America: A Forest in Maine, Morning…
On the day Duel Academy had its exam, Seto Kaiba and Yugi Muto were walking through a long, recently cleared path to a home the former had bought. Of course, the CEO of Kaiba Corp. wouldn't typically buy some random house in the middle of nowhere without reason.
The reason for this purchase is because this house and land had been under the ownership of one Varris Delmar. A place miles from civilization and no prior, easy path to it until Seto had tasked his people with creating one the day he bought it.
Couple that with the fact Varris' younger brother never set foot in Maine, let alone America, and Seto was convinced there'd be something here which would answer his questions. Questions like, who were those people in the photo with the younger Varris and Kai?
Those two did not exist anywhere in the world, yet they had duel disks. That would theoretically see their data within Kaiba Corp. systems. Not to mention, those duel disks worn by all four in the photo were advanced.
Far more than anything created in the modern day, and the background was much the same. Not even the most advanced dueling arena Kaiba Corp. has produced to date looked like the one in that photo. The only signs of those unknown people in that photo were two orphans in California.
At first glance, without really studying the photo of those orphans, anyone would just see the two people from that first photo. Something akin to the events which transpired at Duel Academy last year, and everything which happened over ten years ago now was afoot.
While Seto was content handling the problems of Duel Academy as he saw fit, this current predicament saw him include Yugi. It was mainly down to the fact the two orphans in question would resist any attempt for him to adopt them alone.
If whatever came did turn out to be big, Seto would rather not have the two people involved in it fight him. Of course, perhaps it had something to do with how those children reminded him of the past. He could see a lot of himself in Yuri while Celina reminded him of Yugi and his friends.
Though he'd never admit such a thing was coloring his decision making, Yugi knew his long-time rival well enough to see it. Though, that had no bearing on him and Tea agreeing to attempt to adopt Celina. It was in truth the fact that Seto had hit the nail on the head.
Despite the fact she didn't look it, what information Seto provided made the King of Games and his wife admit she could very well be their biological daughter. Even little Atem liked what he heard of the girl. Before they took off to handle that, there was the matter of this home.
Yugi and Seto arrived before the place in question. It was a two-story log cabin that looked good for not having been tended to in over a year, and Kaiba hadn't ordered his people to really clean up anything beyond the inside. Though, there had been a problem with that.
"So, this is the place." Yugi noted. "Doesn't seem like anything should be keeping people out." He was critically looking at the building from where they stood. "At first glance, I don't see a thing out of place."
"Let's get a closer look." Seto voiced.
The pair walked on up to the the front porch; however, it still looked like your average log cabin. Nothing visible should have kept anyone from entering; however, everyone of Kaiba's people couldn't get in.
Even breaking down the door or breaking out a window proved impossible. The fact they were going to try that, if they could not get in, made Yugi thankful Tea and Kisara had opted to stay back in the city to watch Atem and Noami. Doubly so if something dangerous did lurk here.
Fortunately, it seemed they wouldn't have to result to such matters. Yugi ended up touching the door handle, and the whole building glowed an ethereal blue and crimson red. Both duelists immediately stepped back and observed this as the door swung open itself.
"This doesn't look like any form of shadow or light magic." Yugi spoke aloud.
Though that was as far as the conversation could really go. If this weren't light or shadow magic, then it meant the pair were…Well, not at square one since they had some general idea of strangeness, but they had no idea what this was.
Eventually, the light show died down, and the pair could hear what sounded like the clinking of metal against hardwood. They immediately stood at the ready, saying not a word, as they waited to see what would emerge.
It was a light blue suit of armor with green marking and gems all over. It clutched a helmet, whose left eye was gold while the right was white, in its left arm. On his right arm there was a peculiar looking duel disk. The armor put on its helmet before speaking with a calm tone.
"You have an abundance of dueling energy; however, neither of you are who I'm waiting on." He turned to the house. "I suggest you leave."
"Wait!" Yugi called out, getting the armor to stop yet not turn around. "Who are you?"
"Who am I?" The armor repeated. "I assume you would like a name. I do not remember it myself, but two people, who were my friends, would refer to me as Astral."
"You don't remember your name, yet people have called you Astral?" Kaiba questioned.
"Not mere people." Astral responded. "Friends. Yuma Tsukumo was the first while Varris Delmar was the second." He sounded melancholic upon mentioning them. "Though I cannot entirely remember how we were friends, I know for a fact we were.
"I'll have to look into this Yuma Tsukumo as well now." Seto noted. "What do you know of your connection to Varris Delmar?"
"I remember him asking for my memories, and after giving them, he tasked me with building a connection to his brother." Astral informed. "I am to await the day his dueling energy is strong enough and a need arises before instructing him.
Varris then spent a full day with me before departing. It wasn't long after that I felt my connection to him fade. As with Yuma before him, Varris passed away; however, even with my limited knowledge, I know my second friend did not pass of old age."
Seto had to admit, even years down the road and experiences being counted among Yugi's group, some part of him was in disbelief with how far someone would be willing to go over the mere word friend. The part of him which experienced everything he has could certainly see it though.
"I'm not here to deny or reinforce whatever the reality of this situation is. What I am here for are answer, and that means not letting him get away." Seto nodded. "I see you have a duel disk, so what do you say to a duel with some stakes?"
As if knowing what this may be about, Astral now turned. "I will not accept anything that jeopardizes my second friend's last request."
"I'm not asking." Seto crossed his arms. "What I want, until the day you need to instruct Kai Delmar, is for you to reside within Kaiba Corp. I have plenty of questions for you, and even if your limited on answers, there's a lot I could get just from having you there.
If I win, you agree to that, and I give you my word nothing will befall you. In fact, I'll ensure you are able to fulfill this task of yours. If you win, we let you renter that cabin, and won't ever bother you again."
Astral went silent, to the point Yugi wondered if perhaps he was refusing to talk while Seto believed he was mulling over the proposition. Eventually, Astral stepped down from the porch and came to stand across from the two of them.
"I'll agree to all your terms; however, I shall only duel the one who opened the cabin." Astral pointed at the King of Games. "You must be my opponent."
Yugi was a bit surprised by that, but he looked to Seto since this was essentially his thing. Though he had to admit seeing this got him more invested in whatever was happening than he had been when it was brought to his attention.
"You'd have been better off dueling me." Seto waved it off. "Yugi, do you mind?"
"I'll handle this." Yugi voiced, now interested to see what this being was made off.
Seto moved aside. "Very well."
Yugi turned to Astral. "Alright, your condition has been accepted."
"Then, as Yuma would say, it is time to hi-five the sky!" Astral declared as his duel disk activated.
"Let's duel!" Yugi returned, activating his duel disk.
(Yugi 4000/Astral 4000)
"As this is to decide my fate, I shall take the first move." Astral drew. "Since I control no monsters, I can special summon ZS – Ascended Sage(LV 4/900/300)." A blue armored warrior appeared. "Now, I control only one other Level 4 monster. As such, I am permitted to special summon ZS – Armed Sage(LV 4/300/900)." A red armored warrior appeared.
"Twin monsters which work in tandem to get the needed materials for an Xyz summon." Yugi noted.
"As you're about to see, they take this one step further; however, I must first construct the overlay network with them. I call forth the king of wishes. Xyz summon Number 39: Utopia(R 4/O 2/2500/2000)." A gold and white warrior appeared.
"Hold on a second." Seto interjected. "There are only supposed to be one of every Number from 1 to 107, and I know Kai Delmar has that one."
"Hm, I am not aware of why this would be the case as my memory stands." Astral responded. "Regardless of such inquiry, I shall continue my turn. Both Sage's I used bestow effects to the monster they create. Ascended grants me any normal Rank-Up-Magic from my deck while Armed does the same for any ZW monster."
"You can't answer Seto on why you have a monster you shouldn't, but what are these ZS and ZW cards you're utilizing?" Yugi inquired.
"Zexal Servant and Zexal Weapon." Astral answered as he added the respective cards he wanted. "Without knowing his full capabilities, it would be unwise to overextend." He nodded. "Now, I shall set one card and end my turn."
"Alright, my move." Yugi drew. "I'll start by activating Fusion Deployment, which sees me reveal to you any Fusion monster within my extra deck. Then, I can special summon any one named material on that fusion from my deck or hand.
I'll reveal to you my Dark Paladin." The card appeared on the battlefield before then fading. "Now, I'll special summon Dark Magician(LV 7/2500/2000) from my deck." The purple robed spellcaster appeared.
"Since I control Dark Magician, I can activate Bond Between Teacher and Student to special summon Dark Magician Girl(LV 6/2000/1700) from anywhere by the banished zone, and I'll choose my deck." The light blue robed spellcaster appeared.
Additionally, this spell allows me to set one of four spell cards straight from my deck. I'll be setting my Dark Burning Magic before then activating it. As I control monsters whose original names are Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl, I can now destroy all cards you control."
Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl put their staffs together as they generated a sphere of magic.
"I reveal my face down, Utopian Aura." Astral countered. "By detaching 1 overlay unit from my Xyz monster on the field, he cannot be destroyed by card effects until the end of the turn."
Number 39: Utopia(R 4/O 1/2500/2000)
The two spellcasters hurled their sphere to the center of Astral's field; however, Utopia stood strong while the now used trap card shattered.
"This being certainly knows what he's doing." Yugi noted to himself. "Not many can outright mitigate that combo like he just did." He nodded. "Alright, I'll set these three cards and end my turn."
"He effortlessly brought out two higher level monsters and almost secured victory in a single turn were it not for Utopian Aura." Astral noted. "This is not a duelist to underestimate." He drew. "I do believe I must step things up.
I activate Rank-Up-Magic Barian's Force allowing me to rebuild the overlay network with Utopia." Utopia flowed into the wormhole. "Xyz Change! Come forth Rank 5 Number C39: Utopia Ray V(R 5/O 2/2600/2000)." A red and black armored version of Utopia appeared.
"He can perform Rank Ups that easily?" Yugi questioned, having not faced someone truly capable of this without far more preparation.
"I now utilize his special ability." Astral continued. "By detaching one chaos overlay unit, I can target and destroy any one monster you control. Then, their ATK will be deducted from your life points."
Number C39: Utopia Ray V(R 5/O 1/2600/2000)
"I counter with my first set card, Destined Rivals." Yugi declared. "By controlling Dark Magician, this trap negates the effects of all face up monsters you control until the end of this turn."
"Then, I shall move onto plan B." Astral declared. "I equip Number C39: Utopia Ray V(R 5/O 1/3600/2000 effect) with ZW – Aura Strike boosting his ATK by 1000 and allowing him to attack all monsters you control once. He'll start with Dark Magician. Go, Rising Sun Star Slash!"
"I activate my second face down, Spiritual Swords of Revealing Light." Yugi countered. "Once per turn, when you declare an attack, I can instead pay 1000 life points to negate it."
Utopia Ray V attempted to destroy Dark Magician, but he was protected by glowing swords which blocked the blow (Yugi 3000/Astral 4000).
"Very well." Astral declared. "I shall now shift focus to your Dark Magician Girl. Go, Rising Sun Star Slash!"
Utopia Ray V turned his attention to the female spellcaster before lunging at and slicing through her (Yugi 1400/Astral 4000).
"This being is good." Seto noted. "Even though Yugi hasn't dipped into his extra deck himself yet, no average duelist could get him this low regardless."
"To round out my turn, I shall set three cards of my own." Astral finished.
"At your End Phase, I'll activate my last set card." Yugi declared. "Eternal Soul. This trap has a few effects, but the most prudent is the ability to add Dark Magic Attack from my deck to my hand."
"Given what his prior spells could accomplish, I imagine this cannot be good; however, I've already ended my turn." Astral reasoned to himself before nodding. "Alright then."
"Now, my turn!" Yugi drew. "I'll activate Eternal Soul again, and through the same effect I just used, I can now add Thousand Knives to my hand. Now, I'll activate Dark Magic Attack. As I control Dark Magician, this spell now wipes your backrow."
"It does what!?" Astral exclaimed.
Not even a moment later, Dark Magician fired off a purple sphere which obliterated the back row. It consisted of ZW – Aura Strike as well as the now revealed Release, Reverse, Burst, Xyz Reflect, and The Door of Destiny. None could have prevented this level of destruction.
Number C39: Utopia Ray V(R 5/O 1/2600/2000)
"Next, I activate Thousand Knives." Yugi continued. "Again, I control the Dark Magician, so this spell will allow me to destroy any one monster you control. You only have Utopia Ray V."
Ray V was bombarded by knives, destroying him
"I'm completely defenseless!" Astral realized. "All he needs now is a monster with a minimum of 1500 ATK to finish me off this turn!"
"Now, I shall attack you directly with Dark Magician." Yugi declared. "Go, Dark Magic Attack!" Dark Magician formed and hurled a purple sphere at Astral (Yugi 1400/Astral 1500). "I'll follow it up with my Magical Dimension quick play.
Since I control a spellcaster, I can tribute any one monster I control and special summon another spellcaster from my hand. I'll tribute Dark Magician to call forth Palladium Oracle Mahad(LV 7/2500/2000)." A man in golden armor appeared.
"I see." Astral noted.
"Mahad, end this with Light Magic Attack!" Yugi called out.
Mahad created a sphere of light magic before hurling it at Astral, depleting what remained of his life points (Yugi 1400/Astral 0). As the monster vanished, Astral and Kaiba approached Yugi.
"I have been defeated." Astral voiced. "Until such time as I am to train Kai Delmar, I shall go where you wish and answer whatever questions may crop up…as best I can answer them."
With that assurance, Seto rested a hand on Yugi's shoulder with a swift nod of thanks before whipping out his cell phone and hitting his first speed dial.
"What can I do for you, Mr. Kaiba?" Roland asked.
"I'll need a windowless transport truck for our new acquaintance ready at the start of the path to that land I purchased." Seto voiced. "While you're at it, prepare to transport this same person back to the main branch. Full anonymity."
"Understood sir." Roland voiced.
"Additionally, after departure, get our most trusted men to this cabin." Seto voiced. "It's open now, so I want the place looked over from top to bottom for anything pertaining to the current agenda."
"It shall be done." Roland voice.
With the call finished, Seto, Yugi, and Astral began the walk back down the path.
Ra Dorm: Kai's Room, Evening…
After exams, the academy gave the following two days off to allow students the chance to decompress and give those moving dorms time to do as such. By this point, Kai had already finished packing his things and informed the movers they could come collect it tomorrow.
He seemed to have gotten done at the right time as his PDA rang, a certain silver eyed brunette was calling him. "Hey Jasmine, what's going on?"
"Hey Kai, tomorrow is supposed to be nice." Jasmine informed. "I was thinking it would be the perfect day for some fun at the beach in celebration of our first month at Duel Academy and getting through those exams. I talked to Alexis and Mindy, and they thought it was a good idea."
"Hm, it could be what everyone needs." Kai smiled. "Since you've already talked to Alexis and Mindy, I'll handle getting the guys on board."
"Sounds great." Jasmine voiced. "We're going to bring drinks, so be a gentleman by handling the food."
With that settled, Jasmine hung up. Kai then walked to Bastion's room first and knocked on the door. Said Ra opened it, and he could see Dimitri was within as well.
"Hey guys, what's going on here?" Kai inquired curiously.
"With you likely busy packing, I figured I'd get a jump start on constructing my own deck with Bastion's help." Dimitri answered.
"Indeed." Bastion nodded. "Are you done packing?"
"Yeah, though that's not exactly why I came looking for you." Kai smiled. "It's actually good you two are in the same place because I was wondering if either of you have any plans tomorrow?"
"Not that I can think of." Bastion voiced.
"I've already got my stuff packed and informed the movers they can collect it for the Slifer dorm." Dimitri added. "Why, what's going on?"
"Jasmine spoke to me about going to the beach tomorrow, and I said I'd handle inviting all the guys." Kai stated. "You two want to come?"
"A fun day at the beach." Dimitri grinned. "Count me in."
"Alright, what can we bring?" Bastion asked.
"The girls are handling drinks while I'm thinking we Ra boys can handle a volleyball net, balls, and the food." Kai voiced. "After all, our headmaster has an open kitchen policy, so I'm sure we can whip up something."
"I'll go handle getting the volleyball supplies ready before joining you guys in the kitchen." Dimitri declared before heading out of the room.
"Bastion, would you mind getting started on the food while I contact Jaden to round up the guys over there?" Kai inquired.
"Not at all." Bastion stepped out and closed his door. "I'll have just what we need out and started by the time either you or Dimitri arrive." He stopped. "Would it be alright for me to extend an invite to Sadie?"
"No problem, my guy." Kai nodded. "Just be sure to send a message along with her that she can show to Jasmine, and I'm sure they'll let her in on getting drinks together as well as letting her go to the beach with them."
Baston nodded as he pulled out his PDA and made the call while walking away. Once he was gone, Kai then leaned against the nearby wall while pulling out his PDA. He went about calling Jaden.
Slifer Dorm
Jaden was just coming back from a shower when his PDA went off, and he saw it was a call from the heroics user. "Hey Kai, what's going on?"
"You guys got plans tomorrow?" Kai asked.
"Not that I know of." Jaden shrugged. "Why?"
"Jasmine and the girls are inviting us down to the beach tomorrow." Kai informed. "I've already got Bastion, who is inviting Sadie, and Dimitri coming. I was wondering if you, Syrus, Chumley, and Greg would be interested."
"Yeah, it sound like a sweet plan." Jaden grinned. "I'll be sure to tell the guys, but should we bring something?"
"The shop was selling some watermelons, why don't you guys go get those?" Kai offered.
"Alright, sounds like a plan." Jaden confirmed.
They then hung up as the Slifer hustled up to inform the guys.
Duel Academy Island: Beach, Morning…
Kai was carrying the volley ball net and a bag of balls while wearing light blue swim trunks.
"Hey Kai, over here!" Jasmine called out.
Kai smiled upon seeing the girl and walked on over to deposit his stuff there. Jasmine was wearing a red one-piece, Mindy was wearing a silver one-piece, Alexis was wearing a blue one-piece, and Sadie was wearing a pink one-piece.
"Was everyone able to come?" Jasmine asked.
"Yeah, Dimitri and Bastion will be along shortly with the food supplies while Jaden, Greg, Syrus, and Chumley should be coming with watermelons." Kai grinned. "Knowing them, even with Greg attempting to keep them on time, they may run late."
Just then, they all heard two voices approaching.
"I can't believe it was the food that swayed you to come Chumley." Syrus voiced.
"Says the guy whose only here for the view of the girls in bikinis." Chumley retorted, causing the Vehicroid user to go red from embarrassment.
"Well, he's about to be disappointed." Kai thought.
The girls sweat dropped as all five people present turned to see the pair. Syrus was in sky blue swim shorts, Chumley wore red swim shorts, Jaden was in fiery orange swim shorts, and Greg wore purple swim shorts. Syrus carried one watermelon while the others had two each.
"Huh, you're getting better at getting this lot around Greg." Kai chuckled. "I was just saying how you'd all be late, but you actually ended up arriving before Bastion and Dimitri."
"Eh, I've had a lot of practice with this lot over the month." Greg smiled and shook his head. "Honestly, getting them to the beach for some fun in the sun is nothing compared to any day there's a test at the academy."
"Where's Bastion and Dimitri?" Sadie inquired.
It's not that she had been having that bad of a time. Alexis, Jasmine, and Mindy were certainly good company, but she wanted to see the person responsible for getting her out here. She simply wasn't callous enough to disregard one of his friends in her inquiry.
"Over here." Bastion called out.
Everyone turned to see Bastion and Dimitri making their way over. Between them they had everything needed for a BBQ. The former wore yellow swim shorts while the latter wore earthy brown swim trunks.
With everyone here, Jaden took it upon himself to grab the volleyball net and move to set it up. After setting down the BBQ supplies, Bastion and Dimitri lept in to help the hero user. While they did that, the others went about properly setting up their site.
"With everything set up, I say we get in the water to cool off." Kai declared.
Everyone agreed with Dimitri grabbing one of the volleyballs. They ended up hitting that thing to each other for a good hour. One of the times Chumley hit it, Kai ended up taking it to the face. He cried out in a bit of pain since Chumley's muscles weren't exactly for show.
Jasmine went to check on him. "Kai, are you okay?"
"Er, I'll be fine." Kai was just thankful his nose wasn't bleeding.
Chumley now arrived to the pair with a sincere look of concern. "Oh man, sorry about that Kai."
"No worries." Kai shook his head and twitched his nose a bit. "It'll take more than a beach ball to get me down." He grinned. "That said, I think I'll take a less proactive role in the next event. Why don't you guys play volleyball while I ref?"
Everyone agreed a change in game was probably warranted, so they exited the water.
"Who are the teams?" Syrus asked.
"Oh, I got this!" Dimitri called out. "Syrus, Chumley, Mindy, and Alexis are with me while Jaden, Greg, Sadie, and Jasmine are with Bastion.
No one really saw fault with how they were divided, so they each took to a respective side while Kai stood off to the side to ref. The way the match went showcased an even game until it ultimately came to 20-20.
"Alright, this is the match point for both sides." Kai tossed the ball to Dimitri, who was to serve. "Winner takes all."
Dimitri served with Bastion taking the initiative to hit it back. Chumley was there to punch it over, only for Jasmine to knee it back. Jaden ran in and hit the ball high; however, Mindy just managed to hit it back over. Sadie kneed it back, but Alexis matched that for her side.
Greg ran up to the net and lept to spike it while Syrus managed to rush over for his side. Ultimately, the Vehicroid user tripped over his own two feet and fell forward. His head ended up in the right position to headbutt the ball back over. Bastion's side tried and failed to hit it.
As the ball hit the ground, Kai held up a hand towards Dimitri's side. "They take the match!"
After volleyball, the current Ra boys went about preparing BBQ while the girls got the drinks, plates, and utensils. By the end of it, everyone had burgers and soda. No one had any complaints about the food.
"Whoa, you guys are pretty sweet cooks." Jaden complimented.
"Yeah, who taught you how to cook?" Sadie inquired.
"It's mostly on this guy's shoulders." Dimitri grinned as he patted Kai's back. "Guy knows his way around a kitchen."
"Indeed." Bastion nodded. "Kai was well informed on how to prepare the meat with spices I'd have never thought about."
"In that case, who taught you how to cook?" Jasmine asked.
"I've just had plenty of practice." Kai alluded simply.
There wasn't much more to explain than that; however, informing why he had to learn to cook for himself was something which shouldn't be brought up during such a good day.
Evening…
After eating their fill of BBQ and drinking plenty of soda, the group had more beach time fun before ultimately ending their day with watermelon, which had been tied off and left in the cool water all day.
"This is one of the best days I've had." Sadie voiced.
"Agreed." Jasmine added.
Syrus nodded. "No complaints here."
Well, if you didn't count the fact he didn't get to see girls in bikinis…Still, the fun day had gotten his mind off that.
"I hope we can have another day like this." Jaden declared.
"Maybe." Bastion voiced.
"I hope so." Greg stated.
From there, the group contently talked and ate watermelon as the sun continued to set. Eventually, people had to start getting back. They all walked together for as long as was possible before splitting off to head to their respective dorms.
I'm going to say, I have a way to connect what happened at the absolute end of Zexal, I'm talking the last few minutes before Astral went to grab Yuma to tackle those specific problems to the events which led to the splitting of dimensions. No, it's not to devalue the work Yuma and Astral put in. Things were peaceful for decades and Yuma lived a long life before what I'm talking about happened.
Now, why is Astral seemingly contained in a suit of armor rather than being the being he was? That shall be revealed in due time. Why does he remember Yuma? Mostly because I think it'd be sad if after he promised to always remember him, he forgot the guy. That said, the specifics of just what they'd done together are lost to him. Without his memories of all that adversity, as well as things which followed, Astral is lacking key components as a duelists.
I will also note here that the only number he has access to is Number 39, and there's also a reason for that beyond the simple fact of simply lacking memories. Additionally, as it stands, this Number 39 has lost its battle protection against non-numbers to boot. Now, moving onto the beach day, it's basically just a spot of fun for the characters. Next chapter, I got something I think is interesting planned for the abandoned dorm. Hint: Jaden nor Kai will duel Titan.
Note: I'm not just going to end up giving Kai access to all of Utopia's evolutions in his first year. This is a plot point set up not but to be addressed later.
The Duelist of Dawn (Ch. 8): In the world of Yugioh, it is just proven fact your deck and you need a connection to truly function. By imitating others, Dimitri wasn't being true to himself, thus those decks would never answer him properly, and he'd always lose. Yeah, Kai decided to be a bit of a wingman. Eh, yeah those matches could have very well happened had Crowler not gotten involved. Maybe they will still happen down the road.
The Duelist of Dawn (Ch. 9): Nah, the only cards Dimitri wouldn't have been able to acquire would be Number 39 and Number 105; however, that's always the problem. Like Kai outlined, a lot of the duelists he would copy have rare cards that would be hard to get his hands on. As for Chumley, everyone with a set deck pretty much gets major upgrades by proxy of the addition of Synchro and Xyz monsters. As for Crowler, someone really needed to check him at this point.
Treebranch: Oh yeah, Chazz popped off with some of the plays he was doing and pretty much busted out all the big cards. Of course, A-to-Z wasn't utilized, but that required a material which was already used for VWXYZ.
Vital Info: Utopia and Star Cestus. Every Number monster, 1 - 107, exist in this variation of the world at a one-off. Astral here is the exception and only with some extra Utopias. As for Armed Dragons, Chazz will still have his. I merely felt comfortable giving Topher the ones I did because Chazz uses a combination Ojama, Union, Armed Dragon deck. There's more than enough cards to compile a deck. Even then, the Armed Dragons I did give Topher aren't off the table.
To defend Jaden a bit, he lost a fair bit more than Yusei and Yusaku while technically tying with Yugi in terms of losses. If you don't count Yusei's flashback loss to Jack Atlas, Yusei either won or always had no result duels. Yugi's losses were to VHS Pegasus on time limit, surrendering to Rebbeca after the events of duelist kingdom, and to Rafael in Waking the Dragons, and Yusaku went undefeated with the exemption of flashback duels. Jaden does tie with Yugi in terms of losses as he loses to Zane in episode 8, Kaibaman in 34, and Aster in 58-59. When it comes to some duels, I can see what you mean by their length.