"Huff… huff…"
Zaloog panted heavily, his face bruised and swollen. Beside him, Meanae and Cliff were both injured as well. As for Gorg and Chick, they were already locked inside transparent energy capsules, hanging upside down.
The man stood in front of them, a Duel Disk on his arm, an energy whip in his hand, and an amused smile on his face.
"That's all you've got?" he sneered. "Come on, how about you just give up and come with me quietly?"
"Go lick your grandpa's ass!"
Zaloog roared in fury.
"I haven't even warmed up yet— cough, cough, cough—"
He tried to force himself forward, but after a few steps, his injuries seemed to flare. He dropped to one knee, clutching his chest.
Zaloog stared at the man, shocked.
The whole thing was just too strange.
That capture capsule, and that weird weapon in the man's hand—the energy whip. They were clearly human technology, yet they could actually injure spirits like them.
Even shifting into a non-physical, intangible state didn't help. All those weapons seemed capable of ignoring intangibility entirely; not even ghosts could avoid them.
And Zaloog could feel the wounds on his body right now too. This wasn't damage to a temporary physical manifestation. It was a much deeper, more fundamental kind of injury.
He hadn't even known it was possible for him to be hurt in this world.
"Boss!"
Meanae suddenly blurted out in surprise and relief.
Zaloog turned his head. "What?"
Then he immediately realized—oh, she wasn't calling him.
She was calling their bigger boss.
Kira walked out from between the trees and came to stand before them. The burglars immediately started pouring out their grievances.
Meanae: "Boss, you've gotta stand up for us!"
In his capsule, Chick stretched his hands out as far as he could. "Boss! Help! Help!"
Kira frowned slightly, glancing first at the two spirits locked inside the capsules, then at the man across from him.
The man studied him for a moment as well, his own brows drawing together slightly.
"Huh. Didn't expect that. I just randomly nab a few spirits, and it turns out the master behind them is actually the Duel King?"
"Let me guess," Kira stared at the man. "A spirit hunter?"
"As expected of the Duel King. Sharp eyes."
The man laughed.
"That's right. I'm Trapper."
Kira remembered him now.
This guy also showed up in the GX anime, around this time in the story. The reason he'd come to Duel Academy Island was Jesse Anderson—or, more accurately, Jesse's Crystal Beasts.
As the name suggested, Trappers specialized in hunting Duel Spirits. But unlike rare card hunters like Rare Hunters in DM, who relied on Shadow Duels or high-stakes gambling duels, Trappers were despised even in the official dueling world and among Shadow Duelists.
Because to them, dueling was a last resort, not the norm. Most of the time, they didn't like using duels to hunt.
They preferred to just straight-up rob people.
Like they'd just demonstrated—they had their own technological means to injure and capture spirits. They liked to launch surprise attacks, taking advantage of moments when the master wasn't paying attention, and use technology to snare spirits in a flash. Then they'd grab the spirits and run. If possible, they avoided a head-on duel with the spirit's master.
That was why even Shadow Duelists looked down on this lot.
"Since we've got a guest, we'll have to treat you properly."
Kira smiled and raised his Duel Disk.
Since he'd caught this hunter, the guy wouldn't be allowed to just run off. Not that this particular hunter seemed interested in running.
"Sure, I was hoping you'd say that." Trapper laughed lightly. "Running into the King here on the island was unexpected, but visiting you was already part of my plan for this trip."
"Oh?"
"One of the reasons I came this time was to acquire the legendary, priceless Crystal Beast spirits. As for my other goal…"
Trapper Trapper narrowed his eyes.
"The whole underground knows the current Duel King commands god-level spirits. And I am the finest hunter among hunters. I've long wanted to try my hand at a really heavyweight spirit…"
"That so?" Kira unfolded his Duel Disk. "Fine, then.
If I lose, all of my spirits are yours. You can pick and choose however you want.
But in exchange—"
He hadn't even finished when Trapper let out a cold chuckle.
"Of course, all the spirits I've captured in my entire career will be yours to dispose of as you please. And I'll wash my hands of hunting for good. No—better yet, I'll never touch cards again. I'll quit dueling entirely. How about that?"
"Deal."
A fair wager.
"Duel!" x2
[Kira, LP 4000]
[Trapper, LP 4000]
"I'll go first. Draw!"
Trapper drew a card and glanced at his opening hand.
"I summon 'Lure Phantom' in defense mode." (Anime card)
Since it wasn't printed in real life, in this world it existed as a card privately produced by the hunter organization. Many of the cards Trappers used were hunter-exclusive, designed to suit their profession and hunting style.
The monster that appeared was a clump of shadow. It rose up off the ground, taking on the vague outline of a body, with a creepy little smiling face and black eyes, its body formed like clear smoke.
[Lure Phantom, DEF 0]
"Then I set one card face-down and end my turn."
The moment she saw that phantom, Meanae felt something was off. "That guy's deck feels weird too. Boss, be careful."
"I know." Kira smiled. "My turn. Draw."
He glanced at his hand, pulled out one card, and set it.
"I set one card face-down.
Then I activate the Spell Card 'Card Destruction.'"
He sent his remaining hand to the Graveyard in one go.
"Both players discard their entire hands and then draw the same number of cards from their decks."
Trapper said nothing, silently complying—sending his hand to the Grave and drawing a new one.
As soon as he finished redrawing, Kira flipped his face-down card.
"I activate the Spell Card 'Dual Gate.'
By banishing another copy of 'Dual Gate' with the same name from my Graveyard, I can draw two cards from my deck.
I banish another 'Dual Gate' from my Graveyard and draw two."