Judai was the only duelist in the world who could summon a duel monster in body and spirit outside of a duel however there were many duelists who could summon spirits within a duel setting, and Judai was, after all, half-duel spirit. It was possible that he could be summoned into the duel. Of course there were many obstacles in the way. For one, Isabel was not one of the duelists who could see and summon spirits. Though even if she was he doubted it would make much difference, there was only one other besides the Supreme King who had enough power to summon Yubel anyway and that was Yubel herself. It was this ability to summon herself though that had given his plan some hope. If Isabel could play the card, Yubel could do the summoning and with their souls attached the way they were, Judai should be summoned too, maybe.
Even if all that worked out though there was still the matter of getting Yubel onto the field. Judai knew firsthand just how difficult a card she was to play. Isabel had power but her skill was a little behind her peers, she had only held up as well as she did because of her absolute familiarity and belief in her cards. It seemed unlikely that she would take well to a new card, especially one so out of tune with the rest of her deck.
Judai spent most of the morning lesson distracted by the idea but the more he thought about it the surer he became that Isabel would never manage to get Yubel to the field. He was about to give it up when Winged Kuriboh appeared by his shoulder to chirp in his hear.
"Kuri, Kuri!"
"Hmmm…maybe your right aibou." After thanking the spirit Judai wandered over to where Robin was dueling Jake. Robin had shown an unusual aptitude for understanding the way different duel monsters could be used together to maximize potential. It was possible that he would be able to summon Yubel to the field. Now all he had to do was convince Yubel…yeah, this plan was never going to work but he had to try.
Judai spent the rest of the day arguing with Yubel. His students were starting to get rather worried about their teacher. One minute he'd be lecturing then he'd break off to either stare glassily into the air or start muttering to himself before abruptly starting again right where he'd left off.
Winged Kuriboh, Neos, the other Neospacians, and the Elemental heroes eventually got in on the argument. Most supporting their master though a few decided to support Yubel which lead to Judai breaking off in the middle of a lecture about deck construction to mutter something about traitors.
Judai went to bed disgruntled. Yubel had won. She refused to allow anyone else to play her card and he had accepted her decision. He was out of ideas. Isabel would just have to solve the mystery of her powers on her own. He hoped, for her sake, she figured out what price was demanded of her soon.
Judai was woken from his peaceful slumber by a loud irritated voice that only he could hear.
"Oh, fine I'll do it"
"Yubel? You'll do what?"
"I will allow my card to be placed in the deck of that boy."
"Oh…thank you…Can I go back to sleep now?"
"Of course, I just thought you should be made aware of my decision."
"Oh…Okay, Good night Yubel." With that Judai yawned and drifted back into dreamland. He was a little curious as to what had prompted his protector's change of heart but figured now probably wasn't the best time to go digging. When she was ready to tell him she would.
Judai relayed the plan to Robin early the next morning and advised him to spend the day building a deck that could summon Yubel. Robin, always eager for an interesting challenge, immediately starting working on the problem. By late afternoon he was ready.
This time Judai invited Mr. Martinany and Dr. Fudo to serve as witnesses but only after they promised not to interfere no matter what happened.
Isabel and Robin took their seats and traded decks. Judai positioned himself so that he could see the field but not the hands of either duelist. The two children returned the shuffled decks and drew.
This time the duel was anything but normal. Neither duelist so much as glanced at their cards. Their eyes were locked on each other yet their hands moved deftly manipulating the cards on the field. Now all Judai had to do was wait and hope Robin could manage the rather difficult task of summoning Yubel.
The three spectators sat quietly with their eyes glued on the cards the duelists seemed to be ignoring, desperately trying to keep track of the progress of a duel in which neither player called attacks and the monsters could not be seen. Finally, Judai felt Yubel stir within him.
"It's time; he's going to do it." She sounded surprised and awed. "I have underestimated this little one."
Judai turned towards the anxiously waiting fathers and repeated the first part of Yubel's message.
"It's time." Then he was gone. His body stayed put but it was clear his spirit, his soul was elsewhere.
For a moment Judai was the boy who enrolled in Duel Academy, awed and excited by the simple awesomeness of being a duel monster inside of a duel. It was Yubel who reminded him he wasn't there to sight see; he had a purpose to fulfill.
He reluctantly laid aside the childlike joy and took up the mantle of maturity once again.
A quick glance told him the battle was taking place in an old stone arena not unlike the one where Misawa had first dueled Tanya his future wife. (Last Judai had heard they were expecting their first child sometime this winter.)
Isabel stood on the far side of the arena though she was barely recognizable as the girl Judai knew. She was older and taller. Her black hair was pulled back by a crown and circlet much like the one Princess Edena wore but that was where the similarities between the girl in front of him and the video game princess ended. Her obviously fine dress hung off of her shoulders sloping elegantly to the ground. On her arm she bore a white duel disk accented by dark royal purple and studded with gems. Her eyes spoke of power as she surveyed the soldiers in front of her. This girl was no princess; she was every inch a Queen. She currently had two monsters on the field, The Witch of Endor and Lady Pekkala.
Judai turned to look at the other duelist, the one who had summoned him. The changes in Robin's appearance were even more striking and bizarre. He too seemed older. He wore an open white lab coat but everything else, his shirt, skin, hair and even eyes were marked with the pattern on the back of every Duel Monster card. Yubel was the only monster on his side of the field but Judai could sense the presence of two face down cards without being able to see them.
Judai watched as Isabel drew and summoned Blaca Whit whose effect boosted the Witch's attack strength. Judai could tell at a glance that the cat that appeared on the field was not the same one that he had seen when he confronted Isabel about her deck. It was just a figure like the holograms. His first impression had been right; whatever was going on it wasn't spirit magic.
Isabel ordered her newly powered up witch to attack Yubel. Robin activated a trap card that halved The Witch of Endor's attack strength. The trap protected Yubel but her effect still activated causing a sharp reduction in Isabel's life points.
Even after hearing Isabel's scream, had Judai been alone he might never have figured out the price for this strange game. But he was not alone and Yubel recognized the nature of the payment almost immediately.
"It is pain" she told Judai, "it matters not whether the trauma comes from mind or body so long as it hurts."
"Should we stop the duel?" Judai asked. Yubel considered it for a moment.
"I think not. These two are evenly matched. They will both suffer but they will also recover. I doubt there will be any lasting damage. However, should this girl duel someone much stronger or weaker than she is one of them would end up either mentally or physically crippled."
Judai decided to trust Yubel's instincts and let the duel run its course. His resolve became harder to maintain as the duel went on and the children's screams became weaker. Still letting them continue was the safer option and Judai knew that, even if it was hard to believe.
The duel finally ended with Isabel's victory. The sound of Robin's last scream was still ringing in his ears when Judai found himself abruptly back in his own body.
A/N: Okay time for some clarification as too exactly what is happening in Isabel's duels. Originally I had intended for Judai to work it all out but it turns out I overestimated his intelligence. Judai just isn't smart enough to figure out all the ins and outs of what's going on but I still feel I owe an explanation so here it is:
Isabel is one of the first of a group that will later be known as "psychic duelists" her powers are modeled after Aki from 5Ds (Yes, card games on motorbikes!). In 5Ds Aki is shown making the monsters "real" but what she does seems very different from what Judai and Luna/Rua do. There is no sign that the things she summons are sentient. Thus I theorized that she isn't summoning the spirit of the monster at all. She is instead simply imagining the holograms to be real and her imagining makes it so. Isabel has the same powers but they are displayed very differently. Aki has probably only ever dueled with a duel disk so it would have been natural for her to have imagined the holograms to have more presence than they actually had. Isabel on the other hand, had rarely seen duels with duel disks and the first time she had ever dueled with one was in her first duel against Robin Fudo. She had no reason to imagine the holograms to be any more real than they actually were because they were so much more real than anything else she had experienced. (Her flinching and Robin's yelp were because of the power present in the duel not because of Isabel's magic. Ever notice how the stronger a duelist's opponent the more they react to the holographic attacks even when no magic is involved?) Instead her power manifested inward because that's where her focus was. Isabel spent a lot of time alone; she learned to duel by imagining the duels. Her magic activated and tried to make the duels in her head real. Of course she's not actually powerful enough to create a whole world for her duels to take place in so her magic temporarily "redecorated" her soul room to match her vision then sent an invitation to her opponent where it would be accepted or rejected depending upon the compatibility of the other mind.
There is another common factor among the various different types of magic duels. There is always a price be it a soul or something else a little less definable. Again I had to look to Aki to see what price Isabel would pay. The answer seemed obvious. Aki tended to use her powers to attack and injure others and it's clear that use of her powers lead Aki to suffer from severe mental trauma as well. The common factor, present on both sides of the equation, is pain. I think that pretty much covers it. If you have any questions drop me a line or a review.