"We brothers will go first!"
Mei moved his hand away from his deck and swept his orange sleeve aside, striking a pose as though he had already won the entire duel.
Gong stood in the teammate area with his arms crossed, smiling as he stepped half a pace back.
"Since you wish to teach these youngsters a lesson first, brother, the first turn is yours. Let them see that our labyrinth tactics never require lengthy preparations."
"Well said!"
Mei raised a hand and pressed his Duel Disk.
"This turn, your elder brother will open the first gate of the labyrinth!"
The two bald heads nodded to each other across half the field, their coordination as precise as ever.
Yūki felt that what they practiced most might not be tag dueling, but how to split an ordinary sentence between two people taking turns speaking.
At the judges' table, Hiraoka raised his hand.
"The first round of the tag duel begins."
"Under the rules of this match, each team's members share their Monster Zones and Spell & Trap Zones."
"Begin the duel!"
"My turn! I draw!"
Mei drew a card from the top of his deck, glanced over his hand, and immediately slapped one of the cards onto his Duel Disk.
"I summon Mine Spider in Attack Position!"
Several earthen-yellow streaks of light split open across the Monster Zone, and a giant spider covered in blue-black armor burrowed up from underground.
Its eight long legs stabbed into the field. Dark red flecks of light like gunpowder glimmered between its abdomen and armored plates, while two curved fangs gleamed coldly beneath the lights.
[Mine Spider]
[Level 4 / EARTH Attribute / Insect]
[ATK: 2200, DEF: 100]
The instant its attack points appeared, the students in the front rows began talking more loudly.
"Twenty-two