Chapter 38
"I choose to banish your Elemental HERO Burstinatrix!"
Chazz pointed directly at the crimson figure crouched in defense on Jaden's field.
A ring of electric arcs crackled into existence around Burstinatrix, and the red-armored heroine vanished mid-crouch, a look of bewilderment frozen on her face.
"Burstinatrix...!" Jaden stiffened.
"It's over, Jaden! Taste the misery of a loser! VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon -- direct attack!"
The massive mechanical monster leveled its cannons, arcs of laser light already building at the barrel tips. Jaden moved fast.
"Activate face-down -- Trap Card, A Hero Emerges!"
"This card activates when an opponent's monster declares an attack. My opponent randomly selects one card from my hand -- if it's a monster, I can Special Summon it to my field!"
The set card flipped up, revealing the image of a caped silhouette that looked, no matter how you looked at it, nothing like one of the good guys.
Rowan watched and thought privately: a card that runs almost entirely on luck.
Only someone chosen by this dueling world -- some absurdly blessed draw-god protagonist -- could actually pull this off.
After all, he could count Jaden's hand from here. Four cards.
At best, a fifty-fifty shot that Chazz would land on a monster.
Good enough to throw something in front of that mechanical titan and maybe survive the hit.
"Pathetic struggle," Chazz said flatly. "I'll take the one on the far right."
"You got it! I Special Summon Elemental HERO Avian in Defense Position!"
Jaden grinned and placed the rightmost card from his four-card hand onto the Duel Disk.
A green, winged figure appeared in a guarded crouch on the field.
Elemental HERO Avian Level 3 / WIND ATK 1000 / DEF 1000
Not much different from what I expected, Rowan thought, unsurprised.
His presence had nudged a few small details here and there, but the broad strokes hadn't changed.
The only real difference was that Jaden's LP, in this version of events, seemed to be running even tighter than the original.
Which was exactly what happened next.
"Even if you got lucky and summoned something," Chazz said immediately, "don't think Defense Position will save you from taking damage."
"VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon's special effect -- when it attacks, it can switch the target monster's battle position."
"Avian shifts to Attack Position. The attack continues!"
Electric arcs materialized around the green-winged hero.
He was wrenched upright against his will, forced to stand and face the incoming laser barrage head-on.
The explosion hit like a thunderclap, a burst of fire and smoke swallowing him whole.
Jaden felt the impact like a dull sting. His LP dropped from 2800 down to 800.
"Bro...!"
Syrus called out from the sidelines, voice tight with worry.
Alexis frowned quietly.
From what she had watched across these two turns, it looked like nothing but a completely one-sided beatdown.
Chazz had steamrolled Jaden from the very start without a moment's hesitation.
She glanced sideways at Rowan, who had drifted back into his usual slouch, eyes half-lidded, looking for all the world like someone who already knew how this ended.
She found that oddly puzzling.
He looked like someone who had already seen the comeback happen.
And what was that strange thing he'd said earlier -- "LP management?" What did that even mean?
"That hotblooded idiot's deck should have a Quick-Play Spell called Transcendent Wings," Rowan said, opening one eye, as if he'd sensed her staring.
"It lets Winged Kuriboh evolve into Winged Kuriboh LV10. Destroys all Attack Position monsters on the opponent's field and deals damage equal to their combined ATK."
His shoulder was occupied by the faint, flickering outline of a small round monster, chirping softly -- which had apparently been the one to alert him to Alexis's attention in the first place.
"I -- is that so...!" Alexis, caught staring, felt heat rise to her face despite herself.
She cleared her throat and nodded, then quickly turned her attention back to the field below.
A second later, she and her friends watched Jaden draw for his turn.
A wide, excited grin broke across his face.
Did he actually draw it...?
Alexis thought, startled, and shot another glance at Rowan.
The field confirmed it immediately.
Jaden Summoned Winged Kuriboh in Defense Position, set one card face-down, and ended his turn.
Combined with the two cards remaining in his hand, everything aligned perfectly with what Rowan had just described.
Every piece was in place.
"That face-down card -- it has to be Transcendent Wings!"
Mindy, one of the girls beside Alexis, came to the same conclusion at the same moment, eyes wide.
"Winged Kuriboh is a rare monster that negates all battle damage you'd take on the turn it's destroyed and sent to the Graveyard," Chazz said, "but all I have to do is banish it with VWXYZ's effect and then hit you directly. It ends here."
He said it to Jaden -- but his eyes drifted briefly in Rowan's direction.
After he crushed Jaden, the insufferably lucky pest was next. That was the plan.
But then he actually looked at Rowan.
Rowan was still completely relaxed.
And standing right beside him, of all people, was Alexis Rhodes -- the undisputed queen of Obelisk Blue, the most popular girl in the entire Academy.
And she and her friends were all looking at Chazz with an expression somewhere between pity and resignation.
"..."
Chazz's train of thought ground to a halt.
What was going on?
"Activate Quick-Play Spell -- Transcendent Wings!"
Jaden's voice cut through the moment. "By discarding two cards from my hand to the Graveyard, Winged Kuriboh on my field evolves into Winged Kuriboh LV10!"
"Nani?!" Chazz and Professor Crowler and every other spectator snapped their attention back to the field.
The Winged Kuriboh on Jaden's side was already changing. Caught in the glow of the activated spell, its wings stretched wide and grew, and a small golden crest in the shape of a dragon-bird materialized above its head -- vaguely reminiscent of the headdress of The Winged Dragon of Ra.
It evolved into Winged Kuriboh LV10.
Rowan privately decided to call it Ra's little cousin.
The Kuriboh Dragon of the Sun.
"Winged Kuriboh LV10's special effect -- by Tributing it, I destroy all Attack Position monsters on your field, and you take damage equal to the total ATK of every monster destroyed!"
Jaden was smiling now.
"VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon sits at 3000 ATK. And Chazz, you didn't draw anything you could summon this turn, did you?"
He tilted his head. "So if I pull a monster with 1000 or more ATK and four stars or below on my next draw..."
"This duel is about to get very interesting."