Who Let Him Play Yu-Gi-Oh!

Alpha collapsed to his knees, his head lolling to the side, electricity crackling all over him as broken parts scattered everywhere.

"Damn piece of junk…"

"What'd you say?"

Kira put away his Duel Disk and walked up to him.

Alpha slowly raised his head with difficulty. As he moved, a burst of sparks shot from his neck—it looked like his head could fall off at any moment.

"Sorry… Father… I tried my best, but he's too strong…" he muttered to himself.

Kira had to admit, whatever else that this thing was well-built. Maybe its mechanical body had high impact resistance—burned as he was, the guy still hadn't completely shut down.

"This time, you win. But don't think it's over."

Alpha's voice came out in stutters.

"You're already on our list. I may be a defective product, but Delta… Delta is the only perfect one among us.

He'll find you. He'll finish what I couldn't. Even you… can't beat him…"

Kira frowned.

That "don't get cocky, I'm just the weakest of the Four Heavenly Kings" line—why did it feel so familiar?

 Delta… sounded like another AI designation.

Maybe an even stronger one?

"So, this 'Father' you talked about—the one giving you orders—who is he?"

But Alpha no longer responded. He just muttered, "Sorry, Father… I can't stay by your side to finish the mission… I'm… going on ahead…"

His voice faded until his shattered digital eyes finally went dark.

"He's out," Kira stood up.

A voice sounded behind him: "No need to ask any more."

Kira turned, surprised. "President… Kaiba?"

Seto Kaiba was standing there, with Mokuba in a sharp suit at his side.

It looked like they'd been there for quite a while.

Kira mused.

So the President was watching him duel from the shadows again, just like at Pegasus's place last time.

He suddenly realized—Kaiba seemed to enjoy secretly spectating his duels.

"Amazing, Kira! In a single duel, you pulled off infinite attack power, infinite destruction, and infinite burn, and you used LOOPs to evolve so many different offensive tactics…"

Mokuba's eyes sparkled with admiration.

"Haha, it's not that big a deal," Kira said modestly.

It was, after all, the fruit of his predecessors' wisdom—it had to be impressive.

"Hmph."

Kaiba said nothing, but his thoughtful little brother translated: "Oh, my brother means he's impressed too, and he's looking forward more and more to dueling you himself."

Kira nodded. "I understand."

He paused, then said, "These guys claimed to be AIs designed after the President. I'm thinking they could be related to those hackers from before."

"We heard," Mokuba said. "Our tracking has made some progress. When we realized someone had hacked Duel Academy, we rushed over—we figured it was probably those hackers again."

"The main target is probably those three cards on the island," Kaiba said casually.

Kira looked at Mokuba for an explanation. "Those three cards?"

"Oh, students shouldn't know, but for you, I'll make an exception," Mokuba said. "Three 'Sacred Beasts' cards—cards containing immense power, said to grant eternal life to their holder.

 They're incredibly strong but also considered dangerous—possibly even evil. They're currently sealed in a facility on the island."

"I see."

Of course, Kira already knew, but he put on his best "first time hearing this" face.

"But why are they after me? I don't have anything to do with the Sacred Beasts."

"That, I don't know." Mokuba scratched his head. "Maybe it's your dueling skill or your affinity with spirits. You are a unique duelist—I'm not surprised you attract attention."

Just then, Chancellor Sheppard arrived. He shook hands with Kaiba (the school's biggest sponsor), apologized repeatedly for the school's lack of security, and promised things would improve.

Kira thought to himself, "Let's be real, Chancellor, our school's security is basically cardboard, but at least it exists. By the second year, it's like Duel Academy Island is a public bus, anyone can come and go. By the third year, the whole school staff vanished, and only the students were left holding the line…"

The Chancellor was always on business trips, practically missing in action, and Professor Crowler was holding down the entire teaching staff solo.

Soon, both Jaden and Alexis reported they'd also encountered enemies and won their duels.

The AI Jaden faced was unlucky—he got knocked off a cliff and died on the spot. The one Alexis beat was still barely alive.

Supposedly, that one—named Gamma—was muttering deliriously as he was carried away: "This isn't a real duel," "That's not an angel," "Give me back my monster," and so on.

 Probably got his system fried by Cyber Angel Natasha.

KaibaCorp staff who'd come with the President quickly cleaned up the battlefield, collecting the remains of the three AIs and tidying up.

"We're close—once we analyze these three AIs, we should find clues about the mastermind," Mokuba said to Kira. "If we discover anything, I'll let you know right away."

After all, Kira was now directly targeted—he wasn't an outsider anymore.

"Alright." Kira nodded.

He unconsciously patted the hot-off-the-presses, unreleased KaibaCorp deck he'd just pulled from his pocket.

These AIs sure were considerate—coming all this way to bring him gifts. And this time, they didn't use data cards—it was all real, swappable cards.

How polite.

If this kind of good thing happened more often, he wouldn't complain.

Finally, Mokuba glanced at his brother, making sure Kaiba was busy directing staff, then lowered his voice.

"And, um… Though my brother would never let me say this, I want to thank you."

"Huh?"

"For what you said." Mokuba smiled. "I heard it all. Honestly, I was pretty moved. These days, a lot of people respect my brother, and see him as the pinnacle of duelists, but not many understand him.

A lot of people just think he's rude or call him a dictator. But only I know he's never forgotten why he fights."

"Having been through hell, he knows how precious dreams are." Kira smiled softly. "It's a shame—even if he told the board his true intentions, no one would believe a dictator dreams of making children smile."

"Haha, forget the board—no one in KaibaCorp understands him except me. The last person who truly got him was probably Yugi…"

Mokuba shook his head, a little wistful.

He secretly envied Yugi and Joey's unbreakable friendship and sometimes fantasized about joining that group with his brother.

But maybe they just weren't meant to be. It's been years since they last spoke.

"Knowing there's someone else who sees my brother the way I do… I'm really glad." Mokuba said again. "Thank you."

"It's nothing. I'm sure there are plenty of others who think the same—I'm just another ordinary duelist."

Kira waved it off good-naturedly.

"No need for thanks."

"Oh, right, we're heading back to the company. Headquarters just finished developing a few new decks—interested in coming to take a look?"

"Lead the way."

PS: Another free card.