The White Dragon airship knifed through a bank of white cloud, and the air turned faintly damp.
A prickle ran over Jim and the others, subtle, but impossible to miss.
Cyberdark power.
Primal yet futuristic, electricity.
"Cyberdark Cannon's monster effect." After Zane had negated and destroyed Shaddoll Fusion, he didn't pause. He raised his palm as if calling up an electromagnetic barrier. "If this card, while equipped to a monster, is sent to the GY: draw 1 card."
Static crackled. A card snapped free from his Deck into his hand. Zane didn't even blink. "Next, Continuous Trap, Cyberdark Invasion."
On the artwork, Cyberdark Dragon flung barbed cables that bound Red-Eyes Black Dragon.
"Once per turn, activate one of its effects.
Target 1 'Cyberdark' Effect Monster you control; equip 1 Dragon or Machine from either GY to it as an Equip Spell that also gives it +1000 ATK."
The black chimera dipped low, bracing.
A dark Machine dragon howled up from the Graveyard.
"I'll re-equip Cyberdark Cannon!"
Cyberdark Cannon slammed into the cannon housing on the chimera's back, reloaded.
Cyberdarkness Dragon — ATK: 2000 → 3000.
"Uhh…" Bastion Misawa went still.
"It's that strong?" Jesse breathed.
"So that's the line…" Chazz folded his arms, voice low. "It can negate and destroy Spell, Trap, or monster activations, and it can stack Equips via support. Its printed ATK is only 2000, but a single equip pushes it past 3000. Conventional removal won't cut it. Even if I high-roll Dark Armed Dragon, it gets negated and destroyed, and I can't even bank on winning by battle."
"And when Cyberdark Cannon is sent from the field while equipped, Zane draws 1," Bastion added, jaw tight. "He's not just stopping activations, he's refilling his hand."
Negate and replenish, two jobs, one card. Ridiculous.
"Whether it's Hikaru or Zane," Bastion went on, "they've both been playing this turn and staging the next, Dreamland, Shaddolls, Cyber Dragon Core, Cyberdark Cannon. Not just lockdown, preparation."
Even so, Zane's side looked cleaner; Cyberdarkness Dragon's effect was simply too powerful. Stopping the opponent from playing is a huge slice of modern dueling, and most duelists here can't interfere on the opponent's turn. A boss that can "freely" shut you down is overwhelming. Otherwise, if Hikaru resolved the returned Shaddoll Fusion into El Shaddoll Construct, a Cyber Dragon shell would struggle to answer.
"Oh, oh, oh, what a monster! Look, Alexis, your brother brought that out!"
"I know!" Alexis Rhodes sighed, then smiled despite herself. "It is insanely strong."
In the hospital, Atticus and Alexis watched the duel. Seeing Zane's monster perform so ferociously, Atticus beamed and wiggled like a kid; even the doctor let it slide, murmuring about the patient's excellent spirits.
For most viewers, the verdict was obvious: too strong.
'So Shaddoll Fusion was stopped, huh…' Hikaru eyed his full hand.
"Heh…"
"I pay 1000 Life Points to activate the Normal Spell, Instant Fusion!"
Hikaru — LP: 2300 → 1300.
"Instant Fusion?"
"Oh, I know that card, the 'GG cup noodles' ad looked just like it!"
"Yeah, that GG card!"
Funglow's marketing was working; plenty now recognized the instant-noodle cup art. Others focused on the text.
"That can drop Thousand-Eyes Restrict right away."
"Right, no matter how strong a monster is, if it gets absorbed, it's done."
"But that black Cyber boss can just negate this, can't it?"
Correct.
Thunder split the cloud deck; blue lightning washed the arena in stark relief. Zane's face was half-shadowed, a fanatic spark in his eyes as he leveled a finger at Hikaru. "Too naïve, Hikaru!"
"Cyberdarkness Dragon's effect! Quick Effect, send 1 Equip Card you control to the GY; negate the activation of a Spell/Trap/monster effect, and if you do, destroy it!"
"Cyberdark Bombardment!"
The chimera dipped; the head-mounted cannon roared to life. Cyberdark Cannon was jettisoned like a shell, blowing Instant Fusion apart mid-cast.
"How is this thing so strong!?" The Fusion Army troopers were rattled.
"We can't do anything, only he gets to play cards!"
"Isn't that basically invincible!?"
The gallery buzzed.
"Wow."
"Magnificent."
As the duel hit a higher gear, a few airborne Duel Spirits that could keep pace with the ship, fast, powerful, pressure-proof, flanked the hull, eyes alight.
"This isn't over. Cyberdark Cannon, draw 1!"
Zane's hand rose back to 4.
"Heh, then Normal Summon… Keeper of Dragon Magic!"
Hikaru's voice never wavered. "Zane, witness a brand-new card."
"Hm?"
"What?"
Just as everyone was puzzling it out, a monster roughly Hikaru's height, wearing a purple academy-chief's uniform and a half-mask, stepped onto the field in front of him.
"Eh!???"
"Huh???"
People crowded the TV; Jaden even pressed his face to the screen.
"That card…?" Chazz's hands dropped in shock.
"Hmph." From the flagship, Seto Kaiba let out a cold snort. "That Pegasus…"
Keeper of Dragon Magic — Level 4 | DARK | Dragon | 1800 ATK / 1300 DEF.
"This is a special alternate art President Pegasus made for me," Hikaru said evenly. "The card itself will release through Industrial Illusions later."
"A card personally made by Pegasus?!"
"And… isn't that clearly Hikaru on it?"
"I'm curious, what kind of effect would Pegasus tailor for him?"
Hikaru chuckled; for an instant, a faint violet sheen seemed to ripple off him. "Keeper of Dragon Magic, activate. You can only use each of its effects once per turn. Also, the turn you activate either effect, you can't Special Summon from the Extra Deck except Fusion Monsters.
If this card is Normal or Special Summoned: discard 1 card; add 1 'Polymerization' Normal Spell or 1 'Fusion' Normal Spell from your Deck to your hand."
He glanced at his hand, chose one, and slipped it to the GY.
"What?"
"Ohhhh."
"I get it!"
No wonder. It was exactly the kind of effect Hikaru loved, and exactly the kind of bespoke gift Pegasus would hand him.
"Are you telling me Hikaru's famous enough for Pegasus to design him a card?" someone blurted.
On the ship, Jesse, with the most firsthand Pegasus experience, moved from shock to recognition. "Makes sense. Pegasus must love his spirit and drive. Custom art tracks."
"'Fusion' Normal Spells aren't as broad as Predaplant Chimerafflesia's search," Bastion mused, "but there are plenty: Instant Fusion, Ancient Gear Fusion, and so on."
"If he finds another Instant Fusion, he could answer that black chimera."
"No, there's a better line. Hikaru's list has that card."
"What card…?"
Zane's smile didn't change. He'd already run this decision tree before the match, Which card in Hikaru's forty most threatens Cyber Dragon? He tapped his temple. "It should be that one, Fusion Deployment."
Fusion Deployment?
Even a few of the Top 8 looked blank for a beat. Hikaru ran so many "Fusion " and " Fusion" tools, many of them singletons, that the name didn't immediately click.
Only Zane, as the opponent, had pre-solved it.
"Cyberdarkness Dragon, again!" Zane didn't hesitate, voice cutting sharp. "Quick Effect: send 1 Equip Card you control to the GY; negate your monster effect's activation, and if you do, destroy it!"
A hard white flare lit the deck as the black chimera's silhouette wavered; before the luminous tether fully snapped, it spat one last lance of power that smashed Hikaru's masked Keeper to glittering shards.
Black-blue current stitched the sky. Hikaru slid back through the sparks as the beam punched past the hull. Duel Spirits pacing the ship scattered to make way while that tracer raked the horizon, a banner of Zane's fighting spirit that refused to fade.
"Ah! I forgot, Zane still has an Equip on Cyberdarkness!" Bastion yelped.
"So that re-equip is what's fueling the negates," Chazz muttered, unsettled. "Not Future Fusion."
He thought back over the turns.
One setup had brought out El Shaddoll Winda, letting Hikaru draw and line up Shaddoll Fusion; another had fed Cyberdarkness, dumping a spread of Cyberdark names while Zane kept re-equipping Cyberdark Cannon to power his lock…
Chazz shook his head.
He'd already reached a conclusion.
After this duel, no, right now, no one in his world would casually trade away Future Fusion again.
Its impact was obvious to anyone with eyes.
Even though he'd lost Cyberdarkness Dragon, Zane didn't mind.
He'd already blocked Hikaru's "Fusion" lines three times. By sheer volume, Cyberdarkness Dragon had done its job.
"What a waste, every counterattack Hikaru tried got swatted by Zane's Cyberdarkness!"
"Yeah… three full chances, all negated."
The Top 8 aboard the flagship sighed.
Hikaru still held a Predaplant and a Frightfur Patchwork, but there was no second Predaplant Chimerafflesia…
Hikaru tapped his temple with a fingertip and looked across the field. "Your decisions weren't wrong, Zane, but… you miscalculated a few things."
'Miscalculated?' Zane frowned, then his eyes widened, and the smile on his face froze.
"Don't tell me..."
"That's exactly it. I activate the Normal Spell, Fusion Deployment!"
!!!
The air on the ship changed at once.
"What?"
"Impossible!"
"So he had it the whole time!"
Hikaru's mouth curved.
Forcing negates. Baiting negates.
In his world, duelists lived on these higher-order lines. Here, almost no one ran "negation counters," and fewer still had a single boss that answered Spells/Traps/monsters alike. Hikaru rarely got to play the game this way.
But game theory like this was his favorite.
"Ready, Zane?"
"Fusion Deployment can only be activated once per turn, and for the rest of this turn, I can only Special Summon from the Extra Deck Fusion monsters.
I reveal [Chimeratech Fortress Dragon], then Special Summon from my Deck 'Cyber Dragon', a monster specifically listed on it as material!"
Bzzzt
A Cyber Dragon uncoiled onto Hikaru's field, its silver hide traced with faint violet, a visual counterpoint to Zane's own machine.
"Heh…" Zane couldn't help laughing. "There it is, just as expected."
[Cyber Dragon] — Level 5 | LIGHT | Machine | 2100 ATK.
"Zane, Fusion is underway. You're one of my most respected seniors and closest friends, so I'll use your monster and mine!"
"I send the Cyber Dragon on my field and your [Cyber Dragon Nova] to the GY."
"Machine combination, emerge!"
"Chimeratech Fortress Dragon!"
The two Machines came apart at the seams, panels tore free, rings of steel scattered, then spun together overhead. A dragon built of interlocking metal circles crashed down in a blaze of light.
[Chimeratech Fortress Dragon] — Level 8 | DARK | Machine | 0 ATK / 0 DEF
Original ATK becomes 1000 × the number of materials used for its Special Summon.
Chimeratech Fortress Dragon — ATK: 0 → 2000.
Zane looked up at the towering construct and exhaled, almost fond. "As expected of you…"
...
Stones Plzzz
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