"Spell Card, Ready Fusion. I pay 1000 Life Points to Special Summon a non-Effect Fusion Monster of Level 6 or lower from the Extra Deck."
Hikaru opened his Extra Deck and pulled out a card to show his opponent. "I Special Summon, Bracchio-raidus!"
The dinosaur roared as winds howled, leaping straight out of the Extra Deck.
"Huh? Ready Fusion?" Haruto had flinched a bit when he heard Hikaru's trademark line, but after seeing the card itself, he sighed in relief.
He had been worried the opponent might pull out some insane card from a different dimension, like the Seto Kaiba duel videos he'd seen, where the guy drew five cards in one go like it was nothing. Absolutely Terrifying.
Compared to that, Ready Fusion was actually a card even their world used, and many duelists there used it to set up high-level Xyz materials.
"Monsters summoned by Ready Fusion can't attack and are destroyed during the End Phase! What's the point of that!?" he shouted.
"It's not that simple." Hikaru revealed a second card from his hand. "Spell Card, Metamorphosis."
'What the heck is that?'
Haruto blinked.
"I Tribute 1 monster on my field, and Special Summon 1 Fusion Monster with the same Level from my Extra Deck! I Tribute Bracchio-raidus to Special Summon, Great Mammoth of Goldfine."
[Great Mammoth of Goldfine] Level 6│DARK│Zombie│2200 ATK
"Tch... So now your monster can attack. But my monster still has higher ATK!"
"Equip Spell, Spirit Illusion."
"This combo…"
The students watching burst into smiles as they saw the three-card setup. Jaden, who had seen it firsthand before, laughed loudly. "Isn't that the exact combo Hikaru used during his Fusion Club test? Perfect way to test the waters against an X-Dimension duelist."
"Activating Spirit Illusion's effect. Once per turn, I can Special Summon a Level 5 'Doppelganger Token' that has the same Type, Attribute, and ATK as the equipped monster.
I Special Summon, Doppelganger Token!"
[Doppelganger Token] Level 5│DARK│Zombie│2200 ATK
"Battle! Great Mammoth of Goldfine, Attack Evilswarm Evilswarm Bahamut!"
"My monster's still stronger!"
"Spirit Illusion's secondary effect activates when the equipped monster declares an attack. It lowers the target monster's ATK by the equipped monster's ATK!"
[Evilswarm Bahamut, ATK: 2350 → 150]
"What!?"
BOOM!
The golden elephant's twin tusks pierced the ice dragon.
[Haruto, LP: 4000 → 2050]
"Doppelganger Token, Attack."
"Trap Card, Xyz Reborn! I Target 1 Xyz Monster in my Graveyard and Special Summon it. Then attach this card to it as material!"
The recently-destroyed dragon king returned instantly, now with a black star orbiting it.
"Attack withdrawal. I end the Battle Phase."
"Ahhh, so close!" Jaden shook his head in the academy lounge.
"It couldn't be helped," Bastion nodded. "We don't know Haruto's exact level, but he's a first-year rep from a Duel Academy in his world. No way he'd be taken down so easily."
"If it were Yanagi, he'd already be in Game 2," Syrus muttered.
Then he suddenly shivered, sensing a hostile glare aimed at him from somewhere.
Hikaru glanced at his hand and set two cards.
"I end my Turn. Your move."
"Whew, that gave me a scare." Haruto wiped his brow, turned to his side's camera, struck a few poses, and waved toward his homeworld. "Don't worry! That was just the warm-up! Now I'm getting serious!"
"My turn! Draw!" He turned back and wiped his brow again. "Phew, thought I was about to get OTK'd."
"Honestly, our world has Fusion too, but you're the first one who ever shouted 'Fusion is noblest' in front of us. Let me show you how outdated Fusion really is!
Xyz Summoning is way more powerful than you think!"
"My turn, I activate Evilswarm Bahamut's effect! I detach 1 Xyz Material and target your Great Mammoth of Goldfine. Then I discard 1 Evilswarm Heliotrope from my hand to take control of your monster!"
"VrrrrrMMM!!"
The golden elephant groaned, but bathed in dark energy from the black dragon, it succumbed and was dragged to Haruto's side.
"Next, I Normal Summon a second Rescue Rabbit!"
"Another one?" Hikaru raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me your Deck is loaded with Normal Monsters?"
"Of course!" Haruto nodded confidently. "I Activate Rescue Rabbit's effect, banish it to Special Summon two Level 4 Normal Monsters of the same name! I summon two Shining Abyss!"
"Ah. I see." Hikaru looked thoughtful.
"What?"
"Sorry, I just realized something," Hikaru said as he stared at his opponent. The constant pressure he'd felt began to ease a little.
This opponent didn't truly understand Xyz Summoning, he was just riding the strength of powerful Xyz Monsters.
Anyhow, that was normal. Even in Duel Academy's Fusion Club, many joined just because Fusion looked strong.
Clearly, Haruto, being from the X-Dimension, had easy access to Xyz Monsters and had grown overconfident, looking down on other summoning methods.
"Let me show you something."
"I activate my Set card, Flame Swordsdance."
Hikaru flipped over his face-down Trap. "This is a card I use often. When the opponent Special Summons, I can instantly Special Summon a Fusion Monster from the 'Flame Swordsman' series from my Extra Deck. It's convenient and disruptive, so I run three."
"Wait, what does that have to do with…" Haruto blinked. Why was his opponent explaining his deck mid-duel?
"It's simple. I respect Fusion. I revere it. I believe Fusion is the noblest summoning method in the world, but I also fear Xyz. Summoning without Polymerization is undeniably powerful.
However, between Xyz and Fusion, there exists an unbridgeable chasm!"
"Flame Swordsdance's effect, I Special Summon Flame Swordsman!"
Hikaru thrust his hand forward. "Then Flame Swordsdance lets me set one of your Shining Abyss face-down!"
"Ah!" Haruto's expression shifted.
A face-down monster can't be used for Xyz Material!