Original Yu-Gi-Oh Series
Parallel
Chapter 037
Originally Written: Friday, April 15, 2022 1044AM to 1131AM
. . . . .
Seto wasn't there when the matches were called out after breakfast. Yugi didn't blame him. Everyone heard that scream the night before. He wasn't sure what to make of it, all he knew was that it shook Mokuba worst. Duke was doing the most, keeping Mokuba from Seto. Tea said it hurt to watch, but Yugi understood why Seto was doing it, and so he might have secretly considered Mokuba's pain worth it.
He didn't have much time to go over it though, his match against Bakura was up. Seto wasn't there, but he hadn't needed to be. Seto didn't need to show up for the entire day if he didn't want to. His match was the last of the day, which would take place after lunch, depending on how long the duels of the morning lasted.
He pointed to Bakura, standing across from him in the dueling arena. "Don't you fucking dare!"
Bakura smiled sheepishly, holding up his hands. "I wouldn't, My Pharaoh. You're gonna work for this victory."
"Good." Then Yugi let Pharaoh take over, as was planned.
Bakura's deck took him by surprise. He wasn't using the deck that he used during their duel with Lumis and Umbra, or the one against Seto and a Marik-Controlled Joey. He used all new cards. Including a field card called Dark Sanctuary that blocked out the sky and made it seem like night time.
"You've seemed to upset the lost souls of the damned, Pharaoh. This is their 'Dark Sanctuary'. I wonder what you'll do, now that I've combined it with 'Dark Spirit of the Silent'."
"This is unexpected." Pharaoh chuckled.
"You'll figure something out." Bakura cheered, smiling.
"Oh..." Mokuba peeked out from behind Duke. The many blinking eyes terrified him. "He's doing that weird cryptic message sending thing he does."
"That's what I thought too," Tristan agreed.
"What do you mean?" Tea asked.
"We talk about Amane like she's some foreign enemy, but she's his sister." Tristan asked. "One could say that to save her, he would need to win these duels too."
"You're really doing this, huh?" Pharaoh folded his arms, as he thought of his next turn. "Is this the Bakura of the top ten rankings I'm seeing here? Was everything else just you playing around and having fun?"
"I'm your ally through and through, but I would prefer to win, Pharaoh." Bakura replied with conviction. "It's possible however, your determination may be stronger than mine. If you were not you, Pharaoh, I would have won by now."
"I expect nothing less from you, Bakura." Pharaoh made his next turn.
On Bakura's next turn, he played Destiny Board. Which meant that Pharaoh had five turns before he automatically lost, or to remove the trap from the field. He was the clear decided winner.
Then Pharaoh smirked. "I believe my conviction is a bit stronger than yours, my friend."
"Or, you believe in your cards more. Your strength, more." Bakura dropped to a knee and looked straight on as Pharaoh summoned Slifer the Sky Dragon. The God was massive, over swamping nearly the entirety of Bakura's Dark Sanctuary.
"I know your story, Ryou Bakura. I'm certain your friend and sister both have heard your messages loud and clear. I will make sure the ring is returned to you to ensure Amane's safety." Pharaoh then ordered Slifer to finish the duel, earning his victory.
"Bakura's the only person I know who consistently makes duels look fabulous. Even when he loses they still look amazing." Duke shook his head, stunned.
"What just happened?" Joey asked, watching as Slifer's attack wiped out the rest of Bakura's life points. The attack was so strong, they couldn't see Bakura within the lightning. "What was all that about?"
Tristan and Mokuba loosely explained. Tristan ended the explanation, because he knew more about it. Mokuba only knew because Bakura was friends with Seto and overheard them talking about it a few times.
"He's not sure what to do. Amane won't challenge him, because he has nothing to ante up that would make her do it. He can't grab another millennium item to offer up to make her do it, because no one else with a millennium item would even ante it up like that, for the same reason Amane won't. He's got shadow powers, but no Millennium item means he can't lure Amane into a shadow game to do it either. She has to come to him. And if he could trap Amane and win, victory means he pretty much killed her by sending her soul to the Shadow Realm. So he can't free Amane, nor can he help the Spirit of the Ring. Lose lose all around." Tristan shook his head.
"What the..." Joey scowled, "That's some absolute bullshit!"
Tea covered her mouth with her hands, tears in her eyes. "There has to be some way around that."
"Yugi Moto has won the Duel!" Roland announced with a raised arm as the smoke cleared.
Bakura moved to fully kneeling, and clasped his hands in his lap. Only after Roland announced his loss, did he allow his head to drop. Pharaoh walked over to him, dropped to a knee, and fell into a hushed conversation with him.
"He'll let you know when he finds one." Mokuba folded his arms. "For now, Pharaoh just said he would."