Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Heroes

"In terms of strength, while Judai still isn't quite on Ryo's level, he's one of the best among this year's new students."

Since Yuuya had proposed Judai as the representative, he now needed to provide convincing reasons—reasons that would persuade the attending teachers.

"First, he defeated Chronos, the head of practical dueling, during the entrance exam battle."

"Pfft!"

As soon as Yuuya said that, Professor Daitokuji and the school nurse, Emi Ayukawa, couldn't help but chuckle. Noticing Chronos glaring at them bitterly, they quickly covered their mouths and shook their heads to pretend they weren't laughing.

"This little brat… always has to bring up the most embarrassing stuff! And that failure of a student, Judai… unforgivable!!"

Yuuya's status was too special, so Chronos could only curse him silently. But when it came to Judai, he made a mental note to get back at him later. It was Judai's defeat of him that created this humiliating "stain" on his record in the first place!

"Next, in the tag-team disciplinary duel, he and Sho Marufuji managed to defeat the legendary 'Labyrinth Brothers,' known for fighting as one."

Chronos: "..."

The Labyrinth Brothers were his idea. Their defeat meant he'd once again lost to Judai—another blow to his pride.

Unforgivable—!!

"Lastly, during the recent second monthly exam, Judai consecutively defeated students from Ra Yellow and even Obelisk Blue. That alone proves he's among the top tier of this year's new students!"

"Hmm, that's very convincing!"

After hearing Yuuya's points, Principal Samejima nodded in approval, rubbing his smooth, bald head.

At that moment, Ryo Marufuji added with a charming smile:

"If we let Judai represent the academy in the exchange tournament, I believe he'll deliver an exciting and entertaining duel."

With those words—and Yuuya's earlier rationale—it seemed like everyone, including the teachers and Principal Samejima, was about to agree to nominate Judai as the academy's representative. But then Chronos spoke up with a firm objection:

"Nononono! I strongly oppose making Yuki Judai the academy's representative!"

Staaare~

With just one objection, all eyes in the room immediately turned to Chronos, making his scalp tingle with unease.

"Chronos, you're not opposing this out of personal grudge, are you?"

"N-No, of course not!"

Chronos shook his head like a rattledrum, quickly distancing himself from the idea of a personal vendetta.

Still, under intense scrutiny, he was left with no choice but to steel himself and explain his reasoning:

"If we must pick someone from this year's batch of first-years, I believe that the top student of Ra Yellow—Daichi Misawa—is the better choice!"

"Misawa, huh… he is a solid option."

As the principal, Samejima had to treat all students fairly unless they committed serious misconduct.

When comparing Misawa and Judai, it was honestly a tough choice. Either of them could be worthy of representing the academy.

"Misawa…"

Even Yuuya was momentarily at a loss. Misawa Daichi's strength wasn't inferior to Judai's. As the ace of Ra Yellow, he was someone who could be promoted to Obelisk Blue at any time—and even within Blue, he'd be considered among the elite.

Making eye contact with Ryo, Yuuya gave a small, helpless shake of his head. Misawa's strength was undeniable—he couldn't justify overriding the process without seeming biased.

"In that case, let's have Judai and Misawa duel one another—an official match in front of all the first-years to decide who will represent the academy!"

"Sounds good." "I agree." "No objections."

As soon as this proposal was made, everyone immediately voted in favor—including Chronos.

"Alright then, since everyone's in agreement—and since the exchange tournament with the Northern Branch is next Friday—let's schedule their duel for Tuesday afternoon, three days before the event. All first-year students will attend and watch the match at the newly built duel stadium."

…Scene break…

At the Northern Branch Academy—

"We've got eight 'Charging Captains' on the field and four Continuous Spell cards called 'United Forces!' A punk like you named Manjoume—what could you possibly do against us?"

Dressed in a black trench coat, Manjoume stood facing the Four Heavenly Kings of the Northern Branch Academy. All of them smirked coldly and sneered at him.

Even just two captains could form an infinite lockdown combo. But now, with each opponent having summoned two captains, there were a total of eight—forming a lockdown setup that would make anyone cry.

On top of that, with four "United Forces" Continuous Spells in play, each Charging Captain's attack power had been raised to 7,600 points, far beyond the highest printed ATK of 5,000 on any legal Duel Monster!

With a combo like this, even the legendary Divine Beasts—the Three Egyptian God Cards—would be forced into the graveyard in utter defeat!

"You barely survived thanks to 'Messenger of Peace,' and now it's time for your final turn!"

Messenger of Peace—a Trap Card that prevents battle damage for one turn.

Looking at the Four Heavenly Kings' formation of four "Charging Captains," anyone else might've surrendered out of fear. But who was he?

Manjoume Jun!

The same Manjoume who had sworn to return to Duel Academy and take revenge!

Lose? That's impossible!

In this new school environment—without the likes of Yuya and Judai—he, Manjoume, was number one!

So—!

"I summon in Attack Position: 'Des Kangaroo Panda'!"

A black-and-white panda wielding green bamboo leaves appeared on Manjoume's field, its eyes glowing red with ferocity.

"Panda's effect activates! For every monster on your side of the field, it gains 500 ATK. And since this is a four-on-one match, there are eight monsters on your field in total. That means my panda gains a massive 4000-point ATK boost!"

(Des Kangaroo Panda – Level 4, ATK: 800 → 4800 / DEF: 1600)

"Hmph, not bad. But so what?"

"Don't forget, thanks to our four 'United Forces' spells, each of our Charging Captains now has 7200 ATK. Your little black-and-white animal is nothing in comparison!"

The panda's effect did shock the Four Heavenly Kings for a moment, but that was all. Not only was their monster strength overwhelming, their lockdown combo meant no one could even attack properly!

"Heh... Sore wa dō kana?"

"Nani?!"

Under their suspicious glares, Manjoume revealed one of the two remaining cards in his hand—a Spell Card marked with a cross in the upper-right corner. He slotted it into the Spell & Trap Zone aligned with his panda:

"Equip Spell—'Shooting Star Bow - Flame Edge'! By lowering the equipped monster's ATK by 1000, it gains the ability to attack the opponent directly!"

Four Heavenly Kings: !!

Even after losing 1000 ATK, the panda still had 3800 ATK.

And though this was a four-versus-one battle, they shared a single 4000 LP pool.

After this direct attack, they'd be left with only 200 life points!

"Just a flicker of life left in the wind!"

Seeing the Four Heavenly Kings now barely clinging to life with just 200 LP, Manjoume couldn't help but taunt them.

And then—he played the final card in his hand:

"Four Heavenly Kings, this is where you meet your end!"

"I activate the Spell Card—'Thunder Crash'! It destroys all monsters on my field. For each monster destroyed by this effect, the opponent takes 300 points of damage!"

Manjoume had only one monster on his field—his panda.

The Four Kings had only 200 LP remaining.

With a dramatic scream of "Yamero! Yametekure!!" echoing through the air, the Four Heavenly Kings of the Northern Branch were blasted into defeat by the explosion of a so-called "trash" Spell Card—Thunder Crash!