"Oh my goodness..."
Professor Crowler stood at the edge of the Fusion Club's Duel Hall, looking around with an increasingly conflicted expression.
How had things escalated to this?
He stared down at the card in his hand, Ancient Gear Golem, and felt his head ache. His thoughts were a tangled mess.
He had come because a student had requested his presence, and the card in question belonged to the academy's loaner inventory. But upon hearing the details... he couldn't help but feel disturbed.
It was too familiar.
Too personal.
He, after all, had once tried to drive Jaden Yuki out of Duel Academy. He had rigged the entrance exam, trying to expose Jaden as unworthy. And now, here he was, standing at the center of another scandal. But this time, it wasn't about a Slifer Red.
It was a Ra Yellow student.
Trying to drive out others.
For personal reasons.
The parallel made him uneasy.
He had done it out of pride. His loss to Jaden had embarrassed him, so he had lashed out. Was this what it looked like from the outside? Was this what his students had seen?
He clenched the Ancient Gear Golem card unconsciously.
And yet, Amagi Hikaru had never once tried to defend himself. No protests. No justifications. The boy had immediately called for a duel.
Was that faith in his own innocence?
Or something else?
"Professor? Can we begin?" Hikaru's voice pulled him out of his thoughts.
Crowler blinked and looked up. Both duelists were standing in the center of the hall, duel disks activated and ready. Students from all three dorms had gathered, watching in tense silence.
"Y-yes," he coughed, straightening his posture. "As a faculty member of Duel Academy, I will act as witness to this match."
He raised a hand.
"Begin the duel!"
"DUEL!"
[Amagi Hikaru LP: 4000]
[Ryu LP: 4000]
Ryu smirked, radiating confidence. "As your senior, I'll be generous and let you go first."
Ryu had already figured out Hikaru's strategy. His deck was overloaded with Fusion spells and utility cards. If Hikaru went first and blew his hand to summon monsters using Polymerization or its variants, those monsters would likely self-destruct at the end of the turn.
So by giving him the first move, Ryu would be able to clean up whatever was left.
Letting him go first was the smarter play.
Across the field, Amagi Hikaru raised his eyebrows.
"Then I won't hold back, Senior."
He drew his card with a practiced motion. "My turn! Draw!"
He looked at his hand. A familiar sight.
Fusion after fusion.
Not a single monster.
He sighed inwardly.
Even after tweaking the deck and adding a reasonable number of Ancient Gear and Elemental HERO monsters, staples easily purchased even in the GX world, he still kept opening hands like this.
Too many Fusion spells. Not enough material.
Still, that was no excuse.
He could only work with what he had.
Without missing a beat, he slammed a card onto his Duel Disk.
"I activate the Continuous Spell—Over Future Fusion!"
A holographic vortex shimmered into view behind him.
"Using this card's effect, I reveal a Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck, then send one of its required Fusion Materials from my deck to the Graveyard."
He opened his Extra Deck and slid a card out. With a slight grin, he raised it.
"I reveal Labyrinth Tank, and send Cannon Soldier from my Main Deck to the Graveyard!"
Gasps rippled through the watching students.
Even Professor Crowler blinked in surprise.
"This turn," Hikaru continued, "I cannot Special Summon a monster with the same name, nor activate its effects."
Ryu scoffed. "So what? Dumping one material to the Graveyard won't save you. You don't even have a monster on the field. You're wide open."
But Hikaru's expression shifted from casual to cold.
He pointed at Ryu.
"Foolish."
"What?"
Hikaru's voice rang out across the hall.
"Fusion is the noblest summoning method."
"You're a member of the Fusion Club, yet you act like Fusion is some throwaway trick? You dare to look down on this sacred art?"
He pointed to the back row of his field.
"I set two cards, and end my turn!"
The crowd murmured. Two set cards… but no monster?
Was he bluffing?
Arrogant?
Or just that confident?
Ryu sneered.
"Hmph. Let me show you how reckless and naïve you really are."
He drew a card, snapping it from his deck with a dramatic flick of the wrist.
He glanced at his hand.
His lips curled into a wicked grin.
This was perfect.
That arrogant Ra Yellow kid, acting like some messiah of Fusion, had embarrassed him in front of the entire club. In front of the professor. In front of the Blue students, exposing his good deeds and fun.
In his heart, Ryu's hatred for Amagi Hikaru had already reached its peak.
Now, looking at the cards in his hand, he couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Haha! I activate the Spell Card—Polymerization!"
He held the card high and slammed it into his Duel Disk, causing sparks to ripple through the hologram.
"I fuse Giga-Tech Wolf and Cannon Soldier from my hand!"
A swirling vortex of energy emerged from the disk, drawing in both monsters.
"Fusion Summon, Labyrinth Tank!"
With a rumbling roar, a massive vehicle burst from underground, its drill arms spinning wildly. Its crimson body gleamed under the Duel Hall lights.
[Labyrinth Tank – Level 7 / DARK / Machine / ATK 2400]
Ryu sneered triumphantly.
"What was it you said earlier? That I didn't respect Fusion enough?"
He threw his arm out toward the field.
"Then explain this! I'm the one who Fusion Summoned first! Where's your precious Fusion now?"
Hikaru said nothing. He calmly pressed a button on his Duel Disk.
"I activate a Trap Card."
"A Trap?" Ryu snorted. "Didn't you preach that a Fusion deck should be made only of Fusion cards? What's this backpedaling?"
He laughed mockingly.
But Hikaru's eyes flared with intensity. He opened his Extra Deck with a snap and slammed a card onto the tray.
"Shut up and watch."
"Huh?!"
"I activate the Trap Card, Flame Swordsdance!"
Gasps spread across the crowd.
"Flame Swordsdance!?"
Hikaru held up a slim, flame-scorched card, a special variant of a classic Fusion.
"This Trap can only be activated when a monster is Special Summoned," he explained. "It lets me Special Summon one Flame Swordsman, or a Level 7 or lower Fusion Monster with its name in the card text, directly from the Extra Deck!"
The arena shimmered.
A pillar of fire burst into view, and from it emerged a swordsman clad in blazing red armor, greatsword at his side. He struck a stance as flames licked across his blade.
[Flame Swordsman – Level 5 / FIRE / Warrior / ATK 1800]
"It's really Flame Swordsman!?" a student shouted.
"No way, that's the legendary card!"
Hikaru allowed a small smile.
Flame Swordsman, a nostalgic card from the early days of dueling. In raw stats, it was far below the modern curve. In this era, even a low-level Cyber Dragon could take it down in one hit.
But this wasn't about power.
This was about history.
This was Joey Wheeler's card. The loyal partner of the Duelist who stood beside Yugi Muto and Seto Kaiba in legend.
Hikaru continued confidently. "When Flame Swordsman is Special Summoned by this effect, it can change one face-up monster on the field to face-down Defense Position!"
"What!?" Ryu flinched.
"I'm not letting a Fusion Monster suffer under your hands."
Hikaru pointed.
The towering tank was suddenly engulfed by swirling card graphics. A massive card image descended like a curtain, slamming it down flat. The machine groaned as it was forcibly pressed into Defense Position.
The crowd erupted.
"No way, he used a Trap to Fusion Summon?!"
"And it has an effect too!?"
"Who is this guy?"
"I've never seen him around here before, did he just join?"
"This duel's insane. His deck is pure Fusion!"
"This is what being part of the Fusion Club should look like!"
"Even if he's from Ra Yellow, his spirit is purple!"
Cheers began to ripple through the onlookers, including several students who had originally stood on Ryu's side. Fusion Club members, especially the self-proclaimed "Fusion Supremacists," were suddenly shouting for Hikaru.
Ryu's expression twisted.
He could feel the mood shifting.
Even students who had supported him before were now questioning their loyalty.
"Tch…"
He clenched his fists.
That damn Yellow freshman had flipped the room. Exposed his tricks. Made him look like a fool in front of Professor Crowler and the entire club.
And now, the crowd… was turning.
'Even if I win,' he realized grimly, 'they might not let him leave the club anymore.'