Ichigo and Masaya rushed out of the Momomiya residence and towards the café, where who was left of the gang would meet up to discuss where to find Zakuro and Minto. As they ran onto the front section of an extended city bus from a bus stop nearby, they noticed that it was empty and devoid of life aside from the driver and an assistant, an odd sight to see in the morning in Tokyo. Ichigo looked to Masaya and asked him quietly, "This seems awfully suspicious. The buses on this route are never empty, especially not at this time of the day. Want me to go up to the bus driver and see what's up?"
"Be careful," Masaya instructed her.
She nodded and held her right hand out, saying quietly to herself, "Strawberry Bell." With a flash, her Strawberry Bell weapon formed in her right hand. As she walked forward, she asked the assistant, a young man with dark blue hair, "Hey, is this bus in service?"
He looked to her right in the eye and told her, "It is. I'm glad you came up to us." He then grabbed a duel disk from the floor behind him and put it on. "You fell right into our trap."
As the bus stopped, the bus driver turned around and said to his colleague, "Hey, Ryuji, if you need a hand, let me know."
"Got it," Ryuji replied before he turned back to Ichigo. "The back section is off-limits for a reason. How about you two take a look and see why?"
"Masaya," Ichigo instructed her boyfriend as she turned around. "Watch these two for me. I'm taking a look in the back." Masaya nodded as Ichigo walked to the rear of the front section and opened the door to the rear, stepping into the transition between the two sections. When she opened the door to the rear section, she gasped and nearly jumped in fright. "Wha-... What?!" Before her were several dead bodies, including who were most likely the original driver and assistant plus four passengers. They had been dead for at least several hours, and the stench of death was pungent due to the hot summer weather outside. Blood had pooled on the floor before her as she quickly slammed the door shut and ran back to the front section. It was clear from their visible injuries that they had all been shot.
Masaya, worried about her, reaction, asked her, "Ichigo, what did you see?!"
"They," Ichigo stammered out. "They... They killed the original driver and assistant plus the original passengers... They left their bodies in the rear of the bus." She took a deep breath and turned to the Ghoul assistant. "You're really bloodthirsty, aren't you?"
"You could say that," he replied. "Anyway, are we gonna duel or what? I'm surprised that other self of your's isn't out yet."
Ichigo slightly panicked as she realized her other self would have to come out eventually. "That's odd. She isn't out yet." "I don't care," she replied regardless as she readied her duel disk. "I don't need that to win." As she drew her five cards, she thought to herself, "What's up with her?"
"I'll go first," the Ghoul replied. "I draw! I then summon Koumori Dragon, with 1500 attack!" As Koumori Dragon took to the field, which was smaller in size due to the constraints of the city bus, he then selected another card from his hand. "Magic Card Activate! Ancient Rules! With this card, I Special Summon Millennium Scorpion, with 2000 attack! Additionally, every time it destroys one of your monsters, it gains an additional 500 attack points! I end my turn."
"I draw," Ichigo declared as she drew a card. "Let's see... Okay, I set one monster and one Magic or Trap card and end my turn." She thought to herself as she ended her turn, "What's taking her so long?"
As the Ghoul began his next turn, Masaya looked over the duel, wondering what the deal was with Ichigo. "She mentioned that other self of her's," he thought to himself. "But that other self isn't here. Why? Is one of them afraid? Is there a feud going on between them?"
"I summon Royal Knight, with 1300 attack! Royal Knight's special ability allows me to gain life points equal to the defense points of any monster it destroys." He then overlooked his monsters to see which one he wanted to attack with. "Alright then. I'll have Royal Knight attack your set monster!" Royal Knight reached forward and swung through the set monster card Ichigo had on the field, destroying a set Elemental HERO Burstinatrix. "I now gain 800 life points since I destroyed your Burstinatix! Now, Millennium Scorpion and Koumori Dragon, attack her directly!" Both monsters lunged forward and struck Ichigo. Since this was not a Shadow Game, Ichigo thankfully did not feel the attack physically.
GHOUL: 4000
ICHIGO: 0500
"I wish you luck," the Ghoul sinisterly told his opponent. "Not many people come back from an attack like that."
"I can," Ichigo replied as she revealed her set card. "Reverse Card Open! Call Of The Haunted! I bring back Burstinatrix to my field!" With that, his turn ended, and her turn began. "Now, it's my turn! Draw!" She then looked at her hand. "I activate Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three cards to my hand from my deck and discard two cards." As she looked at her hand, she chuckled, realizing a funny coincidence. "Would you look at that? I activate Pot of Greed next, allowing me to draw two more cards!"
As she was about to choose another card from her hand, she then heard a voice behind her stop her in her tracks. "Partner, hey."
As Ichigo turned around, she saw that Dark Ichigo was standing behind her, something only she could see or hear. "Other me?! What are you doing?!"
As Masaya and the Ghoul looked on in confusion, Dark Ichigo appeared nervous, shuffling around on her feet. "I... I didn't take over this time. I was afraid of what I would do. You have to believe me when I say that."
Ichigo was annoyed, wondering why she was so hesitant now of all times. "Wake up, other me! What planet are you on?! This guy and his accomplice literally murdered like six people just to steal a bus! You have my full permission to do whatever you want!"
The Ghoul, standing opposite of her, asked Ichigo, "Why are you yelling into thin air? What was that thing about me?" He had no idea the true extent of Ichigo's other self.
Ichigo turned around and yelled at him, "This isn't concerning you!" She then turned around and talked to Dark Ichigo again, telling her, "I'm telling you, other me, come on out!"
"What if I do it again, partner?" Dark Ichigo was clearly worried that if she came out again for a duel, she would end up in a situation like she did with Kisshu. "What if I almost kill an innocent?!"
Ichigo then took a deep breath to calm herself down."I'll reign you in if you try that," Ichigo calmly assured her to try to calm her nerves. "I did it before, other me. What we need right now is for you to be out here. These men deserve to face your judgement."
Dark Ichigo paused as she took her words into consideration before taking a deep breath. As she decided to make her choice, she told her, "Okay, okay, fine. You got your wish."
Ichigo smiled, and turned back around to the Ghoul to confront him. "Okay, you wanted to see the other me, right? Well, here she is." She then stood still and held her arms out below her, her palms open and facing him as she closed her eyes. With a bright flash of light, her pendant lit up, and she was surrounded by a circle of red light.
With an even brighter flash, the circle disappeared, and Dark Ichigo emerged from within. As she opened her eyes once more, she told the Ghoul, "I'm here, and I'll be sure to have you face judgement."
"Excellent," the Ghoul gleefully replied to her. "The real fun begins here."
"To continue with my partner's turn," Dark Ichigo added. "I activate Polymerization to fuse my Burstinatrix with Elemental HERO Sparkman from my hand!" She then put the selected cards and Polymerization in the graveyard before reaching for her thigh pocket. "With this, I Fusion Summon Vision HERO Adoration, with 2800 attack!"
Masaya thought to himself after the seemingly one-sided exchange Ichigo had, "Are her and this other Ichigo more separate than I thought? It was as if she was talking to someone else, but I couldn't see a thing."
"Now," Dark Ichigo declared. "Adoration, attack his Milennium Scorpion!" Adoration swung forwards and struck the Millennium Scorpion, destroying it with ease.
GHOUL: 3200
DARK ICHIGO: 0500
"With that," she triumphantly bellowed. "I end my turn!"
The Ghoul quietly began his turn by drawing a card, realizing he was in trouble now. "I have no monsters in my deck with an original attack as high as Adoration, let alone any higher. My only hope is to draw a card that can let me either reduce its attack or destroy it by a card effect." "I switch my remaining monsters to defense position and set a third monster. I then set a Magic or Trap card and end my turn."
"Alright," Dark Ichigo replied as she drew her next card. "I activate O-Oversoul, bringing back Elemental HERO Sparkman from my graveyard to my field! I then activate H-Heated Heart, and target Sparkman, boosting its attack to 2100 and giving it the ability to inflict damage even when it attacks a defense position monster!" She then looked over his side of the field to see which monsters she wanted to destroy. "I'll have Sparkman attack your Koumori Dragon, which will inflict 900 points of damage!" Sparkman then flashed a beam of lightning onto Koumori Dragon, electrocuting it and causing it to explode.
GHOUL: 2300
DARK ICHIGO: 0500
"Now," Dark Ichigo continued her turn. "I'll have Adoration take out your set monster!" Adoration swung down and destroyed the set monster with ease. However, Dark Ichigo was able to read the effect of the monster for just a second, seeing a flip effect in the description.
"You activated my monster's flip effect," the Ghoul replied to her attack with. "The card you destroyed was Penguin Soldier! I'll return your Sparkman to your hand and your Adoration to your extra deck!"
"Damn it," Dark Ichigo said to herself in frustration as she entered her second main phase. "Since I didn't Normal Summon on this turn yet, I set a monster and end." "I hope this is enough to defend myself," she thought to herself. "2000 defense should be enough, right?" "I end my turn," she concluded with.