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"Hey, hey! Are you all right!?"
Jaden ran down the cliff path, panting heavily.
Even he hadn't expected that a simple card game would actually send someone plummeting off a cliff. Syrus and Chumley were equally dumbfounded, wondering why the Solid Vision impact had been so fierce today. To blast someone that far down a cliff was truly something else.
Could something have gone wrong?
Breathless, they followed Jaden around the base of the cliff and finally discovered the unlucky soul lying on a rock by the crashing waves.
Syrus and Chumley had been trembling with fear, dreading the sight of a bloodied, mangled mess, but they were surprised to find nothing of the sort.
When they reached the bottom of the cliff, all they found were metal fragments, wires, and electronic components scattered across the ground.
The three of them froze.
"A robot?"
Indeed. Hidden beneath the black clothes and mask of the one who called himself Beta was not a body of flesh and blood, but a mechanical frame. By now, its head had been severed from its torso, rolling to different spots at the cliff's base, exposing a complex internal network of circuits and chips.
The mechanical arm joints were snapped, and hydraulic tubes had burst. Oil leaked onto the soil, forming dark, slick patches.
Syrus and Chumley looked at each other in disbelief.
"So... Bro was just dueling a robot?"
"But who sent it? What's its purpose at Duel Academy?" Chumley asked, puzzled.
"I don't know."
Jaden shook his head, his expression solemn.
He was thinking back to the duel the unusual impact that felt exactly like a Shadow Duel. Although its origin and purpose remained a mystery, this thing definitely wasn't one of the good guys.
"Let's go. We need to notify the school first," Jaden said.
The other two nodded in agreement. The desolate seashore and the shattered mechanical remains left them feeling inexplicably uneasy.
They turned to leave, but before they had gone far, Jaden suddenly came to a halt.
Syrus and Chumley ran a few more steps before noticing he wasn't following. They quickly turned back.
"What's wrong, Bro?" Syrus asked.
Jaden didn't say a word, but Youxuan's solemn face suddenly flashed through his mind, and his words echoed in his ears.
"In the hands of evil men, cards become weapons of harm. As sunny and righteous duelists, we can never stand by and watch the Duel Monsters we love so much be misused!"
"If we leave them be, what if the villain's accomplices recover them and use them as weapons again?"
Jaden fell silent for two seconds. Then, he abruptly turned around and ran back to the pile of disassembled robot parts.
Rummaging through the metal scraps, he found the shattered Duel Disk and pulled the Deck from it.
He whispered a small "sorry."
Only after stuffing the Deck into his pocket did he turn and jog back to catch up with his companions.
Syrus: "..."
Chumley: "..."
It's over. It looks like Bro is starting to take the shape of the Great Demon King too...
The Culture Festival was drawing to a close.
The sky had darkened. Leaving the venue, Youxuan stretched his arms. "Today's dueling events were quite fun; I really enjoyed myself. It's just that the prizes were a bit stingy only two rare cards and a custom keychain. The Duel Club is so cheap..."
Bastion and Alexis, who were walking back with him, remained silent.
You might have enjoyed yourself, but it's hard to say the same for everyone else.
If things continued like this, the Duel Club might have to change the rules for next year's festival; otherwise, it would likely dampen everyone's enthusiasm for card games.
By then, new rumors would probably be circulating the academy about the man who single-handedly forced a rewrite of the Culture Festival rules after years of tradition...
"Speaking of which, the custom keychain allows you to choose any Duel Monster you like. Have you decided what to pick yet, Youxuan?"
"What do you think?" Youxuan smirked.
Bastion took a guess. "Lava Golem?"
Alexis actually considered the possibility seriously. "Knowing Youxuan, it's not impossible..."
"What about you, Bastion? Surely the duel points you earned are enough to exchange for a keychain too?" Youxuan asked.
Bastion put on the expression of a proud samurai. "I have no need for such things."
"I get it," Youxuan nodded. "White Magician Pikeru, right? Understood."
Bastion's expression changed instantly. "How did you know!? I mean don't talk nonsense!"
"Relax, we've all known for a long time," Youxuan laughed. "If you don't believe me, ask Alexis."
Shocked, Bastion turned an inquiring gaze toward Alexis. She nodded. "Yes. Youxuan said you sometimes pull out Pikeru in the lab for 'amateur research' to develop the card's potential. It's because you really like her, isn't it?"
Bastion's face turned bright red. "No, I didn't, I..."
Youxuan patted him on the shoulder. "It's fine, it's perfectly normal. We understand."
After all, what was so strange about a man liking a loli spirit? Especially one with twin tails.
Bastion: "..."
Dammit, I thought that was my biggest secret. Had I been seen through this entire time?
Bastion fell into a state of depression and remained sullen and silent for a long while as they walked.
As they entered the dense forest, Alexis suddenly pointed toward the sky. "The moon is so round tonight."
The three of them looked up simultaneously and stopped in their tracks.
"It really is," Youxuan nodded gently.
After standing for a moment, they simply sat down on the rocks beside a small creek in the forest, watching the moon.
After a while, Alexis suddenly spoke. "Actually... before I came to the academy, and even when I first arrived, I was always alone. It's not that there weren't other students around, but I just... didn't really feel like I fit in. I think it's because I came here with a specific purpose from the very beginning."
Staring at the moon seemed to evoke old memories, and she continued softly.
"My most important secret regarding why I came to this academy... is my brother. His name is Atticus, and he disappeared right here at Duel Academy. From that moment on, I was determined to find him.
Most of the reason I came here was in the hope of finding clues related to his disappearance. Since he went missing, I haven't cared much about anything else interacting with those around me, socializing with classmates... that's probably why I've found it so hard to bond with anyone."
She pulled her gaze away from the moon and offered a faint smile.
"But now, being able to come to this lab and spend time with the two most important friends I've made since arriving at this academy... achieving things I never imagined possible... I really feel like it's wonderful."
She smiled and looked at Bastion. "What do you think, Dr. Bastion? Are we considered friends now?"
That nickname seemed to have been given to Bastion by Jaden originally, because Bastion was always writing and calculating.
"Actually, I was going to say we aren't friends, just classmates or colleagues at most..." Bastion sat upright, arms crossed and eyes closed, speaking awkwardly. "But since you already know my secret, it seems I have no choice but to admit it."
Alexis burst into a fit of giggles.
The bright moonlight poured down like a silver waterfall, gently spilling over the quiet creek and reflecting the silhouettes of the three. Their shadows stretched long, swaying in the shimmering ripples of the water.
"Well, we've both shared our secrets. Now Youxuan is the only one who hasn't shared an important secret. Isn't that a bit cunning?" Alexis said, half-joking.
"Maybe I'm just a boring person," Youxuan smiled. "People without a story naturally have no secrets to tell."
"Ha, you? No story?" Dr. Bastion laughed.
Who in this entire academy would believe that?
"Ahem, then why don't you tell us about the question everyone in the academy is most curious about?"
"What?"
"The rumor," Alexis said expectantly. "The one that says you know President Kaiba. What exactly is your relationship? How do you even know someone like him?"
Youxuan: "..."