When Hikaru Amagi snapped back to awareness, his feet were already on solid ground.
The air was thick with the scent of smoke and something strange—metallic and burned. The sky hung low—so low it felt like there was no sky at all. No sun, only flickering firelight dimly casting its weak glow across a shattered world.
Ruins surrounded him, desolate and crumbling, the whole dimension sealed off like a broken box left in the dark.
It was his first time entering a truly broken dimension—and even with all his mental prep, the oppressive, claustrophobic landscape made his stomach twist.
"Mamma miaaaaaa!!"Dr. Crowler had just landed… and immediately started screaming. Apparently, he'd stepped on something. His arms and legs flailed like a cartoon character, gripping onto the nearest chunk of debris with a deathgrip as he howled.
"Professor, that's… a bone."
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH—!!"
Another wave of chaos.
"SHUT UP ALREADY! YOU'RE DRIVING ME INSANE!"A voice bellowed in the distance—frustrated, guttural, angry.
Hikaru followed the sound, spotting a bonfire glowing dimly through the smoke. A figure was hunched over it, furiously stirring something massive in a pot.
"Something's here!!" Crowler shrieked in horror. He looked like he'd just seen a ghost.
"Huh? Humans?" The figure finally noticed the newcomers and paused, squinting toward them. Then he groaned. "I told you morons not to come bothering me unless you solved my—wait, what the—"
"Master! Look out!"
Just as the stranger started yelling, a familiar figure burst into view beside Hikaru—Flame Swordsman. His burning blade lit the surroundings with a fierce red glare. In that instant, they all saw it—
—a massive wave of black ooze, surging toward them like a tsunami of rot.
Without hesitation, Dark Flare Knight followed close behind, drawing his blade in one smooth motion. The two Duel Spirits struck out, slicing the corrupted sludge mid-air, deflecting what they could.
But the rest?
Chaos erupted.
Crowler screamed.One splatter struck him right in the head—he went flying, crashing hard into a heap of rubble, groaning and motionless.
"Amagi-kun, run—!"The professor, barely conscious, hurled something toward Hikaru with the last of his strength.
"AAAHH! MY STOVE!!!"The strange figure let out a shriek as the boiling pot exploded from the impact, green and purple goo flying everywhere.
"Professor—!" Hikaru caught the emergency warp card, panic and adrenaline flooding him all at once. This was a mess. A real ambush.
"DON'T LEAVE! YOU OWE ME A STOVE!""MASTER, MOVE!!"The spirits yelled in warning.
A second wave of darkness was coming—larger, faster, like a living shadow roaring through the void, gunning straight for Hikaru!
His expression went cold.
Flame Swordsman launched himself forward, ready to take the hit—
But Hikaru moved first.
He ripped the pendant from his neck and held it in front of him like a shield.
The black sludge slammed into it.
The pendant shattered under the pressure—but the card within it, nestled and hidden for so long, didn't move a millimeter.
The spirits froze in awe as the corrupted energy hissed and boiled away… melting like ice cream in the sun.Within seconds, it was gone.
A single cracked card fluttered downward. Hikaru reached out and caught it.
Scrap Fusion.
His mind spun with possibilities.
"What… what the hell is that?!"Even the strange figure at the campfire recoiled in fear.
"So powerful… That's the true force our Master's been hiding?"Flame Swordsman didn't question it. If his master had never used this card in a duel—never even placed it in his deck—then there was a reason.
"Your professor's only unconscious," the Dark Flare Knight confirmed. "His condition is stable."
Hikaru slid Scrap Fusion into his card case and looked toward the source of the black sludge.
A figure was forming from the shadows—previously hidden by the oppressive darkness of this broken world. Hikaru narrowed his eyes and readied his Super Polymerization, letting the card breathe in the open air.
He might've earned a free card from that surprise attack… but this wasn't over. Not even close.
That thing—whatever it was—had just tried to kill them. It knocked his teacher out cold.
The figure at the fire raised his staff. The core glowed and spun wildly, casting a burst of light across the land.
For the first time, Hikaru saw the attacker clearly.
No way.
Alchemage the Alchemic Vanguard?!
That wizard hat, that staff, the billowing robes—you'd swear it was a Spellcaster. But no. Look closely, and it was all tech. Mechanical fibers, glowing nodes, synthetic robes—he wasn't a Spellcaster.
He was a Psychic-Type, from the Metalfoes archetype.
Hikaru blinked. Then turned his gaze toward the other shape in the distance—
—and his pupils shrank.
Full-body armor. Glimmering crystals embedded in the pauldrons. The entire form cloaked in swirling black mist, colorless and warped—
Gem-Knight Crystal?!
More specifically—Gem-Knight Prismura, tainted, corrupted, mutated beyond recognition.
Why was he here?He and Alchemage aren't even from the same world.
The connection hit Hikaru like a slap to the face.
Akaba. That damn egghead.
The same Akaba who handed Yanagi a deck of Gem-Knight monsters before their duel.
This was all orchestrated.
"AAAAAAAAGHHHHHHH!!"Prismura roared, his aura writhing with shadows. His reason was gone—his instincts dulled. But something in him still warned:
Don't approach. That human… is dangerous.
"GYAAAH! Is this guy after me?! Is it one of their assassins?!"The panicked Alchemage stumbled back. "I was just experimenting! I didn't mean to—ah! You!"
He pointed at Hikaru. "If you help me deal with that thing, I'll go with you! You get me out of here, I'll follow your lead!"
Hikaru's eyes gleamed.
Perfect.
He rushed to Crowler's side, yanked open his duel disk, and ripped out the deck.
He spread it in one sweep, selected a monster card, and slotted it into his own deck.
The duel disk snapped open with a click-click-WHIRR—
"Don't call me 'that guy'—my name is Hikaru Amagi."
He raised his arm.
"Let's duel, Spirit!"
Across the field, Prismura staggered. His body rattled. Then his left arm fractured open, revealing embedded crystal shards. They reformed into a jagged black duel disk, a corrupted deck sliding into place.
Hikaru grinned.
That's all he needed.
Even without a mind, the duel request was accepted.
Which meant one thing—
He could play.
Gem-Knights were a Fusion deck. Alchemage's cards? Also fusion-compatible.
This was his element.
Fusion against fusion.
"Thanks for the setup, Professor Akaba," Hikaru muttered."I'll gladly accept this little gift of yours."