"Joey..." The Duel ended, and Yami Yugi returned to the Millennium Puzzle, returning control of the body to Yugi. With softened facial features and a somewhat timid expression, Yugi looked at Joey opposite him with a worried gaze.
After Dark Magician delivered the final attack, Joey lowered his head, the shadow cast by his golden hair obscuring his face, making his expression unreadable.
Hearing Yugi call his name, Joey's shoulders twitched slightly. He raised his right hand to push back his hair, and his lips tugged into a rather forced smile. "Congratulations, Yugi, you won. That was truly an interesting Duel."
"I'm sorry, Joey..." Yugi, seeing the sorrow etched between Joey's brows, said with deep regret. Joey's sister needed a large sum of money for an operation, and the only method he could think of was the Duelist Kingdom's prize money, but Yugi himself had personally crushed his last hope.
Hearing Yugi's words, Joey chuckled instead. "Hey, hey, Yugi, what's with that expression? You beat me, cheer up! Why do you look like you're about to cry? I'll find a way for Serenity Wheeler's situation, and don't you also have someone you want to save?"
"Joey..."
"Yugi..."
Watching the two guys on the Duel Arena affectionately calling out each other's names, Hayato couldn't help but get goosebumps. This was too much, he couldn't stand it.
He stood up from his seat, and Sheppard, who was beside him, also stood up in sync. The two exchanged a glance and smiled.
"Ah, the renowned Cyber Style. I missed your Duel yesterday, Mr. Sheppard, but now I finally get to feast my eyes on it."
"Hahaha, Hayato, you're also a powerful Duelist. I've been quite looking forward to this Duel with you," Sheppard replied with a smile. "Well then, I'll see you on the Duel Arena."
The two nodded to each other and descended from the Audience Seating in two different directions, walking along the corridor into the backstage Duelist Prep Room, preparing for the second Duel that was to begin in a few minutes.
As soon as he entered the Duelist Prep Room, Hayato saw Joey, head lowered, sighing and getting ready to leave. Joey didn't even notice Hayato enter, just walked along muttering to himself, "Ugh, what's the point of acting all cool and flashy? How can I ever save enough money for Serenity Wheeler's treatment?"
"Joey." Hayato called out, startling him.
"Ha-Hayato! Ahaha, that's right, your next Match is against Mr. Sheppard, isn't it?" A jolt ran through Joey as he noticed Hayato's presence, and his expression instantly transformed. The melancholy and gloom on his face vanished, replaced by a brilliant smile as he faced Hayato. "Well then, good luck! Mr. Sheppard is really strong."
"Well, I'm off now, you prepare well!" With that, Joey didn't wait for Hayato's reply, hurriedly pushed open the door of the prep room, and left in the direction Hayato had come from.
"You don't want your troubles to affect your friends, do you? Joey, you really are a kind guy."
Hayato sat down, retrieved his stored Deck from the System, and made his final adjustments before the Duel.
His opponent was Sheppard of the Cyber Style. Although, according to Joey, Yugi, and the others who watched, Sheppard hadn't used the greatest symbol of Cyber Style—Cyber Dragon—during his Duel with Camula, his Deck was still primarily Machine-Type overall.
And the Deck Hayato was going to use today was also a Pure Machine-Type Deck. It wasn't that he didn't want to use his original Warrior-Type Deck; it was because ever since Pegasus sealed the card spirit of Dark Knight Gaia, Hayato had secretly experimented many times.
The Gaia that used to appear in his Hand at the right moments had become a complete brick. Either he would open his First Turn with a Hand full of Spell and Trap Cards plus a single Gaia, or he'd Draw Gaia when his Hand and Field were already Empty. His old Deck used to run as smooth as silk, but now it jammed like a set of gears that hadn't been oiled in centuries.
After re-checking his Deck, Hayato stood up and walked towards the Duel Arena. As if by unspoken understanding, just as Hayato arrived before the Duel Arena, Sheppard appeared punctually opposite him, simultaneously taking the automatic pathway onto the Duel Arena.
Hayato glanced at the nearby Audience Seating. Tristan and Joey were fooling around with their arms around each other's shoulders, accidentally bumping into Bakura, who was watching. Then, under Téa's stern gaze, they apologized to Bakura, earning unrestrained laughter from Mai Valentine, who was enjoying the show, while Yugi simply smiled, watching everyone.
His gaze shifted, and Hayato noticed a green figure in the corner of the Audience Seating. After losing to Sheppard, Camula hadn't left like Bandit Keith and Ptah, but had stayed in the castle, just like Mai Valentine.
However, Hayato clearly remembered that the figure hadn't appeared during Yugi and Joey's Duel, yet suddenly showed up for his own Duel.
Did they oversleep? Or did that person actually have some ulterior motive regarding him? Hayato couldn't be sure.
Croquet's voice drew Hayato's wandering attention back. "The time is exactly right, and both players are now in position. I announce that the second Match of the Duelist Kingdom's Top 4 Tournament will be between Hayato and Sheppard."
"The semi-finals officially begin!"
As Hayato and Sheppard placed their respective Decks into the Duel Arena, both, in perfect sync, simultaneously shouted:
"Duel!" x2
[Hayato: 4000 LP, Hand 5]
[Sheppard: 4000 LP, Hand 5]
"I'll take the first turn, Draw!" Unlike the Cyber Style that Hayato knew, Sheppard surprisingly didn't choose the second turn. Instead, he vied with Hayato for the first turn, swiftly Drawing a Card from his Deck.
Hayato was naturally pleased to see this. It was well-known that the most backhanded blessing one could give a Cyber Style Duelist was, "May you always go first."
Although Sheppard hadn't used Cyber Dragon, Hayato figured his Deck was likely an aggressive OTK Deck. His taking the first turn was very advantageous for Hayato—
"I Summon a monster in face-down Defense Position, then I Set five Cards! My turn ends!"
Nani!
Sheppard's turn ended so quickly that Hayato almost didn't realize how outrageous his plays were.
Looking at Sheppard's "T" formation on the Field, and then glancing at Yugi in the Audience Seating, Hayato thought: *It must be Kaiba's fault. He and Mokuba took my bed, making me sleep on the floor. I must have caught a cold and am hallucinating.*
*When did "Cyber Style" become a Trap-heavy Strategy?!?*
Anyway, I plan to save up some drafts for a while, and when I have enough, I will clear the backlog of chapters owed from donations, in addition to the regular three updates per day. This means that one day, I might release eight chapters in a single day.
(end of chapter)