Yuto's fingertips slid across the Deck, drawing his card—[MS-05 Zaku I]!
"Looks like Lady Luck is still on my side!"
His spirits surged.
"In my Standby Phase, I activate the effects of my two remaining [H.L.V.]!"
"I send them to the Graveyard! Then, I Special Summon the same number of [MS] monsters from my Deck!"
Yuto swiftly pulled two [MS-05 Zaku I] and slapped them onto the field.
"Next, I Normal Summon another [MS-05 Zaku I] from my hand!"
Three green Zakus lined up in formation—but only for a moment.
"I activate the effect of [ACE – Black Tri-Stars]! I send three [MS] monsters on the field to the Graveyard to Special Summon [ACE – Black Tri-Stars]!"
The Zakus' armor shimmered, transforming into the Black Tri-Stars' iconic black-and-purple colors, each shouldering heavy bazookas radiating menace.
"And I'm not done! I activate my Set Trap Card—[Minovsky Particle Dispersion]! Its effect: during each player's Standby Phase, all monsters on the field lose 1000 Defense!"
"My turn ends!"
The fake Kaiba smirked faintly.
So he thought he'd force me to flip my Set card… only to end up with a 2500-Attack monster?
"Yuto! Your defeat is sealed! [Blue-Eyes White Dragon], attack! White Lightning!!"
The radiant white blast surged forth, hurtling toward the Black Tri-Stars!
However, the expected explosion never came.
Instead, the black-and-purple Mobile Suits surged forward against the light, bazookas locking onto their target!
"Wh-what?!"
The fake Kaiba's eyes shrank in horror.
Three rockets streaked through the air, slamming straight into [Blue-Eyes White Dragon]!
BOOM—!
The dragon burst apart in a dazzling explosion of light!
"Uwah!"
The fake Kaiba staggered in shock, his footing giving way. He tumbled clumsily off the arena like a rolling gourd!
As he crashed to the ground, his disguise malfunctioned and fell away, revealing his true form—a balding, overweight man easily over 200 pounds, sprawled pathetically on the ground.
"Hahahahaha!"
Yuto stood proudly atop the arena, pointing at the man and laughing uproariously.
"Who would've thought?! The great 'President Kaiba' looks like this! Suicide? Please! With your weight, the floorboards would collapse first!"
After savoring his mocking, Yuto revealed the true key to his victory:
"My [ACE – Black Tri-Stars] has a special effect: during damage calculation, it compares its Attack with the target's Defense instead of Attack!"
"And thanks to [Minovsky Particle Dispersion], your [Blue-Eyes White Dragon]'s Defense during damage calculation was reduced to a mere 1500!"
"While my Black Tri-Stars' Attack is—2500!"
Hands on his hips, Yuto laughed triumphantly.
"The match is decided! Ahahahahahaha—!"
But when Yuto and the others glanced back, the arena's edge was empty.
The balding man, the Duelist Kingdom staff, and Mokuba Kaiba had all vanished without a trace!
"Hey—!!!"
Yuto stomped his foot in outrage.
"What the hell?! Who loses a duel and then just runs off?! Ever heard of honor?!"
Left with no choice, Yuto first retrieved Kaiba's Deck, then pressed the button to lower the Duel Arena.
Curious, he knelt by the pile of disguise scraps, examining them closely. What kind of material could look so real?
He fiddled with the remnants, surprised by the texture.
"Looks like cloth, but feels more like plastic…"
"Oh-ho! Got something!"
Yuto's eyes lit up as he pulled several glittering Star Chips from the pile.
"Guess he wasn't all bad—at least he left these behind. Ten of them, in fact!"
He quickly slotted two into his own Duel Glove, then split the remaining eight between Yugi and Joey.
"Here, three each. Hold on to them."
With that, Yuto now had all ten Star Chips, qualifying him for entry into Pegasus's castle.
Yugi was just one short, while Joey still needed several more wins.
After dividing the spoils, the five of them resumed their search on the island, hoping to find Mokuba.
But by sunset, as the sky turned orange, they had found nothing.
Yugi gazed at the distant castle looming ominously in the twilight, voice heavy.
"It looks like… Mokuba was taken there, to Pegasus's castle."
"Then let's hurry and gather the rest of the Star Chips! We need those tickets!" Tristan shouted, fired up.
Whoosh—!
His energetic gesture sent a stack of cards tumbling from his coat pocket, scattering across the ground.
"Huh?" Yuto blinked in surprise.
"So you play Duel Monsters too, Tristan?"
"Uh… well…" Tristan scratched his head sheepishly.
"I was into it for a while, bought some cards, but then…"
"Wait a sec! [Lava Battleguard]?" Joey's sharp eyes caught one, and he immediately pulled out his own Deck.
"Found it! See, I've got [Swamp Battleguard]! Number One and Number Two! Brother cards shouldn't be separated! They belong together!"
Without hesitation, he stuffed Tristan's card into his own Deck.
"Thank you kindly! I'll treasure it!"
"Hey! Joey!" Tristan yelled, exasperated.
"Who said you could take it?!"
"C'mon, you don't even use it right now. Just let me borrow it! Brothers stick together!"
Joey grinned shamelessly.
"Argh… fine, I can't deal with you…" Tristan sighed, folding his arms and letting Joey scoop up the rest.
Watching, Yugi and Yuto exchanged a knowing smile and murmured:
"They're really close, huh."
"Yeah, really close."
After gathering the scattered cards (mostly by Joey's "help"), the group pressed on, seeking more duels.
At last, they reached an open plain, where many duelists were gathered—either battling or waiting for challengers.
"Joey." Yuto patted his shoulder.
"After your duel with Mai Valentine, you should be more confident in your Deck. Go on, find yourself an opponent!"
"Yeah!" Joey clenched his fists, eager to dive into the crowd.
At that moment, a distinctive, arrogant laugh echoed nearby.
"Ohohohoho—!"
...
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