"I cannot believe you, Jaden."
"Really? I can totally believe me. This is right in character!" Jaden laughed as he crawled forward in the vent, making sure to not make too much noise as he snuck his way through the building. All at once, Banner stuck his ethereal head through the floor, in order to look Jaden in the eye.
"Why could you not pay to watch the duel?" he asked, crossing his arms even though Jaden couldn't see them.
"You got ticket-buying money?" Jaden protested, pushing through Banner's head and continuing on.
"Maybe you would have some money, if you started dueling in these Pro-League duels, instead of just sneaking into them," Yubel suggested, comfortable from her position behind Jaden.
"Oh don't you start," he shot back. "You just want me to play you more often."
"A girl needs her attention, Jaden," Yubel purred, pulling a smirk as she said that. Jaden couldn't help but roll his eyes at that, even if he was smiling all the same.
"We're here."
Through the opening Jaden was peaking through, and about a dozen meters down, was a duel arena. It was huge, at least as wide as the ones back at Duel Academy, and was packed way tighter than those ever were. A ravenous audience screamed out discordant chants and cheers, carrying signs that said the same thing they were saying.
"Whose Champ!? The People's Champ!"
"Jo-ey! Jo-ey! Jo-ey!"
"Red-Eyes best deck! Let's goooooo!"
It was deafening, absolutely overwhelming for any normal person. It was a good thing then, that Jaden was the very definition of abnormal.
"Wooooooohooooooo!" he cried, pounding a fist against the side of the vent as he did so. "Pro-Dueling is so cool!"
Sighing at the sight before him, Banner shook his head.
"You have fun, Jaden. I think I will be checking out of this one." And with that, Banner phased out of sight, leaving Jaden and Yubel alone to watch the proceedings.
"You're certainly enjoying this," she commented, smiling as she floated in place opposite to Jaden.
"You kidding me? I'm having a blast!" he responded, looking up at her as he did so. "This! This is what I've been missing!"
Looking back down to the arena below, Jaden tensed up.
"It's starting!"
A layer of fog spilled into the arena floor, eliciting an even louder round of cries from the audience. The lights dimmed, a single spotlight left standing on a spot the whole crowd and Jaden looked to.
"Ladiessssss aaaaand gentlemeeeen!" a voice screamed over the intercom. Pyrotechnics came to life then, neon red plumes of fire shooting up from the darkness all the way to where the spotlight lied. "You know what tonight is about, don't you!"
"Yes we do!" the crowd answered, as if it had rehearsed it in harmony.
"The champion, your champion, the People's Champion— Has. Been. Challenged!"
Jaden could only stare in wide-eyed amazement as the whole crowd screamed at that— The sheer admiration, it blew him away!
Yubel got a look on her face as she watched Jaden.
"Are we gonna let that happen!" the announcer asked.
"No!" the crowd and Jaden shouted, as the latter pounded a fist in the vent again.
"Are we gonna let this punk walk in here, and do that!" the announcer pushed again.
"No!" The whole vent was shaking now, as Jaden excitedly cheered along with his arms as well as his cries.
Nearly losing his voice, the announcer continued.
"So, what do we say to challengers in this house! In Joey Rockin' Wheeler's house!?"
"Fuggedaboutit!" The whole crowd erupted into cheers, louder than any before, as Joey Wheeler leapt into the spotlight, answering for them. Looking on at the audience screaming his name, Joey strode forward, catching a mic he was tossed and speaking into it. "Ain't no one messing with us in our house!"
"We love you, Joey!"
"And ah loves you too! Now, let's duel!" Tossing the mic as he said this, Joey activated his duel disk, sending the whole crowd and Jaden roaring.
"Just a minute, champ!" The announcer interjected. "We still have to introduce, your opponent!"
The crowd broke out into boos as the announcer began, giving Jaden a moment to catch his breath. That was intense, like way more intense than Jaden was expecting. He had gotten so into it, in fact, he only noticed now that the vent he was hiding in had gone completely loose.
"Whoops," he said with a nervous laugh.
"Yeah, whoops," Yubel repeated with a sarcastic tone. "I've never seen you get like that before."
"I know right? This whole thing just hypes me up!" Jaden explained with a smile, as he spotted Joey's challenger— Some random person he didn't recognize —enter the arena. "What I'd give to be down there right now."
"You could be if you wanted, it's your choice not to take part in the Pro-League." Yubel hummed a thought at that. "Why don't you, anyway? Besides just to piss me off and never summon me, of course."
Jaden's smile disappeared for a moment.
"Cause it isn't real," he answered, looking down as Joey and his challenger met in the center of the arena, directly below him.
"Come again?"
"Don't get me wrong, what Joey and everyone back at Duel Academy are doing is amazing. It's adrenaline pumping, it's hyped— it's dueling! What else is there to say?" he explained. "But, it's a show at the end of the day, a gig. Doesn't bring me any closer to what I wanna do."
"And what exactly is that?"
"Ah come on, Yubel, you know me better than that!" Jaden replied with a laugh. "Why do you think they call Joey 'The Champion' or 'The Duke of Dueling'?"
"Because humanity's capacity for making up dumb titles is only matched by its ability to scream?"
"Because Joey is not the King of Games," Jaden explained, skipping over Yubel's quip. "That's still Yugi, he never lost the title. And until Yugi gets out of retirement, it'll stay that way, and the Pro-League'll stay just a good show."
Watching as Joey and his opponent traded quips, Jaden smiled.
"But who knows, maybe I'll get into it for some fun," he said with a laugh.
Rolling her eyes at the sight before her, Yubel sighed. With a shake of her head, she floated up out of the vent.
"Hey, where ya going?" Jaden stared at the sight of the demon passing through the metal until she completely disappeared. "Yubel?"
"I do this because I love you Jaden. You'll thank me later."
"Wha—" Jaden froze as the whole vent suddenly shook, careening to one side and then the other. "Yubel, what're you do—"
And before Jaden could get another word in, Yubel cut the final harness holding the vent up, sending Jaden and the entire vent free-falling down to the ground below.
"Waaaaaatch out!" Jaden screamed, the whole arena staring in horror as the vent in the ceiling landed right on top of Joey's opponent, knocking them flat onto the ground.
As a plume of dust filled the stage, the room went silent.
"Ughhh, my head," Jaden groaned, coughing as he stood up in the cloud of dust that surrounded him. "Maybe if I run fast enough, I can get out of here before they get me."
"I gotcha!" Joey screamed, his arms shooting through the dust and grabbing Jaden by the cuff of his jacket. "Now what's the big idea, wise guy! Why're youz crashin' my title match!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you got the wrong idea, pal!" Jaden answered, putting on an awkward smile as he looked down at Joey's challenger at his feet, unconscious but thankfully still alive. "I, uh, er—"
Realizing that trying to sell the 'the-demon-who-lives-in-my-head-did-it' story wasn't the best idea, Jaden improvised.
"I am your challenger! Management planned this to surprise the audience," Jaden explained, lying through his teeth.
Furrowing his brows, Joey let Jaden go, just as the dust around them finally began to clear.
"Smart, advertise my match against a nobody and intro a new heel instead." Joey rubbed his chin as a smirk came onto his face. "Well, you bettah be good, kid! Mess up a stunt like this, and you ain't got a spot in this town."
Digging into his bag for his duel disk, Jaden pursed his lips. Just one duel, he thought. One duel and then he could get out of here. One duel against—
"Oh my god," Jaden said, looking up, a realization dawning on him as he stood. "I'm dueling against Joey Wheeler!"
Slapping his duel disk onto his wrist, Jaden resisted the urge to do a somersault as he jumped back past the fallen vent and made some distance. In just a couple weeks, he had faced off against Seto Kaiba and now Joey Wheeler!
"Who knows," he laughed under his breath. "Maybe I'll get my chance to face off against Yugi after all."
At that moment, the dust finally cleared and the audience cried out in shock and awe at the sight before them. Realizing all eyes were on him, Jaden played his part and spoke up.
"Ahahaha!" he laughed, seemingly as fake as he could manage. He pointed towards Joey. "You thought you'd be facing off against this nobody? Think again! Your match is with me!"
"And who are youz supposed to be!" Joey called back, pointing in turn and reminding the audience this was all an act. The cheering began a moment later, as Yubel floated down to Jaden's side.
"Me? Well, I'm, uh—" Jaden blanked, realizing he couldn't give out his real name after almost killing a guy. "It's, uh."
"The Slifer Slacker," Yubel whispered into his ear.
"The Slifer Slacker!" Jaden called out, pulling a round of laughter from the audience. Joey could only stare at the proceedings with an awkward look on his face.
"Ya sure you wanna go with dat, kid?" he said under his breath before standing straight. "Well, alright then! Let's showz you how Joey Rockin' Wheeler, rocks the house!"
Joey leapt back and activated his duel disk, just as Jaden slammed his deck into his own.
"Let's see what you got then, Wheeler," Jaden jeered back. "Get your game on!"
"Let's Duel!" the two called in unison, the crowd roaring before fading away. Now, it was just them.
4000 LP / 4000 LP
"Since this is your debut match, kid, I'ma let you take the first shot!" Joey called out, drawing his opening hand. "I'm warning you, dough! If you waste it—"
"Yeah, yeah, I've heard it all before," Jaden jeered, smirking as he drew his hand. "Watch this! I'm gonna Normal Summon my Elemental Hero Stratos!"
1800 ATK
A powerful gale took the stage, circling into one spot until a mini-tornado suddenly formed. All at once, the vortex of wind disappeared, leaving a blue and silver hero in its place, letting out a mighty war cry.
"And when this pal o' mine hits the field, his special ability activates, letting me add a Hero from my deck to my hand!" Jaden called out, pulling out his deck and plucking out a card. "So I think I'll add my Elemental Hero Liquid Soldier!"
"Ah don't know what kinda hero you fancy yo-self as, kid," Joey laughed, running his thumb against his cheek. "But, in here, the only hero is me!"
"We'll see about that!" Jaden replied with a smirk. "I'll end my turn by throwing down some face downs! Two to be exact!"
"Then it's my go, I draw!" Joey called out. Looking at the six cards in his hand, Joey quickly plucked out two. "Let's go, I'ma summon out my Panther Warrior, in attack mode!"
Rising from a shower of light that suddenly formed on the field, Joey's monster took the stage. It slashed its curved blade through the air, roaring at Stratos with a crackling panther's cry.
2000 ATK
"Fortunately for youz, my monster can't attack without offering a sacrifice, so I'ma just do this—" Joey activated the second card then. "I play my Lucky Iron Axe, giving my Panther Warrior an extra 500 attack points!"
2000 ATK → 2500 ATK
"And with that, I'll end my turn by setting anotha two cards face down!"
"Then it's back to me!" Jaden called, drawing his card. "Check this out, I'm gonna activate an old classic, Polymerization!"
A whole vortex of orange and blue formed behind Jaden as he smirked and pulled out a card from his hand.
"I fuse the Stratos on my field with the Elemental Hero Blazeman in my hand!" he declared as Stratos was pulled into the portal of colour. "Rock 'em like a hurricane! Let's go, Elemental Hero Great Tornado!"
If the winds that Stratos came in on could be called a gale, what was happening then was nothing short of a tempest. Joey resisted being blown away as Jaden's monster, a green and orange warrior clad in black tatters, took the stage.
2800 ATK
"And he's not just a power house on his own, his powerful winds drag back the competition as well, cutting their power in half!"
"Say what?!" Joey could only pull a face as he watched his Panther Warrior barely resist the winds he was facing.
2500 ATK → 1250 ATK
"I'm not done there! Next I'll summon my Elemental Hero Liquid Soldier, letting me bring back the Elemental Hero Blazeman I just used to summon Great Tornado!" Jaden felt like a little kid again, as two more heroes appeared on his field— A black and blue warrior covered in pods of sloshing water and a fiery fighter decked out in orange armor and flames.
1400 ATK
1200 ATK
"They're not gonna be sticking around for long though, because when Blazeman shows up, I can fetch another copy of Polymerization!" Jaden grinned as he pulled out another copy of the fusion spell from his deck. "And I'm gonna activate it!"
That vortex of orange and blue appeared again, pulling in Liquid Soldier and Blazeman this time.
"Let's go, Elemental Hero Nova Master!" Throwing a fist into the air, Jaden watched as another fusion of his took the field, Nova Master, a knight covered in red and yellow armor that curved like flames.
2600 ATK
"That's a pretty strong pair of monsters you got there, kid," Joey called out, putting a hand on his side and nodding. A moment later, though, he smirked. "Would be a shame if they met the bad end of the graveyard!"
Recognizing that Joey was trying to psych him out, Jaden pushed forward.
"Now, Great Tornado! Put down his kitty with Super Cell!" Jaden declared then, sicing his monster on Joey's.
"I tried to warn ya, kid! I'ma activate my trap card— Magical Arm Shield!" With a flick of his finger, Joey revealed his set trap card, grinning as it shot out at Jaden's monster. "This ole bud is a nasty trap, letting me swipe one of you's monsters and making it the target of your attack!"
"Oh jeeze." Jaden took a step back in shock as Nova Master was dragged to Joey's side and forced in front of Great Tornado's attack. "Nova Master!"
It was too late, however, as Great Tornado's attack connected, the hurricane force winds crashing into Jaden's monster and destroying it. Joey smirked as his life points went down a smidge.
4000 LP / 3800 LP
"Whadya say about that!" Joey called, throwing his arms up and looking around to the crowds that cheered to his declaration.
Looking at the situation before him, Jaden smirked.
"I say that's pretty good. You got game, man!" he declared, looking over his hand. "Shame your monster still doesn't have enough attack to get over my Great Tornado! I end my turn!"
"We'll see about that! I draw!" Joey grinned at the card he plucked from the top of his deck, instantly slapping it into play. "Check this out, I activate Smashing Ground!"
"Oh no!" Jaden jumped back as a fist shot out of Joey's card, decking Great Tornado and destroying him all in one shot.
"Oh yeah!" Joey called, pumping a fist. "And now I'll summon Rocket Warrior!"
Throwing his arm into the air, Joey smiled as a rocket fired out from behind him, flying around the stage and dazzling fans before settling into place on his field. In an instant it transformed, revealing the small warrior underneath.
1500 ATK
Joey sneered, eliciting another round of cheers from the audience. With an outstretched finger, he pointed to Jaden, calling him out.
"Now who doesn't have enough attack!"
Staring down the nearly 3000 points of damage he was facing, Jaden groaned.
"This isn't good."
End of Chapter 3