The giant robot descended from the sky, and the crimson light pierced through the entire city.
Smoke was everywhere, and so were the sinister, maniacal laughter of the invaders.
Friends and classmates were transformed into scattered cards under the purple light, pain and blood flowed throughout Heartland.
On that day, he witnessed his sister being kidnapped by the guys in purple uniforms—
"Ruri!!!"
Kurosaki Shun roared as he got up, cold sweat covering his forehead.
He gasped heavily, came to his senses, and realized he seemed to be lying in an unfamiliar room, surrounded by things he wasn't familiar with at all. Occasionally, he could see some photos, which seemed to be of Yuto and Ruri together, but these scenes were unlike any in his memory, and moreover, Ruri didn't seem like someone who would wear biker clothes and cruise around.
"Brother, are you awake?"
While he was in a daze, a girl outside the door heard the noise and ran in, looking at him and asking.
Kurosaki Shun opened his eyes wide—
Not a dream.
Not far away, hearing the commotion here, Serena and Rin also peeked sneakily.
Ruri's brother, and her real brother!
This was quite an unprecedented event for them.
Although, before this, they had both imagined whether they had any relatives or not, but now they knew they were actually the same person from different dimensions, "split" apart.
Therefore, for imagining their "father," they've stopped at this point.
They could no longer imagine Akaba Leo suddenly becoming a benevolent elder.
Because of this, they had basically given up imagining about "relatives," and at this moment, Kurosaki Ruri actually had a genuine, original older brother; how could this not make them happy and surprised?
So, after "splitting," normal familial relationships were still possible?
On the other side, Tenjo Hikari glanced around, paid no more attention, and began checking his own Deck.
After the duel, and Kurosaki Shun fell unconscious, Tenjo Hikari and the others came near Rin's base.
Of course, calling it a base was actually a maintenance area provided by WRGP, but even this small piece of private space was something that Yugo and Rin had dreamed of.
After all, for the kids from the Lower City Area, getting a private garage in the Upper City Area was already quite exciting.
For this reason, they had done many arrangements in the house, decorating it like their own home, making it look warm and nice — those who didn't know might think the place would be theirs after the competition.
However, Tenjo Hikari thought that even if the competition ended and they had to pack up the place, the two of them would probably still enjoy it.
Regarding Kurosaki Shun's extreme distaste for Fusion Duelists, Tenjo Hikari didn't see it as a big deal.
It's not that Tenjo Hikari himself had no feelings towards the outside world.
The real reason was that Tenjo Hikari could understand Kurosaki Shun's mental state.
Witnessing friends and family "die" right in front of him and to save his kidnapped sister, Kurosaki Shun could be said to give his all. In the original work, Kurosaki Shun's early portrayals seemed like the "Xyz Army," eager to transform people into cards.
But this issue wasn't his fault.
Indeed, Kurosaki Shun's demeanor was similarly extreme like the Fusion Army, but these were two different matters.
The Fusion Army were genuine invaders, aggressors; while Kurosaki Shun was a stressed victim under such invasion.
One shouldn't blame Kurosaki Shun for going to extremes because he was harmed by the Fusion Army, saying that Kurosaki Shun and the Fusion Army were all bad entities, there's no such truth.
The only thing Tenjo Hikari could do was to calm him down, explain everything sincerely and openly.
Fortunately, besides his own words, he had a "secret weapon," which was Kurosaki Shun's sister, the sister he dreamt to find, Kurosaki Ruri.
Tenjo Hikari flipped the card and saw a card slowly flickering.
Blaze Fenix, the Burning Bombardment Bird.
Tenjo Hikari stroked his chin.
Actually, lately he often received new cards, almost always able to extract some cards from Duel Energy post-duel. Some cards he summarized for use, while others he kept temporarily for contingencies.
Moreover, although the power of Super Polymerization became even stronger, he ultimately had gradually grasped it, and usually employed the Duel Energy obtained from Super Polymerization to strategically forge Fusion Monsters. Therefore, he hadn't studied Deck changes much.
But today was different.
He really hadn't planned to duel someone halfway this time, let alone encountering Kurosaki Shun.
Thus, he was very curious about what kind of card would appear today.
Unexpectedly, it was Blaze Fenix, the Burning Bombardment Bird.
This card was quite different from the overall impression Kurosaki Shun gave him in the original work, but if compared to the current Kurosaki Shun, it was actually quite similar.
The only crucial point was, this monster titled as a "Fowl," named as a "Bird," is essentially a Pyro-Type Fusion Monster.
Whether its Fusion Conditions or its effects were outstanding, the Fusion Conditions were Machine-Type Pyro-Type Monster, allowing Tenjo Hikari's main Deck to reserve slots for two different types of cards.
And its effect was somewhat "terrifying".