After a ridiculous little interlude, Youmi learned that the two had come to find her for dinner.
Although she had already eaten her fill before arriving, there was no reason to refuse a free feast, so she packed up her Deck and followed the two of them to the restaurant.
After enjoying a flavor different from the hotels nearby, it was finally time to announce the matchups for the first round. The staff rolled out the [Bingo Machine, Go!!!] (originally called the Ultimate Bingo Machine as a device). After assigning numbers to all the Duelists, they started the machine.
"Looks like my first-round opponent is Miss Youmi," Ishizu said before the Ultimate Dragon Bingo Machine even began rolling, holding a plate of food in her hands.
Thanks to the Millennium Necklace's power of foresight, she had already seen the result before the machine even appeared.
Youmi had her eyes on a piece of steak, but just as she added it to her plate, she felt a wave of physical discomfort and ended up choosing the sausage beside it instead. "Almost forgot my own nature... So Minotaurs and cows aren't considered separate species, huh? Anyway, Ishizu, did you already see the result?"
After all, Youmi really didn't want to have a match against [Gravekeeper's Oracle].
"I did. If you wish, I can forfeit right now to save you the trouble, Miss Youmi."
Ishizu set down her plate and drew out her Deck, looking toward the Number Machine that had already displayed the result. "Though the future I observe constantly changes around you as its center, I have yet to see any vision where I defeat you. The only difference is that our Duel, originally meant for Duel City's preliminaries, has been delayed until the quarterfinals."
"No, since the future has already changed, perhaps the possibility of you winning exists too. Isn't it interesting to see whether the course of fate can be changed again?"
Youmi showed her own Deck as well—but Ishizu could see that Youmi carried two Deck boxes.
Unlike the spare one that held a large number of extra cards, this one must have been built specifically in anticipation of facing Ishizu. Following the staff's instructions, they headed together to the Duel space aboard the Duel Airship.
After equipping her Deck onto her Duel Disk and feeling the air current—which, by her standards of endurance, was little more than a breeze—Youmi said to Ishizu, "Avoiding the Duel altogether would count as changing the future too, but surrendering without even trying doesn't suit this stage at all. Let's have a proper Duel, Ishizu."
"If that is your wish, Miss Youmi." Ishizu nodded and mounted her Deck as well.
"DUEL~"
"DUEL."
Turn 1
The moment the Duel began, Youmi drew her opening five cards, then drew again for her first turn. Across from her, Ishizu leisurely drew her own five cards, as though already certain she wouldn't be able to seize the first move.
"Eh, what's with that laziness?"
Though with the reflexes and strength of a Minotaur, she could easily make up for the delay, her opponent's resignedly slow hand movements still left Youmi half-amused, half-exasperated.
"Then, as the opening move, I activate the Spell Card [Painful Choice] from my hand—"
Just as she was about to slot the Spell into her Spell & Trap Zone, Ishizu suddenly called out its name: "Miss Youmi, your first card is [Painful Choice]. The five cards you reveal are three [Makyura the Destructor], one [Pot of Greed], and one [Night Assailant]. I choose [Makyura the Destructor]. Since it's sent to the Graveyard, this turn you may activate a Trap Card from your hand."
As the virtual projection of [Painful Choice] appeared, it confirmed Ishizu's words were true. Youmi indeed revealed those five cards, and because of Ishizu's choice, she added [Makyura the Destructor] to her hand.
"Wait… that woman's a psychic or something? She can predict Youmi's hand and her plays? That's insane!" Joey's astonished voice came from the side, but Youmi ignored it, drawing another card from her hand—yet before she could even play it, Ishizu spoke again.
"That card in your hand is [Reckless Greed]. Go ahead and draw from your Deck. Though I don't know if that card was there from the start, next you use [Graceful Charity], discarding [Night Assailant] and [Vampire Lady] to the Graveyard. Then [Night Assailant] retrieves another [Night Assailant]."
Once again, Ishizu perfectly predicted her actions. Youmi didn't even have the chance to declare her effects, simply drawing from her Deck as if chewing bitter herbs, adding [Graceful Charity] to her hand.
From the three cards she drew, two—[Night Assailant] and [Vampire Lady]—were currently unusable, so she sent them to the Graveyard and retrieved a [Night Assailant] in return.
"Uh, you don't plan on narrating my entire Duel until I win, do you?"
Ishizu didn't respond, falling silent until Youmi revealed another card. "The next Spell you play is [A Feather of the Phoenix], discarding your last [Night Assailant] to place [Pot of Greed] on top of your Deck, then using [Pot of Greed].
"Afterwards, since you already have two [Night Assailant]s, you use [Magical Stone Excavation] twice without loss to retrieve [Pot of Greed] and [Hand Destruction], draw again, and finally use [Spell Economics], [Confiscation], and [Mind Crush] to destroy my hand. Am I wrong, Miss Youmi?"
As Ishizu spoke faster and faster, Youmi found her hands struggling to keep up with the prophet's voice—regardless, in the end, after a flurry of plays, she really did complete a combo involving [Spell Economics], [Confiscation], and [Mind Crush], shredding her opponent's hand—with one more pleasant surprise besides.
"I know you have [Time Seal] in hand, but I think this Duel doesn't need to continue any further."
Placing her hand atop her Deck, Ishizu declared her surrender, showing a wry smile. "I didn't expect you to have built an entire hand-destruction Deck specifically to counter me since the first day of Duel City. That's just cruel, Miss Youmi."
Indeed, the Deck Youmi had used this time was built precisely to ensure victory when facing opponents like Ishizu—ones who could end the Duel in a single turn if allowed a chance.
Her [Lovely Labrynth of the Silver Castle] Deck was left in her other box. Though she wanted to enjoy Dueling, if she lost and couldn't return to her original world, that would be a huge loss. Sometimes, a person has no choice but to play to win.
Though that did make her feel sorry for Ishizu.
Scratching her head awkwardly, she didn't respond to Joey and the others' praise. Looking up at the display for the next round—Bakura versus Yugi Muto—she couldn't help thinking how strange it was that even though she had replaced Seto Kaiba as Ishizu's opponent in this Duel, those two would still inevitably face each other, just one round later.
...
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