Dueling Trigger Finger

by draconichero21

Worlds collide as a twisted tale interlocking the fates of both universes begins with the retelling of Battle City, but will cover the wide expanse of the plot of both series. Rated M due to profanity, Junko, sexual themes, Junko, murder, Junko, nightmarish imagery, and did I mention Junko?

73. The Tragedy at Death Valley

(A/N: I think I scared you all a bit when I said that the Tragedy's stage would be set. It's more like a small glimpse of where it's going through a tiny peep hole. We're still at least a hundred chapters off from the tragedy exploding right and proper. This is more like…the next few dominoes being set up.

Or, to put it more accurately: This is when we finally get to see the first of Junko's "moves" on the chessboard that is life. Why? Because this chapter is the duel that made this arc memorable to child fans around the world: Yugi's loss to Rafael. And there's a certain blonde to be spectating. May god have mercy on everyone's souls.

Also, there is a lot of heavy content going into this chapter. Brace yourselves for a long ride. You'll be here at least an hour).

---

"Are you sure Pegasus is going to be all right, Junko?" Yami asked her.

Junko nodded. "Yeah, I made his body nice and comfortable in his chair. He'll sleep like a baby," she said, putting her cheek against her clapped together hands, "until he gets his soul back of course."

Tristan stuck a hand in his pocket. "Quick question, blondie, just how close are you and Pegasus?"

Junko smiled. "I mean, he's kind of like that rich uncle that loves spoiling you rotten. He's changed a lot since Duelist Kingdom. He's really nice."

"That's hard to believe."

"I believe it," Yami said. "After all, he did create Duel Monsters. Perhaps losing our duel opened his mind to remember the person he used to be."

Junko smiled wider. No one could tell it was at the expense of Yami's naivete. "Yes, precisely."

"So, what do we do now?" Téa asked.

"We could go chasing down Natsumi and Dartz's other goons."

"Fat chance," Tristan said. "They split without leaving an address."

Yami gasped, having an epiphany. "Professor Hawkins. He lives around here." He looked at Junko. "I'd like for him examine your spellbook, Junko. Maybe he can give more insight into our ancient foe."

"Like a full cipher!" Junko exclaimed. "Great call, Yugi! Mwah!" Junko kissed Yami on the cheek, prompting Téa to start fuming.

Yami blushed, clearing his throat.

"Everyone out to the van!" Junko exclaimed. "Anyone know the address? I'll plug it into my smart phone."

Yami nodded. "Thank you, Junko!"

"Um, excuse us."

The group turned their heads to see Weevil Underwood and Rex Raptor walking to them.

"Rex and Weevil!" Joey shouted. "What are you two clowns doing here?"

"Well uh…the thing is…uh…" Weevil stuttered.

Junko knew how to handle this. She marched straight over to them and leaned forward, boobs practically popping out of her blouse. "Hi, boys." She smiled seductively at them. "Do either of you know how to drive?"

"No, but for you, I'll learn!" Rex exclaimed blushing.

Weevil pushed Rex aside. "N-no! P-please! I can drive! I spent my whole life driving!"

"Better her than me," Mai said.

"Okay, so we've got a chauffeur, what about wheels?" Tristan asked. "The ride we came here in only seats eight, and there's ten of us now."

"Not a problem at all," Junko said, whipping some kind of ID card from her pocket. "I borrowed this from Pegasus."

"Borrowed? More like stole," Joey said.

"Borrowed," Junko insisted. "I plan on giving it back. Pegasus is like family to me. I don't have parents anymore, you know."

"Oh, that's um…" Joey didn't know how to respond to Junko not having her parents anymore.

"Shame on you, Joey, bringing up a girl's sad memories," Miho said.

"It's fine, it's fine," Junko said, swiping the card through a reader next to the elevator. "It doesn't bother me."

"Wow, Junko's so cool and nice and forgiving!" Miho exclaimed, hands clasped together. "I wish I could be like her."

"Cool…right," Téa said sarcastically, still feeling territorial.

With Pegasus' key card, Junko took the group down into the garage where upon she found a full-sized van for 12 parked in the corner. It was an advertising van with adverts for Dungeon Dice Monsters on one side and Toon Kingdom, an American produced cartoon aimed at children, on the other.

Weevil intended to take the wheel, only to find a problem. He was too short to reach the pedals.

"Oh, bad luck," Mai said.

"Well, if he can't drive, guess there's no point in taking them with us. Oh well, we'll take our car out front."

"Wha—hey!"

It happened so fast that Weevil and Rex didn't realize what had happened. They'd been left to eat Junko's dust as she and the others scrambled into the Jeep out front.

"Well, there goes our ride," Rex sighed. "Now what, Weevil? We're stranded here."

Ten minutes later, Weevil and Rex had stolen two unattended bikes. "Weevil, you suck!" Rex shouted.

---

Elsewhere, along the unbearable hot climate of the southeastern California wilderness, Natsumi and Valon were driving their motorbikes, stopping along a cliff that looked out over Industrial Illusions. Well, Natsumi swerved and stopped and Valon stopped because she stopped.

He watched her dismount and take off her helmet. She looked out over the horizon, unable to see the distaste and determination on her face.

"What's wrong, Natsumi?" Valon asked, dismounting and doing the same. He walked up next to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Am I still not good enough, Valon?" Natsumi asked. "I feel like a failure. We almost lost and it's cause I'm not good enough."

"Blimey is that a steaming pile," Valon said, patting her on the back. "You're a great duelist."

"But I keep losing!" Natsumi exclaimed. "I got my one rematch victory against Ibuki and Sato didn't even put up a fight." She kicked a rock off the cliff. "But I could barely do a thing in that previous duel. When the chips were down and things looked bad, I just clammed up. You would've been better off without me."

"Now that ain't true and you know it. Look, yer just a little frustrated. We'll go back to Dartz and come up with a new strategy."

Natsumi sat on the ground. "I have to win," she pouted, curling her legs up by her shoulders. "I threw away…everything. My brother…my family…" She started to get choked up.

Valon sat next to her. "Ya still got me." He put a hand on Natsumi's shoulder

Natsumi put her head against Valon's shoulder. "Yeah…I guess I do."

A revving of another motorbike cut off Natsumi and Valon from their pity party. It was Rafael. "I hate to interrupt this moment you seem to be having, but Dartz wants to see you."

Valon sighed. "Awrite, how mad is he?"

"Actually, he seems more interested in what you make of Hermos than he is that you ran from the duel."

"Right, reports. Got it." He got to his feet. "Come on, Natsumi. Let's go."

"Just a moment," Rafael said and then looked at Natsumi. "Not you. You can go on ahead, Natsumi."

Natsumi nodded. She didn't even hesitate to drive off and wait for Dartz to scoop her up a la magic.

"What's eatin' you?" Valon asked Rafael.

"I thought you were a loner type that didn't trust anyone," Rafael stated. "I thought we were all just temporary hangers on rather than actual comrades."

Valon shrugged. "Natsumi has trouble standin' up on her own. I dunno, guess I got a soft spot for her or somethin'. That's the reason ya stopped me?" Valon paused. "Oh, I get it. The big brother instincts are kickin' in, aren't they? You were tryin' ta make sure I wasn't takin advantage of her or nuttin'. Well ain't that just sweet."

Rafael's eye twitched. Valon knew he was right. "I don't need family."

"Oh, is that why you've been goin' off on yer own to watch yer little sister for brief moments even though your target is the Pharaoh."

Rafael glared.

"Whatever, mate. Do whatever suits ya." Valon walked past Rafael towards his bike. "But you made yer choice mate. We all ain't got none. Even if I wanted ta tell Dartz off and go off on my own, there ain't a place for people like us in society. We gotta stick together."

"And what if Dartz fails?" Rafael asked.

"If he fails?" Valon asked. "What kinda nonsense are you spoutin' mate?"

Rafael shook his head briefly and got back on his bike. "Nothing…forget I mentioned it."

He and Valon then got on their bikes and proceeded to catch up to Natsumi.

---

As Yugi and the gang approached the Hawkins estate as fast as they could, Rebecca was coming up the road with her horse. However, as she got near her house with the groceries, a fierce wind and a tumbleweed blew across the land, spooking her horse.

"Whoa! Easy! Easy, Copernicus!" Rebecca exclaimed, gripping the reins, trying to calm him down. As the wind blew gentler, she could see two figures standing in front of her. One was wearing a green hoodie with his head looking like frozen custard had been spilled all over it. The other looked mysterious in his overcoat, purple scarf and two different colored eyes. Rebecca recognized them from the videos she'd seen of Battle City: Nagito Komaeda and Gundham Tanaka.

"You get the old man, I'll deal with our champion," Nagito said to Gundham.

"Agreed," Gundham stated and proceeded to head for the front door.

"Oh no you don't!" Rebecca exclaimed, snapping the reins to get Copernicus to charge Gundham, but her horse refused to budge.

"No beast would dare attack the mighty Gundham Tanaka!" Gundham exclaimed, only to show off a venomous snake wrapped in his scarf.

"What are you going to do with my grandpa?" Rebecca shouted.

"We're just going to take him and his research," Nagito said. "They're too valuable to be allowed in Yugi's hands."

"Yugi? Yugi's coming here?"

"Well, maybe. Maybe not," Nagito said. "We just have our orders."

"There's no way I'm going to let you creeps touch my grandpa or his research!" Rebecca shouted, dismounting her horse.

Gundham glanced at Nagito before heading for the front door as Nagito got out his duel disk. "Well, I'm more than happy to give you a chance to save your grandpa, Rebecca. The question is, is the hope of one of the greatest duelists in America able to conquer the hope of Dartz?"

"I don't know what you're spouting about hope," Rebecca said, taking her duel disk out of one of the satchels strapped to her horse. "But I'm not going to let you take my grandpa!"

Nagito smiled. "Well then…"

"Let's duel!" Rebecca and Nagito shouted.

"Since I gotta save my grandpa, I'll go first!" Rebecca declared. "And I summon to the field my Ruby Dragon!"

A red lookalike to Luster Dragon hit the table with 1600 attack points and 1300 defense points.

"Next, I'll set two cards face-down and end my turn."

"My turn," Nagito smirked. "I draw." Nagito looked at his opening hand and spotted the Seal of Orichalcos. Technically, Dartz hadn't asked him to steal Rebecca's soul, but, if everyone was bound for the Leviathan anyway, what harm was there in challenging the hope of one of America's young prodigies. "I activate the Seal of Orichalcos!" Nagito shouted.

The seal formed and Rebecca was now trapped inside it. Although she had a face-down spell nullifier in Magic Jammer, she knew that wouldn't work on a card as ancient and mystical as the Seal of Orichalcos.

Rebecca gasped. Oh this duel just got a whole lot harder, but…this was good. If she won, that was someone out of Dartz's band of thugs. Then Yugi would have to fall in love with her. Briefly, she fantasized of her shmoopy holding her in his arms and telling her what a good girl she was. She caught herself drifting off and focused on Nagito's play.

"And next, I activate Ritual of Destruction!" Nagito shouted.

"I don't think so!" Rebecca shouted. "Because I activate this! Magic Jammer! Now, I can discard one card from my hand and completely negate your spell card!"

Rebecca discarded a card from her hand, leaving her with two. Nagito's ritual spell card hologram then suddenly shattered into tiny pieces.

Nagito chuckled. "Impressive. Very impressive. I don't normally experience negation of my rituals. But do you have another negation card like that, Rebecca?" Nagito asked.

"Why don't you find out?" Rebecca taunted. She did have Mirror Force face-down to protect her Ruby Dragon. And, thanks to Magic Jammer, she'd just sent the original Luster Dragon to the graveyard, meaning she could bring it back with the Monster Reborn in her hand and summon Luster Dragon next turn. Nagito would never know what hit him.

Unfortunately, Rebecca was dreadfully underestimating the incomprehensible power that was Nagito's luck.

"Fortunately for me," Nagito said. "I have a backup plan. I activate Cycle of the World!"

Another ritual spell, Rebecca thought, gritting her teeth and glaring from behind her glasses.

"Now, I'll discard my now useless Garlandolf, King of Destruction as well as my Djinn Releaser of Rituals, to summon a powerful monster. I call upon Ruin, Supreme Queen of Oblivion!" A beautiful woman with long white hair, a black and red hat upon her head, a gorgeous gold, black and red outfit and an ominous looking shadow looming behind her appeared. She had 2,900 attack points and 3,000 defense points. And thanks to the Seal of Orichalcos, Ruin gained an additional 500 attack points, bringing her to a total of 3,400.

"And now, Ruin will attack!" Nagito shouted, pointing at Ruby Dragon. Charging power through her scepter, Ruin charged her attack.

"Nice try, but I activate Mirror Force! It'll stop your monster in its tracks."

"Ordinarily, you'd be right," Nagito said.

"What do you mean, ordinarily?" Rebecca snapped. She watched in horror as Ruin's attack shot straight through Rebecca's monster and Mirror Force, shattering both. "I…I don't understand."

"Then I'll explain. As long as Ruin is on the field, my ritual monsters can't be destroyed by card effects, only by battle. And another thing, since Djinn Releaser of Rituals was used to summon her, you can only summon monsters from your hand as you normally would. You can't use special effects to summon other monsters."

"N-no!" Rebecca exclaimed as her life points fell to 2,200.

"Oh, and another thing," Nagito said. "Since Ruin destroyed a monster by battle, you lose attack points equal to its original attack."

Ruin raised her scepter and blasted Rebecca's whole body into the wall of the Seal of Orichalcos. The frames of her glasses cracked as a result.

"Nnnh," Rebecca groaned as she stumbled about. Her life points fell all the way to 600.

"Your move, Rebecca," Nagito told her. "Make it count."

Rebecca was now unsure what to do. Ruin was absurdly strong and the only cards she had in her hand were Monster Reborn and Luster Dragon. Neither of which could save her in this situation. Even if she played Luster Dragon in defense mode, Ruin's special ability would cause her to lose the duel.

No! Rebecca exclaimed. I have to believe…in the heart of the cards! She grabbed the top card of her deck, hoping for some sort of game changing move. The card she drew turned out to be exactly what she needed to survive. Yes! This trap is perfect! She declared to herself. "I set one card face-down," she declared. "And next, I'm playing Luster Dragon in attack mode!" I'll worry about how I'm going to get his Ruin Queen of Oblivion off the field in time, but with this, I know I can at least hold out for a little while.

Nagito sighed. "Delaying the inevitable, huh? Well, I guess that's a champion for you. My turn then." He drew the top card of his deck. He had drawn an Exodia piece and it was the only card in his hand. Countdown to the end I suppose, he thought. "Ruin! Attack!"

"Not so fast!" Rebecca declared triumphantly. "I activate a trap: Gravity Bind!"

Nagito's jaw hung open. Well…that certainly screwed his playstyle quite a fair amount. Still…

"You are aware Gravity Bind affects your monsters too," Nagito said.

"I know," Rebecca said. "I figured I'd worry about that later." She pointed at Nagito. "I'm not going to lose to a creep like you!"

As soon as Rebecca declared this, she and Nagito heard the sound of glass shattering. Gundham went flying out on a humongous hawk-like bird with Rebecca's grandfather grappled by the shoulders in its talons.

"Grandpa!" Rebecca shouted.

"Focus on me, Rebecca! If you want to save your grandpa, you'll have to beat me first!" Nagito declared. "And it's your turn, so let's see what you can do."

Rebecca nodded. "I draw." She drew the top card of her deck. "I activate Dragon's Greed, allowing me to draw three cards as long as I have a dragon-type monster on the field and only dragon-type monsters in my graveyard." The cards in her hand were just what she needed to help her now. "I activate this spell card Dragon's Water Breath! Since I have a dragon type monster on the field, I can gain life points equal to its attack." Rebecca's life point total jumped up to 2,500. "And next, I summon Injection Fairy Lily!" She exclaimed, slapping the card on the duel disk.

Fairy Lily appeared winking as she mounted her mobile syringe.

"And since Fairy Lily is a 3-star monster, that means she can attack you!"

"Oh, I see. Not a bad strategy, Rebecca. But our monsters will destroy each other."

"Not if I play this. I activate Rush Recklessly. This will boost my Fairy Lily's attack power by 700 points."

Fairy Lily's attack power increased to 1,100.

"And now, I'm going to use Lily's special ability to raise her attack points by 3,000, giving her a total of 4,100 attack points, at the cost of 2,000 life points of course."

Injection Fairy Lily's attack points surged while Rebecca's life points fell to 500. Then, her fairy lily rocketed forward and stabbed Ruin in the chest, destroying her. Nagito's life points then fell to 3,300.

"My turn's over," Rebecca said, adjusting her glasses, feeling smug. She'd gotten out of a total death situation. All she had to do now was keep up the pace.

Nagito drew the top card of his deck. Another piece of Exodia. He smiled. "I pass, Rebecca." Well now. This was getting interesting. It now seemed like a race against the clock. Nagito was intrigued.

"My draw," Rebecca said, drawing the top card of her deck. The card she'd drawn was Fire Princess. It did her no favors now, but every little bit didn't hurt. But just to be safe… "I set a monster," Rebecca declared. "And next, I'm attacking with Injection Fairy Lily!" she shouted.

Rebecca's fairy lily rocketed forward and took a chunk out of Nagito's life points, reducing them to 2,900.

"My turn is over," Rebecca declared.

Nagito drew the top card of his deck. That was three pieces of Exodia. The clock was ticking. "I pass again," he said.

Rebecca grinned. She had this. She had this. "I draw!" She declared and pulled to her hand Cure Mermaid. Yes! Victory was just barely enough at hand now. "I summon Cure Mermaid to the field!" she declared, putting the 1,500-attack point and 4-star fish in play. "Next, I flip summon my face-down monster: Fire Princess!" Her monster appeared in all its regal, red clad glory. "On my next turn, I'll get life points back and burn you at the same time. Then, unless you manage to destroy my fairy lily, you're going down. But, even if you do, I'll slowly chip away at your life points with Fire Princess and Cure Mermaid without having to attack at all!" Rebecca adjusted her glasses by the frame. "I'm a genius."

Nagito actually smiled. "I have to admit, that's a pretty good strategy, Rebecca. I can see why you're one of the best duelists in America. You could be an Ultimate with that kind of talent. You're not old enough yet though."

Rebecca smiled. "Flatter me all you want. It's not gonna stop me from kicking your butt. Fairy Lily! Attack!" Rebecca shouted. Her monster poked Nagito with its syringe and dropped his life points to 2,500.

"It's not flattery," Nagito said, doing his best to shrug off the needle attack. "I'm genuinely impressed. Young talent like yours is hard to come by."

Rebecca blushed. She hadn't expected that. "Really?"

"Yeah, which makes this all the more difficult to do. I should be a stepping stone for your hope, not crushing it. Poor me. But…I have a job to do." Nagito sighed and drew the top card of his deck. Yup. Next turn it was game over. 4 Exodia pieces. "Go, Rebecca."

"Don't mind if I do!" Rebecca exclaimed and drew the top card of her deck. "And since it's my standby phase, I gain 800 life points." Rebecca now had 1,300 life points. "And since Fire Princess is on the field, that means you lose 500 more life points. Nagito's life points were now at 2,000. Rebecca had almost tied the game. She now looked at the card in her hand to see if it could help her in any way. And it most certainly could.

"I activate Dragon's Gunfire!" Marie shouted. "This magic card will allow me to inflict 800 points of damage directly to you!"

A dragon's head emerged from the card artwork and spat a fireball at Nagito, burning him down to 1,200 points of damage.

"Excellent!" Rebecca shouted. "This duel is practically over!" With Monster Reborn in her hand and 1,300 life points to work with, Nagito would need to either get rid of her gravity bind or summon a monster that could not only attack twice, but had enough attack points to destroy Fire Princess or Cure Mermaid. The chances of that happening were slim to none. This duel was as good as hers.

"Fairy Lily, attack Nagito now!" She shouted.

Fairy Lily rocketed forward and poked Nagito for another 400 points of damage, reducing his life points to just 800.

"The tables have turned!" Rebecca declared. "On my next turn, no matter what you summon, I'll burn you with 500 points of damage and then Fairy Lily will finish you off unless you manage to destroy her, but if you somehow did. Any monster you could summon to do it wouldn't be strong enough to withstand an attack from the Luster Dragon in my graveyard, assuming I destroy my own Gravity Bind of course. And even if I fail that, I still will burn you to a crisp next turn. Ergo, I win!" Rebecca exclaimed, pointing at Nagito.

Nagito laughed, but in a way that showed he was actually enjoying himself. "Rebecca, you're a good duelist. I'm sorry it has to be this way."

"Next time, don't kidnap my grandpa and join an evil cult!" Rebecca scolded.

"You know…you're right, but…this is the path I've taken and I'm doomed to walk it until the road crumbles to dust. Sorry, Rebecca. I really did have fun dueling you," Nagito said with a smile. He didn't need to have Heart of the Cards to know what he drew next. His own luck was about to be the undoing of a sliver of happiness he had found. His luck giveth and his luck doth take it away.

Nagito drew the top card of his deck. He nodded. Yup. Just as he predicted. "Sorry, Rebecca, but I win."

"You win?!" Rebecca exclaimed, flabbergasted.

Nagito showed her his hand and a wave of dread and despair washed over Rebecca.

"No…" she whispered. …Yugi…help me.

Nagito solemnly placed the Exodia cards on the duel disk. "Rebecca…I hope you can find it in you to forgive me," he said as Exodia blotted out the sun and rose up behind him, casting a shadow on him. "Temper your hope and get stronger. And hey, if Dartz fails, maybe we'll duel again sometime under less dire circumstances. My luck probably won't allow it, but I'd like that."

"Stop! You don't have to do this! You have a choice!" Rebecca shouted, pleading with Nagito. It was the only human action she had left.

"I'm sorry, but my choice was made for me, years ago," Nagito said. And then, a tear dripping from his right eye, he said, "Exodia…Obliterate."

All of Rebecca's monsters were blown to pieces and the residual damage sent Rebecca flying as the Orichalcos seal moved with her and shrank around her. Rebecca tumbled along the ground and stared up at the hot, California sun. Her clothes were completely singed by Exodia's attack and her glasses were completely destroyed. "Yu…gi…" A call for the boy she liked was the last word she got out before the Orichalcos took her soul.

Nagito sunk to his knees, staring up at the sun. He'd won again, but at what cost? I can't do this anymore, Dartz. He thought, But you're going to force me to keep fighting anyway, aren't you? He sighed as a green glow surrounded him. Guess that's my ride. He stood up as he turned into the portal at his back, taking one last look at Rebecca, smiling at her fallen body and then he walked into the portal to return to Doma.

---

The sun was setting by the time Gundham and Arthur Hawkins touched down elsewhere in the desert.

"This should be far enough," Gundham said.

"I don't understand…aren't you going to kidnap me?"

Gundham smirked. "Keheheh," he chuckled. "My orders were to capture you and make your discoveries useless to the dragon tamers. I received no orders to bring you back to Dartz immediately." Gundham turned his back on Professor Hawkins. "It is truly a shame that I had my back turned when you escaped your restraint and ran for your estate."

"And…my research?" Arthur asked.

"If my all-seeing eye could not understand a word of it, then neither would those seeking to use its knowledge without your guidance. We're about 25 miles out from your estate and I offer you no transportation. You're an archeologist." Gundham handed Arthur a bottle of water. "Surely you know how to conserve your resources on the journey back. A walk like this would take 8 hours on foot. By that time, the approaching tamers will likely have moved on and seek to avenge a captive old man that doesn't exist."

"You are…a strange man, but…I suppose I should thank you."

"Do not thank me," Gundham said sharply. "I am unworthy of gratitude, for my power cannot save that which is most precious to me." He looked at the Orichalcos stone hanging from his neck, fiddling with it between his bandaged thumb and forefinger "I paid for power at a great price and I see naught the means to discard it without an even greater price."

"I don't know what kind of demons you're battling, young man," Arthur said to him. "But I'm sure if you follow your heart and try your best, you will find the answers you seek. Prophecies and architectures are said to predict the futures thousands of years from the ancient past, but no man is so held down by destiny that he is incapable of following his own free will to seize a destiny of his own."

"No man is so held down by destiny that he is incapable of following his own free will to seize a destiny of his own," Gundham repeated with a smirk. "Heh. That's a good line." He raised his arm to the air as a Blue-Winged Crown swooped down out of nowhere to cart him off. "You have been spared by this bearer by the Evil Eye today, Arthur Hawkins, but one day, even you shall bow to I, GUNDHAM TANAKA, the man that shall one day rule all of humanity!"

"What a strange young lad," Arthur said as he watched Gundham disappear from the horizon. He then set himself to make his way back to his estate on foot. Oh these would be a long 8 hours indeed.

---

When night eventually fell, Junko was pulling up to the estate in her Jeep. "This the place?" she asked Yugi, who had taken control back of his body mid-trip.

"Yeah, looks like it," Yugi said, only to see a figure lying on the ground, lit up by Junko's headlights. "Wait a sec! I recognize that person!" Yugi leapt from the car. "Rebecca!"

Junko stopped the jeep and she and the others ran over to where Rebecca was lying on the ground. Yugi held her in his arms as he knelt on the ground. "Rebecca! Rebecca!"

However, Rebecca didn't respond.

"That's one killer nap," Joey said.

"Don't be insensitive," Téa said. "Look at her eyes. They're open."

"No…Rebecca…don't tell me," Yugi said, reaching for Rebecca's collar, shaking her. "Hey, come on! Rebecca! Say something! Rebecca!" No good. She had no soul to respond with.

Junko licked her lips. Not only was the despair from this situation just so delicious, but she hadn't expected this turn of events at all. Finally, exciting things were happening. She knew she made the right call joining Yugi's side.

Angered and holding Rebecca in his arms, Yugi shouted at the top of his lungs, "YU-GI-OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Yami was back in control. "Dartz is not going to get away with this!" Yami shouted, enraged. He passed Rebecca off to Mukuro. "Please put Rebecca to bed inside her home."

Mukuro looked to Junko for guidance, but Junko nodded to her. She accepted Rebecca from Yami.

"Yug, I get that yer upset, but what exactly do you plan to do? We don't know where Dartz is and if Rebecca's out here all by herself, I doubt her grandpa's around. He wouldn't just leave her like this."

Téa gasped. "You don't think they took her grandfather's soul too, do you?"

"Let's search the estate then," Junko suggested. "If something's happened to him, I'll also see if I can't make any headway with the professor's research."

"Since when are you able to understand ancient archeological digs?" Mai asked.

"I'm just full of surprises," Junko winked.

---

After breaking up to check the Hawkins estate for the professor, Junko immediately stole into his lab/office and began poking around. On his desk, she found a crumpled piece of poster-sized paper that caught her eye instantly. "Is this…?"

Junko broke out into a wide Cheshire Cat Grin when she saw what was on the desk. It was the full and complete cipher to the Atlantean Language.

The door then clicked open and Junko quickly shoved the paper into her skirt, folding it up neatly, but carefully.

It was Yami walking into the room. "Find anything?" He asked.

"Nope, not a thing," Junko lied through her teeth, but hid it exceptionally well. Yami then began poking around in the room. "How are your friends making out?"

"Mai's busy cooking, but everyone else is hard at work," Yami said as he dug through a box of artifacts.

"Wow, set Woman's rights activists back about 20 or so years by putting the grown woman in the kitchen," Junko chuckled. Yami looked over his shoulder as if he didn't understand her joke. "Right, forgot my audience." Junko went back to looking at Arthur's desk, pretending to look busy.

"Junko," Yami suddenly said. "Just where exactly did you learn all the things you've learned about Atlantis? No, I suppose I should ask, how did you get to be so skilled in varying topics?"

"Hey, a girl's gotta have a hobby," Junko responded.

"Then that's quite a lot of hobbies you've accumulated," Yami replied.

Junko's gaze narrowed. Fortunately, her back was to the person she was speaking to. Oh, he had her backed into a corner good right now without even knowing it. If she said too much, all of her plans could unravel in an instant.

"Hey, when you're a trendsetter you need to know as much as you can. It's not an easy job. I don't get paid to just stand around and look pretty," Junko answered. "And Duel Monsters is a hot commodity right now. Learning about ancient stuff can really help me find the next trend before its even thought of. Understand?"

"I never really gave it much thought, actually," Yami replied. "I suppose being a Fashionista is tougher than I realized."

You don't know the half of it, Junko replied. Realizing that the conversation was now far and away from having her foot caught in a trap, Junko decided to make the next move for her plan of total societal collapse. "Say, Pharaoh…" she said, turning around and approached him.

Unfortunately, that move would have to wait as footsteps stomped up the stairs and Joey threw open the door. "Yo! You guys! I found somethin'!" he shouted.

Foiled by the idiot. Of course, Junko thought, but she put on her best smile. "Well, come on, Pharaoh!"

She and Yami headed downstairs where Joey showed them the letter he found. "This was stickin' out of the top magazine on the floor in the bathroom."

"Clever," Junko said. "That means we'd be sure to find it." She handed it off to Yami. "Probably for you."

"Hey, why can't it be for me?" Joey asked. "I'm one a them dragon users to, ya know."

"Look, I know Dartz's group better than you all do. Trust me, this is probably for Yugi or the Pharaoh. Or both."

Yami tore open the envelope without a return address on it and found a message. "I'll be waiting for you at Death Valley, Pharaoh." It was signed "Rafael".

"That's clearly a trap," Tristan said.

"Not necessarily," Junko said. "Rafael's pretty straightforward. A bit dramatic and seldom spoken, but the challenge is as plain as the moon outside right now. I doubt that's where Hawkins is though. That's the trap."

"How do you figure?" Téa asked.

"Think about it. Why call the Pharaoh out into parts unknown while making no mention of the professor? If it were a ransom note, it would contain a whole bunch of demands of "If you ever want to see the professor again"." Faulty logic, but for Junko she was hoping her company wouldn't call her out on it. She'd gotten a good grasp on their critical thinking skills. Téa and Mai aside, they really didn't have a lot and the ladies were hardly a threat to her mentally.

"Then, I know where I have to be," Yami said.

"Then I'm going with you," Téa said.

"No, it's too dangerous," Yami replied. "Stay here with Mai and watch over Rebecca."

"Aw, hell no! I ain't letting you go alone!" Joey shouted.

"Joey, you should go with Tristan and Miho and go look for Professor Hawkins."

"I'll go with them," Mukuro said. Everyone looked at her "…I can drive."

"Then it's settled, I'll go with the Pharaoh," Junko said, giving him a hug around the shoulders, going cheek to cheek, causing him to blush.

LIKE HELL YOU ARE! Those were the words raging inside Téa's brain, but if she announced them, her jealous rage would be her emotional undoing. Instead, she settled giving Junko stink eye briefly. Then, she said much more gently, "Pharaoh, please let me go with you."

"I'll be sounder of mind if you stay out of harm's way, Téa."

"Yeah, but…" Téa started to protest.

"Don't worry, Téa," Junko said, taking a prime opportunity to make that move she wanted to earlier. She took the Orichalcos stone from around her neck and tied it around the Pharaoh's. "In case we get separated, I can use my spellbook to find the Pharaoh. Don't worry your little brown-haired head. He'll be fine in my care."

Téa looked at Yami with concern. To abate this, he put his hands on her shoulders. "I almost lost you to Marik. I'm not risking you to Dartz. Mai can protect you while I'm not around. I have faith in her dueling skills."

Ah. So that's why he was having her stay behind.

Téa gave Yami a hug. "Please stay safe." She gave Junko a brief stare and stuck the tip of her tongue out brief enough that only Junko would be able to tell it happened.

So juvenile, Junko thought. But I like this game we're playing, Téa. It's all going exactly as I planned so far. On a chessboard inside her mind, Junko moved a white pawn forward with a loud Clack!

---

Mukuro started the jeep with Tristan, Joey and Miho in tow.

"Stay safe, you two!" Joey exclaimed leaning towards Yami and Téa on top of Copernicus.

"As safe as dueling to keep your soul can be," Junko said, waving at them with a smile.

Mukuro then took off in one direction, causing Joey to lurch back into the seat. "Ah! Joey!"

"He's fine," Tristan said with a glazed look and then then Jeep tore across the desert night unimpeded.

"You sure that memory of yours remembers how to ride a horse?" Junko asked.

Yami nodded.

"Well then, I'll hold on extra tight," Junko said, wrapping her arms around Yami's stomach, boobs pushing into his back. "Just in case."

Yami blushed but quickly shook it off. This was hardly the time to be contemplating the Kuribohs in his pants. He snapped the reins and Copernicus whinnied and sprinted off towards Death Valley.

Téa watched her friends leave her behind as Mai stepped outside. "Where's everyone going? I've got shredded bourbon chicken ready to serve up."

"Maybe if you weren't so busy cooking, you'd know that Junko just rode off with Yugi!" Téa exclaimed, pointing in the direction the horse had rode.

"Okay, deep breath," Mai said calmly. "Tell me what happened."

---

One Explanation Later…

Mai laughed.

"This isn't funny!" Téa exclaimed.

"Téa. Yugi takes dueling very seriously. I'm sure he'll be smart enough to thwart any advance Junko makes. Besides, he wanted you out of harm's way because he cares about you. Look on the bright side."

"Huh. Yeah. I guess that does make sense," Téa said. Grinning to herself, she looked away and down. Yeah, how about that Junko? Yugi doesn't care if you get hurt.

"Okay, I don't know what mean things are going through your head, but I know a shredded chicken sandwich will at least stave off your hunger. Come on inside, it's cold out here."

Téa nodded and followed Mai inside as she looked up at the stars. Yugi…please come back safe.

---

Towards Death Valley did Copernicus ride. Junko and Yami making quite the pair as Yami masterfully steered the steed through the cold desert.

"Say, Junko. If you can track me with this on? Can you track Rafael?" Yami asked.

Junko shook her head. "No. That's my stone so I've already rigged it to be trackable. But, I can tell you a bit about him."

"What about how he duels?" Yami asked.

Junko shook her head. "Never saw him play a card. I'm afraid you'll be going in blind." For one of the few times in her lifetime, Junko wasn't withholding information for the sake of despair. She really didn't know.

"Well, what can you tell me then?" Yami asked.

"He's a stoic one, I'll give you that. Like I said, he's a bit dramatic, but that's understandable. He's drunk on the Orichalcos kool-aid, but he has his moments of chivalry and plenty of standards compared to say, Valon, or some of Dartz's newer acolytes."

"So, he's reasonable then?"

"Usually, yes. For you…no."

"What's wrong with me?" Yami asked.

"Best that you get that straight from the horse's mouth. I don't have nearly enough angst to mimic that edgelord."

With that, Yami figured to continue the rest of the ride in silence. Well, not completely in silence. He decided to converse mentally with Yugi for a brief while. Just small talk, nothing too important. Until, finally, he, Junko, and Copernicus came to a ravine in Death Valley. The backdrop would've been great for sightseeing. After all, in only a few hours, the sun would rise.

"There he is!" Junko pointed down at the glowering Rafael, standing across a plank bridge in the middle of an otherwise isolated mesa. "Now how do we get down there?" She wondered.

"I can think of one thing. Hold on, Junko!" Yami declared. He was done wasting time. Now was a time for action.

Junko hung on tight as Yami rode Copernicus down the cliffside and only the same level of ground that Rafael was on, just on the opposite side of the bridge. He then dismounted Copernicus, leaving Junko to take the reins briefly. When Copernicus came to a full stop, she dismounted too.

"Good boy," She said, patting the horse's head and feeding him a sugar cube from her pocket.

"Very impressive, Cowboy!" Rafael taunted. "But you'll need more than a few rodeo tricks to get yourself out of this!" He then spotted Junko. "Oh, and I see you've brought our traitor with you too."

"Junko has nothing to do with us," Yami stated.

"Oh, really? I'd say she has plenty to do with this. Did she tell you what she did to get the Seal of Orichalcos and escape? How her sister wildly fired a rifle into the air to cover their escape."

"That was self-defense," Junko said chipperly without missing a beat.

"This is between you and me, Rafael," Yami said. "Junko turned against the power of the Orichalcos and decided to help save humanity."

Only so I can destroy it myself in a couple years' time, Junko thought grinning.

"And if she can, then so can you!" Yami exclaimed.

"Feh," Rafael spat. "Sorry, but if you think that blondie over there is as sweet and innocent as she claims, you should ask yourself why she wanted to join the Orichalcos in the first place."

Junko folded her arms. Oh, she needed Rafael to shut up and shut up now.

"You see, Master Dartz understands humanity's weak and frail nature. He understands that every human out there wants something. The power of the Orichalcos isn't something so easily earned."

No. She didn't need him to shut up. She could salvage this herself. "What I want," Junko said. "Is for the Orichalcos and its cult to vanish. I betrayed you because I was deceiving you."

"And are you deceiving the Pharaoh?" Rafael asked.

Junko almost audibly hissed. She walked right into that one.

"Or perhaps you're just both evil and rotten to the core," Rafael stated.

"Enough!" Yami exclaimed. "Junko is my friend and I'll not have you insulting her. Whatever her reasons for wanting the power of the Orichalcos, she has decided to help us instead. Why don't you think about what that means, Rafael?"

"What I think it means? I think she's a snake and you're too dumb to notice the venom she has lodged in her fangs."

Junko didn't need to say anything. Rafael had lost this argument already. Yami was too thick headed to listen. No, she'd already won before this conversation even started. The Pharaoh had referred to her as his friend. That was everything she needed for the rest of this adventure. It was going to make everything else so much easier.

"Pharaoh, while my associates are content with taking the souls of your friends, I'm not."

"I assume Professor Hawkins isn't here," Junko said.

"If you knew that, then why come all this way?" Rafael asked.

"To duel you, obviously!" Yami replied. "This is for Rebecca!"

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I didn't touch the girl," Rafael said. "You have my condolences. The good always die young." Yami snarled as Rafael flung off his coat and picked up two axes and flung them at the Pharaoh. Yami flinched only to realize the axes weren't coming at him, but going around him.

"Junko!"

"Worry more about yourself," Rafael said as the axes tore into the ropes keeping the plank bridge suspended and made it collapse.

"Junko, are you all right?" Yami asked.

"Don't worry about me," Junko called, the sides of her hands by her cheeks. She raised one hand into the air, waving and smile, leaving the other hand put. "Just take him down, darling!" Yami turned back around, only to call out to him again, "Also, I told you he had a flair for the dramatic!"

"Sounds like your girlfriend believes in you. It's so sad you brought her all this way to see you fail! And once I've beaten you, she's next."

"Then I absolutely cannot afford to lose! You can duel me all you like, but you'll leave my friends out of it!" The Pharaoh exclaimed.

"Oh I'll leave your friends out of it," Rafael said, only to point at Junko, "But the trash needs to go!"

Yami growled. There was no arguing with Rafael.

"I need to defeat both of you so that I can save the world."

"Save the world," Yami repeated sarcastically and then glared. "Don't you see that what you're doing will destroy the world? Or are you so insane that you can't tell the difference?"

Yami and Rafael both missed Junko slowly glancing to one side.

"I'm just fine," Rafael said. "It's you who's blind to what's going on. You're fighting on the wrong side."

"Explain yourself!" Yami barked.

Junko suddenly wished she had popcorn.

"This world's a dark and lonely place to live. It's been poisoned by mankind. All I'm trying to do is fix what's been ruined by people like you."

Junko rolled her eyes. Well so much for interesting. She decided that the rising sun was so much more interesting than Rafael and Yami debating philosophy. She only decided to return her attention to them when the duel actually began.

"Let's Duel!" Yami and Rafael declared simultaneously.

"I'll start things off if you don't mind," Rafael said. "By playing a magic card known as Guardian Treasure!" Rafael exclaimed as the magic card activated. "It allows me to draw two new cards as long as I toss out the five that are in my hand. Plus, I can draw two more cards every round from now out."

"I place one monster in defense mode," Rafael stated. "And then I place one card face-down on the field. That ends my turn."

Yawn, Junko thought. You think you're going to beat him with that kind of strategy? The Guardian Treasure is a nice touch though. Oh well. I'm here, better stay for the long hall. I just hope there's a surprise or two in this duel.

"You ought to be thanking me Pharaoh!" Rafael exclaimed. "I just gave you a head start. Since I played two cards, I have nothing left in my hand."

Oooh, head games. Maybe this won't be so boring after all. With Yugi's competitive nature and current attitude regarding Rebecca, he's sure to try and get that monster off the field by any means. All right, Rafael, Junko said with an upbeat smile. You have my attention.

"I fuse together Gazelle and Berfomet in order to form Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast!" Yami declared as the majestic two-headed monster stormed onto the field with its mighty 2,100 attack points. "I'm sure your defensive monster won't stand a chance against Chimera!" Yami shouted. He pointed his index finger at the face-down monster. "Now, my Mythical Beast, attack!"

Chimera roared and charged forward towards Rafael's monster.

However, there was suddenly a flash of light as Rafael's monster emerged, literally grabbing the Chimera by the horns.

Rafael laughed. "Now, what were you saying about my monster not standing a chance?" His big, blue, long-eared, red-maned monster had 2,200 defense points.

Well that's unexpected, Backup Gardna. Well played, Rafael, well played, Junko thought, performing a "clap" using only her index fingers so that Yami couldn't hear her silently applauding the enemy's move.

"My Backup Gardna has more than enough defense points to stop you."

Backup Gardna then threw Chimera back towards Yami's side of the field. Yami's life points ticked down appropriately to 3,900.

"Back to me," Rafael said and went for the top cards of his deck. "I activate the magic card Gravity Axe. This allows me to summon an all-powerful monster. So meet Guardian Grarl!" A powerful lizard-like dinosaur monster entered the field of battle with a whopping 2,500 attack points. "And if you think my monster's strong now," Rafael added, "just wait. Cause when I add Gravity Axe, my Guardian Grarl gains an additional 500 attack points." Grarl now had 3,000 attack points.

"3,000 points!" Yami gasped, having what was presumably Blue-Eyes White Dragon PTSD.

"Now, Guardian Grarl!" Rafael declared. "Attack Chimera!"

Grarl growled and darted forward, taking a swift, downward, angular, sideways chop with its axe, slicing up Chimera, destroying it and reducing Yami's life points to 3,000.

Junko yawned to herself, so it looked more like a sigh to Rafael, who could actually see her. He, of course, did his best to ignore her.

This is a typical duel for the Pharaoh at this point. Junko had observed all of Yugi's career. His duels were always like this. He got the shit kicked out of him in the early game, or played tug of war with his opponent all match long, and then ended up winning in the end. Early leads were rare, but quite frankly if the greatest duelist in the world could get an early lead, then chances were high that this game was over soon enough. At least Tug of War duels give some kind of suspense, Junko thought. He'll bounce back.

"My monster may be gone now," Yami declared, "But his special ability remains! Observe!" he declared, holding his arm out over the battlefield, palm open. Berfomet then returned to the field in attack mode.

Rafael was less than impressed. "Big deal," he said. "So your two-headed pipsqueak left behind an even weaker monster. I'm shaken."

Junko rolled her eyes. Rafael just didn't get the utter turnabout that was about to be in his face.

"You should be!" Yami barked back.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to do better than that," Rafael said. "Because I have a deck full of Guardian monsters and each one is more powerful than the next."

Well A for effort on trying something new, but I doubt serial escalation is going to be a factor here. What? Does the strongest monster have 5,000 attack points or something? Junko mused to herself. This is why I'm on the Pharaoh's side right now.

"What do you mean Guardian monsters?" Yami asked.

Junko briefly stopped paying attention again. Exposition bored her to almost tears, especially when she knew all about Guardian monsters from her research.

---

While Yami was in the middle of his duel, Mukuro was driving across the landscape, eyes on the open road, her freckled visage maintaining its usual emotionless stare.

"See anything?" she asked her passengers.

"Nope. Nothin'," Tristan responded.

"Me neither," Joey said.

Miho sighed, sitting down and sinking into her seat. "Poor Professor Hawkins. Miho hopes he's okay."

"He's likely to be in better condition than Rebecca at least," Mukuro said.

"How do you figure?" Tristan asked.

"Simple, if he lost his soul, why move the body and leave Rebecca's?" Mukuro asked.

"That's a good point," Joey stated.

As Mukuro continued to drive, Tristan then said, "I've been wondering something. You and Junko are sisters, right?"

"Twins," Mukuro said.

"Certainly don't look it," Joey responded.

"And that just makes things even more confusing. If you're twins, why do you have two different last names?"

Mukuro didn't answer him.

"Hey, I asked you a question," Tristan said, grabbing for Mukuro's shoulder only for her to swerve the car in one direction sharply, causing him to lurch away from her. Even if he meant it harmlessly, Mukuro Ikusaba was never one to be taken off-guard.

She did try to brush it off however. "I almost hit a cactus."

"Cactus my ass!" Tristan shouted, clenching a fist. "Answer the question."

Mukuro sighed. "Our parents divorced when we were young. Dad took me and mom took Junko. We still each other a lot at school. When our parents died and Junko and I became homeless, I joined Fenrir not long after that." It was still difficult for Mukuro to talk about, especially given Junko was the one that killed their parents in the first place. If she never built that damn sandcastle—

"Hey! Watch the road!" Joey shouted.

Mukuro slammed on the breaks as a figure came into her headlights. It was an old man with gray hair and a fuzzy mustache. Tristan recognized him. "Professor Hawkins?"

"Hmm? Joey, Tristan, Miho," Arthur said, surprised to see them. He looked at Mukuro. "And…"

"I'm Mukuro Ikusaba. Nice to meet you," Mukuro said with barely a hint of emotion. "Get in."

Arthur nodded and climbed into the jeep, happy to finally have a ride rather than have to walk.

"What the heck happened to you?" Tristan asked.

"Strangest thing," Arthur said, dabbing his face with his handkerchief. "A man that could command monstrous beasts kidnapped me from my own home."

"Monstrous beasts?" Tristan questioned.

"Like duel monsters?" Joey asked.

"Yes. Very strange gentleman too. Kind of hard to understand. He had bandages all on one arm."

"Wait…that sounds familiar," Joey said, blinking.

"It does…" Tristan said, only to have an epiphany. "Wait! That's Gundham! Why's he involved in all this?"

"I dunno, but I don't like it," Joey said.

"Who's Gundham?" Miho asked.

"Oh, right. You didn't get a chance to meet him," Tristan said, scratching his head. Gundham had been one of the few Hope's Peak students absent from the foray into the Virtual World. "Um, I'll do my best to explain."

"Before you do, where is Yugi?" Arthur asked. "And what about Rebecca, is she all right?"

Mukuro answered him, but very vaguely. "Sit down and strap in, professor. This will be difficult to explain."

---

As Mukuro, Joey, Miho and Tristan explained to Arthur what had happened to Rebecca, Junko was coming out of her blip in focus and back to the duel between Rafael and Yami.

"You could never understand the connection I have with my cards, Pharaoh," Rafael barked.

Pretty sure he can, Junko thought.

"I'm afraid you're mistaken!" Yami exclaimed. "I also share a bond with my deck! I trust and respect every one of my cards!"

"Oh yeah, well take a look at these!" Rafael shouted, lifting his duel disk so Yami could see the cards on the reader. He then held up Backup Gardna and Guardian Grarl for Yami to see the worn out wear and tear on the cards. "I've played these cards hundreds of times, and even though they're falling apart, I'll never replace them!"

Junko cocked her head to one side in mild amusement. I really should find some cards that suit me, she thought. She then grinned. Oh who am I kidding? I'll get Pegasus to make me some!

"I've sworn to protect them the way they've protected me!" Rafael shouted. "Because twelve years ago, these monsters saved my life!"

Junko's attention was suddenly grabbed. Painful histories of individual people were always interesting. The despair they suffered was like nectar to the blonde. A sad backstory was like liver, fava beans and a nice chianti to Junko's palette.

"When I was a kid, I was fooled into believing the world was a happy place, but soon I discovered the truth: that nothing's fair and no one gets what they deserve."

Junko was practically shivering with delight. Oh she almost regretted betraying Dartz now. Almost. If she'd bothered to spend time with Rafael and get to know him, he would've made a fine soldier of despair just like her sister. A barely audible, "Puhuhuhuhu," escaped Junko's lips, washed out by the wind and gone unheard by Yami and Rafael.

"What a sad way to see the world," Yami said.

Junko sighed inwardly. You just don't understand, Pharaoh.

"Yeah? Well life is sad, and the sooner you realize that, the better off you'll be."

The despair of Junko being unable to run over and recruit Rafael for her own plans was making it increasingly difficult to keep her underwear dry.

"I oughta know," Rafael continued. "I used to have everything a kid could ever want until one day when everything was taken away from me. I was on a cruise out on in the Pacific Ocean with my beloved family, the royal family of the micronation, Novoselic."

"You're royalty!" Yami gasped.

"I was royalty," Rafael responded. "The family I knew and loved is gone." It was true. His family had gone on without him. Sure, Sonia still recognized him, but Rafael figured it was just a trick. There was no place home for him now. "It was my ninth birthday. My siblings had gone through the trouble to get me a very special Duel Monsters card. We were fine and happy. Everything was perfect. I was told to make a wish, but I told my family I didn't need one, I already had everything I wanted. That's when the boat started to shake and people started screaming. I knew something was wrong. I saw it up on the deck. We were headed straight for a tidal wave and there was no turning back.

"The boat rocked and I was thrown from my feet. I tried to reach out for Sonia and Julian, but as I was pulled towards the tidal wave, they were pushed back towards the boat. I was unable to save either of them."

"Hold on," Yami said, alarmed. "Sonia of Novoselic?"

"Oh, that's right. I suppose you've met my little sister, haven't you, Pharaoh?" Rafael asked. "Well it doesn't matter. I can't go home again."

"You're wrong. Sonia is too nice of a person to throw you away like that!"

"What would you know? As if someone like you could possibly understand how a family is supposed to work!" Rafael shouted.

Yami grit his teeth. There was just no getting through to Rafael it seemed.

"I was pulled into the tidal wave and when I woke up, the storm was over just as quickly as it had started. I believed myself to be the sole survivor of the entire cruise. I began searching the island for any survivors, just in case. Unfortunately, I was all alone. Everything I once had was gone. Who would watch over me now, I thought. All I had were the clothes on my back and my Duel Monsters cards. I was left with two choices: sit around and feel sorry for myself, or toughen up and move on."

"So you overcame adversity in order to cling to survival," Junko said. "It shows the strength of your character, but the pain and suffering you experienced that day never left, did it?"

"Quite astutely deduced for a fashion model," Rafael said.

Junko shrugged. "I like psychology."

Rafael lowered his head just a little. "I learned at a young age that the world is cold and lonely. I lost my childhood, but I gained something more important."

If the next word out of Rafael's mouth was despair, Junko would've orgasmed out of sheer happiness. And then she'd have some explaining to do. Fortunately, that was not the case.

"The truth." Rafael said. "As well as an undying trust for the only family I had: my three guardian cards. These duel monsters were everything to me. The guardians kept me strong and sane. They saved me from losing my mind and I owed it to those cards to save them."

"Really? Because it sounds to me like you probably went full Castaway," Junko stated. Both Yami and Rafael gave her an estranged look. "…What?"

Rafael ignored her and continued. "We shared a powerful bond. Guardian Eatos, Guardian Grarl, and Guardian Kayest. These monsters saw me through the hardest years of my life and they continue to protect me."

"Rafael!" Yami shouted. "If you truly respect your cards, then why do you use them for evil?"

"Evil, Pharaoh?" Rafael asked with a dulled expression of distaste. "What you consider evil, I consider saving the planet from falling apart at the hands of people like you and your little friends. It's my destiny. I always wondered why me and after spending three long years on that island, I finally got my answer. I wondered how I could've missed it. There was an entire city right off the coast."

"Well someone failed a spot check," Junko said.

"Junko," Yami said like a stern parent.

"I'll behave," Junko responded, tapping her ankles together.

"I was swallowed up by another tidal wave. I thought I'd drowned, but I remembered a voice as I had visions of floating above the city I'd seen. It said to me, "Welcome, Rafael. You've come home. Remember my voice, for we shall meet again." Soon after, I woke up on a rescue boat. They said they found me unconscious floating on a raft. I made the covers of newspapers and magazines around the world. And did my family ever come to take me home at any time after that? Not a single time! "Miracle Boy rejoins civilization after being stranded for years." Those were the headlines. Civilization," Rafael scoffed. "Please. The world I came back to was anything, but civilized. That island may have been lonely, but at least it was a peaceful place to live. And unlike the outside world, Pharaoh, there was no one on that deserted island who could walk out on me." He shed a few tears. "Like my family did."

Briefly, Rafael's words resonated in Junko as her memory traveled back in time to six years ago.

---

Homeless and without parents in the streets of Turkey, a ten-year-old Japanese schoolgirl with reddish brown hair styled into pigtails went racing up and down the streets, calling only one name.

"Mukuro!" She exclaimed, the sides of her hands against her cheeks. "Mukuro!" she called again. She had to find her, the class would be returning to their tour bus soon. She opened a barrel and peered into it. "Mukuro?"

"Junko, what are you doing? Don't touch that! It's filthy!" The teacher exclaimed, marching up to Junko and grabbing her.

"But I can't find Mukuro anywhere!" Junko exclaimed.

"Well, if Mukuro knows what's good for her, she'll make her way back to the bus on her own before we leave," her teacher said. She picked Junko up off the ground and carried her away. Junko couldn't help but stare out at the market that her teacher was dragging her away from. And then, for a brief moment, she spotted her sister.

"Mukuro!" Junko hollered, but Mukuro just waved at Junko, smiling at her, the way Junko smiled at her a lot. It was if she was saying her goodbyes.

Junko's eyes shrunk in with despair. This was truly a cold-hearted betrayal on Mukuro's part. How dare she separate herself from their two-girl family!

She also noticed that Mukuro was not in her school uniform, but instead beige and brown camouflage. She saw a tall, Caucasian man standing next to Mukuro. He had an eyepatch on his right eye, a gray bandana worn around his forehead, and a beard and mustache that just screamed Action Hero. He handed Mukuro a handgun and spoke with a gruff voice either because he'd smoked one too many cigars, or because he thought it sounded cool.

"Come on, kid. I'm gonna teach ya how to hunt pigs."

"Hai, Serpico-sama!" Mukuro saluted.

Junko's teacher had missed this exchange. She just thought Junko was being a brat—and that was not an unfounded belief by any stretch—and continued to carry Junko away from the market.

"Mukuroooooooooooo!"

---

Junko's mind resurfaced back to reality. She barely caught Yami spouting, "How can you blame mankind for what happened to you?"

"I told you!" Rafael shouted. "People are evil!"

Rather few leaps in logic you have there, Fabio, Junko thought, keeping her quip to herself so that Yami didn't start to grow suspicious of her. She'd already pushed her luck enough at this point.

"But it wasn't always this way," Rafael said. "Once the world was perfect. And when I got back from that deserted island, I saw that ancient paradise with my own eyes. Master Dartz promised me that we could save the world and rebuild it in the way its supposed to be."

"I don't what lies you were told," Yami said. "But I know no good can come from your plan."

Spoken like a true anime protagonist, Junko thought.

"Don't worry, Pharaoh," Rafael said. "You won't be around to see how my plan turns out."

"Wrong," Yami said, narrowing his gaze. "I'm not going anywhere."

"We'll see," Rafael said.

By this point, the sun had finally started to creep up on the horizon and with it, below the canyon cliffs, pedaling towards it, were Rex and Weevil.

"Hey, Rex, check that out!" Weevil exclaimed. "Yugi's dueling!"

Rex then noticed Junko on the other side of the open chasm. "Hey, it's that blonde that ditched us! Yo, Junko! What's your problem just abandoning two poor guys in the middle of an empty city?"

Just ignore them, Junko, Junko told herself. You have bigger things to worry about.

Yami felt the same it seemed. "It's my move," he declared. "And now, I activate the magic card Five Star Twilight!" As he declared this, Berfomet suddenly dispersed into 5 balls of different colors. "Since I have a level 5 monster in play, my Five Star Twilight allows me to summon five new monsters to the field! Now say hello to an unstoppable family of monsters!" Five Kuribohs suddenly appeared. From left to right from Rafael's point of view their colors were indigo, pink, standard brown, white and teal.

"Kuri! Kuri!" The Kuribohs cooed, showing off their still pitiful stats of 300 attack points and 200 defense points.

Oh Pharaoh, you and those Kuribohs. Will wonders never cease?

"Your little cottonballs don't frighten me. I used to keep a similar beast as a pet. And Cobain could eat your little powderpuffs for breakfast."

"Looks can be quite deceiving," Yami said, again causing Junko to slowly glance to one side. He then raised his arm high into the air and shouted. "GO! My Kuribohs!"

Phrasing, Junko thought.

Disobeying all the laws of physics, the four colored Kuribohs jumped into the fur of the brown one in the center.

"Combine your powers together to form Kuribabylon!" Yami shouted as a big, horned Kuriboh with fangs and blue fur appeared. It had 1500 attack points. "Next, I activate my Pump Up magic card," Yami declared. A golden glow surrounded Kuribabylon. "Its magic power will double Kuribabylon's attack points for a single turn!" Kuribabylon's attack points soared to 3,000.

"Now, my beast!" Yami declared, pointing at Rafael's field. "Attack with Horn of Chaos!"

"I don't think so, King Puffball!" Rafael exclaimed. "Go! Rescuer From the Grave!" A spell card suddenly popped out of Rafael's graveyard.

Yami was in shock. "But you can't play a card from your graveyard!"

"I just did!" Rafael exclaimed as a white aura surrounded Grarl and the impact between Kuribabylon and the brown dinosaur caused the monster to separate back into the Five Kuriboh Brothers, which were hurled through the air back to Yami's field. Rafael then explained what had happened. "This powerful magic card can only be activated once it's in my graveyard. And then comes the fun part. Well, fun for me. It instantly stops your monster's attack."

Yami swallowed. This was not good.

"So where was I?" Rafael asked rhetorically as he drew two cards from his deck. "Oh right. I remember now. Destroying you…by sealing away your very soul. After all, it's the only way to supply the great beast with enough energy to wipe out mankind. But why stand here and talk about it? The sooner I win this duel, the sooner you'll be gone forever. And with that, I'll place two cards face-down."

Junko yawned. Rafael gave her a stare. "Oh, don't mind me, pulling an all-nighter always makes me tired. Listening to your dreadfully uninspired speech doesn't help. The Pharaoh has had just about enough of your insolence!" Junko exclaimed, pointing at Rafael. "You can beat him, can't you darling?"

"Of course I can!" Yami exclaimed.

See? Junko's encouraging us, Yugi told his other half.

Yami wasn't so quick to suddenly think Junko was completely harmless though.

"And next I'll play the magic card Purity of the Cemetery!" Rafael exclaimed, activating his face-down from last turn. A weird smoke exuded from the card's artwork and Yami got into a defensive stance behind his Kuribohs. "Now here's how it works, Pharaoh," Rafael began to explain. "You lose 100 life points each turn for every monster that remains in your card graveyard. And as long as my graveyard is monster free, my card stays in play."

Yami gave Rafael a determined look, trying to figure out a way around this new adversity to the duel.

"Now, I have one more thing you may be interested to know," Rafael said. "I have no intention of playing my Seal of Orichalcos magic card."

Yami gasped.

He's not what now? Junko thought, blinking. That single sentence had her hooked like a fish biting at a bloodworm.

"But that doesn't mean you're safe," Rafael said. "Not by a longshot. Your fate is still sealed and when you lose your soul, it'll be by your own doing."

Yami continued to get defensive, clearly not understanding what Rafael meant.

Junko herself was confused at first, but then ran all the possibilities in her head. And when she realized what it was Rafael was planning, she wasn't just intrigued, she was excited. Oho! Puhuhu! Puhuhuhuhuhuhuhu! Oh, Rafael. I had pegged all wrong. You're more devious and cruel than I gave you credit for. I want to see it! I want to see you make the Pharaoh suffer despair with his own two hands! Junko licked her lips, careful not to not have her gesture noticed by Rafael, lest he give her true nature away. Oh this Junko had to see. Congratulations, Rafael, you're one of those rare few individuals I don't consider boring. Please, a wide smile crossed her lips. Entertain me.

Rafael was too focused on the Pharaoh to notice Junko's evil Cheshire Cat grin. "My monster has 3,000 attack points. Your multi-colored pompom sisters don't even come close to the power of my guardian. Now attack with Gravity Axe!"

Grarl roared, swung out its axe and charged forward as Rafael laughed at the clearly incoming 2,700 points of damage coming Yami's way.

Fortunately, Yami was nobody's fool. "Kuriboh Brothers! Activate Star Defense!"

Each Kuriboh held up its paws over its eyes and created a glowing star in front of it matching its fur color, except for the brown Kuriboh, which made a yellow one. And the teal Kuriboh made a green star. The stars forged together to create a giant rainbow star. And, flying forward behind it, The Kuribohs were able to stop Grarl and his gravity axe dead in its tracks.

Rafael was beside himself. "What? I was stopped by a bunch of fuzzballs?"

Yami had a self-satisfied smirk on his face. "Didn't I tell you? Looks can be quite deceiving. And the Kuriboh brothers are more powerful than they appear to be."

The five furballs began dancing in a circle together joyously.

"Whatever," Rafael said with a smirk. "I think I'll take my chances. With nothing between you and my monster, but a pack of gerbils, I'm not too worried."

---

With the sun now completely risen, Mukuro was pulling the Jeep up the road to the Hawkins Estate. Arthur was fast asleep snoring, as were Joey, Miho and Tristan.

Although she was inside, Téa had heard the Jeep and came running outside. She and Mai had managed to sleep on full stomachs.

"Mukuro! You're back!" Téa exclaimed. She then noticed Arthur in the Jeep. "Professor Hawkins!"

"If you help me get him and the others inside, I'll drive you to Death Valley and we hopefully won't have missed the entirety of the Pharaoh's duel with Rafael."

"Right," Téa said. "But…why are you in such a rush?"

"I'm worried more about Junko. The Pharaoh can take care of himself, I'm sure," Mukuro said. As Téa and Mai helped get a tired Joey, Tristan, Miho and Arthur inside, Mukuro stopped the car and waltzed in as well, gaze narrowed. I left Junko behind once and I won't do it again…not ever again.

---

"What do I know about Duel Monsters?" Mukuro asked, clutching at her sleeve, still wondering how Junko found her or her new cell number.

"Yes! It's all the rage right now. You have heard of it, right?" Junko asked.

"I mean…of course I have. A few of the soldiers play it in between missions. Why do you…?" She heard screaming in the background.

"Oh. Hold that thought," Junko said. Mukuro heard the sound of screams being silenced with some kind of blade judging from the way the screams were gurgling and gagging.

"Sorry about that," Junko said. "Interruptions are such a pain. Don't worry," she said to someone Mukuro had no idea who it was. "I haven't forgotten about you, sensei."

"Junko?"

"Whoops. Gotta go, sis. We'll catch up later. I'll be coming to Istanbul soon. Sorry if it'll be hard for you to recognize me. My hair's blonde now. Toodles!"

"Junko?" Mukuro asked. "Junko! Wait!"

"You got me good, sis. You really drove despair deep into my veins. I really must thank you. That's why I'm coming for a visit. I hope you don't plan to abandon me again. Bye-bye!"

"Junko!"

However, screams of agony were all that Mukuro heard before the line went dead. Mukuro's eyes shook with terror. She sank to her knees, letting the smart phone slide out of her hands and onto the mat of her tent. …What have I done? Mukuro thought.

The flap to her tent was pulled open and there stood Mukuro's surrogate father for the last few years. It was the same eyepatched man Junko had seen her with all those years ago. "Everything, okay, kid?"

Mukuro quickly bolted to her feet, pocketing her phone, saluting. "Yes, sir! Everything's fine!" she lied.

But things were not fine and, if Junko had her way—and she almost always did—they would never be so for Mukuro again.

---

Please, Junko, Mukuro thought, looking out a window on the first floor of the Hawkins' estate. Don't do anything stupid.

---

"My move," Yami declared, taking the top card from his deck into his hand.

"Did you forget about my Purity of the Cemetery magic card?" Rafael asked indignantly. He pointed at Yami. "You lose 300 points." He curled that same hand into a fist. "Looks to me like you're in over your head, Pharaoh."

Yami's life points dropped to 2,700.

After debilitating his next move, Yami flipped around a magic card in his hand, stating the most basic of all facts in all of Duel Monsters. "Pot of Greed lets me draw two cards from my deck!" He exclaimed and did precisely that. "This duel's not over yet, Rafael!" With a self-satisfied smirk, more than pleased with the cards in his hand, Yami just let slip a very casual, "Ready?" He pointed with his index finger straight across the battlefield. "First I activate the Kuriboh Brothers' special ability, merging them into Kuribabylon!" Once again, the fanged, horned demon returned to the battlefield. "Then," Yami said, as a golden tube of light surrounded Kuribabylon, "I sacrifice this new beast to summon something stronger! Say hello to my new monster. Go! Dark Magician Girl!"

Well, isn't this nostalgic? Junko thought.

The Sorceress Apprentice appeared on the field with her notable 2,000 attack points.

Rafael was not impressed. "She's too weak! Do the math! My Guardian will crush her."

He doesn't have to do the math. It's plain to anyone with half a brain. Also, tempting fate much? Junko thought.

"Behold, Rafael!" Yami shouted. "My Legendary Dragon! The Eye of Timaeus!"

Rafael gasped.

Junko grinned and not because she thought Yami had just turned this duel around. No, it was because Timaeus was his hope for victory. By building up his hope, it would make his plummet into despair all the more satisfying. Well…that was of course assuming Rafael wasn't just all talk.

Timaeus emerged on the battlefield with a mighty roar as a blue cylinder of light and visible white wind engulfed the entire battlefield.

"No! Not that!" Rafael exclaimed.

Junko felt frustrated. Come on Rafy, don't disappoint me now.

"Timaeus!" Yami shouted. "Fuse with my Dark Magician Girl!" The two monsters disappeared into a whirlwind as Yami declared, "Meet Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight!"

Dark Magician Girl now had a suit of armor and sat atop Timaeus like a dragon rider. Combined, the two had 2,600 attack points.

Junko was a bit impressed. Hmm, I could cosplay that, she thought. Her imagination, of course, included Yugi or Yami in a dragon suit.

"Thanks to my all-powerful dragon, I'm in control of this duel now!" Yami boasted. "Attack my beast!" he shouted.

"You can't!" Rafael exclaimed, flabbergasted. "Your dragon knight has less attack points than my Guardian Grarl!"

"True," Yami said, unbothered by this startling revelation, "But my monster has a special ability. By discarding 1 card to my graveyard, I allow my dragon to destroy your monster instantly!"

Rafael's face was priceless in Junko's eyes. "No."

"Attack with Dark Energy Burst!" Yami exclaimed.

Timaeus opened its mighty jaw and charged a blast of energy in its mouth. The beam, once released, completely obliterated Grarl and its axe.

"Big deal," Rafael said. "You won't be so lucky next time."

"We'll see," Yami said with a self-satisfied smirk.

Rafel moved his arm away from covering the top of his head. "You're right. We'll see right now!" He motioned his arm to one of his face-down cards. "Activate self-tribute!"

The magic card flipped face-up and Rafael began grunting and groaning in a way that made it sound like he was doing the classic anime-power up grunt…or picking the wrong time and place to go number two. He stopped after a while, stumbled and Grarl returned to the field with its axe in attack position like nothing was wrong.

"Wait," Yami gasped. "What's going on?"

Rafael clutched at his chest. "I've given up 1,000 life points to save my monster," he said as his life points fell to 3,000.

It looked like you were about to sacrifice your dignity for a moment there, Junko thought.

"Shocking, isn't it? That a duelist can have so much appreciation and respect for his monsters?! Unlike you, I actually care about my cards! You abandon yours as soon as a better one comes along!"

Yami gasped, taking offense. "What? I value all of my cards!"

"Look you're as disrespectful as everyone else, Pharaoh!" Rafael exclaimed.

"That's enough," Yami said, his voice showing how visibly wounded he was inside and also because of how much he truly pitied Rafael's pained and anguished outlook on life. "Let's duel."

"What's wrong?" Rafael asked. "Are you upset because I know you better than you know yourself? Face it! Every person in the world has darkness in their heart and you're no exception! Your problem is you're afraid to admit it, but deep down you're evil."

Oh what I wouldn't give for a tape recorder right now, Junko thought. Rafael was giving her so much ammo for her own philosophy she may as well make him her spokesperson, she figured.

"The world's been like this for the last 10,000 years," Rafael continued. "We used to live in paradise, but then the ancient stone showed up."

"What ancient stone are you talking about?" Yami asked.

Rafael grasped hold of the Orichalcos stone around his neck. "Don't you know? I'm talking about the stone of Orichalcos. It came to test us and most of us failed."

Junko sighed and folded her arms. Really, the answer was so predictable. Why did Yami need to ask?

"The stone unlocked the darkness that was buried in the hearts of mankind. Only a few turned out to be pure."

Ah, I see, so that's what Dartz has been telling you, Junko said, keeping her realizations to herself. Oh, I'm going to have fun breaking you, Rafael. Lots of fun, indeed. Junko smiled, showing her teeth. Rafael was too fixated on Yami to notice.

"A huge fight broke out between good and evil," Rafael continued to lecture, "And in the end, the evil side won."

"Whoever told you that story is lying to you!" Yami exclaimed.

Yeah, not arguing that one. It's pretty hokey, Junko thought.

"The only evil is around your neck!" Yami shouted.

Yours too, thanks to me, Junko thought.

"That stone is nothing, but bad news!" Yami preached.

Rafael began to chuckle. "You've got it wrong," Rafael said. "The stone of Orichalcos simply shows us the truth, Pharaoh. And the truth is that the majority of the world is heartless and evil."

I'd call him a liar, but I don't want to ruin these head games at all, Junko smirked.

"You're wrong!" Yami shouted, gritting his teeth.

Yeah, you know you're losing the argument when you can't come up with a better counterargument than that. Oooh, I'm getting goosebumps, Junko thought, shivering.

"How would you know?" Rafael asked. "I heard your memories were erased! If that's true, how do you know you weren't an evil pharaoh?"

Rafael's words shook Yami to his core. "That can't be," Yami said, but his tone suggested that part of him was considering the possibility.

Junko resisted the urge to laugh. What had started out as a simple slam dunk in the hole for Yami had turned out to be the most fun she had had in years. Oh yes, Yami certainly was not boring and neither was his opponent. He really was going to make the best figurehead for her ultimate plan. That much was truly certain.

"I may not remember much about my days as Pharaoh," Yami said. "But I know that I once saved mankind!"

Oh, good. He found a suitable counterargument, Junko thought, smirking.

"Well the people you saved were evil, which means you are too!" Rafael exclaimed.

Junko actually slapped herself in the face. Oh, Rafael, you were doing so well.

"That's not true!" Yami exclaimed, but his tone of voice betrayed the certainty of his words.

And Pharaoh, shame on you for buying into that. It's cheap and its shallow. What a way to spoil a good debate.

However, Rafael showed that he wasn't done arguing the point. "5,000 years before you ruled as king, the stone of Orichalcos appeared and never left. The world was divided into two sides, the pure of heart and those ruled by darkness. The two sides faced off in the most devastating battle the world's ever seen."

World War I and II would like to argue that, Junko sighed.

"We're here to continue that fight, and make sure our side wins!" Rafael exclaimed. "And while we may be outnumbered, we have two things you don't: the power of the Orichalcos and the Great Leviathan."

Yes, well, we have the five dragons, one of which is the Queen of Atlantis herself, Junko thought. So I think you're shit out of luck, buttercup.

"Therefore, we can capture the souls of man and offer them to the most powerful beast that ever lived," Rafael stated. "Only then will the world return to the way it was, a peaceful place with a worthy leader."

"I'm telling you! You've been brainwashed!" Yami shouted.

"Take a look around!" Rafael shouted. "If things continue the way they are, the entire planet is going to look like this desert: desolate, crumbling and void of any signs of life!"

"That's not our fault," Junko said. "That's nature. Besides, I heard your sister is supporting mine and the Pharaoh's side, does that mean your sister is evil too?"

Rafael clammed up a moment.

Junko grinned. Good, his sister is a sensitive subject. Very good indeed.

"Junko makes an excellent point, Rafael," Yami said. "You talk about family, but you're fighting your own! You have such great respect for your cards and your deck, yet the family you cherished not only lives, but loves you with all its heart!"

"Shut up! I said it before and I'll say it again! My family abandon me! My cards are the only family I will ever need!"

"Pharaoh, shut him up, I can barely stand listening to him," Junko said, playing the part of the best friend. "Whatever the truth about you is, we'll find it and face it together."

Yami nodded in Junko's general direction and then turned back towards the duel. "Rafael, I don't know what sort of lies Dartz has fed you, but I know I was a worthy Pharaoh! I'm the one who locked the dark magic away!"

Rafael only smiled. "So you believe. But if you take a closer look at yourself, you'll discover the truth. Your heart is dark, and I'm about to prove it." Rafael then went for the top two cards of his deck.

"First, I'll place one card face-down," Rafael stated. "Then I'll activate this magic card! It's called Exchange!"

"What are you up to?" Yami asked.

Junko looked contemplative on the outside, but inside, she was extremely giddy. So that's how he's going to get the Pharaoh to play the Seal, she realized. Oh, Rafael, you really aren't disappointing me at all.

Rafael explained that Exchange forced him and Yami to take a card from the other's hand, but, as he had planned, likely since the start of the duel, he and Yami were only holding a single card in their hand. The situation could not be more perfect. Junko was curling her toes and biting her lip with glee. She was even drooling a little bit.

She watched Rafael and Yami exchange cards, meeting midway at the battlefield to do so.

As Rafael handed over the card in his hand, he said, "I think you'll be pretty pleased with this one." Yami took the card and walked away, barely registering what was in his hand in his mind.

Junko's heart raced. Yami was facing in her direction. Oh, please let him look at the card before he turns around. Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease!

Yami looked over his shoulder when he heard Rafael laughing, which only confirmed Junko's suspicion of what had just occurred. "What is it you find so amusing?" Yami asked Rafael. He then looked at the card in his hand. The look on his face could've easily driven Junko to a creaming her underwear, but she managed to hold it in. Yami gasped in horror and despair. "Oh no! I can't use this! Not the Seal of Orichalcos!"

YES! Junko exclaimed inside her head. This was too perfect. Oh, this was going to be good!

"It's too late," Rafael said. "The stone around your neck has already begun to reveal your dark side."

Yami sneered and turned to look at Rafael and then looked down at the stone Junko had given him. It glowed an eerie green. Yami clutched at it tightly.

I wonder…is it my dark side or his the stone is reacting to? Or does it just resonate with the stone? There is a lot I don't know about the situation. But who cares? This despair is the best!

"The Orichalcos never lies!" Rafael exclaimed. "Ever since it first appeared on Earth, the stone's been testing people! It knows who the evil ones are!" Yami glared back at Rafael. "And when it detects the darkness inside of you, for the first time in centuries, you'll get to see who you really are. Of course, you don't have to activate that card if you don't want to, but I have a feeling you will. So go ahead and make your next move, Pharaoh!"

If his competitive streak is anything to go by, Junko thought, if you push him enough into a corner, he really will have no choice.

Yami stared at the Seal of Orichalcos. No matter what happens, you can't use that card, Yugi told him.

Yes, but—

But nothing! Yugi shouted at him. That card is evil. Don't play it.

Yami smiled at his counterpart. Very well, Yugi. However, he then looked back at the card as though he were still contemplating the circumstances under which he would have no choice.

Well, Rafael, you've certainly put Yugi in a fine mess, Junko said, taking a hand to adjust her bangs as she stood on the cliff, arms folded. You've gotten the head games and the setup for your trap nailed down. Now the only question is, will things pan out the way you hoped? She shivered with pleasure. Ahhhh, I'm a mess down there. The feeling of not knowing what's about to happen next is sending shivers up my spine. Hurry, Pharaoh, play the card. I can hardly wait!

"It's my move!" Yami shouted.

"Don't forget my Purity of the Cemetery magic card is still in effect! And with 5 monsters in your graveyard, you automatically lose 500 of your life points!"

Yami's life points ticked down to 2,200. He growled, but bounced back quickly. "Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight, attack! Annihilate his guardian again!"

Timaeus and Dark Magician girl charged forward as one unit to try and destroy Grarl, but Rafael was having none of that.

"Not so fast!" Rafael exclaimed. "Activate crystal seal!"

A bunch of crystals shot out of the ground and completely encased Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight in its shiny prison.

"What have you done, Rafael?" Yami demanded to know.

"I've sealed your dragon in a crystal prison, just like he was when you first found him!" Rafael shouted. "Your big shot dragon is now locked away," he said much more calmly. "Heh, but of course, there is one card in your hand that could set your monster free. Are you man enough to play it?"

After debilitating the risks of playing the Seal of Orichalcos, Yami decided to heed Yugi's pleas, but the calling of the Orichalcos was becoming stronger with each passing second. "I set a monster in defense mode!" Yami exclaimed. "And with that, I end my turn," he said, looking up at his imprisoned Dragon Knight.

"Time to lose!" Rafael exclaimed, drawing two cards to his hand. "I activate Rod of Silence! It raises my Backup Gardna's strength by 500!" Rafael was, of course, referring to defense points, making Gardna a huge wall with 2,700 defense points. "It also lets me play my Guardian Kayest!"

Holding the staff aloft and turning to an empty space on the field, Backup Gardna shined a light that brought forth the mermaid guardian Kayest. She had 1,000 attack points.

"Guardian Grarl!" Rafael shouted. "Attack his face-down monster now!"

Grarl raised its axe high above his head and brought it down onto Yami's defensive monster, utterly laying waste to Big Shield Gardna.

"No!" Yami gasped. "I'm defenseless."

"And your life points are wide open!" Rafael exclaimed. "Now, Guardian Kayest! Attack him directly!"

Kayest unleashed a torrent of water from her hands that erupted in a miniature, high rising typhoon that brought Yami's life points all the way down to 1,200. He dropped to one knee.

"Looks like this duel's just about over," Rafael said with a smug, self-satisfied grin. "In fact, you'll automatically lose when your next turn is done."

"You're wrong!" Yami exclaimed defiantly, drawing a card.

Rafael held up his hand. "Remember my Purity of the Cemetery's still in effect, so you lose 600 life points."

Yami's life points were now edging with a mere 600 points.

"Now, you have one turn left," Rafael said, arms securely crossed over his buff body. "There's only one way to save yourself and you know what I'm talking about. Now play the card I gave you."

Once again, Yugi pleaded with the Pharaoh not to play the Seal of Orichalcos. And, for the moment, Yami seemed to listen.

"If I lose now," Yami said aloud. "Then…two worlds will be destroyed. I won't lose this duel," he grunted, getting to his feet. "I'll take you down, Rafael! So I activate my Card of Sanctity! Now, both of us must draw from our decks until we have six cards in our hand."

Junko smiled. More hope meant more despair when Yami finally caved in and played the Seal of Orichalcos.

Rafael found amusement in this tactic. "Now you're just stalling," he said, pulling cards from his deck.

As Yami looked at the cards in his hand, the stone Junko gave him glowed with an ominous green aura once more. Yami clenched at it in disgust. He was starting to wonder why Junko gave him this. She had said it was to protect him, but it was doing a lousy job, mentally, of keeping him calm.

Well, I hadn't expected my gift to work the way it is, but I'm glad it's doing it, Junko chuckled.

Yami didn't like the cards in his hand. I'm out of options. There's only one card in my hand that can free my dragon, he thought, staring at the Seal of Orichalcos, so I can win the duel! I must play the Seal of Orichalcos.

One more time, Yugi pleaded with the Pharaoh not to play the Seal of Orichalcos. However, this time, it seemed, the young boy's pleas would fall on deaf ears. Yugi looked heartbroken as Yami declared, "Now, I activate the Seal of Orichalcos!"

Finally! Junko exclaimed inwardly. She'd been waiting for this. Now she could truly get a glimpse of just how evil, spiteful and full of despair the Pharaoh could truly be.

As the seal was activated, Yami screamed as he became engulfed in the Orichalcos' power. Junko looked on with bright-eyed vigor and glee. Yes. Yeeeessss, this was fantastic.

The seal spread over the whole mesa as the red glow of the Orichalcos' power appeared in Yami's eyes and its symbol appeared on his forehead.

---

"Step on it, Mukuro! Hurry!" Téa shouted at her.

"If I drive any faster, I'll hit a canyon cliff. Sit down," Mukuro stated.

"But…"

Mai sat Téa down. "It's going to be all right, Téa. We'll get there in time." I hope.

---

"Nice work, Pharaoh. I knew you had it in you. Now let's see what the Orichalcos reveals about you. Are you good, or are you evil? So tell me, how do you feel?"

"The Seal of Orichalcos belongs to me now," Yami stated. "And all of its ancient powers rest on my side of the field. Strengthening my Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight with 500 extra attack points!" He gave Junko a smirk that sent shivers down her spine. It was so full of cruelty and despair. "This is what you were planning, right Junko? If they were going to take our souls anyway, may as well be our 500 attack points, right?"

"Absolutely," Junko said with super bubbly cheer, clapping. "So glad we're on the same page now, Pharaoh!"

"Now, my Dragon Knight will break free from your Crystal Seal!" Yami shouted.

The dragon was set free. However, when Timaeus realized that the Seal of Orichalcos was being used by its wielder, it unsummoned itself from the field and left Dark Magician Girl all alone.

"What have you done to my dragon?" Yami growled.

Rafael smirked. "It's not what I've done. It's what you've done by playing that magic card," he said, pointing at Yami. "Guess I shoulda warned ya. Timaeus and the Orichalcos don't mix, but at least your dark side's been set free."

Crafty, Junko thought. This just keeps getting better and better.

"What have I unleashed?" Yami asked as dark energy flowed through him and caused him pain.

It's too late for regrets now Pharaoh. You've brought yourself despair with your own two hands. I wish you could understand the sheer ecstasy of the situation like Rafael and I do.

The dark energy surrounding Yami exploded and darkened the sky with clouds overhead.

"You were a fool to hand me this card, for when you lose, your soul will be sealed for all eternity where it belongs," he said, the tone of his voice indicating that the honorable Pharaoh was currently vacant and replaced with a sinister, devious, and cruel overlord type of a man.

Junko took a look at her deck and her own copy of the Seal of Orichalcos. I expected the Pharaoh to regret his decision, but he's actually falling further than even I anticipated. Is this card…really capable of such mind-altering power? Interesting.

"Now, I activate Hand Control!" Yami exclaimed. "All I need to do is correctly guess the name of a card in your hand, and I can activate it. And since I gave you the Necromancy card, I know you're holding it! Now it's mine!" Yami smirked cruelly as cards came flying out of graveyard. "Necromancy allows me to bring four monsters back from my graveyard. So return to me Big Shield Gardna, Berfomet, Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts, and Kuribabylon!" The four monsters Yami had called out appeared on his side of the field. "Next, I'll sacrifice Gazelle and Berfomet, so I can summon my Dark Magician!" Dark Magician appeared on the field. "Then, I'll separate my Kuribabylon into the Five Kuriboh Brothers I used to create it." Thanks to the power of the Orichalcos, Yami had space on the field to pull this maneuver. "Now, my monsters," he declared, "Feel the power of the Orichalcos!"

All of Yami's monsters looked like they were in pain as they succumbed to the power of the Orichalcos, each gaining 500 attack points.

"I combine my Kuribohs once again to form, Kuribabylon!" Yami shouted.

This time, Kuribabylon came back with a dangerously high 4,000 attack points, along with an even more satantically demonic look than it had before. It also then gained another 500 points thanks to the power of the Orichalcos, giving it a grand total of 4,500 points.

A hairball with power equivalent to that of Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. Oh, if Kaiba were here, he'd be livid, Junko thought in amusement.

"That's one powerful cotton ball you got there," Rafael said, sharing Junko's sentiments.

"It's all thanks to the power of the Orichalcos," Yami replied.

"Wrong!" Rafael shouted. "The power comes from the darkness in you!"

"I don't care where it came from," Yami said and pointed across the battlefield, index finger extended. "All that matters is it's mine now!" The demonized Kuribabylon charged straight at Grarl, destroying it.

"No!" Rafael shouted as his life points plummeted to 1,500. "My Guardian!"

"And now that you have a monster in your graveyard," Yami said with a foreboding tone, "Your magic card loses its power."

Purity of the Cemetery then shattered, and along with it came a grunt of displeasure from Rafael.

"I'm far from done," Yami warned. "My Dark Magician hasn't had his chance to make you suffer."

Junko cooed. Oh she absolutely loved seeing the Pharaoh this way. Love with a capital L. To see such a pure, innocent hero reduced to such a dark and sinister individual brought her no shortage of ecstasy.

"Go! Dark Magic Attack!" Yami shouted, urging his Dark Magician to attack Rafael's monsters.

"I activate Aid to the Doomed!" Rafael declared, causing an eerie white haired ghost to sprout out from out of nowhere and block Dark Magician's path.

Yami gasped. "What's that?"

"A handy magic card," Rafael explained. "It allows me to stop your Dark Magician's attack before it reaches my monster, as long as I'm willing to send two of my cards to the graveyard as payment."

Before Rafael could declared which cards he was sending to the graveyard, Mukuro rolled up in her jeep and she, Mai, and Téa all exited out of the vehicle.

"Yugi!" Téa called out in alarm, only to stop at the cliff's edge.

"Junko!" Mukuro exclaimed, scaling down the cliff without hesitation and reaching her sister in seconds.

"Ew, are you concerned for me? Gross! Cut it out! I was having fun before you showed up!"

"Having fun?" Mukuro asked, looking at the field. To her it just looked like any other duel.

Junko pushed Mukuro away from her by her chest. "Ugh, were you trying to hug me! You're disgusting! Get back!"

"Yugi!" Téa called out, scaling down the cliffside carefully.

Upon hearing her voice, Yami turned to face her and gave Téa half a heart attack. She gasped, cupping her hand to her mouth. "No! Why is…?"

"Yugi!" Mai shouted, joining up with the other ladies.

"Jeez, bring Miho here and we'll have the whole harem," Junko said, reaching her hands up behind her back.

"Junkoooooo!" Téa exclaimed, teeth clenched. In anger, she stormed over to Junko and slapped her across the face. "I knew you were up to something!" She shouted. She pointed right at Yami. "What did you do to Yugi?"

"Easy, love. Easy," Junko said, putting a hand on her sore cheek.

"Don't "easy love" me!" Téa shouted. "Why is the symbol of the Orichalcos on Yugi's head! You did something didn't you!" She grabbed Junko by her blouse. "I never should've trusted you!"

Mai and Mukuro separated Téa and Junko from each other respectively. Mukuro took some ice out of her pouch and applied it to Junko's cheek.

"Not ice, you idiot! You'll ruin my makeup!" Junko shouted, smacking her with it.

"Worry about your stupid makeup later! What did you do, Junko?"

Mukuro handed Junko a pocket mirror and some aloe oil with a brush.

"Hard as it might be for you to believe love. This isn't my fault. I can prove it." Junko showed the Seal of Orichalcos to Téa still safe in her deck. "See? My copy is right here."

"But…then…" Téa turned her head to stare at the duel.

"Rafael manipulated Yugi into using the Seal of Orichalcos. It was either that or lose the duel. I guess Yugi's competitive streak meant more to him than his own safety." Junko adjusted her eyeliner and lip gloss. "Don't get mad love, these things happen."

"Why are you so CALM?!" Téa shouted, red in the face with frustration.

"Why am I calm?" Junko asked, snapping her mirror shut. "Tell me, Téa, you've known Yugi his entire career, how many duels has he actually lost?"

"Well…he did lose to Pegasus through that weird video," Téa said.

"I heard about that from the man himself. It was on a time limit. Doesn't count," Junko said, putting her mirror away.

"Th-there was that time with Kaiba at Duelist Kingdom! Kaiba almost tried to kill himself!" Téa exclaimed.

"Right, heard about that one too from Pegasus. Doesn't," Junko said with a smug smile. "Count."

"Buh…" All the anger and steam seemed to deflate from Téa's face.

Junko was getting the thrill off the situation. Téa was in despair. Yami had flipped. There was even the prospect he could lose if Rafael kept up the pressure. Possible, yes, but not probable. "Face it, hon," Junko said, turning to face the duel. "The Pharaoh is untouchable. Never in his entire career has he lost a duel that mattered. I'm calm because I know he'll win." And of course, even if he doesn't that means I win, Junko added internally. "Just do what you do best, stand there and cheer for him like you always do."

Téa reached out to Yami, she opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Even though the distance between her and Yami couldn't be more than twenty feet, he felt much, much further than that. She dropped to her knees. "I can't do it. I can't cheer for him. Not like this. This isn't like him. This isn't like him at all." Téa put her head towards the ground and just started howling.

Mai began escorted her up around the cliff and back to the car. "Are you two going to be all right?"

"Is…she going to be okay?" Mukuro asked.

Junko backhand slapped her in the chest. "She'll be fine. You and I both know what's ailing that poor girl's heart.

It's love, Téa sniffed.
It's Despair, Junko grinned inwardly at the same time, her devious eyes against Téa back.

When Mai and Téa were completely out of earshot, Mukuro looked at Junko as the blonde looked happy as a clam watching the duel. "This really wasn't your doing?" Mukuro asked.

"Hmmm, my gift may have helped, but it was entirely unintentional," Junko said with a smile. "The Pharaoh played the Seal of Orichalcos completely of his own volition. I'm learning so much today, sis."

Mukuro smiled. She'd never seen Junko so happy.

"You're smiling, aren't you? Stop it," Junko said without turning to look at her sister.

"I'm sorry," Mukuro apologized and snapped to attention like she was at roll call for Fenrir.

Back on the battlefield, as Rafael discarded his two cards, he said to Yami, "How does it feel to know that all this time you've been hiding your true self? You derive your powers from darkness and you always have."

"What's wrong? Are you jealous because the Seal of Orichalcos resides with me now, and it's your soul that's on the line this time?" Yami asked, practically holding back an evil laugh.

"I hope he stays like this," Junko said loud enough for only Mukuro to hear.

I don't, Mukuro thought with a glazed look.

"Perhaps you should've thought twice before turning that magic card over to me, Rafael," Yami said with a sinister grin.

"My guardian may be gone, but he'll be back," Rafael said. He drew the top two cards of his deck. "Just you wait!" He looked at what he'd drawn. "In fact, you don't have to." He plucked a card from his hand and showed it to the Pharaoh. "I activate my Monster Rebirth. This magic card allows me to bring one monster back from my graveyard and place it in my deck and I choose Guardian Grarl."

"I destroyed that monster once and I'll do it again," Yami stated. "Now finish your move."

"Next, I'll place one card face-down," Rafael stated. "Then I'll activate my Swords of Revealing Light magic card." The swords of light descended down onto Yami's side of the field. "That way your monsters can't attack me for three turns."

---

Mai set a sniffling Téa back into the Jeep. "The way…the way he looked at me," Téa hiccupped. "I know that stare. I haven't seen it since Duelist Kingdom."

"What do you mean?" Mai asked.

"Yugi…no…" Téa said, wiping her eyes. "The Pharaoh, he was different a long time ago. He used to not care about anyone. One time, he when I worked as a waitress, my boss turned out to be a wanted criminal. He made him think he'd lit himself on fire. And another time, when a mad bomber threatened the local theme park, he made him think he had a bomb inside him and he jumped out of the gondola of the Ferris Wheel and straight into the arms of the police." Téa put her arms around her shoulders. "At the time, I thought it was pretty heroic…but…"

"But what?" Mai asked, rubbing her shoulder.

"When he showed up against Kaiba…"

"Kaiba! I've never backed down, and I'm not starting now!"

"I realized that the Pharaoh was just able to act in such a way because he didn't value other people, as long as he got the things he wanted…or just won the game he was playing. I thought he and Yugi had started to learn to work together, but now…" Téa hiccuped. "Now the Pharaoh seems farther than ever. And the worst part is…I can't even cheer him on. I can't route for him to steal someone's soul. I can't do it, Mai!" Téa shouted, tears dripping down her face.

"Hey, relax, people make mistakes. I'm sure when this is all over that the Pharaoh will regret what he did." Mai took out a handkerchief and dried Téa's eyes. "You just need to be you and be a good friend and remind him of the things he cherishes."

Téa sniffed, wiping her eye with the back of her hand. "Thank you, Mai," she said, leaning over to give the older woman a hug.

Mai hugged her back. "It's okay, dear. It's going to be okay."

---

In the face of Rafael's magic card, Yami was unimpressed. "Your Swords of Revealing Light mean nothing!" he shouted. "For I play Catapult Turtle by sacrificing my Big Shield Gardna!"

A large tank of a turtle appeared on the battlefield, more machine than reptile. It had 1,000 attack points and 2,000 defense points. Its attack was then boosted to 1,500 by the power of the Orichalcos.

"Now I use my turtle's special ability to catapult any monster I choose directly at your life points, Rafael!"

Rafael growled, but rolled with the punches nonetheless. "You've activated my trap: Limit Tribute!"

"What's that?" Yami demanded to know.

"It changes the rules of the competition," Rafael stated. "It limits the number of monsters each player can sacrifice to one monster per turn. Oh well."

Yami didn't need Rafael to spell it out for him to realize he couldn't sacrifice another monster for Catapult Turtle this turn given he'd sacrificed a monster to summon it. "I guess I end my turn."

"I thought you'd say that," Rafael said, drawing two cards. He then began chuckling. "Yes! Now I activate Nightmare Binding!"

Chains shot out of the ground and grappled Kuribabylon like a prisoner of war, reducing its attack points to 3,700 and, in return, boosted Rafael's life points to 800.

"No," Yami growled.

"I'm afraid so, Pharaoh. Your Kuribabylon just lost 800 points, but they didn't go to waste cause those attack points got added to my life points. And to top it all off, your oversized dust bunny can't be sacrificed."

So much for the easy way out, Junko thought. Rafael's one tough customer. I might want to start working on a contingency plan… She let fly a Cheshire Cat Grin. If the best outcome for me comes to pass.

"Insult my monsters all you like, Rafael," Yami said, drawing the top card of his deck, "With the power of the Orichalcos behind me, I can't be stopped!" Yami looked at the card he'd drawn: Beast of Gilfer. "Since he's useless, I'll sacrifice my Dark Magician," Yami stated.

Junko felt a tingle go down her spine and through her crotch at the sound of Yami calling his otherwise favorite monster "useless" and with contempt no less!

"And by using the special ability of my Catapult Turtle," Yami said as Dark Magician was launched at Rafael. "I'll damage your life points!"

The blast smashed into Rafael, bringing him down to one knee, and his life points down to 800.

"Now that he's gone, my Dark Magician can actually serve a purpose, by strengthening my Dark Magician Girl!" Dark Magician Girl's attack points jumped to 2,800.

"You're the boss, Yugi! Keep pounding away at his life points!" Junko cheered.

How can Junko cheer for Yugi at a time like this? A weary, downtrodden Téa thought. He's not acting at all like the Yugi I know. Why doesn't he snap out of it?

"Well, here we are," Yami said with a self-assured smirk. "You're just about to lose the duel and your soul. One more blast from my Catapult Turtle and it's over!" The way he delivered that last line made him come across as a baritone sounding Grim Reaper. He was lost in the moment, brought back to a time when punishment games were his favorite work of mental torment. Yessss, this was just like all those times. There was absolutely nothing wrong with this at all.

Rafael got to his feet, steeling his body and growling all the while.

"You don't scare me!" Yami growled fiercely.

Rafael drew the top two cards of his deck.

"I'll play this and end my turn," Rafael stated, playing a card face-down. He was weary from having Dark Magician launched at him and playing Self-Tribute earlier in the duel.

Yami could only laugh in a show of pity for his opponent. "Then all I have to do is destroy one card!" he shouted, drawing the top card of his deck. "And this duel's done." He extended his arm out towards the field. "And I choose my very own Dark Magician Girl!"

No one saw it, but Rafael as to the surprise on Dark Magician Girl's face when Yami declared this action. Well, until she looked back at him to confirm her summoner's orders.

"Maybe it's the Orichalcos magic at work, but I never thought holograms could feel despair," Junko said aloud. "Oh wait," she said flipping through her spell book. "When the Seal of Orichalcos is in play, the monsters on the field are real. Boy, The Pharaoh is really showing no mercy today, huh?"

"No mercy is what it takes to claim victory after all," Yami said, arms folded in smug satisfaction as Dark Magician Girl was loaded onto Catapult Turtle. He pointed at Rafael. "Fire Catapult!" he shouted.

Rafael smirked and chuckled, showing his teeth. "I activate my Shrink card!" he declared.

"No! Not that card!" Yami exclaimed.

Dark Magician girl's attack points fell to 1,400 thanks to Shrink cutting her attack points in half. The attack did only 700 damage, but the blast still threw Rafael back all the way to the wall of the barrier forged by the Seal of Orichalcos. He hunched over and panted as his life points were reduced to only 100 points.

"Impressive," Yami said contemptuously, as though bored with Rafael's stall tactics. "But all you did was prolong your eventual downfall."

"Got that right," Junko said. "All you need is one monster or even Monster Reborn!" she declared. "Then, you can hurl it at Rafael in a wave of deadly precision!" She exclaimed, pointing at Rafael, her other hand held up and cupped by her hair bow. "And, as he so explicitly told us…" Junko said, tittering. "A wave is all it takes to break him," she stated, clenching her fist.

"Junko's got the right idea," Yami stated. "Make your last measly turn, Rafael, for it really will be your last."

Mukuro glanced at Junko. "What are you doing?"

"Getting a taste of power, what does it look like? If he's this agreeable now, imagine what he'll be like under my command," Junko said with a hushed whisper, her eyes looking at Yami with a sly, darkly lurid stare, like he was a future stalwart soldier for despair. Dragons, demons, wizards and more all marching at his beck and call. Cars, buildings, and people all falling over in droves at the might of the one and only Ancient Pharaoh. Yes, it was the exact true despair that Junko craved and judging from the situation, much, much easier to attain that she originally ever fathomed.

Rafael's Swords of Revealing Light finally expired. It was really do or die for Dartz's minion.

Stepping out of the Jeep, Téa walked to the edge of the cliff. She wanted to cheer for Yami, she really did, but she just…couldn't, not when he was like this. It was like looking at a completely different person. Yugi…Pharaoh… Téa thought, holding her hands together in prayer.

It was now Rafael's move. He got up from the ground laughing. "I told you the seal would reveal the truth. This is you: wicked, greedy and full of hate."

And then suddenly, Yami stopped smiling and listened to Rafael's words.

"The power of the Orichalcos reveals all and just as I suspected: you're evil, Pharaoh."

Yami gnashed his teeth.

"And you're getting worse," Rafael said. "As time passes, the darkness grows."

"No!" Yami exclaimed. It couldn't be true.

"If you don't believe me, all you have to do is look around the field, Rafael told him."

Oh, is this the coup de grace? Cause I really hope it is, Junko thought. Making the Pharaoh come to a devastating realization right before delivering the killing blow. Oh, Rafael, you are an animal! I love it!

"See what you've done to your monsters?" Rafael asked Yami. "At one time they were pure, but now they're evil shadow creatures!" He gestured to Kuribabylon looking like something out of a horror film.

And at that point, Yami seemed to come to a little bit to his senses. He started to realize exactly how he'd done wrong. "Oh no! You deceived me!"

Ah, the blame game, my favorite, Junko thought with a smile.

"You chose to play the Seal of Orichalcos, even at the cost of losing Timaeus," Rafael reminded him. "Your lust for power destroyed a valuable monster. Only a truly dark individual would have such a blatant disregard for his deck," Rafael spat.

"Enough!" Yami shouted.

Bargaining too! I love it! Junko was on cloud nine.

"Don't worry, someone's going to lose in this next round, and this nightmare will be over!" Rafael exclaimed. He went for the top two cards of his deck. Unbeknownst to him, a white aura had engulfed him as he drew the exact card he needed to end this duel: Guardian Eatos.

"I activate Celestial Sword!" Rafael exclaimed. The blade sank into the ground onto the center of the battlefield, slanting to one side. "And to use my sword, I play Guardian Eatos!"

A pure white bird with yellow eyes soared up to the clouds as lightning struck the battlefield and thunder clapped across the sky. And where the thunder hit the field, a warrioress with snow white wings emerged into the air. This was Guardian Eatos, Rafael's equivalent to Yami's Dark Magician. She had 2,500 attack points.

Eatos picked up the sword from the ground, as Yami could only stare onward in shock at its grace and power.

"Activate your special ability, Eatos!" Rafael declared. The sword in Eatos' hand shimmered brightly. "Spirit of Celestial Sword!"

Yami's duel disk arm was painfully forced into the air above his head.

Téa could see this. Try as she might to turn her eyes away from Yami's power trip, she still couldn't bear to see him in pain. "Yugi!" she shouted, running back down the mountainside at top speed to reach her man in time.

"My Guardian Eatos has the ability to release cards from your card graveyard and absorb their attack power," Rafael explained.

"Not my monsters!" Yami shouted.

"Too little too late," Rafael stated. "Now, let's see who's up first."

Dark Magician Girl. Dark Magician. Big Shield Gardna. Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts. Berfomet. All five monsters were forced as spirits into the air. They all stared down at Yami, judging him, disappointed in him.

"Yugiiiiii!" Téa called out.

Téa! Yami only then realized how he looked, how he'd behaved. No! It couldn't be true!

"This is your fault, Pharaoh! You did this to them when you selfishly sacrificed each one of them!"

"Yugi!" Téa called again.

"Sounds like your friend is worried about you. Don't worry, I'll return your body to her safe and sound, as for your soul…well, it's about to be ancient history."

Ouch, sick burn at the last second too, Junko thought.

Yami was grief stricken. Yes. This was it. This was what Junko had been waiting for. For the first time in his life, Yami felt true, actual despair. "Please forgive me for what I've done to you," he pleaded remorsefully.

"You disrespected your monsters," Rafael said. "And it's time to pay the price now. Your favorite cards are fighting on my side! Your old pals just added their power to my guardian!" Rafael declared.

Like specters, all five monsters were absorbed by Celestial Sword as Eatos' attack power rose to an insurmountable 10,000 points.

"10,000 points," Rafael said. "That's more than enough to wipe you out."

"Oh no," Téa whimpered. She couldn't blame Junko for egging Yami on. She couldn't even blame herself for being a bad friend. The only one to blame was Yami himself. Tears stared to well up in her eyes.

Oh how delightful, Junko thought. Two despairing souls for the price of one.

"Now! Guardian Eatos! Destroy his monsters and the rest of his life points!"

Everything was over in one blinding flash, two explosions and one defiant scream as Yami's life points fell all the way to 0.

Rafael laughed as the sky cleared. "Time for you to pay up, Pharaoh!"

"Junko! There must be something you can do!" Téa declared. "A spell! Something good! Anything! Please!" Téa exclaimed, dropping to her knees, tugging at Junko's skirt. She was a broken, blubbering mess. "I'll do anything! Just please help Yugi!"

Junko didn't say anything though. She only turned to face Téa, tears dripping down her face too. That was all Téa needed to see to know that the situation was hopeless. Junko held out her arms for the brunette to offer her comfort. Téa threw herself into Junko's arms, crying silently. And with her eyes shut tight and her head over Junko's shoulder, she didn't see the eerie, wide grin plastered all over Junko's face.

With the Pharaoh lying face-down and unconscious, a gigantic bird swooped in overhead. Rafael looked up. "Looks like my ride's here." The bird flapped down so Rafael could grab onto its leg. He then spotted Mukuro. "You there, soldier girl."

Mukuro stepped forward. "Hmm?"

"He's all yours. Someone like you could probably jump this canyon no problem."

Mukuro took a few more steps forward. "Rafael, I have a question."

"What? I'm short on time. I did what I had to do here."

"You said the Seal of Orichalcos is the ultimate judge, but you also seemed to know from the start that the Pharaoh was evil. Does that make you a judge of character?" Mukuro asked.

"Well, I'm no expert on the subject," Rafael said with a smirk, "But I'm not bad at it either, why do you ask?"

"Then how do you judge me?" Mukuro inquired.

Rafael studied Mukuro's face. True, Mukuro was in league with her clearly bonkers sister, but something about her seemed very different from Junko.

The bird flapped over the crevasse in the canyon, holding Rafael aloft a few feet above ground. "Honestly, I think you're walking a fine line," he told her.

"A…fine line?" Mukuro asked.

"You don't make your own path. You let others dictate it for you. You should spend less time asking others to judge you and more time on self-reflection. And if you're unable to see yourself as neither good nor evil, then you need to keep searching until you find an answer."

"I see. Thank you, Rafael."

"Whatever," the blond said and, with that, he and the giant bird took off into the wide blue yonder. Once they were gone, Mukuro leapt over the canyon, grabbed the unconscious pharaoh and hopped back over in a single bound, laying him on the ground.

She then saw Téa still crying, likely having zoned out from everything around her. She shook Téa's shoulder.

Téa looked at Mukuro and then Mukuro gestured to the Pharaoh lying unconscious on the ground.

"Yugi!" Téa exclaimed, running over to him, hands on his chest. "Yugi! Yugi, please! Open your eyes! Please!" when she believed it fruitless, a tear dropped out of Téa's face, splashing her friend's nose.

And then, she, Junko, and Mukuro all saw his eyes stir. Téa gasped.

WHAT?! Junko was completely flabbergasted. What was going on here?

Yami opened his eyes. And it was clearly still Yami, the slant of his eyebrows and the strand of his bangs sticking straight up in the center of his forehead made that abundantly clear.

"You're awake," Téa sobbed, choking on tears.

Yes, but why? Junko wondered, even she was puzzled. "I don't understand. You lost the duel, why are you still here?"

"I don't care," Téa said, giving Yami a big hug as he got to his feet. "I'm just so glad," she sniffed. "I'm so glad Yugi's okay."

Junko gasped. At the mention of Yugi's name, an epiphany suddenly struck her. No way. Could it possibly be…? She was too in shock at the moment, too much to feel despair, too much to feel angry, sad or happy, just…shock. "Yugi…isn't there…is he?" She was still trying to process the situation.

"No…" Yami said, tearing up. "He isn't."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Téa asked, brushing the Pharaoh's tears from his face. "What do you mean he's not there?"

Finally, after seconds of processing, Junko finally understood what had happened. She certainly didn't understand why it happened though. Not yet anyway. "Yugi sacrificed himself for you?" she asked, still doing her best to sound shocked.

Téa gasped, recoiling in shock.

Yami dropped to his knees in tears. Junko had struck tears of gold with that one. "It's all my fault," Yami sobbed. "Yugi didn't do anything wrong." He screamed at the heavens. "It should've been me! Not him! YUGIIIIIIIII!"

For the first time in her life, Junko was at a loss. She couldn't comprehend it. Why would Yugi sacrifice himself for the Pharaoh. I mean, sure, Junko could think of a few practical reasons she would pick Yami over Yugi, but that wasn't how Yugi's clockwork ran. He was nice, too nice even. He wouldn't choose to help the Pharaoh because he had a better chance of saving the world. Battle City proved that. Yugi could hold his own. He had absolutely no reason to put himself in harm's way. So why did he do it?

As Téa cried with Yami, Junko stepped towards the edge of the cliff.

"It's not your fault, Pharaoh," Téa sobbed, hugging him. "It's not."

"Yes it is," he sobbed. "It's entirely my fault. I did this! I let winning and power become my undoing. I betrayed my promise to Yugi! I told him I wouldn't play the Seal of Orichalcos!" Yami exclaimed, beating his fist into the dirt.

"It's not your fault! The seal messed with your head," Téa said, hugging Yami tenderly. "That wasn't you. You wouldn't normally say those things."

"Téa, I…"

"Shhhhh," Téa said gently and put Yami's head in her warm, soft chest. "It's okay…" she sobbed, even though it clearly wasn't. "It's okay."

Mukuro walked over to Junko. "Are you okay?" she asked her sister, shaking her shoulder.

"Why did he do it? I don't understand," Junko said. "He had…no reason to do it. If it were me…if it were anyone…I don't understand."

It was the first time Mukuro had ever seen Junko in such pure shock, no, not shock: confusion. For the first time in her entire life, Junko couldn't understand something, and it was hurting her head something fierce.

However, like a good big sister, Mukuro knew how to make it better. So that Téa and Yami couldn't hear, she leaned close to Junko's ear and whispered, "Does not know make you feel despair, Junko?"

The words sunk into Junko like an epiphany as tears pooled out of her eyes. "You gross, flat chested deviant," she said, turning towards her sister. "Are you trying to cheer me up? Stupid idiot," Junko said, but hugged her sister anyway. Mukuro then slapped Junko's hand away from the knife in her back pocket.

As the most rational person in the valley, and that was saying a lot, Mukuro stared up at the sky. A cloud rolled by in the vague shape of her surrogate father. Raising one hand, her eyes filled with tears, and she saluted to the cloud. I haven't failed my mission yet as a big sister, she thought, as thought as though she were having a telepathic conversation with the cloud. I can still…do things.

Everyone sad and full of despair, Mukuro got everyone into her jeep. Then, with no other choice, she, Mai, Junko, Yami and Téa, drove back to the Hawkins estate in pure, utter silence.

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(A/N: Man, does this shake up the status quo or what? Junko getting a full taste of Yami in despair and as a despair, Téa showing up to see the Pharaoh be a disrespectful ass to his cards, and the most important casualty of all: REBECCAAAAAAA! Man, I am just evil today.

I hope you're all okay with the backstory I've been alluding to with Junko and Mukuro. I did my best to try and make Junko a little more human without detracting from the fact that she's an utter garbage piece of a human being. I also would like to commend Mukuro for being a pretty good big sister in spite of having the worst little sister in history.

A lot happened in this chapter and it's impossible to summarize all of the heavy moments here. Seriously, I'm hoping for some Nightmare Fuel entries on the tropes page as well as some Tear Jerkers. It took me more than 12 hours to get this chapter done. And that's just for the day it was posted. It's not counting all the rest of the time I spent trying to get this thing done and done well. I didn't mean to make the chapter so long—seriously, it's the second longest chapter in the entire fanfic by less than 1,000 words including author's notes—but I didn't want Yugi and Rafael's duel to carry over into the next chapter.

Special thanks to 4eyes0Soul for helping me come up with a suitable explanation as to why Junko and Mukuro have separate last names. As for next time on Dueling Trigger Finger, while we don't get a complete break from Junko, we at least don't dive head first into Yugi's duel with Weevil and the serious repercussions that's going to have.

My apologies for everyone that found Junko grating in this chapter. I do too, but if I didn't have her commentary, I may as well have just skipped the duel. But, like I said, this the first step towards Junko's plan of utter societal annihilation and total despair.

I guess there's nothing else to say really other than, until next time, as always, from all of me, to all of you, let your hearts stay human and your wrath draconic. Ja ne!)