Yūki immediately slapped down his second Spell Card.
"I activate 'The Forceful Sentry.'"
Once again, he paid 1,000 Life Points.
Yūki LP: 3000 → 2000.
"I look at your hand and choose one card to return to your Deck."
Jaden now had only four cards left in his hand.
He revealed all four to Yūki.
"'Skyscraper.'"
Yūki spoke at an unhurried pace.
"Return it to your Deck."
Jaden pulled out the Field Spell Card and slipped it back into his Deck.
The Duel Disk shuffled automatically with a soft sound.
Jaden had only three cards left in his hand.
"I'm not done yet."
Yūki slapped his third Spell Card onto his Duel Disk.
Its artwork showed two little imps grinning wickedly, each clutching a fork, their faces practically saying, "I'm here to cause trouble."
The little demons in the artwork leaped out of the projection and circled Jaden's hand, poking at it with their forks.
"I pay 1,000 Life Points to activate 'Mischievous Twins.'"
Yūki LP: 2000 → 1000.
Three Spell Cards with activation costs in a row had slashed his Life Points straight from four thousand to one thousand.
Someone in the stands sucked in a sharp breath.
On the projection screen, Yūki's LP had turned a glaring red.
In a normal Duel, that amount of health was already within lethal range.
"He blasted himself down to one thousand?! Is he nuts?"
"What if his opponent draws something that can attack directly next turn..."
"That still requires his opponent to have cards left. Look at what that jellyfish-head has in his hand."
Yūki's tone remained unchanged.
"Discard one random card from your hand, then choose one more to discard."
On the projection screen, Jaden's three cards turned into card backs and spun rapidly.
The projected twin demons shrieked and lunged at a card each, while a purple cursor randomly selected the one on the far right.
"Elemental HERO Burstinatrix."
Jaden sent Burstinatrix to the Graveyard, and the fiery warrior's phantom dissolved amid purple blades of light.
Only Avian and Clayman remained in his hand.
"Then choose one yourself to discard."
Jaden looked down at the two cards remaining in his right hand.
He hesitated for a second, then pulled out Clayman and sent it to the Graveyard.
Only one "Elemental HERO Avian" remained in his hand.
"That's amazing!"
Jaden's eyes only grew brighter.
He wasn't just being polite. There wasn't a trace of mockery or reluctance in his voice. He genuinely thought it was amazing.
Yūki paused.
As expected of GX's protagonist. His love of cards is etched into his bones.
He really enjoys Dueling!
Back when Kurosawa had been crushed by hand control, his smile had vanished on the spot.
Yet Jaden actually looked excited after his hand had been torn down to a single card.
"I summon 'Mystic Tomato.'"
Yūki slapped the Monster Card onto his Duel Disk.
Dark green light lit up the Duel Disk's projection area.
The ground split open, and a tomato half as tall as a person emerged from the crack.
Its skin was rough and dark, with a mouth split open in its center, two uneven rows of sharp teeth jutting out.
The tomato's vines swayed slowly through the air like tentacles. The eyes on its grotesque face rolled around before finally fixing on Jaden across from it.
Jaden stared at the thing, stunned for a moment.
"...So ugly."
Yūki was speechless. You judge monsters by their looks too?
"I set two cards and end my turn."
After setting two copies of Drop Off, Yūki glanced at the card remaining in his hand.
Mystical Space Typhoon.
That'll do.
Jaden's front row was empty, and so was his back row.
His hand held only Avian, a Normal Monster.
With one thousand ATK, even if he Normal Summoned him, he couldn't get past Mystic Tomato.
The stands had grown considerably quieter.
"What kind of strategy is this... tearing apart his opponent's entire hand right from the start?"
"He only has one thousand LP himself. Any hit could finish him."
"One thousand... one kick from Flame Wingman would end it."
"Can he even summon him?"
Yūki listened to the discussion around him without a word.
You're all right.
Provided Jaden can get another monster onto the field.
"My turn! I draw!"
Jaden swept his right hand upward, drawing in a wider arc than anyone else.
His drawing stance was unlike anyone else's. His whole arm worked from shoulder to wrist, as though he were pulling a sword from his Deck.
He glanced down at the card he had drawn, and his excitement rose another notch.
"There it is!"
Yūki gave him no chance to continue.
"During your Draw Phase!"
He pressed a button on the edge of his Duel Disk.
The face-down card abruptly flipped over in the projected light, its brown face depicting a black iron fist descending from the sky.
"I activate the Trap Card 'Drop Off.'"
"Discard the card you just drew."
Jaden's hand froze in midair.
Before the finger he had just drawn with could even leave the card's back, he had to turn it over and send it to the Graveyard.
He turned over the card he had just drawn and glanced at it, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.
Sparkman had sixteen hundred ATK, and his effect was... all right, Sparkman was a Normal Monster. He had no effect.
The blue hero wreathed in lightning in the card's artwork flashed before Jaden's eyes for only an instant before being sent to the Graveyard.
"I finally drew Sparkman..."
Jaden muttered, sounding less angry than as though someone had snatched away a snack he had just opened.
"You're amazing! You won't even leave my Draw Phase alone!"
Jaden raised his face, the light in his eyes even brighter than before.
Yūki fell silent for a moment.
This guy was sincerely praising an opponent who had thoroughly dismantled his strategy.
Then Jaden looked down at his only card.
Avian had only one thousand ATK. He couldn't Normal Summon him just to send him to his death.
"I set one monster face-down in Defense Position."
Avian's phantom crouched on the Duel Disk, turning into a horizontally placed, face-down Monster Card.
"I end my turn."
Yūki looked at the lone face-down Defense Position monster on Jaden's field.
He had seen Jaden's hand. The set monster could only be Avian, with just 1000 DEF.
Mystic Tomato had 1400 ATK, just enough to destroy him in battle.
And Jaden's hand was already empty.
"My turn! I draw!"
The card Yūki drew was "Don Zaloog"!
He looked down at it for half a second.
This card had come at just the right time.
"I summon 'Don Zaloog.'"
A weathered, one-eyed warrior leaped out of the projected light, a dark cloak spreading behind him, a patch over one eye and two revolvers tucked at his waist, his expression cold and stern.
"Battle Phase."
Yūki glanced at the set monster on Jaden's field.
"First, 'Mystic Tomato' attacks your face-down Defense Position monster."
The tomato grinned, baring its two rows of sharp teeth, and lashed its thick vines like whips into the set monster.
The instant Avian flipped face-up, the vines pierced him, shattering him into fragments.
Avian was destroyed in Defense Position, so Jaden lost no LP and remained at 4000.
But his front row was empty again.
Jaden looked down at his Graveyard.
"My Avian..."
"Then 'Don Zaloog' attacks directly!"
Don Zaloog leaped up, his cloak stretching into a black streak in midair.
Both guns fired, and bullets burst in front of Jaden.
Jaden involuntarily took half a step back.
LP: 4000 → 2600.
"I activate 'Don Zaloog's' effect."
Yūki's voice echoed through the now-quiet venue.
"When he inflicts battle damage on the opponent, send the top two cards of their Deck to the Graveyard."
The top two cards of Jaden's Deck silently slid into the Graveyard.
With Jaden's hand empty, this effect amounted to accelerating the depletion of his Deck.
Though it hadn't reached that point yet, every card milled into the Graveyard was a possibility Jaden had lost.
"I end my turn. You're up, Jaden."
Before you continue