Cycle of Fusion

"My turn."

Hikaru skillfully began activating the cards in his hand.

"Spell Card, Polymerization!" Hikaru revealed the card, and Bastion felt a chill run down his spine.

"Fusion materials: Dark Magician Girl and a Dragon Monster!"

"Huh?"

"Wait, what did he just say?"

If Black Luster Soldier had made them take the duel seriously, then now Hikaru said that name, many minds simply short-circuited.

"I fuse The Dark - Hex-Sealed Fusion in my hand with Galaxy Serpent!"

Hikaru clapped his hands together.

"Bear witness to the sorceress who rides the Legendary Dragon!

Fusion Summon!

Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight!"

Boom!

With a crack of violet lightning, a cute magician clad in silver-white armor appeared on Hikaru's field.

"Where's the dragon?"

Even Hikaru paused for a moment.

[Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight] Level 7│DARK│Spellcaster│2600 ATK

"Uhh..." Bastion looked completely dumbfounded.

"Whoa!! Dark Magician Girl!!! And it's her Fusion form too!"

"Hikaru, where did you even get that card?! You've never mentioned it!"

"Hikaru! Can I defect from my club and join yours right now?! I want to see Dark Magician Girl up close!"

Sadly, though Dragon Knight would appear, she wasn't as lively as the spirit of the original Dark Magician Girl. She stood primly on the field.

"Fusion card for Dark Magician Girl, looks like he never had the materials before, so it couldn't be used until now," Bastion calmed himself after the initial shock.

Dark Magician Girl was indeed a unique card, but there were derivative works and variations of her. Still, no one expected that Hikaru, whose deck was always filled with oddball stuff, would have such a cute monster among them.

"I activate Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight's effect. Once per turn, discard 1 card to target 1 face-up monster on the field and destroy it!"

"I discard Fusion Substitute to target your Dioxogre!"

"Not so fast! I activate the Counter Trap, Divine Wrath!" Bastion flipped his set card. "I discard Double Summon to negate your monster's effect and destroy it!"

"Ah! Bastion!!"

"Ahhhhh, Dark Magician Girl." A chorus of anguished groans rose from the students watching, unsure who they were even rooting for anymore.

Hikaru was indifferent. As Dark Magician Girl hit the Graveyard, he casually opened it. "Then I activate the effect of Fusion Substitute in the Graveyard: banish it to return the Fusion Monster to the Extra Deck and draw 1 card."

Hikaru chuckled softly as he returned the card, making Bastion's brow twitch.

"Next is the Spell Card, Fusion Recovery."

Bastion gasped.

"I can Target 1 Fusion and 1 Fusion Material used in the Fusion Summon in my Graveyard; add them to my hand.

I retrieve Polymerization and The Dark - Hex-Sealed Fusion."

The atmosphere quieted a bit.

On Jaden's side, Chazz Princeton widened his eyes, watching the field intently.

"Amazing," Atticus gently strummed her instrument. "Even though Bastion evolved from basic compounds to a fully formed Chemicritter, it seems he hasn't put any pressure on Hikaru at all."

He was, after all, once the KING of Obelisk Blue Dorm. His eye for duels was keen. "That The Dark - Hex-Sealed Fusion truly unleashed Hikaru's full potential! That talent for alchemy, it's like seeing Professor Banner all over again."

"Now then, Bastion, you should already know what's coming next, right?" Hikaru flipped over three cards, the same ones from the previous turn, ready to finish what he started.

"Fusion materials: Dark Magician and a Chaos Ritual Monster.

I fuse The Dark - Hex-Sealed Fusion with Black Luster Soldier in my hand!"

"Descend once more! The sorcerer who commands chaos and delivers judgment!

Fusion Summon!

Master of Chaos!"

Seeing Master of Chaos reappear, Bastion could only break into a cold sweat.

'What a nightmare!'

His plan had been to take Hikaru by surprise using the Chemicritter deck. After all, he knew a fair bit about Hikaru. If Hikaru didn't expect his new deck, it should at least disrupt him a little.

That way, Bastion's test score would surely be higher.

And, with the help of a few Chemicritters, he could definitely bring out Dioxogre in one turn, a monster with resistance, destruction, and a powerful 2800 ATK!

More importantly, since his deck relied on Normal Summons, it wouldn't be hindered by Winda's Special Summon lock.

He'd considered using Water Dragon before, but it required a few Special Summons per turn, making it too vulnerable to Winda.

But Chemicritters didn't have that weakness.

It was the perfect counter to El Shaddoll Winda, Winda's ATK wasn't that high, but with Hikaru's fusion support spells, she could become a major problem if left unchecked.

Even if Dioxogre was destroyed, as long as he wasn't OTK'd, he could rely on the synergy between his lower-level monsters to revive and summon again. There'd always be another Dioxogre on his field.

That was the plan.

Yet, Hikaru had shown him a possibility he hadn't anticipated.

It was as if he said: 'Your cards are powerful. But I don't care. Crush, recycle, transcend. All I need is to do what I do.'

With Dark - Hex-Sealed Fusion in his hand, Hikaru was unstoppable!

"Right now, Master of Chaos's effect activates.

When this card is Fusion Summoned, I can revive 1 LIGHT or DARK monster from the Graveyard.

I Special Summon the Galaxy Serpent used as a Fusion Material earlier."

[Galaxy Serpent] Level 2│LIGHT│Dragon│Normal│1000 ATK

Though a vanilla card, it was a Tuner, and thus quite rare, one of the highest-rarity cards Hikaru had pulled before.

It helped patch the gap Hikaru had in LIGHT Dragon Fusion materials.

"Next, I flip up the set Shaddoll Falco."

"One LIGHT and one DARK monster." Bastion took a deep breath.

"LIGHT and DARK. It's coming, Bastion. Just hold on." He vaguely heard the voice of a Mathematician, while all he could do was smile bitterly.

"I activate Master of Chaos's effect!

Send 1 LIGHT and 1 DARK monster from my field to the Graveyard.

Banish all monsters you control!

Split the heavens and the earth!"

Master of Chaos raised his weapon slowly and swung it. In the next instant, the world seemed to split in half.

And a moment later.

As if they had never existed, Bastion's field was wiped clean.

He had paid a full 2000 LP for those Gemini Summons. After that strike, there was no way he had any LP left.

"Ahh, still lost." Bastion shook his head helplessly. "I guess I'm still far behind."

"Haha, Bastion, it's only for now!"

It was clear. Bastion had only just decided on his new path, and even so, he was already much better than his past, sidelined self.

And more importantly, Hikaru could tell too, Bastion hadn't even completed his deck yet!

The Chemicritter's future lies in Xyz!

"Looking forward to our next duel!"

"Battle!"

"Master of Chaos, direct attack!"

"Chaos Infinity Slash!"

In a blink, Master of Chaos appeared before Bastion.

Instantly, without even feeling pain, Bastion found himself sent flying and crashing onto the ground.

[Bastion, LP: 2000 → 0]