A double knockout in one turn!
Crowler and Bonaparte, the academy's two head professors, were utterly spiritless, looking as if they were in mourning. When they looked at each other, all they could see was despair.
They'd lost.
They'd given everything they had and still couldn't defeat him. Yet they really had tried their very best.
But the opponent wasn't even human...
Now, they fully realized how naive their thoughts at the start of the duel had been.
Just because it was two versus one—because they had double the hand size, double the Life Points, double the field zones, even double the turn count—they'd started to think that maybe the two of them could actually do it, that perhaps they had a real chance.
Looking back, having that kind of thought was just laughable.
Who was on the other side?
The Yellow Dorm King, the pinnacle of the dueling world!
Pegasus, Seto Kaiba, the Tenma brothers—those legendary figures they'd heard about since entering the world of dueling, the ones they'd grown up revering as myths—who among them hadn't tasted defeat at this youth's hands?
Even if it were two-on-one, how could a pair of mere academy professors hope to challenge such a giant?
Crowler's triple-fusion Ancient Gear Golem with 4400 ATK was already the hidden trump card he treated as something he'd never casually reveal, a secret ace he'd never once used against his own students since joining the academy.
Yet compared to the way Kira was flinging around ten-thousand-ATK monsters like they were free common tokens, the pot of greed professor deflated on the spot. He felt like a three-year-old waving a plastic toy knife.
Bonaparte glanced weakly at Crowler.
"Maybe... we really never had a chance from the very beginning," he said gloomily. "I really didn't want to end up unemployed together with you, Crowler..."
"Quit whining," Crowler muttered dully. "My twenty-six-year mortgage... sigh..."
Just saying it made his head hurt again.
But then again, it was strange. Despite losing, despite Bonaparte failing to live up to his expectations and land the finishing blow, for the first time ever he kind of felt like Bonaparte wasn't all that annoying.
The same went for Bonaparte. Crowler didn't seem quite as insufferable as usual either.
Now that they'd lost their jobs together, they'd probably be leaving Duel Academy side by side tomorrow. When they went out to look for work, they could look out for one another...
Thinking of that, he even felt a hint of camaraderie. Give them a couple years fighting side-by-side out in the real world and they might even become brothers...
"Thank you both, professors, for the valuable lesson."
Kira put away his Duel Disk and walked over with a smile.
The two professors shared a look, sighing helplessly, faces full of resignation.
"No need to thank us, Kira-kun," Crowler said. "In my heart, I know: there's nothing I can really teach you anymore. I... I'm not your professor anymore, either..."
"Please don't say that." Kira's smile faded; he grew serious. "Back when I first entered the academy, you helped me a lot. From now on, there's still much I can learn from you.
No matter how far I go, no matter what step I reach, I'll never forget that you are one of my most important professors."
Crowler's eyes flickered. He was genuinely moved by that.
This student's achievements had long since surpassed his own—or rather, he'd reached a height Crowler had never even dared to dream of. And yet even so, the boy still acknowledged him as a professor. For a moment, Crowler felt that he no longer had any regrets left at this academy...
"So, if you don't mind, professor, I hope you'll continue to guide me on the path of research and exploration from here on," Kira said with a smile.
The two professors looked at each other.
"Eh?"
"So you mean..." Bonaparte asked, a little incredulous.
"We... passed?"
"Of course," Kira said seriously. "I never said you had to win to be considered qualified, did I?"
The two head professors stared at him in surprise—and then, at the same time, their faces lit up with joy.
"So that means we..." Crowler turned to Bonaparte.
Then the two of them suddenly lunged forward and hugged each other tightly.
"We're saved!"
"Hahahaha—"
Overwhelmed with emotion, the two professors were laughing and crying at the same time, completely ignoring how they looked in front of their students—not that either of them had much of an image to protect anyway, considering their daily antics since the early episodes of the show.
This was what they called "a blessing in disguise"—they'd found light at the end of the tunnel and stumbled into a brand-new opportunity in life.
But their happiness didn't last long. Kira's next sentence froze their smiles solid.
"Of course, that's assuming the chancellor agrees," Kira added with a somewhat odd smile. "After all, I don't want people saying I'm poaching talent from my own alma mater."
"Eh?"
The two froze, then turned around in confusion.
"But..."
"We've already been fired by the chancellor, haven't we?"
"Is that really the case?" Kira asked. "Do you remember the exact words the chancellor used back then?"
The two exchanged looks, but said nothing.
"Or rather, why don't you ask him directly?"
Kira stepped aside and pointed toward the school building.
At that moment, they saw Chancellor Sheppard walking slowly over from that direction. His shining bald head was visible from a mile away.
Noticing the commotion, the chancellor blinked, then came over, puzzled. "Hm? You're all here. What's going on?"
Jaden called back, "Oh, we heard the two head professors were just kicked out of the academy. So they were bugging Kira, begging him to give them positions in his lab."
Chancellor Sheppard was baffled. "Huh? Fired? How come I don't know about this?"
This time, it was the two professors who were stunned.
They looked at each other again.
"Wait a minute..."
"But," Bonaparte said blankly, "just now in your office, didn't you basically tell us to pack our bags and get out...?"
The chancellor's expression was confused for a moment as he thought it over. Then his face cleared with realization.
"Ohhh, that," he said, scratching his bald head a bit awkwardly. "Sorry, I was in a bad mood and my wording was a bit harsh. I was thinking things over and wanted some quiet, so I asked you to leave the office for a while. Nothing more."
"Ah?"
The two professors stared at each other again, completely at a loss for words.
Logically, finding out they hadn't actually been fired—that it was all just a misunderstanding and their jobs were safe—should have been cause for celebration.
So why did they not feel happy at all...?
"That's wonderful, professors," Jaden said with a grin. "You can stay and keep teaching us. It was really hard to imagine you suddenly leaving; we'd really have missed you."
"Ah-ha... ah-hahaha, yes, quite," the two professors gave strained laughs.
But their smiles were tinged with bitterness.
In their hearts, they wanted to say: Chancellor Sheppard, please don't contact us so much. We're afraid Boss Kira will misunderstand.
But in this situation, there was no way they could actually say that out loud...
"It's fine. As long as the professors are willing, you can still work part-time at our lab while staying on as faculty here," Kira said politely.
"There'll always be a place for you with us."
"Very good, very good," Chancellor Sheppard said, hands folded behind his back and beaming. "Kira-kun's output contributes greatly to the academy's reputation as well. It'd be good if you could all collaborate more when there's time."
Then, after saying that, the chancellor touched his own face. For some reason, he suddenly had a strange feeling.
All at once, he felt like, in this academy... the position of "chancellor" might be just a little bit redundant.
...