[Bonus]
"NANI!?"
Duel Academy, top floor meeting room.
Professor Crowler slapped the table and stood up, eyes wide in disbelief.
"Why do we have to change the representative? For the friendly duel between Duel Academy and North Academy, isn't it fine to have Zane Truesdale as the rep again, like last year?"
He pointed at Zane, standing off to the side.
"I strongly recommend that we send Zane Truesdale again this year, to keep up our winning streak!"
Chancellor Sheppard leaned back in his chair. "But North Academy has made it clear they'll send a first-year this year. If we send an upperclassman, it'd feel like bullying."
"A… a first-year student!?" Crowler exclaimed.
"Yes," Sheppard nodded. "So, it's more appropriate for us to send a first-year too."
He turned to Zane.
"What do you think, Zane?"
Zane replied calmly, "I don't mind."
Sheppard nodded. "So, the question is, who should be the new representative? Any suggestions or recommendations?"
The teachers glanced at each other—no one spoke up at first.
"Jaden Yuki," Zane broke the silence.
"Eh!?"
Crowler's face was the first to darken.
A Slifer Red slacker as the representative!?
"Oh?"
Even Sheppard seemed a bit surprised Zane would nominate Jaden.
Lyman smiled quietly, stroking his beloved cat Pharaoh: "Looks like this is about to become troublesome…"
The teachers all had odd expressions and began discussing.
"Jaden Yuki? Seriously?"
"Is that appropriate?"
Everyone knew Jaden's dueling skill was top-notch—no teacher doubted his combat ability.
But no matter how strong he was, he was still a Slifer Red, and there had never been a Slifer Red representing the academy.
Especially since, even among the Reds, Jaden was famous for being a slacker. He'd failed most of his classes, slept through lectures, skipped assignments, and was always absent—a problem student in every teacher's eyes, with a terrible reputation.
So, the suggestion that he represent the academy seemed inappropriate to most.
"I've dueled him," Zane said. "I think he could show us an interesting duel."
Crowler, always an advocate for elitism, was practically fuming.
Letting a Slifer Red Dorm flunkie represent the school? Where would their elite reputation go? Such a ridiculous suggestion should be rejected out of hand.
"Hmm, sounds like a good idea," Sheppard smiled. "His skill is obvious to all. Having him represent us is a good idea."
Nani!?
Crowler was dumbfounded.
Chancellor, are you serious? How can you let a slacker be the representative!?
"If there are no other candidates…"
Only then did Crowler react.
Right—there was still a chance. As long as someone could challenge Jaden…
"Then, I nominate Fujiki Kira!" Crowler said quickly.
"Oh? This time a Yellow Dorm student?" Sheppard looked pleased. "He is a special and powerful student."
This year's two most promising new stars were from Red and Yellow Dorms—quite the surprise, since the rookie king usually came from Obelisk Blue.
"Good, let them duel. Whoever wins will represent us. What do you think, Chancellor?" Crowler was excited.
"Hmm? Oh, I—"
Sheppard turned to Zane.
"What do you think, Zane?"
Even the Chancellor sought a student's advice, but no teacher found that odd.
Not only Zane was the top student but everyone knew he was also Sheppard's disciple.
Sheppard had been an instructor at the Cyber Art Dojo before coming to Duel Academy, and his proudest successor was Zane.
"Of course, I have no objections," Zane smiled.
And so, the matter was settled.
Professor Lyman was the first to announce the decision in Alchemy class: Kira and Jaden would duel for the spot. The match was set for the weekend.
The two duelists already knew in advance, so neither was surprised. Jaden was excited—he'd been looking forward to this duel since he enrolled.
Kira was calm as always, spending the week as usual.
His lab had expanded again, with new members, even some research professors joining. The department was now split into modules, with several teams developing projects based on his ideas.
There were some new results recently.
For example, he'd acquired two cards from Kaiba Corp. One was the president's favorite "Crush Card Virus."
Honestly, Kira didn't care for the anime version, which required destroying an opponent's monster by battle and risking fueling their graveyard.
He preferred the old TCG version:
[Trap Card: Crush Card Virus]
Effect: Tribute one DARK monster with 1000 or less ATK. Destroy all opponent's monsters with 1500 or more ATK in their hand, field, and any they draw for three turns.
That version was banned for years, only released after it was nerfed in 2015.
Before the ban, there were even specialized meta decks for it, and it shook up the environment. Kira was now building around it.
The other card he got from Kaiba was even more interesting.
Originally used by Kaiba in the famous Sky Arena duel with Yami Yugi:
Spell Card— Lullaby of Obedience.
In the anime, you paid 1000 LP, declared a Level 8+ monster name, and if the opponent had it, you added it to your hand.
In the TCG, the effect was even stronger: pay 2000 LP, declare any monster name, and if the opponent's deck contains it, you can add it to your hand or Special Summon it ignoring its conditions in Attack Position.
Being able to steal a monster from the opponent's deck is rare and powerful—potentially a huge mind game if you know their deck.
…
A week passed quickly with classes, research, and daily dueling practice.
The day of the representative duel between Kira and Jaden finally arrived.
PS: Another epic duel coming!