In the observer's room, the researchers and Kaiba Corp executives fell into a tense, almost suffocating silence as they rewatched the duel between their President and a student from his own academy.
Everyone knew President Kaiba had retired his deck years ago, at least from anything the public could see. All his old rivals were either in the afterlife or had hung up their decks for good, and without anyone worth his time, dueling just… stopped being fun for him.
These days, the only things he dueled were AI bots, mostly as target practice to keep his card addiction under control.
Before Zane Truesdale's graduation, Chancellor Sheppard had sent a formal letter practically begging Kaiba to attend the graduation duel. And Kaiba, naturally, refused. Zane had been Sheppard's personal golden boy even before joining Duel Academy; of course the Chancellor would want to parade him around.
But after the duel, Kaiba, out of boredom or curiosity, went through the match records. And for once, something caught his attention. All four duelists were impressive in their own ways… but one stood out more than the rest.
Yumi Uzushi.
What grabbed him first was the deck. From the record, Kaiba could tell Yumi ran multiple engines that could split off into entirely separate decks, messy yet flexible and unpredictable. Just like a certain someone he used to know. Combine that with the fact that he used Kuriboh cards, and it was impossible not to think of Yugi.
And then there was the fact that Yumi had a 100% win rate across all three dorms, even against teachers, yet still lived in Slifer Red, the dorm everyone politely pretended wasn't the academy's basement. That only reminded Kaiba even more of Yugi, who had climbed to the top of the world from nothing but talent and skills.
Plus, well… Yumi and Yugi does sound quite similar. Which didn't help.
So Kaiba wanted to meet this kid. Badly. To see if that record was real, if the duel shown on paper matched the person behind it.
But when the duel was over, the room hadn't seen the President look so ashen ever since Yugi's retirement.
Sure, he'd lost to a student from his own school. But President Kaiba wasn't the type to punish talent. If anything, the only casualties would be whatever poor employee made the mistake of staring at him for half a second too long afterward.
Every Kaiba Corp worker in that observer's room silently agreed to scrub this entire incident from existence. If some clueless newcomer ever tried to mention it, they all knew it would take less than five minutes for that person's desk to be mysteriously empty.
"I already have people tracking down the Planet series. You can check room 6-B for the data," Kaiba said, arms crossed, chin raised like he was posing for the cover of Duel Monthly. Midori bowed in a perfect 90-degree angle, thanking him as if her life depended on it.
Kaiba's gaze then shifted to Yumi, who was standing beside her like a confused extra.
"Your student-" He began.
"He is also grateful for your guidance, sir!" Midori cut in immediately, grabbing Yumi by the back of the head and forcing him into a bow so low his forehead almost hit his knees.
She had braced herself for disaster, Yumi annoying the President like he annoyed her, or worse, Yumi somehow provoking a second duel and getting himself locked up and only allowed to see the sunlight by playing cards with the President. She absolutely did not expect Yumi to beat the President. And based on the whispered gossip from employees who saw him leave the arena looking like he'd swallowed a brick, Kaiba wasn't in a good mood.
So Midori had fully expected her request to be shot down, burned, and then stomped out for good measure. The fact that Kaiba actually approved it left her mentally scrambling.
Kaiba, for his part, briefly stared at the sight of a slouchy Slifer being forcibly bent in half in front of him.
"He's got talent. Don't let it go to waste," Kaiba said. Then he turned dramatically, as if he had practiced the pivot in a mirror.
Right as the massive metal door slid open, he paused, just enough for his white coat to flutter dramatically behind him. He tilted his head slightly, voice echoing through the steel hall.
"We'll have a proper rematch during your graduation duel. Don't disappoint me."
The door slammed shut behind him.
The tension shattered along with it. Midori let out a long sigh, relieved that the President wasn't the type to fire a teacher just because her student kicked his teeth in.
Both she and Yumi headed for room 6-B to retrieve the data collected by Kaiba Corp's satellite system.
"Look," Yumi said, tapping on the screen and zooming in. "Whoever's after the Planet series has hit all four academies already."
The images showed sightings of Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus scattered across Duel Academies around the world. Terra Firma showed up the most, North Academy, West Academy, South Academy, meaning it current wielder was using it to hunt down the other planets. Meanwhile, Duel Academy's record for the Earth is undoubtedly Yumi's.
Judging from the patterns, the mysterious Planet Hunter was only missing Mercury, Neptune, and The Sun.
Mercury was currently with Rio's brother, after she admitted it didn't fit her deck anymore.
Neptune was being held hostage by Yumi. And the reptile face is currently trying to put in extra effort to get an upgrade and much much-needed power boost.
The Tyrant Neptune saw how Raye is treated, being Yumi's ace monster, she practically has multiple deck builds just to keep all of her arsenals and toys.
Which monsters won't be jealous at that!? Some didn't even get any support cards, so seeing another Duel Spirit with so many supports really makes one feel envious.
And The Sun… well, that one was obvious. It was the final boss of the Planet series. Boss monsters had pride. They showed up maybe once, did something dramatic, got defeated, and vanished forever. Not everyone was Kaiba, who summoned Obelisk like it was a household pet and used it to bully NPCs.
Midori frowned as she pieced the information together.
"So their next target is Duel Academy…" she murmured.
She had spent weeks, no, months, tracking down Planet monsters, piecing together clues, chasing rumors from every academy, only to discover the Planet Hunter would inevitably come to her. To her school. To the same island, she couldn't leave unless she applied for vacation time or extra work outside of the academy.
"I don't know whether to feel happy or sad at this point…" she muttered, sliding into a corner and drawing circles on the floor like a depressed anime character.
Meanwhile, her student, the one who can actually help her, was just slacking around and enjoying school life.
And now the very thing she'd been chasing would come straight to her door.
"Hmm. How about crying while laughing, Sensei?" Yumi suggested.
Midori's head snapped back with a death glare.
"I'm not crazy, you brat!" she snapped, giving him a light smack on the head. It felt annoyingly natural for some reason.
After transferring all the data onto a USB, teacher and student exited the towering Kaiba Corp building.
High above them, in one of the top floors, Kaiba stood by the window watching the two Slifers walk away. Then he turned back to his screen, where Yumi's profile was displayed alongside a long list of cards pulled from his Duel Disk's record.
At the center of the screen, a progress bar slowly ticked upward… until it hit 100%.
Kaiba immediately slipped his Duel Disk onto his arm and inserted his deck. The machine in his office whirred to life as a blue holographic Yumi materialized in front of him.
"Gotcha! Let's have a fun duel!" the digital Yumi chirped, raising his Duel Disk.
"Let's begin," Kaiba said coldly, placing his fingers on his deck. "Draw."
...
"So, are we going back to Duel Academy?" Yumi asked, hands stuffed into his pockets, while Midori was furiously thumbing through her phone.
"Yes. We've spent enough time off the island, and honestly, the only reason I even got permission to leave in the first place was because the President wanted to meet you." She said this with zero shame whatsoever. After all, she has used up all of her vacation time searching for her brother.
"Huh… if I remember correctly, the Pro League is happening right now," Yumi mused, thinking back on the usual timeline, Zane entering the Pro League, rising fast, then getting crushed by Aster thanks to destiny being petty.
Since Hell Kaiser had already been half-killed and buried ahead of schedule this time around, Yumi wondered: would Zane still fall to Aster? Or could he push past fate and rewrite the script?
"We can't go there. The League's almost finished anyway," Midori said, still scrolling, before noticing Yumi pulling out his phone.
She didn't pay it much mind until she glanced over, then nearly dropped her phone.
He was texting President Kaiba.
[Yumi]: President, can I go watch the final match in the Pro League?
[Kaiba]: I already have a helicopter coming to pick you up.
The reply came in less than a minute.
Midori's soul briefly left her body.
Before she could recover, the air around them shifted, like the atmosphere itself realized Kaiba had answered a text. A black helicopter descended from the clouds, kicking up wind as it touched down right in front of the two Slifers.
A black-suited bodyguard stepped out with efficiency.
"Yumi Uzushi. Midori Hibiki. Please board the helicopter. We will depart for the Pro League immediately."
Midori felt her blood pressure spike so hard she wondered if she could have Yumi ask Kaiba to cover the medical costs. She had no idea what was going through Kaiba's head for him to approve this so easily.
What they didn't know... That Kaiba had added a new difficulty setting to his personal AI training bots, called "Yumi."
And he had already suffered three more losses to it. Which infuriated him, then thrilled him. And infuriated him again.
It was basically the same feeling as getting bored of a game you've already maxed out… and then the devs suddenly drop a DLC that punches you in the face and calls you weak for playing on easy mode.
It's awful, wonderful, and addictive.
Whether Kaiba was in a good or bad mood entirely depended on whether the person talking to him was a worthy distraction from his new toy model.
"No! We are NOT going to the Pro League!" Midori snapped, refusing on instinct. Now that they knew the Planet Hunter was heading straight for Duel Academy, their priority was to return to the island and prepare, not go sightseeing at a world championship event.
"Fine…" Yumi muttered, rolling his eyes like she'd just told him he couldn't have dessert.
As they boarded, Midori immediately leaned toward the pilot.
"Take us to Duel Academy," she ordered sharply.
"Understood, ma'am," the pilot said.
Satisfied, she sat back, still tense but at least in control again.
Meanwhile, Yumi simply plopped into his seat, pulled out his phone, and opened the live broadcast of the Pro League Finals.
If he couldn't be there in person, he'd at least watch it from a Kaiba Corp helicopter halfway across the sea.
In the duel arena, both Zane and Aster appeared in an explosion of fire, smoke, and unnecessary lighting effects.
The crowd went wild, especially the screaming portion of Aster's fanbase who seemed genetically incapable of volume control.
[Zane, LP 4000]
[Aster, LP 4000]
"My turn. Draw!" Aster snapped his wrist dramatically, caught the card, then smiled as if destiny itself had handed him his opener.
"The monster I summon is this!"
A flash of bright green armor materialized as feathered wings unfurled behind a bird-like warrior.
"Come on! Avian!"
[Elemental HERO Avian, 1000 ATK]
Zane stared at the wind Hero with a calm, unreadable gaze. Arms crossed with zero reaction. He may as well have been staring at a leaf on the sidewalk.
Aster waited to see Zane's reaction, seeing how he also knew multiple HERO users like Jaden Yuki and Yumi Uzushi.
Zane, however, had the same expression as someone waiting for a bus.
Aster exhaled and continued.
"I set two cards and end my turn."
Two face-downs shimmered into place behind Avian.
"My turn. Draw."
Zane's eyes flickered briefly toward the back row behind Avian, and immediately narrowed in on them, like those two innocent cards had personally insulted his bloodline.
"Spell card, Lightning Storm!" He slapped the card onto his Duel Disk with zero hesitation. "When I control no face-up card, I can either destroy all of your Attack Position monsters or all of your spells and traps!"
"I'll destroy your spell and trap!"
A violent surge of electricity erupted across Aster's field, shredding both of his backrow cards. The audience gasped.
"Since you control a monster and I control none, I get to Special Summon Cyber Dragon from my hand."
A metallic roar echoed through the stadium as the long, gleaming dragon surged forward, coils of steel glinting under the lights.
[Cyber Dragon, 2100 ATK]
"Next, I Normal Summon Cyber Serpent in Defense Position."
A thinner, sleeker machine serpent materialized beside it, coiling protectively.
[Cyber Serpent, 0 DEF]
"Cyber Serpent's effect activates. I send the top three cards of my deck to the graveyard. If any are Machine monsters, I draw one card."
He milled three cards effortlessly.
"One was Proto-Cyber Dragon. So I draw."
He added a new card to his hand before raising his head again.
"Battle! Cyber Dragon attacks Avian!"
The mechanical dragon's maw opened as light gathered.
"Evolution Burst!"
The blast obliterated Avian instantly.
[Aster, LP 4000 -> 2900]
Aster clenched his teeth. The path he was supposed to follow… was already slipping out of alignment.
"I set one card. Turn end," Zane said calmly.
Although Zane heard that Aster had enrolled in Duel Academy, he didn't have much opinion on it since, one, he had already graduated.
And two, Momoyo told him that she is more worried that Yumi wouldn't go around bullying the new generation, unlike her during their student days.
Zane knew better than to question it, so he just nodded.
But that also means he won't have to worry about Yumi and Celina. As the two of them will be just fine.
Wait... Zane suddenly feels like he is forgetting something.
After less than five seconds, and he still can't remember, Zane decides to ignore it, since if it isn't important, then that might be why he forgets about it.
Syrus: "..."
"You really don't hold back on your junior, huh?" Aster said under his breath, placing a hand on his deck.
"If this level of pressure already has you sweating," Zane replied coolly, "then maybe you should consider dropping out of Duel Academy."
The crowd collectively gasped, and Aster froze.
Zane wasn't trash-talking; he was dead serious.
This level of pressure wasn't even close to what Yumi could output. And Kazuko, the youngest Kawakami sibling, was aiming to join Duel Academy in Yumi's third year.
Even if Aster waited until Yumi graduated… He would still run face-first into Kazuko.
What was the worst feeling for someone who thought they were the best? Learning they weren't even in the top ten.
Zane had once felt the same, thinking he'd reached the peak.
Then he met Momoyo, and learned that sometimes the mountain you thought was the summit… was just the tutorial hill.
Back then, if she claimed to be number 2, then there was hardly anyone who would dare to claim to be number 1. Even he hesitated at that, seeing how his chances of victory mostly depend on whether or not she drew into a good hand or not.
"Don't mock me senior!" Aster snapped, glaring.
Zane didn't flinch.
He didn't sugar-coat advice. If Aster couldn't handle it, that wasn't Zane's problem. He wasn't here to hold his hand and tell you what he did wrong.
Aster wasn't Syrus.
"My turn! Draw!" Aster practically tore the card from his deck, eyes locked on Zane with renewed fury.