Once the duel against Kagemaru finally ended, the suffocating darkness hanging over the island peeled away like a dying storm. The sky, black and smothered moments ago, gradually cleared, revealing a bright, brilliant blue above them.
The massive store of Spirit Energy Kagemaru had hoarded burst outward, scattering like glowing dust and returning to Duel Monster cards all across the world, the very ones he had stolen the power from.
The group watched as Kagemaru's monstrous aura evaporated. His body shrank back down, the false strength melting away until all that remained was the frail, bony old man he truly was.
Yumi gave Jaden a pat on the back, gently pushing him forward.
"You're up, Aibo."
Because giving heartfelt speeches to reformed villains? Yeah. That's Jaden's specialty, not his.
So Yumi simply stepped back and let him do his thing, encouraging the old man to stand on his own, to stop relying on the unknown power, to choose a better path. Classic Yu-Gi-Oh protagonist stuff. Honestly, it was practically tradition at this point: turn your enemy into a friend after beating them in a duel.
They watched as Jaden helped Kagemaru stand up using his own strength. The man's expression softened, grateful and emotional enough to try hugging him. Jaden, being Jaden, hugged him back even tighter, tight enough that several of Kagemaru's ancient bones made concerning cracking noises.
Afterward, Kagemaru was escorted off the island via helicopter. Chancellor Sheppard returned the Three Sacred Beasts to their proper seal, and Yumi finally obtained the last of the Shadow Charms.
The Shadow Charm Ring. An artifact capable of channeling Duel Spirit power directly into the user's body, enhancing both physical strength and magical ability.
Nobody objected to Yumi taking it. Mostly because none of them had the slightest idea how to operate these things. Better to leave dangerous magical relics with someone competent… and someone they trusted… than risk them falling into actual villain hands.
With that crisis wrapped up, the next disaster loomed on the horizon: Final exams.
Jaden instantly began panicking because he hadn't studied at all. Celina looked a bit nervous, but at least she had studied a bit. Momoyo abruptly realized she had to pass if she wanted to graduate. Meanwhile Yumi, of course, stayed perfectly calm.
Why?
Because Roze had been studying for him this entire time. That's literally where she's been.
While everyone else scrambled to prepare, Yumi was busy with something "important": threatening the spirit of Professor Lyman to teach him alchemical methods for modifying the Shadow Charms.
"C'mon, Professor Lyman… my hand is getting tired," Yumi said, holding the spirit, stuffed inside a small pouch, dangling dangerously above the toilet bowl.
"Yumi! Is this how you treat your teacher!?" Lyman protested, voice cracking.
Yumi let go of the pouch.
"YUMI!!"
The ball of spirit squirmed and wobbled, desperately trying not to fall into the water and get flushed out of existence.
"Fine! Fine! I'll teach you! Just don't let me fall!"
Before the pouch touched the water, Yumi snatched it back with a cheerful smile.
"Thank you, Sensei."
"Kono hito da nashi!!" ("You aren't human!!")
Lyman wailed.
...
Yumi didn't take the final exam seriously at all.
How could he? Roze had done all the studying, all the reading, all the writing, and basically the entire test for him. His only job was to show up and not fall asleep on the paper.
Once the exam ended, he immediately went back to something more important: altering the Shadow Charms into wearable accessories so they wouldn't draw too much attention.
Celina slid herself onto his desk, sitting casually on the wooden surface while watching him fiddle with the Shadow Charm Mask.
"You sure you don't wanna go watch?" she asked, leaning forward slightly.
"Not really. I know about Chumley, but I'm not that close with him."
Yumi's tone was calm, distracted, focused entirely on the mask as its shape began to shift under his alchemical adjustments. With the boosted magical power from the Shadow Charm Ring, the transformation went far more smoothly than he expected.
But the Spirit Energy cost was enormous.
That part annoyed him until his eyes drifted to the small hairpin lying on the table. A delicate piece adorned with the Eye of Anubis. His irritation melted, replaced by a satisfied smirk. He lifted it and clipped it onto his hair.
Then Yumi met Celina's eyes and activated the Mask's effect.
"Hello, can you hear me?"
His voice echoed directly inside her mind.
Celina's eyes shot wide.
"What the!? You're in my head?" she hissed, glaring at him.
"Yeah. Mask power," Yumi answered casually, still speaking telepathically. After a moment he cut the link. "Pretty handy, right? There's still a lot more I want to unlock from this thing."
"Tch! Why couldn't you make this earlier, before the final!?" she snapped. The thought of cheating her way through the test so easily was clearly eating at her. If she had a direct link to Yumi, who had Roze doing all the heavy lifting, she wouldn't have had to study at all.
"I was busy figuring out how to alter its form," he replied, unbothered, already studying the rest of the Shadow Charms laid neatly beside him.
He put on the Pendant next, now wearing three Charms at once. The remaining four he doesn't need got stored safely away, with the Emerald Tablet tucked beneath a fake book cover.
Meanwhile, among the third-years…
With exams over, the results came in: Zane Truesdale had the highest average of all graduating students.
That meant he earned the right to participate in the final Academy Duel at the arena, and he could choose any opponent he wanted.
"This is troublesome…" Zane muttered, staring up at the ceiling of his dorm room.
He got perfect scores, so this was his moment. His graduation duel. He wanted it to be special, something worthy of three years at Duel Academy.
But Momoyo had already declared she wanted to duel. And if he didn't choose her, she could easily make his post-graduation life… difficult. Painfully difficult.
And besides, excluding dueling monsters like Momoyo and Yumi, Zane was the best duelist on the island.
So in a way… he agreed. He wanted a worthy match too.
The issue?
If he chose either one of them, he would be the one suffering.
"…I got it," Zane whispered, finally sitting up.
He stood, walked to the window, and shoved it open, nearly sending Momoyo plummeting off the ledge. He caught her wrist just in time.
"Let's go to the Slifer Dorm," he said, as if nearly making her fall wasn't worth mentioning.
They walk across the island in search of Yumi and Celina.
Zane had finally made his decision.
To make his graduation duel truly memorable, he would choose a tag team duel.
His team: Zane Truesdale and Momoyo Kawakami.
Their opponents: Celina Hiiragi and Yumi Uzushi.
It felt right. A perfect sendoff.
After suffering three years of Momoyo's chaos, Zane saw Celina, their junior and Yumi's unfortunate roommate. It has only been one year, and she has already experienced the same suffering he felt being friends with Momoyo. In a way, this makes them like kindred spirits.
Someone who would inevitably inherit the same three years of emotional damage, while staying with an annoying yet overpowered friend.
In a strange, almost poetic way… this duel would be the two veterans passing the torch to the next generation.
...
The next day, the large dueling arena felt completely different. The air buzzed with excitement, chatter bouncing off the walls. Students from every dorm, Red, Yellow, and Blue, filled the seats, and even the teachers leaned forward with interest. Everyone was waiting.
From the entrance tunnel, the four duelists walked out.
Two first-year Slifer Red.
Two third-year Obelisk Blue.
But in this moment, their uniforms didn't matter, only the stage in front of them.
They stopped at the center, standing face-to-face, side-by-side. The first-years were clearly smaller, looking up at their seniors, but their eyes showed no hesitation.
"I didn't expect you to actually pick us," Celina admitted. Her voice wavered between nerves and excitement, like she still wasn't sure if this was real.
"It just feels right." Zane answered with a small smile. He rested a hand gently on Celina's shoulder, his tone warm, like an older brother. "It's your turn now."
"Don't remind me…" she muttered, deadpan as ever, feeling more like she was being teased by a big brother than chosen for an important match.
Up in the stands, Syrus flinched as if someone stabbed him in the heart.
He was Zane's real younger brother here… so why did Celina look more like family than he did?
"Sy… are you okay?" Jaden asked, confused.
Syrus only stared blankly ahead, defeated by something that wasn't even a duel.
Meanwhile, on the arena floor...
"Let's make this fun, little brother?" Momoyo said with her playful smile, hand on her hips.
"Let's see how far you've improved, sis." Yumi shot back with a grin of his own.
The four of them finished shuffling. The sound of cards snapping into place echoed across the arena. All four decks locked neatly into their duel disks.
"DUEL!" x4
[Momoyo/Zane, 8000 LP]
[Yumi/Celina, 8000 LP]
"I'll go first! Draw!" Momoyo added the card to her hand in one smooth motion, then immediately slapped another card down.
"Spell card, Pot of Greed! Draw two cards." She reached toward her deck, only for Yumi to instantly raise his hand.
"I activate Trail Veiler from my hand! By discarding this card, I banish Pot of Greed from my deck until my second Standby Phase. And all cards with that name have their effects negated!"
A ripple of surprise went through the crowd.
Momoyo only grinned.
"I chain Called by the Grave! Banish your Trail Veiler and negate her effect!" She slapped the quickplay spell down, and a green hand rose from the ground, pointing at Yumi's graveyard before disappearing.
Momoyo drew her two cards as if nothing had happened, then picked yet another.
"Next, Spell card, Spell Books from the Pot! We both draw three cards!"
She and Yumi each pulled three cards in perfect sync.
Momoyo didn't slow down.
"Spell card, The Forceful Sentry! Reveal your hand. I choose one card and return it to your deck."
Yumi immediately spread out his seven cards.
Effect Veiler, Sky Striker Ace - Roze, The Flute of Summoning Kuriboh, Take Over 5, Flame Aegis - Homura, Hazard Trigger, Kuribangboo.
Momoyo clicked her tongue.
"Tch… I remember when your deck was nothing but spells." Back then, one well-timed Imperial Order crippled 80% of his entire strategy.
But now his deck had strange engines, weird monsters, and cards she'd never even heard of. Each new inclusion made him harder and harder to counter and more unpredictable.
She jabbed a finger at his hand.
"I target your Effect Veiler. Put her back in your deck."
The moment she said that, Yumi lifted one card high.
"I activate Kuribangboo! Once per turn, by discarding this card, I can negate your Spell or Trap, and activate it on my field instead!"
The crowd gasped.
Momoyo blinked, then reluctantly spread her own hand.
Swordsoul Strategist Longyuan, Swords of Revealing Light, Incredible Ecclesia, the Virtuous, Monster Reborn, Foolish Burial, Swordsoul of Mo Ye, Polymerization.
"I'll send Longyuan back to your deck," Yumi said immediately, pointing straight at her best extender.
Momoyo sighed and returned it to her deck, then refocused.
"Fine. I Normal Summon, Incredible Ecclesia, the Virtuous!"
The young adventurer appeared, hefting her oversized dragon-head hammer effortlessly.
[Incredible Ecclesia, the Virtuous, 1500 ATK]
"Ecclesia's effect, I tribute her to Special Summon my ace!"
Ecclesia vanished in a flare of light. A moment later, a calm figure stepped forward: a blue-dressed swordswoman wearing a metal round hat, hair and dress stirring like she was standing at the eye of a storm.
[The Iris Swordsoul, 2500 ATK]
"Next, Foolish Burial! I send Electromagnetic Turtle from my deck to my graveyard."
She slid the turtle to the grave without hesitation and immediately followed up.
"Spell card, Swords of Revealing Light!"
Swords of pure light crashed down between the two teams, forming a shimmering barrier that wrapped Yumi and Celina like a cage.
"I set one card. Turn end."
Although it was just the first turn, the two Kawakami siblings' simple exchange was already enough to make the spectators sweat nervously.
The simple exchange between the siblings was just the first turn, yet it already felt like something professionals would have trouble doing.
"My turn, draw!" Celina slid her card off the top of her deck and immediately brightened.
"Spell card, Graceful Charity! I draw three, then discard two."
She fanned the new cards, picked two without hesitation, and sent them to the grave in one confident motion.
"I Normal Summon Lunalight Gold Leo!"
She placed the card on her Duel Disk, and a swirl of yellow light gathered on her field. The goofy lion girl emerged, kneeling, arms crossed.
[Lunalight Gold Leo, 1600 DEF]
"Gold Leo's effect! I add Lunalight Green Kitty from my deck to my hand, then discard it!"
She searched, added, and tossed the card to the grave in one fluid motion.
"And when Green Kitty is sent to the graveyard, I draw one card. If it's from a Lunalight effect," Celina grinned, "I draw another!"
Two more cards slid neatly into her hand.
"Next, Gold Leo's second effect! When a Lunalight is sent to my grave while she's on the field, I can add one of them back to my hand!"
The discarded Green Kitty hopped up from the grave as a shimmering silhouette before reforming into a card in her hand.
Celina nodded to herself, her confidence returning.
"I set four cards!" Each card hit the field with a sharp snap.
"Turn end."
"My turn, draw!" Zane drew with a clean motion, adding the card to his hand before immediately placing another forward.
"Since you control a monster, I can Special Summon Cyber Jormungardr from my hand!"
A heavy mechanical thud echoed as a massive spiked cyber serpent coiled onto the field.
[Cyber Jormungardr, 2100 DEF]
"Cyber Jormungardr's effect, I target a Cyber Dragon in my deck and Special Summon it."
He pulled out his deck, revealed the familiar card, and placed it on his Duel Disk. A metallic roar shook the arena as the sleek silver dragon manifested.
[Cyber Dragon, 2100 ATK]
Zane didn't waste a second.
"Cyber Jormungardr's other effect, I return that Cyber Dragon to my hand, and add a Polymerization from my deck."
The dragon dissolved back into a beam of light, and Zane slipped the new spell card into his hand.
"Spell card, Polymerization! I fuse the three Cyber Dragons in my hand!"
The three mechanical dragons lined up behind him, roaring in unison as they were sucked into a spiraling vortex.
"Fusion Summon, Cyber End Dragon!"
The colossal three-headed titan slammed onto the field, shaking the entire arena with its roar.
[Cyber End Dragon, 4000 ATK]
Celina didn't flinch.
"Trap card, Bottomless Trap Hole! When you Special Summon a monster with 1500 or more ATK, I destroy and banish-"
"Too naive, Celina!" Zane cut her off with a sharp grin, already revealing a card.
"Quick-Play Spell, My Body as a Shield! When you activate a card that would destroy a monster on the field, I pay 1500 Life Points to negate and destroy it!"
[Momoyo/Zane, 8000 -> 6500 LP]
Celina's trap sputtered, cracked, and shattered into fragments of wasted light.
"I Normal Summon Armored Cybern."
A small golden mechanical fighter jet landed on Zane's field.
[Armored Cybern, 0 ATK]
"I equip Armored Cybern to Cyber End!"
The machine flew up and latched onto one of Cyber End's chests, plating it in shining gold armor.
"Armored Cybern's effect, Cyber End loses exactly 1000 ATK, and I destroy one of your cards!"
Zane slid another finger forward.
"But I'll use its full effect, I reduce Cyber End's ATK by 4000 and destroy all four of your remaining cards!"
[Cyber End Dragon, 4000 -> 0 ATK]
The arena lit up as Cyber End's armor raised its cannons. Four beams ripped across Celina's field, obliterating every last set card in a violent chain of explosions.
"Battle!" Zane extended an arm toward the opposite field. "Iris, direct attack!"
The swordwoman dashed forward in a blur and slashed across Celina's shoulder.
[Yumi/Celina, 8000 -> 5500 LP]
"I set one card. Turn end."
The golden energy around Cyber End pulsed once, then its full power surged back into place.
[Cyber End Dragon, 0 -> 4000 ATK]
"Looks like it's finally my move." Yumi smiled, completely unfazed.
Even with his side of the field wiped and his hand exposed, he didn't look even remotely worried.
"Draw!"
He drew cleanly, glanced at the card, and immediately slapped it onto his Duel Disk.
"Spell card, Reinforcement of the Army. I can add a Warrior monster from my deck to my hand." He pulls his deck out and reveals his chosen card. "I add Raye to my hand."
The moment the name Raye left his mouth, Zane stiffened almost instantly.Momoyo, meanwhile, gave a slow, knowing smirk.
"I Normal Summon and Special Summon, Raye and Roze!"
He placed Raye down, and Roze's effect followed right after.
Blue digital data flared up in two spiraling columns, rising like twin vortexes of light.When they dispersed, Raye and Roze stepped forward in sync, hair fluttering, uniforms rippling in the artificial wind, their blades gleaming as if eager for action.
[Sky Striker Ace - Raye, 1500 ATK]
[Sky Striker Ace - Roze, 1500 ATK]