"Bastion got hurt?"
Having just returned from the world of The Mountain, Hikaru and Atticus had been looking forward to sharing their new experiences with their friends, only to find the clubroom nearly empty, with just a couple of students waiting for them.
"Yes, sensei. I heard that during an interdinsional exploration, he was attacked by a Spirit and hit his forehead." Celina pointed at her own forehead. "Everyone else went to see them. I stayed behind to wait for you."
Hikaru and Atticus exchanged glances. Without another word, they quickly followed their two classmates to the school infirmary.
One room in the infirmary was completely crowded, with a mass of students squeezing in and asking about Bastion's condition.
On one hand, they were genuinely concerned.
On the other, this was the first reported "interdinsional bloodshed incident" of the year. While they hadn't had the chance to visit other dinsions yet, they knew such expeditions would be part of the second-year curriculum, so naturally they were eager to know what had happened.
Among the crowd, Hikaru even spotted a few non-Fusion Club students joining the commotion.
"Alright, alright, what are you all doing?! You're crowding the room and disturbing his rest, get out, and if you want the details, wait until he's discharged, or nominate a representative!" Professor Sartyr shouted after taking a deep breath.
The students, though not malicious, didn't dare disobey and gradually dispersed, leaving only those in close contact with Bastion, Hikaru and his group.
Hikaru waved goodbye to the departing clubmates and stepped into the room to check on Bastion.
Overall, Bastion didn't seem too bad. His complexion looked healthy. The forehead injury had been treated with bandages, likely stitched up by the school nurse.
He sat upright in bed, under a blanket, looking a little awkward.
Beside him, Alexis was peeling an apple while Chazz raised a hand, deep in conversation with Jaden.
"Hikaru, brother, you're here?" Alexis was the first to notice them. She finished slicing the apple, placed it neatly on a plate with a fork, and looked up at them. Her voice drew the attention of everyone else in the room.
She stood and jogged over to Atticus, scanning him briefly. "You didn't run into anything dangerous, did you?"
She was obviously worried about her brother.
After all, he had only recently returned from the missing persons list and hadn't even been back for a full year. Now that Bastion had been injured, she couldn't help but worry about Atticus too.
"Hahaha, Alexis, you wouldn't believe it! In The Mountain, we were sky-chasing birds and dragons. If luck hadn't been on our side, we could've fallen straight from the sky!"
"What!?"
"At least we could've landed on Thunder Dragonlord's nice, aty cushion. Ah, Hikaru, kind of a sha, huh? We missed that chance. Next ti, we might get a different guardian."
He tilted his head jokingly.
"Brother!!" Alexis smacked him in the waist.
"Ow! Ow ow ow, Alexis!" Atticus groaned, milking the mont.
The others, now assured of the duo's safety, visibly relaxed.
"So what happened?" Hikaru asked.
Before Jaden could explain, Bastion said, "We don't know. After our Duel with the Spirits ended, one of them just snapped. It went berserk and charged at Jaden."
"I got hurt trying to shield him." Jaden looked unusually dejected.
"How could that happen?" Hikaru tilted his head.
He could see Elental HERO Captain Gold, Avian, Burstinatrix, and Bubbleman standing in the room, all looking gloomy. Winged Kuriboh clung to Jaden's side, trying to comfort him.
His words weren't just a question to them, but genuine disbelief.
With them around, how could he possibly get hurt?
"At the ti, that Spirit suddenly launched an attack," Captain Gold spoke up. "I—I was imrsed in the joy of reunion with my comrade and let my guard down. That lapse allowed it to go berserk, and Bastion was injured."
Hikaru withdrew his gaze.
Could that really happen?
These were HEROes, after all.
Say what you will, protecting others was what they excelled at. Even if they were distracted, it shouldn't have been that easy to slip past them.
He turned to Chazz.
Chazz thought for a mont. "I personally think there were so irregularities."
He rubbed his chin and muttered, "Jaden said he saw a flash of white light at that mont. Said the Spirit didn't look the sa as it had before. I suspect it might be sothing from the Spirit World."
"A flash of white light?" Hikaru blinked. "Jaden, are you sure you weren't seeing things?"
"I'm not really sure," Jaden cradled his head, full of regret. "My mind went blank. I was too nervous. I honestly don't rember clearly. And afterward, the Spirit was taken away by local Spirits. I didn't see it again.
"Oh, and as we left that dinsion, I think I heard sothing strange. But when I asked Bastion, he said he didn't hear anything."
"You heard sothing?!" Chazz imdiately scowled, grabbing Jaden by the head. "Why didn't you say so earlier! Use that brain you never use!"
"But Bastion said he didn't hear it!"
"So what did you hear exactly?"
"I don't know. Just, a voice. Sounded familiar. But I couldn't make it out." Jaden froze, ignoring Chazz's grip, his eyes unfocused. "That's all."
"I see." Hikaru nodded.
'So it really was Yubel.'
A terrifying Spirit linked to Jaden. One that hurt people around him and even influenced other Spirits' minds.
In the original tiline, that card Spirit had always "protected" Jaden, lashing out indiscriminately at anyone who made him sad, Yubel.
In canon, Jaden launched it into space using a KaibaCorp rocket.
However, in this world, he never did that. Instead, he sent his cards and original drawings drifting through an interdinsional gate.
It seed that the divergence in events had led to Jaden encountering Spirits influenced by Yubel during his travels. And Yubel's appearance had likely been moved up.
This was bad.
What state was Yubel in now?
But if the "orb of light" had appeared, it must already be fused with The Light of Destruction.
Hikaru looked out the window at the massive Polyrization Club headquarters and sighed.
'What a perilous world.
Even worse, based on the curriculum, second-year students, even ordinary ones, would begin interdinsional internships. That was even more dangerous than canon. Yubel would indiscriminately harm everyone around Jaden just to monopolize his love.
Out loud, he tried to lighten the mood, "Yurei, you should be grateful! Normally, you have zero presence, and now suddenly, you're the center of attention! Congrats!"
"Hey!!" Bastion rolled his eyes. "I'm injured, you know!"
"Admit it, you're secretly enjoying this!"
"Wuh..."
He actually started thinking about it.
Which made Hikaru lose composure a little.
In the original story, didn't Bastion give up victory and join the Society of Light because of sothing similar?
"Bastion, don't think too hard! I was just joking!"
"Huh? Oh...hahaha! I was only pretending to think!"
...
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