"Ta-da-da-da, the shocking truth!"
The moment they walked into Hayato's room, Yugi and his friends were startled. The first thing they saw upon entering was Seto Kaiba, sitting upright on the sofa with his hands crossed, supporting his chin.
"Kaiba?!"
"Kaiba!"
"Seto Kaiba?"
Yugi was about to ask Hayato how Kaiba could possibly be in his room when his soul had supposedly been sealed after his defeat in the duel against Pegasus. But then, he realized something.
With so many people entering Hayato's room, they were making quite a bit of noise. Not to mention, they had all just cried out in unison. Even if Kaiba had been asleep, he should have been woken up by the commotion. Yet, from the very beginning, Kaiba hadn't shown the slightest reaction. It was a reaction Yugi had seen once before—on his own grandfather, Solomon Muto.
Evidently, while the person in Hayato's room was indeed Seto Kaiba himself, it was also *not* Kaiba—because his soul was still in Pegasus's possession. This was merely his body.
Ten minutes earlier, after the duel ended, Pegasus exchanged some harsh words with Hayato and Yugi before leaving. Hayato and Yugi then returned to the audience seating to accept congratulations from their friends.
"Your duel was just incredible, Yugi, Hayato." Joey's face was lit with a brilliant smile; he looked even happier than if he had won the championship himself. He had always been a straightforward person, and his joy for his two friends was genuine.
"A beautiful deck build, an amazing duel," Sheppard said, full of praise. "It was as thrilling as dancing on a knife's edge. I'm afraid that even with another ten years, I would have a hard time putting on a duel like the two of you did."
As he spoke, an idea suddenly formed in Sheppard's mind: *Although I've discovered the limits of my own abilities, perhaps I can train someone to inherit my dueling style, and then surpass both Hayato and Yugi?*
"Congratulations." Mai Valentine stood with her arms crossed. Only after some prodding from Joey did she clap her hands somewhat reluctantly. "Congratulations on becoming Duel Kings, Hayato and Yugi. Honestly, I really wanted that final prize money for myself."
"Ah, speaking of the prize money." Hayato, who had been watching the delicate relationship between Joey and Mai with a gossipy look, heard Mai's last sentence. He pulled the *Glory of the King's Right Hand* card from his pocket and held it out to Joey. "Now that Duelist Kingdom is over, I think this card can be used to claim the prize money?"
"Take it, Joey."
Joey looked at the card Hayato was offering and immediately refused. "No way, Hayato, I can't take your card."
He was about to say more when he noticed Yugi offering his own card as well.
Hayato waved the card in his hand. "You know my family's situation. I'm not exactly short on cash. In fact, I barely touched the allowance my mom gave me before I came to Duelist Kingdom. I don't really need money for anything, and even if I did, I could just ask my family."
"But the money for your sister's surgery isn't secured yet, is it, Joey?" Yugi Muto, back to his usual self, said with a gentle smile, pushing his card a little closer to Joey.
"But…"
Seeing Joey still hesitating, Hayato pried open Joey's hand and stuffed both his and Yugi's cards into it. "But what? Just take it. Don't think of this as our money, think of it as Pegasus's. This is a rare chance to fleece a rich bastard, so don't you dare try to give it back."
"Anyway, today, Yugi and I are giving our cards to you. Just remember to give us the change if there's any leftover. Then after we get back, we'll all go live it up for a bit, maybe take a vacation somewhere like Hawaii." Seeing that Joey still wanted to object, Hayato added, "And don't bother with thanks. Aren't we friends?"
"Hayato… Yugi…" Tears welled up in Joey's eyes. He fought to keep them from falling, wiping them with his sleeve. "Yeah… I'll never forget this kindness."
Just as Joey was about to say something more, Hayato suddenly flashed a mischievous grin. He leaned in close to Tristan's ear and lowered his voice, keeping it just loud enough for Joey to hear. "Speaking of which, Joey's sister is named Serenity Wheeler, right? I remember she's a real beauty…"
"Hee hee hee~"
"Heh heh heh~"
"You two bastards, don't even think about getting any ideas about my sister!" Hayato's interruption instantly dispelled Joey's tears, and he started roughhousing with the other two. Tristan was a bit too embarrassed to admit that he did indeed have an interest in Serenity Wheeler, but Hayato kept spouting things like, "Don't be like that, big brother-in-law," and "This is called leveraging a good deed, you get it?"
It had to be admitted, Hayato's tactic worked wonders, successfully convincing Joey to accept his and Yugi's "fortune" cards. With the post-battle celebration over, only one last problem remained before them.
"Pegasus… the father of Duel Monsters, a genius game designer. Not only does he have the deepest understanding of Duel Monsters, but he also takes full advantage of his position as a card designer, possessing a significant number of exclusive cards," Sheppard shared the information he knew with Hayato and Yugi. "From what I know, the true identity of the deck Pegasus uses is the *Toon* deck."
Although the Duelist Kingdom tournament was over, what lay ahead was a battle between the two Duel Kings and the father of Duel Monsters. As duelists themselves, neither Mai Valentine nor Sheppard wanted to miss tomorrow's match, so they remained in the castle.
"Oh, I know. We saw Pegasus use them that day," Téa said, recalling the day they first arrived at the castle. "He's the only one who has those *Toon* monsters, and their effects are totally broken. It's so unfair."
"They can't be destroyed and can perform a direct attack. Those two effects alone are enough to cause a massive headache. And to top it off, every single one of Pegasus's monsters has that kind of resistance," Hayato said with a frustrated sigh. "And what's even more annoying than the *Toon* monsters, which can at least be countered somehow, is that guy's mind-reading ability."
"Mind-reading is definitely a problem," Mai Valentine said with a frown. "Using an ability like that in a duel is just plain cheating."
Joey chuckled. "But Mai, you're in no position to say that about Pegasus, what with you putting perfume on your cards."
"Shut up!"
Tristan's focus was slightly different. "Speaking of cheating, I'm worried about something. What if that Pegasus guy is about to lose to a combined attack from Hayato and Yugi and he uses Mokuba and the others as threats?"
Hearing Tristan say that, Téa also grew worried. "Pegasus is such a famous person, he wouldn't do something like that… right?"
"You can't be so sure. Didn't he already threaten Kaiba with Mokuba that day?" Yugi sighed. He had just started to get a few ideas on how to counter Pegasus's mind-reading, but now he had to consider the possibility of that guy cheating.
At the same time, he noticed Hayato's unflustered demeanor. The only time he had shown any sign of being troubled was when they mentioned the *Toon* monsters. Since then, whether they were discussing mind-reading or the hostages like Kaiba and Mokuba, he seemed far more relaxed.
"Actually, about Mokuba and the others, we don't need to worry too much. I've already made preparations for that." Hayato took a big slurp from a cup of soda, then clutched his temples from the brain freeze. With a slightly contorted expression, he said, "I've got some cool stuff in my room. You guys wanna come check it out?"
"Cool stuff? Are they new cards?" Joey asked with great interest, but Hayato just waved his hand. "Nah~ something even more exciting than new cards. It'll even make men out of you~"
With that, he took the lead and brought them to his room, which led to the scene from the beginning of the chapter.
***
Author's Notes:
1. In the Duelist Kingdom arc of the manga, Pegasus's *Toon* monsters didn't actually exist as physical cards. All the Toon monsters that appeared were just normal monsters transformed by *Toon World*, like how Kaiba's *Blue-Eyes White Dragon* was turned into *Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon*.
2. It wasn't until the Doma Arc that physical card versions of *Toon* monsters appeared in Pegasus's deck. However, since he never showed his deck before then, it's possible he had them all along (but that's just a possibility).
3. In this story, I'm unifying things: Pegasus's deck contains physical *Toon* monster cards, and he can also use cards like *Toon World* to turn other monsters into *Toon* monsters.
4. Also, the next chapter is still a transitional one. The duel with Pegasus will officially begin in the chapter after that, which is tomorrow.
5. And another thing: I even pulled a Ruri Gokou and dropped five chapters yesterday, and people are still saying I'm slow? Get lost.
(end of chapter)