Half-asleep in bed, Kira felt someone calling him. He opened his eyes to see a delicate face leaning over the bed, silver hair draping down, eyes open and head tilted.
Silent Magician.
She said nothing, just poked him with a finger.
Kira grabbed his student terminal. 2:30 a.m. He yawned long.
"What is it?"
Silent pointed out the window and gestured.
Kira snapped awake. "Intruders?"
Silent nodded and slid the window open. Kira thought a moment, threw on a jacket, and vaulted from the second floor onto the lawn.
Yes—second-floor height was basically flat ground to him now.
In school uniform, Silent led the way through the grove. Kira soon noticed the direction.
"Red Dorm?"
He tried to recall what could happen at the Slifer Red Dorm from the original. Early GX had tons of monster-of-the-week episodes—supernatural intruders popping out of nowhere. Most were low-impact, and he couldn't recall specifics.
But nearing Red Dorm's perimeter, he realized it wasn't any random one-off.
This wasn't that level of power.
Darkness shrouded the Slifer Red Dorm. Ordinary eyes might not see it, only feel a suffocating pressure drawing near—hard to breathe, hard to move. In Kira's sight, the entire dorm was a mass of black fog.
He was sure: even in this world at large, such powerful darkness was rare.
He raised his guard and followed the sensation forward. Unsurprisingly, the source lay in Jaden's room.
As expected. In the Red Dorm—or even all Duel Academy—few could stir trouble like Jaden…
Kira himself also qualified.
At the door, Silent Magician put an arm out to stop Kira, then pushed the door open herself.
The old Red Dorm door creaked—like opening Pandora's Box. Darkness peaked and rushed out from within.
A figure stood in the center.
Red Dorm uniform, back to the door, staring out the window. That jellyfish of hair—who else but Jaden?
His roommate Syrus slept soundly, oblivious.
Kira knew ordinary people couldn't wake under such oppression.
"Jaden?"
He paused, frowned.
"No—you're not Jaden… are you?"
He already had a guess.
When "Jaden" turned, Kira met those chilling golden eyes, and his guess was confirmed.
"Supreme King," he said low. "Why are you here?"
In the original, this shouldn't happen. Jaden succumbed only after great trauma in the other dimension—betrayed and broken, the Supreme King seized him.
Now he shouldn't be in that state.
Was it proximity to the Supreme King's Castle tightening the link?
Then, while Jaden slept, the Supreme King used his body as a medium to enter reality.
That seemed the only explanation.
If so, his control shouldn't be as firm as in the anime—the boy was only asleep, not fallen. He might wake at any moment.
"The duelists of this world—are you the ones who would assault my castle?"
The Supreme King's face was blank as he unfolded his Duel Disk.
"If so, I will see for myself whether you have that qualification."
"Meeting the Supreme King early, huh? A bit ahead of schedule," Kira said, opening his own Disk.
"But just as well—we won't need to storm your castle."
They stepped out to the open ground outside Red Dorm.
"Duel!" x2
[Kira, LP 4000]
[Supreme King, LP 4000]
"I'll go first—draw," Kira said.
He gauged this Supreme King as weaker than the anime debut. Jaden hadn't fallen into darkness, and in the anime the Supreme King's ace, Super Polymerization, was earned with massive sacrifice—likely not in play now.
Here the Supreme King merely possessed Jaden's body, golden eyes, Red Dorm uniform—no signature armor. And this wasn't his realm—no home-field buff.
"I activate 'Graceful Charity' to draw three, then discard two.
Then Quick-Play 'Spellbook Organization': look at the top three cards of my Deck and return them in any order."
He drew three, checked, and stacked the top.
"I set one and end."
"My turn—draw."
The Supreme King drew and immediately revealed a card.
"'Pot of Greed'—draw two."
He refilled, then spoke icily.
"Duelists from another world—let me see your world's strength.
I Normal Summon 'Elemental HERO Stratos.'"
Transparent white currents coiled; a turbine's whine filled the air. The skyborne hero landed with arms crossed and confidence.
[Elemental HERO Stratos, ATK 1800]
"Stratos's effect: on summon, add one 'HERO' monster from Deck to hand."
Kira frowned.
Wait—he remembered manga Stratos could halve ATK to attack directly. This is the printed effect…
Did the Supreme King's power evolve it?
Not impossible. His tier could imprint cards, and Jaden's power-ups had evolved Absolute Zero before.
"Stratos's effect: I add another HERO from Deck to hand."
He revealed the search target.
"I add 'Elemental HERO Wildheart' to my hand."
Then he slowly raised another card. As it lifted—before activation—dark winds already whirled around him.
"I activate the Spell—
—Dark Fusion!"
...
2 Bonus chapters at 500 PS