Clap clap clap clap—
On a dark, windy night in the forest, a crisp string of claps rang out.
Having just finished an enjoyable duel, Jaden stowed his Duel Disk and turned toward the sound. His buddies Kira and senior Joey emerged from the trees, heading his way. Kira gave him a round of enthusiastic applause for his performance.
"Kira? Joey-senpai?" Jaden was surprised. "You're here."
"Just got back," Kira said.
Joey: "I caught a ride on Kira's private jet. He gave me a lift…"
He couldn't help showing a face full of envy and resentment.
"Kuso! Stingy Kaiba—ten years and he's still got it in for me! Won't even give me a new Duel Disk, yet he's handing out private jets to other people…!"
Jaden laughed and patted his shoulder. "Don't mind it. Kira and President Kaiba's relationship is… special."
"Is it?"
Joey looked skeptical.
"How special?"
"I don't really know," Jaden scratched his head. "I only heard they get along pretty well. A lot of Kira's cards apparently came from KaibaCorp…"
"NANI?!"
Joey's eyes widened. Thinking back on Kaiba targeting him his whole life, he couldn't help turning to look at Kira.
"Rumors," Kira said innocently. "I've only met the President a few times—we're not close."
Joey eyed the newest non-retail KaibaCorp Duel Disk on Kira's arm.
"And that?"
Kira nodded. "Yeah, that's from KaibaCorp."
"Rare cards?"
Kira nodded again. "That too."
"Your jet?"
Kira tilted his head, thought for a second.
"Kaiba's."
Hard to deny.
Joey nearly slammed his Duel Disk. "So you're saying, you're not close to that bastard Kaiba, and he gave you all that just because he likes your face?"
"I know it's hard to believe…" Kira thought. "If I have to say something, I'm very close with his little brother."
"Mokuba, huh? Compared to that bad-tempered big bro, Mokuba is a good guy."
Joey grew nostalgic.
Back then, even if they didn't get along with Kaiba, they were friendly with Mokuba. They'd gone through hardship together, after all—and Mokuba wasn't prickly and tsundere like his brother; he was happy to hang out with Yugi and the others.
Though, it had probably been years since Joey last saw Mokuba.
"You did well just now—a beautiful duel," Kira smiled at Jaden. "You're getting stronger, Jaden."
"That goes without saying."
Jaden grinned at Kira.
"We need a rematch sometime. I might not lose now."
"I'll be waiting. But not now—we've got more important things to handle. Let's save that match."
"Got it!"
They bumped fists with perfect timing.
The scene stirred Joey's memories. He thought of his own best friends back then, when their bonds were unbreakable and their friendship was ironclad. Now everyone had gone their separate ways; getting the gang back together was hard.
But also…
You guys call that "getting stronger," huh?
Joey had seen Jaden's duel just now. He thought Jaden was strong, sure, but there was something… he couldn't quite put into words.
He felt that when he first met this Sllifer Red kid, his dueling wasn't like this… or at least it was only trending that way, not so blatant.
At the very least, back then Jaden wouldn't "give the opponent a big present, then finish with a Edge Hammer to the face"—the kind of tactic that sends blood pressure soaring.
Maybe that's because he's currently in sync with the Supreme King?
Yeah, that makes sense. The Supreme King is said to be a ruler of darkness, with fathomless dark power. Fuse with a being like that and it's reasonable your dueling gets darker.
Of course, he wouldn't say that in front of the Supreme King—or the lord of the other dimension might cry foul:
Hey hey hey, I only rule twelve dimensions tops; my darkness factor can't even match half of those two!
Glancing at Gelgo sprawled on the ground unconscious, Joey thought, this guy definitely wouldn't call that a "beautiful duel"…
Joey pondered.
Come to think of it, he'd felt this way before—Yugi's duels sometimes had that flavor too. Not Atem's—he meant his best friend Yugi Muto.
Maybe this is how the strong are meant to duel?
If I get the chance, should I try developing some new… techniques…
Before his thoughts drifted further, Kira pulled him back.
"Mr. Joey, you said you obtained important intel?"
"Huh? Oh, right."
Joey refocused, his expression turning serious.
"Pegasus is down."
"That Pegasus?" Jaden looked surprised.
"I'm afraid so," Joey nodded. "I helped him break free—at least for now.
But he said that while he was under control, he designed a very dangerous Duel Monsters card, and it's in the hands of someone named Mello."
He paused and looked at the guy lying unconscious.
"This one was sent by them too. They call your newly gained power a part of the 'Dark Wave.' I suspect that means the Supreme King."
"They fear the Supreme King's power?" Jaden asked.
"As the faction of the Light of Destruction, the power you wield would make them nervous," Kira said. "Maybe that's why they accelerated their offensive."
"We can't let those bastards get cocky," Joey clenched his fist.
"We strike back! We find that Mello guy and settle it in a duel!"
"I think he might be thinking the same," Kira said. "Controlling Pegasus likely wasn't just for a single card.
Pegasus is the father of modern Duel Monsters—the best designer in the world. He's designed monsters like the Egyptian Gods and Wicked Gods. Only he can harness the strongest powers and give them form as cards.
Mello probably wanted to leverage his abilities to further refine his deck—and perhaps also Industrial Illusions' cutting-edge gear, top-secret research data, resources, and…"
Kira suddenly stopped.
"What is it?"
Jaden and Joey looked at him together.
Thoughts raced through Kira's mind. Then he raised a brow.
"I think… I might have guessed where Mello is right now."