Chapter 231: The Second Way to Obtain a Duel Disk...
Yesterday, Hayato and Kaiba busted a Rare Hunters stronghold disguised as a Card Shop. It was no coincidence that a nearby Card Shop had been sealed off, for Hayato himself had specifically sought out that very shop.
If Hayato hadn't gotten Kaiba to shut down this Card Shop, according to the original timeline, Joey and Yugi would have come here to collect their Duel Disks. Based on Kaiba's malicious ranking for Joey, he wouldn't have been able to get a Duel Disk at all. However, due to the shop owner's manipulation, Joey's Level was temporarily modified, allowing him to get one.
But that wouldn't have been a good thing, because the shop owner was actually a Rare Hunter. He didn't help Joey out of kindness; rather, he had his eyes on the Rare Card in Joey's Deck—the *Red-Eyes Black Dragon*. Joey would have been targeted and defeated by another Rare Hunter, losing his *Red-Eyes* and falling into prolonged despair.
That's how it should have been.
However, Hayato preemptively cut off the possibility of that path.
"Of all places, this is the only Card Shop nearby," Téa said, looking at the Domino City map saved on her phone. "Aside from here, the closest one is five kilometers away."
"That's too far. By the time we get there, they probably won't have any Duel Disks left, right?" Tristan estimated the travel time. "We were just taking it easy because we thought it was so close to home."
Just as the group was feeling troubled, Hayato pointed to a corner of the street. "Hey, it looks like they're handing out Duel Disks over there."
"Huh? Isn't this the only Kaiba Corporation-certified Card Shop around here?" Joey asked, confused, following Hayato's finger. He saw that next to a stall on the side of the street, there was indeed a banner with a lot of small text, but the words "Duel Disk" were printed in the largest font.
"Hello, excuse me, are Duel Disks available for purchase here?"
A young boy lay bored, leaning over the stall in front of the banner. Yugi, skilled at using his height to close the (physical) distance with children, stepped forward and asked.
The boy didn't even lift his head. As he fiddled with a Monster (Dice Roulette) figure in his hand, he said listlessly, "Yes, yes, there are Duel Disks here. They're genuine Kaiba Corporation Duel Disks, and they're free."
As he spoke, he looked up at Yugi with impatience. "Honestly, aren't the conditions already written on the side? Always asking, asking, asking... I'm supposed to be the next Duel King, so why am I stuck doing this kind of stuff every day..."
As he continued, the boy's voice grew fainter, his jaw dropping wide open. His eyes, fixed on Yugi and Hayato, were full of surprise. "You, you, you, you're the Duel King?! Yugi, and Mr. Hayato Kobayashi!"
Sweeping away his previous fatigue, the young boy swiftly pulled out paper and a pen from under the table and placed them on the stall. His eyes were full of little stars as he looked at the two.
Joey, standing to the side, looked at the five or six-year-old boy in front of him with some dissatisfaction. "What the heck, I was also a Top 4 Player in Duelist Kingdom, why does no one ever recognize me?!"
"You, you must be Joey Wheeler, right?" To Joey's surprise, the boy actually spoke his name. "A Top 4 Player in Duelist Kingdom. Judging by your appearance, you're not Sheppard, so you must be Joey Wheeler, correct?"
Joey had just been wearing a displeased expression. After hearing the boy's words, when Tristan turned to look at Joey again, he found that the smug fellow had put his hands in his pockets, striking a cool pose like an unparalleled expert. He said to the boy:
"Ah, in the end, I was seen through. Indeed, I am Joey Wheeler, a Top 4 Player in Duelist Kingdom, a Legendary Duelist who gave the Duel King a tough fight. Young man, my autograph won't wait forever, you know~"
To his surprise, the boy rolled his eyes at Joey. "Who would want your autograph, you idiot? Everyone besides First Place is last place. If my brother didn't mention your name so often, no one would remember a Top 4 Player like you!"
"You obnoxious brat!" Joey's attempt at showing off failed spectacularly. He never expected that his supposed fan would be the person who looked down on him the most, and his words were exactly like Rebecca's.
If the kid in front of him didn't have black hair and speak fluent Japanese, Joey would have truly believed he was Rebecca's brother.
"Hahahaha, I'm dying of laughter, Joey, hahahaha." Joey's good-for-nothing friend, Tristan, mocked him from the side. "Your expression just now, it's a shame I didn't bring a camera, otherwise I'd definitely take a picture to properly enjoy it, hahahaha."
"You, Tristan!" Joey slapped Tristan heavily on the shoulder, looking angry. But after so many years of friendship, Tristan knew Joey well and wasn't afraid of him at all, continuing to laugh.
The young boy looked at Tristan again. "You're Tristan? Humph, just like my brother said, you're obviously cut from the same cloth as Joey, just as idiotic and dumb."
"You little brat!" Now it was Tristan's turn to get angry. Joey, of course, wouldn't miss the chance to mock him back, completely failing to realize that the boy's words had just insulted him too.
Tristan grumbled, "You little punk, your words are really annoying. And who the hell is your brother? I hope I never catch him."
"Hmph, you idiot Tristan, so what if I show up in front of you?" A familiar voice came from behind the group, and a familiar arrogant smiling face appeared in their line of sight.
"It's you!?"
His usual blue school uniform had been replaced by a dark blue suit. Chazz Princeton held two bubble teas, placing them on the table, and proudly brushed his bangs aside. "It is I! Tristan Taylor, what's wrong? Do you have an issue with my evaluation of you?"
"I have a *big* issue," Tristan said, clenching his fists, his knuckles cracking.
But Chazz Princeton wasn't afraid of Tristan's physical threats at all, saying dismissively, "Hmph, a crude fellow. These days, only a barbarian like you would resort to violence for everything."
As he spoke, Chazz Princeton raised his left hand, and a gold-plated Duel Disk appeared before them. "Look closely, you commoners. This is a Duel Disk released by Kaiba Corporation. I'm sure you've never seen—"
Seeing the two Duel Disks Hayato and Yugi were wearing, which, though not gold, looked to be of a higher grade than his, Chazz Princeton promptly changed the subject. "The most popular thing now is to play Duel Monsters using Duel Disks. It's the best way to resolve most conflicts!"
"Tch, with a rookie like you, who wants to Duel?" Joey said disdainfully, pointing his thumb at his chest. "I'm a Top 4 Player in Duelist Kingdom. According to Kaiba's rules, even if I'm not Top-tier, I should still meet the requirements to get a Duel Disk."
"Hoho, you remind me of something quite interesting, Joey," Chazz Princeton said, suddenly laughing as if he'd recalled something amusing. "You probably don't know this, but because the collaboration between the Princeton Group and Kaiba Corporation on the Duel Field order was so pleasant last time, the Duel Disks this time are also produced by the Princeton Group."
"When I was inputting the data, I was bored, so I took a look at the Duelist Levels defined by Kaiba Corporation. Joey, do you know what your Level is?"
"Out of a total of 12 Levels, you're actually the lowest, Level 1. And unlike everyone else, who just has a Level, you even have a 'Common Bone' suffix! Even my younger brother, an elementary school student, is stronger than you, hahahaha."
Joey was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood what was going on. "That bastard Kaiba!"
If a hacker were to tamper with the database just to humiliate Joey, no one would be so idle as to hack into Kaiba Corporation for that. So the only answer could be Kaiba's malicious humor.
"You, with only Level 1, don't even qualify to buy a Duel Disk, let alone get one for free. By the way, my Duelist Level is exactly LV6." Chazz Princeton said, shaking the Duel Disk in his hand.
Blinded by the reflected light, Hayato looked helplessly at Chazz Princeton's younger brother, who was asking for his autograph. "You've got it tough too, little Chazz Princeton."
"Mr. Hayato, I'm already five years old, don't treat me like a three or four-year-old kid. And I have a name, my name is Chazz Princeton, please remember this name, Mr. Hayato, because I will defeat you and become the next Duel King!"
"Chazz Princeton, huh, I've already remembered that name." Hayato smiled and nodded, confirming that this kid in front of him was indeed the future Chazz Princeton from GX, "Manjoume Thunder." However, the current "Mr. Princeton" was still just a child.
"It won't be easy to defeat me, though," Hayato said, ruffling Chazz Princeton's hair. "Your brother said you have a Duelist Level too?"
"Hmph, don't be too surprised when I tell you, Mr. Hayato," Chazz Princeton said proudly. "I defeated countless older kids in the Domino City elementary school Duelist tournament and took Second Place!"
"Because of that, my Duelist Level is Level 3." At this, Chazz Princeton complained irritably, "It's all because of that Jellyfish Head who got first place. I was only Level 1 away from being able to participate in Battle City. A rare opportunity to Duel without having to study..."
"Do you really like to Duel?" Chazz Princeton's expression was very downcast. Hayato wondered if this might be why he had been lying so dejectedly on the table earlier.
"Yeah, Duels are super fun, aren't they? And after winning a Duel, lots of girls really admire me."
"Haha, you've figured that out already, haven't you?" Hayato laughed, gently patting Chazz Princeton's head, and called out to Chazz Princeton, who was still bickering with Joey and Tristan. "Hey, Princeton."
"It's Mr. Princeton! What do you want, Hayato Kobayashi?"
Hayato took his Deck from his waist-mounted Deck case and inserted it into his Duel Disk. The automatic shuffle function surprised Chazz Princeton. "Didn't you say that anything can be solved with a Duel? I have a plan."
Hayato Kobayashi, the Domino City Idea King, was online once again. He pointed to the boxes of Duel Disks on the side. "The Stakes will be those Duel Disks over there. This is a chance to challenge the Duel King, you know. You want to look good in front of your brother, right?"
Noticing Chazz Princeton's expectant gaze, Chazz Princeton confidently brushed his hair, drew his Deck, manually shuffled it, and then placed it into his Duel Disk, letting it automatically set up his field. "Hmph, consider this a revenge match from back then. I'm looking forward to defeating you too, Hayato Kobayashi."
"Duel!" X2
(end of chapter)