Yamaguchi took the full brunt of Winda's dragon as it slammed into him, sending him sprawling backward onto the ground, landing half-seated and dazed.
"Yamaguchi!"
"Are you okay?!" The Ra Yellow and Slifer Red reps from the Integration Department rushed to his side.
He looked at them, then took a deep breath and turned his gaze up to Hikaru Amagi.
"…You really are something, Hikaru Amagi."
"I lost. Which means…" He sighed, voice steady. "I won't take part in the new card distribution."
So clean, so direct.
A lot of the surrounding students looked surprised.
It was customary to honor a Duel Agreement, especially when the match was overseen by official KaibaCorp representatives. The loser accepted the result. That was the meaning of Duel.
But when it came to Integration Department members, that was rarely how it went. They often tried to shift blame, dodge consequences, or whine about reducing penalties. For one of them to lose gracefully like this?
Unheard of.
Hikaru stepped forward, returning his Deck to its case, and offered Yamaguchi a hand. But the senior shook his head, waving it off as his teammates helped him stand.
"Don't get involved with guys like us, Hikaru."
He exhaled deeply. "Even though I'd love to see what infinite possibilities Fusion holds… I don't think I'm worthy."
"Good luck, Hikaru Amagi."
Hikaru raised an eyebrow at that. Then he smiled. "Senpai, I'm looking forward to our next Duel."
But Yamaguchi just shook his head.
"If we duel again, I think I'd just embarrass myself even more," he muttered, scratching his hair awkwardly.
On the other side, seeing that the tension had lifted, Syrus Truesdale shouted toward the shop, waving his bills in the air.
"Ms. Tome! I'll take five packs of the new set!"
"Hey, me too!"
"Same here—five boosters, please!"
"Haha, don't worry! There's enough for everyone! Form a line!"
Hikaru glanced at the commotion but didn't rush to join in. His attention lingered on the Integration trio. At the same time, Chazz Princeton strolled up beside him.
He'd already told Jaden and the others that KaibaCorp had reserved a set of five boxes for him. He wasn't worried about missing out, and he wanted to check in on Hikaru anyway.
Yamaguchi was silent for a while, then turned toward them and asked, "Hikaru… someone like me—who's not that strong, not that smart, someone who keeps losing to guys like you and Zane—what the hell am I even supposed to do after graduation?"
Hikaru and Chazz exchanged a glance.
Wait—did Baldy have post-grad job placements arranged for them?
Hikaru rubbed his forehead.
Actually… thinking about it carefully, that made sense.
In the original timeline, the ordinary grunts in the Fusion Dimension's army only ran janky Ancient Gear builds. Sure, some elites like Dennis McField used Ancient Gears too, but the truly dangerous soldiers used other decks. The Gladiator Beasts, for example, were deployed by the Fusion military's "Special Forces."
But until today, no Integration Club student at Duel Academy had ever run Gladiator Beasts. Not even the club leader, Kamishiro, had used them—he'd stuck with Ancient Gears.
And yet today, Yamaguchi brought out a Gladiator Beast deck.
Meaning… Akaba had those cards all along.
They just weren't intended for students.
They were for graduates.
Realization struck Hikaru like lightning.
Yamaguchi was warning him.
Reiji Akaba's real Fusion army wasn't the current students—it was the former ones.
He'd succeeded in turning the tide, in creating a brand-new Fusion Club from nothing. Even Yamaguchi respected that.
But beyond that?
Hikaru had only cut off the "faucet." He hadn't yet dug out the "roots."
Yamaguchi hesitated, seemed like he wanted to say more, but in the end, just turned and walked toward the shop.
"Scared?" Chazz asked offhandedly, arms folded.
"Hah. No way. I'm even more fired up," Hikaru grinned and clenched a fist. "I've already knocked out half the problem."
Chazz chuckled. "Heh."
Cut off the supply, crush the source. Just thinking about it got his blood pumping.
He'd studied his master's path—how Banner-sensei, back in the day, had faced down all kinds of dark powers. Sure, some fights got dangerous, but justice always triumphed.
He wanted to chase that path too.
Twisted, broken cults like the Integration Department? Time to annihilate them.
Just then, the KaibaCorp agents stepped forward.
They bowed slightly to Chazz. "Mr. Princeton."
Then one of them opened a silver case and presented it to Hikaru.
"These are the rare cards from the latest set. Since you secured victory in the official Duel, Hikaru Amagi, you are entitled to choose one."
They called them "rare," but most were just normal Tuner monsters, even vanillas with no effects.
Still, in this world, those cards were priceless.
Tiella floated into view, arms crossed, scanning the box. She peered at the contents, tapped her chin, and pointed out one card to Hikaru with a small smirk.
"I'll take this one," Hikaru said flatly, plucking it from the case without fanfare.
"Neo-Spacian Controller?" Chazz squinted at the card, curious. "You can use that as Fusion Material too?"
He was actually more curious about the materials for Winda's Fusion.
"Winda uses a 'Shaddoll' and a DARK monster," Hikaru replied offhandedly.
"Ohhh, just like Jaden's Elemental HERO Fusions that use specific Attributes or Types," Chazz nodded.
From the other side, Jaden waved them over.
"Hikaru! Chazz! Get over here! Everyone already bought their packs—we're just waiting on you guys!"
Chazz raised a hand and called back: "Hahaha! Prepare to witness the legendary luck of Chazz the Lightning!"
Then he instantly dropped his cool guy act, bowed politely to the KaibaCorp agents.
"Thanks for everything. We're counting on you."
The agents nodded in unison. "Understood. We've already deployed the company's latest dimensional locator systems. They'll track any gate usage from Professor Akaba's side. Leave it to us."
"Appreciate it," Hikaru added, bowing slightly.
Damn, Kaiba really went all-in on Chazz's development.
"Hey! Chazz! Hikaru!"
Their friends called again from the store.
The two of them didn't linger.
They ran off toward the crowd.
New cards! New pulls!
Hikaru could feel the adrenaline building.
It was time to open boosters.