A man with grey hair walked inside the room. He was an employee of the Illusion Society, a direct subordinate of Pegasus.
"Master, I have come to report about the duel you asked before."
Pegasus lifted his head from the manga he was reading and took a sip from his wine. He held the belief that a truly relaxing afternoon should involve sipping wine, munching on cheese, and immersing oneself in the world of manga. He was truly a man of culture, as everyone would agree.
This was totally not a biased opinion.
"Ah, I see. So did you kick out the Yutaboy~ of the island yet? If not, invite him to the castle. I would like to have a little chat with him," said Pegasus with his iconic accent.
Yutaka was one of the duellists whose soul he was after. As for the reason-
"No, sir. Mr Yutaka won his duel, so there was no need. As per your introductions, we kicked Rex Raptor off the island. His boat shouldn't have left the harbour yet. Would you like me to bring him back?" the man answered as he bowed his head.
"He won, you said?" Pegasus' eyes fluctuated a little, but it didn't even take a second for him to regain his calm.
"Yes, sir. It might be difficult to believe, but he won on his second turn."
"That fast!?" This time even Pegasus could not keep his calm. After all, it was normal for duels of this era to go on for 10 or even 20 turns before a victor can be decided. This was especially true among duellists of the same level. Considering that Yutaboy~ even lost his ace monster to Rex, it shouldn't have been possible to end it that fast.
"Yes, sir. This is how it went down..."
"Hmm, I guess we need to make some adjustments to the rules of the finals. Well done Yutaboy~ you managed to surprise me once more..." Pegasus laughed as he swirled the wine in his glass.
In the past he was very hopeful about Yutaka. He believed that Yutaka would be able to bring down Kaiba from his throne as the strongest duellist.
After all, it was Pegasus who created the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, and it was also him who had gifted it to Yutaboy~.
In this case, it would be more accurate to say that the card chose Yutaka instead of being chosen by Pegasus.
***
At the same time, Yutaka was having the best dream of his life.
In his dream, Cannon Soldier was shooting one sheep after another towards Rex, whose face was so bruised that even his mother wouldn't be able to recognise him.
But suddenly Rex disappeared from his dream, and instead there was a giant full moon in the sky. Seeing this, Yutaka felt an impulse to utter the famous lines.
"Cannon Soldier, aim towards the moon!"
***
Yugi and the gang were looking at Yutaka, who seemed to be having a good dream in front of the campfire and muttering to himself.
"I... destroy... mooon"
As Yutaka was talking in his sleep deliriously, Tea was busy wiping his forehead with a wet cloth.
"He seems to be having a good dream," she commented as she looked at his fragile face.
"Umm, I don't wanna sound rude, but why are we taking care of this guy when we need to be searching for duellists to defeat?" Tristan asked while scratching his head. But his body language gave away his true feelings. Even he was feeling bothered about leaving Yuta alone, let alone the others.
Still, Yugi's grandpa's life was on the line, so he was willing to be the villain in this instance.
"Well, I just feel a familiar aura about him which makes me want to help him, I guess?" Mini Yugi responded to Tristan, but he also wasn't sure how to answer. Ever since Yuta helped Joey, Mini Yugi had infinite affection towards Yuta, which was weird.
It was the first time they met, but he didn't feel uncomfortable with him. This might not sound important, but before becoming friends with Joey, Yugi was an introvert without any friends.
That was why when he had finished the Millennium Puzzle, he had wished for friends. His wish was accepted, as soon after, he met his current friends.
Still, that didn't mean Yugi was any less shy than before. He still felt a little uncomfortable meeting strangers, but there was none of that with Yutaka.
"Now that you said it, he kinda looks like you, doesn't he Yug? Especially that weird hair!" Joey spoke as he scrutinised both Yugi and Yutaka. The way they looked mirrored each other, especially when Yugi was in his duelling mode.
Tea furrowed her brows as she also took a look at both Yugi and Yuta. "Joey might be onto something. Do you have any relatives, Yugi?"
"I am smart, aren't I? Hehe" Joey blushed as he scratched his head.
"That... I don't know... Maybe mom or grandpa would have known, but..." Yugi got depressed as he remembered his grandfather. Pegasus had stolen his soul because Yugi was too weak. If he were stronger, none of this would have happened.
*Growl*
"Ugh, what?" Yutaka woke up feeling hungry and thirsty. What was going on? He was just bombarding the moon with Cannon Soldier like riding a gundam.
"You finally woke up." Tea looked at Yuta, who was trying to get up, and took the wet cloth from his forehead.
As he looked around, Yutaka's eyes regained some clarity. "Wher—" before he could even finish his words, Joey handed him a deck and two Star Chips.
"Here! After the duel, seeing as you fainted, Rex tried to sneak off with the chips and the cards. So before he could, I clobbered him and took his chips along with his deck. Don't worry, those dudes with sunglasses said it was okay as Dino Dude tried to escape. Oh! I took his glove though"
Yutaka wasn't shy, so he snatched the deck from Joey's hands and searched it before picking out Red-Eyes.
The moment he grabbed the card, he could hear the dragon roaring.
He was right; this card really had a Duel Spirit.
Now he wasn't an expert on dragon tongue, but from the sound of it, the dragon even sounded pleased to be back in his deck.
Yutaka was also happy to oblige, so he directly put Red-Eyes in his deck, and that was when a warm feeling fed back to him from the deck itself.
His deck felt like it was on fire... no, the warmth it emitted wasn't burning him and instead gave him comfort. He didn't know how to describe this emotion. It was like something missing in his soul had been filled. Even his body started to feel stronger.
*Growl*
Or it was just the hunger...
"Oi, where are ya goin?"
Joey held down Yutaka, who was trying to leave without saying anything again.
"...Hungry" Yutaka didn't even try to struggle out of Joey's grasp, as he knew that there was no way he could get himself free from the grips of this ex-delinquent.
"Oh... right... guess we should search for food, huh?" Joey also started to feel hungry at the same time.
Yutaka kept mum as the gang (himself included) split in different directions to search for food.
For Yutaka this was a new experience... of course, he was talking about his body. Currently, he was hungry and had a little fever. Still, he could beat 10... no, 3 of his previous selves before he added the Red-Eyes into his deck.
This obviously had a correlation.
Duel Spirits.
That was the only explanation.
Duel Spirits were mysterious beings that weren't touched upon in any of the anime Yutaka had watched. He knew some simple stuff, like they had their own world (mentioned in the Waking the Dragons Arc).
In GX the protagonists even visited the spirit world and learnt that there were multiple spirit worlds. Some archetypes lived together, while some had their own worlds. The protagonist of the GX anime was the reincarnation of the Supreme King, ruler of 12 Dimensions (12 Different Duel Spirit worlds).
So here comes the question: how could he use Duel Spirits more proactively?
The physical boost he had gotten from Red-Eyes was obviously a passive effect... at least he hoped so.
So, if he got strong enough, would that mean he could summon Red-Eyes into the real world?
It's not like he wanted to find a Dark Magician Girl Duel Spirit and materialise her into reality for nefarious reasons.
He was just asking for a friend.
"Ugh"
Out of nowhere Yutaka started to feel drained and worn out again, just like before he added Red-Eyes to his deck.
"There you are, Yuta. Come on, we found a kind fisherman who offered us some fish to fill our stomachs."
The speaker was Tristan, who found Yuta about to collapse again. Honestly, he didn't know how to treat this awkward, faint-prone guy, but for now, he decided to treat him just like Yugi due to their similar visuals.
"Yutaka?"
As Tristan helped Yuta to the cliff where the fish was getting cooked, the fisherman saw him and even recognised him.
"You know each other?" Joey was so surprised that he took too big a bite, and a fishbone got stuck in his throat.
"Yes, I guess the cat is out of the bag. I am Mako Tsunami, the legendary fisherman! Also third in the nationals!" Mako introduced himself as he struck a pose with his trident. Even the weather was on his side, as just when he introduced himself, a big wave hit the cliff and splashed behind him, creating a great spectacle.