Chapter 139: Hero Fusion! Surpassing Destiny!
The live chat had gone unanimous.
Every message floating across the stream said the same thing.
"But how are you going to win?"
Amano had traded away the Priestess, a card with zero combat value, and received Destiny HERO - Malicious in return. What Malicious could contribute to the board in practical terms was genuinely limited. The arithmetic did not look good from the outside.
Aster looked at the Priestess card now sitting in his hand.
"Pointless struggle. Even if you managed to grab hold of Destiny, it won't change the Destiny you're headed for, Amano Rei."
Sakuya finally broke her silence.
"Amano only has one low-level Destiny HERO in hand. Can he actually win from here?"
For her and Chiaki, the stakes of this specific duel did not carry the same weight they did for the Slifer Red students. This was a Chronicle instance. If it failed this week, they could come back and try again next week. No personal responsibility attached meant no real tension.
"He still has one more card," Chiaki said, her attention fixed on the field.
Chiaki had lost enough Chronicle runs of her own that the outcome of a single duel did not move her either way. But something about Amano's presence in this Chronicle was different from anything she had encountered before. Every other duelist who had run Chronicle content was a visitor. Amano felt like a resident. Like someone who actually belonged in this world, carrying the weight of the dormitory's survival and the hopes of the people standing around him.
"The face-down card!" Alexis pointed. "That's the last hope he has left!"
She was right. He had set that card at the very start of his turn, before doing anything else. The reason was clear in retrospect: he had not wanted Aster to take it through Exchange. And since it was a normal Spell rather than a Quick-Play or Trap, it could still be activated this turn.
"This card!" Amano stomped down and flipped the face-down.
"Spell Card: Polymerization Reclamation!"
Polymerization Reclamation. Spell Card. Target one Polymerization card in your Graveyard and one monster that was used as Fusion Material for a Fusion Summon. Add both cards to your hand.
"I return Polymerization from my Graveyard and everyone's favorite Elemental HERO Sparkman, who served as Fusion Material, to my hand!"
The final Fusion. Not just a final Fusion to break out of an impossible position. The final Fusion to break through the boundary between HERO variants entirely.
"Spell Card: Polymerization, activate!"
The Extra Deck lit up with the light of a card being printed into existence. Amano raised the Fusion above his head.
"Fusion in a situation like this?" Aster's composure cracked.
Both of Amano's remaining cards were now face-up and obvious. Two HERO monsters. One Destiny, one Elemental. As different from each other as the archetypes they came from.
"Aster. Your father created entirely new HEROes. But what he wanted to see wasn't your life consumed by hatred."
Aster Phoenix's father had been a remarkable card designer. In the GX era, when HEROes meant only Elemental HEROes, he had broken new ground and created the Destiny HERO archetype from nothing. Later iterations of the franchise would add dozens of HERO variants that made Destiny HEROes seem less singular in retrospect, but the step that man had taken was the one that had made every HERO bloom possible. He had opened a door that every HERO duelist who came after him walked through.
"What your father wanted to see was more HEROes, active on the stage that dueling creates! So let this Fusion break through the walls between them!"
"I fuse Destiny HERO - Malicious from my hand with Elemental HERO Sparkman!"
The Fusion spiral drew both cards in. DARK and LIGHT. Destiny and Elemental. Two heroes from completely different lineages spiraling into the same vortex.
"He fused a Destiny HERO with an Elemental HERO!" Aster could not keep the shock out of his voice.
"He fused my Destiny HERO with Amano's Elemental HERO!" Finesse was equally stunned, though for a different reason than Aster and she knew it.
"Heroes don't need to be enemies..." Latir said quietly, something settling in her expression. As a HERO user herself, watching this duel had given her something she was still processing.
"This is the HERO Fusion that breaks all boundaries!"
"Burning wings standing atop the tallest spire, even the three-card hero combo is the HERO we all love!"
"Fusion Summon!"
"F.HERO Flame Wingman!!"
F.HERO Flame Wingman. Level 6 WIND Warrior Fusion Effect. 2100 ATK / 1200 DEF. Fusion Materials: two monsters of the same Type but different Attributes.
The moment the Fusion Summon resolved, the surrounding environment transformed. The Chronicle's backdrop shifted to nighttime in an instant, as if a Field Spell had activated. Towering skyscrapers rose on all sides, city lights cutting through the dark in every direction. And standing at the very top of the highest tower, arms crossed, looking out over the city below, was a HERO that had never existed before this moment.
"F.HERO!"
The entire field reacted.
Not E for Elemental. Not D for Destiny. Not Vision, not Masked. Something entirely new, born from a Fusion that should not have been possible.
F.HERO. The F stood for something that had no precedent in HERO history.
The Fusion condition required two monsters of the same Type but different Attributes. Malicious was DARK, Sparkman was LIGHT. Both Warriors. The condition was met, and the result was unprecedented.
"This isn't just breaking through HERO boundaries!"
Karl had completely abandoned composure and was on his feet.
"That Fusion condition doesn't even require HERO monsters as materials! Anyone could potentially become an F.HERO!"
"Amano Rei, you've done it again!" Karl's hands were shaking. "You've proven it to me again! You've proven that an ordinary person can become a hero!"
On the field, the moment F.HERO Flame Wingman landed on top of that imaginary skyscraper, Aster felt something shift inside him. A memory. His father at a desk, bent over design notes, smiling at something on the page.
"Father... was this what you felt when you created the Destiny HEROes? Is this what you spent your whole life chasing?"
Napoleon exhaled with visible relief.
"Hmph. I thought it would be something impressive. After all that buildup, it's still just Flame Wingman with 2100 ATK. The same three-card combo as always."
"Sure it's the three-card combo, but it looks incredible!" The voice that cut through from behind was one Amano recognized before he turned around.
The entire group turned.
"Jaden!!"
Jaden Yuki had finally arrived, nearly a full duel late, catching the last act just in time to see F.HERO Flame Wingman's Fusion Summon from the sideline.
"Rei! You actually pulled it off! Flame Wingman in a completely new form! That's so exciting!"
"You made it back, Jaden."
"Yeah, I'm back, Rei!" Jaden gave a firm nod. "And I brought a new HERO with me!"
It was only a Chronicle-assigned friendship. A background setting generated by the system.
But looking at Jaden Yuki, who had been gone long enough to worry everyone and had now walked back through that worry like it weighed nothing, Amano felt something real. The relief of seeing a friend return. Genuine, not performed.
"Then my new HERO can't fall behind."
Amano raised one arm toward the top of the skyscraper and called the Battle Phase.
"Fight! F.HERO Flame Wingman!"
The burning wings spread and launched from the top of the tower, diving through the city sky at speed, locking onto Destiny HERO Diamond Dude on Aster's field.
"Skyscraper Shooting!"
Flames erupted from the dragon-headed arm, lighting up the city's darkness and illuminating the new path that HERO Fusion had just opened.
Destiny HERO Diamond Dude: destroyed.
Aster Phoenix LP: 1600 to 900.
"F.HERO Flame Wingman's effect activates!"
When a monster is destroyed by battle, during either player's turn, you can activate this effect. Using monsters from your hand or field as Fusion Materials, Fusion Summon one Fusion Monster.
After destroying a monster in battle, Wingman could continue fusing immediately. Amano's hand was empty. But his field still had two monsters on it.
"I fuse F.HERO Flame Wingman with a Scapegoat token!"
"You can Fuse a Scapegoat token?" Karl took the impact of this fact directly to the face.
"This is the limitless potential of F.HERO!"
The flame-spiral Fusion vortex opened on Amano's field, pulling Flame Wingman and the orange token into itself.
"Shining wings illuminating the city! The light of justice cutting through the sky!"
"F.HERO Fusion Summon!"
"F.HERO Shining Flame Wingman!!"
F.HERO Shining Flame Wingman. Level 8 LIGHT Warrior Fusion Effect. 2500 ATK / 2100 DEF. Fusion Materials: Fusion Monster plus one face-up monster on the field.
Any face-up monster qualified as the second material. A Scapegoat token was face-up. That was enough.
Jaden's fist came up.
"After Flame Wingman, it's Shining Flame Wingman! That's incredible! That's so cool!"
The final move of the three-card combo.
In the previous duel, Jaden had summoned both Flame Wingman and Shining Flame Wingman and still lost to Aster. But these were not the same HEROes returning in the same form. Something had changed.
"F.HERO Shining Flame Wingman's effect activates!"
When this card is Special Summoned from the Extra Deck, you can return five monsters from your Graveyard to your deck. Then draw two cards. This card's ATK increases by 1000.
"I return Elemental HERO Avian, Elemental HERO Burstinatrix, Elemental HERO Sparkman, Elemental HERO Thunder Giant - Cumulonimbus, and F.HERO Flame Wingman, five cards total, from my Graveyard to my deck!"
Five cards. Every HERO monster that had been sent to the Graveyard during this duel answered the call, channeling every bit of the will they had carried into the new form of Shining Flame Wingman.
F.HERO Shining Flame Wingman ATK: 2500 to 3500.
"That pushes it above the Destiny HEROes!"
3500 ATK. Exactly 100 points above Destiny HERO Dogma, the highest-ATK Destiny HERO on Aster's field.
"Go beyond Destiny, F.HERO Shining Flame Wingman!"
Under the light of the city, Amano launched the final attack at Aster Phoenix.
"Shining Flame Wingman Impact!!"
Wrapped in brilliant light, the F.HERO became a beam of something that had transcended Destiny entirely. Shining Flame Wingman's strike punched straight through Destiny HERO Dogma.
Destiny HERO Dogma: destroyed.
Aster Phoenix LP: 900 to 800.
"And finally, F.HERO Shining Flame Wingman's second effect!"
When this card destroys a monster by battle, deal damage to the opponent equal to that monster's original ATK.
The same signature effect as the original Flame Wingman, but now channeling Dogma's original 3400 ATK back at Aster as a finishing blast of light.
"That was a beautiful duel, Amano Rei. You showed me HEROes I had never imagined. I'm sure my father would be glad to see the Destiny he created fighting alongside entirely new HEROes on the dueling stage!"
In the last moment before the damage landed, Aster flipped his final face-down card.
"Counter Trap: Fusion Guard, activate!"
Fusion Guard. Counter Trap Card. Activate when an effect that deals damage is activated. Negate that activation and its effect. Then send one Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck to the Graveyard at random.
He had been carrying this specifically against the finishing-blow effect. The three-card combo's damage effect was a known quantity, and a professional duelist prepared for it.
"I negate the effect that would deal damage from Shining Flame Wingman. I send one Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck to the Graveyard!"
Aster had not yet developed Fusion capability for his Destiny HEROes. The only Fusion Monster in his Extra Deck was something he had carried over from before he switched to Destiny HEROes, from the time when he had still been an Elemental HERO duelist. The card that had beaten Caesar on the professional circuit. His original signature HERO.
Amano laughed.
"You kept talking about Destiny being superior to Elemental, and in the end you needed an Elemental HERO to save your life, Aster."
"I'll admit it, Amano Rei. You've changed a stubborn belief I've been holding onto. HEROes really don't need to be enemies."
The Fusion Monster Aster sent to the Graveyard was Elemental HERO Shining Flare Wingman, the phoenix-winged hero that had once defeated Kaiser's Cyber Dragon on the professional stage.
"I send Elemental HERO Shining Flare Wingman to the Graveyard! Shining Flame Wingman's 3400 damage effect is negated!"
Two Wingmen. Two forms of a HERO that had defined different eras. They collided in the space between the two duelists, light against light, phoenix against phoenix, the old hero rising one last time to protect the duelist who had once carried it.
F.HERO Shining Flame Wingman's effect: negated.
Aster smiled.
"I acknowledge it, Amano Rei. In terms of the philosophy of HEROes, you won. But this duel, I'm taking."
The finishing damage had been stopped. On Aster's next turn, the Bad Luck Blast that Diamond Dude had excavated earlier would activate and clear Amano's remaining 275 Life Points without needing a single attack.
"I'm sorry, Aster Phoenix. You're not winning this one."
Amano threw out his hand.
The hand that had been completely empty moments ago now held two cards. Shining Flame Wingman's draw effect had reloaded him from nothing.
"Quick-Play Spell: Mask Change II! I discard Yuyu from my hand to transform one monster into a Masked HERO!"
Mask Change II could target any monster, not just a HERO. The token counted.
Amano put both of his drawn cards on the table and bet everything on this final transformation.
"I transform the last Scapegoat token on my field into an EARTH-Attribute Masked HERO!"
A token becoming a hero. That was the F.HERO philosophy made literal.
"Diamond armor, combine! With the unyielding strength of the earth, draw the blade that cuts through Destiny one final time!"
"Special Summon: Masked HERO Dian!"
Masked HERO Dian. Level 8 EARTH Warrior Fusion Effect. 2800 ATK / 3000 DEF.
"Even Masked HEROes now," Latir said, shaking her head slowly. Something had settled in her completely by this point. The three Wein siblings were watching the same field and arriving at the same conclusion from different starting points.
"Aster, have you looked at the ATK of the last monster on your field?"
Destiny HERO Bloo-D had started this turn at 4800 ATK, the combined total of every other Destiny HERO on the field. In the time since, Amano had destroyed Diamond Dude, then Dogma, picking off the Destiny HEROes one by one under Shining Flame Wingman's relentless advance.
The only Destiny HERO still standing was Bloo-D itself.
Bloo-D's ATK was equal to the combined ATK of every other Destiny HERO on the field.
With no other Destiny HEROes remaining, that number was zero.
"There is no Destiny left to fear. Because we've already surpassed it."
"Charge, Amano!!"
Jaden's voice led the rest of Slifer Red in a single shout, every one of them calling out together as Amano declared his final attack.
Masked HERO Dian at 2800 ATK against Bloo-D at 0 ATK.
"Final strike!"
"Earthbreaker Slash!!"
The silver diamond blade drove into the ground and the earth split open under Bloo-D's feet, fissures spreading outward in every direction, trapping the massive figure in crumbling stone. The finishing blow landed clean, and where the chains of Destiny had once held, a brilliant flower of diamond light bloomed in their place.
Destiny HERO Bloo-D: destroyed.
Aster Phoenix LP: 800 to 0. (-2800)
[Chronicle Clear Condition: Stop Aster Phoenix - Achieved]
[Chronicle Hidden Reward Condition: Defeat Aster Phoenix using HEROes of three or more different name prefixes in a single duel - Achieved]
[Chronicle Clear Rating: S]
[High Rating Clear Bonus: Select one card from the Chronicle drop table as your reward.]
[Hidden Reward: Obtain one Chronicle Free Entry Ticket.]
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