The Friendship Cup continued in a relatively peaceful atmosphere. With each passing day, aided by advanced technology and Duel Spirit energy, the sector of the Satellite Zone claimed by KaibaCorp rapidly developed. New infrastructure sprang up seemingly overnight—KaibaCorp wasted no time.
Duel arenas, global broadcast hubs, even stores selling everyday goods and high-end dueling equipment—things Satellite residents couldn't have imagined before—began to appear.
KaibaCorp didn't care whether you were from the Tops or the Slums. As long as your deck had 40 cards, you were welcome.
And since their currencies didn't match, KaibaCorp simply issued special cards. Anyone with a full 40-card deck could get them for free. What happened next—barter, trade, whatever—was up to them.
For resource-starved Satellite citizens, it was a windfall.
In a place where not everyone even had a legal deck, KaibaCorp had basically handed out ten days' worth of food.
Sure, Satellite folks weren't starving, but free stuff? Who says no?
Because of this initiative, the attitude toward KaibaCorp and these "interdimensional people" softened. Especially from people like Yugo, who'd had more contact with them. He even started opening up to Hikaru Amagi, sharing things about their world.
"Skull Knight?" Jaden Yuki blinked. He and the others gathered around Yugo, eyebrows collectively raised.
"Yup!" Yugo grinned, arms flailing with excitement. "Only comes out at night—a skeleton knight on horseback that tracks its prey and challenges them to a Duel of annihilation!"
"Setting aside why the hell it's a duel," Chazz Princeton muttered, "why's it on horseback?"
"Because it's a Turbo Duel, obviously!" Yugo laughed. "If it's not riding, it's not a real Duel!"
Turbo Duel, huh?
Everyone glanced over toward where Hikaru was helping Yusei Fudo tune a D-Wheel—a futuristic, auto-driving, card-detecting motorcycle unique to this dimension.
In this world, people were obsessed with Turbo Duels. Standard Duels didn't really excite anyone anymore, and few even worked in the regular duel industry.
Rumor had it there was a deeper reason for this obsession—something only insiders or higher-ups knew.
But Hikaru already understood. In this 5D's world, D-Wheel Turbo Duels resonate with the Momentum Engine, creating limitless energy. Duels weren't just important because they were flashy or fun.
Dueling powered the world itself.
In this world, dueling was literally the lifeblood of civilization.
Hikaru hadn't seen any trace of KaibaCorp in this dimension, so while this world had the characters and events of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, it still differed from the version he knew. Close enough, though. It tracked with the general background.
Fair enough. His own world didn't fully match his memories either.
As for the Skull Knight… even he was a little unsure.
Was it that background extra Jack Atlas smoked in the first episode?
Though not a science buff, Hikaru was decent with machines. He could help Yusei out without diving deep into the math. So while his hands worked, his ears listened.
Apparently, the Skull Knight only appeared at night, riding a skeletal horse, challenging people to duels—a local legend passed down for years.
Some folks still didn't buy it. But it had persisted so long it became urban folklore.
"Okay, Yugo, you don't need to be scaring them with ghost stories," Rin sighed, grabbing his waving arms to calm him down.
"It does sound… oddly familiar," Alexis Rhodes murmured, arms crossed.
Chazz nodded.
"Urban legends, ghost stories?" Jaden scratched the back of his head and chuckled. "Man, I've dueled demons, zombies, androids… not that weird anymore, honestly."
"What?"
"Huh?"
Yugo and Rin stared at him, stunned. Rin—the usually unimpressed one—couldn't help blurting out, "Seriously?"
"It's probably not what you think," Jaden said. "Could've been a Duel Monster Spirit."
"Duel Monster Spirit? But that's just a myth!"
"Oh? You guys have legends like that too? Great—Captain, you free?"
At his quiet summons, Golden Captain appeared beside him.
Rin and Yugo both recoiled. After Jaden's call, they sort of saw a golden figure shimmering into view, but the details escaped them.
"You… you can see it?" Chazz blinked in surprise.
"Kinda… yeah…" Yugo was pale.
Unlike Serena, who'd received professional training to sharpen her sensitivity, these two had raw, untapped talent. Even so, they could feel something.
Yusei, watching from afar, looked up curiously—but saw nothing.
The group gave Yugo a crash course on interdimensional travel—how Duel Spirits could be encountered, even befriended, across dimensions. The idea of traveling and dueling alongside those spirits clearly captivated the kids.
Honestly, if Yusei hadn't seen what he had, he might've been hyped too.
But right now, joy wasn't in his toolkit.
They kept chatting, comparing notes on the local legends. Soon after, they decided to take Yugo and Rin over to KaibaCorp's area—figured they'd blow the kids' minds. The company might even evaluate them and hand out gifts.
The two had never left Satellite before. They were stoked, especially after hearing that. After a quick heads-up to Yusei, who nodded and returned to tuning his D-Wheel, they set off.
That night, once darkness had fully fallen, Yusei tested the D-Wheel down an underground track. He checked the final calculations on a tablet, grinned, and high-fived Hikaru.
Their custom-built D-Wheel—with a functioning Momentum Engine—was nearly flawless!
All that was left were fine-tunings and power output adjustments.
Hikaru was ecstatic.
He didn't understand tech, exactly, but helping Yusei this past week had clarified so much. He was finally confident enough to revise Professor Banner's dimensional gate formulas.
That night, Hikaru carried his tools and notes back toward the base. A police patrol car cruised beside him for protection—he didn't mind.
But halfway there, Tiara appeared at his side, gently tugging his sleeve.
He didn't resist.
The next moment, a black shadow whipped past them. The two patrolling officers dropped instantly.
Strange flames flickered up from the ground, smoke swirling like ink in water.
"…Huh?" Hikaru stood upright, Tiara beside him, both staring ahead.
There—at the center of the smoke—a figure emerged on a towering skeletal horse. Its empty sockets locked onto him.
A skeleton. Eyes hollow. Bones exposed.
And riding a bone-white steed, it stared into him like a void.
…
A ghost story by day—now here it was, face to face.
Hikaru raised a brow.
Had this thing been waiting for him to be alone?
The skeletal horse dipped its head. On its back, a ring of bones twisted upward—forming a dueling disk. Light flared through it.
Ah.
Of course.
Hikaru couldn't tell what kind of Spirit this was. But a duel had been declared—there was no retreat.
"Fine. Let's see what this world's urban legends are made of."
Snap—
He activated his duel disk.
Absolute Fusionist, Hikaru Amagi – LP: 4000
Revenant of the Damned, Skull Knight – LP: 4000