Yu-Gi-Oh! Rise of a Legend

Chapter 9

Yugi and the gang were sitting around a camp fire. All of them were tired and hungry. Joey then let out a frustrated shout, "Come on, how cheap is that bastard Pegasus who didn't even prepare food for the competitors for his tournament?" Tristan nodded his head in agreement.

Yugi sighed, just as hungry as those two for once, "I guess surviving on our own were part of the challenge, however since we didn't get any warning about it, I wonder how many of the other participants that actually brought food with them? I mean they might have brought some snacks with them but no actual food."

Tea then looked at Tristan who had been sitting silently and saw him looking through Duel Monsters cards, "Tristan, you have a Duel Monsters deck?" Yugi and Joey immediately looked at Tristan when they heard that.

Tristan looked up shocked and then looked away troubled when he saw his friends all look at him, "Well… yeah, however I aren't really good, I just tried to build a deck by watching you and Yugi dueling against Joey and thought that maybe I could join in sometime just for fun but then the whole thing with gramps happened and yeah…" Tea and Joey looked at Yugi worried.

Yugi looked at Tristan with a troubled smile, "Don't worry about it Tristan, let's play and have fun together after we save grandpa." Joey, Tristan and Tea got smiles on their faces and nodded their head.

Yugi who sat next to Tristan held out his hand, "Can I take a look? I'm curious about what kind of deck you built?" Tristan held out his deck towards Yugi who took it and then started looking through it.

Yugi then gave the deck back, "From what I can see you have a hybrid deck of warriors and machine monsters. Also while your deck is not that well balanced it is still a lot better than how Joey's deck originally were. It is quite well built for someone who doesn't really play the game." Tristan got a smile on his face at the praise from Yugi.

However at that moment they heard a shout from Joey, "Hey I found mushrooms!" They all turned towards Joey who stared down at a few mushrooms at the base of a tree. He grabbed one of them and quickly brought it towards his mouth.

Yugi and Tristan quickly ran towards him and stopped him from eating it, "Are you crazy?" Tristan shouted before Yugi continued, "Those mushrooms doesn't look eatable, they're more than likely poisonous." However Joey was so hungry that he weren't listening to his friends and still tried to eat the mushroom.

They then heard a familiar voice call out to them playfully, "Then wouldn't letting him eat it be a favor for everyone?" They turned around and saw Mai standing there with her bag over her shoulder.

Joey glared at her, "And what do you want now Mai? Are you here just to mock us?" Mai however didn't answer and just began eating a candy bar in front of them. All four of them gasped in shock before gulping, their hunger returning at full force.

Joey pulled free from Yugi and Tristan who was still holding him to keep him from eating the mushroom and walked angrily towards Mai, "Damn you Mai, only you would be cruel enough to eat like that in front of people as hungry as us."

Mai looked at Joey with a smirk, "So you're that hungry huh? Well, if you give me one of your star chips then I might be willing to share some of my food with you."

Joey gritted his teeth and crushed the mushroom in his hand, "I refuse! I rather starve then to give up any of my star chips!"

Mai chuckled, "I was just joking Joey, even I aren't that mean." Joey looked at her with a distrustful expression and so she explained, "Listen, I already have nine star chips so I won't need all the food I have in my bag so instead of wasting it I decided I should just share it with you guys."

Mai then put the bag and put out a tarp and took out all of her food, snacks and drinks and the gang looked amazed at the amount she had. Mai then looked at the gang, "However, while I'm willing to share my food you'll have to help out a bit first."

Mai looked at Yugi, "I want Yugi to go and find some fire wood." Yugi looked at her, "Sure, I'll do that." He then got up and walked in to the forest to find some wood. Mai then placed a bucket in front of Joey and Tristan, "And you two will go and get some water."

Joey looked at her frustrated expression before he grabbed the bucket, "If she's not mocking someone then she's ordering them around like servants." Tristan looked at him irritated, "Idiot, if you swallow your pride for a little while then you'll be able to eat some food." Joey knew that Tristan was right even though he didn't like it one bit.

Mai then looked at Tea, "Your name is Tea right?" Tea looked at Mai, still not used to her being this kind, "Uh yeah." Mai then pointed at a curtain on the ground, "That's a shower so when they come back with the water, you can take a shower using that."

Tea got an expression of pure joy on her face, "Really!? Thanks a lot Mai!" Mai looked at her with a soft smile on her face, "Girls appreciate things like this way more than boys do.

A little while later, Yugi, Joey and Tristan were making the food while Mai was standing by the shower as Tea was undressing to take a shower. Mai looked at Joey with a serious expression as she noticed how he was looking at the shower, "Listen up you pervert! Focus on the food only." Joey got an annoyed expression on his face as he once again focused on the food.

Tea had just wrapped a towel around her body and then spoke to Mai, "Thanks a lot for this Mai."

Mai answered Tea calmly while keeping her eyes on the boys, especially Joey, "There is no need to thank me." Mai however then noticed a ship in the distance and got a distanced expression.

Tea felt troubled over the silence decided to ask her something she had been wondering for a while, "Hey Mai, why did you come to this island? Is it really just for the prize money?"

Mai sighed with a troubled smile before she looked up in the sky and began to tell her story to Tea, "I used to have a job as a dealer on a cruise ship that was traveling the world."

Tea was shocked hearing this, however she silently listened as Mai continued, "Day after day, I met many people who had a lot of money that played cards while gambling for fun. Those people only thought about money and power, people like that are idiots with too much money and time on their hands."

Mai then closed her eyes, "I became fed up with that kind of work, and because I always was around selfish people like them, I started disliking being around people as I felt like I couldn't trust them."

Tea was deep in thought after she heard Mai's story, beginning to understand why she were the way she was. Mai then asked her a question that shocked her, "Hey, why are you always together with the boys?"

Tea turned around and looked at the part of the curtain where Mai was standing, "Why? Because we're friends, I have an especially strong bond with Yugi since we have known each others for many years."

Mai sighed with a small smile, "Is that so huh?" She then looked at the boys again, "It's strange, when I look at you guys, it feels like I'm missing something in my life even though I don't understand why."

Tea got a troubled expression, "Mai…" It was clear in Tea's eyes that Mai was longing for bonds like she had with her friends. However before she could say anything about it she heard some rustling from the bushes on the other side of the curtain, causing her to scream. Mai quickly entered the shower with a concerned expression, "What's wrong?"

Tea tightly pressed her towel to her body, "I heard something from the bushes outside." Mai narrowed her eyes and opened the curtain and looked out, she looked around before she looked at Tea, "I don't know what it was but there is nothing there now." Tea sighed relief. Mai placed her hand on her shoulder, "If you hear anything again tell me right away, ok?" Tea nodded her head with a smile.

A little while later the gang and Mai was sitting and eating together. Yugi then looked at Mai who was currently drinking a soda, "Say Mai, you only need one more star chip to enter the castle right? You're more than likely going to be the first to qualify for the finals."

Mai put down her soda can and looked at Yugi with a serious expression, "That's right, however I will still take you down once we get in to the castle Yugi." Yugi looked at her shocked.

Tea looked at them troubled, "Hey can't we just take easy right now while we're eating and just forget all about the duels?"

Mai sighed and looked at her, "Tea, allow me to explain something, we might be eating together on friendly terms tonight, however tomorrow we will be enemies again. That's what it means to be a duelist." Everyone looked at her troubled.

Mai then put down her plate and stood up, "Thanks for the food it was good, I'll be taking a walk for some fresh air now." Mai then walked away while everyone looked after her.

Joey sighed troubled, "Jeez, that woman isn't charming at all, if she were just a little more honest then she would be more likable."

Tea looked at him, "You mean you noticed too Joey? What about you guys?" Tea looked at both Yugi and Tristan. Both of them nodded their head, during the time they had spent with Mai since she met up with them, all of them had noticed that seemed to be lonely and had realized that she had approached them in an attempt to maybe create bonds with other people.

A little while later Mai was standing next to the ocean looking out over the ocean with a lonely expression before she closed her eyes, "For me to remember those unpleasant times, it's not like me, do I really wish to be part of their group so much that it made me remember how lonely I used to feel before I suppressed those feelings?"

However the next moment a large figure appeared silently behind her and placed a hand over her mouth and pulled away with her while she let out muffled screams.

A while later Tea was looking around with a worried expression on her face, "Hey you guys, don't you think we should go looking for Mai? She has been gone for a while now."

Yugi nodded his head, "Yeah, I'm starting to get worried about her." Tristan nodded his head, "She might be pretty arrogant but she isn't as bad as I originally thought she was."

Joey sighed tiredly, "Just let her be. If she hasn't gotten back yet then that just means that she wants to be by herself." Tea didn't look convinced by what Joey had just said, however she then heard the bushes rustle behind her, causing her to scream again.

The boys got up and ran up between Tea and the bushes and Joey called out to the bush, "Who's there? Come out right now!" Then to their shock Bakura came out of the bushes in front of them.

Yugi recovered first from his shock, "Bakura?" Tea then got a relieved expression, "I see, so I wasn't just seeing things, you really are here Bakura." Bakura nodded his head.

Joey looked at Bakura shocked, "You were invited to this island too Bakura?" Bakura gave him a troubled smile, "Y-yeah kinda, sorry I didn't say anything."

Tristan smiled at Bakura, "No worries buddy, we didn't just expect that another one of our classmates to be here." Joey looked Tristan and nodded, "Yeah, it's kinda a relief to meet someone else we know well." Yugi and Tea nodded their heads and invited Bakura to sit down with them which he did.

A little while later Tristan looked around at everyone who was holding their Duel Monsters deck, "I can't believe all of us have brought our cards here."

Joey looked at him with a smile, "Well I can kinda understand it, I mean we are on the Duelist Kingdom island after all." Tristan nodded his head in understanding as normally he wouldn't have brought the deck he had put together otherwise. Joey then looked down on his own deck, "That's right, every duelist on this have put their entire hearts and souls in to making their decks from their strongest and favorite cards."

Bakura then looked at Joey with an interested expression on his face, "If so, then what card is the one that you like the most Joey?"

Joey got a troubled smile on his face as he took out two cards, "That's a hard question, I mean there are two cards that comes to mind, and that's Blue Flame Swordsman and Immortal Phoenix Gearfried." Joey then took and revealed Blue Flame Swordsman, "Of course if I had to pick then it would be Blue Flame Swordsman as I only recently got Immortal Phoenix Gearfried."

Tristan then with a smile on his face revealed a card in his hand, "The one I think of would be Strike Ninja. I mean he and I'm somewhat similar, he and I have a lot in common, I mean he is a skilled warrior and I am good at street fighting because delinquents have always been picking fights with me and Joey."

Tea and Yugi smiled troubled when he said that as both of them remembered when Joey and Tristan used to be bullies, Yugi then looked at her, "Well, most people have at least one card that they identify themselves with, how about you Tea?" Tea looked through her deck, she then took out a card, "I pick my Magician of Faith."

Joey and Tristan looked at her confused, "Huh, why would you choose such a lame card?" Tea glared at them after hearing Joey say that.

Yugi looked at them both with a troubled smile, "Sure it's attack and defense might not be high, however its ability to add a spell card from the graveyard to the hand makes up for it." Tea smiled at Yugi.

Bakura then looked at Yugi, "What about you then Yugi? Which card would you pick as your favorite?" Yugi smiled, "Oh that's super easy." Yugi then held up his Dark Magician, "It's obviously my Dark Magician."

Yugi then looked at Bakura, "What about you Bakura?" Bakura took out two cards, "Just like with Joey my choice is between two cards I like equally." He then held up two cards, one was a spell card with the image of a person that was half an angel and half a demon and the other card was a white humanoid monster with white wings and a snake tail instead of legs.

Yugi looked at him confused, "I recognize the spell card as Change of Heart, but I haven't seen that monster before, it's called… Diabound Kernel?" Yugi then suddenly felt a sense of fear that wasn't his inside of him. Yugi placed his hand on his Puzzle, What was that fear I felt, was that Yami's fear, but why would he feel such fear the moment I mentioned the name of Diabound Kernel? Yugi wondered to himself.

Bakura then smiled at the gang, "I have an idea, how about we have a duel right not, not for star chips but just for fun? Also to make things more interesting how about you all put your favorite cards and maybe some small support for said favorite cards in Yugi's deck and then you'll face me."

Joey got a smile on his face, "Sounds pretty fun, I would like to try to do it like that." Tristan nodded his head. Tea looked at Yugi, "What do you say Yugi?" Yugi looked at them with a smile, "Sure why not, it would be fun with a normal duel with nothing on the line."

A little while later Yugi placed his deck which had his friends favorite cards in it down on the playing field, "Alright, I'm done with shuffling my deck, so are you ready Bak…" However Yugi got silent when he saw the dark look in Bakura's eyes and felt a dark and sinister presence from him.

Bakura then placed both of his chest and then suddenly a ring with a triangle with the Millennium symbol with six pointy metal pointers hanging from it.

Yugi gasped in shock, "No way, that's… A Millennium item!" Tea, Tristan and Joey gasped in shock as they didn't know that.

Bakura then chuckled and spoke with a menacing tone, "It's already too late you fools, you're already trap in my Shadow Game!" The gang got surrounded by dark mist, making them unable to see the forest. Yugi looked at Bakura with a desperate expression, "Wait, Bakura, why are you doing this?" However Bakura didn't answer him as he his Millennium item then glowed brightly and the gang gasped in pain for a second before the souls got sucked out of the four of them and they got sealed in to Yugi's deck.

The gang all then collapsed and Bakura stood up and chuckled, "That went well easier than I expected." He then walked over to Yugi, "I figured that the one who managed to solve the legendary Millennium Puzzle would put up more of a fight." He then leaned down towards the Millennium Puzzle to take it when a blinding light came out of it, causing Bakura to groan and shield his eyes from the light.

Bakura then looked at Yugi the moment the light died out and got shocked when he saw Yami getting up on his feet, "No… it can't be…" Yami looked at him while he narrowed his eyes, "Did you really think it would be that simple to take our Puzzle? Now tell me who you are and why you have trapped Yugi and the rest of our friends in our deck."

Bakura looked at him with a smirk, "What do you mean? I'm your dear friend Bakura Yugi." Yami glared at him, "Don't mess with me! The real Bakura would never do something like this. Now tell me who you really are and what you have done with him."

Bakura chuckled and his smirk grew sinister and twisted, "Well, you should be able to understand who or to be more correct, what I am. After just like you, I'm an ancient spirit sealed within the Millennium Ring around my host's neck just like you're a spirit inside of the Millennium Puzzle around your neck."

Bakura then pointed at him and his smirk grew bigger, "The difference between you and me however is that I refuse to work together with my host, so I sealed away his soul and took over his body." Yami gritted his teeth, "Something like that is unforgivable! You won't get away with this."

Yami Bakura chuckled, "I have gotten away with it for several millennial, and the only way you'll be able to save your friends is to defeat me in this Shadow Game." Yami narrowed his eyes before both of the playing field placed on a tree stub and drew their first five cards.

Yami Bakura looked at Yami, "Since you're the current champion, you can make the first move Yugi." Yami nodded his head and placed his fingers on his deck, "It's my turn, I draw."

Yami drew his sixth card and looked at it, he had drawn Blue Flame Swordsman, Salamandra, Strike Ninja, Double Summon, Silent Magician LV4 and Silent Swordsman.

Yami narrowed his eyes, making his decision to be careful for the time being by not going to hard or to weak from the start and so he grabbed a card, "My first card is Strike Ninja in attack mode." Strike Ninja appeared on the field, but to Yami's shock he noticed a familiar brown spike hair, "Tristan?" He couldn't believe that Tristan had just appeared on the field as Strike Ninja, Atk: 1700.

Tristan looked around confused, "Huh? What's going on? The last thing I remember is…" However he then noticed the gigantic Bakura in front of him, "Huh? Bakura? Why are you so huge?" He then turned around and noticed Yami too, "You too Yugi?"

Yami gritted his teeth, "So you're telling me that the souls of my friends are inside of their favorite cards?"

Yami Bakura chuckled, "That's right, now then, are you done or do you plan on doing something else?"

Yami gritted his teeth, angry at himself for not realizing this earlier, he now regretted playing Strike Ninja and glared at Bakura before closing his eyes and reluctantly declared the end his turn, "I…end my turn."

Yami Bakura chuckled, "Then it's my move now, I draw." He drew his next card and a smirk appeared on his face, "Now I activate the spell card Fiend Sanctuary, so now I can special summon one Metal Fiend token to my field in attack mode." A small faceless metallic monster appeared on the field, Atk: 0.

Yami Bakura then grabbed another card in his hand, "And now this card should look familiar, I showed it earlier, I now sacrifice my Metal Fiend token to summon Diabound Kernel in attack mode." The Metal Fiend token disappeared and Diabound appeared on the field and the tail hissed at Tristan, Atk: 1800. Tristan took a step backwards in fear when he saw Diabound in front of him.

Yami gritted his teeth confused as he felt fear go down his spine. He didn't understand why, but whenever he heard the name Diabound or saw it, he felt intense fear, it was like his soul knew that monster even though he had never seen it before.

Yami Bakura then pointed at Yami, "And also you should know, whenever Diabound Kernel declares an attack, he gains 600 attack points." Yami Bakura then pointed at Strike Ninja, "Now Diabound Kernel, attack Strike Ninja with Helical Shockwave!" Diabound then gathered purple energy in his hands, Atk: 1800-2400.

Diabound then unleashed the energy as a beam towards Tristan who tried to run escape, however the Helical Shockwave hit him and destroyed him. Yami got a horrified expression on his face and cried out, "No, Tristan!" Yami LP: 4000-3300.

Yami Bakura chuckled, "Oh looks like your Strike Ninja got destroyed, too bad that your friend's soul was trapped inside of it."

Yami gritted his teeth in anger, "Where is he? What just happened to Tristan?"

Yami Bakura sighed and with an explained with a mocking tone, "You should know already considering that you're the Duel Monsters champion. Like all monsters that's destroyed, he got sent to the graveyard, meaning that if you don't save him soon, his soul will be lost forever."

Yami gritted his teeth and looked at Tristan with a look of fear on his face, "No way… Tristan…"

At the same time Tristan was walking across a cemetery, "W-where am I? I remember being face to face with that monster Bakura showed us as one of his favorite cards and got attack by it and the next thing I am here at this cemetery.

Tristan then noticed a tombstone that writing was currently appearing on, "Wait, what's going on?" He walked over to it and leaned down and looked at it, he then gasped in shock when he saw what was written on it, "H-here lies Tristan Taylor? What's going on here?" Tristan cried out shocked over seeing his own gravestone.

At the same time Yami gritted his teeth and glared at Yami Bakura who looked at his hand, "I guess I'll end my turn with this, now make your next move, and make sure to not make any mistakes this time, or else more of your friends might have to pay for it."

Yami gritted his teeth and placed his fingers on his deck, "It's my turn now, I draw!" He drew his next card and looked at it, he then narrowed his eyes as he saw the card he had drawn.

He then looked at his hand, If possible I would like to not use the cards that my friends are in if possible, and there is only one monster in my hand that I can use to beat Diabound Kernel right now. Yami thought to himself with a very reluctant expression.

He then grabbed Blue Flame Swordsman's card, "Now I summon Blue Flame Swordsman in attack mode." Joey then appeared on the field dressed in Blue Flame Swordsman's clothes and armor and wielding his sword, Atk: 1800.

Joey looked at his sword confused, "Huh? What's going on here, hey Yug what's…HUH!?" Joey then cried out in shock when he saw how big Yami were, "How are you so big?" He then noticed his clothes as well, "Wait, why am I dressed like this?"

Yami then interrupted him in his confusion with a voice as calm as he could, "Joey I need you to listen to me right now, your soul is trapped within your favorite card, you have become the Blue Flame Swordsman."

Joey looked at Yami shocked, "What?" Yami could understand his shock, he had just been about to duel together with his friends against their classmate Bakura and now suddenly he had become the card he put in to Yugi's deck. Yami knew it must sound really crazy to him. However he needed to explain everything as much as he could to Joey.

"The only way to fix this is to win this duel, however I must also rescue Tristan from the graveyard as he got destroyed earlier, but in order to do that I will need your help."

Joey looked at him shocked at Yami when he heard that Tristan had been sent to the graveyard before he got a determined expression on his face, "Alright, I don't fully understand what's going on but I'll trust what you say to me any day of the week Yug."

Joey then turned around and grabbed a hold of his sword with both of his hands, "Now then, who are we facing?" He then got stunned when he saw that their opponent was Bakura, "Huh? Bakura is our enemy? Wait are you telling me he did this to us? I can't really remember well what happened after you shuffled the deck. But if so then why did he do this? I mean he's supposed to be our friend."

Yami glared at Yami Bakura, "Yeah the real Bakura is our friend. However that's not Bakura." Joey looked at him confused and Yami looked at the Millennium Ring around Bakura's neck, "See that thing around his neck? That's a Millennium item, the Millennium Ring and inside of it, an evil resides and just like with you guys, he separated Bakura's soul from his body and took it over."

Joey gritted his teeth, "So he's not our friend but just an enemy then? Then I won't hold back at all!" He then looked at saw Diabound in front of him, "Isn't that the monster he showed before, Diabound Kernel?" Joey then narrowed his eyes when he saw his attack points, "He has 2400 attack points? I won't be able to beat him as I am now."

Yami then grabbed Salamandra and placed it on the playing field, "I think your Salamandra equip spell card can fix that problem." The Salamandra then appeared around Joey's sword, Atk: 1800-2500.

Joey got a smirk on his face, "Alright, nice move Yug!" Yami then grabbed another card in his hand, "And I'm not done, I now activate Double Summon which allows me to normal summon a second time this turn, so now appear Silent Magician LV4." A child version of Silent Magician appeared on the field, Atk: 1000

Joey looked at Silent Magician LV4 with a smile before he turned towards Diabound again with a determined expression, "Alright time to battle, go Salamandra Flame Strike!" Joey then swung his sword and sent the Salamandra flying towards Diabound Kernel.

Yami Bakura's smirk grew bigger, "Not so fast, I activate my Diabound Kernel's special ability! Now go Poison Fang Strike!" Diabound's snake tail then flew past the Salamandra Flame Strike attack and appeared next to a shock Joey and bit him in his right shoulder.

Joey shouted in pain, "What the heck is going on?" However the next moment he felt weak and went down on a knee, Atk: 2500-100. The next moment Diabound Kernel disappeared right before the Salamandra hit him.

Yami glared at Yami Bakura with an expression that demanded an explanation. Bakura chuckled and with a mocking tone explained to Yami what had just happened, "During either of our turns, I can remove Diabound Kernel from the game and then one monster on your field loses attack points equal to his current attack points until the end phase of this turn, also at the end phase Diabound Kernel will return to my field."

Yami gritted his teeth, "However, the battle phase is not over yet, and while I could still attack with Joey, Diabound's ability has greatly weakened him and he seems to be in pain, so I rather not attack with him again, however I still have Silent Magician LV4."

Yami then pointed at Yami Bakura, "Now Silent Magician LV4, attack his life points directly with Silent Burning!" Silent Magician LV4 then pointed at Yami Bakura with her wand and a blast of white magic shot out of it and hit him, causing him to groan in pain, Yami Bakura LP: 4000-3000.

Joey got a smirk on his face, "Alright." He was a little upset that he wasn't allowed to continue his attack but at least they had inflicted some damage to Yami Bakura.

Yami then looked at his hand and grabbed a card in it and placed it face down in one of the spell and trap card zones, "Next I place one card face down and end my turn." Joey then suddenly felt the pain leave his body and stood up, Atk: 100-2500. Diabound then reappeared on the field, Atk: 1800.

Yami Bakura then placed his fingers on his deck, "It's my turn now, I draw." He then drew his next card and looked at it, Yami then pointed at Silent Magician, "Silent Magician LV4's special ability activates! Every time you draw cards, she gains 500 attack points." Silent Magician grew a little larger and older, Atk: 1000-1500.

Yami Bakura narrowed his eyes, "So that's Silent Magician's ability huh? Well that won't change anything." He then placed the card he had drawn in his hand and grabbed another, "I now summon my Dark Spirit of Malice!" A dark ghostly skeleton appeared on the field, Atk: 1600.

Joey shrieked in fear, "What is that? It's super scary!" Joey hated anything that had with ghosts and occult to do.

Yami Bakura then pointed at Silent Magician LV4, Now Diabound, attack his Silent Magician LV4 with Helical Shockwave!" Diabound began charging up his attack before he unleashed it, Atk: 1800-2400.

Joey looked at Yami worried while Yami grabbed his face down card, "Not so fast! I now activate my trap card Mirror Force, which means that every monster on your side of the field will now be destroyed." Diabound's Helical Shockwave hit the barrier that formed around Joey and Silent Magician LV4 and then got redirected back at Diabound and Dark Spirit of Malice.

Yami Bakura gritted his teeth and held out his hand towards Diabound, "I activate Diabound's special ability to remove him from the game as well as once again weakening your Blue Flame Swordsman." Diabound then disappeared and appeared behind Joey behind the barrier and his snake tail bit him again, causing him to once again groan in pain, Atk: 2500-100. Diabound then vanished.

Dark Spirit of Malice then got destroyed by the redirected Helical Shockwave. Yami Bakura gritted his teeth frustrated and Yami looked at him with a smirk, "What's wrong? Are you that angry that I ruined your strategy? Yami Bakura glared at Yami when he said that.

Joey looked at him confused, "What do you mean that you ruined his strategy Yug?"

Yami looked at Joey and explained to him what Yami Bakura had planned, "He planned on attacking Silent Magician LV4 with Diabound and increase his power by 600 to inflict 900 points of damage to me, then he planned on using Diabound's ability to weaken your power by 2400 and then destroy you with Dark Spirit of Malice."

Joey looked at Yami Bakura and narrowed his eyes, "What a clever plan, good thing that you had Mirror Force face down which put a stop to it." Yami nodded his head.

Yami Bakura then looked at his hand and grabbed two cards in his hand and placed them face down, "I end my turn by placing two cards face down, which means that Diabound returns now and your Blue Flame Swordsman regain his attack points." Diabound then reappeared on the field, Atk: 1800. Joey then once again felt his pain disappear, Atk: 100-2500.

Yami then placed his fingers on his deck, "It's my turn, I draw." Yami drew his next card and looked at it.

At that moment Yami Bakura flipped one of his face down cards, "Not so fast, now I activate my trap card Battle Mania!" Yami looked at him shocked and Yami Bakura chuckled, "I can only activate during your standby phase, now all face up monsters on your field is changed in to attack mode and they all have to attack if they can."

He then flipped another card face up, "And next, I activate the continuous trap card Zoma the Spirit, which means I can special summon as a level 4 monster in defense mode." A small fiendish looking monster appeared on the field, Def: 500.

Yami gritted his teeth when he saw Zoma appear since he understood what Yami Bakura's plan was. He then revealed the card he had drawn, "I now activate Pot of Greed, which means I draw two more cards." Yami drew two more cards and looked at them. He narrowed his eyes, With these cards, I should be able to get rid of Diabound, however I need to wait a little and unfortunately I need to take some damage as well, Yami thought to himself.

Yami then took and placed both cards face down, "I now place two cards face down, and…" Yami looked at Yami Bakura with a bitter expression since he knew what he was forcing him to do right now.

Yami then pointed at Diabound, "Alright Joey, attack his Diabound Kernel." Joey nodded and then swung his sword at Diabound and sent the Salamandra at him again.

Yami Bakura chuckled, "I once again activate Diabound's ability, Poison Fang Strike." Diabound then dodged the Salamandra and Joey braced himself as the snake tail came towards him and bit him once again, trying to endure the pain, Atk: 2500-700. Diabound then vanished.

Joey then turned towards Yami and then saw the frustrated expression on his face, "What's wrong Yug? Why does it seem like you don't want to attack that trap monster?"

Yami gritted his teeth as he glared at Zoma, "If Zoma the Spirit is destroyed by battle, the opponent will take damage equal to the attack points of the monster that destroyed it."

Joey's eyes widened in shock as he understood the situation they were in now, "And since he activated Battle Mania, you have to attack it, meaning that were about to take 1500 points of damage."

Yami nodded his head and looked at Zoma again with a bitter expression before he spoke with a reluctant tone, "Silent Magician LV4… attack his Zoma the Spirit." Silent Magician LV4 then charged up her Silent Burning and fired a blast of white magic and hit Zoma the Spirit and destroyed it. However a ghostly image of Zoma then appeared and flew towards Yami and flew through his chest, causing him to groan in pain, Yami LP: 3300-1800.

Yami gritted his teeth, "I end my turn now." Diabound then reappeared, Atk 1800. Joey then also felt the pain in his body disappear, Atk: 700-2500.

Yami wasn't happy that he had lost more than half of his life points in a Shadow Game, however he still had his plan to get rid of Diabound since it had caused him a lot of trouble.

Yami Bakura then placed his fingers on his deck, "It's my turn, I draw." He drew his next card and looked at it. Silent Magician LV4, Atk: 1500-2000.

Yami then grabbed one of his face down card and it was a trap card of a clawed hand which sent a lightning bolt at a monster in front of it, "Not so fast, I now activate Raigeki Break! Now by discarding one card from my hand, I can destroy one card on the field."

Yami revealed Silent Swordsman, "So now by discarding Silent Swordsman, I choose to destroy Diabound Kernel." Lightning came out of Silent Magician LV4's staff and sent it towards Diabound.

Yami Bakura looked at Yami with a mocking smirk on his face, "Haven't you learned yet? You won't get rid of Diabound that easily. Now by removing Diabound from play, your Blue Flame Swordsman once again loses attack points equal to Diabound's attack points." Diabound's snake tail flew towards Joey again who got a frustrated expression on his face.

However Yami chuckled, causing both Yami Bakura and Joey to looked at him confused, Yami then grabbed the last card he had face down and flipped it face up and it was a trap card with the image of two goblins holding pots, "Actually I was waiting for this moment, I activate my counter trap card Recall! When you activate a monster's special ability, this card negates the activation and then destroys the card."

The snake tail attempted to bit Joey again, however this time Joey repelled it with his sword and it hissed in pain before it and Diabound got destroyed. Yami Bakura gritted his teeth when he saw Diabound get destroyed.

Yami then pointed at Yami Bakura, "Your Diabound is finally gone, however thanks to Recall's effect you're allowed to draw one more card from your deck." Yami Bakura gritted his teeth and drew another card. Silent Magician LV4, Atk: 2000-2500.

Joey looked at Yami with a smirk, "He might have been allowed to draw a second card, however we're better off now that Diabound is gone." Yami nodded his head and looked at Yami Bakura.

Yami Bakura glared at Yami and looked at the card he had drawn before he placed it in his hand and grabbed another, "Now I place a monster face down in defense mode." He then placed it on the field. Bakura then grabbed two another cards in his hand and placed it face down, "And next I end my turn by placing one card face down."

Yami narrowed his eyes, placing one monster face down? Just what is he planning? Yami didn't know if that monster had a flip effect or not.

Yami drew his next card and saw that it was Electromagnetic Turtle, which didn't have any attack points but a good ability. However it needed to be in the graveyard for it to be usable.

Yami Bakura then flipped one of his face down cards face up, "Now I Gift of Mystical Elf." Yami's eyes widened in shock when he heard that and saw Mystical Elf appear behind Yami Bakura.

Yami Bakura then looked at Yami with a smirk, "I have to thank you. You see I drew this card thanks to your Recall trap card and now this card will give me 300 life points for every monster on the field, and since there is three, I'll gain 900 life points which means I'm almost back to full strength again." Yami Bakura LP: 3000-3900.

Yami gritted his teeth but then looked down when he heard Joey call out to him, "Yug, let's battle! I know dealing as much damage to this fake Bakura is the smart option right now. And since it doesn't matter since Silent Magician and I have the same attack points, I'll attack and destroy his face down monster and then Silent Magician can attack him directly."

Yami held out his hand towards Joey, "Joey wait it could be…" However Joey had already swung his sword and sent the Salamandra flying towards the face down card which got flipped face up and a jar appear, Def: 600

The jar then leaned on the side and a long black monster without limbs shot out of it towards the Salamandra that incinerated it.

Joey had a satisfied smirk on his face until he noticed that Yami Bakura was laughing. Yami Bakura looked at Joey and insulted him, "You really are an idiot Joey Wheeler."

Yami gritted his teeth, "So your face down monster was Morphing Jar?" Joey looked at Yami confused over Yami's reaction, "Morphing Jar? Did I do something bad?"

Yami looked at Joey troubled, "When a Morphing Jar gets flipped from face down to face up, both players must discard all the cards in their hands to the graveyard and then draw five new ones." Yami looked at the only card in his hand, "It was good that I didn't have a card with a soul inside of it in my hand." He was really relieved that he didn't have Tea or Yugi in his hand.

Joey got a horrified expression on fell down on his knees and bowed his head, "I'm so sorry Yugi, I won't be so reckless again."

Yami placed Electromagnetic Turtle in his graveyard while Yami Bakura also placed his card in the graveyard, "Since a deck can have up to three Morphing Jars, that would be best, but since his abilities also gets triggered if Bakura's evil half flips him face up, it won't do much. All we can do is to try and keep the important cards out of my hand as much as possible." Joey nodded his head, making a mental note to not attack a face down monster again unless he was told to do so.

Yami and Yami Bakura then both drew five new cards, Silent Magician LV4, Atk: 2500-3000. Yami gasped when he saw that he had drawn Dark Magician. Dark Magician! This is the card that Yugi's soul is in. It's too dangerous to keep him in my hand considering that Bakura's evil self has Morphing Jars in his deck and who knows what else. Yami thought to himself.

Yami then noticed two other cards in his hand which might help him later, however he right now he had something to do, "Now Silent Magician LV4, attack his life points directly!" Silent Magician LV4 then unleashed a Silent Burning at Yami Bakura and hit him, causing him to groan in pain, Yami Bakura LP: 3900-900.

Yami then grabbed one card in his hand placed it on his field, "Next, I activate the spell card Monster Reborn, which means that I can special summon my Strike Ninja from my graveyard." Tristan then reappeared on the field with his eyes closed, Atk: 1700.

Tristan then opened his eyes and looked around, "Huh? What's going on?" He then saw Joey next to him clad like Blue Flame Swordsman, "Joey? What's going on? Why are we dressed like Blue Flame Swordsman and Strike Ninja?"

Joey looked at Yami Bakura, "It's because of him, according to Yugi, that's not Bakura but some kind of evil spirit that has taken control over his body and he put our souls in to our favorite cards and the only way to get back to normal is to win this duel." Tristan looked at him shocked and confused.

Yami then grabbed a card in his hand and placed it on the field, "And it's time to bring out another one of our friends with Ancient Rules!" Yami then grabbed Dark Magician in his hand, aware that both he and Yugi would have a lot of explaining to do after this.

"Thanks to Ancient Rules, I now special summon Dark Magician from my hand in attack mode."

Yugi then appeared on the field dressed as Dark Magician, Atk: 2500. Yugi blinked shocked and then looked around and saw a giant Yami behind him and his eyes widened in shock, Yami then took and gave him a short explanation, "Your soul got pulled out of your body and sealed inside of our Dark Magician card by the evil spirit within Bakura's Millennium Ring."Yugi widened his eyes in shock when he heard that.

Tristan however looked between Yugi and Yami with a confused expression, "Hold on, how can there be two Yugis?" Joey nodded his head, also wondering the same thing.

Yugi looked up at Yami who looked at him with a serious expression, "I always figured that we would have to tell them eventually, I just didn't expect it to be like this." Yami nodded his head with a troubled smile as agreed with Yugi.

Yugi looked at Tristan and Joey, "Listen, there is something I haven't told you guys. After I solved the Millennium Puzzle I from time to time experienced memory loses." Yugi then looked up at Yami and continued, "You see, there was a spirit living inside of the Millennium Puzzle who would once again walk among the living through the body that solved it." Joey and Tristan looked at him shocked when they heard that.

Yugi then looked at them and continued, "He usually showed up whenever we were in troubled, so his intentions are good, I'm just sorry that I didn't tell you guys about this."

Joey then looked at him with a smile, "Come on Yug, you don't need to apologize for it. I mean it would've been hard to really believe it, but considering the situation we're in it makes it easier to believe since we can see both of you together." Tristan nodded his head. Yugi smiled at both of his friends.

Yami then looked at his hand before he looked at Yami Bakura, "I now end my turn, now make your move."

Yami Bakura then placed his fingers on his deck, "It's my turn, I draw." He drew his next card and looked at it. Silent Magician LV4, Atk: 3000-3500.

Yami Bakura then grabbed two cards in his hand, "Now I place two cards face down." He then placed the two cards face down on the field and then grabbed another card in his hand, "Next I place one monster face down in defense mode and end my turn." Yami Bakura then placed the card face down in defense mode, causing Yami to narrow his eyes in suspicion.

Yami then placed his fingers on his deck, "It's my turn, I draw." He drew his next card and looked at the face down monster while he narrowed his eyes. He knew that he could use Silent Magician LV4's other special ability now since it had gained five spell counters through its effect to special summon Silent Magician LV8 but decided not to.

Joey also looked at the face down monster with a suspicious expression, "We need to be careful. I recklessly attacked a face down monster and then both of them had to discard their hands and draw five new cards."

Yugi looked at Joey, "He had Morphing Jar face down?" Joey nodded his head and Yugi looked at Yami who looked at him and shook his head. Yugi understood that Yami didn't have any card in his hand that could be useful right now.

Yugi looked at Joey and Tristan, "Listen, it will be risky but if we need to attack to destroy his monsters and make him use his trap cards in order to win this duel." Joey and Tristan looked troubled before nodding their heads.

Yugi then pointed his staff at the face down monster, "Dark Magic Attack!" A green sphere of energy got shot out of his staff towards the face down card. The face down got revealed and Yami gritted his teeth when he saw that it was a second Morphing Jar. Yugi's attack then hit Morphing Jar and destroyed him.

Yami Bakura then placed his hand on his graveyard, "Now we both have to discard our hands and draw five new cards again." Yami narrowed his eyes and placed his cards in his graveyard and then both of them drew five new cards.

Yami Bakura then chuckled as he flipped one of his face down cards face up, "Next I activate the trap card Cemetery Bomb."

Yami's eyes widened in shock, "That's why you have been sending cards to my graveyard?" Yami Bakura chuckled, "That's right, now thanks to my Cemetery Bomb, you'll take 100 points of damage for every card in your graveyard. And since you have twelve cards in your graveyard, you'll take 1200 points of damage!" A bomb then appeared out of the graveyard and exploded, creating shockwaves that sent Yami flying to the ground, Yami LP: 1800-600.

Yugi looked at Yami worried, "Yami are you okay? I'm sorry, I didn't know he would have Cemetery Bomb face down." Yami slowly sat up, feeling the pain from all the damage he had taken in this duel, "It's… not your fault Yugi."

Yami Bakura then looked at him with a smirk, "You look pretty worn out. How about finishing your turn so you can take some rest?"

Joey glared at him, "Just shut up fake Bakura, just you wait, if either Tristan or I attack you directly, you'll be finished."

Yami looked at Joey and attempted to calm him down, "Joey calm down, he knows as well as you and me that if we attack him again he'll be finished, which is why I think his other traps will be able to stop us, correct?"

Yami Bakura chuckled with a smirk, "Should've known you'll realize that." Bakura then flipped a card face up, "Now I activate Call of the Haunted to revive my Spirit Reaper in attack mode." A small reaper in a purple robe appeared on the field, Atk: 300.

Yami Bakura then flipped over another trap card, "Next I activate the trap card Spirit Barrier, which means that as long as I have a monster on my field I won't take any battle damage."

Yami gritted his teeth, "And since Spirit Reaper can't be destroyed in battle, you're safe until I can destroy him with an effect." Yami Bakura's smirk just grew bigger and nodded his head.

Joey gritted his teeth and grabbed his sword harder in frustration, "Which means that it doesn't matter if we attack him, damn it!" Tristan also cursed their predicament.

Yugi however looked at Yami concerned. Yami was trying to hide it but he could see that something in his hand was bothering him, and he had an idea he knew what it was.

Yami gritted his teeth as he looked at Magician of Faith that he had in his hand, Of course I had to draw Tea too with his second Morphing Jar, I can't keep her in my hand, I need to play her but I also need to take some precautions, Yami thought to himself as he grabbed a card in his hand, "I now place one card face down." He placed one card on his field face down.

He then grabbed Magician of Faith, "I then end my turn by placing one monster face down in defense mode." He then placed Tea's card in face down defense mode.

The card then moved and Tea's head came out from underneath it, she then saw her friends dressed as their favorite monsters, "Guys? What's going on here? Why are you looking like that?" She then looked at herself and gasped, "Why am I dressed like Magician of Faith?" The guys looked at her concerned as they had hoped that she wouldn't be drawn from the deck as well. They then quickly looked at Yami Bakura worried as they tried to place themselves in front of her so that Yami Bakura wouldn't see her.

Bakura chuckled, "So, the final one has finally arrived huh? So fitting that she will be here for when the duel that will seal her fate forever finally ends." Yami gritted his teeth while Yugi, Tristan and Joey gritted their teeth since they had failed to hide her presence from Yami Bakura.

Tea looked up and got a shocked expression on her face when she saw Yami Bakura, "Huh, Bakura? But why is he so huge?" She then looked behind her and gasped in shock when she saw Yami. She then looked between Yami and Yugi confused, "Hold on? How can Yugi be dueling against Bakura if Yugi is standing in front of me?"

Yugi looked at Yami Bakura with a cautious expression as he moved towards Tea, "The one dueling right now is like my other self, a spirit that resides within my Puzzle that sometimes take over my body when we're in trouble."

Tea looked at him confused, "Huh?" She didn't really understand what Yugi was talking about. Yugi looked at her, "Sorry, this isn't really the time to be talking about this. I will explain about this fully after this is over since we're kind of in a troublesome situation right now."

Yami Bakura then placed his fingers on his deck, "You won't get a chance to give her that explanation, I draw!" Yami drew his next card and looked at it. A smirk then appeared on his face, "Now I activate a spell card, Change of Heart!"

Yugi's eyes widened in fear, "No, not that card!" The gang looked at him confused as while they knew it was one of Bakura's favorite cards, they didn't know what it did.

Yami Bakura chuckled, "This card allows me to take control over one enemy monster for one turn." Yami Bakura looked at the friends who looked at him with fear and chuckled, "Now I could destroy you guys by taking control of either Joey or Yugi and attack Tristan, so I can't decide which one I should do." Joey and Yugi got in to a defensive stance when they heard that.

Yami gritted his teeth, "You're gonna make my friends destroy each other? Just how low are you going to sink before you're satisfied?" Yami Bakura laughed, "Oh come on, it's just so fun terrorizing present day humans."

He then placed Change of Heart on the field, "Anyway, now I activate Change of Heart in order to take control of your Dark Magician!" Yugi took a step back in fear. However the gang then gasped in shock when they saw Bakura appear as the half angel half devil.

"Bakura? So you're soul was sealed within your Change of Heart card?" Yugi cried out in shock.

Bakura looked at the gang while tears appeared in his eyes, "I'm sorry, I tried to resist him, he has been hurting a lot of people while using my body but I haven't been aware of it until recently and I tried to stop him once I found out he wanted your Puzzle Yugi. However I was too weak and he sealed me within Change of Heart, and now I'm forced to do what he's telling me no matter what."

Yami got a smirk on his face, "Well, things won't go the way he wants this time however since I suspected he might try this and was prepared for it." Yami Bakura and Bakura looked at Yami shocked.

Yami flipped his face down card face up and it was a trap card with the image of a warrior and a monster switching places, "Now I activate Shift! Since you activated a spell card that targets one of my monster I can change the target to another monster, like my Silent Magician LV4."

Yami Bakura gritted his teeth in frustration when he heard that while Bakura smiled relieved as he didn't have to possess Yugi and flew towards Silent Magician LV4 and entered her body, replacing her face with his own and then jumping over to Yami Bakura's field.

Yami Bakura gritted his teeth in frustrated since he couldn't use Yugi to win this duel. However he then got a smirk on his face, "I might not be able to destroy you with your friend, but this duel is still over, now Silent Magician LV4, attack his Dark Magician with…"

However at that moment Yami grabbed the cards in his graveyard and looked through them, he then grabbed one card and revealed it, "Now I activate the special ability of Electromagnetic Turtle! During your battle phase, if he's in my graveyard, I can remove him from the game in order to end your battle phase." Bakura who had just lifted his staff reluctantly looked relieved as he lowered it.

Yami Bakura gritted his teeth and glared at Yami, "Fine, then I'll…" However he got quiet when he saw the Millennium symbol appear on Yami's forehead, "You bastard, what are you doing?"

Yami looked at him, "Since I now know where Bakura's soul is I can actually do something about it." Yami Bakura then gasped as things went black for him. Next thing he knew he was standing in front of Yugi and the gang.

He looked up behind him and saw Bakura looking around shocked. Yami Bakura looked at Yami in anger, "You bastard, what did you do?"

Yami looked at him, "I used the power of my Millennium Puzzle to switch places between you and Bakura." Yami then looked at Bakura, "It's still your move now Bakura."

Bakura looked at Yami Bakura while he narrowed his eyes, "You have used my body to hurt a lot of people since I put that Ring around my neck, well it ends now, I won't let you hurt more of my friends."

Bakura then lifted his hand and moved it towards the deck. Yami Bakura glared at him, "No… Don't you dare do it!"

However Bakura ignored him and placed his hand on his deck, "I surrender the duel, you win Yugi!" At that moment Yami Bakura who glared at Bakura screamed in pain as he disappeared from Silent Magician LV4, Silent Magician LV4 and the gang then also disappeared and the shadows surrounding them then also disappeared.

Yugi then appeared next to Yami with a smile, "You did it Yami, you defeated him." Yami looked at him and answered him mentally, "Yes but it was close, if I hadn't had Electromagnetic Turtle in the graveyard, we would've lost, it was actually good that he forced me to discard it."

Yami however narrowed his eyes, However, what was that appearance I saw a split second as I swapped their souls? Yami thought back to how the evil spirit had taken the shape of Bakura with darker skin with a scar underneath his right eye and dressed in a red robe.

Yugi looked at him concerned when he saw the troubled expression on Yami's face, "What's wrong Yami?" Yami snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Yugi, "It's nothing, let's switch back now."Yugi continued looking at him concerned, however he then got a troubled smile on his face and nodded his head.

A flash of light then came out of the Millennium Puzzle as Yugi and Yami switched control over the body. Yugi then walked over to Bakura who looked down troubled while holding the Millennium Ring in his hands, "You okay Bakura?"

Bakura looked at him with a troubled, "I'm so sorry Yugi, because of me, you and our other friends almost lost your lives."

Yugi however shook his head, "It wasn't your fault, it was that that evil spirit within your Millennium Ring." Yugi then held his Puzzle with his hands and looked at Bakura, "You should've realized it through this duel, however I have also been sharing my body with a spirit that lives within my Puzzle, however unlike the spirit within your Ring, me and Yami work together in harmony."

He then smiled at Bakura, "It's too bad that you can't do the same with the spirit within your Ring, however he should be gone now, but just to be on the safe side, don't wear your Ring around your neck anymore." Bakura nodded his head and took it off of his neck.

Yugi was curious about how Bakura had gotten his hand on the Millennium Ring, however at that moment he heard three groans behind him. Yugi and Bakura looked behind him and saw Joey standing up while Tristan had gotten up on a knee and Tea had gotten up in a sitting position.

Joey looked forward and saw Yugi, "Yug, how…" However he then also saw Bakura, "Bakura… are you our friend or…?" Tea and Tristan who had also noticed him looked at him with caution.

Yugi smiled at them and calmed them down, "It's okay you guys, this is our Bakura, not his evil side." The gang then gasped in relief. Yugi then took out his deck and looked through it and removed the cards his friends had lent him from it.

Yugi then walked over to the gang and held out them, "Here are your cards." Joey took his Blue Flame Swordsman and Salamandra cards while Tristan took his Strike Ninja and Tea took her Magician of Faith.

Yugi then saw how his friends looking at him troubled, Joey then spoke, "Uh Yug, about what you told us during the duel, about the one you call Yami…"

Yugi smiled at him troubled since he knew this was gonna happen. He opened his mouth to explain everything more clearly than he did earlier, however at that moment they heard a loud scream.

The gang turned around while Bakura stood up, "That… that sounded like Mai. She must be in trouble!" Yugi nodded his head, agreeing with Joey and the gang ran off in the direction they heard the scream come from, hoping that she was okay.