"I'll take the first move! Draw!"
Jaden was full of energy as he drew a card from his Duel Disk. After a quick glance, he decisively placed a card onto the field.
"I summon Elemental HERO Clayman in Defense Position!"
With a flash of light, a bulky, gray clay figure appeared on Jaden's field. It crouched down with its arms crossed over its chest, assuming a solid defensive posture over the horizontal card.
[Elemental HERO Clayman]
[Level: 4]
[Attribute: Earth]
[ATK: 800]
[DEF: 2000]
"Turn end!"
"Summoning a 2,000 defense Clayman on the very first turn... as expected of my big bro!" Syrus Truesdale cheered from the sidelines, acting as the perfect hype man.
Even Alexis and her two friends didn't see anything wrong with the play. Generally speaking, a monster with 2,000 defense was enough to withstand most early game offensives.
Only Jiang He looked at Jaden's completely empty backrow and felt a total lack of security. In his mind, ending a turn with nothing but a 2,000 defense monster was practically begging to be punished.
He doubted it would even be enough to stop Chazz's first wave.
"Hmph! A deck of trash heroes made of nothing but garbage. I'll show you exactly how incompetent you are!" Chazz mocked immediately.
"My turn, draw!"
"I summon V-Tiger Jet in Attack Position!"
As Chazz revealed his card, arcs of electricity crackled across his side of the field. A yellow and blue mechanical tiger roared as it flew out.
[V-Tiger Jet]
[Level: 4]
[Attribute: Light]
[ATK: 1600]
[DEF: 1800]
"Next, I activate the Continuous Spell, Frontline Base! Once per turn, it allows me to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from my hand."
Chazz slotted a spell card into his Duel Disk, and the corresponding image materialized on the field.
"I choose to Special Summon W-Wing Catapult in Attack Position!"
"Come forth, W-Wing Catapult!"
As Chazz spoke, a blue mechanical monster resembling jet wings appeared amidst a burst of light.
"Now, I fuse it with V-Tiger Jet!"
In the next second, the blue mechanical wings and the yellow and blue tiger performed a spectacular combination sequence. They connected one on top of the other, transforming into a single mechanical beast.
Jiang He watched with a strange expression, a famous line crossing his mind: I'll form the head, and I'll form the tail!
"Special Fusion Summon! VW-Tiger Catapult!" Chazz laughed proudly.
The combined formyellow and blue tiger on top, blue jet wings on the bottomdescended onto Chazz's field, its engines spitting fire.
[VW-Tiger Catapult]
[Level: 6]
[Attribute: Light]
[ATK: 2000]
[DEF: 2100]
"That's the rare 'VWXYZ mechanical combination' card that President Kaiba is rumored to have used!" Alexis said in shock. She had recognized the mechanical monster's origins instantly.
"But Chazz's previous deck shouldn't have had this type of monster card."
"It means someone just gave him some rare cards," Jiang He said, leaning against the wall without a hint of surprise.
The phantom of Sphere Kuriboh on his shoulder chirped "Kuri kuri" in response.
Jiang He remembered that in the original timeline, the blonde mushroom headed professor had indeed sought a small bit of revenge against the hot blooded idiot Jaden. He had disguised himself and bought up all the new cards delivered to the school shop that noon, then given some of the rares to Chazz to help him win.
It seemed that although his own presence had caused some minor changesmaking him Crowler's primary targetit hadn't changed much in this regard.
Jiang He could even guess that Crowler had likely given some rare cards to Bastion Misawa for their upcoming duel as well.
"Huh?" Alexis blinked, looking at Jiang He in confusion. Then, following his gaze, she quickly spotted Professor Crowler lurking at the edge of the field, giggling to himself.
"Ooh-hoo-hoo! That's it! Chazz, hurry up and defeat that Slifer Red slacker Jaden Yuki in one go!"
On the field, Jaden's expression had turned serious. This was the first time he had seen a special fusion monster that didn't require the spell card Polymerization.
"Hmph! It's way too early to be surprised, Jaden Yuki!" Chazz raised his hand, his mouth curling into a smirk.
"I activate the effect of VW-Tiger Catapult! By discarding one card from my hand, I can change the battle position of one of my opponent's monsters!"
"I discard one card to change your Elemental HERO Clayman to Attack Position!"
Chazz placed a card into his Graveyard slot.
"What?!" Jaden gasped.
His gray clay man, which had been crouching in defense, was suddenly yanked upward by a pull of electricity. In an instant, Clayman was forced into a standing stance.
He was now in Attack Position.
"It has an effect like that?! If Elemental HERO Clayman, with only 800 attack points, takes a direct hit from Chazz...!" Syrus paled, muttering in worry.
The situation had turned drastically against Jaden!
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