Usagi had to admit she was unnerved, but what battle against Chaos hadn't at least shook her? There was so much at stake: the past, the future, their friends' souls. And now that stake relied on trusting the heart of the cards in a game she didn't fully understand.

Beside her, Atem seemed a bit more confident. He knew the stakes, but he also knew he couldn't afford to choke up and lose. Their lives and the lives of their friends were on the line. He flipped the card over. "I summon Mystic Swordsman Jounounchi-kun onto the field."

The familiar form of Jounouchi, Yugi's obnoxious blond friend, now graced the field. He was decorated in fantasy-style armor with unnecessary pieces of cloth and decorations as well as some manner of hat that just didn't seem to match the rest of the outfit. He stared at the large sword in his hands then at Set across the battlefield. He was dreaming. Yup. Wouldn't be the first time he'd dreamt of Duel Monsters.

Jounouchi blinked. That biting wind felt a little too real. He turned behind him. "Atem? Am I dreaming?"

"You're not, Jounouchi-kun," Atem shook his head. "It's a Shadow Game against the god of chaos in Ancient Egypt. Will you lend me your strength?"

Jounouchi stared at him, then glanced at Usagi standing next to him, then back at Atem. It sounded like some weird fanfiction he could find on the internet. It was even too weird for him to dream up. However. "Do you really need to ask? Of course! Let's kick that guy's ass like we did back against that ring spirit!"

"I knew I could count on you." Atem grinned. He remembered that Shadow Game of Monster World against the newly awakened ring spirit. He'd only recently become self-aware at that point, still uncertain of who or what he was. That felt like forever ago.

He turned his attention back to Set. "I place these two cards face down and end my turn. Usagi-san?"

She stared at her cards. Play by your heart. Trust your heart. She had to trust in the strength of her friends once again. They always gave her so much strength to fight, even at the most desperate of times. Right now was one of those times.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she relied on that bond with her friends as she'd done in so many battles before. Drawing a card, she stared at it. The cards had responded to her heart. "I summon the Legendary Guardian to the field. Come forth, Codename: Sailor V!"

Sailor V appeared before them in a burst of light and hearts, posing as if celebrating a victory before her heels sunk into the sands. V stared at Set across the field. That was a form of Chaos if she ever saw one. Perhaps the weirdest one, but they'd seen some pretty weird stuff in their battles. Last thing she could remember was setting her crescent compact by the window. She rarely used it but she sometimes remembered to charge it with the light of the moon.

Perhaps this was a wild dream induced by too many parfaits the afternoon before. But perhaps more importantly… "Why am I in this outfit again?"

"V-chan!" Usagi called out to her. "I need your power to fight Chaos! Can you help us?"

V turned, her expression softening as she spotted Serenity standing behind her. "Of course, Princess! You can always count on me!"

Usagi nodded, fumbling with the cards in her hand. She didn't really know how to set or use traps so she just shrugged. "End turn?"

Set smirked, amused by her uncertainty. He didn't expect this would be an easy battle by any means, but that didn't mean he wouldn't try to play on her uncertainty or attempt to metaphorically (perhaps literally) rip their hearts out. He was a god, after all. He had no reason to believe two piddly mortals could best him, even if they were sent to the past by the goddess of time.

He barely moved as he drew a card, summoning it. "I summon the Crocodile Warriors to the field." Several human-bodied crocodile-headed warriors appeared on the field dressed in traditional Ancient Egyptian attire, brandishing spears and swords. "I also summon the Mosquito Warriors as part of the Crocodile Warrior's special summoning ability."

"Hey, isn't that cheating?" Usagi shuddered at the giant mosquitos with human bodies. This was just weird and kind of gross.

"He's stacked his deck with some powerful spirits," Atem frowned as well, "ones that don't exist within our time. We don't really have anyway of knowing what he'll pull from that deck. But he also won't completely know what we'll pull from ours. The spirits of our friends will act differently than most duel monsters cards."

"They'll act differently?" Usagi stared up at V's back. That was indeed her friend standing there in front of her as a duel monster. Or a ka spirit, since this was ancient times. She stared across the field at the crocodiles and bugs. The summons didn't act like normal monster cards. She wasn't the most strategic person by any definition, but she knew her friends like the back of her hand.

"Because of their special ability, they all can attack at once!" Set cackled, sending the warriors off towards the two spirits on the other side of the sandy field.

"Che, cheap," Jounouchi scoffed, gripping the large sword. Six warriors at once. That seemed like far too many for one person to summon, but technically they were only two cards and this was a god across the field from us. But gods didn't really intimidate him after all they went through in Battle City.

"Jounouchi-kun, this is an ancient Shadow Game!" Atem shouted as he pointed forward. "Counter attack against the Crocodile Warriors with your blade!"

"Now we're talkin'!" Jounouchi grinned. He could feel the surge of power running through him as he leapt forward. He dodged the stabs and jabs of the spears, slicing cleanly through one of them with his large blade. He felt like he completely understood how to fight with swords despite never actually fighting with one in real life.

Usagi was quickly realizing what Atem had meant that the battles worked differently here. They felt more familiar, like a battle of magic she'd fought before. She still had to command as if she were playing a Pokemon game, but at least she knew what she was fighting with this time. "V-chan! Get rid of those gross mosquitos!"

"You got it!" Sailor V extended a finger, drawing a glittery spiral with it. Shifting her stance, she pushed the spiral forward with both hands. "Diphenhydramine Dispersa! Venus Brand: Mosquito Incense Typhoon!" The spiral grew larger and larger, ensnaring the mosquito warriors and quickly causing them to whither and die in the deadly trap.

"V-chan! You're so cool!" Usagi cheered.

"Victory!" Sailor V cheered, offering a victory pose.

Jounouchi leapt backwards to meet with the rest of the group, brandishing his blade at the now empty opposite side of the field. "Yeah, take that!"

Sailor V celebrated over their victory. It was like doing some sort of VR battle. "We're awesome as Duel Monsters, Jounouchi-kun!"

"Damn right!" he agreed.

Set scoffed, feeling the effects of losing two summons at once pull at his life force. They were treating it like some sort of game without consequence, enjoying the battle. Set somewhat expected it from the Pharaoh's half of the field, but not quite from the Moon's half. If only he'd managed to steal those souls for himself.

While he could possibly go backwards and redo the battle, he still was confident that he could best the Pharaoh and the Princess. He'd worked too hard to alter time for this to fail. He just needed to show them true misery and break their spirits.

Atem drew a card, looking at the cards face with a grin. "Usagi-san, something you should know from here out."

She glanced at him. His face seemed more confident but his words more cautionary. "Something wrong?"

"Be cautious with how many summons you have on the field," he warned. "While certainly we'd want to have all our friends with us, summoning here in this type of battle can cause strain on your ka if you're not careful."

"Don't worry, Princess!" V tried to cheer her up. "No matter how many of us are out here on the field or in your deck, we're always with you in your heart. Just like the many times we've had to fight evil separated."

Usagi smiled brightly at her friend. "Of course! We're always together."

Atem smiled as well. Her faith in her friends was inspiring for this battle. He had to once again rely on the souls of his friends to help him out. "I summon to the field Magical Gunman Honda-kun!"

Honda appeared next to Jounouchi, wearing some mismash of attire from the American wild western movies with some steampunk aesthetic. He wielded a large shotgun that seemed to have more gears than necessary. He huffed. Another shadow game. At least he seemed to be taking it better than Jounouchi did at first. "Alright, let's do this."

Atem grinned. Honda was definitely itching for a fight. "I use this spell card to equip Honda-kun with a scattershot magical bullet."

Honda cocked the magical gun. "Now we're talking." He glared across the field. Whatever that thing was across the field had to be responsible for this mess. The talk of disappearances, the weird attacks across the town. Given that Atem stood behind him in full Egyptian royal regalia, that thing on the opposite side was likely pretty ancient. It needed to go.

"Honda-kun, attack Set directly!" Atem instructed.

"You got it." He cocked the gun again, resting it against his shoulder and firing off a stream of magical bullets directly at the thing across the field.

Set smirked. "Activate instant spell, Wall of Sand." With a swipe of his hand, he drew sand upwards, deflecting the bullets and sending them back towards the other side of the field.

"That sounds more like a Magic the Gathering card," Jounouchi mumbled.

"Counter trap, Mirror Force!" Atem revealed one of the face down cards, reflecting the attack.

"Instant spell, Divine Mirror!" Set countered with a card from his hand again.

More counter attacks, just like the first time Moon and Atem teamed up. V thought her head was going to spin right off her shoulders.

"I don't think so," Atem waggled his finger at Set. "Activate another trap card, Magic Cylinder!"

"You don't have a mage!" Set jeered.

"I don't, but Usagi-san does!" Atem quickly indicated Usagi's one friend on the field. "I equip Sailor V with the Magic Cylinder and deflect the attack!"

V quickly recovered from her dizziness from the counters, grabbing the cylinder that now appeared within reach. She leapt before the two boys, taking a knee as the magical bullets were sucked into the cylinder. "Duel Monsters Combo: Magical Attack Deflection!" She naturally had to give it a name as the blast of magical energy fired off towards Set.

The god scoffed as the beam of light struck him. That pharaoh was much more clever than the previous incarnation he fought, and that princess and her belief in friendship would cause more trouble than he had planned. But this would make it interesting. It would be much more satisfying to crush them now. He'd make sure of it.

...

Author's musings

I have waited so long for this chapter. And I probably put far too much thought in how this battle would be coordinated. So why not do the time old classic of WE'RE DUELING WITH OUR FRIENDS' SOULS. Well I mean, this is called Duel of the Souls for a reason.

Jounouchi's outfit is based on the Flame Swordsman during the shadow duel in the Duel Monsters anime. Honda's is from Monster World in the manga (which is what the anime version is based on)

I literally put Minako in as Sailor V solely because I wanted to use that mosquito brand attack. Her attack names in the manga are just so random it had to be done. I just love the idea that Minako has to give everything an over-the-top name.

Mosquito and crocodile warriors are a thing in Ancient Egyptian lore. Obviously that means I must use them because MOSQUITO PEOPLE? YES. What else could be kinda terrifying and gross across the battlefield?