It was a night like any other night.
As the sun dips below the horizon, casting Domino City into a tapestry of shadows and glowing lights, the city street transforms into an entirely new realm. The hustle and bustle of the day gives way to a different kind of energy, an enchanting rhythm that only the night can orchestrate.
The city streets were a symphony of lights, with skyscrapers adorned in a kaleidoscope of colors, casting an otherworldly glow onto the ground below. The distant hum of traffic blends with the intermittent chatter of people. The rhythmic clatter of footsteps and the occasional sound of a car engine add layers to the night's symphony.
On this night, while sitting on the edge of Kaiba Corp. HQ's roof, one individual was watching the fallout of a duel between Central Duel Academia and North Academia on their phone.
Ever since watching this Duel that was broadcasted nationwide, they couldn't keep their eyes away, being so fixated on what was on the screen. While they had heard of Duel Monsters, they had never seen the game actually played. What's more, there was a livestream about Central Duel Academia's Duel Monster Spirits Festival.
Everyone had enjoyed themselves, something that they found endearing. After all, they let their desires take over and they showcased their true self. But now, watching this particular Duel going back and forth as the stakes get higher, it almost reminded them of the various heists they go through each day.
Just the other day, they had stolen a very valuable item. A golden Duel Disk that was encrusted with jewels and other treasures of the sea. Stealing it from the Garam Group from under their noses was mere child's play. They would have displayed it in their hideout, but now they have an opportunity to put it to… practical use.
All they needed was the right archetype to pilot. After all, archetypes rule the roost in this game. Good thing for them, they did… inherit a brand new Deck from a certain Pegasus. A prototype really, but a Deck nonetheless.
"Ufufufufufu, well now… I think now is as good a time as any." They said, holding out their Deck. They then inserted it in their newly acquired Disk, activating the mechanism that caused it to go from its standby mode into its active Duel Mode. "Ooh, quaint." They observed. They could definitely get used to this. "Now then… it's time that I paid a visit to Duel Academia and steal their most valuable prize."
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't use KaibaCorp's roof as your personal lookout."
The person blinked as they turned around and saw a man with brown hair with bangs down to the top of his eyes and a hairline at the base of the neck. His attire consists of a long white sleeveless KaibaCorp-designed coat featuring shoulder pads and a raised studded collar, with black sleeves from his shirt coming out from under. He has extra belts in pairs strapped around his upper arms and shins.
This was Kaiba Seto, CEO of Kaiba Corporation. And at this moment, he was rather annoyed at the person standing on his roof.
"Oh? The Duelist with Eyes of Blue makes himself known?" The unknown figure chuckled.
"I don't know what you're doing here or why. But I'm ordering you to leave before I call security." Kaiba frowned, with arm crossed.
"Au contraire, I'm just here to admire the scenery." The unknown figure pointed out.
Kaiba stepped forward and was about to say something until he noticed something about them. "Hold on, you're-"
"Oh? You know about moi?" The unknown person asked with a smirk before tossing down a smoke ball to hide their escape.
"Hold it!" Kaiba shouted, running the smoke, only to clear it and find that the person wasn't there. What was left behind was a card, its corner embedded into the metal roof.
He clicked his tongue, picking up the card, before tapping on the earpiece he was wearing, "Tell all Duel Academia principals to be on alert. The Phantom Princess is on the hunt."
It's been two weeks since the Duel Monster Spirits Festival. When the festival ended, all the Duel Spirits that attended went back to their spiritual form. While it was rather sad that the Duelists couldn't spend more time with them, at least for those who couldn't see Duel Spirits to begin with, it was necessary. Natural law couldn't be tampered with any longer.
At the moment, the class were watching a practice Duel between two students.
"Come on, dude. I'm falling asleep over here." Rex said as he egged Kuromu on, with Gerodias and Andabatae on his side.
"I got something, don't you worry." Kuromu said. "It's time I make my comeback! O-re no ta-n! Draw!" He drew his card… only to face fault at what he got. "Oh come on!"
"Did you brick or something?" The mutt asked.
Kuromu sighed before placing his hand on his disk. "I surrender…"
Kuromu: 0
Rex: 950
"A shame…" Rex sighed as he packed his deck in, "I wanted to see you beat me."
"Trust me, I wanted to…" Kuromu grumbled as the Solid Vision disappeared and placed his Deck in his box.
"A valiant effort Signore Kururugi, but you must remember that there's a chance you won't get a chance to draw what you need." Instructor Chronos said, "Not everyone can constantly Destiny Draw their way out of their situation."
"I guess…" Kuromu sighed.
As school ended, the mutt recalled something, "By the way, I don't know if you've heard, but there's a strange rumor going around."
"Huh? What kind?" Kuromu inquired with a raised eyebrow.
"The spooky 'did you see it too' kind of rumor." Rex said.
"Okay, you lost me there." Kuromu said dryly.
"Trust me, it's interesting." The mutt reassured him, "So, here's the skinny. There's a rumor going around that someone's been picking off Duelists, taking their best cards in an ante rule, not unlike the Duel Giant or even the Battle City tourney back in the day." the mutt explained, "Basically, it starts with you finding a calling card in your dorm room that tells you where to meet the unknown Duelist. Then, you fight in a 8000 LP Ante Duel where you pick the card with the highest monetary value. If you win, you get to keep your card and even get a bonus in Duel Points. If you lose… well, you get the picture."
"Wait, why the most expensive card?" Kuromu asked.
"Dude, have you seen the collector's market these days?" Rex asked, "It's tough trying to go for new releases to improve your deck when you got these guys scooping up whole booster box sets just to find the rarest cards to buy and sell for their collections."
"True…" Kuromu muttered, before his face became serious. "Hold on… you don't think… this person is the last Seven Stars Duelist do you?"
"No, I don't think so. Like I said, only their most valuable cards are being taken, not their lives." Rex clarified, "If the rumor had students disappearing or worse, dying, then we should be concerned."
"But that could be a cover-up." Kuromu pointed out. "Even if it's just a rumor, we can't take this lightly…"
"I guess. So what do you think we should do? Another stakeout? I mean, it worked out when we caught Taizan in the act." Rex said.
"Let's… talk it out with the others first. Get their feedback."
"Alright." Rex nodded.
Meanwhile…
Jun laid in his bunk, somewhat bored out of his mind after classes were done. It had been a while since he had returned to Duel Academia, and even longer since he had last spoken to his brothers. Ever since the Duel-Off against Judai, and exposing his older brothers for what they really are, things had become easier for him. He had buried the hatchet with Kuromu and the others. His dueling has improved significantly. And he didn't think of the Duel Monsters Spirits he had on him as annoying.
Well… maybe the Ojamas were still a bit annoying. But it was the kind of annoying that was endearing to him.
He quickly heard a chirp from Light and Darkness Dragon as it, the Ojamas, and even Armed Dragon were looking rather concerned. The ace sighed.
"No worries, I'm doing just fine." He tried to tell them.
"Really? You look deep in thought." Ojama Yellow pointed out.
"I'm fine. It's just… I'm just looking back, that's all." The ace said.
"You don't seem like it. Especially after you gave up on you-know-who." Ojama Green reminded him.
"I've already accepted it for what it is." Jun replied. "I'm not one of those love sick puppies. This is a path I've been walking on for a long time. And honestly, I've never felt any happier."
"Huh… well look at you, acting all mature." Ojama Black commented.
"If I hold onto every loss, then I might as well go back to being that arrogant bastard I used to be." Jun pointed out. "But I'm not that anymore. Things have changed. I'm not beholden to my family name, my brothers are not pressuring me to be the best, and-"
*RING! RING! RING! RING!*
"Hm?" Jun blinked, noticing that his cell phone was ringing. He looked at the Caller ID and growled with slight anger. It was Chosaku and Shoji. "The heck is this? I already cut them off from my life."
"You should've thrown that phone away." Ojama Yellow said.
"Well it sounds urgent. Maybe they're asking for your forgiveness?" Ojama Black posited.
"You think those two arrogant pricks would apologize after what they did?" Ojama Green shot down. "Boss, you don't have to answer it."
Letting out a sigh, the ace answered the phone, "Moushimoushi?"
["Jun, is that you?"]
"Chosaku-niisan…" Jun grunted, trying to hold in his anger. "Why are you calling me? I thought I told you I want nothing to do with you or Shoji-niisan,"
["Oh thank goodness, you didn't get hit too."]
"Wait, hit?" Now Jun looked confused. "What are you talking about?"
["We've been robbed."]
"Robbed? By who? I'd love to thank them." He said sarcastically.
["Jun, take this seriously! We've legitimately been bankrupted! That means that if we don't have money, you can't return to Duel Academia since that's your money too!"]
Jun frowned at this. Despite his misgivings with his brothers, he didn't like the idea of his family getting robbed.
"Even if that were true, give me one good reason why I should even help you to begin with." Jun said, hearing the sound of his older brother grunt. He probably flinched to add to that fact. "After everything you and Shoji-niisan put me through, forcing me to be the best because our family names demands it-"
"We know who did it. It's the Phantom Princess, she's real."
…
…
…
"This is stupid. Goodbye."
["Jun!"]
*CLICK!*
"Tsk, to think they'd use some fairy tale to get me to come back to them." He scoffed.
*KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!*
"Yeah," Jun called out, to which the door opened and Asuka came in. "Tenjoin-kun?" He said surprised.
"Principal Samejima called us for a meeting with the Spirit Key Holders. He says it's important."
With that, Jun sighed and joined the Obelisk Queen in heading to the principal's office.
"Thank you for coming, everyone." Principal Samejima said as the Spirit Key Holders, Sho, Misawa, Ryo, and Tsukasa stood in front of the principal's desk. "I assume you have all gotten word of what's been happening around the school."
"Some jive turkey out trying to make a fortune out of other people's defeats, right?" Koji asked.
"What?" Jun asked, shocked, then thought to himself. 'Chosaku-niisan was actually serious about being robbed?!'
The group looked towards Jun, concerned about how he reacted to the news.
"Manjoume, is there something you want to tell us?" Tsukasa asked.
"I… I recently got a call from my brothers." He revealed, "They said they were robbed by some… Phantom Princess."
"Phantom Princess?" They all parroted, though Rex was the most shocked by this news.
"She's active, again?!" The mutt gasped.
"An old rival of yours?" Kuromu asked.
"If there was one thief who could match my speed with her cunning, it's the Phantom Princess. She danced circles around our gang, picking off targets we were spending weeks trying to scout out." Rex revealed.
"That bad, huh?" Rika mused.
"Bad isn't enough to describe her!" Rex pointed out. "That's gotta mean that she's behind these Ante Duels."
"How?"
"I asked around and here's what I got in terms of what cards were stolen, and how much they cost on the aftermarket after I cross-examined them with a database of appraised cards." The mutt explained before showing the data on his Duel Pilot.
"My word, that's quite the loot." Misawa muttered in shock.
"Dark Magician's Tome of Black Magic, Armored Black Dragon - Cyber Dark Dragon, Necroface, it's all here." the mutt said.
"Oh man, that's a lot of yen!" Sho said, amazed.
"Those cards cost a fortune." Ryo added.
"And worse, there's a good chance that Judai's her next target." Rex explained, "Winged Kuriboh LV. 10, Elemental HERO Tempester, and Elemental HERO Shining Flare Wingman all demand high prices on the aftermarket."
"Hey, nobody's stealing my cards!" Judai huffed.
"Kuri, Kuri!"
"Don't worry, Kuriboh, I won't let them take ya." the Elemental HERO Duelist reassured the little critter.
"But what if Kuro, Rika, and Koji are also targets?" Asuka asked, making everyone look at her. "Think about it. Each of them has a unique Deck no one's ever seen before. You even fall into this trap too Rex, given that you own the only copy of Gladial Beast Magister and Gladial Beast Claudius in the world."
"Doesn't help that you're one of her old rivals too." Kuromu added.
"That means we need to be careful. One wrong move, and poof! Any cards we'll need to take down the last Seven Star goes up in smoke because she thinks they're too valuable to use."
"So now what?" Jun asked, "How exactly are we going to attract some thieves into biting?" That's when he noticed… "Why are you all looking at me like that?"
"Thanks for volunteering, Jun!" Rika grinned cheekily.
"What?!"
"Good luck, soldier." Rex saluted.
"I didn't sign up for this! Why are you all throwing me under the bus?!
"Simple. You're the only one who can theoretically be a bigger target than the rest of us." Koji explained, "Because even if someone steals something like Gladial Beast Claudius, Elemental HERO Terra Firma, or even Cyber Angel - Vishnu, the sheer aura those cards give off would be too much for even the most skilled."
"Tch…" Jun clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Well, I guess you got a point. Still, why me?!"
"For one, you talk a big game, two is that you actually back that up, and three is that it's likely she'll be looking to complete the triple finish of robbing all three Manjoume brothers." Kuromu grinned. "Don't worry Jun, you got this."
"Ugh, you guys better pay me back for this one." the ace sighed.
Unbeknownst to them, someone was watching the group meeting from outside the window.
"I see that they're already mobilizing?" the unknown watcher mused. Being careful as to not be seen, they continued to watch from their hiding spot, seeing their target before them. "At last I found you…"
"Ugh, this is gonna suck…" Jun grumbled as he began to pace around his room, "I have to Duel the Phantom Princess? Me? Why the heck would I want to do that?"
"Relax, man. We all believe in you." Judai grinned.
"That doesn't help." Jun deadpanned.
"So Rex, who exactly is this Phantom Princess?" Sho asked.
"She's pretty much if Arséne Lupin and Catwoman slapped on some Potara Earrings." The mutt described, "She's crafty, keen-eyed, and loves to use her body to seduce her way out of a situation."
"…Don't tell me that she sleeps with the enemy." Jun said dryly.
"Oh hell no. She likes the thrill of the chase." Rex pointed out, "And she likes to mock me or the other Wild Ones if she encounters us."
"So how did you actually meet?" Judai asked.
"Oh that's a long one." The mutt sighed.
"We got time. After all, you gotta know about your enemy before they get the jump on you."
"Well, okay. Get comfortable, cause like I said, it's going to be a long one."
Flashback - Five Years Ago, New York City
"Okay, so what's the score this time?" Rex asked as he and Wally were leaping from rooftop to rooftop.
"Turns out a buddy of mine ended up losing their Deck and now they have to get it back." Wally explained.
"Uh, phrasing?" the mutt said.
"I meant card deck, dude!" Wally grumbled, "It's a high-value Duel Monsters deck."
"…Duel what now?" Rex asked.
The two briefly stopped as the former companion looked outright offended by what the mutt just asked, "Seriously, you don't know what Duel Monsters is?"
"Hey, I'm not exactly a card game guy, remember? I'm still on that Mighty Action life." the mutt pointed out.
"Ugh, you and I are making card decks and I'm teaching you how to Duel later." Wally said.
"Sure sure…" the mutt sighed.
"Ufufufufufu! Looking for something boys?" a voice asked as the two looked behind them and saw a mysterious cloaked figure in a top hat holding a suitcase that had the Industrial Illusions logo on it.
"Hey! That's ours!" Rex snapped as the two quickly gave chase.
The three leapt from rooftop to rooftop, with Rex and Wally trying their best to use their superior speed to try and get close to their would-be rival. However, the Phantom Princess was much smarter on her end as she set up obstacles for the two to stumble into, such as kicking down some scaffolding the two Wild Ones were climbing, or throwing down pallets in gaps the pair needed to jump over.
But after a bit of chasing, the pair quickly cornered the Phantom Princess.
"Alright missy, enough running. Give us the case, and no one gets hurt." Rex said.
That's when the Phantom Princess removed her hat and revealed her face.
"Aw, you want to hurt moi~? I see the myth about Americans being unruly has some truth to it." she whimpered.
Rex leered, "Tough luck pal, you aren't affecting the both of us with that trick. Right, Wally?" he then looked at his ally, only to do a double take at Wally who was blushing hard, "Dude. You okay? Wally? Waaally?" the mutt waved his hand over his friend's face.
"U-Uh, right. Um-ahem." that was when Wally noticed she was gone.
Immediately Rex zipped forward and spotted her waving the briefcase in the mutt's face. He then took up a running stance and quickly dashed forward… into a brick wall after the Phantom Princess flicked her cloak and vanished before the mutt could stop himself. Rex stumbled and fell on his rear, seeing stars for a brief moment before looking up to find the Phantom Princess smirking at him.
"Better luck next time, speedy~!" she teased before she leaped away, laughing at the mutt.
"Ufufufufufu!"
"Every. Single. Time." Rex growled as he briefly curled his fingers to strangle the imaginary image of his old rival.
"Wow… that must have been one bad faceplant." Sho winced.
"Yeah, I felt like a damned cartoon afterwards." Rex groaned. "I'll never forget it."
"So what happened after?" Judai asked.
"Well, we were able to grab at least the deck that the friend of a friend needed back but the other two were either sold or put into her little collection." Rex sighed, "After that day however, anytime she and I encountered each other during a heist, either I'm able to snatch what she stole from her, or it's the brick wall. And I feel like the latter happened way more."
"And then she just went off the grid after?" Jun questioned.
"Who knows since well, you guys remember what happened…" the mutt said, "But yeah, the moment I got out of the thieving delinquent game, I haven't heard anything from her since."
"Until now." Judai said. "So are we just gonna be waiting for her calling card or something?"
"That's how I've read up on how she does it." Rex recalled, "And it's normally something that either warns the target so that way the 'chase is more fun' as I remember her laughing at me about, or gloating that she's already long gone with her treasure. Either way, we need to be on guard."
"I guess… I still can't believe my brothers got robbed that badly." Jun said, "Bastards they may be."
"How did that happen?" Rex asked.
"Heck if I know. Besides, I don't wanna do anything with them."
"They're still your brothers though…" Sho muttered sadly. "Don't you even feel a little bad about how they're being treated?"
"That's why I still can't believe it." Jun said, "I wanted them to just leave me alone, not get robbed blind!"
"Maybe you should call them and ask what exactly this Phantom Princess actually stole?" Judai suggested.
Jun nodded before leaving to go do a call.
Kuromu sat at his bed as he was having Philip access the Gaia Library in hopes to figure out their mystery thief.
"Keyword: Thief, Rare Card."
Soon, the books of the Gaia Library began to move back and forth. But there were still a few shelves left to the archivist's confusion.
"Any other keywords?" Phillip asked.
"What about… Calling Card?" Kuromu asked.
That seemed to do the trick as only a few books were left.
"There's still a bit leftover."
"Hmmmmmm… what else could fit though?" Kuromu muttered, closing his eyes as he thought about it. They were a thief in the night that put out a calling card for an Ante Duel, the Duelist losing their rarest card monetary wise. This almost sounded like…
"Did you figure it out?"
Kuromu opened his eyes, head held up. "Instead of thief, put in this keyword: Phantom Thief."
Suddenly, all but one of the books remained for the Gaia Library. Once Phillip picked it up, he checked the book's contents.
"Bingo."
"What does it say?"
"Have you heard the tale of Arséne Lupin?" Phillip asked.
"You mean the gentleman thief?" Kuromu blinked, "But he's a fictional character, right?"
Philip stared at him neutrally.
"Wait, you're not saying… eh? Eh?!" Kuromu got out, trying to form words, "Hold on now, you're saying that this Phantom Princess is his descendant?!"
"Potentially, but who knows what her connection is to the legendary thief." Phillip posited.
"Ugh, that means we'll have to hit the books on phantom thief stories." Kuromu sighed before he got up, "Asuka has a lot of phantom thief books, so I better see if she's willing to share…"
"Asuka-san is into Phantom Thieves?" Philip pondered in surprise.
"From what I remember, she only really got into them thanks to Rika and Ayano." Kuromu recalled, "Those were some torturous Halloweens…"
"Oh?"
"She… dressed up as one. I couldn't look at her for a few days…"
"Lucky you." Shotaro said.
"You weren't there!" Kuromu pointed at the detective. "You'd understand if your girlfriend dressed up as one!"
…
…
…
"Shotaro-san? Y-You're kidding me, right?" Kuromu asked, but the detective was very suspiciously silent. "Phillip-san? Mind spilling the beans?"
"Not a word, Philip…" Shotaro muttered darkly, but the bookworm merely chuckled, as if he were not concerned about his well-being.
"Your girlfriend did, didn't she?" Shotaro flinching was all the evidence Kuromu needed.
"Yappari na!" The Rider Duelist cried out.
"For the record, I told you Tokime isn't my girlfriend!" Shotaro snapped comically.
"I never said her name…" Suddenly the Rider Duelist was slightly thankful he picked up this kind of talk from the times Koji, Rika, or even Rex teased him about his crush on Asuka. "Hoho~ Tokime is her name huh? That means "heartbeat", oh, it all makes sense now." He snickered.
"Why you-!" he snarled.
"Anyways, I'm off. See ya, lover boy~!" Kuromu chuckled as he left.
"Dammit! If I weren't a spirit, I'd strangle him!" Shotaro growled, his hands in a shaking motion of choking someone.
"Let it go, Shotaro." Phillip sighed.
The next day, Jun was walking to class with the rest of the Osiris Quartet by his side. The four of them were on high alert as they looked around for anyone suspicious. With the Phantom Princess on the prowl, and with the valuable cards that three of the four Duelists had, they needed to avoid letting their guard down lest they look like possible marks.
"Keep your eyes peeled." Rex warned them. "I'm sure that that minx has infiltrated the island by now."
"Oh, I'm keeping an eye out." Judai agreed.
While Jun was used to having an entourage, that was something he slightly missed when he was in Obelisk Blue and later North Academia, he did feel a bit crowded by Judai, Sho, and Rex acting a bit like bodyguards.
"Will you quit crowding me? It's not like I'm the Prime Minister," Jun growled irritably before they bumped into an Obelisk Blue student with brown hair and a tennis outfit.
"Y-You morons! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" the tennis player snapped.
"Huh?" Rex asked before he was grabbed by the collar.
"What are you going to do about this, you Osiris Slacker! You think money grows on trees? This outfit costs forty thousand yen!" the tennis player snapped, "Let's take this out-"
He barely reacted to the mutt swinging his leg right between his nuts. The tennis player crumpled to the ground in a whimpering heap.
"Well well well, a wise guy eh?" Rex growled, "You're probably working with her, aren't ya?"
"What?!" Judai gasped. "He's an enemy?!"
"Let's get 'em!" Rex called out.
*POW! BAM! WHACK! BOOM! BONG! POW! BAM! WHACK! BOOM! BONG! POW! BAM! WHACK! BOOM! BONG! POW! BAM! WHACK! BOOM! BONG!*
Sho was left surprised watching the Elemental HERO Duelist and the mutt gang up and lightly stomp on the tennis player, while Jun was left shaking his head at their usual antics.
"What's going on?" A voice asked, as Jun and Sho looked to see Ryo, Asuka, Rika, Koji, and Kuromu approaching.
"I think they found an enemy." Sho guessed.
"Of the Phantom Princess?" Ryo raised an eyebrow.
Sho shrugged.
The Kaiser took a deep breath… as he quickly joined the madness to everyone's shock as the light stomps evolved into full on kicks.
"SENPAI?!" Kuromu gawked.
"What the heck man?!" Koji cried out.
That was when Ryo stopped, "Hold it, Judai, Rex. I don't think this guy's an enemy."
The Elemental HERO Duelist and mutt stopped as they quickly took a look at the tennis player, who was currently seeing stars.
"Hey, ain't this the guy who tried challenging Kuromu to a tennis match for Asuka's hand earlier last year?" Judai recalled. Kuromu's eye twitched upon remembering that specific day.
It took all of his strength to not join in.
"Just… take the guy to the infirmary before I wail on him too…" Kuromu muttered. Everyone stared at him. "Now…!"
"Aight fine…" the mutt sighed as he slung the tennis player over his shoulder and walked to the infirmary.
"Why did you join in on their beatings, Nii-san?" Sho frowned with disappointment.
"Yeah, that is so out of character coming from you…" Koji pointed out.
"I wanted to be sure." Ryo sighed.
"I am never looking at Marufuji-senpai the same way again…" Rika deadpanned.
"Did you forget what he did to PaniK?" Kuromu pointed out.
"That was circumstantial." Rika argued. "PaniK was a monster. That guy was just a creep."
"Let's just chalk it up to us being on edge and leave it at that." Asuka suggested.
"Agreed." The group said in unison.
When Jun turned around to try and forget about the mess he saw, once again he bumped into someone. It was an Obelisk Blue girl that looked petite and plain with chest-length black hair that is tied in low twin braids with bangs hanging on the right side, light blue eyes, thick black square-rimmed glasses, holding a book close to her chest.
"Sorry about that." Jun apologized.
"N-No, it's fine." The girl said, before quickly walking away. Jun quickly caught her hand, stopping her.
"No, I wasn't looking where I was going. I kind of owe it to you anyways." The ace insisted.
"I… I see." she muttered as she surprisingly ended up staring into his eyes whilst the others looked towards the pair and noticed the new kid from afar.
"Who's that?" Kuromu asked as he watched the two talk, before looking at Rika and Asuka. "Have you two seen her before?"
Both of them shook their heads, "Must be another late transfer. We've been getting a couple of those lately, both good and bad." Asuka answered as she recalled the last two particular transferees.
"Given what happened with David and Reggie, we can't rule it out." Ryo pointed out.
The ace quickly realized he was staring at this new girl for too long and looked away, "Oh, sorry about that. I must have come off as creepy."
"N-No, it's fine." The girl reassured him. "May I ask for your name?"
"Jun. Manjoume Jun."
"Jun-kun. That's a nice name." The girl smiled.
The ace had to hold his smile in as he tried to keep it cool. "Uh, thanks." He said, "What about you? You got a name?"
"A-" the girl stopped herself briefly before speaking up, "Ai. Yumehara Ai."
"Yumehara-san, huh?" Jun nodded. "Alright, I'll remember that."
"Hey! Who's your new friend?" Kuromu asked, getting the ace's attention away before he noticed that Yumehara was gone.
'Where'd she go?' He pondered.
Unbeknownst to the group, Yumehara had walked away, but there was a strange glint from her glasses, the lens not revealing her eyes before lifting them up, revealing a mischievous look and a smirk.
Later that day, Judai, Sho and Rex noticed something was off about Jun. He looked… lovestruck?
"Uh dude? Are you doing alright?" The mutt asked.
No answer.
"Did something happen while I brought 'what's his name' to the infirmary?" Rex asked Sho and Judai.
"Kinda. We saw this plain looking girl talking to him." Judai answered. "One of those late transfers. She seemed nice."
"Huh… okay then. Least that means we won't have to deal with another lamentation night." The mutt shrugged off as he was about to lean back.
*WOOSH! THUNK!*
"Ahhhh!" Sho panicked, when something embedded itself on the Osiris Red table.
"What the-!" Rex got out and saw the unknown item was a card.
Confused, Jun picked the card the mutt immediately recognized a picture of a large red top hat with black belts and a blue gem.
"That's her calling card!"
Immediately the four scrambled to get the card out and read it.
"To the runt of the Manjoume family: Care to make a deal to save your family's fortune? Meet me at the front of the school. I'll be waiting~."
"Looks like she took the bait." Jun noted. He then grabbed his Duel Disk and Deck. The trio quickly joined him before the four arrived at the school entrance, where the mutt snarled as he saw that familiar cloak.
"You again…" he growled.
"Oh? Do my ears deceive me? The Yellow Comet lives?" The cloaked individual asked haughtily.
"I'll do more than live after I put the boots to ya!" The mutt was held back by Judai and Sho, who were trying to hold him back.
The cloaked individual then took the cloak and flung it off revealing… Yumehara Ai?!
"W-What?!" Jun gasped.
"The new girl is the Phantom Princess?!" Sho gawked.
"No…" Rex grunted. "That's just a disguise."
"Ah; observant as always, Yellow Comet." She giggled as she removed her glasses. She then threw a smoke bomb.
*POOF!*
Everyone coughed, but they heard the sound of… clothes shuffling? Rex, Sho, and Judai were too distracted by the smoke in their lungs to notice but Jun?
While it may be in silhouette, he saw paradise…
When the smoke finally cleared, the so-called thief was finally revealed. A young woman in her late teens, with blue eyes and platinum hair that was short and wavy, while having a short ponytail braid on left shoulder. She wore a black corset-like jacket with nylon sleeves and white cuffs over a red and black shirt. Accompanying it was her white dress pants that have yellow diamonds on them, with long red pumps, two belts at the thigh, red gloves on her hands, and a large red top hat with the same belts as the boots and a blue gem. Finishing her look is a black velvet-lined cape with a high collar while having a monocle on her right eye.
Rex then snarled, which seemed to amuse the phantom thief.
"REX!" Kuromu's voice called out. The Osiris Quarter turned to see Kuromu, Koji, Rika, Asuka, Misawa, and Ryo running towards them, alongside Tsukasa. "We got your message!"
The group then noticed the Phantom Princess.
"Is that-" Misawa gasped.
"Yep, she's the one." The mutt said.
Jun, amongst the murmurings from the others, was still left speechless. Then the comments began to pour in.
"Oh my gosh! She's hot! Why is she so hot?!" Rika cried out as she held Koji's shoulders, shaking him. "Koji, I should not be feeling this way, but why is she so hot?!"
"I don't know but I ain't complaining! Stop shaking me sistah~!" The disco fan cried out.
"Hey calm down you two." Tsukasa sighed irritably.
"Okay, not what I was expecting." Kuromu muttered, though he could tell that the mutt was not happy with the return of his old rival. Given what happened a few days prior, he couldn't blame him.
"Ufufufufufu… my, my, what an interesting bunch of friends you have, Yellow Comet." The Phantom Princess chuckled, eyeing each of them. "Those two ladies among them are especially cute."
Rika could've sworn that steam was comically whooshing out of her ears.
"W-Wha?" Asuka blushed hard.
"Hey! She's off-" Kuromu was about to snap, but the mutt was one step ahead.
"Make one move on my friends. I dare you." He challenged her.
"Oh don't be such a boor, Yellow Comet. I'm not here for them, I'm here for him." She said, pointing at Jun.
Jun motioned for the mutt to stand down as he approached her. "So it's true that you robbed my brothers blind." He guessed, "I heard it all from them."
"Ufufufufufu… that's right, I did."
"Okay, I'll ask this: why? Why rob them to the point of bankruptcy?" Jun asked, "Guessing the Manjoume Group was just too good of a challenge to pass up?"
"Ufufufufufu… what do you think?" The Phantom Princess chuckled.
"Jun, I think she's just gonna talk you in circles! Just Duel her and get it over with!" Kuromu called out.
"I got that!" Jun said, "So, what's the price?"
"Let's see… what price indeed?" She faux pondered with a sly smile. "You win, and I'll return all your family's money, every yen's worth. Plus, an extra reward if you show me a good time in our Duel."
"And if I lose?" Jun frowned.
"That's for me to decide and for you to find out." She stated before revealing something, a solid gold Duel Disk with jewels.
"Well shit, you've certainly been busy since I left the game." The mutt pointed out.
"I got this from the Garam Group. Getting this treasure was child's play."
"YOU WHAT?!" Rex exploded.
"The Garam Group?" Kuromu got out.
"They have a huge influence over the world's petroleum, heavy chemical industry, and information technology. That's like one of the toughest nuts to crack if you're a thief!" The mutt yelped.
"And yet you somehow ended up in a group full of prototype, one-of-a-kind, Decks." She added before flashing her own, "I just had to join the party, mon ami."
"Ugh…" Rex groaned, turning to the group. "You see why she's a pain in the ass?"
"Yeah, no joke…" Judai muttered.
"Now, shall we Duel Jun-kun?"
"First off, what's your real name?" Jun asked.
"Annette LeBlanc Lupin, France's very own Phantom Princess." She introduced herself with a slight bow before making a ring with her free hand, "And starting today…" she then grasped something out of thin air, "Consider yourself prey."
"Wait a minute, so Lupin was a real person?" Asuka gasped.
"Seems like it." Rika pondered.
"Fine, let's get this over with." Jun said, before inserting his Deck in his Duel Disk, activating it. Afterwards. both players drew their starting hand.
"DUEL!"
Annette: 8000
Jun: 8000
"I will start this duel off." she said as she drew her sixth card and looked over her hand. "Since I have no Monsters on my side of the field, I will activate Unexpected Guy to Special Summon one Normal Monster from my Deck! So come forth, Gem-Knight Lapis!"
From the portal, a large digital portal emerged as a brown female golem with purple eyes and a purple gem landed and quickly performed a pose (3/ATK: 1200/DEF: 100).
"Gem-Knight?" Jun got out.
'Philip-san, quick lookup on the Gem-Knights.' Kuromu said in his thoughts.
"They seem to be a new archetype under construction by Pegasus." The bookworm checked. "According to their lore, they're a group of warriors endowed with the power of minerals, and value honor above all else, disapproving of battle for the sake of battle."
'That's crazy. Looking at her, Annette is anything but honorable,' Kuromu said with surprise. 'Will that Deck even synergize with her?'
"That all depends on how she plays." Shotaro could only ponder.
"Up next, I summon forth Gem-Knight Lazuli!" The phantom thief declared.
Coming onto the field was another female golem, but the color was a lighter shade of brown, and she had green eyes. (1/ATK: 600/DEF: 100)
"Now I use the spell Gem-Knight Fusion to merge my Gem-Knights together!" Annette declared.
Suddenly, the two female golems transformed into gems as they began to fly around and merge into one.
"Loving sisters of the Pyroxene, unite your hearts into a maiden of brilliance to shine brighter than all!"
When the gems unite, a burst of brilliant light shined and descending down from the vortex of gems was a female golem that was dark blue in color, almost robot-like as its eyes were blue and its dress of choice was similar to that of a kimono.
"Fusion Summon! Shine forth, Gem-Knight Lapis Lazuli (5/ATK: 2400/DEF: 1000)!"
"Looks like we got a Fusion user." Rex observed.
"Now I initiate her effect! By sending one Gem-Knight from my Deck or Extra Deck to the Graveyard, I can inflict 500 Damage to your Life Points for each Special Summoned monster on the field!"
"And Fusion Summoning Gem-Knight Lapis Lazuli is considered a Special Summon." Ryo stated.
"I send Gem-Armadillo to the Graveyard to activate her effect! Gem Buster!" The phantom thief declared as a ball of red light emerged from Lapis Lazuli's hand to toss right at Jun, damaging him.
Annette: 8000
Jun: 7500
"First blood on turn 1, that can't be good." Rex observed.
"I'll place one card face-down and end my turn." Annette said, as a reverse card appeared on the field. "Your turn, mon ami." She winked.
"Grk, O-re no ta-n! Draw!" Jun then drew his sixth card as he looked towards Lapis Lazuli. The ace knew that he needed to take out her monster since the more Special Summoned monsters are on the field, the more fuel Lapis Lazuli's effect will have to burn him. "First, I activate the Spell Card, Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two extra cards!" He drew two, increasing his hand to seven. "Next I activate Ojama Get Ride! By sending Ojama Yellow, Ojama Green, and Ojama Black from my Hand to my Graveyard, I can special summon up to 3 Level 4 or lower Machine-Type Union monsters from my Deck in face-up Defense Position, but they can't change their Battle Positions."
"Looks like you're trying to reclaim David's monsters." Judai realized.
"Just because an archetype was used by our enemies doesn't mean they're inherently evil." Jun said. "So now I Special Summon X-Head Cannon, Y-Dragon Head, and Z-Metal Caterpillar in DEF mode!"
Soon, the three Union Machines emerged onto the battlefield, though they can notice their eyes were glowing the same colors as the Ojamas. (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 1500), (4/ATK: 1500/DEF: 1600) (4/ATK: 1500/DEF: 1300)
"Wait, is that…?" Kuromu realized as the machines looked at each other… and talked?!
"Woah! You guys got huge!" Ojama Yellow said, who was X-Head Cannon.
"Huge? You're the huge one!" Ojama Green said, who was Y-Dragon Head.
"Yeah, we're the same height!" Ojama Black said, who was Z-Metal Caterpillar.
"No way, the Ojamas are in those things?!" Rex gasped, which Judai, Kuromu, Rika, and Koji caught on.
"Boys, it's time to fuse together!" Jun said.
"You got it boss!" The Ojama Trio affirmed before the machines quickly came apart and began to reform.
"Combination confirmed! Merge into one, united A-to-Z machines!"
The combination completed itself as the Ojamas quickly arrived at a cockpit right out of a Super Robot anime as the combined mecha's eyes lit up.
"Contact Fusion! Go, XYZ-Dragon Cannon (8/ATK: 2800/DEF: 2600)!"
Rika couldn't help but be proud, "Well well well, I guess that coaching you got from me and Rex on Contact Fusion actually paid off."
"There's more where that came from. I activate XYZ-Dragon Cannon's effect! By discarding one card, I can destroy one card on your side of the field, and I choose your face-down card!"
The card soon revealed itself to be Brilliant Spark, right before it shattered.
"Ah, I see you worked out my defenses Jun-kun." Annette giggled.
"I'm not done yet, next I activate Ojamandala! By paying 1000 Life Points I can Special Summon Ojama Yellow, Ojama Green, and Ojama Black from my Graveyard!"
Annette: 8000
Jun: 6500
The dragon mecha then fired three balls of light into the air that fell down and collected into the Ojama Trio.
"HELLO!" they greeted in unison. (2/ATK: 0/DEF: 1000) x3
"And finally, I activate the last card in my hand! The Field Spell Ojama Country!"
The area quickly transformed into a strange village that was perfectly sized for the Ojamas, but was a bit smaller for everyone else.
"We're home!" The Ojama Trio cheered.
"And here's where it gets interesting. If I have this Field Spell, and an Ojama on my field, all monsters on the field have their ATK and DEF swapped!"
"Quoi?" Annette gasped as she looked to see that their stats indeed had swapped.
Gem-Knight Lapis Lazuli (ATK: 2400-1000/DEF: 1000-2400)
XYZ-Dragon Cannon (ATK: 2800-2600/DEF: 2600-2800)
Ojama Yellow (ATK: 0-1000/DEF: 1000-0)
Ojama Green (ATK: 0-1000/DEF: 1000-0)
Ojama Black (ATK: 0-1000/DEF: 1000-0)
"Now that your knight isn't so powerful, it's time to go on the assault! Battle! XYZ-Dragon Cannon attacks Gem-Knight Lapis Lazuli! Hyper Destruction!"
The dragon mecha soon fired off a powerful blast from the cannon barrels and it's dragon maw that shattered the Gem-Knight.
Annette: 6400
Jun: 6500
"That makes them almost even." Kuromu noticed.
"Now I'll have the Ojama Trio attack you directly! Sic 'er boys! Ojama Delta Hurricane!"
"You heard the man! Let's do it get to it!" Ojama Yellow called out to his brothers.
"You got it!" Ojama Green and Ojama Black said, before mooning their red speedo behinds and pressing them together.
"Okay, now that's just disturbing…" Rika said dryly.
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Rex asked.
Suddenly, the trio quickly began spinning rapidly before zipping towards Annette like a buzzsaw made of Ojamas, hitting her dead on.
Annette: 3400
Jun: 6500
"Ta-n endo." Jun finished.
"Wow, he took out a huge chunk of her Life Points." Sho said, amazed.
"He's not an ace for nothing." Misawa commented.
"Not bad, I must admit, you're pretty cool." Annette said.
"Flattery won't get you anywhere." Jun retorted, "Just because you got a good body doesn't mean I won't fall to your wiles."
To the mutt's shock, he saw Annette… blush?
'Tell me I'm not seeing this, guys.' Rex said to the Gladial Beast Quartet.
"Nope. You're not going crazy." Laquer responded.
"I-ahem, my turn! Draw!" Annette declared, drawing her next card, increasing her hand to three before placing a hand to her heart. 'Calm down, he likely did not mean to say that.' She tried to tell herself. "I play the Spell Treasure Cards from the Heavens and have us draw until we have six cards in our hands."
Anette drew four extra cards whilst Jun drew the full six, which seemed to impress the ace. She then began her next move, "Next I play Fusion to merge Gem-Knight Sapphire and Gem-Knight Obsidian together!"
Suddenly, a blue clad knight-like golem (4/ATK: 0/DEF: 2100) and a large imposing black armored knight golem (3/ATK: 1500/DEF: 1200) appeared and flew into the swirling vortex.
"Azure knight of the Pyroxene, merge with the dark knight and awaken the power of the seas!"
Coming out of the vortex was a knight in greyish-blue armor who was rather bulky for one. An aquamarine jewel was embedded on his chest armor and shield that was equipped with a blade and his helmet was fully covered with a large opening of a hooded helmet.
"Fusion Summon! Gem-Knight Aquamarine (6/ATK: 1400-2600/DEF: 2600-1400)!"
"Aw crap, she caught onto his trick." Rex realized, "She's likely gonna try and summon high defense monsters to take advantage of the stats swap effect Ojama Country gives."
"What's more? Gem-Knight Obsidian's effect activates! Since he was sent from the hand to the Graveyard, I can target 1 level 4 or lower Normal Monster in my Graveyard to Special Summon!" she chuckled, "Revive, Gem-Knight Sapphire!" she called out as the blue-clad knight appeared. (4/ATK: 0-2100/DEF: 2100-0) "Next, I summon forth Gem-Knight Iola!" She called out as a regal blue knight golem with an arm blade emerged (4/ATK: 1000-2000/DEF: 2000-1000).
"Oh no, we're in for it now!" Ojama Yellow panicked.
"Boss, tell us you got a plan!" Ojama Black said.
"We're gonna die!" Ojama Green yelped.
"Battle! Gem-Knight Aquamarine, Gem-Knight Sapphire, and Gem-Knight Iola attack all three of your Ojamas!" she called out before the three knights leaped in and bashed the three creatures off the field.
Annette: 3400
Jun: 2800
"Ufufufufu, feeling the heat now?" she giggled towards her opponent, letting out a cute yet smug grin.
"Gh…" Jun flinched, gritting his teeth.
"Hey, is Jun doing okay?" Judai asked.
"Given how he's playing right now, I'd say he's losing his cool." Tsukasa said.
"Then tell me why he's looking like he's swooning, instead of getting annoyed." Koji pointed out.
"Oi, Jun! Snap out of it!" Kuromu called out. "This is no time for you to get lovestruck!"
"H-Huh?" he asked, snapping out of it… unintentionally confirming that he was starting to fall for her, which made Kuromu and Rex facepalm.
"I mean, at least he got over Asuka, right?" Rika timidly pointed out, in hopes of salvaging the situation.
"Leave me out of this…" The Obelisk Queen shook her head.
"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" Annette asked, now noticing the ace was distracted.
Jun focused his attention on Annette, shaking his head, "None of your business!"
"Oh? And why is it not my business? After all, this Duel is between you and I." Annette pointed out.
"Wow, so you got a keen eye for detail too, how quaint." Jun grumbled, though that ended up flustering the phantom thief once again.
"Okay, is it just me or are these two unintentionally flirting with each other?" Kuromu asked.
"What'd you say?!" Jun snapped.
"And here I thought I was going insane thinking I was the only one seeing that." the mutt said, his right eye twitching briefly in annoyance.
"Are you kidding me?! Why would I be flirting with a thief!?" Jun asked.
"Oh, I don't know… maybe because of the fact that she's blushing over your remarks? Her goading you intentionally? Or how about the fact that she's got a fine body so hot that both genders fall for her?" the disco fan pointed his thumb towards the phantom thief currently trying to calm herself down.
"Case in point…" Rika mumbled.
"Rika…" Asuka sweat dropped.
"I-I end my turn, and as such Gem-Knight Aquamarine's effect activates. Should this monster battle, I must put him into Defense Position." she muttered as the large blue knight bent a knee.
Rex slapped his face to his palm, "This is the worst…"
"I have to agree…" Ryo nodded solemnly.
"I second that notion…" Misawa added.
"It's hopeless…" Sho sighed.
"WHAT THE HELL'S YOUR PROBLEM, ALL OF YOU?!" Jun cried out in dismay. He then turned towards Annette. He quickly tried to re-orient himself, "O-re no ta-n! Draw!" He drew his next card, increasing his hand to seven. "Alright, I'm putting an end to this right now! I replace Ojama Country with Mausoleum of the Emperor! With Ojama Country's effect ending, all monsters return to their original stats!"
XYZ-Dragon Cannon (ATK: 2600-2800/DEF: 2800-2600)
Gem-Knight Aquamarine (6/ATK: 2600-1400/DEF: 1400-2600)
Gem-Knight Iola (4/ATK: 2000-1000/DEF: 1000-2000).
Gem-Knight Sapphire (4/ATK: 2100-0/DEF: 0-2100)
"Then, I activate my Mausoleum of the Emperor's effect! By paying 2000 Life Points, I can Normal Summon a Monster from my hand that requires two tributes without sacrificing!" he declared.
Annette: 3400
Jun: 800
"Dragon of light and dark, spread your wings and showcase your ultimate power!"
Once more, the mausoleum's door open and let out the half-and-half dragon out of its confinement.
"Come forth, my partner! Light and Darkness Dragon (8/ATK: 2800/DEF: 2400)!"
"Nice, he's got it won!" Judai cheered.
"Kick her ass, Jun!" Rex called out.
"Battle! XYZ-Dragon Cannon and Light and Darkness Dragon attacks Gem-Knight Sapphire and Gem-Knight Iola! Hyper Chaos Destruction!"
As the dragon mecha charged up its weapons, the half-and-half dragon quickly began to build up its energy from its mouth before firing out a spiral beam of energy in sync with its mechanical counterpart to destroy Annette's monsters.
Annette: 0
Jun: 800
The resulting attack however ended up causing her to tumble and fall. Thinking fast, Jun quickly caught her as the two met gazes.
"Uh, thank you." She muttered.
Rex facepalmed, "Great, now they're dancing…"
The two quickly looked down to see why the mutt would react like that. Jun pulled her up and the two of them quickly backed away afterwards.
"Well… this has been one strange night…" Misawa commented.
"Indeed…" Ryo nodded in agreement.
"W-Well then… I win… I guess…" Jun muttered.
"Yes… I suppose I should hold my end of the deal…" Annette agreed. She then pulled out of her pocket… a Chaos Soldier. But not just any Chaos Soldier… it was stainless steel. "This should cover it."
Most of the dudes gawked at the card… and felt pain in their wallets.
"DO YOU HAVE AN IDEA WHAT YOU JUST STOLE?!" Rex shouted.
"Yes." Annette answered calmly.
"DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THAT'S WORTH?!"
"Yes. 10 million dollars in US currency. Almost 1.5 billion yen by Japanese standards." Annette answered again.
"I see…" Jun noted, staring at the card with bewilderment, before turning to Tsukasa. "Here… you should hold onto this." He said, holding the card out to the dimension Rider.
"I'll keep that in mind." He noted after delicately putting the card away.
"You know… you're not like your other brothers." Annette began. "Until near the end of our Duel, you're the first person to actually resist my charms."
"I guess I have some good friends to back me up." Jun noted.
"I suppose you do." Annette smiled, before looking at the group.
"So? You're gonna turn yourself in?" Rex asked.
"Ufufufufufu… not quite." Annette smirked, before… wrapping her arms around Jun's? "Because I think it's time I settle down for a bit."
"Huh?" Everyone looked confused, especially Jun.
"What? You don't want me as your girlfriend?" Annette asked Jun with a teasing grin.
"Girlfriend?!" Jun shouted in shock, as did the others.
"I'm sorry, what?" Rex twitched his eyebrow.
"Why not? It wouldn't be so bad, marrying into the Manjoume Group." Annette giggled. "After all, I believe it's time I follow up on a little promise between families."
Suddenly, Jun recalled from a few years ago that his brothers struck some kind of deal during his days in prep middle school. That's when he looked towards her… and began to blush profusely, even somehow digging deep into memory lane, realizing… that this was not the first time he had met her.
Flashback - Five Years Ago, Paris, France
The Manjoume Group was visiting Paris for a meeting with the Lupin family, one of the most well-known art collectors in the world. They've collected many artifacts and recreations made by professional artists, a collection branded as the Lupin Collection.
Chosaku and Shoji had struck a successful deal with the Lupin family that allowed them to display much of the collection across Japan in an art tour. But also a potential merger between the two influential families to ensure the Manjoume Group has a hold of the French market, and vice versa gaining access to the Japanese art scene to help grow the Lupin Collection.
Jun had no choice but to tag along at the time, as he was part of this deal. So here he was at one of those fancy social galas where the richest of the rich were gathered to boast about their group and accomplishments. Something that Jun didn't like, but had to keep up appearances.
'Ugh, why do I have to be dragged into their messes?' Jun thought to himself. Jun thought to himself as he walked through the art collection with his brothers, his mind not on the various pieces like a recreation of the Millennium Puzzle, a mysterious heart-shaped gem, a set of five rings, and even an ornate-looking gun. It certainly didn't help matters that the tuxedo he was wearing was tight and uncomfortable.
"Jun, stay focused." Shoji said. "We're here on official business and we're meeting with the Lupin Family. Do not make a fool out of yourself."
"I got it…" he sighed.
"Ah, Chosaku, you made it." A man called out, as the Manjoume Brothers looked to see a man with gray hair, a top hat to match his red velvet-lined suit, and a long beard.
"Monsieur Lupin, so good to see you again." Chosaku greeted with a cordial smile and the two shook hands. "Thank you for allowing us, the Manjoume Group, to host your collection for its tour across Japan."
"The pleasure is all mine, Manjoume-san." He reassured him. "I've no doubt that Japan will appreciate such fine pieces of art. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder after all."
"Yes, indeed." Chosaku nodded. "As for that other deal."
"The arrangement between your youngest brother and my daughter as betrothed is official and the papers have been finalized. As promised."
"I'm sure they'll do just fine together." Shoji remarked.
"Ah, there he is, the man of the hour." The head of the Lupin family noticed, making Jun flinch slightly before straightening up and bowing.
"It's an honor to meet you, sir." Jun said politely.
"The pleasure is mine, young man." He replied. "You are one very lucky man. I hope you treasure my daughter dearly as I do with my collection. Both are very precious."
"Yes, of course." Jun nodded.
"Ah yes, you've yet to meet her, no?" The head of the Lupin family realized. "Well, it just so happens that I brought her along with me. Annette dear, come hither."
Soon, the future Phantom Princess walked out in a simple red dress, completely lacking the confidence her older self would later get. Though this version of her had longer hair, it was still wavy and mostly hid her eyes.
"Oui, papa?" Annette asked softly.
"Here, meet your future fiancé." The Lupin family head introduced her.
Annette slowly looked at Jun, the latter being unimpressed at first, but again, he had to keep up appearances for his brothers' sake.
"H-Hello there…" she muttered in slightly broken Japanese.
"Mm? You speak Japanese well." Jun noticed.
"I… I've mostly been practicing since I'll likely be living in Japan." She admitted.
"I see." He noted before noticing the bangs. Confused, he decided to part them and reveal her eyes which surprised the pair. Immediately, she cowered a bit and blushed hard due to how brazen Jun had just acted.
"Oi Jun." Chosaku got out, but Shoji held him back.
"Wait… nii-san, let's see where this goes…" he told him.
Jun stepped back with some confusion, "Oh, I'm sorry about that!" He apologized quickly.
"N-No, it's… fine." Annette stuttered, looking away, "I-I'm sorry, I'm just not used to people yet."
Jun then cleared his throat. "I can relate. So, I heard that you're going to be inheriting the Lupin Collection, right?"
She nodded, "But… I don't know if I can handle it. I feel like I might let papa down…"
Jun soon placed a hand to his chin, "Well, if it helps, I can give you one piece of advice."
"Hm? What would that be?"
"Standing around and doing nothing won't get you anywhere. That means we can't let our dreams pass us by. If we can't reach out to them and make them our own, it would be like we didn't dream at all."
Annette's eyes widened significantly at his words.
"In other words… try to be more confident in yourself." Jun said. "It'll make your life easier that way."
"I… I see…"
"Wait a minute… you're…" Jun got out.
"Took you long enough to remember." Annette smiled shyly, "After you left, I decided to try and become a phantom thief to build up my confidence. Even taking on a kind of haughty persona. It ended up helping way more than I expected it to." she revealed tenderly.
"So, when you became the Phantom Princess, you-"
She nodded, "I wanted to try and become a more confident person when we reunited, so that I could stand as your equal."
"But what about your-"
"Oh, I made sure to at least return everything I stole unless the person truly deserved it." she said matter-of-factly, unaware of the mutt's rage beginning to build.
"And your father?"
She sheepishly looked away, "Papa… may have grounded me for a few months due to my antics." She then looked down with some shame, "And… Papa cancelled our engagement after finding out just how horrible your brothers actually were."
Jun sighed, running a hand through his hair, "So you saw the whole thing…"
"Oui… Papa and I just happened to be in Japan when the School Duel was being aired." She revealed, "Papa was not happy about this. I tried my best to vouch for your innocence in your brothers' plans, but he wouldn't listen until I was able to finally convince him."
"And that's when you revealed your other life."
She nodded, "I suppose it took being a rogue to know a rogue. He was distraught, but he decided to give you a chance." The phantom thief looked sheepish once again, "That and I couldn't leave my room for the next few weeks after we returned home. And~ maybe somewhat disowned in the process."
"That's a bit excessive…" Jun muttered.
"Th-Things are fine nowadays, but I have to do a lot to regain his trust." She reassured him.
"Oh, that's nice to hear." The ace let out a sigh of relief, not wanting her to tank her father's trust in her to defend him.
"Ooooi…"
Too bad he wouldn't be so lucky…
Jun blinked as he looked and saw Rex and Kuromu soon glared vengeful daggers into him.
"So… you dared try hitting on Asuka when you're already engaged, Manjoume?" Kuromu said, to which Jun flinched, having not been called by his last name in a long time.
Meanwhile Rex was snarling whilst cracking his knuckles, "You're telling me she was a pain in my ass because of you, lightning rod?!"
Seeing the anger from those two, he quickly scampered off with his attackers in hot pursuit.
"Lightning rod!" Rex roared bloody murder.
"Wait up!" Kuromu called out.
"Who would have thought Jun would cause this much stress for them." Rika sighed.
"Well, given it took him a while to remember that promise…" Sho muttered in agreement.
Jun quickly found himself cornered like a rat, "H-Hey, we're all friends right? Let's talk this out."
However he flinched upon seeing the mutt and the RIder Duelist slowly approach him, smiling like devils with murder in their eyes.
"Manjoume~" Kuromu wickedly called out.
"Talking won't change the past." Rex snarled.
"Uhh… friends?"
Kuromu then shook his head, "There are things friends can't do."
"How about you tell us everything?" the mutt snarled as he slowly reached towards him.
"No way… don't kill me…" the ace insisted.
"GET OVER HERE!" Kuromu said as the ace feared for his life.
"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
"Manjoume! Don't run!" the Rider Duelist roared as he and Rex chased after the fleeing Jun.
"You're gonna pay for your crimes!" the mutt added.
"Forgive meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"