News of the last Shadow Rider's defeat spread like wildfire across Duel Academy. The courtyard was alive with noise, cheers, laughter, and relief.
Students celebrated Jaden Yuki, the boy who had faced the final enemy, Amnael, and triumphed.
For once, the island felt safe again.
Out of respect for the fallen, the true identity of Amnael was kept hidden. The official story was simple, Professor Lyman Banner was murdered by the Shadow Rider known as Amnael.
Teachers and students mourned. Even though Banner had been eccentric, always speaking in strange riddles and letting his cat sleep through class, most of them genuinely liked him. He was kind, patient, and easy to approach, a teacher who made failure feel fixable.
Sitting inside his room, Yumi was busy reading the Shadow Charm Emerald Tablet.
Beside him, Lyman's spirit sat cross-legged, translucent and calm, as Pharaoh napped nearby.
"Yumi, isn't this a bit much?" Lyman sighed, watching Yumi turn another page. "You're basically saying the one who killed me… was me."
Yumi didn't look up. "Better that than everyone finding out you were a traitor. If the students lose faith in one teacher they loved, they'll start doubting the rest."
The ghost blinked, then chuckled softly. "Oh? I didn't know you could be so thoughtful."
Lyman smiled, watching his best student struggling to understand the meaning of the Emerald Tablet. This reminded him of his days when he also struggled to understand it.
Although to Lyman, Jaden might be the "fusion genius", Yumi is his true successor.
So he decided not to interrupt. Let his student learn the hard way. Slowly, his spectral form began to fade, breaking down into a glowing yellow orb that drifted toward Pharaoh, and the fat cat swallowed him once more.
Currently, Yumi has collected all seven of the eight Shadow Charms.
From what is shown in the original work, these Shadow Charms are basically a knock-off, weaker version of the Millennium Items. But that didn't mean they are useless.
As someone who is already skilled with controlling Spirit Energy, Yumi can wield all seven of these Shadow Charms and use them.
Although he remembers from the show that their special effect are pretty lacking, with the only few good ones being the Shadow Charm Pendant, Mask, and Ring.
But that was in the original work, and those items were only used during Season 1, before completely disappearing without a trace. Then they were never used again despite not being destroyed, so the fans never really got to know the full power of these Shadow Charms.
Now that Yumi has managed to get his hands on almost all of them, he is planning to put them all to good use.
After so much reading, and he still couldn't understand much from the Emerald Tablet, Yumi decided to head back to the lab to check if Lyman's old research could still be put to good use.
There is still time before Kagemaru shows up in his robotic water tank to unseal the Three Sacred Beasts; so he still has some waiting to do.
Searching through his teacher's old books, he noticed footprints on the ground, which were a bit odd since Jaden, Lyman, and Yumi all wore shoes when entering the lab.
Who would walk barefoot into this place?
From the corner of his eyes, Yumi saw what seemed to be some kind of tightly wrapped device that looked out of place, stuck on the dark corner of the wall.
And not just one either, there are many of these same devices all surrounding him, hidden on the walls, in dark corners, and under the cover of the lab equipment.
Then, without warning, the devices all went off, creating a massive chain reaction of explosions.
"The fu-!" The explosion swallowed him, and the entire lab collapsed from inside.
Inside a different world, a gateway opened up high in the sky, and Yumi fell right through it. His golden eyes locked onto the gateway before it closed shut.
Green cyclone wind gathered, and Masked HERO Blast appeared midair, catching Yumi and breaking his fall.
"The hell was that?" He murmurs, looking up at the blue sky above.
He didn't bring any Shadow Charms with him, so he couldn't use the Pendant or the Mask teleportation ability to escape that explosion. Fortunately, he discovered how to enter the Spirit World at will, and by relying on Chaos, he tore open a rift between worlds and directly jumped into it to escape.
"Heh?" Looking back, Yumi found himself standing on an island that looked oddly like Duel Academy, with students wearing a near-identical uniform of red, yellow, and blue. The only difference between this island and his Duel Academy was the fact that this place seemed more... futuristic.
This place reminded Yumi a lot of Duel Academy, but not from the world of GX, but the world of Arc-V. He pulls out his Contrast HERO Chaos card, looking down at it.
"Explain yourself, why am I here?"
Contrast HERO Chaos materialized, floating cross-armed before him, his black-and-white armor gleaming faintly.
"Master, you were in danger. I had to pick a destination quickly from all possible dimensions."
Yumi arched an eyebrow. "All possible dimensions? There are only twelve."
He recalled clearly how there were only twelve dimensions during the time of GX, since this was an important plot point in the story for Yubel to try and stay with her beloved Jaden forever.
Chaos raised one eye and asked. "Master, you're only counting the ones on your timeline. There are countless others, outside, overlapping, or diverging from your own."
"…Since when can you travel across time and space?"
Black Luster Soldier can't do it, so why can Chaos?
"Master, it's not my fault that you make my power stronger than Black Luster." Chaos said respectfully, causing Yumi to pause and think back to Chaos's creation.
Right, Chaos wasn't printed normally; he was printed into existence during the Duel with his sister, where she reminded him of his purpose and the reason for him to duel. Back then, his emotions were high, and he didn't pay attention to how much Spirit Energy he had given to Chaos.
But this makes sense.
Normally, when a new Kamen Rider debuts, the writer would give them a massive buff, making them completely outclass all the other Kamen Riders before balancing their power out a bit to make the fight more entertaining.
Chaos was no exception to this rule during his debut; his black and white Kamen Rider monster got buffed to 40,200 ATK. Even the Cyber End Dragon, summoned using Power Bond, couldn't reach half that level of attack power.
"I see." Yumi murmurs before footsteps suddenly rang out, and Chaos disappeared back into Yumi's body.
"So you're the intruder who snuck onto Duel Academy," a sharp voice called out behind him.
Yumi turned, seeing a familiar girl with indigo hair and piercing green eyes standing there, her glare sharp enough to cut glass.
"Celina?" he asked, blinking in disbelief.
The girl's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Who's Celina?" she snapped. "I'm Serena."
Her tone carried more bite than necessary, like he'd just said something deeply offensive. The familiarity in his voice hit her wrong, like hearing a lover call her by someone else's name.
Yumi raised his hands slightly in apology. "I see. Sorry. You just look… a lot like someone I knew."
He gave a small smile, turning away, ready to leave this world before those three beasts got released. "Anyway, I'll be going."
But Serena wasn't done.
Her Duel Disk lid up, the black-and-blue Solid Vision blade igniting to life. In a single motion, she slammed a card down.
"Come forth! Lunalight Blue Cat!"
The holographic cat-girl materialized with a fierce mewl and leapt straight at him, claws flashing.
"Mew!!"
A shadow rose behind Yumi.
A black hand caught the Blue Cat mid-air by the throat. Her legs kicked uselessly as Masked HERO Dark Law loomed above her, golden eyes burning through her skull.
With one swift motion, Dark Law tore through her, data scattering like glass before fading into the air.
Serena's eyes widened. "What the!? How can that old piece of junk use Solid Vision!?"
Dark Law vanished back into Yumi's shadow.
Yumi turned his gaze toward her. "Since you're still naive and dumb, I'll overlook it this time," he said calmly, walking away from her. "Leave."
"Hey! You pink-haired bastard!" Serena shouted.
Yumi stopped. His golden eyes flicked back toward her, cold and unimpressed.
Serena charged, fist cocked, a right hook aimed straight for his face. Yumi sighed quietly, raising his arm, and his hand overlapped with a translucent image of Raye's hand, their movements perfectly synchronized.
He caught Serena's punch effortlessly.
In the same motion, he twisted her wrist, pulling her closer, his other hand sliding around her waist to steady her balance.
"It's not pink," he said softly.
The heat of his breath brushed against her neck. Serena's face flared crimson.
"G-Get off me, you pervert!" she shouted, swinging her knee upward in a desperate counterattack.
Yumi sidestepped smoothly, catching her by the side. His arm wrapped around her waist again; his other hand caught her raised leg before it could land.
In one fluid motion, she was pinned, off-balance, one foot on the ground, body pressed close to his.
"It's ma-gen-ta," he whispered, the word grazing her ear like heat.
Serena froze, her mind blank, face glowing red. Feeling his hot breath hitting her ear, his hands on her waist and butt, and the firmness of his hold only made it worse.
And not just that, he even squeezed her lightly, feeling the softness was a lot like Celina's back in his dimension.
She tries to break free, but is unable to win against him when he uses a Duel Spirit's strength.
"Oi, oi," a familiar mocking voice called out. "Serena, I didn't know you'd managed to get yourself a boyfriend."
Both of them turned.
A boy stood a few meters away, purple hair, purple uniform, and a crimson jacket draped over his shoulders like a cape. His smirk was pure arrogance.
Yumi instantly recognized this person as Yuri, the Fusion counterpart of the protagonist in Arc-V.
"H-He's not my boyfriend!" Serena shouted, still flushed. "And help me get this bastard off me!"
Yuri chuckled. "Oh? But you seem to be enjoying yourself. Maybe I'll come back in a couple of hours, give you two some privacy?"
Serena's eye twitched so hard it almost sparked.
"You bastard!" she yelled, just as Yumi loosened his hold and stepped back, letting her regain her footing.
Yumi lifts up his Duel Disk, voice calm and even. "I heard you're pretty strong," he said with a small smile. "How about we find out?"
Yuri smirked, lowering his head, shadows falling across his grin. "Confident, huh? Fine by me. I was getting bored anyway."
Their Duel Disks activated simultaneously. While Serena was glaring at Yumi, feeling that she had been violated.
"Duel!"
[Yumi, 4000 LP]
[Yuri, 4000 LP]
"I'll go first," Yumi said, sliding his first card from the deck. "Draw."
He glanced at his open hand, his lips curving into a faint, knowing smile.
"I Normal Summon, Sky Striker Ace - Raye."
Blue data lines traced across the Duel Field, assembling into the shape of a slender young girl clad in a uniform. Her pale-blonde hair caught the digital wind, eyes sharp, blade drawn.
[Sky Striker Ace - Raye, 1500 ATK]
"Oh?" Yuri tilted his head, smirking. "Not a bad-looking monster. Shame you'll have to watch her vanish in the next turn."
Yumi ignored him. "I set two cards face-down," he declared, sliding both cards into his Duel Disk. Two holographic cards shimmered to life behind Raye.
"Spell card, Take Over 5, sending the top five cards from my deck to my graveyard."
The five cards were sent to his grave before he placed down a card in his hand. "Spell card, The Fang of Critias!"
A roar shattered the air as a massive steel-gray dragon materialized behind him, its twin fangs glinting like blades.
Yuri's smirk faltered. "Huh?"
"I sent the Counter Trap, Dinomorphia Intact, on my field to my graveyard. To fuse my dragon with it!"
Yuri & Serena: Nani!?
The card flipped and disintegrated into streaks of digital fire. The energy from both cards intertwined, the dragon's body convulsed, its scales tearing open as the vortex of fusion swallowed it whole.
"Show yourself, Dinomorphia Behemoth!"
The fusion vortex exploded outward, red lightning tearing through the field. Emerging from it was a towering figure, half dinosaur, half dragon, plated with black-and-silver cybernetic armor. Its tail bristled with serrated blades, one wing organic, the other entirely mechanical. Its twin forearms reshaped into luminous photon blades that hummed with energy.
[Dinomorphia Behemoth, 2800 ATK]
The hybrid beast let out a thunderous roar that rippled through the duel field, forcing Serena to step back and hide behind Yumi, using him as a shield from the sheer pressure.
Serena's eyes widened. "That's… insane. Y-You fused a spell with a trap card?!"
"Turn end."
"Impressive," Yuri murmured, eyes glinting as he took in Yumi's monstrous creation. A slow, unsettling grin crept onto his lips, his tongue briefly tracing across them. "I don't mind adding a few of your cards to my collection."
He drew his next card with a snap of the wrist. "My turn, draw!"
Without hesitation, he slapped down a card. "I Normal Summon, Predaplant Ophrys Scorpio!"
A dark-green, scorpion-like plant creature burst from the ground, its claws dripping with venom.
[Predaplant Ophrys Scorpio, 1200 ATK]
"Scorpio's effect, when this card is Summoned, I can discard a card-" he slid a card into his Graveyard, "-and Special Summon another Level 3 or lower Predaplant from my deck."
His Duel Disk flashed as the deck auto-shuffled, ejecting another card into his waiting hand. "Come forth, Predaplant Darlingtonia Cobra!"
A twin-headed serpent slithered into existence beside Scorpio, its eyes gleaming with hunger.
[Predaplant Darlingtonia Cobra, 1000 ATK]
"Cobra's effect activates!" Yuri continued, voice sharp with practiced rhythm. "When it's Special Summoned, I can add Polymerization from my Deck to my hand!"
He added the glowing card, then raised it theatrically. "Now let's see how you handle this, Spell Card, Polymerization! I fuse my two DARK monsters!"
Both Predaplants melted into liquid darkness, drawn into a spiraling violet vortex of fusion energy.
"FUSION SUMMON! Emerge, Starving Venom Fusion Dragon!"
The resulting explosion of black light birthed a monstrous, insectoid dragon, its wings spreading like a living contagion, flesh green and slick beneath jagged violet armor, its tail ending in a deadly, scythe-like stinger.
[Starving Venom Fusion Dragon, 2800 ATK]
The two dragons, Behemoth and Starving Venom, roared, their glares locking in midair. Predator against predator. Neither yielding.
"Starving Venom's effect activates!" Yuri announced, the Duel Field flashing crimson. "When Fusion Summoned, it gains ATK equal to all Special Summoned monsters you control!"
The Venom Dragon's body pulsed, absorbing energy from Yumi's side, until...
Yumi's voice, calm and cold: "Dinomorphia Behemoth's effect activates."
The ground trembled as Behemoth's armor flared with blue circuitry. "Once per turn, when you activate a card effect, I can banish a Trap in my Graveyard to negate that activation, and banish it!"
Behemoth roared, releasing a surge of digital energy that shattered the crimson aura around Starving Venom.
Yuri's eyes widened. His smirk faltered. "...Your monster, really, has a horrible effect."
He glanced at his hand, then sneered. "Fine. Let's take this up a notch."
He slammed another card onto his Duel Disk.
"Quickplay Spell, Super Polymerization!"
A black storm erupted over the Duel Field, lightning crackling between them. "By discarding one card, I can Fusion Summon using monsters from both sides of the field!"
Yumi's gaze narrowed. Behemoth's data flickered as the vortex began to consume it alongside Starving Venom.
"I fuse your Dinomorphia Behemoth with my Starving Venom Fusion Dragon!"
"Fusion Summon, Greedy Venom Fusion Dragon!!"
The sky split open as an even more grotesque beast emerged, larger, more sinister, its white hide veined with pulsating purple light. Its wings cracked open like plasma energy; its roar shattered the sound barrier.
[Greedy Venom Fusion Dragon, 3300 ATK]
"Greedy Venom's effect activates!" Yuri's grin returned, fanged and feverish. "Once per turn, I can target a face-up monster on the field, negate its effect, and reduce its ATK to zero!"
He thrust his hand forward. "And I choose your pretty little swordswoman!"
Yumi didn't respond, letting Raye's ATK drop to zero and her effect negated.
[Sky Striker Ace - Raye, 1500 -> 0 ATK]
Yuri frowned. "Tch… You're not even gonna flinch?"
He chuckled darkly. "Since you actually managed to make me use this card, I'll at least give you the honor of letting me know who I am crushing."
He tilted his head, eyes gleaming. "So tell me, who are you?"
The air shifted.
Yumi didn't answer right away. A faint, black aura began to rise from his feet, spiraling around him like smoke. His smile remained calm, yet cold, and terrifyingly confident.
Then his voice dropped lower.
"My name is… Haou."