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?

79. Grappling with Despair Part 1

(A/N: So I'd like to disclose a bit of what's going down this chapter without giving too much away of what's going on. The contents of these next two chapters are nowhere near as dark as chapter 61. However, while the conclusion of the Orichalcos arc is intended to have its fair share of character development that carries over and events that will trickle into arcs to come. These two chapters are different. Why? Well, we expect Dartz to lose and for the arc to have consequences. We expect that our heroes will grow as a result of their victories.

We are not expecting, and could not expect, what's about to happen. And the weight behind these two chapters may seem…lackluster with how much I've built up their importance, but, in time, their meaning will be made all too clear. More on that, at the end of chapter 80.

Let's begin!)

---

Touching down in Miami airport, Kaiba was in the midst of doing banking with his laptop. Lightning was flashing everywhere and the rain was heavy.

"I appreciate your assistance in landing this aircraft safely," Kaiba said. "Your hazard pay has already been directly deposited to your account."

"Mr. Kaiba," the pilot responded. "It's an honor to serve you, sir."

"Hmph," Kaiba said with a smug smirk as he put his computer in hibernation. "Of course it is. Let's go, Mokuba. Roland, tell the gentleman bringing my new sports car that we're here."

"Yes, sir. Right away," Roland responded.

As Kaiba stepped out of the aircraft and under an umbrella held by Roland to wait for the car, his phone rang. "Hello?"

"Ah, Mr. Kaiba. Are you okay?" It was Chihiro.

"Safely in Miami, Fujisaki. Do you have an update?"

"Y-yes, I'm sorry, but Miss Yukizome has decided to speed our transportation to take Dartz head on. We won't be going to the museum."

"That's fine," Kaiba responded as the car came into view.

"That's…fine?" Chihiro was confused.

"I'm heading there now myself. I've already had a little chat with Noah. I'll need Kirigiri's help in person in order to properly press charges and have Dartz arrested for what he tried to do to my company."

"Oh! Good! I was afraid you were mad."

Kaiba smiled self-assuredly. "I'm not mad," he responded. "And Fujisaki."

"Yes, sir?"

"You're getting a raise."

Kaiba then hung up as he stepped into the car and Mokuba stepped into the passenger's seat. It was a red Mustang, top of the line.

"Good choice in car, Seto," Mokuba said, settling in.

"I imagine the check went over well?" Kaiba asked Roland.

"Yes, sir," Roland responded. "Your online purchase went through, no problem."

"Good. Get back to KaibaCorp as soon as the lightning clears up. I'll take it from here," Kaiba stated.

"Understood. Good luck, Mr. Kaiba."

Revving the car into drive, Kaiba then tore off into the Miami streets at over 80 miles an hour.

"Seto, look!" Mokuba exclaimed, pointing to a white starship-like structure in the sky. "What's that?"

"Maybe it's one of Dartz's toys. Let's follow it," Kaiba stated.

"Yeah," Mokuba nodded.

---

However, the craft in the air did not belong to Dartz. It belonged to Junko and she was casually cruising towards her destination. She lowered her altitude and then took a leap out of Gradius, ejecting a parachute until she touched safely onto the ground. A bolt of lightning struck the ground not that far away and Junko marched up to the front doors to Paradius Building A. It had been several days since her last trip here. She smiled at how this journey had begun with her arriving at this massive building and would end just the same.

Paradius was made up of two large skyscrapers: Building A and Building B. It also had access to it's true form, The Doma building, but that through an internal transporter in Building B.

The place was deserted for the most part as Junko stepped onto the ground floor of Building A. Then, taking the elevator, she rode up to the roof. The plan was to cut across to Building B and then head for the transporter room. In the time it would take to get there, no doubt she'd be spotted. And that was precisely what she wanted.

She was all too pleased to find that, when she exited out of the elevator, Rafael was already standing on the opposite side of the roof, guarding the path to Building B. He had his arms folded, expression as stoic as ever.

"What are you doing here?" He asked in his usual, gravelly voice.

"Oh? Were you expecting someone else?" Junko asked.

Rafael stared at her. "Answer the question, Junko Enoshima."

"I'm here for Yugi," she answered.

"You're wasting your time," Rafael responded.

"Am I now? Because the way I see it, I just have to duel my way past you, Nagito, and Dartz and your whole plan goes up in smoke."

"You're crazy if you think that's possible," Rafael responded. He then stopped folding his arms, dropping them to his sides. "No. You've always been crazy, haven't you?"

"Oh poo, I've been found out," Junko said. She then did her best Dio Brando impression. "But you're right. I'm evil. Isn't that what you want to hear though? You want to believe you're on the winning side. It helps you justify all the evil things you've done."

"What are you talking about?" Rafael asked.

"You can pretend to be oblivious all you want," Junko responded. "But that doesn't change the truth in front of you." She put her hands on her hips and adopted her queenly persona. "And by the end of this duel, we shall drag it out in front of you for you to see."

"Duel? You want to duel me?"

"What's the matter? Don't want to punish the traitor? Don't want a little warm-up before The Pharaoh arrives?" Junko asked.

"Well then, if you're so insistent to be taken by the Leviathan. I'll gladly indulge you," Rafael stated, activating his duel disk.

"The only one going to be taken by the Leviathan is you," Junko said, adopting her Dio Brando pose. "You thought your final fate would be delivered against the Pharaoh, but it was I, Junko Enoshima, all along."

Rafael pointed at her. "You don't frighten me, blondie. Your sister is scarier than you."

"Well then," Junko said, activating her duel disk. "Let's fix that, shall we?"

She and Rafael stared each other down. "Let's duel!"

"I'll start things off!" Junko exclaimed. "I summon to the field Axe Dragonute in attack position!" A black dragon warrior wielding an axe appeared on the battlefield with a growl. It had 2,000 attack points and 1,200 defense points. "Next, I'll set these two cards face-down," Junko stated. "Your move, Rafael."

"Hmph, fine." He drew the top card of his deck. "First, I'll begin by activating this spell card, Guardian Treasure! By tossing out my entire hand, I get to draw two cards." Rafael said and tossed out all 5 cards to his graveyard. "Then, for the remainder of the duel, while this card is in play, I get to draw two cards every turn." Rafael drew two cards and then looked at the cards in his hand. Excellent. "I set a card face-down onto the field," Rafael stated, as the hologram appeared. "Next, since it's the only card in my hand, I'm able to summon my Guardian Grarl!"

Rafael's mighty dinosaur stomped onto the field with 2,500 attack points. "And that's not all, I'll also activate this magic card, my Gravity Axe!" Rafael exclaimed. Taking Gravity Axe in its hands, Grarl growled, powered up and ready to go. "Go, Guardian Grarl! Attack her Axe Dragonute!" Rafael exclaimed. Grarl darted forward and sliced Junko's monster in half, reducing her life points to 3,000.

"Hmm, not bad," Junko said, unfazed, arms folded.

"You're in the big leagues now, blondie. This isn't a place for wannabes."

"Right where I belong," Junko said. "As you'll soon find out. I draw!"

She drew the top card of her deck and looked at her hand of four cards. "I summon to the field my Giant Germ!" Junko declared, bringing a monster to the field with only 1,000 attack points.

"And, what is that supposed to accomplish?" Rafael asked.

"Nothing on its own," Junko said. "But when combined with this magic card, it will even the score. I activate Tribute to the Doomed!" Junko shouted. "Now, by discarding 1 card from my hand, your monster goes right to the graveyard!"

Rafael gasped. Bandages wrapped themselves around Grarl as Junko discarded down to only a single card in her hand.

"No! My guardian!" Rafael exclaimed.

"So sad," Junko said. "But now, I can attack you directly! Go! Giant Germ! Attack!"

Giant Germ slammed into Rafael, tying the game to 3,000 points for each duelist.

"Your overgrown bacteria doesn't scare me," Rafael said.

"I didn't say it was supposed to," Junko said. "I'm supposed to frighten you."

"Whatever," Rafael said. "My move. I draw!"

"I don't think so!" Junko exclaimed. "I activate my face-down card: Time Seal!"

"What?" Rafael gasped.

"Your Guardian Treasure strategy is impressive, but it has a fatal flaw. If you play both of the cards in your hand when you draw, you have no resources next turn. And a card like Time Seal will cripple you completely. So, since you have nothing on the field, and nothing in your hand, it looks like it's back to me," Junko stated. "I draw."

Rafael could only grimace and look at Junko with disdain.

Junko looked at the two cards in her hand. "I'll sacrifice my Giant Germ in order to play this new monster: My Mist Archfiend!"

A green and orange fiend rose up out of the ground, spreading mist across the night sky of the battlefield. It had 2,400 attack points and 0 defense points. "And I think I'll use it to attack you directly!"

"Not gonna happen!" Rafael exclaimed. "From my graveyard, I activate Rescuer From the Grave! Now, by removing 5 cards from my graveyard, I can negate your attack completely!" Rafael exclaimed.

Junko's Mist Archfiend stopped dead in its tracks. "Not bad," she smirked. "Oh well, your move then I suppose. Good luck." She then smiled. "You're going to need it."

Rafael drew the top two cards of his deck. Fortunately, it seemed luck was on his side now. "I activate Monster Reborn, allowing me to bring my backup Gardna back to my side of the field in defense mode."

Rafael's monster that had been in his graveyard thanks to Guardian Treasure, appeared on the field, crouched with its beefy 2,200 defense points.

"Next, from my hand, I activate Dimension Distortion, this will allow me to bring Guardian Grarl back from being removed from the duel, all the way to the field!"

Grarl returned, beating its chest, reading to take on Junko's monster.

"And with 2,500 attack points, it's just powerful enough to destroy your Mist Archfiend! Go, Grarl! Attack!" Grarl darted forward and punched Junko's monster in the face, destroying it and bringing her life points down to 2,900.

Junko shook her head in disappointment. "You really do enjoy sticking to that strategy of yours, don't you?" Junko asked.

"You mean how I refuse to leave monsters in my graveyard?" Rafael asked.

"Bingo, bitch!" Junko exclaimed, adopting her punk persona. "You gotta save the only shred of family you have left, even though that family of yours is alive and well. Just look at Little Sonia. What happened? Did the big bad Rafael get cold feet? Does baby not want his bottle?"

"I'm not going to play your games, Junko," Rafael growled.

Junko adopted her teacher persona. "But I'm not playing a game. I'm stating facts. You saw your family alive and well, but you didn't bother to go back to them. Everything Dartz told you felt like a lie, the storm that stole them from you no longer as scary as it once seemed."

"Stop it. You don't know what you're talking about," Rafael growled.

"Is that so?" Junko asked. "Or is that just because you don't want to face the facts? Very well, I'll hold off for now. We'll touch back on it when I damage your life points again."

"Good luck with that when I have my Guardian Grarl protecting me," Rafael stated.

"Oh, but Rafael, you've already allowed me to obtain the resources I need to take you down. I now activate the special ability of the monster I discarded using Tribute to the Doomed, Interplanetarypurplythorny Beast! Since he's in my graveyard and you just destroyed my Mist Archfiend, I get to summon him to the field!" Junko's beast appeared with snarling fangs and 1,100 attack points and 2,200 defense points. She had summoned it in defense mode. It had a big brown body, lots of spikes, six eyes, sharp teeth and a purple porcupine mane.

"But why stop there?" Junko asked as she held up the last card in her hand. "When I can play this too, Interplanetarypurplythorny dragon!" She special summoned the monster in attack position. Junko described the monster as it appeared. "Behold my two-eyed, two horned, flying purple monster eater!"

Her dragon roared, vicious tongue drooling as it stormed onto the battlefield, crying out like an extraterrestrial elephant. It had 2,200 attack points and 1,100 defense points.

"So you summoned some purple freaks, am I supposed to be impressed?" Rafael asked.

"No, no. Not impressed. Scared, remember?" Junko asked. She held up the card she just drew from the top of her deck.

"Well I'm sorry, but I've seen scarier monsters on children's television."

"So have I," Junko replied, Rafael's insult backfiring. "But that's not the point. The point is this card here. Behold Burden of the Mighty!" Junko declared, activating the Continuous spell. "This spell card will allow me to lower the attack points of all of your monsters for each of its levels by 100 points. And since Grarl is level 5, he loses 500 attack points. And that means my Dragon can destroy it! Go, Interplanetarypurplythorny Dragon, destroy Guardian Grarl!"

Rafael grimaced as Junko's monster unleashed a purple beam from its mouth and completely obliterated Rafael's monster. She took the lead slightly, leaving Rafael with 2,800 points.

"Your strategy is also your crippling flaw," Junko pointed out. "You act as though your cards are your family and so their destruction is like losing a loved one. You claim that your monsters helped you from going insane when you were isolated on that island, but the truth couldn't be further from that. You closed your heart off to the world, diving into the world of monsters and, in doing so, found something else. You found despair."

"What do you mean I found despair? Master Dartz has renewed my spirit. And furthermore—"

"Oh Rafael, you don't understand, do you?" Junko asked. "You are just full of despair, but you mask it by believing you are fighting for the side of hope, Dartz's hope. You are a puppet on Dartz's strings and you have no intention of cutting yourself free. But Dartz is a narrow-minded neophyte. Reviving the Great Leviathan is a fool's errand."

"You don't know what you're talking about! Master Dartz helped me!"

"Is that what you think of the man that took everything from you?" Junko asked.

"What do you mean?" Rafael asked.

Junko chuckled, returning to her arched back pose, hand over her face. "What, indeed," she responded. "Well, if you're so curious, why not destroy one of my monsters and find out. If you can in your current condition. Or does the loss of Grarl break your heart so that you can't bear to go on without somehow bringing him back from the graveyard."

"I always knew there was something off about you from the moment you stepped into our doors. I don't know why the Orichalcos picked you to wield it, but I know that it made a mistake."

Junko clapped, adopting her neutral, boring persona. "Bending the rules to suit your interpretations of your own cult, you sound just like those Christian nutjobs shooting up Western schools. And the lord doth said, fuck everyone," she chuckled. "Weren't you the one who said that the Orichalcos reveals the truth and those who wield it are full of justice? But, as I said before, you're refusing to look at the big picture and that's why you're going to lose this duel. And you're soul."

"The only one that's going to lose their soul is you," Rafael snapped. He thought it best to just draw his cards and continue with the duel. Looking at the two cards he drew, he wasn't in the best position for a raw counter attack. He desperately wanted Grarl back from the graveyard, but he hadn't the resources to do it.

"I'll set two cards face-down," Rafael stated. "Ending my turn."

"How boring," Junko said and drew the top card of her deck. "I sacrifice both of my purply monsters to summon Darkness Destroyer!" A chaotic looking purple fiend with piercing red eyes, purple horns, a bony frame, and yellow claws, wing spikes, and knee spikes appeared on the battlefield. It had 2,300 attack points and 1,800 defense points.

I don't understand. That monster only has 100 more attack points than her dragon. Why did she sacrifice such a powerful monster to get it on the field?

"And now Darkness Destroyer, attack and destroy Backup Gardna!" Junko exclaimed.

"I don't think so," Rafael stated, "I activate Self Tribute! At the cost of 1,000 life points, your monster can't destroy mine this turn," Rafael stated. His life points then became 1,800.

"Oh poor pitiful, Rafael," Junko said, shaking her head. "You're so intent on protecting your monsters that you don't see the flaw in your plan."

Darkness destroyer shoved its hand through Backup Gardna and a claw shot out of its hand and pierced Rafael, dealing 100 points of damage to him.

"Wh-what?" Rafael winced.

"And not only can my monster deal battle damage, even when your monsters are in defense mode, but it can also attack twice in one turn."

Darkness Destroyer swat Backup Gardna to the ground, Rafael felt the pain along with his monster as his life points were reduced to 1,600.

"I really do pity you, Rafael," Junko said. "You give your life for such a worthless cause like the Great Leviathan."

"Oh? And are you about to tell me that you serve a greater cause?" Rafael asked.

"Of course I do. I serve the cause of creating despair." Junko licked her lips. "And you, Rafael, look like a mighty tasty candidate for my army."

"Sorry, but I'm not interested," Rafael said. "Are you done?"

"I suppose I am," Junko said. "Go ahead, draw your two pathetic cards," she said, sounding bored. "At this rate you've left yourself wide open to be destroyed by my Darkness Destroyer.

Rafael drew the top two cards of his deck. "I'm afraid I'll have to pass on being destroyed by your monster, I activate Nightmare Binding! This magic card reduces your monster's attack points by 800 points and those attack points get added to my life points."

Junko's Darkness Destroyer had its attack points reduced to 1,500. And then, Rafael's life points shot back up to 2,400, putting him more closely even with Junko once again. "And I should point out that your monster, while its ensnared by Nightmare Binding, can neither be sacrificed, nor use its abilities."

"Oh, such a hefty loss," Junko said, acting like it was no big deal.

"That'll be all for this turn," Rafael stated. The card in his hand would not help him at the moment.

"Very well, I draw!" Junko said, hiking one leg off the ground as she posed magnificently to draw the top card of her deck. Splendid, she thought when she saw it. "I activate Card of Sanctity! Now we must both keep drawing until we hold six cards. Because what's life without a little risk, danger and challenge?"

"I don't know. You tell me," Rafael said, deliberately answering Junko's rhetorical question.

Junko tittered and then declared. "I summon my Shadowslayer to the field, in attack mode!"

A humanoid monster with a horse's skull for a head appeared on the battlefield, holding a small Roman Scissor.

"And what is that thing supposed to accomplish?" Rafael asked.

"Well, Backup Gardna is your only monster," Junko said with a smirk.

"Yeah, so?"

"Shadowslayer can attack my opponent directly if the only monsters my opponent controls are defense position monsters."

"What?!" Rafael gasped.

"Shadowslayer, attack! Peel off 1,400 points of damage from Rafael's life points!"

Shadowslayer sprang up into the air and dove towards Rafael. However, Rafael seemed unflinching towards its approach.

"Nice try, but I activate Spell of Pain! This magic card will redirect the damage you're doing to me, right at you!"

Shadowslayer struck Rafael, but it was Junko doubling over in pain, her life points falling to 1,500. However, she sprang back to an upright position relatively quickly, chuckling. "Well, well, well. Well played Rafael. Well played. I suppose I'll just have to play this card face-down onto the field," she said, "And end my turn."

Rafael then drew the top two cards of his deck. He had 8 cards to utilize now and Junko was about to feel the pain of her self-imposed challenge. "I start by equipping Backup Gardna with this: Wicked-Breaking Flamberge – Baou!"

Backup Gardna received 500 extra attack points from being equipped with the card, giving it a total of 600 attack points since Junko's Burden of the Mighty was still in effect.

"And next, I'll summon to the field my Guardian Baou!" An impish looking warrior-like fiend with purple skin and a tattered cape appeared on Rafael's side of the field. It had 800 attack points and 400 defense points. However, thanks to the effects of Junko's Burden of the Mighty, Baou's attack points were reduced to 400.

"Next, I activate the special ability of my Backup Gardna, allowing me to equip my Guardian Baou with his signature weapon.

The Wicked Flamberge disappeared from Backup Gardna's grip and reappeared in Baou's hands, giving Baou a total of 900 attack points.

"That's so cute," Junko said and began to laugh in amusement.

"I wouldn't be laughing if I were you," Rafael stated. "Because I activate this next magic card, Shrink! This will cut your Shadowslayer's attack points in half!"

Shadowslayer was reduced to the size of a midget and now only had 700 attack points.

"Now, my Guardian Baou, attack! Wipe out her Shadowslayer with Dark Flame Slash!"

Baou sprung to action and slashed Junko's monster to ribbons, lowering her life points to 1,300.

"And now, Baou's special ability kicks in," Rafael stated, holding out his open palm in front of him, arm fully extended like he'd just pitched a baseball, "Every time he destroys a monster, he gains 1,000 attack points."

Baou's eyes glowed briefly as his attack power was now 1,900.

"And that's not all, next I'll activate my Soul Charge magic card, allowing me to finally bring Guardian Grarl back from the graveyard! At the cost of 500 of my life points."

Rafael's life points fell to 1,900, but it was worth it to have Grarl back on the field. "And lastly and most importantly, I'll activate this: My Purity of the Cemetery!"

Rafael activated another continuous spell, bringing his total amount of active spell cards in play to 3.

"Thanks to this magic card, as long as I don't have a monster in my graveyard, you're going to lose life points for every monster in your graveyard." He pointed at Junko. "Exactly 100 life points for every—"

"I remember what it does," Junko interrupted him. "You used it against the Pharaoh."

"Hmph. Good memory." Rafael said. He looked at the 4 cards remaining in his hand. "My turn is over. And yours is just beginning. You've lost five monsters, which means you're going to lose 500 life points."

Junko drew her card and her life points fell down to a mere 800 points. With five cards in her hand and two cards face-down, she certainly had her options. However, before beginning her turn, she decided to play head games.

She struck her Dio Brando impersonation pose. "I believe I promised you that if you destroyed a monster of mine, I would tell you what I meant by what I said about Dartz."

"That's right, you said he took everything from me. But that's a lie because Master Dartz gave me everything."

Junko adopted her depressed persona, which included the mushrooms growing on her head. "So sad," she said like she was mimicking Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. "You really don't get it, do you?"

"Explain!" Rafael shouted.

Junko shifted into her moe persona. "Well then, I'll tell you silly. Take a rich, handsome young man, add in a side of tidal wave and mix it with isolation on a tropical island. Set a decade long time and voilà, instant henchman!"

"What are you saying?" Rafael asked, eyes narrowing.

Junko went into her punk persona. "Jeez, do I really gotta spell it out for you? Dartz caused the tidal wave that almost killed your whole family!"

"What?" Rafael asked, grumpily. He wanted to deny it, but a part of him could only be intrigued by Junko's ramblings.

"I mean, you were such a sad sack on that island. Do you really think it was just sheer coincidence that Dartz found you? He's been around for 10,000 years. He totally planned that shit!"

"Lies!" Rafael exclaimed.

Junko went back to using her teacher persona. "Dartz has a keen mind to prey upon the weak and helpless. Just look at the other acolytes you were surrounded with that were now all gone. Natsumi was near death and Dartz promised her life for the sake of gaining the recognition she always yearned for. Valon was a spiteful young youth. He really didn't need much prodding. Alister was convinced that the Kaiba Corporation was responsible for manufacturing the weapons that destroyed his micronation, when in reality, Paradius was the ones supplying those weapons. In truth, Alister could only run away from his own failures. Such an unfortunate man.

"Then there's Hiyoko, a yappy Chihuahua that only wants friends, but has been kicked around like a tin can all her life that all she can do is lash out. Honestly, if she weren't so pathetic, I might've tried to recruit her myself. And then of course, there's Gundham Tanaka, the most tragic of them all, who sold out his soul to save the woman he loved, but in the end didn't realize the Faustian bargain he'd been drawn into. A social outcast never the best at dealing with people. His own inner self-loathing was his undoing.

"And now let's talk about you, Rafael. You, who only wanted your family back while you were on that island. You, who found comfort in the Duel Monsters cards you were trapped with. You who refused to go back to his family even when the offer was made."

"Stop talking!" Rafael shouted.

Junko cackled darkly. "No, because that's what you want. Rafael, you already know the cold, hard grip of despair in your heart. You felt it on that island when you felt alone, and you felt it again when you realized that you could go home, but you threw it away to follow the safer path, the stupider path."

Rafael gnashed his teeth. "Even if all that was true…and it's not…I could tell everyone that shows up the sick and twisted human being that you really are!"

"Do you really think they'll believe you?" Junko asked calmly, tilting her head slightly. "You? Their enemy? The guy that took…" she moaned to seem innocent, "Ohhhh, poor little Yugi's soul so heartlessly." She grinned, her mouth resembling that of the Cheshire Cat. "Or do you think they'll believe me, their friend, the woman that's been helping them slowly get to this point to help them save the world."

"What…what do you get out of this? I know you're evil, so why are you acting like you're a good person? Why the disguise? WHY?"

Junko cooed. "I have reasons deeper than the deepest ocean."

Rafael leaned in closer to hear Junko's explanation.

Junko then burst out laughing. "Just kidding! I have no such reasons!" She gave Rafael a stare that shaded her eyes with her bangs, and a faint smile so creepy that it chilled Rafael to his very core. "All I want is despair. Despair has no sense to make and because it makes no sense, there's no point in arguing against it." Junko slowly licked her lips. "Could you imagine the despair Yugi's friends will feel when they find out that the woman that's been helping them all this time, the girl that went to the beach with them, shopped with them, ate lunch with them on weekends, and got them exclusive movie tickets, was actually secretly plotting their downfall the whole time. Ohhhh, the despair of it all," Junko hissed joyously, feeling giddy.

"You…what…even are you?"

Junko laughed in the creepiest way she could manage. "You really want to see my true self?" Junko asked. She flipped around the Seal of Orichalcos in her hand, which had been sitting in it since last turn. "Then allow me to show you. I activate THE SEAL OF ORICHALCOS!"

---

From different points of Miami, Yami and Yukizome's respective groups all saw the Seal of Orichalcos descend down from the sky on top of the Paradius building. Being so high up, it was hard to miss. Even Kaiba saw it.

"Is that the Seal of Orichalcos?" Chihiro yelped.

"But who played it?" Hajime asked.

"Don't forget we aren't the only ones Dartz is after," Kyoko stated.

"Miss Yukizome, we should make haste," Ryota urged. "If there's anything we can do to help—"

"Indeed," Sonia responded. "Please, hurry!"

Yukizome nodded and went from 50 to 60 down the streets of Miami.

Meanwhile, in Mukuro's Jeep, Joey exclaimed. "That's the Seal of Orichalcos!"

"Oh no!" Yami exclaimed. "That means whoever loses that duel will lose their soul!"

"But who's dueling?" Téa wondered.

Mukuro already knew the answer, but she kept her mouth shut.

"I bet it's Kaiba," Joey said. "That smug jerk wanted to beat us here."

"No, if it were Kaiba, Timaeus would be reacting," Yami stated and a chill ran down his spine. "I have a bad feeling about this."

Kaiba's reaction was far more subdued. He brought his car to a halt and looked up at the Paradius building, which wasn't that much further for him to drive. "Well, well, looks like I'm late to the party," he said and took his foot off the brake and drove casually to the building.

---

Rafael watched the emblem form in Junko's forehead, her eyes radiating with blood colored glee. A dark aura surrounded her. His whole body shivered, as if the temperature in the area suddenly dropped ten degrees.

"S-so…" Rafael asked, gulping, afraid of the answer to his question. "What do you make of the power of the Orichalcos."

"Hnngh!" Junko exclaimed, clutching her head, doubling over, the stone in her hairpin glowed brightly.

Rafael smiled. "I see. It looks like the Orichalcos is re-evaluating its thoughts of you. You were never worthy of its power. I bet it plans to take your soul right now."

However, that's when Rafael heard it: laughter. It was a joyless, hollow, creepy sort of laugh, but it gradually grew into a steady cackle. And then, Junko leaned back and cackled wildly like a noblewoman that had just found pride and catharsis in taking up a career as an axe murderer.

She sighed with content, staring at Rafael with a very pleased smile. "So this is the power of the Orichalcos. I can feel it with every inch of my body." The dark aura radiated around Junko, thicker and wider than Rafael had ever seen it. Worse, the emblem on her forehead wasn't green. It was red.

"I've never felt so alive," Junko gasped blissfully. "It's like I'm one…one with despair," Junko said in pure ecstasy. "Do you see now, Rafael?" Junko asked, her voice unnervingly calm and tranquil, almost void of emotion. Rafael was currently seeing a truer Junko Enoshima than she had ever shown anyone else. Even Mukuro and her boyfriend, Yasuke Matsuda, had never seen her quite like this. Junko laughed like she'd heard a mildly funny joke. "This is the power you claimed was for justice, but in truth, your justice is an illusion. You're just a puppet on Dartz's string." Junko leaned back and brushed up her bangs to show off the emblem on her forehead. "But I'm as pure and free as they come. The Orichalcos couldn't have hoped for a better vessel for its corrupted power. That's why it chose me. It knows what I'm capable of, but in the end, I will outlast this great power and the power of the Great Leviathan.

"Because your idea of despair…is boring. What's the point in despair if you suck everyone up into a sea serpent sized vacuum cleaner? The only true despair, is one where the entire world can bear witness to it. That's why I want you and Dartz out of my way, to pave the way for my true, glorious despair. And the best part is, your failure will give the world such hope that it survived a global crisis, only for me to shatter that hope, to crumble it into little tiny pieces." Junko exhaled with true elation. "Just the thought of what's to come makes me shiver. But first," She fanned out the cards in her hand. "The trash needs to go first."

Rafael just stared at Junko. What was he witnessing? Junko was far more depraved, deceitful and utterly incomprehensible than anything he'd ever thought possible. Yes, that was it. She was evil. She'd been spouting nothing but lies. "The Orichalcos has exposed your true nature," Rafael said. "You're evil, Junko!" he exclaimed, pointing at her.

"So, you refuse to face the truth. That's fine I suppose," Junko responded.

"I can't wait to see how your so-called friends react to seeing you in such a state. How will your plans fare when they already know how evil you can be?"

"Oh Rafael," Junko said, shaking her head, "Rafael," she repeated as though she were disappointed in him. "You don't get it, do you?"

"Don't get what?"

Nothing made Rafael's blood run colder than seeing Junko suddenly switch back to her depressed persona, the emblem on her forehead going back from red to green. "I get so bored with my own personality that I can change it as I will on a dime." She adopted her teacher persona. "It doesn't matter if you've seen my true self." She went to her moe persona. "I can just change my personality as I see fit!" She went for her heroic persona. "And the best part is that no one is going to believe you that I'm really evil." She adopted her Dio Brando impersonation. "All I have to do is spin a web about how you were going to play the Seal of Orichalcos anyway, so I played it first so that I could gain the 500 attack point boost so that I had a lesser chance of losing my soul." She changed to her punk persona. "All I gotta do then is keep playing victim and nobody's gonna suspect a thing! Fuck yeah!"

"Then the only choice I have is to defeat you so that your soul will be locked away forever. And even if I fail, Master Dartz will stop all of you. There's no way any of you will ever succeed. There's no way evil will triumph!"

"Funny," Junko said calmly, returning to her true nature. "You don't sound very convinced of that. Just look at your hand, Rafael."

Rafael could see his hand shaking. He'd gazed into the abyss that was Junko Enoshima and it frightened him. It frightened him a great deal.

"Now then, I believe it's my turn," Junko said, fanning through her cards. "Let's begin this duel for real now, shall we?" She plucked a card from her hand, "I summon to the field my Maiden of Macabre!" Junko exclaimed as a pale skinned woman in a kabuki garb, armed with a polished, sharp scythe, the handle made up of skulls, appeared on her side of the battlefield. It had 1700 attack points and 0 defense points.

"And with the power of the Orichalcos, I gift her a few extra attack points," Junko said.

Maiden of Macabre's eyes glowed red and the Orichalcos emblem appeared on her forehead as her attack points grew to 2,200.

"Maiden of Macabre, attack!" Junko exclaimed. "Destroy Guardian Baou!"

With no face-down cards to protect him this time, Rafael had no choice, but to take the attack. Baou was ripped asunder and Rafael lost 300 life points, bringing his total down to 1,600.

"And that's not all," Junko said as Baou's, shrunken, skinless skull appeared to hang off Maiden of Macabre's kimono, "With every monster Maiden of Macabre destroys, she gains 200 more attack points." Maiden of Macabre now had a total of 2,400 attack points. "And since I destroyed one of your monsters, that means that your Purity of the Cemetery is destroyed. How sad for you."

Rafael's spell card was obliterated as he shielded himself from the card's shards hitting his eyes.

"Next," Junko said, licking one of the cards in her hand. "I'll place this little number face-down. Your move, Rafael. Make it count."

To this, the elevator let out a slight "Ding!" as Kaiba and Mokuba stepped out onto the roof.

"Oh look, we have an audience," Junko stated.

"Well this is disappointing, I expected Yugi," Kaiba stated.

"Might want to stick around, Kaiba," Junko said without turning around. "I've almost finished defeating this poor, pathetic loser and then we can go straight for Dartz. But good of you to finally catch up."

"Hmph," Kaiba said, folding his arms. He looked at the field. He couldn't quite place his finger on as to why, but seeing Junko duel felt…nostalgic in a way.

"Is that you're cheering section?" Rafael asked.

Junko laughed. "Oh please, Kaiba wouldn't cheer for anything unless it was finally announced that Blue Eyes White Dragon Appreciation Day was made a thing by the world government."

Kaiba smirked, actually finding that comment rather clever. "Well…you're not wrong."

"Hmph," Rafael said and drew the top two cards of his deck." A white pair of wings hovered around him momentarily.

Junko instantly knew what was up. So, he's drawn Eatos.

Nodding to himself, Rafael declared, "I activate Soul Release, letting me empty Baou from my graveyard along with several other spell cards I've sent there over the course of this duel. This will allow me to special summon Guardian Eatos from my hand, along with Celestial Sword – Eatos!"

Guardian Eatos took to the field, Celestial Sword in hand, its attack power sitting comfortably at 2,800, until Junko's Burden of the Mighty brought its attack power down to 2,000.

"Say goodbye, Junko Enoshima. This duel is over! Eatos! Activate your—"

"STOOOOOOOOP!"

Junko and Rafael both looked up to see Sonia, arriving with the rest of Class 77-B, along with Kyoko and Chihiro from the stairwell.

"Sonia…" Rafael stared up at his sister.

"Rafael…please stop…" Sonia sobbed. "You don't have to do this! You don't have to work for Dartz or take people's souls, you can just come home!"

"He won't stop," Junko stated. "Rafael has given himself completely over to the Orichalcos. He replaced you and your family with the duel monster cards he cherishes! He doesn't want to go home because he believes in a mad man bent on world destruction more than he loves his own sister!"

"Don't listen to her Sonia, she's crazy!" Rafael exclaimed.

"Oh, Rafael," Junko said with a sigh. "Why bother protesting with words? Your actions say it all. Sonia pleaded with you to come home, but did you listen? No. You went running back to Dartz. Your poor little sister has spent so much time searching for any proof of your demise, and you just brushed off her emotions like it was dust off your jacket."

"I…" Rafael wanted to protest, but Junko had him caught in a snare.

"Rafael," Sonia sobbed, unable to look at him, eyes closed.

Yukizome cradled her and glared at Rafael. He could see the expressions of Sonia's friends, glaring, judging.

"It's not what it looks like!" Rafael shouted.

"Then what does it look like, Rafael?" Junko asked. "Explain it to them."

"You're the crazy one that played the Seal of Orichalcos!" Rafael exclaimed.

"To protect myself from you," Junko stated. Fiendishly, she got a tape recorder out and played back a brief snippet of Rafael's own words.

"If you're so insistent to be taken by the Leviathan. I'll gladly indulge you."

Rafael was struck speechless, eyes dilating. Junko had set him up. Worse, everything she had said would happen was happening. No one believed him right now. And he knew, no matter how he tried to convince Sonia's companions otherwise, they wouldn't listen to him. He could feel a crawling sensation on his back, the weight of his sins manifesting like some sort of invisible centipede.

No, all he had to do was prove that Junko was a liar by beating her in a duel. If he could save his damned soul, he could explain himself. He could get through to the others and tell his side of the story, apologize to Sonia, apologize…for everything.

However, before he could resume his attack with Eatos, the elevator dinged again and Yami, Joey, Téa and the others came rushing out onto the rooftop, including Mukuro, Junko's sister.

"Junko!" Yami exclaimed, seeing the back of her head. He then gazed across, locking gazes with her opponent. "Rafael!" he gasped.

"You know that guy?" Joey asked.

"That's him. The one I told you about. He's the one that took Yugi away."

Kaiba, who was out of the loop, glared at Yugi. "He did what now?"

"TLDR," Junko said, still not turning around. ""Yugi"" she said, knowing that Kaiba wouldn't accept him being called by any other name, "Dueled Rafael once already and lost."

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Kaiba shouted.

"Now, now, once I'm done here, transitive property would make me the King of Games, or Queen of Games, so if Yugi then beats me in a duel when this is over, he can have his title back."

Kaiba started angrily twitching. "Yugi, I refuse to see you lose your title to some blonde nobody!"

"Kaiba!" Yami growled. "This is so much more important than titles! The fate of the world is at stake!"

"You disappoint me, Yugi. Not only did you lose your title, but now your girlfriend is stealing it from the guy that beat you! You're a disgrace!"

"Hey, hang on a minute! It's not like that!" Mai exclaimed.

"I don't want to hear excuses!" Kaiba snapped.

Junko was so happy only Rafael could see her deceptively sweet smile, which only continued to chill him further. The others continued to argue in the background behind her as Rafael was drawn to the movements Junko was making with her leg. She was tracing a Shi with her foot. Shi, of course, being the kanji for Death. Rafael would never admit it, but he was finally starting to feel fear from the well-endowed blonde standing across from him.

Téa then shouted. "And to be clear, Junko is NOT his girlfriend!"

"Téa's right," Yami said calmly. "We're all friends here."

As his back was to the brunette, he missed the emotional wound his words had dealt to her chest.

Mai winced. Ow, Pharaoh. Bad timing.

"Would you fools open your eyes?" Rafael shouted. "Don't you see you're being deceived by a truly diabolical force right in front of you?"

Yami turned his attention to Rafael. And it was only then that he noticed something peculiar. The Seal of Orichalcos Emblem was missing from his forehead.

"No! That's impossible!" Yami exclaimed.

"What's the matter?" Joey asked.

"Take a good look at Rafael's forehead," Yami stated.

"His forehead," Joey said, and then he saw it too.

"But…then that would mean…"

While Junko turning her neck to look at the others was over in a matter of seconds, to the recipients, it felt like an eternity. Her eyes showed guilty, panic, and fear as the emblem glowed atop her forehead.

"Junko, no! Why?"

"I didn't have a choice," Junko said, sniffing. "He would've played it if I didn't. He threatened me, said that if I didn't play it soon, he'd play it himself and wipe me out."

"Pharaoh, listen to me! That girl is not what she seems! She's a far greater evil than anything I've ever seen! Do not let her honeyed words deceive you!"

However, Rafael's pleas fell on the deafest ears imaginable. "I've heard just about enough out of you and all your talk of good and evil, Rafael!" Yami roared. "When I lost Yugi and felt as though I had hit rock bottom, Junko helped heal my heart. She's been a true friend, which is more than I can say for the way you've treated your little sister!"

"You're being deceived! She's just using you so she can betray you later! I saw it with my own eyes when she played the seal! She's a twisted evil that defies description!" Rafael shouted.

"He's just spouting more of his brainwashed lies just like in your duel, Pharaoh," Junko stated. "I'm doing this for Yugi. I want him back just as much as you do." The stone glued to her hairpin glowed.

"Junko…" Yami didn't really know what to say.

Rafael could barely believe his ears and eyes. Junko had the entire audience wrapped around her little finger. And there stood he, the man that knew the truth, silenced. Rafael clenched a fist. No. It wouldn't end like this. He wouldn't allow something as twisted and disgusting as Junko to exist for even a second longer. "Guardian Grarl! Attack! Destroy Junko's Darkness Destroyer!"

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I activate my face-down card, Sakuretsu Armor!" Junko said as the trap card flipped face up right in front of her. "This destroys your attacking monster, sending it straight to the graveyard. So sorry."

Grarl was consumed pointy silver armor, eviscerating him and causing him to explode, as Duel Monster monsters that were destroyed tended to do, rattling Rafael's nerves. He had no choice now. "Eatos, activate your special ability!" Rafael exclaimed. "Consume the power of her monsters and increase your attack power!" Using the power of Celestial Sword, Eatos' absorbed the attack power of Junko's Shadowslayer, Axe Dragonute, Interplanetarypurplythorny Dragon, Giant Germ, and Mist Archfiend, adding a massive 9,000 attack points to its crippled 1,700, due to the effects of Junko's Burden of the Mighty. This gave Eatos a grand total of 10,700 attack points, more than enough to end the duel in one swing.

"Eatos! Attack! Destroy her Maiden of Macabre and take her lying, filthy soul to the Great Leviathan!"

"You never learn," Junko sighed. "Activate trap card, Shadow Spell!"

Chains surrounded Eatos, binding her, cutting her attack points by 700 to an even 10,000, making her suffer.

"Eatos!" Rafael exclaimed in alarm. He then noticed that the card Junko had revealed from its face-down position was the one she'd played at the beginning of the duel. "Impossible…" She couldn't have possibly been planning this from the start.

"Poor, pitiful Eatos," Junko chuckled. "Ensnared like a bird inside of a cage."

"I don't understand, if you had Widespread Ruin face-down, why did you not destroy Eatos instead and use Shadow Spell on Grarl?" It would've been the more tactical decision.

"Because, Rafael, I want to make you suffer. And what better way to do that than to torment your favorite monster." She gazed at Eatos struggling to break free from her trap card. "And now that Eatos is a useless, caged mess, I'm going to slowly pick away at your life points and watch as the light dies in both yours and Eatos' eyes." She laughed creepily and then let it all out into full-blown cackling. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHA!"

Even Téa and the others were off-put by Junko's behavior. "Pharaoh, maybe Rafael is telling the truth. Maybe Junko's really nuts."

Yami, however, remained resolute. Or, from Junko's perspective, comfortably in denial. "No, it's just like what happened when the Orichalcos took route in me. It's warping Junko's mind." He raised his voice, bellowing, "Junko! Snap out of it! The Orichalcos is twisting your mind!"

As if on cue, Junko stopped laughing and gasped. She clutched at her head and whined like she had a splitting migraine. Rafael looked on in shock. Even though Junko had just showed her true colors, the Pharaoh believed it was all a ploy by the Orichalcos. And Rafael knew the sad, cold truth. Nothing he said or did was going to convince Yami otherwise. The words "You reap what you sow" could not be more appropriate to be thinking about right now.

"That's it, Junko, fight it!" Yami exclaimed.

Junko clutched at her head, panting. It was all an act of course, but her acting skills made Marik look so wooden he may as well have been a marionette. And Joey and Téa had failed to expose him for the evil mastermind that he was.

"I…I have to finish this…" Junko said.

"Junko please, even if we got Yugi back, he wouldn't want to see you like this!" Yami exclaimed. "Please, Junko, you didn't need to do any of this!"

Rafael could see it then, the traps Junko had laid, the snares she'd caught the Pharaoh and his friends in. He could see just how terrifying she truly was. He started to feel a bit short of breath.

"I'm…sorry…Pharaoh…I just wanted you to like me," Junko said, panting.

"But I do like you, Junko. You're my friend! You didn't have to prove that!" He called out in concern, sounding like he might cry.

"Your little friend here sealed her fate the moment she challenged me to a duel," Rafael said. "You can say goodbye to her soul soon enough. And I know you'll take it as some tragic loss, but really, I'll be doing you a favor. Besides, your soul will soon be joining her." Yes, if Junko was evil, he had to get rid of everything related to her so that her despair couldn't spread. It…it was the only way.

Rafael looked at his remaining hand of three cards. Nothing in his hand could save Eatos from her fate, so he would just have to hold out until he could rescue her. "I'll set one card face-down onto the field," he said as the hologram appeared. "That'll end my turn."

"Then it's my turn," Junko said and drew the top card of her deck, bringing her back up to four cards. Darkness Destroyer still couldn't be sacrificed, but, Junko didn't need to worry about such things for now. "Maiden of Macabre! Attack Backup Gardna! Wipe it out from the field!" Junko declared.

"I don't think so!" Rafael declared. "I activate Crystal Seal in order to trap your monster!"

"And I activate this Quick Play spell, Mystic Space Typhoon!" Junko shouted, her spell card, cast from her hand, barreled through the battlefield and blew up Rafael's Crystal Seal before it had even had a chance to affect her Maiden.

"I activate Backup Gardna's special ability!" Rafael exclaimed. "By discarding a card from my hand, I can—"

"You'll do no such thing," Junko said calmly. "I activate Forbidden Chalice!" she declared. "This spell card increases any monster's attack by 400 points, but it also negates its effects. Too bad your monster is in defense mode. So sorry!"

"No! Gardna!" Rafael could only watch in horror as Backup Gardna was shredded to pieces by Junko's monster, giving Maiden of Macabre another skull to add to her collection, increasing her attack power to 2,600.

"How sad, neither you nor Eatos could do anything to stop me," Junko said, pretending to be sad and wipe a tear from her eye. "But, since Eatos is still in play and a valid attack target, that means my turn is over. It's your move, Rafael."

Rafael drew the top two cards of his deck and looked at his hand and at the field. The battlefield was locked in a hellish stalemate, of Eatos wrapped in chains and facing down Junko's chained up Darkness Destroyer and her powered up Maiden of Macabre. Eatos' unfathomable 10,000 attack points were meaningless if she couldn't attack. She was the only thing standing between Rafael's life points and Junko's victory. And, thanks to Junko's empowered Maiden of Macabre, none of Rafael's monsters could destroy it. Gravity Axe and Baou were banished and Rafael didn't have the power or resources to power up Baou enough to destroy one of Junko's monsters.

What do I…what do I do?

From on top of the staircase entrance to building A, Hajime gazed down at the duel. Something was very off about it, but he couldn't quite place his finger on what. Was Junko really just being possessed by the Orichalcos. Was Rafael really the bad guy here? Something about this left a bad taste in his mouth, and he wasn't sure why.

On the ground level of the roof, Junko took the opportunity to taunt Rafael. "Come on, Raffy, I'm not getting any younger. Or do you surrender?"

Rafael growled at this. No. Surrender was not an option. He took another good look at his hand. Without Backup Gardna, he didn't have the ability to switch equip spell cards from his monsters to their appropriate guardians, but if he played unconventionally.

Sorry Elma, Ceal, Gardna, Baou, Grarl, Eatos…but…I swear I'll save you all in the end! Rafael exclaimed internally. "I activate the spell card Butterfly Dagger – Elma!" He declared. "And I'll gift it to Guardian Eatos!"

Guardian Eatos' attack points increased by 300, not that it mattered.

"This will allow me to summon to the field my Guardian Elma!" Elma stood on the battlefield in her petit form, 1,300 attack points strong. Unfortunately, Junko's Burden of the Mighty brought her down to 1,000 points flat. "And next, I'll activate Guardian Elma's special ability. Now that she's been summoned to the field, I can select any equip spell card in my graveyard and equip it to Guardian Elma, and I choose Wicked-Breaking Flamberge – Baou!"

Elma was equipped with Baou's weapon, increasing her attack power to 1,500.

"And next, I activate another spell card: Shooting Star Bow – Ceal! And I'll equip it to Guardian Elma!"

A big bow was strapped to Elma's back, reducing her attack power down to 500.

"I don't get it. What's the point of that?" Joey asked.

"The point is," Rafael said. "Any monster equipped with Shooting Star Bow Ceal can attack my opponent directly!"

Yami gasped. "Elma has 500 attack points and Junko only has 800 life points remaining!"

"Good Pharaoh, and now with this next magic card, I'll seal Junko Enoshima's Fate!" Rafael exclaimed. "I activate Swords of Revealing Light!" though the effects of Nightmare Binding were still active, it was a normal spell card and it did not count as space on Rafael's field.

Several swords of light rained down on Junko's location. If she couldn't attack, she couldn't get rid of Elma and on Rafael's next turn, he would completely obliterate her.

"Elma! Attack Junko directly with Shooting Star Bow – Ceal!" Baou, Ceal, please guide Elma, Rafael thought.

Elma took Ceal's bow in hand, the bestial archer's spirit guiding her flaming hot arrow as she took aim over Maiden of Macabre's shoulder directly at Junko. The arrow struck Junko right in the shoulder as she clutched the injury, life points falling down to only 300.

"It's…just a flesh wound," she grunted.

"It'll be more than that next turn. You lose, Junko. Admit defeat!"

"Don't give up, Junko! You can still turn this around!" Yami exclaimed. "I believe in you, as long as you believe—"

"In the heart of the cards," Junko said at the same time as Yami. She gave him a thumb's up and smiled at him. Yami smiled back. In that moment, he truly believed that it was impossible for Junko to be evil.

"Here we go! It's Junko time!" Junko exclaimed, drawing the top card of her deck. She looked at the three cards in her hand. "I'll start by activating my face-down card: Gift of the Mystical Elf! Now, I'll gain 300 life points for every monster on the field. That gives me 1,200 points." Junko's life points increased to 1,500. Rafael now only had the lead by 100 points. "That means you'll need three more turns to stop me and by that point, your Swords of Revealing Light will have worn off completely." She held up another card in her hand. "oh, but why stop there? I'll activate this magic card and completely wipe Elma from the field."

"You can't!"

"I will," Junko said with a sinister smile. "I activate the spell card Fissure, wiping out Elma from the field given her pathetic attack points!"

A large chasm opened up in the ground that Rafael had to put his back to the wall of the seal to avoid falling in himself. He could only watch in terror as Elma fell through the fissure, reaching up to him as if begging him to save her. Her desperate expression didn't help matters, nor did the knowledge that the Seal of Orichalcos made monsters real. Rafael could only shut his eyes and cry a little seeing Elma falling to her demise.

"ELMAAAAAAA!" he shouted, tilting his head towards the sky, fists clenched.

Sonia dropped to her knees, crying.

Something's wrong, Hajime thought. Rafael doesn't seem like a bad guy. He looked at his copy of Blackland Void Dragon. No one that cares about their cards like that could be diabolical. What the heck is going on? Rafael says Junko is evil…but the Pharaoh trusts her.

"You're being deceived! She's just using you so she can betray you later! I saw it with my own eyes when she played the seal! She's a twisted evil that defies description!"

Hajime recalled Rafael's words earlier.

What did Rafael see that made him so spooked? Hajime wondered. Is Junko really capable of that level of deception? He thought it best to talk to the Pharaoh and his friends later when he had the chance. Hajime looked at Sonia. And Sonia seems to feel as though Rafael hasn't changed. So if he hasn't changed…what does this mean? Hajime clenched his teeth. Ugh, what aren't I seeing? Where's the piece of the puzzle that makes this all make sense?

"Had time to mourn?" Junko asked.

Rafael glared at her.

"No, of course, what am I saying?" Junko asked rhetorically, shaking her head. "You wouldn't know what mourning is."

"Excuse me?" Rafael spat.

Junko assumed her teacher persona. "Your entire character is built upon your inability to accept the losses you suffered while on that island and the belief that your entire family was dead for many years. You refuse to let any of your monsters go to the graveyard because you believe that preserving the memory of your family as you knew them in life will make you stronger. When in actual fact you are denying yourself the chance to mourn, and as a result you've rooted yourself in the past, never allowing yourself to move on from that tragic day when you were forced to replace your family with trading cards and subsequently went full Castaway."

"You don't have any idea what you're talking about," Rafael snapped.

Junko's persona shifted to her normal, otherwise boring personality. She smirked. "Believe it or not, I know exactly what I'm talking about," she said calmly. "Accepting the mortality of those around you is an important step towards becoming a more complete person. Just look at me. I had to suffer the loss of my parents when I was young, but I moved on from that." And the despair of killing them myself was delicious. "You fell into despair when you found out Sonia was around. You didn't know how to react because your entire life, thanks to Dartz, had been summed up by thinking your family was gone. Conflicted with two types of despair, the despair of losing your family, and the despair of finding them again and forced to question your actions, you chose to abandon your family because it was less painful for you that way. Everything would be easier if you just kept blindly following Dartz and ignored anything that got in the way of that."

Junko adopted her Dio Brando pose and spoke in a deep monotone. "No choice? Everyone has a choice. You, Rafael, you chose to abandon your family." She modified her posture somewhat, shifting her hand over her face so that it only covered her left eye and then extended her right arm, ruby red nail pointing directly at Rafael. "That is the tragedy of your life, Rafael. And even greater tragedy still is that you refuse to accept what an unwitting pawn you became in Dartz's scheme."

Rafael clenched a fist and his teeth.

"Judging from the expression on my face, I know I'm right. And you know what else you chose, Rafael?" She glared at him, a dark shadow cast upon her eyes. The Orichalcos stone in her hair glowed repeatedly. "You chose to hurt my Yugi. And I'm going to make you pay for that!" Junko growled. "With the last card in my hand, I activate Transmodify!" Junko said, activating a card that looked like it was more suited to machine-type cards than Junko's consistent usage of fiends and other hellish creatures. "With this, I can send Darkness Destroyer to the graveyard myself, not as a tribute, just as a run of the mill cost to use this card." She chuckled. "But the results will be worth it." Darkness Destroyer was contained inside a green mechanical pod that surrounded its body from all sides. "Because now I can summon any level 8, dark fiend monster from my deck. And I this!" She exclaimed with a demonic hiss. "Behold!"

A woman stepped out of Junko's pod with horns on either side of her head, a white skull crown with red horns on top of it, purple skin, and gray armor. She was wearing a red cape and carrying a scepter, the business end of which was designed to look more like pincers. She had a ruffled red cape flowing out behind her.

"Meet my monster," Junko stated. "Archfiend Empress!"

Archfiend Empress had 2,900 attack points and 2,100 defense points. Then, with the power of the Seal of Orichalcos, it increased in power to 3,400 points.

"That's a powerful monster," Rafael stated. "But it's nowhere near strong enough to kill Eatos."

"Maybe not, but I'll have the power to defeat her eventually. Just you wait," Junko stated.

Rafael drew the top two cards from his deck. Since Shooting Star Bow – Ceal had fallen along with Guardian Elma, he couldn't summon Ceal anymore. All he could do was protect Eatos and hope that he could survive long enough to figure out a solution to stop Junko and her madness. He had a Remove Trap somewhere in his deck. If he could just draw that, Eatos could be saved.

"I set one card face-down onto the field," Rafael stated. "Then I'll equip Eatos with Guardian Shield. This will raise her defense points by 300 and prevent her from being destroyed by battle just once."

"Not bad, Rafael. Not bad," Junko said, drawing the top card of her deck. "Not good enough though. I activate Card of Demise, allowing me to draw up to five cards, provided I throw out my entire hand five turns later."

Junko looked at her five new cards. Oh yes, she could do lots of nasty things with what was in her hand right now. "I activate Gift of the Martyr!" Junko exclaimed. "This magic card allows me to sacrifice my Maiden of Macabre in order to power up Archfiend Empress equal to its attack power for this turn only!"

Maiden of Macabre dissolved, absorbed by the power of Junko's Empress, increasing its attack power all the way to 6,000 points.

"Gift of the Martyr only lasts one turn," Rafael said, "And you don't have enough attack power to destroy Eatos. And even if you did, Guardian Shield will protect her!"

"Perhaps, but that's why I have these two nifty spell cards. First, I activate a card your familiar with. It's called Shrink!"

"Oh no!" Rafael exclaimed. "That allows you to cut Eatos' attack points in half!"

"That's riiiiiiiight," Junko said in sing song. "And since Eatos currently has 10,300 attack points with the aid of Butterfly Dagger, it now only has 5,150 attack points, just low enough for Archfiend Empress to wipe her out."

"Have you forgotten? Guardian Shield will protect Eatos and your Gift of the Martyr only lasts for this turn."

"And have you forgotten, Rafael? I'm playing two magic cards this turn. Behold my second card: Whip of Agony!"

Archfiend Empress obtained a special, purple, red thorn covered whip that she lashed at the ground. It replaced her scepter entirely. She now looked more like Archfiend Dominatrix than anything.

"First my monster gains 700 attack points," Junko said as Archfiend Empress' attack was increased to 6,700. "Next, as long as Whip of Agony is equipped, my monster cannot declare direct attacks and it is the only monster on my side of the field that is allowed to attack. Furthermore, if it destroys a defense position monster, you're still going to be feeling its pain because my monster will deal damage to you equal to the difference in its attack points and your monster's defense points. It's over! Now let the torture commence!"

"No! Eatos!" Sonia cried out. She couldn't bear to watch her brother's favorite monster be tortured like this.

"This duel is over!" Junko exclaimed. "Archfiend Empress, attack Guardian Eatos now!"

Archfiend Empress unfurled her whip to strike Eatos down, destroying Guardian Shield. Rafael's life points fell all the way to just 50 points.

"Thanks to the special effect of Whip of Agony, I'm allowed to attack twice in one turn!" Junko exclaimed. "So sorry, but it's time for the grand finale! Archfiend Empress, attack!" Junko exclaimed.

"I don't think so!" Rafael shouted. "I activate my trap card: Enchanted Javelin!"

I'm sorry I couldn't save you Eatos. Please forgive me, Rafael thought.

"That will save you, but it won't save your monster!" Junko exclaimed. "Have at it Archfiend Empress! Destroy Guardian Eatos!"

As Rafael's life points surged to 6,750. Eatos was lashed hard, shattering the chains of Shadow Spell and causing her to collapse onto the ground on her back.

Rafael dropped to his knees in shame. He'd failed to protect his favorite monster.

However, with her hand, Eatos brushed Rafael's arm as tears welled into her eyes. Despite her bloodied body from Archfiend Empress' attacks. Death was release to her and she had faith in Rafael, faith in him to finish the job.

She then vanished into light, Rafael's tears splashing the ground as his life points descended down to 5,200 points. But what good was his life when everything else around him was gone?

"I've destroyed your best monster," Junko said, still with 1,500 life points to her name. "And while Gift of the Martyr's effect wears off this turn," she said as Archfiend Empress' attack fell back down to 4,100. "It's worth it to see the look on your face right now. Ahahahaha," she laughed.

Yami clenched his teeth. "This is what I was afraid of," Yami said, seeming to choke on tears.

"What do you mean, Pharaoh?" Téa asked.

"Junko has sadistic tendencies," Mukuro stated, finding her way through Junko's pre-determined script. "The Seal of Orichalcos has corrupted her heart and amplified her desires for torture, bloodshed and glee in the misery of others."

Ah, thought Hajime. Now all the pieces fit together. The Orichalcos had corrupted Junko. She wasn't normally like this. People could be pretty sadistic. He knew that. That would explain why the Pharaoh had such faith in her, Junko must've been pretty easygoing, but the Seal of Orichalcos it was to blame. And he'd witnessed its effects on others firsthand himself through Gundham and through Hiyoko.

Are you going to be the same, Nagito? Hajime thought. Nagito was already a few marbles short of a bag, so what kind of effects would the seal have on him? Hajime shuddered at the thought.

"The sooner this duel ends, the better," Mukuro said. "If Junko is released from the power of the Orichalcos coursing through her, we may be able to stop her before it has completely eroded her mind."

Her words, of course, were all a part of Junko's script. Both sisters knew that all of this was a cruel act, a show. It was all part of Junko's plan to let the Pharaoh and the others see her at her absolute worst and be able to blame it on the Orichalcos. Then, once Dartz was taken care of, Junko could go back to acting bubbly and silly and no one would ever suspect a thing until it was too late.

Breaking Rafael, of course, was an adaptation to Junko's plan that just sort of worked out in her favor. His inability to out her true nature was really fueling her fetish. And soon he'd be nothing, but an empty husk thanks to the power of the Seal of Orichalcos.

"What's the matter, Rafael?" Junko asked. "Lost your nerve?"

Rafael did not respond.

"Come now, where's the usual "You'll pay for hurting Eatos." And, "I'll make sure evil like yours never breathes upon this Earth ever again." Come on, let's hear it, your big, stupid "I'm the good guy" speech."

"Sorry, but I'm through playing your games, Junko," Rafael said, getting to his feet. "We're playing mine now, and once I'm done with you, you won't be playing games with anyone, not ever again."

"Ooooh, edgy. Well then," Junko said with an interested smile. "Show me."

Rafael stood firmly on his feet. "When you destroyed Guardian Eatos, you woke something up. Eatos was the only thing holding me back."

"Holding you back from what?" Junko asked.

"From doing this! I special summon from my deck, Guardian Dreadscythe!"

An armored, bandaged fiendish creature appeared. It was wearing a white mask that only showed one of its eyes due to the mess of hair on top of its head. Guardian Dreadscythe was in defense position with 0 defense points. However, it had 2,500 attack points, which were quickly reduced to 1,700 thanks to Junko's Burden of the Mighty.

"And thanks to Dreadscythe's special ability, when he is summoned to the field, I can automatically equip him with his signature weapon, Reaper Scythe – Dreadscythe!"

Guardian Dreadscythe became equipped with a big, stone scythe that was cracked all over.

"Reaper Scythe increases Dreadscythe's attack power for every monster in my graveyard by 500 points. And since you've painfully disposed of four of them, not counting Baou who I removed, that means Guardian Dreadscythe gains an extra 2,000 attack points, making him stronger than your Archfiend Empress."

Guardin Dreadscythe's attack power increased to 3,700.

"And now, it's my turn!" Rafael exclaimed. He drew the top two cards of his deck. "I'll begin by activating De-spell, allowing me to do away with your Burden of the Mighty magic card!"

Junko's Burden of the Mighty was destroyed, restoring attack points to their proper 4,500.

"That doesn't look good," Joey commented.

"It gets worse," Rafael said. "Because now I set a monster in face-down defense mode." The sideways hologram appeared. "And now, I shift Guardian Dreadscythe into face-up attack position!"

Dreadscythe's eyes glowed as it took a battle-ready stance, wind blowing around it, its 4,500 attack points ready to cut Junko down.

"And since Dreadscythe is now in attack mode, I must destroy every single monster on my side of the field, granting it even greater power."

Rafael's face-down Ceal was sent to the graveyard by the dark powers of Dreadscythe, boosting the reaper-like creature to 5,000 attack points.

"Hold on a moment," Junko spoke up. "You spent your entire duel with the Pharaoh proclaiming what a horrible person he was for sacrificing his monsters. And you revolve your entire strategy around protecting your monsters from harm. Then, just because I destroy Eatos, suddenly you do a 180-flip and destroy one of your monsters yourself?"

"Not everything is black and whi—"

Junko cut Rafael off. "Because I don't believe I found that the word Orichalcos was the Ancient Atlantean phrase for giant fucking hypocrite."

"There are children here!" Kaiba exclaimed, referring to Mokuba. Everyone else was just in stunned silence to Junko's mouth.

"I'm going to attack now," Rafael said, refusing to dignity Junko's words with a proper response. "Besides," he said as he raised his voice. "I'll stoop to any low if it means I can erase evil like you from the face of the planet! Dreadscythe, attack!"

Junko smiled. Oh, this was too easy.

With a massive scythe swing, Dreadscythe cut down Junko's Archfiend Empress. And, with it, cut down her life points to just 600 points.

Dreadscythe then returned to Rafael's side of the field. "It's just like with the Pharaoh." He said and pointed at Junko. "Your own evil will be your undoing!"

"Is that what you believe?" Junko asked. "Fascinating."

"Just look at the field. Your graveyard is full of monsters you selfishly sacrificed to overtake me, but my graveyard is full of monsters I failed to protect because your cruel, evil ways."

"And one you sent there yourself," Junko pointed out.

Rafael ignored her. "And my life points are more than full," he said, referring to his life points being at 5,200. "But your life points," he said, referring to Junko's mere 600, "Are next to nothing. And I still have my powerful Guardian Dreadscythe on the field!" he exclaimed. Guardian Dreadscythe let out a hellish grunt, boasting its still mighty 5,000 attack points. "And even if you could destroy Dreadscythe, which you won't. He isn't destroyed when he's attacked. If he were to be destroyed, all I need to do is discard a card from my hand to keep him in play, which, since he has a mind of his own, he consumes automatically. You won't be able to lower all of my life points when I've weathered through almost all of your best cards!" Rafael exclaimed. He pointed at Junko, index finger extended. "Admit it, you've succumbed to your own evil ways! And you've lost the duel as a result! This is what happens when you mess with magic and sorcery beyond your comprehension!"

Junko doubled over and clutched at her head, groaning loudly.

"Junko!" Yami called in concern.

"I…still…believe…" Junko said with tremendous effort.

"Still believe in what?" Rafael asked.

Panting, hunched over, Junko acted out the part of pulling herself together. She pretended to have her imaginary good half take control as she stood up, looking vigorous and adopted her new heroic persona. "I still believe…in the heart of the cards!" Junko exclaimed as the Orichalcos stone in her hair glowed brightly.

Yami smiled, eyes shimmering. Junko… He couldn't be prouder of her. Unfortunately, he had no idea that Junko had planned on this too. For she already had the cards she needed to win. However, with a bit of sleight of hand, she was able to fool everyone into believing she'd only just drawn her winning move.

"I summon to the field, my Nightmare Horse!" A blue horse comprised entirely of necromantic blue ether with glowing red eyes and covered in mummy-like bandages, appeared on Junko's side of the field. It had 500 attack points and 400 defense points. Its attack power then increased to 1,000 points.

"And just what is that supposed to do?" Rafael attacked.

"End the duel, obviously," Junko said with a smile.

Rafael chuckled. "You've clearly lost it. That monster is nowhere close to being a match for my Dreadscythe."

"How true," Junko stated. "But I'm not attacking Dreadscythe," she said and pointed at Rafael. "I'm attacking you! Directly! Nightmare Horse has that kind of special ability. Now go, Nightmare Horse, attack!"

Nightmare Horse charged forward straight into Rafael, slamming him against the wall of the seal, causing him to stumble on his feet as his life points fell to 4,200.

Rafael groaned. "A waste of effort. Your puny little pony is going to be wiped out by Guardian Dreadscythe next turn!" Rafael exclaimed.

"Oh Rafael," Junko said with a sadistic smile. "There isn't going to be a next turn, not when I have this spell card."

"No! She isn't going to…" Yami gasped. His skin crawled. He had a very bad feeling about this.

"I activate Berserker Soul!" Junko exclaimed.

"No! Junko!" Yami exclaimed. He'd completely lost his mind when not under the influence of the Orichalcos and that was just because he was angry. In Junko's current mental state with the Orichalcos influencing her…there was no telling what the outcome would be.

Junko, of course, firmly believed she was in complete control of the situation. It was truly do or die. Her plan revolved around drawing 5 or more monster cards in a row. Failure to do so would cause her to lose and then her whole plan could come crumbling down around her. And the risk of failure was just how Junko liked to run things.

Junko discarded the sole card in her hand and then drew the top card of her deck. She looked at it. "Witch's Apprentice!" she announced her monster. "To the graveyard!" She sent it into the graveyard slot. "Nightmare Horse, attack! Do it for Yugi!" she exclaimed, the stone in her hair glowing once more.

With a whinny, Nightmare Horse charged into Rafael, slamming him against the wall of the seal. His life points fell to 3,200.

"I draw again!" Junko exclaimed. She'd drawn Archfiend Emperor, the First Lord of Horror. "Another Monster! Nightmare Horse," she said, sending the drawn card to graveyard, "Attack!" Nightmare Horse charged forward, slamming into Rafael once more. Rafael was thrown back against the seal, reducing his life points to 2,200.

"Please, stop!" Sonia exclaimed in tears, but her pleas were upon deaf ears. Yukizome cradled Sonia in her arms, letting Sonia cry into her apron. There was no stopping this now, not unless Rafael lost or Junko drew a spell or trap card.

"Looks like you're out of luck!" Junko exclaimed, discarding Greed Quasar to the graveyard. "Nightmare Horse, attack!"

Nightmare Horse charged into Rafael again. His back was numb from all the shock it was receiving. His life points fell to 1,200.

"So close," Junko said, drawing the top card of her deck. "Let's see what fate has in store." She drew her next card: Brain Golem. "Oh well," she shrugged, sending the card to the graveyard.

Rafael braced for impact, but it hardly did a thing as he was tossed backward, Nightmare Horse's slam really taking a toll on his body. He was now down to his last 200 life points.

"Well now, one more card," Junko said. "I've already managed to draw four monsters. What do you think are the odds that I'll draw a fifth?"

Rafael was down on one knee, wheezing.

"Good answer," Junko said. "Let's see." She slowly drew the card from her deck. She could already see the yellow border of her card before she'd seen the artwork or title. "Well, it seems it's time for you to D-d-d-d-d-dddddd-die!" She exclaimed like she was vocalizing dubstep. "Any final words, Rafael, before I discard my Whiptail Crow and wipe out the last of your life points."

Vision waning from all those direct attacks, Rafael felt the sweat drip from his face. He steadied his crouched position and gazed up to see Sonia staring down at him with tears in his eyes. He reached out to her. "Sonia…"

"Big brother?" Sonia was curious what he would say next.

"I'm…sorry…" Rafael said.

"Well said, good game," Junko said and then discarded Whiptail Crow to her graveyard. Nightmare Horse charged straight into the crouched Rafael and trampled him over, bringing his life points to 0.

Sonia dropped to her knees with Yukizome hugging her from behind. She had her palms over her eyes and all she was doing was crying. "Rafael! Rafaeeeeeeeel!"

"We'll get him back," Yukizome said soothingly. "We'll get everyone back."

Rafael was long unconscious before the Seal of Orichalcos took him. The duel was officially over within seconds. The next card Junko had drawn was Dimensional Prison, ending the effects of Berserker Soul.

"See…" Junko panted as the seal disappeared, "My…500…attack points…" she continued to pant, her hand tensed up.

"All right, Junko," Yami said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "That's enough. It's over now. Let's go."

Junko nodded. "We…have to get to building B. If we go to Dartz's conference room, there's a painting that acts as a portal to his actual hideout under the ocean, Doma's headquarters."

"Are you all right?" Yami asked.

"Just…give me a minute," Junko said. "I need to…decompress. Would you all…wait for me in the conference room?"

At this, slowly, little bit little, each and every member of the group walked from the rooftop of Building A to climb the ladder up to the connecting bridge to Building B. Junko continued to stand there, clutching her head gently, panting. She regulated her breathing to seem better and better, Yami standing the closest to her and would be the last one to cross the walkway, all according to her plan.

She gathered her deck, shuffling it, but palmed the Seal of the Orichalcos.

When she was certain no one was behind her, she clutched her head and groaned in pain.

"Junko? Junko, what's wrong?"

"I can't…my head…" Junko grunted. "Agh…AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" She suddenly started screaming as Orichalcos energy went everywhere.

"Junko!" Yami exclaimed.

The Orichalcos emblem appeared on Junko's forehead. "It…hurts."

"Junko! Fight it!" Yami exclaimed.

"Junko!" Téa called out in worry.

"What's wrong with her?" Joey wondered.

"She must've been exposed to the Orichalcos for too long," Mukuro stated. "The magic itself is trying to possess her entire being."

"I won't that happen!" Yami exclaimed, grabbing Junko's wrists. "Junko! Junko, look at me!"

"Pha…raoh…" Junko gazed at Yami, seeming serene for the moment.

"Junko…please…let me help you…I know you can beat this!"

"There is…one way you can help…" Junko said, managing to look more pitiful than Mikan.

"Tell me!" Yami exclaimed in great concern.

Junko then let fly one of her creepiest smiles yet. "You can join me in HELL!"

With the Seal of Orichalcos she had palmed, Junko slapped it into her duel disk. The Millennium Puzzle gave off a glow and threw Yami back against the wall of a newly crafted Seal of Orichalcos.

"Pharaoh!" Téa exclaimed.

"I'm fine," Yami said. "But what about…?"

He gazed across the rooftop towards Junko. She was floating several inches above the ground, the Seal of the Orichalcos emblem emblazoned on her forehead. Her hands were glowing with green energy. "Right into my trap," she said with even more stoic monotone than even her Dio Brando impersonating persona.

"Trap?" Yami gasped.

"You're a fool, Pharaoh. Your concern for me will now be your undoing. I will take your soul…in the name of the Great Leviathan!"

It was only then that Yami noticed his duel disk had been forcibly activated. "Junko! Snap out of it!"

"Appealing to my good half won't help you," Junko said as she tapped her heels onto the rooftop. "It's just you and me now, Pharaoh. Welcome to the last duel you will ever have in your miserable existence."

"No…" Yami gasped. He was too late. Junko had already been overtaken by the Orichalcos.

Or had she? Suddenly, Junko doubled over, clutching her head.

"Stop! Don't…hurt him…stop."

"Junko!" Yami exclaimed.

Junko gazed up at Yami, leaving one eye open as she clutched her head, wincing. "I'm sorry…Pharaoh…she's too strong…I can't…I can't hold her back."

"Can't hold who back?" Yami asked.

"The power of the Orichalcos…it's…it's infecting my mind…I can't…ugh…"

Junko tossed her head back, becoming dark and soulless behaving once more as she stood upright. "Shut your whore mouth." Her voice was emotionless and unflinching. "This is what we live for, to rip the world asunder in the name of the Great Leviathan."

"NO!" Junko's head lurched back and she clutched her head. "Pharaoh…you have to defeat me. If you don't…you'll lose your soul."

"But…"

"Don't think about it and do it!" Junko shouted in a pleading tone. "I can't hold the evil inside me! You have to stop me from hurting you! It's the only way!"

"Enough out of you!" Junko exclaimed, snapping back to her evil persona. She stared at the Pharaoh. "You know there's only one way out of this, right? You'll have to stop me. Your friends won't be able to defeat Dartz without your help and you know it."

"But…if we lose you…"

Junko closed one eye her "good" half seeping through. "If you defeat Dartz and stop the Great Leviathan…you'll rescue everyone…including me. Please…it's the only way. I'm sorry it's come to this…I just…I just wanted to help you."

Drawing her palm across her face, Junko adopted her "evil" persona once more. "Enough!" She stared at the Pharaoh. "The Seal of Orichalcos is already activated, Pharaoh. You haven't a choice, but to face me. Will your heart withstand the strain? Can you overcome the pain and send another one of the people closest to you to damnation of the loss of their soul with your own two hands?"

Yami stood there, frozen in fear.

Junko closed one eye. "Please…Pharaoh…please help me. You have to…for Yugi's sake."

"But I…"

"Set her free, Pharaoh," Joey said.

"Joey…" Yami gazed up at his friend.

"You saved me when I was under Marik's control. Don't let the situation psyche you out! You can do this, pal!"

"That's right," Téa said. "Junko's our friend. You can save her."

"Believe in the heart of the cards," Hajime said. "If you do that, you can do anything, right?"

Yami didn't smile, but the conviction of his friends' faith in him renewed his own vigor. Drawing a hand of five cards, he stared out a Junko. "All right. If this is the way it has to be then let's do this. I accept your challenge, Junko. LET'S DUEL!"

---

(A/N: The punishment, eternally scarring memories, embrace hope unforgotten and fall into the blue.

Waxing lyrical to a BlazBlue song aside to cap off this chapter, holy crap on cracker this has got to be my best and worst chapter yet. Best because of the emotional tension, characterization and heart pounding duel involved, worst because of…well…I hate Junko! XD. Stealing Yami's rematch with Rafael and now forcing him into confrontation with her while acting like she's some tragic victim. She completely torpedoed Rafael's credibility so even though he saw the real her, no one was able to believe him. She completely tortured his psyche by destroying his monsters and then, rather than take Dreadscythe head-on, she attacked him with her little nightmare pony and put him down.

And yes, THIS was Junko's plan ALL ALONG! This is what I meant by the status quo being shaken up! Junko has not only thrown Yami's rematch with Rafael out the damn window, but now, to get the title of King of Games back, he has to beat her to get it. Additionally, Junko has firmly planted herself as being just a victim of the Orichalcos, meaning that as long as she watches her behavior post-Dartz, no one is going to be any the wiser and she has Yami, Téa, and Joey's faith in her as "character witnesses". Junko is simply the worst! And if you think this is enough of a slap to your face and a swift knee to your groin, chapter 80 is going to shake things up even more. After all, this is Junko and despair we're talking about. Does Yami have what it takes to beat her? Will the heroes lose their greatest asset to the depravity that is Junko Enoshima, forced to be picked off one by one until someone wins? Or will Yami survive at the cost of the heartbreak of stealing the souls of one of his own friends?

I plan to make this one of the best duels I have ever written. Please be patient while I wrap up this two parter and then I will need a proper hiatus in order to give the Orichalcos arc the outstanding finale that it deserves! Until then, as always, from all of me, to all of you, let your hearts stay human, and your wrath draconic. Ja ne!)