In this chapter, we begin the Shadow Rider conflict. It only took about eight months to get us here...
A scroll rolled out of its own volition in a place where physical space was blue, revealing its contents for all to read. Unfortunately, nobody were around to do so.
At Central Academy, three days had elapsed since the day the Inter-School Duel tournament had been held, said document read. The foreign visitors spent a not-inconsiderable amount of time on trying to adjust to the general oddity of Central, because more than a thousand eccentrics could get up to some real craziness.
On the very evening of the tournament, Jim, Shirley and Blue were treated to a dozen students from band class marching around and performing sing-along versions of various eighties rock songs. That was unexpected by them for two reasons. The first was that they used no instruments. The second was that Central had no band class. Nobody really tried to stop them, since they weren't really harming or annoying anyone, and did in fact take requests.
On their first morning at Central, Aster received a series of challenges, mainly from fellow HERO users, but there were the occasional other. He accepted most, because they were an opportunity to scout the area for any signs of the metaphysical distortion Sartorius had sent him to investigate. What that got him were a handful of Duels and absolutely no leads.
Over the course of those days, Jim just decided to plain steer of those he did not know to originate from the prior reality; Shirley didn't much like 'em and he trusted Shirley's nose about these things. That decision led them to meet the naked man of the forest, mainly by accident. His next decision was to get the frick out of dodge.
And at some point, Zane and Alexis found time to stand around on the harbor, brooding, musing to themselves about their lives and their futures and their current situations, only occasionally breaking the solace of the other's company. The sun was setting on the scene, tinting the evening sky a vivid shade of fiery gold. Standing tall and aloof, they gazed stoically out over the quiet sea.
Elsewhen still, three of the Avatars of Gentle Darkness met up in the forest for what panned out as an hour-long bout of sorcerous experimentation. With such prospects as materializing Duel Monsters, telekinesis, all kinds of improvised tricks, and conjuring dimensional portals on the program, they went eagerly about their arcane task. In practice, it ended up with Alexis getting lost in other dimensions for the better part of twenty minutes. The blonde and her two friends both attempted making a way back, but their attempts were hampered by their inexperience in the field of dimension-wandering. It took about twenty-thirty attempts before the female mage located Earth's dimension, and by then she had been on six other planes.
On the second afternoon, Jesse joined an upstart cult (extremely upstart, as in, they just had robes and really nothing else) aiming for world domination. For the better part of an hour, they held a ceremony to summon a Duel Monster to the earthly plane, until the faculty stepped in to stop it. It had been good fun, the danish teen thought once it was all over, but no-one else thought so.
When: January 29, 2005 | Where: Chancellor Sheppard's office, Duel Academy Island, Japan, Earth's Dimension
The present time was sometime long after the setting of the sun, and the rise of night. The bright full moon hung high in the obsidian skies, bathing the world in its radiance. Clouds littered the night sky.
In a cave deep beneath Duel Academy, seven individuals were gathered. Save for one of their lot, they all shared one trait in particular: Their eyes were ablaze with scarlet, as was common for the bad guys.
An imaginary camera ran over the group.
One of them was garbed in a dead-red formal gown, one styled to put her beauty and her feminine curves on proud display.
One of them was a tiger.
One of them was a Level six Duel Monster spirit, of the demonic persuasion, in formal robes. On his stomach was a misshapen skull's face and above was a purple-skinned face sporting a pained countenance.
One of them was one of Duel Academy's own.
One of them was a former Pharaoh of egypt.
One of them was another Duel Monster.
"Our enemies have been tested," spoke their leader, his voice brittle and aged. "Our allies are in place. The hour is upon us - it's time to cover the world in shadow!"
Almost to punctuate his statement, a drop of water fell into a cave pool.
"Which of you will lead us to battle?" he asked of his six brothers-and-sisters-in-arms.
His response came in barely a second.
"I shall lead this excursion, to triumph!" swore an prominently-accented woman's voice. In a moment's time, the cavern was filled with the sounds of flapping wings, while the others watched stoically Camula make her exit.
On this darkened and late night, there was only heavy rain as the main performer with the rumbling thunder on backing vocals. No-one sane cared much to go outside in the shoddy weather, which resulted in more than one crashing on the couch of another dorm, incidentally.
From his office, the school chancellor watched the stormy weather, stony-faced. Slight shock ran over his face when he spotted something unusual to brave the storm. That 'something' was a flying coffin, guarded by a swarm of bats. The coffin flew by, unfazed by gravity and the pouring rain, as though there was nothing amiss about that.
"And so, it begins," he noted gravely. "The fight... the war..."
In another universe, history had proven him wrong. In this universe, he might well get his worst fears vindicated.
The heavy-set man turned sideways, towards his desk. It was probably too much to hope for that Napoleon or Midori or Vellian or Lyman would be awake right now, ran a stray thought in his head as he sat down. He quickly got the laptop up and running, and logged onto the Duel Academy intranet. On there, he hurriedly accessed the section on the student body. Typing in specific search parameters, the display changed.
Five rows of ten Duel Monsters card backings appeared on the screen, collectively flipping over to reveal the current top fifty on the island; a group whose looks ran the gamut, and whose membership were primarily from the Ra Yellow and Obelisk Blue houses. The only Slifers in this listing were Syrus Truesdale, neatly boxed in at the third segment of the fourth row, Midori Hibiki, as the seventh member of the second row, and Lyman Banner at the first of the fifth row.
Simplest, the chancellor knew, staring focusedly on the aforementioned screen, was to select the top seven to safeguard the Spirit Keys, but conversely, the others might have talents that could be better suited for the challenges ahead. If one of them were guaranteed, Zane was, and he needed six more.
Number thirty-seven - the Queen of Obelisk Blue. Listed were a wide range of minutiae: Personal name, attained titles, assigned dormitory, Deck type (Eternal Ice) and favorite monsters (White Night King & Queen & Dragon, Glacial Queen), observations made about her skills and style (her Deck displayed a strong multi-faceted offense and a solid defense. Her primary shortcoming was that her strategy wasn't strongly geared towards high-speed summonings).
Number forty-four - Mindy. A first year Obelisk Blue. A power Duelist who used Evil HEROes and Elemental HEROes. In recent weeks, on the rise among the student body. Not necessarily a poor choice for a Spirit Key keeper, but the records of her Duels made it clear to him that she relied on her Fusion Monsters, almost to a fault.
Number twenty-eight - Chazz Princeton, a first year Obelisk Blue who he read favored an unusual menagerie of monsters - the Armed Dragons, the VWXYZ series, the Ojamas, various dragons and demons. Unpredictable was his gaming style in a nutshell.
Number forty-nine - James Harrison, a second year Obelisk Blue whose strategy revolved around the Kuribohs and Winged Kuribohs, all ten versions of both.
Number three - Seika Kohinata, Obelisk Blue, specialized in snakes and other reptiles in general. The Serpentine Beauty read as her sole title. Her record was less than satisfactory, as she rarely seemed to Duel despite being almost the equal of Zane and Harrington. That made her a less than preferable choice, and he went to look up another of the fifty candidates.
Perhaps, voiced another part of his mind, he should entrust the Spirit Keys to the faculty; despite their occasional eccentricities, they were a capable bunch. It was preferable to entrusting them to students.
Another part of his mind whispered that he had discussed the subject of the Shadow Riders with both the Kagemaru the super-intendent, Seto Kaiba and Mister Pegasus: Their skills should be the only criteria, not their age nor their place at the academy. Such had been the conclusion made then, but it still didn't sit right with him.
That very next morning, seven individuals had been chosen and were on their way to his office.
From the left side of the corridor, Doctor Crowler sauntered to the chancellor's office with Zane and Mindy as his entourage.
From the right side of the corridor, Professor Banner likewise approached, accompanied by Syrus, Chazz and Alexis.
The door to the office slid open. Wordlessly, the seven chosen ones stepped inside the brightly-lit room, one by one. Their every step was not the least bit hesitant.
"Welcome," Chancellor Sheppard greeted his unfortunate few. "I'm certain you're wondering why I interrupted your classes and asked you to come here. Well, I won't prevaricate: What I am about to ask of you will decide the fate of the world."
Somber silence descended over the room. It lasted barely a moment before Mindy's face lit up. "I'm in!"
Sheppard allowed a small smile. Despite the gravity of the situation, least there was something for him to find relief and amusement in.
"'The fate of the world', Chancellor?" Zane parroted with detectable skepticism.
"I realize that this sounds hard to believe, Zane," the portly man conceded. "But, I believe it to be the truth of the matter, and the crux of the issue is the Sacred Beast cards."
Varying degrees of confusion showed, readily on Mindy's face, as an arched eyebrow on Zane. Strangely, the term barely seemed to register on the faces of the other five, Sheppard noted. He preferred to not think about what that indicated, especially in the case of Lyman.
"Yes, I was wondering when we were going to get to that," the lanky teacher replied. Sheppard regarded him with a mixture of confusion and alarm. "Through a source I would rather not identify because of how long and convoluted the story is, I know the exact identities of the Shadow Riders aiming to get their hands on the Sacred Beasts."
Undisguised befuddlement flashed over the features of Sheppard, Zane and Mindy.
The man sputtered incoherently for a moment, before composing himself. "You do?!"
"Yes," Vellian affirmed. "An individual named Nightshroud, a vampire woman named Camula, an amazon who goes by Tania, a former egyptian pharaoh, a man called Titan, a man with the unusual name of Don Zaloog, and then there is Amnael, or as we know him here at Duel Academy," Sheppard turned bewildered, "is Lyman Banner."
Everyone in the room spun to look at the cat-carrying teacher.
"Lyman, is this true?" the principal demanded of the alchemy teacher. Zane took a few steps back, unnoticed by the others.
Banner was almost frozen in place. Then, he sighed.
"Yes, it is," he admitted after a pause. "But, Vellian, you were off about one of the names; I've never heard of this 'Nightshroud' before. Where you got that particular name is frankly beyond me."
Varying degrees of confusion formed on the faces of the current Avatars of the Darkness of Justice.
"But if Nightshroud's not one of the Shadow Riders, who is?" Chazz was quick to ask. Zane watched the whole exchange silently, his expression revealing his cluelessness on the matter.
"Evil HERO Malicious," Mindy supplied casually. Once more, the whole room turned, to focus on her. Alexis in particular looked on her friend, thoroughly speechless. The fifteen-year-old flushed at being the center of attention.
Sheppard sat back down, rubbing his forehead and feeling the onset of a migraine. This had gotten too far off-topic. "Please," his voice was firm and raised a tad. All seven turned back in his direction. "So, to summarize: Lyman is one of the Shadow Riders, Vellian somehow knows most of their identities, and so does one of the students. What exactly has been going at this school under my nose?"
"I'll say a lot," Alexis put in. A single glance from Sheppard told her in no uncertain that this was neither the time or the place.
"Now, Lyman, would you care to explain why you are one of the Shadow Riders? Preferably as concisely as possible," he requested of the now-revealed Shadow Rider.
"It began several years ago, during an exploration of a tomb. Like Pegasus had done years before me, I was fortunate enough to stumble upon tablets that held ancient and mighty creatures: The Sacred Beasts," Banner related. "For my intrusion into their resting place, they cursed me with a disease beyond what modern medical science can remedy, which ravaged my body. With the art of alchemy, I constructed a homunculus to place my soul, once it became clear to me that my transgression would prove fatal. Even in this body, I live on borrowed time; my means of survival were the Sacred Beasts, and the immortality they might be able to offer. That was why I joined the Shadow Riders, to keep on living."
Sheppard simply nodded.
"Woooooow," the raven-haired chick marveled at the tale.
"Now, ... actually, I can't say that I care about your particular story, Vellian," Richard deadpanned, leaning back into his chair. "The past two minutes have been puzzling enough without explicating the 'how' of 'how you know the identities of the Shadow Riders', so if you don't mind, I'm just going to assume that you found out because of whatever extracurricular activities the five of you have been doing in the woods every once and in a while."
Alexis flushed momentarily. "You noticed?" the blonde asked sheepishly; she liked to think that she'd been covert about that.
"Well, duh," Mindy put in.
Ignoring the exchange, Sheppard asked, "and you, Mindy? How do you know of the Shadow Riders?"
"Well, this might sound kinda weird, but there was this green cloud-thing who took me and Jasmine to a parallel world when we went camping back in December, and it gave me the Evil HERO Deck," she explained. The continually dimming and resurging befuddlement on their faces now flared up again. "Then we Tag Dueled the Shadow Rider, who was a Duel Monster by the way."
Chazz broke down laughing. Sheppard felt distinctly in the mood for an early retirement and a wine cellar.
"Hello," Mindy winked and struck a muscly-kinda pose with her arms. "Badass Dueling genius hottie, here. Not that impossible."
Zane still stared blankly at his dorm-mate about the whole 'I Dueled a Duel Monster in another universe' thing, but composed himself. "We got off topic. Chancellor, what exactly are these so-called 'Shadow Riders'?"
Sheppard's features darkened. Almost instinctively, the whole room knew then to let silence reign, turning in his direction if they weren't already. With a sigh, he fished a file out of a drawer. "Very little is known about them beyond that they've operated world-wide for about three years, give or take four months," he read from it. "They've occasionally used the pseudonym 'Seven Stars Assassins' to mask their trail."
Banner informally confirmed that detail. Sheppard gave a disinterested 'hmmmm' as a reply.
"If I might ask, who exactly wrote that file on the Shadow Riders?" Alexis inquired, her eyes focused on the dossier.
"That's strictly confidential," Sheppard denied, shelving the file. He found it best to keep the activities of the Tenma brothers under wraps, especially from a student. "But I know what they're after: The Sa-"
"The Sacred Beast cards which're buried beneath the academy," Chazz finished before he could. "Way aheadda ya. And next, you're handing the Spirit Keys over to us. Rest assured, The Chazz is on the case!" he barked and pointed his thumb at himself.
Sheppard stared in disbelief, torn between finding the Obelisk's show of precognition amusing and grating. "To elaborate on points that Mister Princeton failed to cover, the Sacred Beast cards were, due to their immense might, hidden here, right below us all, deep beneath the academy. You see, this academy was built in part to protect the Sacred Beast cards. They and their powers were sealed behind a series of barriers called the Spirit Gates, locked with the seven Spirit Keys. I have reason to believe that their release will mean the end of mankind," he paused, to let it sink in.
To his utter surprise, only Banner reacted in a manner that he thought appropriate. Mindy was almost beaming. Zane was about as stoic as ever. The other four's expressions showed a mixture of unfazed boredom and unwavering (even somewhat exaggerated) confidence.
Well, there's really nothing more for me to tell you," Sheppard went on, and opened the box. Its content, the Spirit Keys, were revealed for all to see. "Just know that accepting the responsibility of guarding the Keys will make you all targets to the Shadow Riders. However, our side is not without advantages: An ancient edict on them stipulates that they cannot be stolen, only won fairly, which is why they will seek you out in a Duel. I doubt that it will happen, but if any of you wants to back away from this challenge, now is the time to speak up. Who here feels like saving the world?"
A moment passed, then came the answers.
"Eh," shrugged Mindy, "oughta be fun for an evening or two," and took a Key.
"Heh," Zane scoffed, and reached for one. "I too accept."
"Rest assured, Chancellor," Vellian grinned as he took a Spirit Key. "I have it on good authority that we pull through. Not an idle boast or a sentiment, just a good hard fact."
"Why not? It might even be fun to see what they've got," Alexis smirked, and took it.
Chazz wordlessly took his.
"Awww, you guys already did the cool one-liners," Syrus complained.
Lyman's expression softened. "And I suppose I'll be left out?" he asked in a resignated tone.
"Yes," Sheppard confirmed. "As a Shadow Rider, you cannot be trusted with one, so I will safeguard it instead. However, I have one question for you, Lyman: Where on Earth are the Shadow Riders hiding at this moment?"
Quietude settled in droves around the office.
Any form of jovialty or good humor evaporated from the alchemy teacher's face. He debated mentally which side - the school or the Shadow Riders - to remain loyal to. One side could mean his survival, and the other was rather ethically superior by way of not seeking the end of the world.
Barely a fourth of a minute had passed before his answer came. "Isn't it obvious, honestly? There's only one place on this planet where we can operate from while having Duel Academy under observation at all times, and that place is the school itself, the Abandoned Dorm."
A wave of gasps escaped the assembly.
"So, what's exactly the plan?" Mindy voiced, thereby puncturing the tension in the room. "I mean, other than 'we take these guys down and we save our school'?"
"I like that plan," Alexis intoned.
After a moment's thought, Sheppard announced, "the plan is a simple one: Tomorrow morning, we'll gather outside the Abandoned Dorm. We'll be taking this fight to them. Hopefully, we can thereby avoid involving the whole school in the coming conflict."
"Yes," Zane intoned darkly, "let's hope so."
Mindy rolled her eyes, finding their grim mood entirely baseless. Besides their entire planet becoming the center of a hell dimension and that they all would be doomed to eternal agony of all kinds, what was the worst that could happen? "Well-if-that's-everything-I'll-just-take-Lex-so-we-can-go-prepare!-Card-Shack-here-we-come," she announced as a single hurried word, grabbed the blonde's wrist and promptly absconded with her faster than anyone could manage to form a protracted objection to. Three-point-four seconds, and they were outta sight.
In her aftermath, a speechless silence hung thick within the air molecules of that particular room, for about eight seconds.
Zane was the first to speak. "Chancellor, I happen to have a question regarding this mission. If the Sacred Beast cards are as dangerous as you make them out to be, why haven't you attempted to get rid of either the cards or the keys?
"If it had only been that simple," Sheppard muttered. "We didn't, because we knew too little about what that might cause. If their card forms were destroyed, would that put an end to them or release them? And if they were destroyed by the destruction of the cards, what would happen with the mystical energies vested in the cards the mselves? Simply put, we refrained from destroying them because we feared the very real possibility that their destruction could be as devastating as their freedom."
Around the rectangular room that was locally and informally known as the Card Trade Room, Jasmine, Alexis & Mindy were to be found, as they had been for the past ten-twenty minutes. The obsidian-haired teen was briefly occupied with the Fusion Monster compartment, taking a pile of twenty-thirty cards with her for examination, and walked back to the table.
"Spill," Jasmine smirked slyly. "What'd Sheppard want?"
"Just a lotta stuff about the Shadow Riders, like there's seven of them, and they're hiding down at the Abandoned Dorm," Mindy reiterated the details of their gathering while examining Fusion Weapon, "but get this: Professor Banner is one of them!"
Jasmine hesitated a moment, out of surprise. "Really? Okay, that I didn't see coming. You dead sure?"
"Yuh-huh," Mindy affirmed. "The real weird part? Professor Crowler already knew all about the Shadow Riders, like he was freaking psychic or something."
She mulled that over for a second.
"Okay, seriously, Lex," the ginger looked squarely at the blonde, "mind cutting it out with the whole secretive act and tell us what you've been doing in the forest? Because yeah, kinda obvious that there's a connection."
The Obelisk Blue glanced briefly at her friends. Jasmine stared back. Mindy looked sorta curious. Alexis supposed that it was long overdue she told them.
"I practice magic," she told them.
Jasmine shot her a skeptical and scrutinizing look. "That's all? Yeah okay, cool."
"'Cool' is right," Mindy was audibly excited and beamed with glee, standing up forcefully. "Show me!"
Brief-lived shock flashed over Alexis' features. That hadn't been really the reaction she'd expected; another part of her mind countered that she knew better, and had all along. "Sure thing, gimme a sec," she told them. Her eyes darted left and right, furtively examining the area.
A dozen metres away, in the Fusion card section, a stack of cards began to move up and out. As though guided by an invisible hand, they floated ploddingly through the air, and landed gently on the table right in front of Jasmine and Mindy.
"Telekinesis, huh?" the raven-haired female commented, unfazed by it, as though nothing was amiss. "Neat trick. What else did ya learn? Actually, never mind, let's keep that a surprise for now, more fun that way. Besides, Decks to work on, yannow."
Alexis nodded, and reached physically for the stack she'd levitated over. In unison, they began searching through the Monsters and Spells and Traps.
The blonde one shuffled deftly and quickly through the stack. Two Fusion Weapons; a Fusion Sage; a Versago the Destroyer; a Fusion Gate; three Double Fusions; a Quadruple Fusion; a Paradox Fusion; a Spiritual Fusion, three Kings of The Swamp.
The brunette one skimmed through her bunch. She found a The Earth - Hex-Sealed Fusion; two The Dark - Hex-Sealed Fusions; a The Fire - Hex-Sealed Fusion; seven Polymerization cards; an Alternate Fusion and a Gem Knight Master Diamond; a Re-Fusion...
The raven-haired one searched her pile, finding an Elemental HERO Infernal Flare Wingman; a King of the Swamp; a Fusion Barrier; two Fusion Back-Up Units; a Fusion Recovery and a Fusion Front Base; three Fusion Shots; one Fusion Birth.
Moments trailed by, in silence and in contemplation, before about twenty cards were picked from that particular collection, and passed to Mindy.
The Obelisk began looking through them.
That Versago the Destroyer thing, she found right up her alley - a badass-looking demon. His (or so she figured the creature's gender) ability was to fill in for another monster in a Fusion Summoning, which was one she saw great mileage in.
Fusion Front Base, however, she deemed a definite inclusion; a lasting defense against direct damage tactics was totally something she would benefit from - that one Duel with Jotaro the Ra Yellow last week had been all kinds of annoying because when he wasn't blocking her attacks or countering her moves, he'd been a pain with his marine monsters, oh what a pain...
An hour did pass, almost. Mindy left with five less Elemental HEROes, plus a slew of new monsters and traps. Her two amigas left with nothing but what they had checked in with, as even the thousands-broad gamut of Duel Monster cards in there had presented the ice queen and aspiring sorceress of Obelisk Blue with little of interest.
Seated in his chair once again, Sheppard stared firmly and vaguely worriedly at the current headmaster of Slifer Red. The headmaster of Obelisk Blue stood aside the man, his arms folded and his countenance focused on Lyman.
The alchemy teacher sat opposite Sheppard, stroking his cat.
"I'm certain you wonder why I asked you back here," the Chancellor opened detachedly. "The 'why' is a simple matter: Do you know what exactly happened at the Abandoned Dorm four years ago?"
Lyman hesitated to answer. He scratched Pharaoh just a tad harder than usual and received a disapproving mrrrow for it. All three men decided to overlook the cat's outcry.
"Yes, but..." he faltered for a moment. "I won't lie - you won't like the story, nor will you appreciate me much afterwards."
"We'll be the judges of that," Vellian replied, almost amused despite the business at hand. "Tell us everything you know."
Banner took a deep breath. This, he knew would damn him. "I'm honestly not sure where to begin... about four years ago, one of us - Don Zaloog, I think - concluded that we needed power. We turned to the very arcane powers we sought to awaken. That was the day everything changed for us. That day... we were contacted by a demon," he accentuated that singular word with what was in Vellian's ears pure fear.
"A... demon?" Sheppard parroted, skeptical and confounded. "Do you mean some kind of spirit creature, the sort that Bastion Misawa favors?"
Lyman shook his head. Pharaoh snuck a brief glance at his owner before turning away. "Not in the least. They look like humans or animals, but that particular demon looks like nothing I have a word for... save a Lovecraftian horror, if you're familiar with the works of Lovecraft."
Sheppard wasn't; the man decided to look the term up later. This talk of demons and magic reminded him of Midori's predicament, however.
"And do I want to know how precisely this alleged 'demon' relates to the Abandoned Dorm affair?" Vellian inquired coolly, regarding the man with suspicion.
Lyman paused again, this time for almost one third of a minute. "The demon we met... told us so many things about the universe, and helped us attain mystic power for ourselves by means of the Shadow Charms, objects crafted to imitate the legendary Millennium Items, their energies derived from the urban-mythical Shadow Realm itself. I would almost call it kindly, generous, if it wasn't for my certainty that everything that it did was for its own amusement or benefit, one or the other. All it wanted in return... was payment, so that was what we, I, gave..."
Shock washed over Crowler and Sheppard. A taut silence filled the room.
"You sold them?!" Vellian almost-hollered with restrained disgust, yet didn't move from his spot. "You sold OUR STUDENTS?! Almost fifty human lives, gone in a heartbeat, because you wanted to keep on living?! How could you?!"
He glanced tiredly at him. "I believe there is an old saying about desperate men that applies here."
"I believe I've heard enough," Sheppard spoke, his voice firm as steel. "Banner, these actions are completely unbecoming for a teacher at this institution. Our highest priority is to safeguard the students in our care, yet you treated them as barter for your own convenience, and while I regrettably can't file charges against you for this - what legal authority would believe this supernatural nonsense? - I can fire you on the spot and have you removed from the island."
Lyman sat in silence, processing that statement. The statement led him to a conclusion most undesirable. "Yes, yes... of course," he murmured absently.
Elemental HERO Infernal Flare Wingman | 8/Fusion/DARK/Warrior/Effect | 2500/2500 | "Elemental HERO Flame Wingman" + "Elemental HERO Necroshade" | Effect: Must be Fusion Summoned and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. Any monster this card battles loses 300 ATK/DEF for each "Elemental HERO" in your Graveyard. When this card destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard: Inflict damage to your opponent equal to the ATK of the destroyed monster in the Graveyard.
Triple Fusion | Normal Spell | Effect: Pay 1000 Life Points. Up to 3 times this turn, you can Fusion Summon 1 Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, using monsters from your hand or your side of the field as Fusion Materials (you do not need "Polymerization" for these Fusion Summonings).
Quadruple Fusion | Normal Spell | Effect: Pay 1500 Life Points. Up to 4 times this turn, you can Fusion Summon 1 Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, using monsters from your hand or your side of the field as Fusion Materials (you do not need "Polymerization" for these Fusion Summonings).
Fusion Barrier | Continuous Trap | Once per turn, you can negate the attack of a monster (either one controlled by you or your opponent). You must control a Fusion Monster to activate and resolve this effect, and if you do not control one, destroy this card.
Fusion Back-up Units | Equip Spell | Equip only to a Fusion Monster. When it destroys a monster (on the field) by battle, its controller draws a card.
