A Duel Against Myself?

"Brilliant Fusion is a Continuous Spell Card that allows me to Fusion Summon by sending Fusion Materials from the Deck to the Graveyard," Dimitri crossed his arms and explained with practiced familiarity when he saw Hikaru draw the card.

"However, the monster summoned by this card will have its ATK reduced to zero."

"You remember quite well," Hikaru raised an eyebrow. "Anyway, I send Gem-Knight Sapphire and Gem-Knight Tourmaline from the Deck to the Graveyard to Fusion Summon."

"Fusion Summon, Gem-Knight Aquamarine!"

A blue gemstone knight wielding a sword and shield descended onto the field at Hikaru's call.

[Gem-Knight Aquamarine] Level 6│EARTH│Aqua│0 DEF

"Aquamarine? Oooh! A new Gem-Knight! So cool!" Jaden cheered with excitement.

"A brand-new Gem-Knight. What kind of power will this one have?"

Hikaru glanced at Aquamarine's card.

Aquamarine was a card Hikaru had discovered in Banner's Extra Deck after their duel, a fusion of Sapphire and another Gem-Knight Monster card. Later, with Tierra's help, he managed to recreate Sapphire.

Although she was clearly displeased, she still helped him craft it.

Tierra had always disliked Prismaura, and Hikaru was well aware of it.

Then, Hikaru activated a card from his hand. "Next, Spell Card, Thunder Dragon Fusion. This card lets me return Fusion Materials from the field, Graveyard, or Banished Zone to the Deck to Fusion Summon a Thunder Fusion Monster.

I return Gem-Knight Tourmaline and Gem-Knight Sapphire from the Graveyard to the Deck. Fusion Summon, Gem-Knight Prismaura!"

"Gem-Knight Prismaura has a special effect that lets you discard a Gem-Knight card to destroy a face-up card on the field," Dimitri nodded repeatedly, "As a fellow pursuer of Fusion excellence, of course I know that."

"Quick-Play Spell, Book of Moon. Before you activate Prismaura's effect, Captain Prismaura, be covered!" With a dramatic wave, he activated Book of Moon, shouting at Prismaura, then flipped it face-down into a darkened card.

"Hey, Hikaru, can I kill this guy?" Tierra materialized beside him, pointing at Dimitri across the field. "He's kinda gross."

Hikaru twitched at the corner of his mouth, choosing not to answer.

That was how Dimitri dueled—by mimicking others. However, seemingly due to a lack of his own cards, he couldn't perfectly replicate Hikaru's deck, so he blended it with other duelists' cards.

Even managing to replicate the awful attitude of some students in the Polymerization Club. In that regard, one had to admit, he had a certain peculiar talent.

"Hikaru's dueling style is a combination of information warfare and psychological tactics," from the stands, Bastion commented. "When it comes to information, he recognizes nearly every Fusion-related card, even obscure ones. Psychologically, he has a knack for pinpointing the opponent's mindset.

But Dimitri is someone capable of perfectly copying others' psyches and dueling habits. He even used Hikaru's favorite phrase, 'Captain Prismaura.' This duel... won't be easy."

Everyone nodded.

Psychological tactics fall apart once the opponent can predict exactly what you're thinking. And right now, Dimitri was practically dueling as "Amaki Hikaru" himself. He likely knew exactly what Hikaru was planning.

"But that Aquamarine card is new, right?" Jaden asked.

"So the key might lie with Aquamarine?"

"Or maybe Hikaru will play some other card," Chazz added casually. "He hasn't used that fairy spirit card either."

"Now that you mention it, true." Jaden nodded gently, glancing at Tierra beside Hikaru.

Hikaru scanned the field, drew a card from his hand, and set one face-down. "I set one card, end turn."

"My turn, draw!" Dimitri drew a card, glanced at his hand, then declared, "I know exactly what you're thinking. You believe I'll fear your set cards or your monster? Naive. I activate the Spell Card, Instant Fusion!"

"Instant Fusion!?"

"Even Instant Fusion?!"

The surrounding students stirred.

Even Hikaru's most commonly used Fusion cards were being played. Was Dimitri about to prove that imitation is no worse than the real thing?

"With Instant Fusion's effect, I pay 1000 LP to Fusion Summon a Level 5 or lower Fusion Monster from the Extra Deck!

And the one I summon should be obvious to all of you!

Yes, I Fusion Summon, Thousand-Eyes Restrict!"

[Thousand-Eyes Restrict] Level 1│DARK│Spellcaster│0 ATK

"I see now," a few senior students watching the duel excitedly jumped up. "Since Aquamarine's effect is unknown, just use Thousand-Eyes Restrict to absorb it! That way, its effect becomes visible!"

"Exactly!" Dimitri declared with confidence. "Go, wicked god, devour the knight!"

Bathed in a purple glow, Thousand-Eyes Restrict radiated light, absorbing the blue knight into its shadow.

[Thousand-Eyes Restrict, ATK: 0 → 1400]

Dimitri looked down at the card brimming with confidence, but suddenly, his face changed drastically.

"What's wrong?"

"What effect does it have?"

"Dimitri looks kind of... troubled?"

A trickle of sweat formed on Dimitri's forehead. He wiped it and tried to compose himself, coughing to mask his awkwardness. "I Tribute Thousand-Eyes Restrict to Tribute Summon! Ancient Gear Beast!"

"Huh? Why Tribute the monster he worked so hard to absorb?"

"It's probably because of Instant Fusion's drawback—the summoned monster can't attack and gets destroyed during the End Phase. If Thousand-Eyes Restrict remains on the field, its effect also prevents other monsters from attacking, so Dimitri would be unable to fight at all."

"Then why did he look so shaken?"

"Monster effect activate!" As the murmurs continued, Hikaru shouted, "Aquamarine's effect!

When this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard, I can target 1 card on your field; return it to the owner's hand!

I choose Labyrinth Tank! According to the rules, it can't return to hand and must go back to the Extra Deck!"

From the Graveyard, the blue knight resurfaced, eyes gleaming. He smashed his shield into the tank, sending it crashing back into Dimitri's Deck.

"Crap—" Dimitri froze.

"Dimitri!" Hikaru raised his fist and shouted, "It's an honor to be your model, but your understanding is too superficial!"

"If you just wanted to bait out something, Instant Fusion into a different monster, then Tribute Summoning Ancient Gear Beast was the right move! Ancient Gear Beast negates the effects of monsters it destroys in battle!"

Dimitri flushed in embarrassment.

His plan had been completely exposed by Hikaru.

"Huh? Ancient Gear Beast has that effect?"

"Strange. If that's the case, there was nothing to worry about. Why prioritize fusing into Thousand-Eyes Restrict?"

"Maybe Dimitri was trying to deal more damage."

In the stands, Jaden and the others shook their heads.

"Trying to be greedy with damage? Hikaru would never do that."

"Yeah, Hikaru always ends duels fast with setups designed for one-turn kills."

In short, Dimitri hadn't fused well enough.

"S-Still! It doesn't matter!" Overwhelmed by Hikaru's momentum, Dimitri tensed up but quickly yelled out, "Battle! Ancient Gear Beast, Attack!

You can't activate Spells or Traps when this card attacks!"

Hikaru shrugged in acknowledgment.

Prismaura flipped face-up. A giant mechanical hound lunged at him. With only 1400 DEF, he was devoured before he could resist.

"End turn."

"Then, I activate this card during this turn," Hikaru pressed his set card. "Trap Card, Fusion Reserve.

This lets me reveal a Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck and add 1 of the listed Fusion Materials from the Deck to my hand.

I reveal—Cyber Twin Dragon."

"Cyber—?! Ah!" Dimitri paled.

"Cyber Dragon, huh?" Jaden watched as Hikaru added the card to his hand, immediately concluding, "I see. Hikaru's won."

"Come on! Isn't that a bit too decisive? Cyber Dragon is strong, sure, but it's not like it guarantees victory," Syrus argued.

"Jaden's right," Chazz shook his head. "Just look at Dimitri's face—he knows it too. He's already lost."

Syrus looked over and, seeing Dimitri's dejected expression, "Whoa—it's true! Weird, why?"

"The reason's simple," Bastion tapped the railing lightly. "Hikaru knows himself better than Dimitri does.

Once he saw Labyrinth Tank and Thunder Dragon Fusion used, he made preparations.

That's why all the follow-up cards he played were Gem-Knights. He didn't consider using the rest.

Because if Dimitri's deck was even half like his, he couldn't afford to make the first move recklessly."

"Not until he confirmed Dimitri hadn't summoned a Fusion Monster related to Cyber Dragon."

"And after that, everything became simple."

As several eavesdropping students stared blankly, Hikaru drew from his hand.

"You have a monster, and I don't, so I Special Summon, Cyber Dragon. Then, Normal Summon, Ancient Gear Knight."

Hikaru revealed two monsters.

"Ah!"

Seeing those two monsters appear, Dimitri closed his eyes and cursed his luck. He vividly realized what was about to happen.

"I send your Ancient Gear Beast and my two monsters to the Graveyard to Fusion Summon!"

"Come forth, Chimeratech Fortress Dragon!"

Rumbling filled the air. Countless wheels rose from the ground, consuming the machines on the field and assembling a multi-headed mechanical dragon.

"Whoa! That monster looks awesome!" Tierra cheered from the side upon seeing the projection.

"Chimeratech Fortress Dragon gains 1000 ATK for each Fusion Material, so it has 3000."

[Chimeratech Fortress Dragon] Level 8│DARK│Machine│3000 ATK

That sealed it.

Dimitri internally screamed.

"Battle, Chimeratech Fortress Dragon, direct attack!"

"Waaaah!" Dimitri was blown backward.

[Dimitri, LP: 3000 → 0]

"Feels like... I'd rather duel KaibaCorp's AI," Chazz quipped.

"Well done! Hikaru, that was a fun duel!" Jaden shouted from the stands.

"Ugh... Lost again,"

Dimitri dropped to one knee, hands on the floor, utterly dejected.

His Deck did include Cyber Dragon and even Chimeratech Fortress Dragon.

Though slightly different from Hikaru's version, he remembered the effects of Hikaru's monsters clearly.

He just never imagined Hikaru would use Fusion Reserve to fetch Cyber Dragon directly.

Having never experienced the Yugi Muto Deck incident, Dimitri had spent the summer researching the "Number One of His Year", Amagi Hikaru's Deck. His duels had gone well lately. While not exceptionally gifted, he had a knack for piloting any Deck to near-perfection, regardless of how abstract or gimmicky it was.

Yet today, when he faced the original user, he couldn't even inflict a single point of damage.

As he wallowed in frustration, Hikaru approached and extended a hand. Dimitri stood up in a daze and quickly took it.

They were both in Ra Yellow. Hikaru was the year representative, even having dueled in another dimension for the school, and Dimitri held immense respect for him.

"H-Hi there, Hikaru..."

"Haha, Dimitri, that was a really interesting duel," Hikaru smiled as they shook hands. "I never expected to face a Deck so similar to mine. I look forward to dueling you again."

Though Dimitri had used Bottomless Trap Hole and Book of Moon, Hikaru knew those were mimicked from things like Flame Swordsdance. In fact, one of Hikaru's three Flame Sword dances had once fused with the Book of Moon.

"R-Really!" Dimitri trembled with emotion, nearly speechless.

"But next time, I hope you bring some of your own ideas. It felt a little off dueling you,"

Hikaru laughed while shaking his hand. Freed from the duel, Dimitri no longer bore the gloom of the Polymerization Club and felt much more normal.

After all, in canon, Dimitri was a side character with low presence and wasn't truly malicious. In this world, he hadn't joined the Fusion Army either, so Hikaru didn't see him as an enemy.

More than that, Hikaru was curious what card he might obtain from dueling a copy of "himself".

As Dimitri was helped up, he thought something else entirely—

'As expected of Ra Yellow's pride!'

'After this face-to-face match, I'll definitely mimic him even better next time!'