Fusion lock—lifted!
"Jaden's not the kind of duelist you can just shut down," Misawa chuckled. "He found a way out."
"Yeah, that's Jaden for you," Chumley agreed. "If he could be suppressed so easily, he wouldn't be him."
"Alright!" Jaden declared. "From my hand, I activate another Polymerization!"
"My HEROes are only just getting started. Now the real battle begins..."
"I activate a set card," Kira said calmly, flipping a card face-up.
"Continuous Trap—Narukami Waterfall. As long as this card is on the field, neither player can send monsters from their hand to the graveyard!" (Manga card)
Jaden stared at the card, thinking hard for a couple of seconds.
Then his eyes widened, mouth falling open:
"Nani!? No sending from hand—so..."
"That's right," Kira smiled. "Sorry, Jaden, but looks like you still can't use hand Fusion."
The previously impressed crowd fell silent.
After several seconds, Chumley finally said, "Well, Jaden is Jaden, but Kira is Kira."
"Indeed," Misawa nodded. "If he could be broken so easily, he wouldn't be Kira."
Another Polymerization wasted. Jaden scratched his head: "Wow, you really came prepared. So now I have to get my Fusion materials on the field, huh..."
But right now, the field was under Kira's control—he had a powerful Chaos Sorcerer, and it wouldn't be easy to get Fusion materials on board.
Still...
Jaden glanced at his hand, a barely contained excitement on his face.
He still had a way to break through!
"I activate the Spell Card 'Soul Return'!" Jaden declared. "Return two Warrior monsters from my graveyard to the top of my deck in any order!" (Manga card)
Two cards slid out of his graveyard, which Jaden flashed for all to see.
"I return 'Elemental HERO Avian' and 'Elemental HERO Burstinatrix' to the top of my deck."
He placed the two cards on top of his deck.
"Now back to the top!"
"Oh?" Kira said with interest. "Putting them on top of the deck—what for?"
"Heh, you'll see soon enough."
Jaden waved his hand, playing another Spell Card face-down.
"Spell Card—Fusion Birth! Send the top five cards of your deck to the grave, and if you send the required Fusion materials, you can Fusion Summon that monster!" (Manga card)
Crowd: "What!?"
Even the audience was shocked.
You could fuse directly from the deck like this?
"Whoa," Kira narrowed his eyes. "As expected of Fusion Dimension's ace, Jaden—so many fancy Fusion tricks..."
"Sending five from the deck to the graveyard!"
Jaden quickly drew five cards. The top two, of course, were Avian and Burstinatrix, which he had just returned.
"According to Fusion Birth's effect, Avian and Burstinatrix fuse!"
A fusion vortex appeared above Jaden's head. He raised both cards high, and the Classic duo appeared, becoming green and red whirlwinds that merged together.
A fiery storm erupted, flames falling like shooting stars. White wings spread as the HERO bathed in fire descended.
"Appear, my beloved HERO—
—Elemental HERO Flame Wingman, Fusion Summon!"
[Elemental HERO Flame Wingman, ATK 2100]
"Even under these conditions, you managed to summon Flame Wingman," Kira smiled. "But, even your favorite Flame Wingman has less ATK than Chaos Sorcerer—don't forget."
"Of course."
Jaden gave a confident smile, flipping another card from his hand.
"Field Spell—Skyscraper!"
A bustling city, skyscrapers like towering giants rising from the earth, shining against a starry sky. Moonlight streamed like silver ribbons, spotlights sliced through the night, reflecting off glass like jewels in the night sky.
Kira wasn't surprised.
"A HERO needs the perfect stage," Jaden said. "Battle! 'Elemental HERO Flame Wingman,' attack 'Chaos Sorcerer'!"
Flame Wingman soared through the air, wrapped in flames, diving from the skyscraper's peak with a meteor kick.
"Skyscraper's effect: when an 'Elemental HERO' you control battles a monster with higher ATK, its ATK increases by 1000 during damage calculation!" (Anime effect)
(In the card game, it was nerfed to only trigger when attacking, but the original version worked both ways, saving Jaden many times.)
[Elemental HERO Flame Wingman, ATK 2100 → 3100]
With Skyscraper's boost, Flame Wingman became a "3000 Killer," even stronger than the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Chaos Sorcerer was no match, getting kicked away and burned to ashes.
[Kira, LP 3600 → 2800]
"And that's not all—Flame Wingman's effect, I'm sure you haven't forgotten. When he destroys a monster by battle, inflict damage equal to its original ATK."
Flame Wingman landed before Kira, arm raised, flames swirling.
This hit would deal an extra 2300 damage, leaving Kira with just 500 LP!
Boom!
The flames roared, but didn't land. At the last moment, a shield appeared before Kira, blocking all the flames.
"Huh?" Jaden was surprised.
"Counter Trap—Damage Polarizer," Kira said. "Negates effect damage and then both players draw a card."
Kira drew.
"Don't get so hasty—the duel's not over yet."
"Haha, true enough!"
Jaden also drew, still confident.
"It's hard to see how this will end, but I'll be the one who wins."
"Oh?" Kira chuckled. "I'm looking forward to it."
Jaden glanced at his new card, then set all his remaining cards in one go.
"I set three cards and end my turn."