"Hayato, who exactly are you?" Shadi, the man in a white robe and turban, watched Hayato change his clothes with an expressionless face, speaking in a flat tone.
"Who else could I be, Mr. Shadi? Just a passing Duelist." Hayato put on his clothes, using it as a cover to subtly retrieve his Deck from the System. "You, on the other hand… I just finished a call with that guy Pegasus, and now you're here looking for me."
"My appearance was not intentional; destiny simply led me here." Shadi looked with some apprehension at the Millennium Ring on Hayato's chest. "You actually seized this Item…"
"'Seized,' that sounds so harsh. I obtained this in a fair and square Duel, after defeating that guy Bakura. Why does it sound so bad when you say it?"
With his hands behind his back, Hayato continuously poured Dark Magic into the Cards in his Deck that had awakened their card spirits. However, despite the large number of awakened spirits, the only ones with actual combat power in Hayato's hand were (Gaia), (*Performapal Sky Magician*), and (Rainbow Kuriboh). The rest either hadn't reached the second stage and thus had no ability to interact with reality, or they were useless Normal Monsters, like the (Ojama) three brothers, who, despite reaching stage two, still lacked combat power.
Even Hayato, who had some understanding of the DM (Duel Monsters) storyline, couldn't quite grasp Shadi's true nature. In the plot, he seemed to operate outside the main story, yet all three individuals who possessed Dark Millennium Items and confronted the protagonist Yugi were influenced by Shadi. Pegasus was forcibly given the Millennium Eye, Marik was deceived into believing the Pharaoh killed his father, and even Bakura's Millennium Ring was originally obtained from Shadi. Of course, the Millennium Ring now belonged to Hayato. Even if Dark Bakura came looking for it now, he shouldn't expect Hayato to return it, unless Bakura could call out to it and have it respond.
Hayato remembered clearly that in the manga version of Yu-Gi-Oh, Shadi was a cold-blooded individual who showed no mercy to innocent people, and could even turn them all into his tools without an ounce of guilt. As soon as Shadi made any unusual move, Hayato would immediately unleash (Gaia) to Attack Shadi.
"Hayato, you should understand what I mean. On you, I see only a mottled mosaic." Shadi opened his empty, lifeless eyes. "Prana, a Duelist's Soul, Spirit Channeler, and even the radiance of (The Winged Dragon of Ra)."
"To be entangled by such a quantity and quality of power without succumbing to mental fragmentation, in this World, it's my first time seeing an existence like yours."
"Well, now you've seen it, haven't you?" Hayato appeared nonchalant, but his nerves were taut. Shadi's words looked like a final warning before an attack. Hayato was naturally prepared, waiting for Shadi to make a move…
To Hayato's shock, Shadi, who had been at least ten meters away, appeared right in front of him almost instantly, without even the blink of an eye. In his hand, he held a golden key shaped like an Ankh, the Millennium Key, gripped like a dagger, lunging towards Hayato's heart!
"What the hell?!" Hayato only had time to throw the Deck in his hand, watching as several silver lights from the scattered Cards flew towards Shadi, while he himself leaned back as far as possible to delay being struck.
Unfortunately, Shadi's movements were too fast. Hayato's upper body barely tilted back 10 degrees before he was struck by the Millennium Key, which possessed the ability to open the Mind. The Millennium Ring's ability passively activated, but in addition to the Millennium Key, Shadi also held a Millennium Scale. The power of the Millennium Scale precisely intercepted the Millennium Ring's Dark Magic, balancing the magical energy of the Millennium Ring and the Millennium Key, two Millennium Items, one DARK and one LIGHT Attribute.
(Gaia) attached itself to its main Card — (Dark Knight - Gaia). Its lance thrust out along the Card's trajectory, seemingly about to strike Shadi, but the moment it made contact, the (Gaia) Card passed through Shadi's body without any resistance, touching no physical substance at all, as if Shadi were a ghost?! Looking closer, (Gaia) and his companions were dumbfounded — Shadi was nowhere to be seen in the room. Besides Hayato, who had suddenly collapsed back onto the bed and fallen asleep, the only anomaly in the room was the scattered Deck on the floor.
Where had that guy named Shadi gone?
—Shadi: Quick Arrival, Quick Departure—
"I am the storm that is approaching!!!"
A piece of music that made one want to shout "Jackpot!" three times rang out, and Hayato answered the phone: "Which bastard woke me up?!" After speaking, Hayato suddenly felt a bit strange: "Hmm, why do I feel like I just said that?"
"Ah, Hayato, are you still asleep? My apologies." Yugi's voice came from the phone.
Hayato sat up in bed, only to find he was wearing a jacket over his pajamas, which looked quite odd. "Hmm, it's nothing. I just had a dream that Pegasus called and woke me up. Is there something up, Yugi?"
"Oh, it's like this: last night, Kaiba announced that the 'Battle City' Match would be held in Domino City six days from now, and Joey wants to participate. However, to join the Battle City Match, you need the new Duel Disk that KaibaCorp just released, so Joey plans to go check out the price of a Duel Disk."
"I get it. You're asking me to go browse some Card Shops nearby, right?" Hayato said, changing his clothes while on the phone, and suddenly noticed his Deck neatly placed on his bedside table.
"How could I have such a strange dream, that old schemer Shadi ambushed me in my room?" Hayato muttered under his breath, then said into the phone, "Give me ten minutes, I'll be at your place soon. See you then."
"Okay, see you then, Hayato."
Hayato hung up the phone and looked at (Rainbow Kuriboh), who had popped out of his Deck, greeting it: "Yo, Aibo, nothing strange happened earlier, right?"
"Ku, Kuri, Kurikuri~" (Rainbow Kuriboh)'s face broke into a smile, though it was somewhat forced. Hayato didn't notice this, instead nodding easily. "Yeah, it really was just a dream. But then again, that dream felt a bit too real, and why was it Pegasus and Shadi I dreamed of, instead of Ishizu?"
Muttering to himself, Hayato headed to the washroom. Because of this, he didn't see (Ojama Yellow) sneaking out of the Deck, trying to spill the beans, nor did he see (Gaia) physically silencing (Ojama Yellow) and dragging it and its four other brothers back into the Deck.
"Sigh, why not tell the master?" (*Performapal Sky Magician*) watched from the side, smiling, its eyes narrowed in amusement. "Gaia, you're probably the first to follow the master, aren't you?"
(Gaia) shot a glance at (*Performapal Sky Magician*), who was enjoying the show from the sidelines. "This is not the time to inform my master." After stuffing the (Ojama) brothers back into the Deck, he straightened the Deck, which had become a bit skewed from their recent struggles. After Hayato's Deck fell to the floor earlier, he and (Rainbow Kuriboh) picked up each Card one by one and organized them. As an aside, they also helped adjust Hayato's sleeping posture after he collapsed onto the bed. They had witnessed Shadi disappear after stabbing Hayato with the Millennium Key, and they had also seen a sweating Shadi emerge from Hayato's body. His originally lifeless eyes surprisingly showed terror, and that guy Shadi kept muttering words like "Sun" and "Dragon" to himself. Coerced by (Gaia), who was waiting outside, Shadi reluctantly divulged the information he knew to (Gaia) and the others, but demanded that these card spirits not reveal it to anyone else, especially Hayato himself.
Of course, (Gaia) and the others faithfully complied, but the (Ojama) Monsters, who had also overheard the information, became restless. Those chaos-loving creatures had just, for once, cooperated, and were moments away from telling Hayato the information.
'Is what that guy Shadi said really true?' Watching Hayato's back, (Gaia) silently returned to its Card. Not one for many words, he always helped Hayato through actions, but this time, the action-oriented spirit chose to do nothing. 'A fourfold inner Mind?'
Meanwhile, (*Performapal Sky Magician*) sat on a nearby table with a pleasant expression, tapping out a rhythm with its hand and humming an unknown tune: 'Ordinary people only have a single inner Mind; even the combination of the Nameless Pharaoh and the little one only has a dual one. My master, with your fourfold inner Mind, what kind of person are you, truly?'
Unaware of the Duel Monster Spirits' individual thoughts, Hayato finished washing up, grabbed his Deck, and left his home. After a few minutes' walk, he arrived at the Kame Game Shop, where Joey and the others were sitting on chairs in front of the door. Seeing Hayato approach, Joey greeted him: "Yo, Hayato, you slept in so late, are you a pig or something?"
"On a rare day off, the early bird is the fool, isn't he?" Hayato replied with a smile, then raised his left hand to show Joey his Duel Disk. "Besides, unlike some people, I already have a Duel Disk, you know."
"You've been showing that thing off for almost a month now, haven't you?!" Joey waved his hand dismissively. "Just a Duel Disk, I, Sir Joey, will get my hands on one today too. That trick won't work on me."
"I heard KaibaCorp is willing to spend even more money this time than Industrial Illusions, and the entire Top 8 Finals will be live-streamed," Yugi said with a smile.
Tristan patted Joey's shoulder: "Someone's always wanted to be on TV, haven't they? Here's your chance~"
"Heh heh heh, after a month of special training and all the Card Packs I've saved up to buy, my Deck is no longer what it once was. This time in Battle City, I'm going to win all the way!" Joey fantasized about his heroic future self, punching Kaiba and kicking Pegasus, a lewd grin spreading across his face.
In front of the Card Shop, which was plastered with a "closed" sign, Hayato looked at the utterly defeated Joey and quipped, "Well, well, it seems someone's first step towards becoming the new King of Games has already been cut short."
(Author's note: Just a small update, also to expand on previous plot points and lay groundwork for the future.)
(end of chapter)