Like Rex, Weevil Underwood never felt there was anyone in this world he truly needed to fear.
He was a duelist with a legendary name, and he believed he absolutely matched his reputation—no, more than that, he often thought the recognition he received was far less than he deserved.
He was Weevil Underwood, once the national tournament champion. And he nearly defeated the acknowledged apex of the dueling world—the original Duel King, Yugi Muto—twice.
Just a little more—the apex, the crown of the Duel King—was once within his grasp, just a fingertip away. Just a little more.
What? You say it wasn't just a little?
But both times he forced Yugi to the brink, with Life Points flickering like a dying candle—twice!
And then, somehow, he got turned around on and lost.
The last time was even more infuriating. He had joined Doma and gained the power of Orichalcos, while the Duel King had just lost the soul of his other self, sunk in guilt and self-doubt—at his absolute worst.
Weevil was sure he'd win. He truly believed it. He suppressed Yugi from start to finish, maintained absolute advantage the whole duel. He thought victory was in the bag.
But the damned Dark Yugi had no sense of card etiquette; he somehow top-decked "Berserker Soul," chopped Weevil down with a lethal seven-hit combo, and even kept swinging after Weevil was already done, carving a lifelong trauma into him…
Weevil refused to accept it—he never did. Otherwise he wouldn't have challenged Yugi again and again.
And now some dark duelist from who-knows-where, leading some newly formed underground force, wanted to scare him off with just a name?
No way.
Though he'd partnered with Rex many times, Weevil never thought much of this loser who had fallen to him. He believed he was far superior to that failure—he just hadn't had the chance to prove it.
Now he would set the record straight.
A day earlier, after leaving the Dark Web, Weevil visited numerous dark duelists active in Domino's underworld. Most were just like the Dark Web—at the mere mention of Revolver and the Knights of Hanoi, their faces changed, and no one wanted to cross that organization.
But persistence paid off. After an all-night canvass, Weevil finally found someone willing to talk.
He was the president of a dark duelist club. His original business had been badly impacted by Hanoi's interference, but he'd kept his mouth shut out of fear of their power.
Weevil made a heavy promise: once he found what he was looking for, the Advent Church would reward him handsomely. Only then did the club president relent.
Now, Weevil followed this president through a dim underground conduit system.
"This kind of place…"
Weevil pinched his nose.
"Are you sure it's really here?"
"Of course. I only got this intel after a lot of secret digging," the president said, pounding his chest. "The Knights of Hanoi's most important vault in the city is hidden beneath this spot.
It holds their most prized card collection and various dangerous supernatural objects.
You said the card you're after is extremely valuable but can't be used in a duel, right?"
Weevil nodded. "Yes."
He didn't know exactly what that spirit was, but he knew it had lost its memory and its card data. So even if someone obtained it, they shouldn't be able to use it.
"Then that fits. A card like that would very likely be sealed in this vault."
The president thumped his chest again.
But then he added, "However, when we get there, you'll have to go in yourself. I don't dare go deeper. Those Hanoi guys aren't to be trifled with…"
"I see."
Weevil nodded.
"If I find what I'm looking for, you'll be well rewarded."
The president thanked him profusely.
But as they went deeper, Weevil frowned slightly.
There was no light at all, and the darkness around them felt like it had thickened without him noticing. Something was off.
"Hey, you're sure this is the right—!?"
Weevil's pupils shrank.
At that moment, he realized the president had vanished without a trace.
A trap?
He realized it instantly.
But after his initial shock, he didn't panic. He looked around, then spoke coldly.
"Since this is an ambush, I'm here now." He gestured at his duel disk. "Show yourself."
He figured that if they knew he was coming, they'd have a powerful duelist lying in wait—someone with a name in the underground, maybe even Revolver himself.
But what appeared was… a cat?
A chubby orange tabby padded out of the pipe, lazily yawning.
Then it planted a duel disk in front of itself—a disk that looked bigger than the cat—and deployed it.
Weevil stared, and took a long moment to accept the reality—
—the cat wanted to duel him.
Weevil almost laughed in anger.
So the Knights of Hanoi knew it was him—the famous Weevil Underwood—coming to pick a fight, and this is what they sent?
A cat!?
"Seriously, even as a cat I still get bossed around. Let's finish this quick so I can go back," the orange tabby grumbled, pudgy paw drawing five cards from the deck.
"Let's go! Nyaa~"
Weevil's eyes went wider.
The cat talked.
Well, the world is full of wonders. Ever since he'd stepped into dark dueling, he'd learned that.
"Fine, I'll teach you a lesson, you mangy cat," Weevil said through his teeth. "Maybe then Revolver will show up in person."
"Duel!" x2
[Weevil, LP 4000]
[Lyman, LP 4000]
"My turn first. Draw!"
Weevil drew, scanned his hand, and quickly picked his plays.
"I activate the Spell Card, Graceful Charity. Draw three, then discard two."
"Then I Normal Summon Ultimate Insect LV3!"
The ground split and a hideous bug with a long body squirmed out of a pit, crouching on Weevil's field, baring its vicious mandibles at the cat.
That mouth could swallow the chubby tabby whole, but the cat only yawned lazily.
"Nyaa~"
Weevil ground his teeth. "Damn it, even a stupid cat is looking down on me—you'll regret it soon enough!"
He slapped down a set card.
"I set one in the back row and end my turn!"
"Oh? All done? Then it's my turn, Nyaa~."
Lyman's ghost hovered beside the Pharaoh-cat, chin in hand, squinting at the cards in those paws for a bit.
He was a spirit now; he couldn't actually touch the cards himself.
"Well then, let's start with this."
The tabby "Nyaa~ed," picked a card up in its mouth, and shoved its head into the duel disk to place it.
"Continuous Spell: Chaos Distill!"