First, Hayato, then Kaiba—two consecutive failures to control others left Marik utterly embarrassed. Although the individuals physically present were Pandora and Epimetheus, Marik felt profoundly humiliated.
He was clearly the leader of the Ghouls, an incredibly powerful Duelist who commanded two Egyptian Gods, and the wielder of the Millennium Rod. So why did he always get trounced whenever he encountered the combination of Hayato and Seto Kaiba?
Still fuming, he simultaneously controlled Pandora, having her hurl threats at Hayato and Kaiba. At the same time, he opened the tablet containing information on famous Duelists, which his trembling subordinate had handed him. He searched for "Hayato & Seto Kaiba combination," hoping to uncover some information he didn't already know.
Domino City High School's "Most Desired to Date" ranking, tied for First Place? What kind of strange thing was that?!
Waving his hand to signal others to drag away the individual who delivered the intel for punishment, Marik, controlling Pandora from thousands of miles away, showed a sinister smile: "This is the second time, isn't it, Kaiba, and King of Games? You two have offended us twice now."
"Hmph, just for illegally printing fake Blue-Eyes cards, you sewer rats, you've definitely earned my enmity!" Kaiba said coldly. "Furthermore, KaibaCorp's legal team isn't to be trifled with; even if you claim insanity, it won't matter. Expect to spend your life in prison!"
Hayato didn't bother to mock Kaiba's continued refusal to accept that the Millennium Rod could control others, even though Kaiba himself had his mind sealed by Pegasus using the Millennium Eye. Looking at "Pandora," Hayato provocatively said, "Grandma always said there's no bad restaurant that can make money, and no evil that can run rampant."
"Marik, you should be on your way to Domino City, right? Pick up your pace and get over here quickly. I can't wait to enjoy the pleasure of defeating you."
"Hmph, the same goes for you, King of Games. Enjoy your last moments of glory before I arrive in Domino City. When I stand before you, that will be the time you face Divine Punishment!"
As soon as the threat was uttered, Pandora rolled his eyes and fainted. Hayato grabbed his collar and found his forehead burning hot, as if he had a fever, almost 40 degrees Celsius.
"Did he just silence a useless Chess Piece to prevent betrayal?" Hayato frowned, dragging Pandora over to touch the equally unconscious Epimetheus, finding his condition identical to Pandora's.
Although he enjoyed making threats during a Duel, Hayato couldn't just watch two people die before his eyes. The Millennium Ring on his chest glowed faintly, resonating with the Dark Power of the Millennium Rod that remained within the two.
However, the Dark Power within Hayato himself hadn't been fully cleansed yet, so it was naturally impossible for him to channel this power into his own body. Waving away Kaiba, who was merely observing, Hayato picked up the glasses of the unconscious Card Shop owner from the ground and channeled the power into them.
Just as when Hayato had created the Dark Lasso, the ordinary glasses, upon receiving the infusion of Dark Magic, began to transform like a Cybertronian, turning into a fake eye somewhat similar to the Millennium Eye Hayato had once seen. For now, he decided to name it the [Dark Eye].
While removing the Magical Energy from Pandora and Epimetheus, Hayato also expended some of his own Magical Energy. However, due to the dual operation, a significant amount of Power dissipated. Once most of the Magical Energy had been removed from their bodies and the [Dark Eye] was almost fully formed, Hayato stopped channeling and tossed the two unconscious individuals aside.
"Hmph, impressive magic. I might even give you some applause." Kaiba said, crossing his arms over his chest. Even though Hayato had let him witness the Dark Item creation process firsthand, the guy still clung to his belief in science.
"Whatever," Hayato grumbled, slumping onto a nearby sofa. He panted, glancing at the [Dark Eye] in his hand, then put it into his System's [Inventory] right in front of Kaiba. The guy would just assume he was quick-handed and hid the item, like a traditional magic trick such as "Three-Card Monte."
Incidentally, Hayato also checked the System's Settlement Reward. The settlement score was only 500 DP, which didn't surprise Hayato, but what did pleasantly surprise him was that Pandora had dropped two Cards in one go. One was *Mystic Tomato*, which he had used in the Duel. It possessed a highly versatile Search and Special Summon ability, limited only by being "DARK Attribute" and having "1500 or less Attack."
The other Card, Pandora hadn't used, and it wasn't even in Pandora's Deck which Hayato had just looked through, but Hayato still got it. It allowed one to Banish Fusion Material from their own Field or Graveyard, essentially a Spellcaster-Type version of *Dragon's Mirror*. Although it was commonly translated as *Magicalized Fusion*, Hayato preferred this Card's other name—*Fusion Arts*.
Glancing at the limited-time discount Card pushed out in the System's [Shop], its price was exactly the same as his Balance of 10,000 DP after adding the newly acquired 500 DP. Combined with the Card he had just obtained, Hayato had reason to suspect this was a System conspiracy to fleece him.
Unfortunately, though Hayato's [mind] saw through the System's conspiracy, Hayato's [hand] betrayed him, pressing [confirm purchase] one step ahead before Hayato's [entire body] could vote. As his Balance instantly dropped to zero, his Card pool gained that powerful and versatile Spellcaster-Type Fusion Monster—*Quintet Magician*.
Kaiba glanced at Hayato, who seemed to be spacing out as he browsed his Card pool and edited his Deck, then snorted coldly and bent down to check on Pandora and Epimetheus. Because Hayato had timely removed the Magical Energy from their bodies, their high fevers had gradually subsided. However, the Damage caused wouldn't recover so quickly, so they remained unconscious.
"What are you going to do with them?" Noticing Kaiba pull out his *Blue-Eyes White Dragon*-themed phone, Hayato also roughly finished adjusting his Deck and asked.
Kaiba seemed to have finished composing his message, putting his phone away. He glanced at Hayato: "Of course, I'm having them sent to prison. I always keep my word."
"Is that your ninja way? Stealing Mokuba's line, you truly are a scummy big brother." Watching Kaiba grab Epimetheus's collar, Hayato also picked Pandora up from the ground, and the two walked out of the Basement side-by-side.
What Hayato didn't know, however, was that a portion of the Dark Magic he had left behind lingered in the room for a long time, eventually attaching itself to several Blank Cards that had completed their base color printing but hadn't yet had their Card Art, names, or other detailed information printed. On them, five humanoid Monsters of varying forms slowly began to appear.
----Pandora: Now is a time of great regret----
The next morning, Hayato curled up in his blanket, enjoying this rare moment of leisure.
Unfortunately—
"I am the storm that is approaching!!!"
As a piece of music that made one instinctively want to shout 'Jackpot!' three times blared, Hayato answered the phone: "Which scoundrel is disturbing my sleep?!"
"Hayato-boy, you're still not awake? Me should have checked the time difference, no?" Pegasus's voice, the kind that made one want to punch him, came from the other end of the line. "Today's weather in Japan should be quite good, no? Don't waste such a good time."
"Mind your own business!" Hayato rolled over, lying on his back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. "You're not the type to take wake-up call requests, are you? Why are you looking for me instead of just recovering from your injuries?"
"Ah, me almost forgot, me had something important to talk to you about." Pegasus said, as if just remembering. "Hayato-boy, me remembers, Kaiba-boy announced he would be hosting the 'Battle City' Match this morning... oh, that's yesterday evening in Japan, right?"
"That's right, in six days."
"Then, in this Battle City tournament, I want to ask you to help me defeat someone, Hayato." Rarely, Pegasus's tone turned serious, proving once again that his supposed verbal tic was just the old man playing the fool. "That person is from Egypt. If you encounter him, you must be extremely careful."
"Although I know his name, I'm not entirely sure if it's his True Name, because I couldn't find anyone matching that name in the population registry."
"That impressive?" Hayato's interest was piqued somewhat. "Who is it that makes you so wary?"
"His name is Shadi."
Hayato instinctively exclaimed, "Shadi!?"
"What's wrong, Hayato-boy? You know him?" Pegasus asked from the phone.
Hayato sat up from his bed and continued to Pegasus on the phone, "Nothing, I just subconsciously repeated it. You just want me to defeat that person named Shadi, right?"
"Mm, actually, my Millennium Eye was forcibly attached by that person named Shadi. If my memory serves me right, at the place where I obtained the Millennium Eye, that Shadi also possessed at least three Millennium Items, including your Millennium Ring, Hayato-boy."
"And just a few days ago, that Shadi came looking for me again." Pegasus's voice was a little low. "My hospital room was quite heavily guarded, and I hadn't revealed my location, yet that Shadi, like a ghost, smoothly made his way to my bedside. After confirming the disappearance of the Millennium Eye, he simply said 'everything is normal' and vanished."
"I don't know what's going on with that guy, but anyway, be mindful of your safety during this time, Hayato-boy. I have a hunch that he will definitely come for you after Battle City begins."
Hayato sighed: "Your hunches aren't very reliable at all; you couldn't even figure out Yugi's *Magic Hat*. Alright, that's enough, I'm hanging up, Ciao~"
After ending the call, Hayato calmly looked at the white-robed, turbaned man who had appeared in his room at some unknown point: "I say, can you give me some privacy to change clothes?"
(end of chapter)