After returning to Duel Academy from Industrial Illusions' island, Hikaru finally managed to settle into something resembling leisure.
Although people still popped up from time to time wanting to challenge him, interview him, or bother him about one thing or another, Hikaru was happy to accept any duel. He treated them as opportunities to accumulate duel energy from people with different personalities, converting that into different Fusion material cards.
Perhaps because the new term was approaching, or perhaps because the hype was gradually fading, the frenzy of eager students eventually died down. Hikaru finally had time to spend a normal summer break in the Fusion Division.
With the start of term drawing near, students steadily returned to campus, and the Fusion Division grew lively again.
Classmates gathered to chat enthusiastically about their summer experiences, things they'd seen and heard, and events everyone already knew about, as if they had an endless supply of things to say.
Lulu felt slightly out of place in this environment, but as more people arrived, she started feeling less like a stranger and more like a younger student touring an upperclassman club.
"Did you guys see the duel between our President and Jaden?"
"Oh! The one against the Paradox Brothers, right?"
"That's the one! An intense battle against the legendary brothers and the terrifying Gate Guardian!"
The members discussed the recent duel with obvious excitement.
Those who had spent their summer having too much fun and hadn't kept up with the news started asking questions left and right, curiosity clawing at them like a cat, desperate to know the full story.
This was when the Fusion Division's massive holographic projector, courtesy of KaibaCorp, came in handy.
A member loaded a pre-recorded video into the main hall's projector, startling Lulu, who had never figured out what all that equipment was for.
But after her initial surprise, her mind turned to a different question: not only did the Fusion Division members use the projector with practiced ease, they had even pre-recorded duel footage, obviously planning to screen it for friends and classmates once the term began.
This kind of devotion meant only one thing.
Hikaru was truly beloved.
"Speaking of which, what about the duel with Professor Akaba? Is there a recording?"
"Wait, Hikaru already dueled Professor Akaba?!"
"That definitely happened. It was all over the news not long ago. How do you not know? That's kind of rude. Don't tell me you spent two months playing video games over summer break."
"Well, uh..."
"That one, unfortunately, couldn't be recorded."
Lulu tilted her head and spotted a boy with a peculiar starfish-shaped hairstyle striding into the Fusion Division. He walked straight to the front desk, pulled open a cabinet, sat down behind the counter, leaned back casually, and cracked open a bottle of juice.
Huh?
"That's Dimitri." Serena whispered to Lulu. "Don't let him fool you. He's actually super, super skilled."
"What! A duelist on par with Jaden, Chazz, and Hikaru?" Having gotten to know some of the Fusion Division's founding members over the past while, and having watched the duel between Hikaru, Jaden, and the Paradox Brothers, Lulu knew those "veterans" were all exceptional duelists.
"Um, not quite that strong." Serena waved her hands hastily, then hesitated for a moment before whispering to Lulu, "Dimitri can replicate Master's Deck and use it really well!"
"What?! That's incredible!!"
Her exclamation drew quite a few stares. That was when the members noticed that standing next to Serena was another girl who looked exactly like her.
"Huh? Twins?"
"Serena's little sister? Wait, no, am I actually talking to Serena right now?"
Although their hairstyles and outfits were slightly different, Serena and Lulu genuinely looked identical, even more alike than most twins, making them genuinely hard to tell apart.
Serena laughed, stood up waving, then spread both arms to the side and introduced Lulu with the tone of someone saying, "Behold, the most perfect person in the entire world!"
That's right.
Someone who looked exactly like her, was just as bold as her, and on top of that possessed the "wisdom" she herself lacked, someone who could make calm judgments just like her Master. This was basically a perfected version of herself!
"A parallel counterpart from the X Dimension?!"
"Something like that actually exists!"
"She really is just as cute as little Serena."
"Whoa."
"So there really are parallel counterparts across different dimensions? Could there be a version of me somewhere too?"
After getting to know Lulu, the group more or less understood the consistent story Serena and Lulu presented to the public, and couldn't help letting their imaginations run wild.
Lulu let out a breath of relief, then curiously asked Serena about what she'd mentioned earlier.
She was genuinely surprised.
Hikaru's Deck was not something a normal person could use.
That all-Fusion Deck contained Fusion materials, sure, but the ratio of materials was certainly lower than that of Spell Cards, possibly drastically so.
She and Serena had once borrowed Hikaru's Deck to try it on a practice table out of curiosity, and no matter how hard they tried, even with their understanding of dueling and their luck, they could barely make it work.
And now Serena was telling her that someone could actually imitate Hikaru and even use a similar Deck?!
That was superhuman!
It was precisely this revelation that made the normally composed Lulu cry out in shock.
While most people in this world didn't exactly have normal Deck compositions, even by this world's standards, Hikaru's Deck was thoroughly absurd.
Being able to replicate Hikaru's Deck and actually use it competently was genuinely impressive.
Indeed, this was the talent of the person called Dimitri.
He had no innate spirit power, no exceptional deckbuilding ability. But he possessed the talent to take any Deck, no matter how abstract or unconventional, and wield it nearly as well as its original owner the moment it was in his hands.
"Dimitri, is it?"
On a ship bound for Duel Academy, a man in standard professor's attire stood rigidly upright. He had a muscular build and hair that curved back like the hood of a viper. He was studying a file with meticulous precision. "Compared to other exceptional students, this one is thoroughly unremarkable. His grades, his record, his dueling level, all of it is nothing more than mediocre.
Even at my own academy, there are plenty of students far superior to him. And yet the task you've given me involves this kid?"
His name was Viper.
Due to the Leo Akaba incident, Professor Crowler had decided to evaluate and assess all instructors across every Duel Academy branch worldwide. Apart from the Fallen Angel user he had previously rated at zero, every other professor and teacher would need to visit the main campus for assessment during this period.
Of course, the vast majority of instructors had already completed their evaluations with KaibaCorp's assistance. The ones who truly carried "weight" were the head professors from each academy.
Since representatives from all branch campuses would be coming to headquarters for exchange studies next semester, the main campus decided to summon all professors to Duel Academy headquarters for assessment.
And so, Professor Viper had a reason he couldn't refuse to come here.
Fortunately, he didn't mind the trouble.
In fact, this might have been exactly what he wanted.
He had been looking for a chance to visit Duel Academy's main campus ever since the GX tournament.
Previously, Leo Akaba had invited him to collaborate, but at the time he had been grieving over his son and hadn't paid any attention to Leo Akaba's invitation.
But now, things were different!
Everything was different.
A yellow, glowing phantom suddenly appeared out of nowhere, materializing before him.
The figure had no body. Only a left hand that resembled a demon's claw. It looked deeply unsettling.
"Ah, true. This kid is nothing remarkable compared to those exceptional duelists. But he is indispensable."
That's right.
This phantom was none other than Yubel!
She chuckled coldly.
She had struck a deal with Professor Viper, offering the "resurrection" of his son as payment for his cooperation.
After watching Hikaru and Jaden's duel up close last time, she had recognized how difficult Hikaru was to deal with.
If she wanted to prove her singular, irreplaceable love to Jaden by tormenting his friends, the current Hikaru was a problem she couldn't easily solve.
If she could fully revive, she was confident she could take on Hikaru in a duel.
But right now, she had only one left hand.
In that state, defeating that strange otherworldly god was all but impossible.
After studying the situation for a while, however, she discovered two exceptionally promising "targets."
The first was Rex Raptor, Hikaru's senior and someone who had also looked after Jaden. The former King of Dinosaur Duelists and legendary duelist who had volunteered to serve as a free trial opponent for these kids at the Nexus.
If she could possess him, she should be able to achieve her desired result nicely.
Unfortunately, before she could execute that plan, she learned from Viper that Rex Raptor appeared to have left this dimension entirely, setting off on an adventure in some other dimension.
And just like that, her best option was gone.
But she always had plenty of schemes and flexible alternatives at her disposal.
After careful investigation and thorough research, she discovered another human who perfectly met her requirements, and in some ways was even more suitable than Rex Raptor.
That was Dimitri!
Dimitri had once dueled Jaden and even provoked him. Unforgivable.
Originally, Dimitri and Jaden should have been nothing more than passing acquaintances. But this person could nearly perfectly replicate Hikaru's abilities, which earned Hikaru's admiration. He was invited into the Fusion Division and became the division's famous "Copy Duelist Dimitri."
Naturally, because of this, Dimitri interacted with Jaden almost every day. Their relationship had grown closer and closer, to the point where they could genuinely be called friends.
Which meant he was both Jaden's friend and Hikaru's friend. He could mimic both Hikaru's and Jaden's dueling styles, even using their Decks with ease. And most importantly, compared to Rex Raptor, he had one enormous advantage.
He was close by!
If something happened to Rex Raptor, Hikaru would naturally rush to help, just as he had done with Weevil Underwood according to her research. Hikaru would certainly intervene.
But that would take time. He wouldn't be able to join a duel immediately!
Dimitri, on the other hand, was close enough!
Both Hikaru and Jaden would suffer because of it.
There was no better choice.
Of course, Yubel still had to consider combat strength.
And Dimitri's strength, while unremarkable at first glance, was actually quite formidable!
He could use both Hikaru's and Jaden's Decks. This kid was a born "mirror"!
With that kind of talent, Dimitri could even adapt to her power and directly wield her Deck!
Even Yubel had been stunned after finishing her research.
Honestly, she had never cared about who Jaden's classmates were. It wasn't until the tag duel between Jaden and Hikaru at the Chazz Group that she realized things couldn't continue this way. Only then did she start frantically cramming, researching the files of every student at Duel Academy.
And after carefully reviewing the student body, she discovered that Duel Academy was truly full of "hidden dragons and crouching tigers," with quite a few people well worth exploiting!
Here was a perfect candidate who met every requirement. He could torment Jaden and help her revive. The ideal vessel!
I'll use this man for the return of my love, Jaden!
"Hm?"
In the conference room on the Fusion Division's second floor, Jaden suddenly shivered for no apparent reason.
"What's wrong?" Hikaru asked casually, eyes still on his book.
"Ah, I just got this weird chill down my spine?" Jaden rubbed the back of his head, feeling uneasy all over.
"Huh?" Chazz waved dismissively. "It's obviously because you were so excited about possibly seeing Jesse today that you kicked your blankets off last night, you idiot."
"What are you talking about, Chazz? I slept perfectly fine!" Jaden slammed the table in protest.
Then he went back to scratching his back, muttering, "No, it's not exactly a chill. It's just weird. Really weird. Like something bad is about to happen."
Is that so?
Hikaru looked up at him.
Jaden's instincts had always been reliable.
He looked uncomfortable, glancing around suspiciously at everything.
"You idiot." Chazz sighed.
Still, watching Jaden act like this, even he couldn't help feeling uneasy.
Jaden's intuition was usually spot-on. Could something really be about to happen?
"Ugh." Jaden slumped listlessly onto the table.
That sense of danger had come fast and vanished just as quickly. Unable to figure out what it was about, he drooped back onto the table in mild dejection.
Then came a long sigh. "Man, I'm so bored. I wish I could be like you, Hikaru, challenging all kinds of powerful enemies over summer break. And then there's that opponent Mr. Muto invited for you. I'm so jealous."
"Hm. Boredom and strong enemies, huh?" Hikaru couldn't help snapping his book shut.
"In that case, let me tell you the real reason I called you both here. Jaden, Chazz, would you two like to come with me to find Professor Banner?"
!!!???
Both of them turned to stare at Hikaru in unison.
"The Spellcaster domain has been found?!" Jaden had never forgotten about this.
Hikaru nodded.
There might be some kind of "trial" or "challenge" waiting for them. After all, they had encountered a duel in the Warrior domain.
So this time, Hikaru decided to invite the two most dependable teammates he had!
Just in case!