Some time later, at Duel Academy, Yumi suddenly sat up in his bed, already reaching for his Slifer Red jacket.
"Where are you going?" Celina asked, propping herself up on one elbow.
"To meet another HERO player," Yumi replied with a smirk.
Celina raised an eyebrow. As far as she knew, the only other HERO user left on the island was Jaden.
"Don't be out too late," she said lazily before flopping back onto her bed.
It was already late, and she was completely drained after finishing that stupid forty-page essay. She still didn't understand why Crowler had suddenly started paying so much attention to Slifer Red students lately, going as far as promoting Syrus to Ra Yellow after letting him duel and beat some weak Obelisk Blue girl running an Insect deck.
The Pot of Greed face teacher had even tried to promote her to Obelisk Blue.
She declined.
Slifer Red still had too many things she cared about to just move on.
For one, her best grinding partner and card dealer lived here. Second, Pharaoh had basically moved into their room, meaning she could pet and play with the cat whenever she wanted. And lastly, although he is a massive pain in the ass sometimes, she genuinely liked her roommate.
So yeah. She saw absolutely no reason to change dorms.
As Yumi calmly made his way toward the empty school building, Dark Law peeled himself out from Yumi's shadow.
At the same moment, a man clutching a bag filled with stolen card packs burst out of the building's side door.
The thief froze mid-step.
Beside a Slifer Red student with pink hair stood the ominous figure of Masked HERO Dark Law, his menacing yellow eyes glowing faintly in the darkness.
"You can come out now," Yumi said evenly. "Your entrance is already ruined."
The man blinked in confusion, just before another voice rang out behind him.
"You really didn't have to come deal with human garbage like this, senior."
A figure materialized directly at the thief's back, Destiny HERO Doom Lord, looming silently.
Yumi overlapped his vision with Effect Veiler, his sight shifting as he spotted Aster sitting calmly atop one of Duel Academy's pillars, one leg crossed over the other as he looked down at the scene.
"I don't really care about this side character," Yumi said, eyes lifting back to Aster. "So how about we make this quick?"
"I planned to have him atone through a duel," Aster replied coolly. "But your method works too."
Neither of them wasted another second.
The thief barely had time to scream before Dark Law and Doom Lord struck from opposite sides, dropping him cold before he even hit the ground.
Aster leapt down from the pillar. Just before impact, Elemental HERO Phoenix Enforcer appeared, catching him effortlessly and breaking his fall.
The HERO's gaze lingered on Yumi.
"Be careful."
The words sent a chill through Aster.
His HEROes never spoke on their own.
Before Aster could react, Phoenix Enforcer vanished, the warning still hanging in the air, clear proof that whatever danger he sensed… was standing right in front of him.
In just the few days since Yumi's return to Duel Academy, students had fallen one after another. Many of them were crushed in a single turn, some barely even allowed to play.
His reputation as Slifer only grew.
Fear followed him through all three years.
Just like Slifer the Sky Dragon, reducing the power of freshly summoned monsters the moment they appeared, Yumi carried that same pressure. New duelists felt it the instant they faced him in a duel.
To put it short, Yumi has been bullying other students. Summoning out his Boss monster to beat up NPCs.
Momoyo & Kaiba: Good job!
Aster narrowed his gaze as both their HEROes faded away.
"Well then," he said, raising his Duel Disk, "mind having a duel with me, senior?"
"Sure," Yumi replied calmly, activating his own Duel Disk. "I don't mind."
They faced each other beneath the night sky, white and magenta hair swaying gently in the cool wind.
Their Duel Disks flared to life.
"DUEL!" x2
[Yumi, LP 4000]
[Aster, LP 4000]
"I'll go first! Draw!" Aster said, drawing his card with confidence.
A faint smile crossed his face as he slammed the card onto his Duel Disk."I activate Pot of Greed. This lets me draw two cards!"
"I'll chain that with Ash Blossom," Yumi replied calmly. "By discarding this card, I negate your Pot of Greed."
He flicked the card into his graveyard.
From behind the bushes, the little dog-girl spirit popped out, grinning mischievously as she snatched the smiling green pot straight off Aster's side of the field before darting away.
Aster clicked his tongue.
"Tch… fine."
He didn't hesitate. "Then I activate the spell, Polymerization! This-"
"I chain Kuribangboo," Yumi interrupted, his tone unchanged. "When you activate a Spell or Trap, I can discard this card, negate its effect, and activate it on my side of the field."
Yumi sent the card to the graveyard. Aster's Polymerization dulled, its colors draining away before it shattered into fragments.
On Yumi's side, Kuribangboo raised its camera, pressing a button as a projection of Polymerization appeared.
"I fuse Elemental HERO Liquid Soldier and Elemental HERO Shadow Mist from my hand."
Yumi raised both cards. The two HEROes emerged before being pulled into a spiraling fusion vortex.
"Fusion Summon! Elemental HERO Sunrise!"
The crimson-armored warrior descended, blue cape flowing behind him as sunlight flared across the field.
[Elemental HERO Sunrise, 2500 -> 2700 ATK]
"Sunrise's continuous effect," Yumi said evenly, "all of my monsters gain 200 ATK for each different Attribute I control."
He didn't pause.
"I activate Shadow Mist's effect, chain it with Liquid Soldier, and chain those with Sunrise."
Aster's eye twitched.
Is this… still my turn?
"Sunrise's effect," Yumi continued, pulling out his deck, "when he's Fusion Summoned, I can add Miracle Fusion from my deck or graveyard to my hand."
He added the card smoothly.
"Liquid Soldier's effect. Since he was used as Fusion Material, I draw two cards, then discard one."
Two cards were drawn before he sent one to the grave.
"Finally, Shadow Mist's effect. When she's sent to the graveyard, I add a HERO monster from my deck to my hand."
Yumi searched briefly. "I'll add Elemental HERO Airman."
Aster clenched his jaw, gripping his cards tightly.
"…I summon Avian in Defense Position. Then I set one card."
The green, bird-themed HERO appeared kneeling, wings crossed defensively as a face-down card materialized behind him.
[Elemental HERO Avian, 1000 DEF]
"Turn end," Aster said stiffly.
"Draw." Yumi drew, glancing once at the card before looking back to the field.
"I Normal Summon Elemental HERO Airman."
A green cyclone burst downward as the WIND HERO descended, turbine wings spinning loudly.
[Elemental HERO Airman, 1800 -> 2200 ATK]
[Elemental HERO Sunrise, 2700 -> 2900 ATK]
"Airman's effect. When he's summoned, I can destroy Spell or Trap cards up to the number of HERO monsters I control besides him."
Airman spread his turbine wings. A violent gust ripped across the field, flipping Aster's set card face-up before shredding it.
Aster clenched his teeth in annoyance, seeing his Destiny Signal shattered before he could even use it.
"Battle." Yumi raised his hand. "Airman, attack Avian."
Airman lifted off, slicing straight through the kneeling HERO.
"Sunrise's effect," Yumi added. "When an attack is declared involving another HERO I control, I can target a card on the field and destroy it."
Aster's eyes widened. "What!?"
Sunrise's cape flared, releasing a brilliant burst of sunlight that shattered Avian before the attack could land.
"With Avian gone," Yumi continued calmly, "Airman's attack becomes a direct attack."
Airman redirected mid-air, chopping downward toward Aster.
[Aster, LP 4000 -> 1800]
"Sunrise," Yumi said simply, "finish this. Direct attack."
The crimson HERO stepped forward, sunlight condensing before erupting into a focused beam.
"Ahhh!" Aster screamed as his life point dropped to zero.
[Aster, LP 1800 -> 0]
The holograms vanished.
"Gotcha," Yumi said casually as faint Spirit Energy fell from Aster's body and was quietly absorbed. "That was a fun duel."
Aster dropped to one knee, teeth clenched as he glared up at him.
"What?" Yumi glanced back, mildly amused. "Too harsh? Fine. I'll use a different deck next time. Maybe then you can put up a fight."
He turned and walked away, leaving Aster kneeling on the cold ground, burning with humiliation.
Whether Aster had been holding back, underestimating him, or simply hadn't expected this level of pressure didn't really matter.
In the anime, Aster also starts off his Duel with Jaden using pure Elemental HERO before switching to his Destiny HERO.
So Yumi has suspected that this was the same, with Aster wanting to test out Yumi's strength, only to end up absolutely crushed before he could even do anything.
...
Somewhere, in a palace filled with dazzling white light.
Sartorius sat alone at a table covered by a spotless white tablecloth. In front of him, tarot cards shuffled and cut on their own, sliding against each other with quiet, precise movements.
He watched them closely.
The shuffling stopped.
A faint scarlet light flickered in Sartorius's round eyes as he stared down at the pile, as though trying to look past the cards themselves and into the direction fate was moving.
Normally, this would have been simple.
But this time was different.
Because the reading involved a boy named Yumi Uzushi.
Sartorius had attempted to predict Yumi's future more than once. Every attempt ended the same way, no answer, no clear result, nothing but failure.
So he chose a different approach.
Instead of trying to observe his fate directly, he decided to approach it from a different angle.
Aster Phoenix had been sent to test the opponent he couldn't see through. By forcing the two to confront each other, their paths would intersect under conditions he had arranged himself.
Slowly, Sartorius turned over the first card.
A king's chariot appeared, the victor standing tall upon it, looking down as if displaying his achievement to the world.
The Chariot.
A card that symbolized victory.
When a tarot card is revealed, a possible future begins to take shape in the present, placed quietly onto destiny's schedule.
Through this card, Sartorius perceived the Light of Destruction spreading across the board, covering everything beneath it. The stubborn darkness that resisted it was gradually erased, the pieces of fate dyed uniformly white.
Even the Darkness itself.
A thin, sharp smile formed on Sartorius's face, his fangs barely visible.
He still didn't understand why Yumi Uzushi's future remained unreadable.
But that no longer concerned him.
The card suggested that whatever anomaly stood in the way would be removed, and the path ahead would remain clear.
The future, as far as Sartorius was concerned, still belonged to the supreme Light of Destruction.
...
The next day, just as Aster had said, he issued a challenge to Duel Academy's HERO users to see who truly stood at the top.
Even though he had already lost to Jaden and to Yumi, Aster still held onto a fair amount of confidence.
In his mind, Jaden was Yumi's right-hand man. Strong, sure, but still a step below.
If he could defeat Jaden today, then that would mean last night's duel had simply gone against him. If destiny had leaned his way, the outcome would have been different.
Jaden's friends gathered to watch the duel. Yumi was there as well, less out of support and more out of curiosity. He wanted to see how the butterfly effect caused by his existence would influence both Jaden and Aster from here on out.
"I'm counting on you, my HEROes!" Jaden said, glancing down at his deck.
As Aster walked toward the arena, a commotion broke out in the seats on the opposite side.
"Aster just made eye contact with me!" Mindy squealed.
"He winked at me!" Jasmine cheered back.
They turned toward each other at the same time.
"It was me!"
"No, me!"
Back on Jaden's side of the stands.
"Those two…" Alexis muttered.
"I feel betrayed," Syrus added flatly.
"I don't think they even see Jaden as their friend," Celina said, absently petting Pharaoh's round back.
She didn't mind people cheering for a celebrity crush. But not even bothering to cheer for your own friend during an important match? That said enough.
"Yeah," Rio nodded, though her attention was mostly on the Slifer Red sitting beside her, with a fat orange cat perched comfortably on his head, instead of the duel about to start.
Noticing the mood, Alexis stood up. "I'll go bring them back."
Before she could take a step, Syrus, Chazz, Bastion, and Tyranno all moved at once, arms spread to block her path.
"I'm afraid that if you go over there," Syrus said, trying to sound serious, "you won't come back."
"What!?" Alexis snapped.
The four boys immediately backed off.
Alexis crossed her arms and sat back down, clearly annoyed. She is more interested in Dueling, Jaden, or Yumi instead of Aster.
"The duel between Jaden Yuki and Aster Phoenix will now commence," Bonaparte announced, his voice echoing across the arena.
As Aster slid his deck into his Duel Disk, Yumi noticed the faint, ominous white glow seeping from it, a clear sign of contamination by the Light of Destruction.
Still, he didn't intervene.
The outcome of this duel would decide whether Jaden would seek out the Neo-Spacian cards on his own… or whether Yumi would have to track them down himself.
"Aster! Let's pit HERO against HERO in the ultimate duel!" Jaden called out.
"Let's see which of us is the true HERO user," Aster replied confidently.
Listening to the two of them, Yumi suddenly felt a little left out.
After all, he used a HERO deck too.
Both Duel Disks activated.
"DUEL!" x2
[Jaden, LP 4000]
[Aster, LP 4000]
"I'll go first. Draw!" Aster said, pulling the top card from his deck.
Without hesitation, he placed it onto his Duel Disk. "I summon Elemental HERO Clayman!"
A heavy thud echoed as the stone-bodied HERO appeared on his field, kneeling with his arms crossed protectively.
[Elemental HERO Clayman, 2000 DEF]
"I then activate the Equip Spell, Laminate Armor." Aster played another card. "Equipping it to Clayman and increasing his DEF by 1000."
Bulky metal plates locked into place around Clayman's body.
[Elemental HERO Clayman, 2000 -> 3000 DEF]
"I set one card. Turn end."
A single face-down card materialized behind the kneeling giant.
"Alright! My turn!" Jaden said, already energized. "Draw!"
He glanced at his card and immediately grinned. "I activate Polymerization!"
Pulling two cards from his hand, he raised them up. "I fuse Sparkman and Clayman from my hand!"
Both HEROes appeared and were pulled straight into the swirling fusion vortex.
"Come out! Thunder Giant!"
A massive armored HERO stepped onto the field, golden armor gleaming as electricity crackled around the blue core in his chest.
[Elemental HERO Thunder Giant, 2400 ATK]
"Thunder Giant's effect!" Jaden pointed forward. "When he's Fusion Summoned, I can destroy a monster on the field with lower original ATK than his!"
He gestured toward Aster's Clayman. "Go, Thunder Giant! Voltic Thunder!"
Thunder Giant raised his arm, electricity surging before blasting straight into Clayman. The stone HERO shattered apart, clearing Aster's field in an instant.
"Battle! Thunder Giant, direct attack!"
The giant gathered electricity in both palms and hurled it forward.
"Trap card, Draining Shield!" Aster flipped his face-down card. "I negate the attack and gain Life Points equal to its ATK!"
A translucent barrier formed in front of Aster, absorbing the lightning completely.
[Aster, LP 4000 -> 6400]
Jaden blinked, then looked back down at his hand.
"I'll set two cards," he said, placing them face-down. "And I activate the Continuous Spell, Mirage of Nightmare."
The eerie spell card appeared beside him.
"During each of your Standby Phases, I draw until I have four cards in my hand," Jaden explained. "Then during my turn, I discard the same number of cards I drew."
He looked back at Aster, still smiling.
"Turn end."