Rox lightly pushed the center of his glasses with one hand, the smile on his face now looking sowhat deranged.
"I've been observing you for a long ti, long before anyone else. Before your so-called ntor Crowler, even before your true teacher, Professor Banner."
Hikaru raised an eyebrow.
Just from that one line, Hikaru realized he wasn't lying.
After all, most students only knew Crowler as Hikaru's "ntor."
But Rox clearly wasn't one of them.
"I saw you before anyone else even knew who you were." Holding his hand of cards, his right index finger gently tapped the side of his glasses as he recalled, "You were a unique student.
"Typically, students who joined the Fusion Club back then were either from poor backgrounds and had no strong cards, so they joined to get access to cards; or they were afraid of other summoning thods and clung together for comfort. So joined to enjoy a more 'elite' status and used the club to bully weaker students. Others were just failures who joined because Blue Dorm students could harass students from other dorms without consequence...
"And it was during that ti that you joined."
With a snap of his fingers, Rox pointed at Hikaru.
"In your debut Fusion Club duel, you declared: 'Fusion only needs Fusion!' During club activities, you ignored everything else, spending your free ti obsessively checking your deck as if expecting it to transform.
"The rest of the ti, you'd challenge fellow club mbers to pure duels."
"No ulterior motives. You didn't care about the strange looks from Blue students or bullying Red Dorm students."
He glanced toward the audience, "A lot of the people cheering for you now used to hassle you, didn't they? But now they've conveniently forgotten all that and are cheering sincerely."
His words made many bow their heads. It was true. While Hikaru was now extrely popular, he had once been a pri target for Fusion Army pressure.
He'd never had it easy.
"That actually happened!?" Celina clenched her fists in frustration. "Damn it! If I'd been here then, I would've taught those punks a lesson!"
Alexis responded with a polite, awkward smile.
"Fascinating... so he ca from that kind of environnt?" Gloria Tyler nodded repeatedly.
"That just makes the battle more fun, sis."
"Exactly."
Rox took off his glasses, wiped them with a cloth, then put them back on and looked straight at Hikaru. "But I still saw it. Your intentions were never pure."
"From the very start, you were planning to tear down the Fusion Club and take it for yourself!"
Hikaru raised an eyebrow again.
He'd never denied that. If this teacher had really been watching since the beginning, he should've already known.
"And sure enough, before long, you quit the Fusion Club, founded your own, and openly opposed Professor Akaba's version. You even stole the na 'Fusion,' forcing them to rena themselves the 'Polyrization Club.'"
He grinned widely. "Isn't it hilarious?"
"They thought you were like Zane, but they were wrong! You're nothing like him!
"Zane respects opponents, is kind to everyone, and looks out for his juniors. But you, you ca in ready to clash with the Polyrization Club and seize power.
"And why not? If you've got the talent, why hold back?
"I know you have that power! The way you resonate with Shaddolls proves it. Your darkness, your ability to control others, is real!"
He laughed madly. "Ordinary people just don't get it. What's with this 'respect' nonsense in dueling!?
"Zane lost and beca a ss! How is that a Duelist?
"Victory! Domination!
"Turn the weak into slaves!"
As he ranted, his Test Ape beside him flinched, visibly trembling.
He sneered. "That... is what a 'duel' truly ans."
A literal duel.
"If you win today, you'll beco the academy's de facto ruler. Even the acting principal is depending on you to achieve their goals! That's enough to make you the Emperor of this Academy!"
He stretched out his hand toward Hikaru. "Co now, all you have to do..."
"You've been babbling forever. Are you done yet?" Hikaru interrupted coldly. "You're spouting nonsense, just one incoherent theory after another."
"!?"
Rox froze.
"Everyone's here to see a duel, not to listen to your deranged philosophy." Hikaru snapped his Duel Disk forward like a reaper's scythe.
"There's only one reason I opposed those people:
"Because they don't fuse!
"Just like you! You don't fuse either!
"I don't care about your worldview. I'm not interested in your twisted lectures. You're not my teacher, and you're not my elder.
"Listen carefully. I'm standing on this stage not to beco Obelisk Blue, not to be the school's top student, but because the professor I respect most, Professor Crowler, asked to.
"So no matter what, I will see this through!
"Whether I beco Obelisk Blue or the academy's ace afterward doesn't matter!
"And as for this school's future? That's a decision for Crowler.
"No, for Acting Principal Crowler to make!
"Right now."
Hikaru's expression turned stern as he glared at his opponent. "Fight seriously. Only by beating you at your best will this duel have any aning. Only then will it support Acting Principal Crowler's decision!
"Only a serious duel won't waste the students' ti! They ca here expecting a fight. Don't send them ho disappointed!"
In a hidden dinsion, Leo Akaba, watching the duel despite his busy schedule, nodded slightly.
Rox's assumptions had been far too naive.
As Crowler's star pupil, Hikaru's resolve couldn't be read so easily.
"..."
Rox gritted his teeth, glaring viciously at Hikaru.
"You're such a disobedient child..." he growled. "Fine, we'll do this another way. Heh heh... You think you can beat a teacher without holding back?
"Then I'll crush you and claim Napoleon's authority myself! Makes no difference!"
"You're full of lies," Hikaru scoffed.
"Quick-Play Spell: Gladiator Taming!" Rox drew a card, his expression cold. The art depicted Gladiator Beast Tygerius flogging Gladiator Beast Andal with a whip. "If I control a Gladiator Beast, I can activate this card! I target one of your monsters and force it to change its battle position. Now, pick up that sword, Legendary Swordsman!"
CRACK!
The whip lashed across Fla Swordsman's back, forcing him into an attack stance.
[Fla Swordsman, DEF → ATK: 1800]
"Test Ape, attack! If you're a test subject, then die like one!"
The trembling ape squealed and lunged at Fla Swordsman, only to be cleaved in half by a swift counterattack.
[Rox, LP: 4000 → 2900]
"When Test Ape is destroyed by battle, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Gladiator Beast from my Deck! Co forth, Gladiator Beast Bestiari!"
Classic Bestiari.
"Then, at the end of the Battle Phase, I return Bestiari and Retiari to the Deck to summon an even stronger beast!
"The requirents are Bestiari and any Gladiator Beast. From my Extra Deck, I Special Summon, Gladiator Beast Gyzarus!"
A dark-armored warbird with steel wings swooped down onto the field.
[Gladiator Beast Gyzarus] Level 6│DARK│Winged Beast│ATK 2400
"Gyzarus's effect! When Special Summoned, it can destroy up to two cards on the field!
"Gyzarus, shred that ddling swordsman!"
With a flap of his wings, Gyzarus launched a storm of razor feathers, shredding Fla Swordsman to pieces.
"Hmph... So? That's a teacher's real strength. Just because you're popular doesn't an you're stronger than your teacher," Rox sneered, sizing Hikaru up. "If you're willing to let go of your silly ideals, then maybe;"
anwhile, Hikaru casually brushed the dust off his uniform. "Alright. In that case, I'll treat this as my first turn."
Seeing his indifference, Rox clenched his fists so tightly he began to shake with rage.
...
BOnus Chapter
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