider' and Special Summon one of our ace monsters!"
A green storm rose into the air.
"Guardian of the wind, descend. Sanga of the Thunder!"
Sanga of the Thunder, ATK 2400
Before he could finish his boast, Yugen calmly said, "I activate my face down Trap Card 'Bottomless Trap Hole'. When you Summon a monster with 1500 or more ATK, I destroy it and banish it."
A massive pit opened. Sanga of the Thunder fell straight in and vanished.
The younger brother froze in place mid pose.
After a few seconds, he forced a smile. "Impressive. Then I activate the Spell Card 'Dark Designator'. I declare a monster card name. If that monster exists in the opponent's Deck, it is added to their hand." (ANIME EFFECT)
Judai Yuki blinked. "Declare the opponent's card?"
"In Tag Duel, teammates can also be treated as opponents," Yugen reminded him.
The younger brother laughed. "Exactly. I declare 'Suijin'!"
The older brother nodded calmly. "What a coincidence. My Deck contains 'Suijin'. I add it to my hand."
He searched his Deck and added the card.
In the stands, Daichi Misawa frowned. "They are cleverly using the rule that teammates count as opponents in Tag Duel."
"It is a Deck built specifically for team play," Asuka Tenjoin said quietly.
The brothers raised their arms together.
"We will show you!"
"The true meaning of Tag Duel!"
"Very impressive," Yugen said. "Then I activate my face down Trap Card 'Mind Crush'. I declare a card name. If that card is in your hand, you must discard it. If not, I discard one random card."
The two froze. "Nani?!?!"
Yugen smiled slightly.
"I declare 'Suijin'."
The brothers exchanged looks and clicked their tongues. Reluctantly, they revealed the freshly searched card and sent it to the Graveyard through their Duel Disk.
"What a coincidence," Yugen said in a cheerful tone that echoed the older brother's earlier mockery. "You just happened to have 'Suijin'. Such good luck."
The veins on their bald foreheads bulged as their anger rose.
Paradox Brother (Younger) took a deep breath and pulled out another card. "I have not used my Normal Summon this turn. I Summon 'Kaiser Sea Horse' in Attack Position."
Kaiser Sea Horse appeared on his field with 1700 ATK. He set one more card face down and ended his turn with a cold expression.
When they accepted this commission, they had heard it was a Penalty Duel arranged by Duel Academy against two first year students, so they had not taken it too seriously. But before the real clash had even begun, two of their three Demon Gods were already gone, one sent to Underworld and one to Different Dimension. Even in their long history of Tag Duels, that was rare.
The brothers exchanged a glance and understood each other at once. This Duel might not be as easy as they expected. Losing was out of the question, but it seemed they would need to put in more effort. After all, they were legends who had once fought Yugi Muto. Losing a team Duel to two freshmen from Duel Academy would be a joke.
"My turn, Draw!" Judai Yuki said. "First I activate the Spell Card 'Pot of Greed' and draw two cards from my Deck. Then I set one monster in the Front Row and set two more cards. I end my turn."
Like in the anime, the academy's Tag rules did not allow anyone to attack on their first turn. Only after all four players had taken a turn could the Battle Phase begin. The students watching from the stands held their breath, knowing the real fight was about to start.
"My turn, Draw." It was Paradox Brother (Elder)'s move again. "I activate the Spell Card 'Monster Reincarnation'."
He discarded a card to Graveyard. "With 'Monster Reincarnation', I discard one card to return a monster from my Graveyard to my hand. I choose Suijin that you forced me to discard with 'Mind Crush' last turn."
The shadow of Suijin began to rise from the Graveyard, but Judai Yuki immediately interrupted him.
"Not so fast! I activate my face down Trap Card, 'Hero Rule 1: Five Freedoms'. Both players can banish up to five cards total from the Graveyard!" (ANIME EFFECT)
Meikyu Brothers's expression changed. "What did you say?"
"From your Graveyard, I banish Suijin, 'Scapegoat', 'Launcher Spider', and 'Dark Designator'!" Judai Yuki shouted.
A vortex opened in the Graveyard, and Suijin was dragged away, ripped from Underworld and thrown to the other side of Different Dimension. At the same time, every card in their Graveyard was cleared out. With no valid target left, 'Monster Reincarnation' resolved without effect, and Paradox Brother (Elder) had wasted two cards for nothing.
In the stands, Daichi Misawa watched with a complicated look. "That was a great response, but..." he muttered.
Asuka Tenjoin glanced at him. "You think it does not feel like his usual style?"
"Maybe I am imagining it," Daichi Misawa said, shaking his head. Still, seeing two Legendary Duelists lose their composure was strangely satisfying.
"You resolved two of our Demon Gods so quickly. I will give you that," Paradox Brother (Elder) said coldly. "But if you think it will be that easy, you underestimate us."
He looked at his younger brother. "I will borrow your monster."
"Of course, brother."
"Kaiser Sea Horse has an effect. When it is Tributed for the Advance Summon of a LIGHT monster, it counts as two Tributes. I treat Kaiser Sea Horse as two Tributes and Advance Summon!"
Kaiser Sea Horse split into two beams of light and vanished into a glowing vortex. Thunder exploded across the field as a giant Demon God descended with a golden character for thunder on its chest.
"Sanga of the Thunder, Summon!"
With 2600 ATK, Sanga of the Thunder roared onto the field.
"I am not done yet!" Paradox Brother (Elder) continued. "I activate my brother's set Spell Card, 'Dimension Fusion'! I pay 2000 LP, and all monsters banished are Special Summoned as much as possible!"
Their LP dropped from 8000 to 6000. The students gasped as they realized that only the brothers' monsters had been banished so far.
"That means only we can Special Summon!" Paradox Brother (Elder) laughed. "Return from Different Dimension! Suijin and Sanga of the Thunder!"
Storms of wind and water burst across the field as the two Demon Gods reappeared. Together with the thunder god, the three stood side by side, forming a wall of green, blue, and gold.
"Battle Phase!" Paradox Brother (Elder) declared. "Sanga of the Thunder attacks that weak wall, Ojama Yellow!"