The next day.
Hikaru was feeling a little groggy. He had stayed up too late last night, making several adjustments to his deck in preparation for this duel.
Honestly, even if he lost to Jaden, it wouldn't be anything to be ashamed of. After all, Jaden was the original protagonist!
But if you're going to duel, you have to aim for victory.
Even if his opponent had supernatural abilities like psychic powers, the Supreme King's might, or the power of darkness, Hikaru refused to back down!
'I duel to win!'
"Uwaa~" Across from him, Jaden also looked a little drowsy, yawning.
Last night, not only had Syrus and Chumley dragged him into deck discussions, but even Avian and Winged Kuriboh had been pestering him, pointing at cards in his deck and offering their own opinions.
They all knew that Hikaru was not an easy opponent to deal with, especially since the two of them had traveled to another dimension together and dueled side by side. They had at least some understanding of each other's thoughts, which only made the duel even more difficult.
Targeting, understanding, predicting, calculating—these were all crucial aspects of dueling.
When dueling a stranger, with no knowledge of their habits, you could only rely on instinct and intellect to anticipate their next move.
But when dueling a familiar opponent, a friend, even if you didn't know what cards they had in hand, you could still make a rough guess about their tactics.
For example, if Hikaru were to duel Seto Kaiba, he wouldn't even need to open his eyes to know that Kaiba definitely had three Blue-Eyes White Dragons and a Polymerization in his hand.
And that kind of familiarity only made dueling more difficult!
"Be careful, Jaden. That guy, Hikari, harbors an incomprehensibly vast power. He's not an opponent you can take lightly, give it your all!"
As Jaden and Hikaru greeted each other and the academy's medical staff scanned their decks for any irregularities, the phantom of Avian appeared beside Jaden, whispering a warning.
"Kurii, kurii!" At the same time, a floating, Winged Kuriboh appeared beside Jaden's face, cheering him on.
Jaden was long accustomed to interacting with spirits. Hearing his two partners' words, he grinned excitedly and said to them, "Yeah, that's exactly what makes this even more fun!"
Meanwhile, Hikaru was also checking his deck.
After carefully going through it twice, he finally felt at ease.
"Who is that?"
On the second floor of the duel arena, a tall, handsome young man asked in a low voice while watching the two duelists.
He was the pride of Duel Academy, the undisputed king of Obelisk Blue, the top duelist of the third-year students, and the academy's strongest duelist, known as "Kaiser", Zane Truesdale!
Beside him, a blonde girl heard his question. Resting her arm on the railing, she furrowed her brows slightly.
"He's Hikaru, a first-year from Ra Yellow. I heard he's a friend of Jaden's. Last time Jaden went to another dimension, he brought him along…" There was a hint of complaint and resentment in her tone as if she was displeased that she hadn't been invited.
Her name was Alexis Rhodes. Because her brother was friends with Zane Truesdale, she often joined him in searching for her missing sibling, making the two of them fairly close acquaintances.
In terms of both looks and figures, she was an undeniable beauty. Her long, slender, porcelain-white legs often attracted the gazes of the boys around her. There was even an incident where the captain of the tennis club publicly confessed to her.
That said, for some reason, the boys she was actually familiar with, like Jaden and Kaiser, were completely uninterested in her appearance or figure. Instead, they were far more curious about her dueling skills.
"Are you talking about the partner who went to another dimension with Jaden?" Zane's expression suddenly darkened considerably. "Back then, Atticus and I were also partners exploring another dimension."
He recalled the past.
"Brother..." At the sound of his brother's name, Alexis fell silent in sorrow.
"It's alright. One day, we'll find him." Zane shook his head. "Now, let's watch the duel. Did Jaden choose that partner? Surely, it will bring us an exciting duel."
"Both sides, prepare yourselves!" On the field, Professor Crowler raised his hand and shouted, "I declare the start of the final representative battle!"
"Duel!" (×2)
[Jaden LP: 4000]
[Hikaru LP: 4000]
"Ohhhh!!!" The cheering from the spectators erupted immediately.
"Come on, Jaden! Watch out for Hikaru's fusion!"
"Hikaru, bring honor to our Fusion Club!"
On both sides of the audience, distinctly separated by color, sat students in red, yellow, and blue uniforms, while others wore pure purple. Although there were far fewer students in purple uniforms compared to the normal ones, their shouts were no less loud!
They had all, to one degree or another, conversed with Hikaru. They weren't exactly his best friends, but then again they were definitely on good terms as members.
Today, they had all set aside their individual dorm identities and sat together as one. The members of the Fusion Club and others enthusiastically cheered on Hikaru, the "representative of the Fusion Club."
Among the many purple-uniformed students, the only one, Bastion, under pressure, sat on that side, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead while cheering for Hikaru.
'How strange, why do the looks coming from the other side seem as if they're saying I'm a traitor?' Bastion mused in bewilderment. After thinking for a while, he finally came to himself, "Forget it, whatever! Go for it, Hikaru, win it for us!"
"Wow... such passion!" Jaden was taken aback by the students directly opposite him. "Hikaru, you are really popular!"
"Haha, of course. I am the purest Fusion Duelist!" Hikaru laughed heartily, feeling that his hard work in the Fusion Club had not been in vain.
In the entire Fusion Club, who could fuse more than him!?
"Well then, I'll take the initiative—" Hikaru didn't even bother with courtesy toward Jaden.
'Since I can go first, who needs to flip a coin?'
"My turn, I draw a card!"
He scanned his hand.
Unfortunately, he didn't draw any Ready Fusion or Ready-Style Fusion, not even a card from the Flame Swordsman domain!
However, his hand did contain other cards that could be used, and they were quite useful.
"I set one card, and end my turn!"
"Only one set card?"
"What an ordinary turn."
"It feels like he's going to suffer a loss for nothing."
"And that opponent is Jaden! He might get OTK'd!"
The students of the Fusion Club were somewhat worried.
Meanwhile, the students on the other side were not any happier.
"Be careful, Jaden, watch out for his face-down card, it's definitely a trap!"
"Yeah, Jaden, it might be Flame Swordsdance!" Chumley also shouted.
Jaden drew a card, glanced at the field, and didn't rush.
"Then, I'll Normal Summon Elemental HERO Wildheart!"
[Elemental HERO Wildheart] Level 4│EARTH│Warrior│1500 ATK
"Ah, Wildheart won't be affected by Trap Cards!" Chumley, who aimed to be a card designer, immediately recognized it. "That's it, Jaden, now test it!"
"Mmm!" Jaden decisively nodded. "I Attack directly with Wildheart!"
"Wait!" Hikaru swiftly flipped over his face-down card. "Quick-Play Spell Card, Scapegoat!"
"With this card's effect, I can Special Summon four Level 1 Sheep Tokens, each with 0 Attack and Defense, from my side of the field!"
In the next instant, four 3D images of yellow, blue, pink, and orange fluffy sheep appeared in front of Hikaru.
"The battle continues, destroy one Sheep Token!" The Wildheart spun and casually chopped down a pink Sheep Token.
"Huh? Why Scapegoat?"
"No way, could Hikaru have not a good hand?"
"Are the four Sheep Tokens just for stalling?"
The Fusion Club didn't see a Fusion Summon, but instead saw Scapegoat, making them a bit tense.
"Great, Jaden, it looks like Hikaru has a bad hand!"
"Go for it, Jaden!"
Jaden's fan club cheered.
"Strange, that Hikaru doesn't seem like someone who has a bad hand?" Zane frowned in confusion.
"Jaden looks really nervous?"
"Jaden! Be careful!" Meanwhile, unknown to everyone, the Avian appeared beside Jaden and urgently shouted at him, "It's a Level 1 monster!"
"Ah, I know!" Jaden's face turned serious, showing no hint of smugness. "Then I'll set two cards and end my turn!"
"Heh. My turn, draw!" Hikaru took the card from the far left of his hand. "Now, I activate Metamorphosis!"
"Oh no!" The Avian gasped.
It's Thousand-Eyes Restrict!