A powerful surge of electricity came crashing down, blasting a mighty dragon into pieces.
"Red-Eyes Black Dragon!? No way."
"Alexis!!"
"Looks like I lost. Zane, be careful, his cards." Before she could finish, Alexis lost consciousness. Her body was enveloped in light, and with a forceful surge, she was flung into space, swallowed into the heart of a star.
Seeing this unfold, Zane clenched his fists and strode forward. His expression turned grim as he activated his Duel Disk.
"Heh, heh, ha."
Some time later.
Zane, too, was absorbed into a star.
Days later.
"Professor Banner is missing!?" Hikaru asked in shock.
"Yeah!" Jaden frowned, troubled. "I thought he was just busy with something, but it's been over a week and I haven't seen him.
And with him gone from the kitchen, no one's giving me natto anymore."
Jaden continued, frustrated, "Also, Professor Crowler's been missing too these past few days. What gives? Some kind of faculty exchange program or something?"
"Hikaru, you're usually pretty close to Professor Crowler. Do you know anything?"
Hikaru shook his head.
He was indeed familiar with the professor, but that didn't mean he met with him every day. As nice as Crowler was, he was still a middle-aged working man with responsibilities.
But if Banner had gone missing...
He had a general idea of what that could mean. Most likely, Professor Banner was about to go all in.
The Shadow Riders, huh...
"Jaden, this might sound strange," Hikaru decided to speak up, "but you need to remember, one of the Shadow Riders hasn't appeared yet."
"You mean Professor Banner was captured by a Shadow Rider!?" Jaden's face darkened. "Damn it."
"I mean, it's possible that Professor Banner is one of the Shadow Riders."
"No way, absolutely not!" Chumley immediately shook his head. "Professor Banner is such a timid guy. How could he be a Shadow Rider?
Back when that vampire showed up at the Academy, he spent ages hiding in his room praying to Buddha."
"Jaden, I'm just saying, be prepared."
Hikaru hesitated briefly, then gave a firm nod.
He rubbed his temples and took a deep breath.
Today was the day to search for an old friend. No time to get too down.
As he saw Jaden calling over Chazz to prepare for teleportation, the usually lively Fusion Club grew a bit quiet, while Hikaru sank into thought.
If Professor Banner had vanished, then no doubt he had returned to his true self, ready to fulfill his agreement with Chairman Kagemaru and duel them as one of the Shadow Riders.
In canon, Banner was the leader of the Shadow Riders and the strongest among them. He defeated every remaining Key Holder except Jaden all at once, and when facing Jaden, he revealed his true form, hoping to witness his growth.
This version of Banner was just as strong, maybe stronger, than the original. But then again, this world's Jaden was also more powerful, with Elemental HERO Captain Gold and Avain as two additional spirits. He was clearly stronger than his original counterpart.
With Jaden's skills, he should still be able to win, even if Banner's Deck got a power boost.
If everyone's stronger, it balances out the win/loss dynamic shouldn't change.
Today, Hikaru was heading to the Village of Spellcasters, and he wondered if he might run into a wild Dark Magician.
Compared to the absurdly rare Dark Magician Girl, Dark Magician was actually more common in this world. With some luck, he just might encounter one there.
"Yo, Umi, here early today?"
"It's Bastion—" Bastion said, then straightened up and said to Hikaru, "Last semester, I wasn't focused enough, so you and Chazz beat me out. But don't get complacent!"
"Heh, Bastion, you're pretty confident, huh? Just don't cross the line into arrogance."
As they bantered, Hikaru slotted the coordinates card for Dark Magician Girl into the Dimension Gate. He casually asked, "Is there any particular spirit you want to find?"
"Actually, there is. If possible, I want to find the spirit of a Mathematician."
He flipped through his Deck and showed a card to Hikaru.
Seeing the long-bearded old man who once dominated the meta, Hikaru raised an eyebrow.
'Ah, Mathematician plus Dandylion FTK combo, huh? Good thing there's no Link Summoning in this world. Otherwise, Misawa might go off the rails.'
Joking around, they stood before the gate under the teacher's guidance. Just as they were about to teleport, Tierra suddenly jumped in and pointed at the machine.
"Hey, human, someone tampered with this machine."
"Wait! Don't teleport yet," Hikaru shouted.
The teacher froze but didn't press the button. Hikaru inspected the machine and noticed a strange green symbol glowing on it.
He recognized it at a glance, an alchemical symbol!
"Alright, it's fine now. Please proceed."
Having confirmed it, Hikaru felt less tense.
What he feared was some unknown meddler.
As he was thinking this, the Dimension Gate's light enveloped them. Bathed in emerald light, the two regained awareness inside a massive workshop.
Above them, countless enormous planets floated in the sky, while bizarre contraptions filled the area.
"Where are we? This doesn't look like a Spellcaster-type place..." Bastion muttered instinctively.
The next second, his attention was stolen by the scene before them: directly ahead, Professor Banner, cloaked in strange garb and wrapped in bandages, pointed coldly at Jaden, who was kneeling.
"It's over, Jaden. Attack him directly."
"Well done, Jaden. Forcing me to reveal my true identity, you've grown splendidly."
"Ah—"
"Jaden!?" Hikaru and Bastion shouted together.
Hikaru was stunned by the scene.
'What the hell!?'
'The protagonist lost!?'
'Lost to the mid-boss from the original story!?'
"Jaden!!"
He heard other students shouting. Looking up, he saw the approaching planets turn transparent. Inside each one were students and teachers pounding on the edges, trying to escape and help.
Professor Crowler, Alexis, Atticus, Chazz, Zane!
Even Syrus and Chumley were trapped in one, yelling for Jaden.
Jaden's body was wrapped in light and drawn into the sun, where he lost consciousness.
"This..." Bastion instinctively took a step back before forcing himself to stay calm, he frantically pulled out his Deck. "H-Hikaru, I—I'll—"
Seeing his friend flustered, Hikaru stepped forward, blocking him with his arm.
"Misawa, let me handle this!"
"Oh? Hehehe, so you choose to stand and face me instead of fleeing after seeing a powerful classmate fall?" Banner narrowed his eyes with a grin. "Then you must have realized it too, right?
I am... the final Shadow Rider!
Amnael of the Shadow Riders!"
Hikaru took a deep breath and nodded solemnly.
"Then there's nothing more to say. Hikaru, let's see whether you fall here, or keep moving forward."
"Duel!" (x2)
[Amnael, LP: 4000]
[Hikaru, LP: 4000]