[Celina, LP 2800]
[Bastion, LP 4000]
Bastion looks down at his hand and pulls out two cards.
"I'll set two cards face down and end my turn!"
Two face-down cards appeared behind his two dragons before he crossed his arms and passed the turn to Celina.
"My turn! Draw!" Celina drew her card, added it to her hand, and immediately slammed another onto her Duel Disk.
"I activate the Spell Card, Pot of Greed! It lets me draw two cards!"
The familiar jar with a gaping grin emerged briefly before shattering into glittering shards. Celina swiftly drew two more cards.
"Next, I Normal Summon Lunalight White Rabbit!"
A sleek, white-haired girl in a dancer's outfit appeared, wielding an oversized sledgehammer with both hands.
[Lunalight White Rabbit, 800 ATK]
"White Rabbit's effect activates! When she's Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a Lunalight monster from my graveyard!"
But before she could continue-
"Trap Card, activate!" Bastion's voice cut in sharply. His face-down flipped up. "Passion of Baimasse! When you activate a monster's effect, I can negate it and destroy that monster!"
A massive stone face slammed down from above, crushing White Rabbit beneath it.
Celina blinked in disbelief. "...Seriously?"
Then her expression twisted into irritation. "Oi! You said you were using a Water Deck! What part of that includes fire dragon, a dragon that came out from a diamond, and falling boulders!?"
Bastion gave a calm smile. "Well, I was going to. But after talking with Jaden, I figured your deck was too similar to his, so I made a few adjustments."
Celina groaned. She hated being outplayed like this, but quickly recomposed herself.
"Tch... Fine." She pulled another card from her hand. "I activate Lunalight Black Sheep! By discarding it, I can add either a Polymerization from my Deck or a Lunalight from my Graveyard to my hand!"
Discarding the card, she searched and added Polymerization to her hand.
"Now I play Polymerization! I-"
"Counter Trap!" Bastion snapped again.
His final face-down flipped up. "Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell!"
"Like I said, your deck is similar to Jaden, which relies heavily on the spell card Polymerization." He said with a smirk before explaining the card effect.
"I discard one Spell card to negate your Polymerization, and for the rest of the duel, you can't activate any spell with the same name!"
The Fusion spell fizzled, crackled, and shattered apart.
Celina stared at it for a moment, then smirked. "So you really planned this far ahead, huh? Not bad."
She drew a new card, revealing it with a grin. "But I've got more options. I activate Fusion Tag! I target my Gold Leo and reveal my Lunalight Cat Dancer from the Extra Deck. Now, Gold Leo is treated as Cat Dancer until the end of this turn!"
Bastion frowned, confused about why Celina would do something like that.
"Huh? But you can't Fusion Summon anymore, right?" Syrus murmurs.
"Not exactly," Jaden chimed in, grinning.
Syrus blinked. "Wait, you actually know something?"
Jaden Yuki, who never pays attention in classes, was going to explain something?
Jaden chuckled. "She is only locked out of using Polymerization. Other cards or ways to fusion summon still work."
As a fusion player and seeing his AIBO's power up close, Jaden knew that there were more cards that could let the player perform fusion summoning even without the help of the signature card, Polymerization.
"Damn, I didn't think you brought your brain today," Celina muttered with a smirk, surprising even herself.
She didn't waste a second. "Now I activate Double Fusion! By paying 500 Life Points, I can perform a double fusion!"
[Celina, LP 2800 -> 2300]
Jaden's eyes lit up. "That's AIBO's card!"
He had been wanting to ask his AIBO for some new cards since he didn't have enough credits to buy any card packs.
Mostly because he doesn't pay much attention or show up in class at the right time, his credits got tanked.
While many students can buy multiple card packs with a month's worth of credits, Jaden could barely afford them. If he doesn't duel others and earn credits from them, he might not even be able to afford buying ten packs of cards.
Bastion narrowed his eyes. "Yumi's card again..."
Although Yumi is a bit like Jaden when it comes to attending classes.
He only shows up in classes that he likes; if he doesn't like it, Celina would literally drag him to class. Even then, he doesn't pay much attention or take it seriously.
Yet he somehow always has good cards and is a very strong duelist.
Celina shouted, "I'll fuse the Cat Dancer on my field and the Crimson Fox in my hand!"
The two monsters jumped into the spiral vortex, merging into one being.
"Fusion Summon! Lunalight Panther Dancer!"
[Lunalight Panther Dancer, 2800 ATK]
A sleek, powerful panther woman in a revealing outfit stepped onto the field, her confident eyes scanning Bastion and his monsters with a smirk.
"Crimson Fox's effect activates! Since it was sent to the grave by a card effect, I can target a face-up monster you control and reduce its ATK to 0!"
She pointed to Bastion's fire dragon.
A red glow enveloped it, draining its energy in an instant.
[Fire Dragon, 2800 -> 0 ATK]
"I'm not done yet! I'll activate Panther Dancer's effect! For the rest of the turn, the first time each of your monsters would be destroyed by battle, it won't be."
She said, which confused the three other duelists. A playful smirk formed on her lips as she continued.
"Also, Panther Dancer can attack all of your monsters twice each!"
The final reveal was the one that shocked everyone the most.
"Battle! Panther Dancer, attack Fire Dragon!" She commanded, and the panther woman leaped high in the air, her sharp claws stretched out, coming right down, right toward the Fire Dragon.
"Crescent Moon!"
The fire dragon roared in pain due to Panther Dancer's effect it wasn't destroyed after the attack.
"Ughh!" Bastion clenched his teeth, feeling the aftershock of the attack, although his monster wasn't destroyed, the battle damage still registered.
[Bastion, LP 4000 -> 1200]
"Finish this! Double Crescent Moon!"
Celina commanded, and the panther woman delivered the second strike, destroying the fire dragon, creating a massive explosion.
"Ahhh!" Bastion falls back on his butt, his LP dropping to zero.
[Bastion, LP 1200 -> 0]
The hologram faded, signalling the end of the duel.
Bastion smiled as he looked at his opponent. "I guess I have a lot of room to improve."
He walked over towards Celina and gave her a handshake, to which she accepted, "Next time, I plan on winning."
"We will see about that." Celina smirked. Just then, familiar voices echoed behind her.
"Yo, that was amazing!" Jaden shouted as he and the others ran over.
"Yeah, especially on the Fire Dragon and Hyozanryu defense and offense combo!" Syrus added excitedly.
"Hey, what about me? I won the duel!" Celina placed a hand on her hip, mock-offended.
"You were cool," Jaden said with a grin, "but we've never seen Bastion go all-out like that before."
Bastion chuckled, rubbing the back of his head as the others nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, you're seriously smart. That deck really fits you," Syrus said.
"True," Celina chimed in, "though I heard it's not exactly the most consistent deck. Bricks a lot, doesn't it?"
"It can," Bastion admitted, "but when it works, it hits hard. Every one of my decks has strengths and weaknesses. I build them to handle different kinds of opponents."
"Wait, decks?" Jaden asked with a reasonable question.
Most players he knew only played one deck, and he was no exception to that rule. The only other exception is his AIBO, but since it's his AIBO, Jaden didn't find it odd.
"It isn't that shocking." Everyone turned towards Celina, "I have numerous decks back at my home with the main gimmick of Fusion. I picked it out since it was my favourite one."
She paused for a moment before continuing. "Plus, Yumi also has multiple decks; he just likes using Sky Striker and HEROes."
"I get it…" Syrus yawned mid-sentence. "Hey guys, don't you think this is getting a little late. We don't want Banner to put us in detention or suspend us."
He squinted at Jaden specifically.
"Yeah, yeah, I hear you, Sy." Jaden waved it off.
By now, the sun had completely set. The academy grounds were growing quiet, and students were expected to be back in their dorms or nearby.
The group began heading back to their respective dorms, the glow of the moon casting soft light along their path.
As Jaden, Syrus, and Celina passed by the Slifer Red dorm, they came to a sudden stop.
Spotting Yumi standing behind the Slifer Red dorm building, facing an older woman also dressed in a Slifer Red coat.
And the two of them were dueling.
Some time ago…
As the sun dipped below the horizon, a warm orange hue washed over Duel Academy. Yumi sat in his room, satisfied with how smoothly his new deck played. The click of shuffling cards in his hands was interrupted by a sudden knock at his door.
Walking over, he opened the door and was met with the sight of a woman in her late twenties. She had long dark brown hair and wore a Slifer Red coat that clung slightly to her frame, projecting confidence and a surprisingly large personality for someone dressed in red.
"Uh… hi?" Yumi greeted, blinking in confusion as his mind raced to place her face.
"You must be Yumi Uzushi," she said with a soft smile, placing a hand over her chest. "I'm Midori Hibiki, the female head professor of the Slifer Red dormitory."
"A..."
After a momentary pause, Yumi finally recognized her.
Midori Hibiki. The older sister of Koyo Hibiki, a professional HERO Duelist from the GX manga.
Seeing her here now somewhat makes sense of why this world has female dorms for both Slifer Red and Ra Yellow. While in the anime, there is only one female dorm in Obelisk Blue.
Originally, Yumi thought this dorm system was similar to the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX! games, where there are both male and female characters for both Slifer Red and Ra Yellow.
Now this makes a bit more sense if Lyman Banner is the male head professor of the Slifer Red dormitory. Then, Midori Hibiki is the female head professor of the Slifer Red dormitory.
One maintains the male side while the other maintains the female.
Like how in the anime, there are both teachers in charge of Obelisk Blue Dorm, one male, the other female.
The only issue with the Slifer Red is that... unlike Ra Yellow and Obelisk Blue, which the female and male dorms were split into two, Slifer Red is actually a mixed dormitory.
Probably because President Kaiba thought it was a waste of money to build separate facilities for the "worst" students in the school.
"Mind if I come in?" Midori asked in a hushed voice, casting a glance down the hall. "There's something I need to speak with you about… privately."
Yumi: "!!?"
Uhh, sensei? Isn't it kinda weird for a teacher to visit a student's room this late!? What if someone sees!?
Although his mind is thinking random thoughts, Yumi still decides to step back and invite her in. "Sure… come in."
After all, he is only just a student and not a teacher, so if rumors do spread, it won't affect him as much as it affects her.
She entered with purpose, but the moment her eyes landed on the table, her expression darkened. Several cards lay scattered across the surface. She stepped forward, picked one up, and examined it.
Her gaze sharpened as she turned the card to face him.
Elemental HERO: The Earth.
"Student Yumi Uzushi..." she said coolly, "can you explain how you got your hands on Terra Firma?"
Shit...
Yumi kept his face calm, but inwardly he was sweating.
In the world of Yu-Gi-Oh, some cards can only have a limited number of copies, like how the Blue-Eyes White Dragon could only exist only four copies.
Which is why Yumi avoided printing the fifth Blue-Eyes White Dragon, so President Kaiba didn't decide to pay him a visit.
The Earth, also known as Terra Firma, fell into that same category. It was part of the Legendary Planet series, each representing a unique celestial body, only one of each in existence.
Like how in their solar system, the Earth is their planet. And there shouldn't exist another one.
"That's not Terra Firma, sensei," Yumi said with a straight face. "It's called The Earth."
She wasn't buying it.
"Don't play games with me. This card..." She raised it,
"Was the signature ace of my brother's deck! Do you think renaming it is enough to fool me!?"
Yumi: "..."
Sensei... I'm telling the truth, that's my card! Not Koyo Hibiki's!
"Sensei... The Earth is really my card." He said, which did little to convince her.
"Yumi Uzushi... if you're gonna continue denying it," she said, her voice sharpening. "Then I'll prove you're lying."
A wave of Spirit Energy surged around her, whipping her hair and coat with unnatural force as she transferred it into the card.
Wait, Spirit Energy could also be used like that!?
Now that he thinks about it, he does know how to empower his cards by transferring Spirit Energy to them, summoning them out in physical form to aid him.
Originally, he thought this power only belonged to Jaden in Season 4, when he fused his soul with Yubel.
After unlocking the ability to materialize card spirits, he chucked it up to the help of his system.
But now it seems like people who could use Spirit Energy and call out Duel Spirit could naturally do this, as long as they are strong enough.
"Use my Spirit to escape your shackles! Show yourself, Terra Firma!"
The dark hair teacher placed down the card on her duel disk, overflowing with her Spirit Energy, calling out for the spirit of the monster.
However, nothing happened.
Midori: "..."
Yumi: "..."
She picked up the card and placed it down again, trying to use her spirit energy to call it out, but nothing happened again.
"Raye." Yumi spoke softly.
A blur of light shot past Midori. Before she could react, the card vanished from her disk. She turned sharply, only to find Sky Striker Ace - Raye standing beside Yumi, calmly handing the card back to her Master.
"…A Duel Spirit?" Midori murmured, eyes narrowing. She could tell immediately, Raye wasn't human.
"Sensei," Yumi said, holding the card between his fingers, "Let me show you who this HERO really belongs to."
With a flick, he placed the card down on his own Duel Disk. His Spirit Energy flared.
"Show yourself, The Earth!"
A white, planetary-armored HERO materialized behind him, arms crossed, towering silently over its summoner.
He hover just behind Yumi… like a Stand?