"My turn."
Hikaru Amagi began his move as smoothly as ever.
"Spell Card—Polymerization!" he declared, revealing the card. Bastion Misawa felt a chill run through his spine.
"The Fusion Materials are... Dark Magician Girl and a Dragon-Type monster!"
"!?"
"Huh?"
"Did he just say—?"
If Black Luster Soldier made the students take the duel seriously, then the moment Hikaru said that name, half the audience mentally blue-screened.
"I fuse the Fusion Substitute - DARK from my hand with Galaxy Serpent!"
Hikaru clapped his hands together. "Bear witness! The sorceress who rides a legendary dragon—
Fusion Summon!
Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight!"
BOOM!
A surge of violet lightning exploded as a silver-armored, adorable sorceress appeared on Hikaru's field.
...Huh?
Where's the dragon?
Hikaru blinked. Just a bit stunned.
Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight
Level 7 / DARK / Spellcaster / ATK 2600
"Uh... wha—whaaat?!" Bastion was stunned.
"Whoaaa!! Dark Magician Girl!!! And it's the Fusion version!!"
"Hikaru, where the hell did you get that card?! You never told us!"
"Hikaru! Hikaru! If I quit the Fusion Enforcers right now, can I join your team?! I need to see her up close!"
Unfortunately for them, the Dragon Knight wasn't as lively as her spirit form. She stood poised and silent, regal and still.
"A Fusion card for Dark Magician Girl... must be that he never had the proper materials before," Bastion reasoned, quickly regaining his composure. "After all, she's unique, but there are many alternate versions and spin-offs of her in card form. No one expected someone like Hikaru—with such a bizarre and unpredictable deck—to be running something this cute."
"I activate Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight's effect! Once per turn, I can discard a card to destroy 1 face-up monster on the field!"
"I discard Fusion Substitute to target your Evo-Chem Beast: Dioxogod!"
"Not so fast!" Bastion countered, flipping a Set card. "Counter Trap—Divine Wrath! I discard Gemini Summon to negate and destroy your monster!"
"NOOOO! BASTION!!"
"Aaaaahhhh!! Dark Magician Girl—!!"
An uproar of desperate student screams filled the hall.
Hikaru didn't seem too concerned. He calmly opened his Graveyard. "Then, I activate the effect of Fusion Substitute. I banish it from my GY, return Magician of Chaos – Supreme Commander to the Extra Deck, and draw one card."
Hikaru chuckled softly as he slid the card back into the Extra Deck. Bastion twitched.
"Next—Spell Card—Fusion Recovery."
Bastion audibly gasped.
"I target Polymerization and Fusion Substitute – DARK in my GY—both return to my hand."
The arena fell into silence.
On Jaden's side, Chazz Princeton was wide-eyed, watching intently.
"Incredible," Aster Phoenix murmured, plucking a string on his harp. "Even though Bastion's monsters evolved from basic chemical compounds into powerful fusions... he hasn't forced Hikaru onto the defensive even once."
He narrowed his eyes. "He truly is the former King of the Blue Dorm. That Fusion Substitute really set Hikaru free. In him... I see traces of Professor Banner."
"Which means," Hikaru said, flipping over three cards, "you already know what comes next, Bastion."
Same cards. Same combo. Same plan as last turn.
"The Fusion Materials are Dark Magician and a Ritual Monster from the Chaos series."
"I fuse Fusion Substitute – DARK and the Black Luster Soldier from my hand!"
"Once again—descend!
Magician of Chaos – Supreme Commander!"
The dark-armored magician reemerged, cloaked in spiraling magic, blades flashing.
Bastion was sweating buckets.
This was a nightmare.
His plan had been to catch Hikaru off guard with the Chemical Beasts. He had studied Hikaru's past duels thoroughly. Surely Hikaru wouldn't expect an entirely new deck.
That surprise factor would give Bastion the upper hand—and in an exam duel, scoring high mattered most.
With the help of his low-level Gemini monsters, Bastion had banked on quickly summoning Dioxogod—a 2800 ATK behemoth with monster destruction and protection.
Best part? His deck didn't rely on Special Summons.
He'd specifically tailored his strategy to counter El Shaddoll Winda. Any deck needing a Special Summon or two—like his old Water Dragon build—could get locked out fast.
But Chemical Beasts? Safe.
He'd found the answer to Winda.
Even if Dioxogod got destroyed, it didn't matter—Geminis would link up, revive, tag back in. He'd always have a Dioxogod ready the next turn.
That was the plan.
But Hikaru...
Hikaru had rewritten the board.
"Your monsters are strong. I don't care."
"Crush. Recover. Ascend. I just keep refining myself."
Fusion Substitute – DARK—the key.
Bastion couldn't break through him.
"In this moment, Magician of Chaos – Supreme Commander's effect activates again."
"When Fusion Summoned, I can Special Summon a LIGHT or DARK monster from my GY."
"I summon Galaxy Serpent—a Level 2, 1000 ATK LIGHT Dragon-Type Normal Tuner monster. One of the rarest cards I've drawn so far."
It wasn't much, but it filled an important gap in Hikaru's deck—a rare LIGHT Dragon-Type for fusions.
"I also flip Shaddoll Falco face-up from face-down defense."
"...One LIGHT, one DARK..." Bastion inhaled sharply.
"Light and Dark—here it comes."
He vaguely heard his Mathmagician whisper something behind him—but he could only smile bitterly.
"Magician of Chaos – Supreme Commander's effect activates! I send one LIGHT and one DARK monster from my field to the GY—banish all monsters on your field!"
"Heaven-Shattering Blade!"
The dark magician raised his sword. With a single slash, the world split apart.
Silence fell.
Then...
Gone.
Bastion's field was scrubbed clean. As if nothing had ever stood there.
He'd paid nearly 2000 Life Points just to power up his Geminis—and now, Supreme Commander erased everything in a flash.
No chance to recover.
"...Guess I lost after all," Bastion sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Still a long way to go."
"Come on, Bastion! This was just the beginning!" Hikaru grinned.
He could tell—Bastion had only just found his path. But even so, it was already a massive improvement from the forgettable, irrelevant Bastion in the original story.
More importantly—Hikaru knew Bastion hadn't finished building his deck.
The future of Chemical Beasts... was Xyz Summoning.
"I'm looking forward to our next duel!"
"Battle!"
"Magician of Chaos – Supreme Commander! Direct attack!"
"Dimensional Annihilation Slash!"
In a flash, the commander appeared before Bastion.
He didn't feel pain.
Only the wind rushing past as he crashed to the floor.
Bastion Misawa LP: 2000 → 0