Hikaru Amagi gave the card a light shake to cool it down. A faint purple glow flickered across its surface, the monster image flashing in and out. The name was barely legible, a rough stroke cutting through the top.
The card had been printed—but not fully.
Super Polymerization was the ultimate form of Fusion—the very pinnacle. An endgame Fusion Spell with power beyond measure. It couldn't quite rival the Numerons from next door, but it was absolutely the "Red Dragon" of Fusion—the embodiment of might in its domain. Printing a Fusion Monster? Yeah, that tracked.
So how did it happen?
He glanced at his opponent, then recalled the sudden warm surge that had spread through his body mid-duel—and it all clicked.
He got it. It was the duel.
Of course. In the world of the Duel King, any weird phenomenon always boiled down to one of two things: monsters or duels.
So that meant… if he kept dueling, Super Polymerization would keep reacting—printing Fusion Monsters for him?
Not a bad deal at all.
After the duel ended, Hikaru returned to the spectator seats. A few students were still waiting their turn for a qualifying match to join the Fusion Club. Once those duels wrapped up, he'd head over with them to the club's facilities.
Unfortunately, none of the other applicants from Ra Yellow or Slifer Red had the kind of deck power needed to win. Up against the Ancient Gear decks loaned out by Fusion Club members to Obelisk Blue applicants, they just couldn't compete.
Still, even though the duels weren't anything special—mostly just monster-slap fests—Hikaru was enjoying himself.
After all, solid holograms didn't exist in his old world. Even if the gameplay was dull, just watching the monsters materialize was enough to keep him entertained.
"Yo! Hikaru!"
Sometime during the matches, Jaden Yuki had shown up next to him, dragging his tagalong Syrus Truesdale behind.
"You were awesome out there!"
"B-Big bro!" Syrus ducked behind Jaden. "He—he's joining the Fusion Club! We—we shouldn't talk to him!"
Among the regular students, the Fusion Army's rep was bad. Rumors painted them as fanatics—prone to conflict, obsessed with dueling, even dangerous.
And Hikaru? He was even more intense than the fanatics. A Fusion zealot of the highest order. Terrifying.
"Huh? Why not?" Jaden looked genuinely confused.
"Thanks," Hikaru nodded and smiled. "Your entrance exam duel was awesome too. Flame Wingman taking down Ancient Gear Golem under the Skyscraper—still unforgettable."
That was genuine.
It had been over a decade since Hikaru last watched Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, but he could never forget Flame Wingman's double KO against Ancient Gear Golem. It was one of those raw, passionate moments that burned itself into his memory.
"Really? Hahaha~~" Jaden scratched the back of his neck and laughed, still in his happy-go-lucky early-series phase—not yet the lonely hero he'd become.
Once the laughter settled, Jaden circled back to the topic that excited him most: Fusion.
As a HERO duelist himself, he loved the mechanic—so he launched into a full-on discussion with Hikaru. They talked about Fusion styles, HERO builds, and even swapped card opinions. Once Hikaru mentioned he liked HERO decks too, the vibe was pure chemistry. Instant fusion.
Watching duels was fun, sure, but chatting with an original series protagonist—especially Jaden Yuki—was a dream. Hikaru was more than happy to join in.
Syrus, seeing the two get along so well, gradually relaxed too.
Before long, the testing rounds ended. Hikaru waved goodbye and stood to leave. As he walked off, Syrus leaned in to whisper:
"Big bro… he doesn't seem crazy at all. So why would someone like Hikaru join the Fusion Club?"
"I think… Hikaru must have his own reasons," Jaden said with a grin, arms behind his head.
"Big bro… should we invite him to tag duel with us sometime? He really knows HERO cards!"
"Ooh, great idea, Syrus!"
On the other side, Hikaru followed the group of new recruits to the Fusion Club's building.
Though it was called a "clubroom," it was really a whole building—a standalone structure entirely dedicated to the Fusion Club, from the ground floor to the top.
At Duel Academy, that wasn't unusual. In the original show, tons of clubs had their own buildings or massive rooms. The tennis club, for example, had a space so big it could double as a dueling arena, and still not feel cramped even with solid holograms in play.
Hikaru received a purple uniform—not an official school uniform, but more like club gear.
It didn't mean he'd been promoted to the "Purple Dorm." It was more like a team tracksuit, like the tennis club's jerseys.
A senior club member handed him a sample deck—an Ancient Gear deck.
Hikaru went through it carefully. Honestly, there weren't many usable cards.
The deck contained only about seven actual Ancient Gear monsters. No Ancient Gear Golem, no Ancient Gear Wyvern—nothing rare or core.
Aside from three Fusion Spells, the rest of the deck was mostly generic Machine-Type filler. The only Fusion Monster included was Labyrinth Tank.
But—
The deck had Cannon Soldier.
Yes, that Cannon Soldier.
Fusion fodder for Labyrinth Tank—but far more infamous than the tank itself.
A card so busted it had been banned for years—a staple of FTKs.
In Hikaru's old world, Cannon Soldier, Mass Driver, and Toon Cannon Soldier were all Forbidden. Instant kill enablers.
Just seeing it in a deck made Hikaru grin.
Who wouldn't want to play a banned card if they could?
"Tch. Typical Ra Yellow."
A few Obelisk Blue students nearby—ones who'd witnessed Hikaru's acceptance into the Fusion Club—sneered at the sight of him smiling.
"He wins one duel with a cheap surprise play and thinks he's one of us?"
"Ra students really don't know their place."
Colorism was alive and well at Duel Academy.
It wasn't some oppressive force—Jaden never gave a damn about it—but many Obelisk students looked down on anyone not wearing blue.
Even if they all put on "purple" now, those Blues still saw themselves as more "noble."
"Man, I'd love to teach him a lesson."
"Heh. Easy enough."
"You thinking… the usual way?"
"Of course."