A/N: HALLELUJAH! THIS MONSTER OF A CHAPTER IS FINALLY DONE! ONLY TOOK ME AN ENTIRE MONTH!

Seriously, I came up with the idea for this at the start of December. It's January 8th now. I complained about how difficult it was just while writing the transcript to a friend, and after they asked me if I was doing it for fun, my answer was "I'm doing it for fun, but it's not fun!" With this done, I retract that statement, but still.

Anyways, so, my muses came up with this idea because they decided that the Code-V version of the Fusion Dimension needed a bit of backstory, since while it's mostly the same, there's still some differences from canon. My free time for an entire month should've been worth this.

For reference of where this takes place in the timeline, this is set about five years pre-Standard Arc, meaning it's three to four years pre-invasion. Reizo and Reiji won't end up accidentally visiting the Fusion Dimension for another two-ish years. Furthermore, assume anyone whose clothes I don't describe are the standard Obelisk Blue uniform.

Also, fair warning, remember how way back in the prologue of "Code-V: Rebirth", I said I would be using an odd mix of TCG and OCG names? That comes into play during this.


White

Each year, the top five students from Obelisk Blue participated in a ceremonial Duel with Academia's best student, Yuri. The results from that Duel would determine their future, for they could be promoted if they performed well enough. It was every student's dream to become a member of the fabled Horakhty White class. The privilege to participate in secret missions for the glory of Academia and to have stories told about them by the other students. The choice to use their own Decks and wear their own clothes rather than be assigned a uniform and forced to use a variant of the "Ancient Gear" Deck that all students were given on their first day, as proof of their strength. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; you either made it or you didn't, because the ones that failed were booted to the lowest rank possible and rendered unable to climb back up.

Dennis Macfield was one such lucky individual. At the age of just eleven, Dennis had secured himself the number five spot on the list of Academia's top students. He at least had a chance to make it, compared to the people already in the class.

Edo Phoenix, the oldest member, whose insistence on protecting his fellow classmates had ultimately been the cause of his defeat, promoted because he'd almost wiped out all of Yuri's Life Points in one turn—at two separate times. The Tyler Sisters, Gloria and Grace, whose teamwork had nearly been enough to win them the Duel. The year after, the Miyamoto siblings Hitomi and Akihiko attempted a similar ploy, managing to draw the Duel out for twenty turns before Yuri was able to defeat them. And lastly, Liu Masaki, whose downfall was that he decided to attack his own classmates before turning his attention to Yuri.

Still, if he wanted any chance of competing with that, he had to do something spectacular.

He had to do something that no one expected.

He had to win.

The redhead sighed, dragging a hand through his hair as he looked at his Deck, spread across the table before him. It had to be perfect, otherwise there was no way he could win this.

A hand clamped down on his back, and he stiffened in surprise, until he turned to see who it was. Elias Roth, a fourteen-year-old with blonde hair and pale blue eyes hidden behind a thick pair of glasses. He was Dennis' roommate, and the current best student in Obelisk Blue. Elias shook his head. "Dennis, you've been staring at your cards for hours. As long as you have our trump card, there's no way we'll lose. Now come on, we have to get going or else we'll be late for the Duel."

"Ah… right. Guess I'm just nervous, Elias." Dennis offered half a smile, and in one smooth motion, assembled his Deck. He did have two copies of the card his friends wanted in his Deck, just like they had their own copies of it, to increase their chances of being able to play it… but he also had a trump card of his own, something no one would expect.

He just hoped it was worth his money to get it.

Elias copied the half-smile. "Save it for after we win. C'mon, we have to go meet up with Yukiko now."

Five minutes after leaving their room, the two boys met up with a fifteen-year-old girl wearing an older version of the Obelisk Blue jacket over her uniform, the jacket having belonged to her elder brother that had graduated several years ago. Her straight, jet-black hair fell to her mid back, with her lilac-colored bangs side swept and tucked behind her ears. This was Kusaba Yukiko, friend of Elias and Dennis… and upon seeing the boys, she rolled her pink eyes at them. "Geez, finally. You guys should've been here a lot earlier."

"Yeah, well, Dennis here spent way too much time staring at his cards," Elias retorted.

Dennis scoffed at the accusation. "In my defense, the Duel doesn't start for another ten minutes."

"Maybe, but Scarlett and," Yukiko made a face, "Hiroshi are both already in there. It could look bad on us for showing up later than them."

"You two worry too much," Dennis said with a shrug.


Dennis was right, being early to the arena was for nothing. The five of them were the only ones in there other than an albino Chinese boy wearing a Slifer Red jacket and jeans along with a pair of white sneakers. He was just sitting on top of the barrier between the field and the stands, and upon noticing that all five of them were here, he jumped down to greet them. "So, you five are the top this year?" He chuckled to himself. "I wonder if any of you have the guts to be in White. You certainly don't look like it!"

Mataki Hiroshi, Obelisk Blue's second-best student, took offence to the young boy's statement. He was seventeen, the oldest currently in the room, and he was only two wins shy of surpassing Elias. To say that he didn't have the guts to make it into White… and by a random kid that didn't know his place! "Listen here, kid, I'm sure you think you're hot stuff and all, but—"

The ten-year-old grinned and cut him off. "You do realize that I am a member of Horakhty White and have every right to say what I want, yes? I just got stuck wearing this jacket because of an…" The boy made a face. "…incident with the laundry."

Hiroshi paled, the only color remaining on his face being his sea-green eyes. "You're a—but—how? You can't be more than ten!"

"Almost eleven, actually, thank you very much," the boy retorted, glowering at Hiroshi, "and if you think I'm too young for this… you're in for a rude awakening when you meet Yuri." And with that, the boy flicked his long white bangs over his shoulder, offered one last smirk to the stunned Hiroshi, and jumped back up on the ledge.

Scarlett Dean, the fourth-best student present, stared at Hiroshi with her brown eyes for a good moment or so before she chuckled, smacking his back playfully. "Well, number two, looks like you just got schooled by a kid."

The dark-haired boy groaned, "Shut up, Scarlett."

While that exchange happened, Elias and Yukiko exchanged a few words, and the most prestigious teachers at the school found places in the seats to observe the coming match. Meanwhile Dennis let some of his worries go. That boy had to be Masaki, and Masaki was even younger than him. Him being the youngest of the top five wouldn't matter, only his skill in this Duel would.

Then, finally, the Professor himself entered the arena, a very young boy at his side. The boy was dressed rather plainly, in white pants and a button-up violet shirt that matched the majority of his hair, but carried himself with an air of superiority that more than made up for the fact that he was only nine years old.

That fact threw Dennis for a bit of a loop as he stood at a rigid attention while the Professor passed him. He'd never seen Yuri before—not many at the school had—but from the rumors of how strong he was and his Dueling record to show for it, he was honestly expecting… someone older. Especially since this was the fifth year that this ceremonial Duel would occur… that meant Yuri was only five when the first one happened.

But, soon enough, it was time for the Duel to start. The turn order was decided—Yuri, Dennis, Scarlett, Elias, Hiroshi, and finally Yukiko—and everyone had their Duel Disks on and their starting hands drawn. Sparing a glance at his cards, Dennis couldn't have asked for a better hand. Polymerization, Performage Ball Rider, Performage Trick Clown, Negate Attack… and a copy of the card Elias had suggested they all use. He looked over to Elias, and gave the slightest bit of a nod to alert his friend that he had it already. Elias grinned a little, hiding it by looking at his cards, and passed the word on to Yukiko.

"I'll start… with the Spell Polymerization," Yuri decided, sliding it into his Duel Disk and sending two of the cards in his hand to the Graveyard. "I fuse Predator Plant Cordyceps and Predator Plant Hyena Catopsis from my hand!"

For a brief moment, both of his monsters appeared on the field. The first was a shrivelled plant with an angry red head set atop its stem, an unhealthy mass around its roots. The second, a green hyena-like plant with it leaves curling out from its body, its head crowned with a smiling yellow flower. Both monsters were promptly absorbed into the light behind Yuri.

"Two beautiful flowers with a deadly alluring fragrance! Become one right now, and reveal the corpse flower hidden behind your petals! Fusion Summon! Appear! Level 7! Predator Plant Chimera Rafflesia!"

A mass of thick, twisting vines appeared on Yuri's field. Atop of where the vines met was a massive rafflesia flower, the pink petals splashed with white. Several of the smaller vines branched out, mouths at the end of them that snapped hungrily as they floated around.

Predator Plant Chimera Rafflesia: DARK Plant-Type / Level 7 / 2500 ATK / 2000 DEF

"I'll Set a single card face-down and end my turn," Yuri said, still smiling. "Now, let's see what you weaklings can do!"

He already got a Fusion Monster on the field, Dennis thought, eyeing the card in his hand that he wished he could have been able to have on the field before Yuri could do that. But it's not the one I've heard about. That means we still have a chance. Dennis took a deep breath, and grabbed a card from his hand. "It's my turn, then! I'll also be starting with the Spell Polymerization, and I'll fuse the Performage Ball Rider and Performage Trick Clown in my hand!"

A tiny clown wearing a red cape and a matching hat with yellow stars on it, balancing on a massive, colorful ball, alongside a larger clown dressed in a blue jester's outfit, balancing upside-down on an orange ball the size of his palm, appeared before Dennis for a moment, before they were absorbed into the spiral behind him.

"Acrobat whose balancing act spreads joy! Merge with the infinitely reforming trickster, and become a new witch that spurs the sky! Fusion Summon! Appear, Level 7! Performage Trapeze Force Witch!"

A woman in a skintight sky-blue leotard appeared before Dennis. She had a dark-purple skirt over the top of her leotard, the same color of fabric that covered her chest and made up the extra-poofy sleeves she had on. An orange mask covered her eyes while a purple hat rested atop her teal-colored hair. She spun the stringless trapeze in her hand, and the ends of the bar spouted strings of light for her to hang from.

Performage Trapeze Force Witch: DARK Spellcaster-Type / Level 7 / 2400 ATK / 1800 DEF

"But it's boring if Trapeze Force Witch is all alone on the field, don't you think?" Dennis continued. "I activate the effect of Performage Trick Clown in my Graveyard; the turn he's sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon him by making his ATK and DEF 0!"

Performage Trick Clown: LIGHT Spellcaster-Type / Level 4 / 1600 → 0 ATK / 1200 → 0 DEF

"A zero ATK and DEF monster…" Yuri observed, narrowing his eyes at it. "I fail to see how that does you any good."

Dennis shrugged, saying, "Well, right now I'm only setting the stage for later. I Set the remaining two cards in my hand face-down and end my turn."

"Then that means it's my turn," Scarlett proudly declared, taking a card from her hand and slamming it on the blade of her Duel Disk. "I start by Summoning Volcannon Fenix Bomber in Attack Mode!"

An armored phoenix with a large hangar bay attached to its underside appeared on the field.

Volcannon Fenix Bomber: FIRE Machine-Type / Level 4 / 1900 ATK / 1600 DEF

"But it won't be staying for long, because I activate its effect, Tributing it in order to Special Summon Volcannon Payload and Fenix Salvo from my Deck with their effects negated," Scarlett continued.

Her monster exploded, but before it completely disappeared, two bursts of fire shot out of the hangar on its belly. One formed into some kind of mechanical beast with a single cannon on its back while the other turned into a small bird made entirely out of flames, its black armor over the top of its body armed with several rocket pods.

Volcannon Payload: FIRE Machine-Type / Level 4 / 1300 ATK / 600 DEF

Fenix Salvo: FIRE Pyro-Type / Level 4 / 1800 ATK / 1300 DEF

"And now—"

Dennis clapped his hands together, loudly, to get everyone's attention. It worked and when he had the attention he wanted, he smiled even though Scarlett was glaring at him for cutting her off. "Sorry to interrupt, Scarlett, but… you were about to Fusion Summon, weren't you?" He tapped his chin. "That was a stupid question, of course you were. Our Decks revolve around bringing out our boss monster—or monsters—and use it to win. Don't you think that's boring, though? Fusion Summon, Fusion Summon, Fusion Summon. But what will you do if you can't Fusion Summon?"

That made Scarlett narrow her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"I activate my face-down card… the Continuous Trap Non-Fusion Area!"

His card flipped up to the tune of several gasps and surprised looks.

"Wait—what?!" Scarlett shouted, staring at the card. "Why on earth would you—?"

"Why, you little…!" Hiroshi growled. "How dare you?!"

"Non-Fusion Area…? So, you're trying to prevent me from Summoning my dragon?" Yuri mused, laughing to himself and shaking his head. "I must admit I never expected you to play a card like that, but do you really believe you can last using only your Trapeze Force Witch?"

Dennis shook his head. "I still have many more tricks up my sleeve, but for now that's all." He turned to Scarlett, giving an exaggerated bow. "You can continue your turn now."

She glared at him, then at her hand and huffed in annoyance. "I… I Set two cards face-down and end my turn."

"Alright, that means it's my turn!" Elias declared, already having removed a card from his hand. "I Normal Summon Ritual Beast Tamer Elder!"

A tall, elderly man dressed in green with a tan overcoat. He carried a staff almost his height over his right shoulder, the top of it curled around a glowing yellow crystal, with more of the same crystals hovering around the top.

Ritual Beast Tamer Elder: WIND Psychic-Type / Level 2 / 200 ATK / 1000 DEF

"And because I Normal Summoned Elder this turn, his effect allows me to Normal Summon another 'Ritual Beast' monster this turn!" Elias continued, adjusting his glasses while he grabbed another card from his hand. "I Summon Spiritual Beast Cannahawk, and use its effect to banish Ritual Beast Tamer Wen from my Deck!"

A hawk with black feathers overlaid with electricity appeared on Elias' field. The hawk's claws were made of electricity as well, while the electricity was focused from the front of the saddle on its back. It screeched, and a dark portal swirled below it, absorbing a card from Elias' Deck before it disappeared.

Spiritual Beast Cannahawk: WIND Thunder-Type / Level 4 / 1400 ATK / 600 DEF

Yuri observed the two monsters, his head cocked to the side. "Two monsters as weak as that, and in Attack Mode to boot. Just what are you planning…?"

Dennis knew exactly what was happening, and held back a smile. This turn might take a while, but it'll end with his best friend holding a massive field advantage.

Elias smirked, extending his hands toward both of his monsters. "My 'Ritual Beast' monsters aren't phased at all by Dennis' Non-Fusion Area. See, I don't actually Fusion Summon my Fusion Monsters, I banish the Materials from the field and Special Summon that monster from my Extra Deck!"

"So, you have a way around that card," Yuri said to himself, his eyes darting to his other opponents. "I wonder about the others…"

Both of the monsters on his field spiraled apart into the same dark void that had absorbed the card from Elias' Deck for Cannahawk's effect.

"Ancient hope of the windswept tribe, ride upon the spirit of thunder and soar on to new heights! Let's go, Contact Fusion! Appear, Level 6! Ritual Beast Ulti-Cannahawk!"

The new monster appeared, and it was literally Ritual Beast Tamer Elder riding atop a Spiritual Beast Cannahawk that had grown several times in size in order to be large enough for someone to ride it.

Ritual Beast Ulti-Cannahawk: WIND Thunder-Type / Level 6 / 1400 ATK / 1600 DEF

"Looks weak, right? Well, Ulti-Cannahawk won't be staying on the field for long. During either player's turn, I can activate its second ability, which allows me to return it to my Extra Deck in order to bring back one of my banished 'Ritual Beast Tamer' monsters and one banished 'Spiritual Beast' monster. I'll be bringing back Elder and Cannahawk," Elias explained, then pointed at Cannahawk. "Cannahawk's effect can now activate again, only this time I'll be banishing Spiritual Beast Rampengu."

Once again, the hawk's screeching caused a card from the blond-haired boy's Deck to be absorbed by shadows.

"I banish both of my monsters again to bring back Ulti-Cannahawk!" Elias continued, and when it was back, he gestured to it. "You remember how I said that defusing effect was its second ability, right? Time for the first one! I target two of my banished 'Ritual Beast' monsters, return them to my Graveyard, and then add a 'Ritual Beast' card from my Deck to my hand. I'll be returning Elder and that Ritual Beast Tamer Wen I banished with Cannahawk a while ago… but before that happens, I chain its second ability, targeting Ritual Beast Tamer Wen and Spiritual Beast Rampengu for Special Summoning. That means that only Elder will be returning to my Graveyard, but it still fulfills the conditions to add Ritual Beast Steeds to my hand!"

The electricity running across Ulti-Cannahawk's body lit up so much that Elias' entire field was obscured for several moments. When it dimmed, the two monsters Elias had said would be Special Summoned were there. The first was a young girl, her lilac-streaked blonde hair held back by a headband with a little blue spiral over her left ear. She was wearing a plain violet dress with a belt holding up extra fabric, a short blue cape attached to the bands around her shoulders. She held a staff with a giant sapphire set inside of a golden ring, metal of the same color circling it. The second was a green penguin with a lighter underbelly, red-orange feathers on either side of its head. It also had a little metal piece around its neck, although it appeared to be missing a gem in it.

Ritual Beast Tamer Wen: WIND Psychic-Type / Level 3 / 1500 ATK / 1000 DEF

Spiritual Beast Rampengu: WIND Beast-Type / Level 4 / 1600 ATK / 400 DEF

"I'm almost done now," Elias said, then pointed at Rampengu. "But first, I need to use Rampengu's ability; I banish Ritual Beast Ulti-Apelio to send a 'Ritual Beast' monster of the same Type from my Deck to the Graveyard, which means I have to mill the Pyro-Type Spiritual Beast Apelio."

For the umpteenth time that turn, a card flew from his Deck into a spiral of shadows.

"Alright, with that done, time for another one of my Contact Fusions!" he announced.

Both monsters spiraled away into darkness…

"Evil psychic of the spiritual tribe, ride upon the spirit of hearts and swim to the depths of dark waters! Let's go, Contact Fusion! Appear, Level 6! Ritual Beast Ulti-Pettlephin!"

A girl that looked like Wen appeared, her little cape having grown a lot and her hair darkening a bit, although rather than a larger version of Rampengu, a large pink dolphin was her partner on the field. The dolphin had a crest atop its head with a sapphire exactly like the one in Wen's staff. It also had a little bit of silver-blue armor over its fins.

Ritual Beast Ulti-Pettlephin: WIND Aqua-Type / Level 6 / 200 ATK / 2800 DEF

"Last but certainly not least, I'll Set three cards and that ends my turn," Elias said confidently.

"Freaking finally," Hiroshi grumbled, looking over his cards. He scowled and glared at the Non-Fusion Area like it was taunting him. "You couldn't have waited until after we went to activate that stupid card, Dennis?"

The redhead smiled and wagged a finger at Hiroshi. "Isn't this Duel supposed to test how strong we are? If one little card ruins your entire Deck, well, I wonder just how you ended up number two of our class."

If looks could kill, Dennis would be dead multiple times over by now. But they couldn't, so Hiroshi had to look away eventually. "I… I Normal Summon Summoner Monk, whose effect forces it into Defense Mode upon its Summon."

A blue-skinned monk in dark purple robes with a white stripe down the front and gold cuffs on his sleeves where he held his hands together. Some sort of red orb appeared to be part of the hood of the robe.

Summoner Monk: DARK Spellcaster-Type / Level 4 / 800 ATK / 1600 DEF

"Then, using Summoner Monk's effect, I discard The Book of the Law in order to Special Summon Aleister the Eidolon Summoner from my Deck!"

A blue-green-haired young man dressed in an armored robe appeared, kneeling next to Hiroshi's other monster. His robe was long and layered, a beautiful white covered with glimmering gold patterns on the chest and arms, with black edging. In one hand he held a futuristic-looking staff

Aleister the Eidolon Summoner: DARK Spellcaster-Type / Level 4 / 1000 ATK / 1800 DEF

"I Set two cards face-down, and that ends my turn…" Hiroshi finished with an angry sigh.

"That makes it my turn at last!" Yukiko cheerfully exclaimed, holding up two of the cards in her hand—one high-Levelled monster and one low. "By banishing Infernoid Attondel from my hand, I Special Summon Infernoid Harmadik!" she explained, tossing one of the cards up to a dark portal while she placed the other on her Duel Disk.

A monster that appeared to be some sort of robotic dragon made its way onto the field. It was made of a dark metal, with the "skin" of its wings being a violet color. On its back were three pods that held shadows within.

Infernoid Harmadik: FIRE Fiend-Type / Level 3 / 1600 ATK / 0 DEF

"Now, Harmadik's effect! Once per turn, I can target a monster on the field and destroy it!" Yukiko continued, pointing at Chimera Rafflesia. "Of course I'll be choosing your monster, Yuri."

The pods on the mechanical dragon's back began to glow for a moment, causing its red eyes to flash violently. It reared its head back, then shot a stream of blue fire right at the monster made of twisting vines. The plant burned up almost immediately and shattered, but Yuri did not so much as flinch.

"Next up, I'll Normal Summon Peropero Cerperus in Defense Mode!"

A three-headed dog with light fur and long, pointed tongues appeared next to the mechanical dragon. Remains of muzzles were over each of its mouths, but they had long been snapped apart, as had the chain around one of its legs.

Peropero Cerperus: EARTH Beast-Type / Level 3 / 0 ATK / 1800 DEF

"I'll Set two cards face-down, and that'll end my turn," she finished, sliding the remaining two cards in her hand into her Duel Disk.

Before taking his turn, Yuri looked around at each of his opponent's fields. He sighed a little and shook his head. "So this is the extent of your power… I have to say, I'm not very impressed. You're the weakest group I've faced so far."

He's not even impressed by my Non-Fusion Area…? Dennis wondered.

"Hey, that's not our fault!" Scarlett countered, jabbing a thumb at Dennis' card. "How was I supposed to do anything with that in my way? And the same goes for Hiroshi and Yukiko!"

Yukiko shrugged, "Actually, I did just what I wanted to. My Deck doesn't really need Fusion Summoning to work…"

The ruby-haired girl huffed and rolled her eyes. "My point still stands. This isn't the extent of my power at all!"

Yuri shook his head. "You know, Macfield had a point when he said that you have a bad Deck if it can get shut down by a single card." He proceeded to grin, a terrifying thing on a boy that young. "You'll see exactly why that card won't stop me at all in just a moment. My turn, draw!" He looked at the card for a second, added it to his hand, then extended an arm. "During the Standby Phase, Chimera Rafflesia's effect activates in my Graveyard! Because it was sent there since last turn, I'm allowed to add Polymerization back to my hand."

Dennis narrowed his eyes; as though Polymerization would do Yuri any good right now… unless he really did have a way around Non-Fusion Area?

"I don't think so!" Yukiko countered. "The other effect of Infernoid Harmadik activates! By releasing Peropero Cerperus, I can banish that Polymerization before you can add it to your hand!"

Once again, blue flames leapt from her monster's mouth, only this time they targeted the ground in front of Yuri. He shielded his face from the flames, but his expression was unreadable as he looked back through his hand.

"Hmph. No matter, I'll activate my Field Spell Predator Garden!" Yuri announced. The arena around them morphed into a garden consisting of nothing but carnivorous plants arranged in neat rows. "Upon activation, this card places 1 Predator Counter on every monster on the field."

"Wait! Is that a targeting effect?" Dennis interjected.

Yuri gave him a wary look. "Yes… why?"

That answer made the redhead smile. "Because Trapeze Force Witch prevents you from targeting or destroying any of my 'Performage' monsters with card effects!"

While all the other monsters on the field found themselves with a small green plant head chomping down on some part of their bodies, Trapeze Force Witch swung around on her trapeze, hitting away the ones that tried attaching to her or Dennis' other monster.

Yuri narrowed his eyes at Dennis' Trapeze Force Witch, the slightest bit of a frown on his face, then shrugged. "Monsters with Predator Counters on them whose Levels are higher than 1 become Level 1," he explained, the tiny plants on each monster tightening their bite as he said that.

Volcannon Payload: Level 4 → 1

Fenix Salvo: Level 4 → 1

Ritual Beast Ulti-Pettlephin: Level 6 → 1

Summoner Monk: Level 4 → 1

Aleister the Eidolon Summoner: Level 4 → 1

Infernoid Harmadik: Level 3 → 1

Dennis gulped. If Trick Clown had a Predator Counter on it, his plan for the next turn would have been entirely ruined. Granted, he also needed to draw a certain card to pull it off, so it could still fall through, but that would've put a stop to it immediately.

"Now then, I activate my Equip Spell Predator Graft, which allows me to Special Summon Predator Plant Hyena Catopsis from my Graveyard," Yuri continued. His feline plant with a yellow flower on top that he'd used as Fusion Material earlier in the Duel appeared on the field.

Predator Plant Hyena Catopsis: DARK Plant-Type / Level 4 / 1700 ATK / 300 DEF

"Battle! Hyena Catopsis, attack Infernoid Harmadik!" Yuri declared. "At this moment, Hyena Catopsis' effect activates; because Harmadik has a Predator Counter on it, it's automatically destroyed and Hyena Catopsis gains 100 ATK!"

The feline plant pounced on the mechanical dragon, chomping down on the parts surrounding the Predator Counter. The dragon shattered and Yukiko had to shield her eyes from the wind.

Predator Plant Hyena Catopsis: 1700 → 1800 ATK

"That will end my turn."

Alright, that meant it was Dennis' turn again. He moved, holding his hand over his Deck for a moment. Please be a Level 4 monster…! he silently prayed. "It's my… turn! Draw!" Dennis announced, drawing his card in a slightly exaggerated manner. But that was the point. His parents had raised him to be a star; even with Academia's strict rules, he still threw his own flare into these Duels. This is it, the moment of truth…!

The card he'd drawn was Performage Hat Tricker.

He had to hold back an exclamation of happiness, that would be uncalled for, so instead he smiled. It was exactly what he wanted. "I Normal Summon Performage Hat Tricker!" Dennis shouted, placing the card on his Duel Disk.

The monster that appeared did not have a body, or if it did, it was invisible. It consisted of a light-green cape tied around underneath an orange mask, which had a light-purple, three-pointed magician's hat decorated in stars sitting atop it. Two gloves completed the ensemble, giving the monster the appearance of having disembodied hands.

Performage Hat Tricker: EARTH Spellcaster-Type / Level 4 / 1100 ATK / 1100 DEF

"Alright! It's just about time for the star of this performance to arrive on stage!" he declared, his arms spread wide. "Take a good look at my field, everyone! In particular, look at Hat Tricker and Trick Clown! What do they have in common?"

Yuri made a face; he'd never Dueled someone that was so… unprofessional before. "Eh?"

"What are you talking about, Dennis?" Elias asked, an eyebrow raised. He knew Dennis' Deck like the back of his hand. They'd both Dueled in their room countless times. None of Dennis' cards revolved specifically around Hat Tricker and Trick Clown, and even if he had some sort of Fusion Monster Elias didn't know about, Non-Fusion Area was still out.

Yukiko scratched her chin. "…Both your monsters are Spellcasters?" she said.

"And they're both 'Performages'?" Scarlett added. "But that can't be right…"

"It couldn't be…" Hiroshi mumbled to himself, then continued, "Is it that they're both Level 4?"

Dennis snapped his fingers, then clapped a bit. "Ding ding! Hiroshi is correct! Now then, who can tell me what you can do with monsters that share the same Level?"

No one said anything for a moment, until Elias suddenly gasped in shock and covered his mouth. The realization soon followed on everyone else's face, with even Yuri himself appearing stunned at the idea of what Dennis was about to do.

Dennis' lips curled into a smile. Perfect. "That's right. I Overlay my two Level 4 monsters!"

A multicolored galaxy appeared, hovering right in front of Dennis. His two monsters turned into separate streams of light, circling each other before dropping into the galaxy.

"Show must go on! Artisan of the air, swing across the stage with grace! Xyz Summon! Appear now! Rank 4! Performage Trapeze Magician!"

The trapeze, a violet pole strung up with glowing ropes, appeared on the field first. In a flash, the rest of the monster burst forth from the portal, grabbing ahold of the trapeze with one of his giant, gloved hands. His pants were baggy, and like the rest of his clothes, were a very light teal color trimmed with green stripes, along with purple fur surrounding his hips and shoulders. A magenta-colored mask similar to Trapeze Force Witch's covered his eyes, while his hat only had a single point as opposed to Trapeze Force Witch's having two. A cape was draped across his shoulders too; magenta on the outside and dark-blue on the inside.

Performage Trapeze Magician: LIGHT Spellcaster-Type / Rank 4 / 2500 ATK / 2000 DEF

The entire room was tensely silent for several moments. Dennis' smile didn't falter, although he was not used to this sort of pressure. It was almost as if he had done something wrong but… but he hadn't. He'd learned about Xyz Monsters last week during one of his classes, because they'd finally reached that part of the curriculum that prepared them all to be part of Academia's invasion force. His teacher had shown them all the Xyz Monsters available to them here in the Fusion Dimension, brought over by Professor Akaba years ago. Performage Trapeze Magician had been one of them, and despite his initial disgust in the idea of his archetype tainted by an inferior Summoning Method… it actually intrigued him, quite a bit in fact. Every time he'd looked through his Deck in preparation for this Duel, his mind went back to Trapeze Magician

…until he'd gathered up all of his—admittedly very large—allowance, marched down to Professor Daitokuji, and offered it all in exchange for the card. Xyz might be inferior to Fusion, but that didn't mean he couldn't use both, he'd argued, eventually managing to coerce the card but only for this one Duel. And now that he'd brought it out… it wasn't the reaction he'd been expecting.

Then Yuri started shaking, to the point of doubling over, peals of laughter escaping his lips. "Hah… hahaha…! That's the sort of surprise I like, Macfield! Now show me what your monster can do!"

…Dennis let out a little sigh of relief; so it was alright for him to do this. "Alright, you asked for it! I activate the effect of Trapeze Magician! By detaching one of its Xyz Materials, I can give one of my monsters the ability to attack twice this turn! I'll detach both, and target both Trapeze Force Witch and Trapeze Magician for this effect!"

The two little orbs of light around Trapeze Magician disappeared, absorbed by either end of his trapeze. With this, he could end the Duel this turn.

"Let's go! For the first attack, Trapeze Force Witch will attack Predator Plant Hyena Catopsis!"

The female trapeze artist swung around on her trapeze, directly towards Yuri's monster. The purple-haired boy just laughed, flipping up a card on his field. "I activate my Continuous Trap Dark Seed Planter! All monsters on the field are now given the DARK Attribute!"

A dark fog spewed out of the Trap, splitting apart and surrounding Trapeze Magician, Ulti-Pettlephin, and Infernoid Harmadik. Dennis raised an eyebrow at it. "But why—?"

"The second effect of Dark Seed Planter!" Yuri interrupted, the card shining again. "Any attacks made on my DARK monsters by other DARK monsters are negated!"

Oh.

Trapeze Force Witch quit swinging towards the hyena plant, returning to Dennis' side. The redhead 'tch'ed, he'd been counting on that to work. He couldn't pull it off again, which meant his victory over Yuri would be much harder. And there was still the fact that his monsters had to attack…

His eyes darted away from Yuri's field. Scarlett and Hiroshi hated him anyways, it wasn't like this would change things. "Fine… then Trapeze Force Witch will just have to attack Summoner Monk instead, while Trapeze Magician will attack Volcannon Payload and Fenix Salvo!"

"Oh, come on!" Hiroshi grumbled as his monster shattered.

"Tch… Well, you made a huge mistake, Dennis!" Scarlett said, flipping up one of her cards. "My Continuous Trap Backfire inflicts 500 damage to my opponents each time one of my FIRE monsters are destroyed. So take 1000 damage!"

Her Trap glowed and sent out a massive burst of fire that billowed across the entire field… until Trapeze Magician's laughter carried through the flames, and all the smoke was swept up under his cape along with the fire.

"Trapeze Magician negates any effect damage that's lower than his ATK," Dennis explained to the shocked Scarlett. "You'll have to try something else. …Oh, that ends my turn."

The ruby-haired girl looked about ready to strangle Dennis, not looking away at all while she started her turn. "My turn… draw," she grumbled. One look at the card and she cursed under her breath. "I Set a monster and end my turn…" That was an interesting move, most people would just Summon it in face-up Defense Mode.

"My turn! Draw!" Elias announced. He smiled a touch upon seeing the card, added it to his hand, then tapped the button on his Duel Disk to flip up one of his Set cards. "I activate my Trap Ritual Beast Ambush! This allows me to Special Summon one 'Ritual Beast Tamer' and one 'Spiritual Beast' monster that's either been banished or is in my Graveyard, and I choose to Special Summon Ritual Beast Tamer Wen and Spiritual Beast Cannahawk!"

The two monsters returned to the field, and Yuri smiled. "Predator Garden's effect activates! Any monster you Special Summon has a Predator Counter placed on it!"

Ritual Beast Tamer Wen: Level 3 → 1

Spiritual Beast Cannahawk: Level 4 → 1

The little green plants chomped down on Elias' monsters, but Elias didn't flinch at all. "That doesn't matter at all! I activate Cannahawk's effect, banishing Ritual Beast Tamer Lara from my Deck this time. Then… I banish all three of my monsters!"

The three monsters spiraled away into darkness while Elias chanted.

"Evil psychic and thunderous spirit! With the river's power, combine your strength from time immemorial, and protect the world from disaster! Let's go, Contact Fusion! Descend! Level 10! Ritual Beast Ulti-Gaiapelio!"

A massive rock lion clad in futuristic crystal-like armor with a young girl riding on its back burst forth from the ground, shaking the earth as it set down. The girl had yellow-orange curly hair and green eyes, the same color as her choice of attire. In her hands she held a wooden staff that had a rock spike stuck in it underneath a jagged orange crystal. The crystal was glowing, and controlled the flames that the rock lion's front. And since this monster was Special Summoned, a Predator Counter chomped down on the girl's arm, causing her pain.

Ritual Beast Ulti-Gaiapelio: LIGHT Psychic-Type / Level 10 → 1 / 3200 ATK / 2100 DEF

"Alright! Ulti-Gaiapelio, attack Hyena Catopsis!"

Yuri raised an eyebrow while the rock turtle began advancing. "Are you stupid? Hyena Catopsis' effect activates; your monsters is destroyed and its ATK is increased by 100!"

Elias grinned. "That's exactly what I want! Ritual Beast Ulti-Gaiapelio's effect activates! When you activate a card effect, I can banish a 'Ritual Beast' card from my hand to negate the activation and destroy it! And guess what, the card in my hand is Spiritual Beast Pettlephin!"

The young girl on the back of the rock lion raised her staff with a shout, the flames around her mount spiralling down the field and incinerating Yuri's monster… or so Elias thought. The hyena plant was almost entirely unscathed from that. "What gives?"

"Predator Plant Hyena Catopsis cannot be destroyed by my opponent's card effects," Yuri explained. "Your Ulti-Gaiapelio only negated its destruction effect. Furthermore, Predator Garden prevents you from destroying my 'Predator Plant' monsters in battle using monsters that have a Predator Counter on them. You won't be able to destroy my monster this turn."

The blond frowned for a moment, adjusting his glasses while he thought about what to do. "…Fine. Ulti-Gaiapelio will continue its attack, since you'll still take the damage!"

The stone lion continued its charge, stomping directly on top of the plants from the garden around them that had moved to protect Yuri's monster. The ground shook around the purple-eyed boy, forcing him to his knees for a moment.

Yuri's Life Points: 4000 - 1400 → 2600

Yuri stood up, dusting off his pants, his expression unreadable as he stared at Elias for several long moments without a word.

"O…kay, that ends my turn," Elias said, weirded out by the young boy's actions.

"My turn, then, draw!" Hiroshi said immediately, his eyes widening happily as he saw the card that he drew. "Perfect! I activate the Quick-Play Spell Mystical Space Typhoon, and of course I'll be destroying Non-Fusion Area with it!"

Dennis shielded his eyes as a hurricane tore apart the Continuous Trap he'd been banking on to keep Yuri's plays on hold. He had to admit that it was surprising the card had lasted as long as it did, but he still wasn't happy that his card was destroyed.

"And with that out of the way, I can activate my Spell Eidolon Summoning Magic!" Hiroshi continued, sliding it into his Duel Disk. "Normally, this would force me to Fusion Summon using only the monsters in my hand as Material, but since I'll be Summoning an 'Eidolon Beast', I can banish the Materials from my field… or anyone's Graveyard!"

That caught everyone off-guard. Hardly anyone used Fusion Monsters that could use their opponent's monsters as Material.

"I banish Aleister the Eidolon Summoner from my field and the FIRE-Attributed Infernoid Harmadik from Yukiko's Graveyard!"

Hiroshi's lone monster stood up and planted his futuristic-looking staff in the ground before him. The transmutation circle on his glove began to glow, and then a much larger version of the same circle appeared beneath him in red. Yukiko's mechanical dragon was dragged out of the earth by shadow hands, and with both monsters inside of the circle, it glowed a bright blue instead of red.

"Occultist channeling the art of flames! With your magic, call forth the beasts of unending purgatory! Fusion Summon! Appear! Level 7! Purgatorio the Eidolon Beast!"

The summoning circle flashed, obscuring the two monsters it held inside for a moment. It dimmed, and there were three monsters in their place, all held together by eerie blue flames. There was a tiny, stout fiend with bat wings, a spiked collar around its neck, a tall one with long arms and a spiked hat covering its eyes, and a bulky one that sat behind them, its lone eye staring at the ground. A miniature glowing version of Aleister's staff was planted inside each monster—in the small one's head, the tall one's chest, and the large one's arm. But, it was still Special Summoned, so a Predator Counter made it onto the top of the little staff implanted in the small fiend's head.

Purgatorio the Eidolon Beast: FIRE Fiend-Type / Level 7 → 1 / 2300 ATK / 2000 DEF

"Purgatorio's effect! It gains 200 ATK for each card all of you control!" Hiroshi continued. With Yuri's Dark Seed Planter, Predator Garden, Predator Plant Hyena Catopsis, and Predator Graft, Dennis' Performage Trapeze Force Witch, Performage Trapeze Magician, and Set card, Scarlett's Backfire and two Set cards, Elias' Ritual Beast Ulti-Gaiapelio and two Set cards, along with Yukiko's two Set cards, that made a total of fifteen cards his opponent controlled.

Purgatorio the Eidolon Beast: 2300 + (15 × 200) → 5300 ATK

"F-Fifty-three hundred ATK…" Dennis muttered, practically gaping at Hiroshi's monster. Maybe he shouldn't have mocked Hiroshi earlier… that was a lot of power. Hiroshi could end the Duel right now…

"Not only that, but I can also activate the second effect of Eidolon Summoning Magic in my Graveyard! By returning it to my Deck, I can add my banished Aleister the Eidolon Summoner back to my hand!" the dark-haired boy continued. "And since I haven't used my Normal Summon yet, I'll certainly be Summoning the card I just got back!"

The young man in armored robes reappeared on the field, with his book flipped open rather than held shut like it had been before. A card flew out of it, which Hiroshi caught and revealed to be Eidolon Summoning Magic.

"Aleister allows me to search out this card when he's Normal Summoned," he explained. "I activate Eidolon Summoning Magic again, this time banishing Aleister and Elias' WIND-Attributed Ritual Beast Tamer Elder!"

For the second time that turn, the mage planted his staff in the ground. The massive transmutation circle appeared just like before, only this time its hands dragged the green-lad elderly mad out of Elias' Graveyard.

"Occultist channeling the art of wind! With your magic, call forth the god of lightning and thunder! Fusion Summon! Storm forth! Level 5! Raideen the Eidolon Beast!"

The transmutation circle flashed brightly, then revealed a monster in heavenly armor had taken the place of the two previous monsters. In one hand, he held a jagged sword that was surrounded by lightning, while in that very same arm was a miniature version of Aleister's staff, just like with Purgatorio. A Predator Counter appeared and snapped its jaws right onto that little staff.

Raideen the Eidolon Beast: WIND Warrior-Type / Level 5 → 1 / 2200 ATK / 2400 DEF

"Now then! Purgatorio has the ability to attack all monsters you guys control once each, and it inflicts piercing damage too! And to start… Purgatorio will be attacking Performage Trapeze Magician!" Hiroshi declared, pointing at Dennis' monster. "This is for ruining my starting turn!"

Dennis awkwardly chuckled; Hiroshi did have every right to be angry about that. If only he'd attacked Yuri first, though that would take the legendary in away from him. "I activate my Counter Trap, Negate Attack! Your attack is halted, and your Battle Phase ends!"

Hiroshi huffed and glared at Dennis, who just shrugged in response. Meanwhile, Yuri laughed at what had just happened, because had Hiroshi attacked Hyena Catopsis first, the Duel would have ended. The price of rage blocking out his mental capabilities…

"…Purgatorio loses 200 ATK since your card left the field, and that ends my turn," Hiroshi said through his teeth, his gaze not leaving the redhead for a moment.

Purgatorio the Eidolon Beast: 5300 → 5100 ATK

"Ah! During your End Phase, I activate my Continuous Trap Void Launch!" Yukiko called. Her card flipped up, and with that, she placed a hand on her Deck. "My turn, draw!" She added the card to her hand, but then her Trap started glowing brightly. "During my Standby Phase, Void Launch allows me to send up to two 'Infernoid' monsters from my Deck to the Graveyard," she explained, holding up two of them—again a high-levelled monster and a low-levelled one—before sliding them into her Duel Disk.

Dennis recognized one of them, Infernoid Devyaty. While he'd never Dueled against Yukiko's real Deck before, she'd told him that Devyaty was her true ace, rather than any sort of Fusion Monster she might have. Why would she want it in her Graveyard…?

"Next up, my Set Quick-Play Spell Burial from a Different Dimension! This lets me return my banished Infernoid Attondel and Infernoid Harmadik to my Graveyard!"

That meant one less card on the field…

Purgatorio the Eidolon Beast: 5100 → 4900 ATK

"With that, everything is in place! By banishing the other three 'Infernoid' monsters in my Graveyard, I can Special Summon Infernoid Devyaty!" Yukiko exclaimed as she brushed her light-purple bangs out of her eyes.

A serpentine dragon burst out of the ground before her. Its purple body was segmented by golden rings and crisscrossed by black lines where there were no rings. Its wings were composed of the same golden metal for the structure, with the wings themselves being strips of translucent blue, and the horns that jutted around its mouth were also golden. A Predator Counter nestled its way to the body within two of the golden rings.

Infernoid Devyaty: FIRE Fiend-Type / Level 9 → 1 / 2900 ATK / 2900 DEF

Purgatorio the Eidolon Beast: 4900 → 5100 ATK

"At this moment, Infernoid Devyaty's effect activates! When it's Special Summoned, I can destroy all Spell and Trap Cards on the field, except for my 'Void' ones!" Yukiko continued.

"…When Predator Graft is destroyed, the monster it's equipped to is as well," Yuri said.

Blue flames erupted from beneath the serpentine dragon, spreading across the ground and destroying all the Set Spells or Traps remaining on the field, along with Backfire, Dark Seed Planter, and both of Yuri's Spells. To that effect, the entire garden they were in caught fire until it entirely burned away, leaving only the regular arena behind. Not only that, but Yuri's monster was caught in the flames as well, and shattered.

Purgatorio the Eidolon Beast: 5100 ATK → 3500 ATK

"Your field is wide open!" Yukiko pointed out. "Time for me to—"

Yuri shook his head, a glint in his eyes that hadn't been there before. It was almost… animalistic. "Oh no, not yet. You destroyed my Predator Garden, which means all Predator Counters on the field are removed, then I get to draw one card for each. There were four of them, so I get to draw four cards!"

Ritual Beast Ulti-Gaiapelio: Level 1 → 10

Purgatorio the Eidolon Beast: Level 1 → 7

Raideen the Eidolon Beast: Level 1 → 5

Infernoid Devyaty: Level 1 → 9

Yukiko watched him take his new cards, frowning while he did, but nevertheless extended her finger directly at Yuri. "Those cards won't do you any good in your hand, though. Infernoid Devyaty, take out the rest of his Life Points!"

The glint in Yuri's eyes was noticeable now; they were glowing, his pupils having turned into snake-like slits, and parts of his hair started standing up like there was a breeze under him, which made all five of his opponents take a step back in surprise. Just what was going on…? "Actually~when you attack me directly, I can Special Summon Predator Plant Sarraceniant from my hand and it takes the attack instead!"

Rather than attack Yuri directly, the dragon's flames instead tore through an ant that had curled green-and-pink leaves sprouting from its back.

"And when Sarraceniant battles, after damage calculation, your monster is destroyed!" Yuri continued, a dark aura surrounding him to match the glowing eyes.

"I-I chain my Quick-Play Spell, Void Seer!" Yukiko said quickly. "Infernoid Devyaty is unaffected by your card effects this turn!"

"Aw~! So your monster survives…" Yuri noted.

Alright, enough was enough. "…Are you alright, Yuri?" asked.

"Oh, yes, of course, never better in fact," he replied with a Cheshire grin. "I'm having so much fun~! Now, continue your turn!"

Yukiko narrowed her eyes, then looked away from the crazed boy. Her heart was pumping rapidly in her chest. There was something very wrong here… "I… I can't do anything else, though. I end my turn."

It wasn't the sort of answer Yuri wanted. "That's it? Already? What happened to that fighting spirit of yours? You were just about to take out all of my Life Points!" He turned to Hiroshi. "And you… you could have as well, if you hadn't been so selfish!" He turned to Elias. "You're the only one who managed to damage me so far, but why didn't you do anything else? You could have, couldn't you?" He gave Scarlett a look, shook his head as though not to bother with her, and instead moved on to Dennis. "And you… the Xyz user… so close to defeating me as well. But you didn't! Not one of you was able to defeat me regardless of how hard you tried!"

Dennis looked over at the teachers in the audience, almost frantically. Didn't they see that something was horribly wrong with Yuri?! But then why were they all just sitting there, watching as though this was just another Duel?

"That must mean you want me to win…" Yuri continued, his voice lowered slightly from his extended rant. "So I will win… I'll continue win… just as you all want! MY TURN, DRAW!" he screamed, and the dark aura flickered stronger around him.

"I activate my Spell Predator Breeding Grounds! By banishing a monster from my Graveyard, I can Special Summon up to two 'Predator Plant' monsters from my Deck whose combined levels are equal to the monster I banished! I'm banishing my Level 4 Predator Plant Hyena Catopsis, and that means I can Special Summon Predator Plant Fly Hell and Predator Plant Sundew Kingii from my Deck!"

Two monsters appeared on Yuri's field. The first, a venus fly trap with a sickly-looking stem. The second, a frilled-neck lizard entirely made up of a plant, dozens of tiny red spheres like extra eyes scattered about its neck and feet.

Predator Plant Fly Hell: DARK Plant-Type / Level 2 / 400 ATK / 800 DEF

Predator Plant Sundew Kingii: DARK Plant-Type / Level 2 / 600 ATK / 200 DEF

Purgatorio the Eidolon Beast: 3500 → 3900 ATK

"Now~! Predator Plant Fly Hell's effect activates! Once per turn, I can place a Predator Counter on one monster on the field… and I'll be choosing Raideen the Eidolon Beast!"

Hiroshi stared at the little plant that made its way back onto his monster. He didn't like it one bit, even if the Level drop did absolutely nothing to hinder his strategy.

Raideen the Eidolon Beast: Level 5 → 1

Upon seeing that Hiroshi had done nothing to counter his monster's ability, Yuri's animalistic grin grew even wider. "That's it~! It's time~! By discarding Extra Shave Reborn from my hand… I can activate my Quick-Play Spell Super Polymerization!"

"Super—"

"—Polymerization?!"

"With Sundew Kingii's effect, I can treat Raideen the Eidolon Beast as a DARK monster because it has a Predator Counter on it! And with that, I fuse Sundew Kingii and Raideen!" Yuri continued.

Both monsters disappeared, dragged into the spiral of light behind Yuri. Hiroshi stumbled back, the realization that he could have stopped this by using Raideen's effect evident in his fear-struck eyes.

"Beautiful flower with an insect-alluring fragrance! Shadow of the thundering god! Now become one, and from the hell beneath your petals, give birth to a new terror! FUSION SUMMON! Come forth! Poisonous dragon with hungering fangs! Level 8! Starve Venom Fusion Dragon!"

The light portal burst… and revealed the terror within it: a serpentine dragon with a dark, almost sickly, green-colored body lined with red orbs. While it was serpentine, the dragon still had limbs that jutted out, covered in a heavy purple armor. Its hind legs in particular had extra purple armor jutting out backwards, with what appeared to be yellow fangs attached to the sides. Its wings were just like those extra parts, split down the middle with a giant red orb in each one, dripping venom that actually melted the floor from its fangs. To top off the monster's terrifying design, it had two different sets of horns around its face—large ones that jutted around its entire head and a smaller set that surrounded its jaw.

Starve Venom Fusion Dragon: DARK Dragon-Type / Level 8 / 2800 ATK / 2000 DEF

Yuri started laughing uncontrollably again, only this time he did not double over. He wavered on his feet, darkness billowing off him like waves, synchronized with each laugh that escaped his throat. "This is it! It's here, it's here, it's here! Starve Venom, my trusted partner, is here! This Duel is over! Because all of its Fusion Materials came from the field, it gains ATK equal to the combined ATK of all your Special Summoned monsters!"

Everyone's faces paled at that, with Yukiko actually stumbling backwards as they watched the mouths of the dragon's wings unhinge and absorb violet-colored light from all the monsters on the field barring Scarlett's Set one.

Starve Venom Fusion Dragon: 2800 + 2400 + 2500 + 3200 + 3900 + 2900 → 17,700 ATK

"S-Seventeen thousand seven hundred…" Dennis gaped at the dragon. And he'd thought that 5300 ATK was high…

"Now~the second effect of Starve Venom activates! Once per turn, it can steal the effect of a monster my opponent controls," Yuri continued, pointing at Purgatorio. "I'll be using your monster's effect!"

Starve Venom Fusion Dragon: 17,700 + (7 × 200) → 19,100

Purgatorio the Eidolon Beast: 3900 → 2300 ATK

Hiroshi cursed, and everyone else shared his thoughts. Purgatorio could attack everything and inflict piercing damage. With the only sort of backrow any of them had being Yukiko's Void Launch, which couldn't even do anything in this situation…

"Battle~! Starve Venom Fusion Dragon, start with Scarlett's face-down monster!" Yuri announced, one eye wide with the other narrowed; combined with the grin, it was terrifying.

The monstrous dragon swung its tail at the face-down monster. When it flipped up, it revealed Battle Footballer, whose 2100 DEF gave it no protection at all in the face of this. The monster shattered, and Starve Venom's tail continued, hitting Scarlett right in her exposed side because she'd been protecting her face. A single scream resonated from her before she hit the ground, hard, and everyone could see the blood pouring out from underneath her torn clothing, where the tail had struck her…

Scarlett's Life Points: 4000 - 17,000 → 0

"The second~! Attack Infernoid Devyaty!"

Dennis wanted to do something. He really did. But his legs wouldn't move, even if he had an actual plan in the first place… All he could do was watch as the dragon's tail swung around again, shattering Infernoid Devyaty immediately. Yukiko let out a shout as the force of the blast sent her flying into the barrier that separated the Duelists from the teachers… and her head lolled to the side once she sank to the floor.

Yukiko's Life Points: 4000 - 16,200 → 0

"Again~! Attack Purgatorio the Eidolon Beast!"

Hiroshi barely had any time to brace himself for the attack, the dragon's tail whipping down on his neck after it finished destroying his monster not a moment earlier. He slumped to the ground, blood pooling around him much too rapidly.

Dennis covered his mouth. He could smell the blood now, so strong it made him want to throw up. Oh God, this is—he's going to—aren't the teachers going to do something?!

"That leaves just the two of you left~!" Yuri cheered with sadistic glee, clapping his hands together. "It's a shame this Duel has to end so soon… oh well. The fourth attack~! Ritual Beast Ulti-Gaiapelio!"

Elias shot a look at Dennis and screamed for help, but none came as Starve Venom flew over to Ulti-Gaiapelio, turned, and had the mouths on its wings and legs tear through the rock creature and its rider. The rock creature fell apart under its own weight, one of the stones crashing down directly on top of Elias' head.

Elias' Life Points: 4000 - 15,900 → 0

"The final attack~! PERFORMAGE TRAPEZE MAGICIAN!"

Dennis found himself unable to breathe while his legs shook violently underneath him, until they gave out and he fell backwards onto the floor. Unlike all the other times the violet dragon had attacked, this time it had its wings spread wide. Behind each one, eleven orbs of blue light began to glow, with reddish-magenta electricity connecting them to Starve Venom's wings. Several tendrils of it wrapped about Trapeze Magician while the dragon reared its head back and sent white-hot blue energy right at him.

Time seemed to slow down for Dennis as he watched the blue light barrel towards him. He couldn't stop the attack, he couldn't run, he couldn't look away. This was how it would end. He could feel it.

…Just as the light was about to overtake him, it stopped. All the holograms were gone—the Duel had been terminated by an outside source. For a few moments, Dennis couldn't believe that after what had happened to his classmates, that attack was what drew the line. Then the fact that he was just about killed or at least gravely injured by that attack, but he was fine, registered in his brain. He could breathe again, although it hurt.

"Eh…?" Yuri exclaimed, the shadowy aura gone, although his eyes were still shining. "I was just about to win! Isn't that what you wanted?!"

"Win?! You just about killed me!" Dennis shouted.

That drew Yuri's glowing eyes towards him in a glare, and Dennis shrunk back. He probably shouldn't have said that. "The people want more realistic Duels. That's what I give them," he said with a glare. "And if I have to step on a few ants to do it—"

"That's enough for now, Yuri," a young man said, clamping a hand down on the boy's shoulder. "Can't have you killing your own classmates, as amusing as that would be. This one, at least, shows promise."

Dennis blinked, staring at the eighteen-year-old behind Yuri. He was dressed in white, a modified uniform not unlike Professor Akaba's own. The young man had purple eyes, too, and dark hair, but his most noticeable feature was the twisting, scar-covered side of his face, as though only that half had been burned off long ago. Dennis had been looking in that direction the entire time… where had he come from? And who was he, to have a uniform like that?

Immediately the glow in Yuri's eyes cut out, and the boy frowned, staring up at the man next to him. "I went too far again," he stated nonchalantly, gaze flickering his defeated opponents. Yuri sighed. "Aw~it must have been fun, though…"

While that exchange happened, someone came up behind Dennis, unbeknownst to him since he was staring at this strange young man behind Yuri. "Dennis Macfield," the man said, and his voice made Dennis go rigid because it was the Professor. "…I have a mission for you."


A/N: So yeah, the elite of the elite of Academia are in a higher class than Obelisk Blue. Of course I had to put Edo and the Tyler Sisters in it considering their track record and their positions in the invasion force prior to Yuya's involvement. Dennis had to make it in because he was trusted to be the one to scope out the Xyz Dimension before the invasion. And, just because I am not writing another one of these, if you really must know, Sora ends up joining it at some point, he just likes the color blue, which is why he wears what he does in Standard.

Side note, oh man the Zarc was strong in this chapter.

I hope you guys enjoyed this! Please, oh please, leave a review telling me what you thought!

(I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V. I also don't own Scarlett's OC cards, those belong to Donjusticia.)


Cards in this:

Volcannon Fenix Bomber

FIRE Machine/Effect

Level 4

Effect: (This card is also always treated as a Pyro-Type monster). Cannot attack. You can Tribute this card: Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower FIRE Pyro-Type Monster and 1 Level 4 or Lower FIRE Machine-Type Monster from your Deck or Graveyard. Their effects are negated and they cannot attack.

1900 ATK

1600 DEF

Fenix Salvo

FIRE Pyro/Effect

Level 4

Effect: (This card is also always treated as a Machine-Type monster). If your opponent takes effect damage while this card is on your side of the field or in your hand, you can activate this effect: Add 1 FIRE Pyro-Type monster from your deck to your hand, and if you do, send this card from your hand or your side of the field to the Graveyard. If this card is sent to the Graveyard by a card effect, you can activate this effect: Increase the ATK of all FIRE monsters you control by 1000.

1800 ATK

1300 DEF

Volcannon Payload

FIRE Machine/Effect

Level 4

Effect: (This card is also always treated as a Pyro-Type monster). If your opponent takes effect damage while this card is on your side of the field or in your hand, you can activate this effect: Add 1 FIRE Pyro-Type monster from your deck to your hand, and if you do, send this card from your hand or your side of the field to the Graveyard. If this card is sent to the Graveyard by a card effect, you can activate this effect: Destroy 1 card on the field.

1300 ATK

600 DEF

Blazing Iron Fusion

Normal Spell

Effect: Fusion Summon 2 Fusion Monsters from your Extra Deck using two FIRE Machine and/or FIRE Pyro-Type monsters you control as Materials. You can banish this card and 2 FIRE Machine and/or FIRE Pyro monsters from your Graveyard: Fusion Summon 1 FIRE monster from your Extra Deck using monsters you control.

Predator Garden

Field Spell

Effect: When this card is activated: Place 1 Predator Counter on all face-up monsters on the field. When your opponent Special Summons a monster(s): Place 1 Predator Counter on that monster(s). "Predator Plant" monsters you control cannot be destroyed by battle with a monster that has a Predator Counter on it. When this card is destroyed: Remove all Predator Counters from the field, then draw cards from your Deck equal to the number of Predator Counters removed.

Predator Plant Hyena Catopsis

DARK Plant/Effect

Level 4

Effect: Cannot be destroyed by your opponent's card effects. At the start of the Damage Step, if this card battles a monster with a Predator Counter(s) on it: Destroy it, then increase this card's ATK by 100.

1700 ATK

300 DEF

Predator Breeding Grounds

Normal Spell

Effect: Banish 1 Level 4 or lower monster from your Graveyard, then Special Summon up to 2 "Predator Plant" monsters from your Deck, whose combined Levels are equal to the banished monster's. You can only activate "Predator Breeding Grounds" once per turn.