A light tap on James' shoulder startled him out of his mourning. He looked up to see a boy of about twelve staring at him. "You okay mister?" he asked.
James nodded, struggling to get the words out. "Yeah... yeah, kid, I'm fine." At that point, James would've settled back into his thoughts and let the kid go on his way, but unfortunately for him the kid had spotted the Deck box fastened around his waist.
"Hey mister, you're a duelist, aren't you?" he said with a grin.
"I guess..." James really wasn't in the mood to deal with this excitable little kid. "Look, kid, I know-"
"Edward!" the boy interrupted. "My name's Edward."
"Whatever," James said. "Look, Edward, I'm not exactly in the best of moods right now, so can't you just run along and bother someone else?"
But Edward was having none of it. "If you're a duelist, then you have to accept my challenge!" he declared.
"Challenge?"
"That's right! I'm going around challenging as many adults as I can find to a duel." Edward explained. "Then when I beat them, it proves that I'm just as strong as a grown up! And my mum told me that if you're a true duelist, then then you have to accept any challenge, no matter who makes it, where it's made, or when it's made."
"Yeah, well no-one ever accused me of being a true duelist," James grunted, before standing up from his bench. "Listen kid, I'm not interested in any challenge, or any special gauntlet you're trying to drag me into. Now please leave me alone." He turned and began walking back the way he'd come, towards the city centre. However, he'd only gone a few steps before he became aware of Edward walking in time beside him. He stopped dead. "Are you following me?" he asked.
Edward nodded cheerfully. "Yep! And I'll keep following you until you accept my challenge."
"Sorry kid, that's never going to happen," James replied, and carried on walking with the boy beside him. Slowly, his mind began to drift back to the question he'd been pondering for quite a while before Edward had interrupted him: how could be make things right with Matt? He would definitely have to apologize, but the main question was how. How could he sum up everything he'd done wrong and everything horrible he-
"Where're we going?"
Once again, James' thoughts were interrupted by the kid, who was still walking alongside him, staring at him with a wide, expectant grin. James gritted his teeth and, doing his best to ignore Edward, began to try and formulate the apology in his head. He wondered if he should buy Matt a gift…
"What sort of Deck do you use?"
...but then decided against it. It would make him look cheap and desperate, as though he was trying to buy Matt back. There was also...
"Hey mister!"
...there was also the question of how the others would react. Would they...
"Hey! Hey mister!"
...simply accept an apology made to Matt, or would he have to apologize to each of them individually. Regardless, he decided to do that, because even though...
"Are you a good duelist?"
...even though he hadn't scorned any of them directly...
"What's your favourite card?"
...they had still endured a great deal of his bad tempers...
"Hey mister!"
...and at the very least...
"Do you use Mirror Force?"
...they deserved...
"Hey mister!"
Finally, James could take it no more. He rounded on the boy and started shouting at him. Now, James would never quite remember exactly what he shouted at the boy, owing mostly to his sheer frustration clouding his memories. But he did know that it was scathing, unwholesome, and generally rather rude. He also vaguely remembered it lasting for approximately a minute and a half.
After he'd finished his tirade, he stood there breathing heavily, watching Edward's tiny brain try to process all of the words he'd just heard, and marvelling at the fact that he hadn't been scared off.
Then, amazingly, Edward grinned. "So does that mean you accept my challenge? Does it? Does it?"
James would later realise that it was a minor miracle that he didn't end up punching the boy. As it was, he stood there, irritated beyond belief. This kid was pushing all the wrong buttons here.
"Yeah..." he said slowly. He certainly didn't want to be dueling right now, but at least this would allow him to vent some of his frustrations, and thankfully it would get this kid to leave him alone. "Yeah, alright kid, I'll duel you."
Edward's face lit up. "YES! Okay, let's start now!" James nodded in agreement, and reached into his rucksack to get his dueling equipment.
"Duel disk, set!" Both players retreated to a safe distance, and activated the duel disks affixed to their arms. "D-Gazer, set!" Both D-Gazers flashed on, and as if on cue, the augmented reality field rose up around them, giving their surroundings a green hue.
"AR Vision – link established."
"DUEL!"
Edward LP: 4000
James LP: 4000
"I'll go first, I draw!" Edward declared, not waiting for James to argue. "I'll set one monster and end my turn." His face-down monster card materialized.
James was worried about losing, but not too much. After all, this kid didn't have a Number as far as he could tell, so he wasn't in any danger. "I Normal Summon Thunder King Rai-Oh." What appeared to be a blue piece of torso armour materialized, with electrodes floating on either side.
Thunder King Rai-Oh: Thunder-Type/LIGHT/Level 4/ATK 1900/DEF 800
"Battle! Thunder King Rai-Oh, attack the face-down monster!" Rai-Oh shot a bolt of lightning at the set monster, which flipped up to receive the attack. James briefly caught sight of a strange necromancer – a skeleton wearing a dark red cloak – before it was struck by the lightning and exploded.
Phantom Magician: Spellcaster-Type/DARK/Level 3/ATK 600/DEF 700
"I activate Phantom Magician's effect!" Edward declared. "When it's destroyed by battle, I can take any HERO monster from my Deck with 1000 attack points or less, and Special Summon it to my field in Defence Position." He sifted through his Deck eagerly, and picked out a single card. "I choose Vision HERO Vyon!" A white-armoured warrior appeared. It wore white gauntlets, and a white helmet with no eye or mouth hole visible. Instead, the only feature about the helmet was a single violet-coloured gem that sat directly in the middle of its face, in the crude imitation of a cyclops.
Vision HERO Vyon: Warrior-Type/DARK/Level 4/ATK 1000/DEF 1200
"Now Vyon's effect activates." Edward said, obviously proud of his moves. "When it's Summoned, I can send any Level four of lower Vision HERO monster from my Deck to the Graveyard. I choose Vision HERO Increase!" He extracted the card from his Deck and sent it to the Graveyard.
"Vision HEROs..." James wondered, trying to remember everything he knew about them. The answer was basically nothing. "Oh well, I'll set one card and end my turn." His face-down appeared behind Rai-Oh.
"It's my turn, I draw. By discarding one Vision HERO monster, I can Special Summon this card from my hand." Edward sent Vision HERO Minimum Ray from his hand to the Graveyard, then picked another from his hand to play. "Come on, Vision HERO Farris!" A new warrior took to the field. This warrior's armour was white and bronze, and it had massive metal clawed gloves on its hands, which looked like a mole's digging claws. It had the same cyclops-esque helmet, with a single red eye in the centre.
Vision HERO Farris: Warrior-Type/DARK/Level 5/ATK 1600/DEF 1800
"And when this card is Summoned, I can send another Vision HERO monster from my Deck to my Graveyard." Edward explained.
With a gasp, James realised what Edward was trying to do. 'He's loading his Graveyard with Vision HEROs to gain some sort of effect,' he thought. At that moment, he panicked and made a rash decision. "I activate Thunder King Rai-Oh's effect! By Tributing it, I can negate an opponent's inherent Special Summon and destroy the monster!" Rai-Oh dissipated, and the electrodes that had surrounded it fired one more blast of lightning at Farris, obliterating it where it stood.
Edward look confused. "Why did you do that?" he asked. "Your monster was stronger than mine. You didn't need to Tribute it to destroy something weaker than it."
"Never you mind, kid," James snapped, but he was actually kicking himself on the inside for being so hasty.
Edward shrugged. "Whatever, I activate the Spell Card, Tremendous Fire! With this card, you take 1000 damage, and I take 500 damage." The Spell launched a maelstrom of fire that engulfed both players.
James LP: 4000 → 3000
Edward LP: 4000 → 3500
"And now for my favourite part!" Edward said excitedly. "I activate the effects of Vision HERO Increase and Vision HERO Minimum Ray in my Graveyard." His Graveyard zone lit up, and a ghostly image of both cards appeared behind him. "If either of these monsters are in my Graveyard when I take damage, I can place them both in my Spell & Trap Card Zone." The two Monster Cards materialized face-up in his Spell & Trap Card Zone. Above each card, a ghostly apparition of its respective monster's head and torso appeared, surrounded by some sort of white, crackling energy.
"So that's what you were after." James said. "You wanted to fill your Graveyard with Vision HEROs, so you could put them all back on the field at once."
Edward nodded enthusiastically. "That's right. Now I activate the Spell Card, Vision Polymerization!" The new Spell Card appeared between the two Vision HERO cards. "With this card, I can fuse monsters with Vision in their names in my Spell & Trap Card Zone to form a new Fusion Monster. I fuse Vision HERO Minimum Ray with Vision HERO Increase!" Both Monster Cards dissipated into particles of light, which swirled into the Spell Card. "Fusion Summon! Appear, Vision HERO Adoration!" The card let of a burst of light, and out of it appeared another warrior. This one was all silver and black, with four coattails flapping from its waist, spiked shoulder pads, and a triangular gem directly in the centre of its forehead.
Vision HERO Adoration: Warrior-Type/Fusion/DARK/Level 8/ATK 2800/DEF 2100
James took a step back. "A Fusion Summon? Man, I thought I was the only one who uses those nowadays…"
"Next I'll switch Vision HERO Vyon to Attack Position!" Edward declared, altering the position of the card on his duel disk. Vyon stood up and cracked its knuckles, itching for battle. "Now go, Vision HERO Vyon! Direct attack!" The white-armoured warrior dashed forwards to strike James.
Once again in a panic, James responded rashly. "I activate the Trap Card, Call of the Haunted!" His Continuous Trap Card activated. "With this, I can revive a monster from my Graveyard! Reappear, Thunder King Rai-Oh!" The blue piece of armour flashed into view, hovering between James and the Vision HERO.
Thunder King Rai-Oh: Thunder-Type/LIGHT/Level 4/ATK 1900/DEF 800
Vyon stopped in its tracks and looked back at Edward, clearly not that eager to attack such a stronger monster.
"It's ok. Since the number of monsters on your field has changed, I can call a replay and stop my attack." Edward said, and Vyon somersaulted back onto Edward's field. "Go, Vision HERO Adoration, finish off Rai-Oh!" Adoration began to charge crackling red energy within the gem in its helmet. With a cry of triumph, it fired a red laser across the field. Rai-Oh was consumed and destroyed, and the laser went on to strike James in the chest. He gasped in pain and staggered back.
James LP: 3000 → 2100
"That ends my turn," Edward said proudly. It was clear that he was used to things going his way.
James tried to keep a level head as he began his move. "It's my turn, draw. I Normal Summon Upwards Quarkonic!" Out of the card flew a tiny yellow orb, no larger than an Overlay Unit. Miniscule little bolts of electricity ran across its surface. It settled onto James' field, and Edward stared at it, clearly unimpressed. Then he gasped as something appeared behind it. It was a ghost or spectre of some sort, and it was so translucent it was barely visible in the sunlight. However, he could make out what seemed to be a the top half of a demon's body – it was only from the waist up, so there were no visible legs – and the head of some sort of demonic horse. The entire monster was tinted yellow. It cupped its clawed hands around the yellow orb, not actually touching it, but guarding it possessively, almost tenderly.
Upwards Quarkonic: Thunder-Type/LIGHT/Level 1/ATK 0/DEF 0
"Upwards Quarkonic's effect activates." James declared. "When this card is Normal Summoned, I can add one copy of Downwards Quarkonic or one copy of Hadronic Fusion from my Deck to my hand. I choose the Hadronic Fusion Spell Card." His duel disk extracted the card, which he them placed straight into his Spell & Trap Card Zone. "Then I'll activate it! This card allows me to fuse monsters from my hand and field to form a new Fusion Monster with Hadronic in its name!"
"So you can Fusion Summon too?" Edward asked with rapt curiosity.
James nodded. "With this Spell, I fuse the Upwards Quarkonic on my field, with the Upwards Quarkonic and Downwards Quarkonic in my hand." He sent all three monsters to his Graveyard. The Monster Cards materialized on his field briefly, before breaking up into particles of light and being absorbed by the Spell Card. "Fusion Summon! Appear, Hadronic Protonian!" Out of the Spell Card flew another tiny orb of light, which settled into place on James' field. Behind it materialized another ghostly yellow creature. This one was even more terrifying than the last one. It had an incredibly muscular chest, four arms with clawed fingers at the end of each, and the same demonic horse head. This time, the horse had six eyes, positioned in columns of three on either side of its head. Like the previous incarnation, it cupped all four of its hands tenderly around the yellow orb, without actually touching it.
Hadronic Protonian: Thunder-Type/Fusion/LIGHT/Level 1/ATK 0/DEF 0
Author-made cards:
Upwards Quarkonic
Thunder-Type/LIGHT/Level 1/ATK 0/DEF 0
When this card is Normal Summoned: You can add 1 "Downwards Quarkonic" or 1 "Hadronic Fusion" from your Deck to your hand.
Downwards Quarkonic
Thunder-Type/DARK/Level 1/ATK 0/DEF 0
When this card is Normal Summoned: You can add 1 "Upwards Quarkonic" or 1 "Hadronic Fusion" from your Deck to your hand.
Hadronic Fusion
Spell Card
Send, from your hand or field to the Graveyard, Fusion Material Monsters listed on a "Hadronic" Fusion Monster, then Special Summon that Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck (this Special Summon is treated as a Fusion Summon). If this card is in your Graveyard: You can shuffle this card from the Graveyard into the Deck, then target 1 face-up "Quarkonic" monster you control; Normal Summon that target.
Fun Fact #31: I hope you weren't waiting for some ultra-amazing-broken archetype from my character, because the reality is a little less exciting.
Fun Fact #32: No, Edward's name isn't a reference to Twilight. No, we're not giving him a Vampire Deck. Don't be silly. His name is actually a reference to Aster Phoenix, who was named Edo Phoenix in the Japanese version, and who used the Vision HEROs as his primary Deck in the GX manga.
Fun Fact #33: We've given plenty of screentime (or pagetime?) to Ritual Summons, Synchro Summons, Xyz Summons, and even the Second Summons of Gemini monsters. Well, we feel it's about time Fusion Summoning got it's fair share of the glory, so here you go.
Fun Fact #34: Just like the Spheres and the Sealed Beasts, the Vision HEROs are an archetype that never really got a chance to shine outside the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX manga, since only Vision HERO Adoration and Vision HERO Trinity were ever released into the OCG/TCG. So in this story, they get another shot at greatness. You can find more about the Vision HEROs and their effects on the Yu-Gi-Oh! Wiki, and you can find colour images of them by Google Image searching any of their names (a fan was nice enough to create colour images for them).
Fun Fact #35: We may or may not decide to include the Masked HEROs in a future story as well. It's certainly a possibility. Let us know if you'd like to see the Masked HEROs - and while you're at it, tell us if there are any other archetypes you'd really like to see. However, you may rest assured that we will never ever never ever never ever do a story about the Elemental HEROs. They've gotten PLENTY of screentime already.