"Seriously, this is getting out of hand."
Hikaru fanned away the heat from his hand and carefully tucked the card back into his deck.
The spirits exchanged glances in silence. None of them said a word.
Though they still had no idea what that mysterious card truly was, they had seen Hikaru use it before, during his experiments with alchemy. Back then, they could feel the terrifying power hidden within the card, but they had assumed it was just some dark magic Hikaru was too cautious to use, fearing it might hurt him or his friends.
Now, they realized they had been far too conservative in their thinking.
'What the hell is that card?'
"Master," Myrmidon Alchemist was the first to speak calmly. After Hikaru returned the card, he floated beside him and said, "I used to think it was some sort of catalyst. Now I see I vastly underestimated it.
"But that also means it's even harder to control."
Myrmidon pointed with his staff at the unconscious form of Gladiator Beast Andal. Beside it lay several scattered cards.
"This time, in the Shadow Game, because the opponent violated the sacred ritual of Dueling, all the backlash was shouldered by them.
"Next time, you mustn't use that card so lightly.
"Conservatively speaking, your Duel Spirit Compatibility would need to reach Ten Stars before you can use it freely."
Hikaru nodded lightly. "Yeah, I understand."
Myrmidon was analyzing it from a professional perspective. Hikaru, on the other hand, based his judgment on known intel.
"Today's events felt more exciting than my past ten years combined," Haruto sighed beside him.
Hikaru looked back and smiled, "Then make sure you remember it well, Haruto. This world's never been all that peaceful."
"Now I finally understand why our world's leaders have always been wary of dimensional exchange. Even a tournament like this is kept shallow, never allowed to go too deep." Haruto shook his head, clearly shaken. "If we had to live like this every day, people back home would go insane."
Dueling with Duel Monster spirits? Losing means death? Win if you don't want to die? Then, keep controlling monsters to attack?
What kind of messed-up logic is that? It's terrifying.
"Your world might not be all that safe either. If you ever run into trouble, be careful." Hikaru didn't know exactly what kind of world Haruto came from. But since his own was a hybrid of GX and Arc-V, then Haruto's might be something similar.
Which means the existence of things like Numbers isn't out of the question.
And that would be very unsafe.
Haruto fell into thoughtful silence and nodded solemnly.
Once everything was over, Gladiator Beast Andal gradually woke up.
Its first reaction was a roar, then a massive backward leap. It crouched with claws digging into the ground, eyes warily scanning everything around it.
Once it saw Hikaru and the spirits, it relaxed a little, then, rather shamefully, started to weep, whimpering softly.
It had suffered.
Hikaru took a moment to gather the cards scattered around it.
"Huh."
Hikaru tilted his head at the text and image on one of them.
'Where's the Fusion Parasite? Why does it look different?'
'Well, whatever.'
He shrugged, not too bothered.
To be honest, in this era, Fusion Parasite wasn't actually a bad card. It had the effect of substituting for one named Fusion Material listed on a Fusion Monster, basically like King of the Swamp.
A pretty solid effect. At least in this world, it was surprisingly strong.
But still, cards like this, aside from Duelists who enjoyed chaos, weren't exactly popular.
They say real Duelists don't care about appearances as long as a card is strong, but even then, some cards are just too off-putting, like Fusion Parasite or, say, Ice Barriers.
Even if the Parasite had transformed into a bunch of other monsters, that wasn't bad. He'd gained another Thunder Dragon Fusion, even picked up a vanilla Gem-Knight. And many of the monsters were actually pretty valuable in the GX world.
But what caught his attention most was the Fusion Monster "Superalloy Beast Raptinus".
'Whoa.'
Hikaru's eyes sparkled at the sight of the card.
As long as this card's on the field, all Gemini Monsters are treated as having been Normal Summoned again.
A card that could enable infinite loops. A true classic.
And better yet, its Fusion Materials were broad, just two Gemini Monsters!
And he had those, like Ancient Gear Knight.
As a Level 8 Fusion Monster, it was perfect for Metamorphosis to bring out Master of Chaos!
Or even Cyber Twin Dragon, it could bring that out directly.
Relying on someone else to destroy Waking the Dragon every time was unrealistic. Having his own way to bring it out was clearly better.
For an Extra Deck card, this thing had serious value!
"These guys, I think they're my companions," Gladiator Beast Andal timidly spoke up, scratching the back of his head as he stared at the cards. "They were captured with me."
"Oh?"
Hikaru asked curiously what had happened. He learned that someone had been capturing spirits for experiments. Andal's memory was fuzzy, but he vaguely recalled these cards.
"That makes sense now. No wonder things felt so easy this time. So your companions must've contributed their strength too."
Hikaru understood.
Looks like when he used Super Poly, the other spirits, wherever they were, lent their power. That power was absorbed, converted, and fused into these cards.
So that's why Fusion Parasite transformed.
But more importantly…
Hikaru reached into his pocket.
'Yes!'
Winda was down to just a quarter!
Maybe one more Shadow Game, or ten more duels with Haruto, and she'd be complete.
"U-Um, can I come with you?" Andal rubbed his paws nervously. "I'm really grateful, but I have nothing to repay you with."
"Also, if I ever get the chance. I want revenge." he said quietly, head bowed.
"Of course!" Hikaru lit up. "Of course you can!"
'Awesome!'
Now the Gladiator Beast deck had a proper direction too!
Win-Win!
Just as Hikaru was cleaning up to return to the dorms, Flame Swordsman suddenly asked Dark Flare Knight beside him, "Hey, Dark Flare, why does your armor look like it's glowing?"
"Now that you mention it, your sword's gotten wider."
They were close friends and constant sparring partners, if something was off, they'd notice immediately.
'??!!'
Hikaru rushed over.
It was true!
Flame Swordsman's blade looked a bit broader, and Dark Flare Knight's armor shimmered with a faint golden hue.
'Could it be?!'
Hikaru quickly pulled out his deck and started inspecting the cards. As expected, the illustrations on both cards had very subtle changes.
'Could Super Polymerization actually trigger evolution?!'
Though the changes were incredibly subtle, if you didn't squint, you'd barely notice, it was undeniable.
Hikaru suddenly felt like laughing.
But seeing Andal still in low spirits beside him, he held it in.
No, he had to return to the Academy and file a request for a new Fusion Club immediately!