Chapter 855: Your Wheelchair, My Wheelchair
"Marufuji, listen to my excuses—no, listen to my explanation!"
For some reason, Rex adopted an incredibly humble attitude when facing the boy named Marufuji, as if a fatal weakness of his had fallen into the boy's hands, leaving him completely at his mercy.
Joey asked Rex, somewhat confused, "Why do you seem so afraid of this kid?"
"It's not something you can understand just by being told. Joey, still not graduated from Duel Academy, you wouldn't understand the hardships of adults struggling in society," Rex said, a hint of indignation in his voice. "Although I joined Cyber Style, I'm just a temporary worker. If someone were to complain to Master Sheppard, I'd definitely lose this job."
"And Marufuji, he's practically Master Sheppard's direct disciple, and three years ago, he already reached the Master Level of Cyber Style. Despite his young age, he's the second person in charge of this training trip, after me. It's incredibly hard to find a job like Cyber Style, which doesn't have much work but pays well, so of course I'm afraid he'll complain."
After saying that, Rex suddenly remembered Marufuji was still standing in front of him, and his expression stiffened. "Uh, perhaps I shouldn't have said that in front of you?"
The boy named Marufuji shook his head. "It has nothing to do with that, Mr. Rex. I won't be prejudiced against you because of your reason for joining Cyber Style, nor will I spread rumors about such matters."
He paused, and as Rex let out a sigh of relief, his eyes filled with hope, Marufuji calmly continued, "After we return to America, I will only truthfully report to the Master that you have abandoned other students five times during this trip. Also, I saw what happened last time at the gas station when you were negotiating with the attendant to overcharge for fuel—"
"Marufuji, no, not that! Please!"
"I've been an orphan since I was little, and I'm terrified of being poor. I didn't dare touch any of that money!"
Seeing this, Joey sighed. "So the adult World is really tough, huh? Rex looks miserable."
"No, normal adults wouldn't be in such a state, would they?" Hayato scoffed, then walked forward, observing the boy named Marufuji with interest. "Marufuji of Cyber Style? Even if it's a homonym, they wouldn't be so similar. I didn't expect Kaiser to be quite cute when he was young."
"My name isn't Kaiser; my name is Zane Truesdale, sir." Frowning, the boy's face showed a puzzled expression, not immediately recognizing who Hayato was. "Is it my imagination? Why can I feel the Power of (Cyber Dragon) from you?"
Hayato glanced at Zane Truesdale, a little surprised, and raised an eyebrow. He reached into the Card Deck box on his waist, precisely drew a Card, and showed it to Zane Truesdale, saying, "Your senses are quite sharp, aren't they? You're right, I do have (Cyber Dragon) on me."
As Hayato took out the Card, the (Cyber Dragon) Duel Monster Spirit faintly manifested beside Hayato. However, Hayato noticed that after he took out the Card, Zane Truesdale was only staring at the (Cyber Dragon) Card and didn't notice the (Cyber Dragon) Spirit.
Zane Truesdale, the future Kaiser of Duel Academy, earned that nickname due to his dueling style, which, like Caesar the Great's 'Veni, vidi, vici,' forcefully crushed all enemies with king-like equality. He was a Cyber Style Duelist whose fame even surpassed that of the current Cyber Style Master, Sheppard.
Among the many incompetent teammates around Jaden Yuki, Zane Truesdale, who graduated two grades ahead of schedule, was one of the few characters whose design wasn't ruined by the writers, and he gained immense popularity due to his outstanding strength and Dueling performance.
This is one reason why (Cyber Dragon), a Deck whose strength is only second-tier, achieved top-tier popularity; Zane Truesdale's personal charisma also greatly boosted it. Not to mention, words like "wheelchair" and "struggle" are even ingrained in the DNA of Card Players; at their mention, Zane Truesdale's (Cyber Dragon) is instantly recalled.
Of course, even among nerfed archetypes, not all "wheelchairs" are equal. Some Decks are so heavily nerfed they're practically dead, while others, even after being nerfed, can still OTK other Decks – like Tearalaments, Tearalaments, and Tearalaments.
Rex's appearance was already unexpected, and even after hearing that he had joined Cyber Style, Hayato hadn't anticipated meeting a young Zane Truesdale here. And the fact that Zane Truesdale couldn't see the (Cyber Dragon) Spirit wasn't entirely surprising to Hayato.
In the future stories that would unfold at Duel Academy, many people forged Bonds with Duel Monster Spirits, such as Jesse Anderson, whom he had just met and who regarded Spirits as family; Sizhe, who fell in love with a Spirit; Tyranno Hassleberry, who buried dinosaur avatars in his legs and could also become a Spirit; and Chazz Princeton, who was now constantly plagued by (Light and Darkness Dragon) and often drew bad Hands.
Jaden Yuki, now he's a heavy hitter; can you believe he directly fused with a Duel Monster Spirit? It's just a different era; otherwise, Jaden and (Yubel)'s Overlay Summon move might have been renamed 'ZEXAL Morph' and he could have grandly performed a 'Shining Draw'.
However, among these many people, Zane Truesdale was different; he didn't exhibit the talent of a Spirit user, appearing quite ordinary compared to Jaden and Chazz. But this didn't mean Zane Truesdale was weak; on the contrary, being able to achieve what others could only do through Bonds with Spirits, purely through Will and Resolve, made Zane Truesdale quite remarkable.
Some are geniuses in talent, while others are geniuses in effort, and Zane Truesdale belonged to the latter. That being said, Zane Truesdale was still a complete genius, having been recognized and obtaining (Cyber End Dragon) at nine years old.
"Sir, could you please tell me who you are and why you possess a (Cyber Dragon) Card, which even in Cyber Style requires apprentices to pass a series of assessments to obtain?"
Although he didn't have the ability to see Spirits, Zane Truesdale could recognize that the Card in front of him was an authentic (Cyber Dragon) Card, but at the same time, new doubts arose.
Even without Psychic Power like absolute Memory, Zane Truesdale believed he could remember most of the people in the Dojo, but he had no impression of the person holding the (Cyber Dragon) in front of him.
This was natural, as even though the illusions for Rex and Joey had been deactivated, the (Millennium Rod) on Hayato was still Activated, so in Zane Truesdale's eyes, Hayato wasn't in his original form, but rather his Alt Account, Don Thousand.
If Hayato revealed his true face, Zane Truesdale would definitely recognize him, not only because Hayato was the King of Games, but also because when Hayato had previously visited the Cyber Style Dojo and obtained the Secret Arts of Cyber Style from Sheppard and the Cyber Style Former Master—the (Drytron)—Zane Truesdale was also one of the disciples present and had witnessed Hayato's Duel with the Former Master.
Hayato was feeling playful and had no intention of revealing his identity to Zane Truesdale just yet. Instead, he said with a wicked smile, "I have no obligation to answer your doubts. Instead of me telling you the answer, why don't you try to guess why I have this (Cyber Dragon) Card in my Hand?"
"Think carefully, Zane Truesdale, why did Rex, who is not a beginner Duelist, abandon his Cards to join Cyber Style? Why does he, as the tour group leader, always disappear by himself? And why do I, who don't belong to Cyber Style, have a (Cyber Dragon) Card in my Hand!"
"There's only one answer, Zane Truesdale!"
Because of Hayato's Aura when he spoke, the twelve-year-old Zane Truesdale instinctively took a step back, following Hayato's line of reasoning and naturally arriving at a completely plausible answer: "Mr. Rex, he's your undercover agent!? Are you actually trying to steal (Cyber Dragon) Cards this way?!"
"That's not it at all! I genuinely just wanted to live a peaceful life, like a Plant, which is why I joined Cyber Style!"
From the start, Rex had felt the atmosphere was strange. He didn't know how, but this kid Zane Truesdale, under Hayato's guidance, had somehow reached such an absurd conclusion. The overt conditions were indeed fine, but who knew where Hayato got that Card in his Hand; there was no need to be so clear about a Duelist's affairs.
Hearing that Zane Truesdale actually thought he was Hayato's undercover agent, aiming to steal Cyber Style's signature Card, (Cyber Dragon), Rex quickly denied it.
But Zane Truesdale looked at him and said coldly, "Though I'm young, do you think I'd believe your nonsense?"
"And here I trusted you so much, Mr. Rex, only seeing you as an unmotivated, scatterbrained, and undisciplined adult failure. I never expected you to hide so deeply. Master Sheppard truly misjudged you by letting you join Cyber Style."
"As a Master of Cyber Style, today I will Cleanse the Ranks here on behalf of Master Sheppard!" Saying this, Zane Truesdale pulled out a Duel Disk. "Let's Duel! I will use the brilliance of Cyber Style to completely crush your wicked heart!"
"Even if you say that…" Hearing Zane Truesdale's words, Rex's expression became troubled. Having a heart-to-heart through a Duel sounded plausible; if he showed enough sincerity in the Duel, maybe he could convince this idiot Zane Truesdale, who Hayato had so easily misled.
But the problem was, what Deck should he use? His (Armor) Deck was Sealed away so he wouldn't hurt anyone else; he couldn't possibly unseal it so soon after sealing it, and he had no intention of hurting Zane Truesdale.
And if he were to use Cyber Style Cards, given his familiarity with this new Deck, he probably wouldn't last two Turns. No one who had seen the explosive Power of (Cyber Dragon) would doubt it; he would probably be OTKed before he could even have a heart-to-heart with this kid, Zane Truesdale.
Subconsciously, Rex looked to the side, only to find Hayato standing there as if it had nothing to do with him. "Tsk, tsk, I never thought you'd be this kind of person, Rex."
"Yeah, yeah, so bad," Joey chimed in, also watching with an expression of enjoying the show, clearly wanting to see Rex make a fool of himself.
"You two! This situation is all your fault, Hayato! Why are you just watching?"
Seeing that Rex seemed genuinely anxious, Hayato smiled and said, "Hoh-hoh, are you asking me, Don Thousand, for help? If so, I'll assist you, my partner who stole the (Cyber Dragon) Cards for me."
"You're just making things worse!"
Rex watched Hayato pull out a Deck and complained, but seeing Hayato step forward to face Zane Truesdale in his place, he understood the outcome. Without a doubt, Hayato would ultimately win, and through the Duel, this idiot Zane Truesdale would surely realize that Hayato was definitely not some evil villain who stole other people's Cards.
As he thought about it, Rex recalled Hayato's past actions: NTR-ing other people's beloved Monsters, mercilessly Releasing cherished Cards, or decisively letting his own Monsters be destroyed for victory...
...He probably wouldn't let Zane Truesdale continue to misunderstand him, right?
Rex became unsure again.
Joey patted Rex on the shoulder, grinning. "Heh heh, Rex, that kid will learn what kind of trouble looking like a bad guy brings, won't he? Don't worry, you're probably just too flustered to notice, but even I can tell a little. Hayato seems to simply want to have a Duel with this boy."
"Yeah, maybe it's because he has some connections with Uncle Sheppard from Cyber Style, so he wants to see the level of a Cyber Style junior? I'm not too sure myself."
Hearing Joey's words, Rex glanced at Hayato, who had already found an empty spot and was standing opposite Zane Truesdale, ready to start the Duel. He sighed, "Whatever. If I lose this job, I'll just rely on Hayato and make him arrange a security guard job for me at Industrial Illusions."
Glancing at his watch, noticing that some time had passed and he needed to eat more at the buffet, Rex lost all interest in watching the Duel and headed towards the serving area with his plate.
However, after two steps, Rex turned back and quietly asked Joey, "By the way, what do you guys say I should eat more of at a buffet to get my money's worth?"
"That's simple, eat more shelled seafood," Joey said casually.
(end of chapter)