Back in the real world, Hikaru contacted Acting Principal Crowler and told him that it would be best not to let freshmen visit the Skyscraper dimension for the time being. He also reported everything he had witnessed inside the Skyscraper.
Upon hearing this, Crowler finally understood why Hikaru had stayed in the Skyscraper dimension for several days.
"So that's what happened... The Spirit World isn't peaceful either. Mamma mia."
Even though Hikaru had helped the HEROes drive away Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World, and even directly obtained the card that sealed him along with Wicked Rune, it didn't mean the HEROes could rest easy.
According to the HEROes, they were going to use Skyscraper as a base for a long-term war against the warriors of Dark World. During this period, they planned to deploy more and stronger main HEROes. As a result, the Skyscraper dimension would become increasingly dangerous, so they advised the human side not to send young duelists there for training anymore.
"Mamma mia... this is..." Crowler held his head, feeling a massive headache. "I was even thinking of sending Jaden there to unwind."
"Jaden? What happened?" Hikaru asked.
"He's been completely out of it ever since losing to Aster." Crowler rubbed his temples and explained what had happened the previous day.
While Hikaru and Celina were off adventuring in Skyscraper, Aster had already arrived at the academy and successfully dueled Jaden.
Even though Jaden's Elemental HEROes were strong enough, he still lost to Aster's Destiny HEROes.
Since then, Jaden had been dazed and listless. He wasn't skipping classes anymore, nor was he eagerly dueling. Instead, he just stared blankly at the sea every day.
Crowler originally thought sending Jaden to Skyscraper to relax might help. After all, it was the home of his beloved HEROes. Who would've thought the place had turned into a battlefield for spirits?
Crowler simply assumed Jaden was mentally shaken after being defeated by Destiny HERO.
But listening to this, Hikaru frowned.
He had thought things were fine since Yubel was already causing trouble and Sartorius shouldn't have been an issue anymore. But now? This sounded exactly like the original plot, where Sartorius used Aster to steal Jaden's destiny.
So Sartorius is still at it, huh?
Looks like another villain just got added to the roster.
However, thinking of it another way, does that mean Jaden is about to obtain Elemental HERO Neos?
In the original, after both Zane and Jaden got crushed by Aster, Zane spiraled into a losing streak in the pro leagues and lost all public favor, while Jaden became so disoriented he couldn't even see his cards or Duel Monsters anymore.
Zane ended up getting scammed into underground duels where he was electrocuted during matches, eventually going insane and finally realizing what he truly wanted, leading him to abandon his Cyber Dragons. Jaden, meanwhile, got struck by a cosmic force during his confusion, transported to an unknown space, and gained a new power, Elemental HERO Neos.
Honestly, the super-mixed deck of Neos, Elemental HERO, and Neo-Spacian is even messier than Hikaru's current Fusion deck. Hikaru can easily top-deck any combo thanks to a deck full of Polymerizations, even including Extra Fusion. But with Jaden's luck, that deck would be completely bricked for anyone else, yet he could make it work.
After getting Neos, Jaden's god-tier top-decking reached absurd levels. Unless it was a case like fusing Bubbleman into De-Fusion just to Tribute Summon Neos, Hikaru thought it was all pretty amazing.
As for the duel between the HERO users, Hikaru didn't have much of an opinion.
"I see. Then I should go check on Jaden later," Hikaru said after thinking for a moment.
After all, this world isn't exactly the same as the original. For instance, Yubel wasn't exiled to space but sent to another dimension. Who knows if the Neo-Spacians can even find Jaden now?
"Ah, wait a moment, Hikaru." Just as Hikaru turned to leave, Crowler called him back.
Hikaru quickly turned around and looked at Crowler.
Crowler opened a drawer, took out an exquisite box, placed it on the table, and smiled. "Hikaru, you should take this card with you."
Hikaru stepped forward, picked up the box, and opened it. Inside was a perfectly preserved card.
"Ancient Gear Chaos Fusion?!"
He quickly scanned the card's effect.
Yup, it's the one.
This was the Ultimate Fusion that Dennis used in the original.
"This was a gift from the Ancient Gear Factory after we established a new partnership," Crowler explained with a smile. "Though honestly, you should have it more than me."
"But Professor, this is your card!" Hikaru, despite really wanting it, shook his head after hearing it was a unique card.
Ancient Gear Chaos Fusion sends a Polymerization from your hand to the Graveyard, then targets an Ancient Gear Fusion Monster in the Extra Deck.
You banish all monsters from your Extra Deck that are listed as materials for that Fusion Monster (including itself if applicable), then Special Summon those monsters from your Deck, Extra Deck, or Graveyard, ignoring summoning conditions with effects negated. Then Fusion Summon the targeted monster using them.
As a Fusion Spell, it wasn't very useful to Crowler, whose Extra Deck only had two or three cards.
That said, for Hikaru, it was a game-changer. With this card, he could even pivot from Gem-Knight to Ancient Gear in one move, instantly fusing into Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem.
"Hehehe, just take it." Crowler chuckled, shaking his head. "You asked me to collect The Dark - Hex-Sealed Fusion before, but I never found it. Soon, the principal will be taking the students on an interdimensional internship. You might be sent elsewhere and won't have the chance to visit the Ancient Gear Factory. Consider this card my gift."
Crowler patted his chest proudly. "Right now, your professor is quite the celebrity at the Ancient Gear Factory. I'll have plenty of chances to get more Ancient Gear cards. But you...you'll be traveling across different dimensions to study Alchemy and Fusion. So don't worry. Keep the card safe."
"Professor!"
"Principal!"
"Principal!" Hikaru bowed deeply. "Principal Crowler, I will definitely help you become the real principal!"
"Ah, that's not really necessary." Crowler made a flustered gesture in the air, then laughed loudly.
To him, as long as his students performed well and respected him, feeding his vanity and letting him look good in front of students and teachers alike, he was happy.
With Zane before and now Hikaru, his reputation was higher than ever among both teachers and students.
"Professor." Hikaru carefully pocketed the card, then added, "In that case, how about I go as a scouting party first and explore the dimension the principal chose for the internship?"
"After all, what happened with Dark World and Skyscraper might happen somewhere else too."
"Eh... Principal Sheppard wanted to keep it a surprise for the students..."
What a surprise!
Hikaru was speechless.
Sure, the principal was thinking about the students' future.
Even so, he had no idea this world was facing one apocalyptic crisis after another.
"But you do have a point." Luckily, Crowler was someone flexible.
"However, you can't use the academy's dimensional gate. If you do, it'll be discovered," he added.
Hah.
Good thing he had that trick up his sleeve.
All the time spent researching dimensional gates was finally paying off!
...
Bonus @400
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