Inside Chazz's duelist preparation room, Mokuba sat directly across from him, with the briefcase placed beside him.
"So, Mr. Mokuba, what exactly are you…?"
Because the person in front of him was the younger brother of the duelist he admired, Chazz couldn't help feeling a little stiff and uneasy.
"Relax. Just like I said before, I'm only here for a simple inspection. But more importantly…" Mokuba Kaiba entered the four digits 0801 into the briefcase's combination lock.
A crisp click rang out. "This really should've been handed over to you a long time ago. I think now's the perfect opportunity."
Inside the briefcase was a large number of cards.
Many of them were cards Chazz had never seen before. Driven by curiosity, he almost reached out to pick one up, but quickly caught himself and pulled his hand back. "These cards are…?"
Setting the briefcase down, Mokuba spoke with a hint of nostalgia. "They're gifts. Gifts. How long ago was it, really… My brother once handed some cards to you when you two happened to meet, didn't he? Back then, my brother already thought you could become a promising duelist. So after that, I kept track of your match record as well."
As he spoke, Mokuba tapped twice on his wristwatch and looked at the information that appeared. "Even though they were all academy-level duels, after a few early losses, you went undefeated all the way until that student named Jaden Yuki appeared, right?"
"To be honest, my brother never expected that you'd achieve such good results using cards that had already fallen behind the current meta. So he entrusted me with delivering these cards to you."
"I'm sorry to trouble you to come all this way in person…"
"It was worth it. Although my brother has no intention of taking on disciples, I know very well that very few people receive this much attention and guidance from him. From my perspective, you're already kind of his 'quasi-disciple,' you know~"
"And actually, this case should've been given to you a long time ago. But when it was shipped to Duel Academy, you'd already gone to the North Academy. By the time it was sent by sea to the North Academy, you'd already come back—so I just flew over on the Blue-Eyes Jet instead."
Swinging his keys lightly, Mokuba added with a grin, "I'd been wanting an excuse to ride it for work anyway, so coming here was also my own idea."
Chazz recalled Mokuba's method of arrival, his eyelids twitching. "Descending from a jet in such an inhuman way… I really have to say, both of your physical abilities are far beyond those of normal people…"
"Alright, I won't take up too much more of your pre-match time. Take this chance to tune your deck properly and aim for victory."
Rising from his chair, Mokuba walked to the door, then turned back and added, "I think my brother will be very much looking forward to your performance. Though this is just casual talk… the fact that you suffered your first defeat at the hands of a student named Jaden Yuki brought back some memories for him."
Chazz could more or less guess what he meant. The legendary Duel King Yugi Muto had apparently attended the same school as Seto Kaiba.
Regardless, this wasn't the time to dwell on that. After hesitating for a moment, Chazz stood up and addressed Mokuba. "I'm sorry, Mr. Mokuba. I might end up disappointing both of you."
Mokuba Kaiba raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"
In his impression, Chazz wasn't the type to undermine his own confidence or boost someone else's morale at his own expense.
Chazz pulled out his deck, sleeved in Armed Dragon LV10 sleeves, and said, "I've already decided."
"I'm going to use the deck that fought alongside me at the North Academy to settle my rematch with Jaden. So in order not to betray the support those cards have given me all this time, I don't want to change my deck construction right now."
Receiving an answer that was unexpected yet highly satisfying, Mokuba nodded. "Ah, I see… Sorry about earlier. Saying you should rebuild your deck was my mistake. Deciding to complete a perfect comeback duel with your own deck is a wonderful idea, Chazz."
"In that case, I wish you the best of luck."
Mokuba Kaiba opened the preparation room door and left.
Less than two minutes later, Chazz's two brothers walked in.
Without a word, they placed their own briefcases in front of Chazz and opened them.
In a commanding tone, the second brother said, "These are rare cards we acquired at great expense. After completely strengthening your deck with them, crush that student once and for all."
At the same time, he took out a pack of beige card sleeves, marked with a circle enclosing the Princeton Group's trademark.
The eldest brother explained, "We also had custom card sleeves made for the match. From the duel onward, you'll use these sleeves. After all, you're our little brother, and out there you need to help build momentum for your brothers as well."
Chazz looked down at the cards his second brother had handed him.
Dimension Fusion, Painful Choice, Card of Demise, Roll of Fate, Reasoning, Catapult Turtle, Magical Scientist, Monster Reborn… oh wait, no. Darklord Nurse? No, correction. Ectoplasmer? No. Makyura… the Destructor? Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End, and Last Turn.
Not to mention that almost none of them complied with the Forbidden & Limited List, but how did even the ancient FTK involving Reasoning + Catapult Turtle + Magical Scientist show up here? And this Catapult Turtle hadn't even been errata'd yet.
Because this playstyle was so degenerate, in this world, Catapult Turtle, Magical Scientist, and Dark Magician of Chaos were all Limited. But looking at the cards the brothers had prepared, it was obvious they hadn't checked the banlist at all.
"Brothers… a lot of these cards can't be used anymore, right?" Chazz frowned. "And as for deck construction and sleeves, I've already—"
Before he could finish, he was cut off by the second brother. "Don't argue with me. The card dealer who sold us these cards said that as long as you build a deck with them, it's impossible to lose. Failure is absolutely not allowed on the Princeton Group's nationwide broadcast. So you must win using these cards!"
"Onii-san!"
Just as Chazz was about to protest, the eldest brother strode over and pressed both hands down on his shoulders.
"Chazz, have you forgotten the dream the three of us brothers share?! Total domination of the political world, the business world, and the dueling world. Among the three of us, you're the least useful in every area except dueling, so we arranged the simplest task for you. Are you saying you want to let this plan end here and now?!"
Chazz was caught off guard by the sudden outburst and found it hard to respond. Slade took his silence as acceptance and continued, "I'll also take care of your opponent's side. Whether with money or other means, it doesn't matter. This duel must be your debut. The Princeton family absolutely will not tolerate your failure. Remember that!"
The brothers' overwhelmingly domineering tone shattered Chazz's heart. Oblivious to what they had done, the two of them turned around and prepared to leave without even saying goodbye.
"Onii-san!"
Chazz suddenly called out to stop them.
"What is it?"
Slade shot him an annoyed glance.
Keeping his head lowered so they wouldn't see the anger on his face, Chazz suppressed his emotions and said, "At the very least… at the very least, I'll be choosing my own card sleeves for this duel. I can't let people think my debut was only impressive because of the Princeton Group's backing. I need to prove the brilliance I possess myself first, so that I can stand as a representative of the dueling world. Isn't that how it should be?"
"Hm… you've got a point. Fine, use whatever sleeves you want. It's just kids' stuff anyway."
Saying that without a care, the two of them left Chazz's preparation room without even closing the door.
After confirming they were gone, Chazz clutched his chest and wailed in pain, "Talking about the 'dream of three brothers' like it's something noble… when it's clearly just demands you forced on me! Curse it, why won't you ever consider what I want?!"
Rapid footsteps echoed from afar. Chazz quickly wiped his expression and looked toward the doorway.
"Ahhh, if this is going on TV, I should really be dressed like a proper student…" Jaden came sprinting from the distance in a panic, rushing all the way to the room opposite Chazz's preparation room—Jaden's own. "In that case, I'll have to take off the key and this thing first, won't I?"
Jaden hurriedly removed the Seven Stars Gate Key and the dark artifact from around his neck, placed them on the table, and then dashed back out.
Even though he was usually carefree, Jaden noticed that Chazz's expression was only forced cheer, and that his breathing was unsteady. "Chazz? What's wrong? You look kind of pale…"
Chazz turned his head away and said, "I'm just a little seasick from the submarine. It has nothing to do with you. The duel starts in less than half an hour, right? You're already done preparing?"
He didn't want to show Jaden his vulnerability and helplessness. What he didn't know was that while the brothers were talking, Jaden had actually been right outside the door. He only ran off at full speed when they were about to leave, then came back pretending he had just arrived.
Scratching his cheek with his right hand, Jaden said, "Is that so? I thought maybe having your two brothers watching was putting a lot of pressure on you. So I just wanted to say—
"When you duel, give it everything you've got. Clear your mind and duel for yourself… Guess I was overthinking it. I'll go wait near the duel field then. Take some seasickness medicine before you come over. By the way, do they even make medicine for submarine sickness?"
As he stepped outside, Jaden was called aside by Slade, who said he had something to discuss and pulled him away.
Chazz walked to the doorway and watched as Jaden was taken aside by Slade. Just as he was about to turn back, he saw a figure swiftly slip into Jaden's room and then come back out, now holding Jaden's key pendant.
"A thief?"
With the academy bustling with people at the moment, it wouldn't be surprising if someone with criminal intent had slipped in. Thinking that, Chazz hurried after them.
Outside the campus.
Removing his disguise coat, Don Zaloog stood together with his companions, who had also shed their disguises.
Zaloog held Jaden's key high in the air and cheered, "That makes it the first key! With the remaining six, our mission will be complete~"
"Yeah!"
"Is that so? Then congratulations."
A card traced a circular arc through the air from someone's mouth and hooked away the Seven Stars Gate Key from Zaloog's hand.
Chazz appeared before them and hung the key around his own neck.
"Infiltrating thieves, daring to carry out a theft right in front of me in broad daylight. You really don't know your place."
Zaloog stared at the key that had just been in his hand and shouted, "You stole it from me?! From the leader of the Dark Scorpion Burglars? Give it back right now!"
"That key wasn't yours to begin with! You're a thief, yet you talk like you're righteous. What kind of nonsense is that?!" Chazz pointed at Zaloog's face and yelled.
"And this is Duel Academy territory. If you want the key, settle it with a duel. There are fewer than twenty minutes before the official match starts."
"I'm in a terrible mood right now, so I'll use you as a warm-up!"
"Hmph. In that case, we'll respond with a duel as well. DUEL, my underlings!"
"DUEL!"
"DUEL~!" ×5
...
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