Late at night, after spending the morning teaching Marik and then failing to find any Locator Cards outside, Youmi returned to her temporary lodging. The punctured bedframe had already been replaced—though her horns had managed to stab through it again—but that wasn't the point.
After a heavy knock, the door to Youmi's room swung open. A man in a dark purple cloak entered, holding a short golden staff. Though his face was hidden beneath the hood, under the moonlight, his bronze skin was visible. He approached Youmi's window, raised the staff high, and thrust it toward her chest.
"I see… So to you, I'm an obstacle, huh…"
Catching the attacker's wrist mid-strike with her left hand, Youmi's silver eyes glimmered as she examined his face closely.
"That's right! You've interfered far too much with my plan. To correct it, you must die here, woman!"
That manic expression, the bulging veins, and the utterly inhuman hairstyle that defied physics, combined with the dark cloak he wasn't even supposed to be wearing anymore—yeah, it was Yami Marik all right…
Youmi remembered that as long as Odion was alive, Yami Marik wasn't supposed to awaken. Yet Odion was perfectly fine right now… so why had Yami Marik suddenly appeared to assassinate her?
Using Minotaur-level strength, Youmi twisted Marik's wrist and threw him over her shoulder. Glancing at her shattered door and her equally destroyed bedframe, she could vaguely make out a white-haired man in a blue shirt standing outside.
'Why is it that you're always behind these incidents, Bakura?'
"Well, I've been discovered. Oh well. Ouch, ouch, ouch… been a while since I felt pain like this." Marik grabbed a Duel Disk and strapped it to his arm. "I'll burn you to ashes with the power of [The Winged Dragon of Ra], meddlesome woman."
At his words, Yami Marik raised the Millennium Rod, and the Eye upon it unleashed tangible darkness that spread in all directions. The entire hotel room was swallowed by shadow, transforming into an endless dark space.
'A Shadow Game? It's really that versatile?'
Youmi admitted she couldn't perform such advanced darkness-based rituals—her power wasn't of that kind. At most, she possessed certain abilities from [Lovely Labrynth of the Silver Castle].
With a sharp tug, she tore off her nightclothes, and in a flash of silver light, her body was clad in the same armor as [Lovely Labrynth of the Silver Castle], raising her Attack by 100 and Defense by 1000.
Just kidding. Since her vessel was [Lovely Labrynth of the Silver Castle], the armor was purely decorative.
Regardless, there were things here that were far from mere decoration.
The silver Duel Disk on Youmi's right arm shimmered brilliantly. Rather than using her usual [Labrynth] Deck, she drew a gleaming new Deck entirely made of radiant cards. "Since you're asking for it, I'll give you a special killing show~"
Though these were temporary cards usable only in Shadow Games, Youmi didn't mind giving Yami Marik a proper lesson.
"DUEL!"
"DUEL☆★~"
Turn 1
As expected, she lost the coin toss for first move—again.
Yami Marik let out his trademark creepy laugh, but it was so raspy that Youmi thought she was dueling a 160-year-old man, not a sadistic alter ego.
"My turn first. Draw."
Yami Marik drew his card, then raised one in his hand high. "As my opening move, let's heat things up—literally. I activate [Meteor of Destruction] from my hand! Take 1000 damage!"
Typical Yami Marik—starting with a card banned from the Duel City ruleset. Surprisingly, though, its effect was the OCG version, lacking both the 500 LP cost and the attack condition. Probably why KaibaCorp banned it for this tournament.
"Uh, I'm pretty sure that's banned in Duel City."
"I never said we were using Duel City rules, did I?"
Due to the Shadow Game's nature, the [Meteor of Destruction] manifested and hurled itself toward Youmi. She was required to receive it according to the rules; however, that didn't mean she had to take the full impact. With a flick of her left hand, she redirected the fiery meteor aside. Her LP decreased, but she felt no pain physically or mentally.
[Youmi, LP: 4000 → 3000]
Meanwhile, pretending not to be involved, Yami Bakura had no choice except to step out of the shadows—the deflected [Meteor of Destruction] had landed right where he'd been standing.
"So you noticed me. Not bad, woman," Bakura sneered, glaring at Youmi before turning to Marik. "Hey, Marik, remember our deal: if you lose, I'm taking your Millennium Item. I don't want to get my hands dirty, so either finish her off quickly or lose with some dignity."
"You won't have to wait long. She's just a woman with some special power. Let's see how long you can last in this Shadow Game!" Yami Marik licked his lips and twisted his face into an unholy grin. Then he played another Spell Card. "Next, I activate [Hinotama]—take 500 more damage!"
[Youmi, LP: 3000 → 2500]
Switching her cards to her right hand, Youmi fanned away the incoming [Hinotama] spell as if brushing off dust, completely unconcerned with the drop in her LP. As long as she had enough to activate her trump card, that was plenty—anything above zero was just a luxury.
Having 501 Defense to block [Hinotama] or 1001 to stop [Lava Golem]—that was all she needed.
"Guess you didn't add the cards I suggested, huh? How disobedient of you, little brat Yami Marik." Youmi looked at him as though he were an insect. "If you're done flailing, hurry up and end your turn. I need to get some beauty sleep—staying up late is terrible for the skin, regardless of gender."
"Hmph, you'll only last a few turns anyway. I Set one monster and one Spell/Trap card. Turn end."
Turn.2
"From my perspective, I value duels for their entertainment. If a match is interesting enough, I don't mind losing—that said, a duel like yours..." Youmi looked at Marik's pitiful back row and face-down monster, thinking maybe she'd overestimated him. "Honestly, I just want to end this right now. So this turn—"
With her usual flair, she snapped her fingers and declared to Marik, "Final Turn."
Drawing a card from her Deck and adding it to her hand, Youmi sighed, selecting one from her existing cards. "I've wanted to do this for ages, but I never imagined the opponent would be you.
"Oh well, let's begin. By the way, maybe I should thank you for lowering my LP—it might actually help me. I activate the Field Spell [Chicken Game]."
This was a Field Spell from another era—one that Youmi bypassed [Ten Thousand Dragon]'s limitations to use, only for this Shadow Game. When someone was trying to kill her, she wasn't about to play fair.
The darkness around them shifted into the scene of a cliffside, and she heard something shattering.
"Hey, it's bad enough you started a Shadow Game, you even preloaded a Field Spell in it?"
Sensing the fading darkness in the environment—first thinning into pure emptiness, then transforming into the setting of [Chicken Game]—Youmi realized what tricks Marik had pulled. "Whatever. It's gone anyway. The effect of [Chicken Game]: as long as this card remains on the Field, the player with fewer LP takes no battle damage or effect damage."
Yami Marik sneered at the Field Spell. "Hmph. You talk about ending the duel this turn, but then you play some stalling card like that? What a joke. Go ahead, show me whatever tricks you have left."
"Don't rush me. The game's just getting started. [Chicken Game] has another effect: once per turn, during your Main Phase, you can pay 1000 LP to activate one of three effects. Neither player can respond to its activation with Spell, Trap, or Monster effects."
Youmi's choice was obvious.
"I'll pay 1000 LP to draw one card."
[Youmi, LP: 2500 → 1500]
"You spent 1000 LP just to draw? I see—you're using it as a self-triggering safety net to avoid being wiped out by a God Card, huh? What a pathetic duelist."
Youmi didn't bother responding; it would only cheapen her. "Forget that. What's the wager of this Shadow Game? If I win, I want you to disappear from this world completely—no trace left behind. However, your lies about Yugi and the others stay erased from existence too. Your memories, however… I'll let those remain."
"Such big words for someone without power. If I win, I'll condemn your soul to eternal torment within the Shadow Game!" Yami Marik raised the Millennium Rod, his expression twisted with delight—it was probably one of the last few times in his life he'd ever make such a face.
"Then the pact is sealed. Don't regret it. Thanks to [Chicken Game], I draw one card. Then I activate the Normal Spell [Pot of Greed], drawing two more cards."
After drawing, Youmi looked over her hand and smiled. "Looks like I could end this now—but that'd be boring. I activate another [Chicken Game] and pay 1000 LP to draw once more."
[Youmi, LP: 1500 → 500]
Youmi recalled that Marik's Deck had some cards that redirected damage, so she decided to prepare insurance. Glancing at her new draw, she made a conflicted expression. "I can never resist cards this overpowered. I activate [Painful Choice]. I reveal five cards from my Deck; you pick one for my hand, and the rest go to the Graveyard."
She revealed two copies of [Black Pendant], two [Fuhma Shuriken], and one [Hidden Armory].
Marik chose [Hidden Armory].
"Ah, I actually didn't need your input, since they're all about the same. But since you've chosen, fine. I activate two [Hidden Armory]. To activate each, I send the top card of my Deck to the Graveyard, and I can't Normal Summon this turn. Then I add one Equip Spell from my Deck or Graveyard to my hand. Since I activated two, I add two [Fuhma Shuriken]s to my hand."
Without even looking at the top of her Deck, Youmi sent the two cards to the Graveyard, then showed the [Fuhma Shuriken]s she added to her hand before Setting them along with another card.
"Now then, the show's finally reached its climax. What do people usually say here again?" She thought for a moment, then spread her arms dramatically. "Ladies and gentlemen—the real performance begins now!
"…Ugh, that's so cringe."
Sighing, she tapped her head lightly and looked at Marik. "Kid, earlier you said I used [Chicken Game] just to stall, right? Let me be clear—that's not what it's for. One of its three selectable effects is to destroy itself. And since my LP is only 500, any random weak monster you summon next turn would finish me off. So…"
"I see. You've realized you can't win against a God Card, so you're choosing self-destruction?" Marik licked his lips again, staring at her with that unsettling look. "Perhaps I'll increase the suffering of your soul as thanks for such cooperation."
Youmi rolled her eyes in open disgust. "You don't have another turn, Marik. I told you already—this is the Final Turn."
"I send all my cards on the field and in my hand to the Graveyard to activate the Spell Card [Reversal Quiz]! Its effect: I declare the type of the top card of my Deck—Monster, Spell, or Trap. If I guess right, our LPs are exchanged!"
"A one-in-three chance? That's a pretty risky card. You're really betting on that?" Yami Marik still hadn't realized the gravity of the situation.
Nonetheless, Youmi placed her finger gently atop her Deck and smiled serenely. "If you have anything to say, do it now, Marik, because you're out of time. Since the duel began, have you seen me use a single card that wasn't a Spell?"
"No… No way—that's impossible!"
Youmi drew the top card in one sharp motion, tracing a silver arc through the air. "The chance of guessing wrong was zero from the start. Without a doubt—it's a Spell Card!"
She flipped it over—[Cybernetic Fusion Support].
Yami Marik's confidence wavered, his Millennium Rod trembling in his grasp. "But even if our LPs are swapped, I still have a Set monster! You've got nothing left in your hand or field—how could you possibly win this turn—"
"I already told you, you have no next turn. The effects of the three [Fuhma Shuriken]s I sent to the Graveyard activate! Though normally used as an Equip Spell for [Ninja] monsters that grants 700 Attack, that's not what matters here." Youmi drew the three [Fuhma Shuriken]s from the Graveyard and flicked them at Marik like actual throwing stars.
"When sent from the field to the Graveyard, each one inflicts 700 damage to your opponent!"
"Th-this can't be…!"
...
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