Domino City, Hospital.
Midori walked through the narrow corridor. As she approached the door, she could already hear two excited voices, one adult and one child, inside the room.
"I summon 'Elemental HERO Bubbleman!' Since there are no other cards on the field when Bubbleman is summoned, I draw two cards from the deck!
Then I activate the Spell Card 'Pot of Greed' to draw two more cards!
Then I equip the Equip Spell 'Bubble Blaster' to Bubbleman, raising his ATK by 800!"
That was Jaden's voice.
"Not bad, Jaden. In that case, I'll get serious too.
I also summon 'Elemental HERO Bubbleman' and draw two cards from the deck!
Then I activate 'Pot of Greed' and draw two more cards!
Then I activate 'Bubble Blaster'..."
That was Koyo's voice.
Midori: "..."
She coughed lightly and pushed the door open, but neither the adult nor the boy turned around. Both were still completely absorbed in their simulated duel.
But in fact, they weren't really dueling. Both were sitting cross-legged on the bed, using the blanket as a playmat, placing their cards on it as if in a mock duel.
While this kind of play could help relieve the urge to duel and hone some skill, it wasn't a real duel.
There were actual academic studies on this. Without using a Duel Disk or other projection systems, but simply sitting around like playing poker, it was hard for a duelist to get into the real "spirit" of dueling. So while this was fine for practicing the basics, it was really just playing cards, not a true duel.
"Sister is here," said Koyo, greeting his sister Midori as she entered, smiling.
"Jaden really didn't slack off these last six months. I can tell you've improved a lot."
"Isn't that right?" Midori smiled.
"Jaden has always worked hard, you know."
"It's a shame—I was really hoping to have a full-on duel with you now, Jaden," Koyo sighed.
"No way. The doctor said you still need to rest," Midori immediately put on a stern face.
"Especially—absolutely no dueling. Do you understand?"
Of course, that was only natural. After all, everyone knows dueling is an exhausting and risky sport; no responsible doctor would allow it.
"It's fine. Now that Mr. Koyo is awake, there'll be plenty of chances later on," Jaden chuckled and began putting away the cards.
"That's true," Koyo mused, thinking for a moment.
"By the way... that guy who did this to me—he got defeated by your classmate, that new Duel King?"
"Yep, he got thoroughly beaten. The whole school saw it," Jaden grinned. "You should have seen it, Mr. Koyo—Kira was amazing, really strong!"
"Is that so? Hearing that makes me want to duel him myself," Koyo leaned back against the pillow, gazing out the window, somewhat lost in thought.
"Maybe I really am getting old..."
He looked lost for a moment, an air of loneliness about him.
Jaden hesitated as if unsure how to comfort him.
Suddenly, Midori smacked her brother on the back.
"Ugh—"
Koyo almost spat out in surprise.
"What are you doing, sis? Can't you be a little gentler—I'm still a patient, you know."
"Acting like a tiger fallen from the mountain at your age. But you haven't even reached the top yet, have you?" Midori said.
"You should realize by now—a world champion is only the starting point for reaching an even higher platform.
Now that you've seen the height of the peak, pull yourself together and aim higher from here!"
Koyo was stunned, then closed his eyes and smiled softly.
"You're right, sis. What was I even thinking?"
"Yes, being world champion is just the beginning. From today, I'll start over and aim for Duel King all over again!"
"Haha, then you'd better watch out, Mr. Koyo," Jaden wiped his nose confidently.
"Because I'm aiming to be Duel King too, and I won't go easy on you!"
"Of course! Bring it on, Jaden!"
Koyo pounded his chest—but the motion made him cough violently, almost unable to catch his breath.
"I'm fine... cough... I'm fine," he waved off Jaden and his sister's concern, then let out a long breath.
"But speaking of which, Kira is already the Duel King, yet he never stops—always busy. Even during break, you can't get hold of him. Who knows what he's so busy with all the time..."
Jaden muttered, also gazing out the window, lost in thought.
…
At the same time, somewhere unknown—
"Is everyone here?"
A tall woman sat at the table, legs crossed, scanning the people in the room with cold eyes.
"Patrick's still on his way," said a man in dark sunglasses, checking his messages.
"He said he's delayed a bit, but he'll be here in five minutes."
"Good." The tall woman nodded. But before she could say more, someone interrupted.
"No need to wait for him. Let's get to the main point," said a bearded man, sitting up eagerly. "Is it true? Principal McKenzie, he..."
"My eyes and ears at Duel Academy saw it with their own eyes. It's absolutely true," the tall woman said calmly.
"No way, I don't believe it!" a blond man slammed the table. "Principal McKenzie's strength is unfathomable. The power shards of the Planet series he gave us are already so strong—how could anyone beat him?"
"I heard about it, too. It was the Duel King himself," said the sunglasses man. "Maybe Principal McKenzie was ambushed, caught off guard—that could explain it."
The blond man spat.
"Damn it, I always heard that Duel King is sneaky and despicable, always attacking by surprise. The Principal must have fallen for one of his dirty tricks..."
"There's no point talking about it now," the sunglasses man said. "But you all know, the Principal is immortal. Three thousand years ago, even the priests with Millennium Items couldn't kill him. Even sealed in the stone slab, the slab itself was indestructible.
Even if he's lost, he's probably still around. I heard the Duel King loves taking cards from others' decks. The Principal's cards must be with him."
"Got it," the bearded man clapped. "We don't fight him head-on—we find a chance to steal the Principal's cards back. Then we can free the Principal and have him fight again. The Duel King will never beat him then."
Everyone agreed—this was a good idea.
After a bit more discussion, the plan was pretty detailed. If it were a head-on duel, none of them felt confident, even if they teamed up. But if it was just about stealing the cards, it seemed very doable.
Just as everyone was getting excited, the door opened.
Patrick walked in, coldly saying, "Sorry I'm late. Had to take care of something on the way."
"You're the last one—we've finished discussing," the bearded man said gruffly.
"Just missing me?" Patrick looked around in confusion.
"Where's Rebecca?"
"What are you talking about? Rebecca's been here the whole time—"
Everyone looked toward the tall woman.
But as they looked, they froze.
Where was the tall woman?
The person they'd been talking to, the so-called sneaky and despicable Duel King Fujiki Kira, was sitting there expressionless.
"So, whose card were you saying you wanted to steal?"
Everyone: "..."