Chapter 194: Intruders?
"Big bro, slow down..."
Behind the academy, deep in the woods, Syrus and Chumley were panting as they followed. Naturally, the energetic Jaden was in the lead.
"What's wrong? You can't explore at this speed, Sy!" Jaden said cheerfully.
"But still—" Syrus gasped for breath. "Why do we have to skip the festival and come out to this wilderness?"
"They say there's a dueling koala in these woods!" Jaden was excited.
Syrus: "A dueling koala? That's impossible..."
"No, we already met a dueling monkey before, remember?" Chumley mused. "So, a koala isn't out of the question."
Syrus glanced at Chumley and thought for a moment.
"True. And anyway, our dorm does have someone who's a dueling koala..."
"How rude!"
After a while, the two stragglers gave up.
"I can't go any further... Big bro's stamina is insane." Syrus panted. "And we're almost at the seaside. There's probably nothing out here, right?"
"You never know. This academy's island has tons of secrets," Jaden said. "Maybe something aquatic will jump out of the sea."
Chumley sweated: "I'm pretty sure there's no such thing as a dueling fish..."
As he was speaking, suddenly—smack—a black-gloved hand grabbed the cliff edge, and a figure appeared, climbing up from below.
"It appeared!" Chumley and Syrus huddled together.
It looked like someone in black leather, half their face covered. Climbing up from the cliff, he frowned on seeing the three.
"Damn. To think I'd run into students even here..."
Chumley and Syrus exchanged glances.
"What's this guy muttering about?"
"No idea. But he doesn't look like a good guy..."
Then, the man's arm—folded with mechanical components—suddenly transformed into a cannon-like shape. A swirl of air blasted toward the three.
Air cannon!
"Kuri!" Winged Kuriboh
Winged Kuriboh appeared just in time. Jaden instinctively raised his arm, and the translucent spirit shield blocked the shockwave.
"Kuri kuri!" said Winged Kuriboh.
Jaden nodded: "Yeah, I get it, partner. This guy's an enemy, right?"
He glared at the black-clad assailant. "Who are you? Why did you sneak onto this island? Why attack us?"
"Tch, as expected of Duel Academy. Even random students are this strong. In that case—"
The man's arm transformed again, quickly assembling into a duel disk.
"You can call me 'Beta.' I have very important business here. Since you're in my way," the man said coldly, "let's settle this the Duel Academy way—by duel."
"What? A duel?"
Jaden also raised his duel disk.
"Fine! If it's a duel, I'm ready anytime!"
Syrus: "Uh, Big bro, we don't know what his goal is. Isn't it reckless to duel him right now...?"
But Jaden wasn't listening at all.
"Duel!" x2
[Jaden, LP 4000]
[Beta, LP 4000]
"I'll go first. Draw."
Beta's voice was hoarse and mechanical, as if through a voice changer.
"I summon 'Koumori Dragon.'"
[Koumori Dragon, ATK 1500]
"Set two cards face-down. End turn."
Beta finished his simple first turn, then looked up coldly.
"My formation is perfect. Your chance of winning this duel isn't even 1%."
"Oh? That confident?" Jaden was unfazed—instead, he was excited.
"Indeed," Beta said. "I have analyzed the tactics of the legendary King of Games. You have no chance."
"Hearing you say that only makes me more eager to see it. Show me your perfected tactics!"
Jaden's spirits soared.
"First, I need your help, Sparkman!
I summon 'Elemental HERO Sparkman!'"
The blue Elemental HERO—one of the so-called four useless heroes—leaped onto the field, crackling with blue electricity.
[Elemental HERO Sparkman, ATK 1600]
"Sparkman, attack 'Koumori Dragon!'" Jaden declared.
As his low-ATK hero launched a bolt of lightning, Beta let out a low, mocking laugh beneath his heavy mask.
Seems worrying about this kid's Spirit powers was overkill—after all, he's just a Slifer Red. He'd heard Slifer Reds were bottom-tier in the Academy.
Doesn't seem to have any tricks—not a tough opponent.
"At this moment, I activate my face-down!" Beta raised his hand. "Quick-Play Spell 'Shrink!' Halve the ATK of a monster on the field!"
Jaden frowned: "You're going to halve Sparkman's ATK for a counterattack?"
"Hmph, I'm not using such low-level tactics. Watch, this is the kind of play you see when you've analyzed the best duelist's tactics!
I'm halving my own 'Koumori Dragon's' ATK!"
The spell shrank his dragon, reducing its ATK to half its original size.
[Koumori Dragon, ATK 1500 → 750]
"You're lowering your own monster's ATK!?" Chumley was shocked.
What kind of move is this?
Sparkman's palm blast pierced through the shrunken Koumori Dragon, the residual shockwaves exploding across Beta's face.
[Beta, LP 4000 → 3150]
"What are you doing?" Jaden was confused.
"Hmph, at that moment, you stepped into a bottomless abyss!" Beta sneered. "Look at your monster."
Sparkman staggered, and looked down at his hands, then dark red energy began to radiate from his body, engulfing him until the Elemental HERO faded away.
"What? What happened?" Jaden was shocked.
"Hahaha! Because when the battle was successful, I activated this card!"
He pointed to a trap that had already flipped up.
"Trap Card: 'Crush Card Virus'! When a Dark monster with 1000 ATK or less on your field is destroyed by battle, all of your opponent's monsters, in hand and deck, with 1500 ATK or more are destroyed!" (anime effect)
In the anime, Kaiba said "Use a Dark monster with 1000 or less ATK as the virus host," which sounds like a tribute, but in the anime, he'd bait attacks, use Shrink to reduce his own monster's ATK, let it get destroyed, and trigger the virus—even taking battle damage himself.
So, the original virus triggers via battle when your Dark monster with 1000 ATK or less is destroyed.
"NANI? All monsters with 1500 or more ATK?" Jaden was shocked.
"That's right—not just on the field, but also in your hand and deck! Destroy them all!" Beta commanded.
"You're targeting the very soul of my deck?"
Jaden grimly watched as the virus corroded his deck, reluctantly sending three cards to the graveyard.
Elemental HERO Bladedge, Wildheart, and Necroshade.
Beta: "..."
Wait…
Those are the only three monsters in your deck with 1500+ ATK?!