*** Tournament of the Millennium! ***
Chapter 12: Momentary Lapse – Rivalry"Uh huh. Yeah. Uh huh, no, pretty good. Yeah, him. Alright, see you later," Ryou snapped his mobile phone shut and glanced at Bakura, who was trotting next to him, waving his non-corporeal hand through people and smirking as they shivered and looked around.
"Could you please stop that?" he sighed in exasperation. Bakura grunted and swung around to face Ryou, his deep brown eyes glinting slightly.
"I wouldn't have to do this for amusement if you'd let me have control of the body for a small period of time. What was that call about, anyway?" snapped Bakura moodily.
Ryou paused slightly as he shoved his phone into his pocket.
"Yugi called. Apparently Yami is in a mood and doesn't feel like dueling any more today, so Yugi called Joey to tell him that he'd be at the hotel if anyone was looking for him. It appears that Joey has had a victory and he's going back to the hotel as well. So I thought we could go back."
Bakura just snorted and bowed sardonically.
"Lead the way, master." Bakura's voice was laced with sarcasm, causing Ryou to shift uncomfortably in his shoes.
"Umm… alright." Ryou swung around and began to walk hurriedly back to the hotel.
Bakura grinned wickedly. He'd forgotten how fun it was to taunt Ryou!
***
Yugi looked around the lounge room of the hotel. It seemed like a good enough place to meet the others. He'd lost Tea and his Grandpa somewhere in the park when Yami had left in a rage, and Tea wasn't responding to his calls. So he'd just left a message on the phone for her when she checked. He checked the couches and counted the people he thought were coming. Joey, Ryou, Tristan, Tea, Grandpa, and maybe even Mai, if she wasn't tied up with a duel. He thought that they would all just about fit. He'd even dragged a coffee table in between them, in case anyone wanted to try and snap Yami out of his mood with a duel.
A crash and a yelp was heard behind Yugi and he whirled around, only to find Joey entangled with a young hotel waitress. Scattered all around them were baked delicacies that had fallen onto the floor when Joey had tripped, grabbed the waitress and taken both of them flying into the snacks table. As he desperately tried to untangle himself, while also trying to remove the table from on top of their legs, a shriek of indignation echoed through the lounge room.
"Joseph Wheeler! Get your prying mitts off that girl right now! You dirty pervert!"
Mai stood dominatingly over Joey, her hands on her hips, eyes darkened. Joey quickly shoved the table off his legs and apologized to the waitress. Then he turned around to Mai.
"Geez! Anyone would think I did that deliberately, just to get a feel!" cried Joey with ire.
"Well, it looked pretty suss to me, pal," came a drawl from the doorway. Joey spun around to see Tristan looking smugly at him.
"Ah man! What is this? Why're you all accusin' me of stuff?" shouted Joey in frustration. Tristan walked up and clapped him on the back.
"Cool it, we're only joking. Man, you're so uptight," muttered Tristan as he ambled over to Yugi and collapsed in a chair.
Joey shook off his embarrassment and plonked himself down next to Yugi and began to describe his duel in detail. Over the next few minutes Ryou sauntered in and finally, Tea and Grandpa, looking slightly puffed, but beaming happily.
Joey wrapped up his tale of his exploits and looked at the rest of them.
"So, I got 2 pieces. How about you three?" he asked casually, indicating Yugi, Ryou and Mai. Ryou held up his three pieces of Exodia, along with Diabound and Kiara the Death-Bringing Damsel. Mai smirked and reached into her jacket, pulling a complete set of Exodia pieces from it with a flourish. Joey's jaw dropped open and his glass thumped on the carpeted floor as he dropped it, completely gob smacked.
"You already have a complete set?! Amazing Mai! It's only 4:30, and you're already qualified for the next round!" stated Yugi, impressed.
"Yeah well, most of the duelists in this tournament are chumps. What can I say?" declared Mai in a slightly modest fashion.
Once the group's shock at Mai's success had subsided, they turned to Yugi. He pulled his lone piece from his pocket and sighed as he dropped it on the table. Joey was, for the second time in two minutes, speechless. Mai was little better.
"You, you only have one piece Yugi?! What are you doing? And why are we wasting time chatting here if you only one piece? You should be out there!" she declared vehemently as she thrust her finger towards the wall-to-wall plate glass window, which showed the busy street outside.
Yugi looked sadly at his Millennium Puzzle.
"Yami's in a mood. He doesn't accept being defeated very easily." Yugi whispered.
Joey finally recovered his voice as Yugi pointed out why he wasn't dueling and interrupted loudly.
"Wha! You lost? To who? Who could beat you, Yuge?!" admonished Joey. Yugi looked at him in surprise.
"Kaiba. Who else?" pointed out Yugi bluntly. As he said this, he was distracted by a dark, malevolent laugh from behind him. He and Ryou whipped their heads around, and Yami popped out of the Millennium Puzzle, to find Bakura in gales of evil laughter. Yami swore in Egyptian.
"Bakura! What's he doing here?!" asked Yami in shock. Ryou looked embarrassed.
"I let him out. I feel that he's changed," announced Ryou shortly. Joey, Mai, Tristan, Tea and Grandpa looked at him in confusion. What was he talking about?
"Whoa, whoa, hold up, hold up. What the hell's going on here?" demanded Joey in bewilderment. Yugi turned to him and pointed at Ryou.
"Ryou's Yami is back. He's laughing at Yami."
As Joey, Tristan, Grandpa and Tea all looked stunned and Mai just looked mystified, Yugi turned back to the predicament at hand. He looked carefully at Bakura and turned to Ryou.
"Are you sure we can trust him?" asked Yugi slowly, watching Bakura and Yami bicker at the corner of his eye.
"Pretty sure. He seems different. I think he's been stripped of some of his darkness."
They watched curiously as Yami and Bakura engaged in an intense argument. It ended with Yami tossing his head back and stalking over to Yugi's seat, before assuming a royal position and glaring at Bakura darkly. Bakura winked out of existence in his spiritual form and Ryou felt a slight jolt as his body was relinquished to his alter ego.
"Show yourself, Yami. Or are you too cowardly to face me physically?" sneered Bakura. The rest of the group fell quiet as Yugi renounced his body to Yami. Yami stepped up to Bakura and stared him in the eye.
"Don't insinuate my cowardice without first observing your own habits, tomb robber." Yami asserted coldly. As he watched Bakura carefully, Bakura's eye twitched and he roared at Yami indignantly.
"Just because you're sore about losing, you think you can take it out on me because you used to be a pharaoh. And I put emphasis on the phrase used to be. Don't try and belittle me without first observing your own faults."
Yami pulled out his deck furiously.
"Let's settle this! I challenge you to a duel!" commanded Yami. Bakura raised one eyebrow.
"Three points, pharaoh. One, I have no need to prove myself. Two, I would beat you in a heartbeat and three, Ryou has long since dismantled my deck. So I don't accept," finished Bakura in a superior tone of voice, which made Yami's blood boil. Yami drew his face so close to Bakura that he could feel the warmth of the filthy tomb robber's breath and uttered his challenge to Bakura with a voice that would have frozen a polar bear.
"Then get it together. You have half an hour." He pushed Bakura back and watched him retreat with a stare of loathing. Joey decided to break the ice.
"Whoa. Isn't half an hour a bit harsh, Yami? Give him a chance!"
Yami simply crossed his arms and watched Bakura go up the stairs smugly.
"Let's see what he can do."
***
Half an hour later Yami walked up to Ryou's room and banged angrily on the door.
"Half an hour is up, cretin! You'll get no more time out of me!" bellowed Yami. He hammered on the door again for good measure. As he pulled his fist away, the door swung outwards and connected firmly with his face. As Yami tumbled backwards, clutching his bloodied nose, he overbalanced and toppled down the stairs, groaning and grunting as he did so. Bakura watched in great glee as Yami disappeared out of sight as he rapidly descended the staircase in a most unusual fashion. He shook his head and followed Yami down.
Down the bottom, Bakura found Yami preening his hair carefully and fastidiously realigning the various chains and buckles of his outfit. Bakura shoved past and offhandedly stalked out into the lounge room. Yami followed in a presumptuous manner.
In the lounge, room the atmosphere crackled with rivalry and dominance. Bakura and Yami eyed each other carefully as they adjusted their DuelDisks. Yami slotted his deck into his DuelDisk, but Bakura swung his arm out before Yami activated it. Yami looked at him curiously.
"Wait. I want to challenge you to a Duel with a 100% Damage Setting. It's an extreme variant of the game that spices up every aspect of the game. Only the most hardcore of duelists can stand such a level of competition." He narrowed his eyes and sneered as he flicked his dial to the maximum setting.
Yami simply smirked and spun his dial up to full. Then he looked around. The lounge room wasn't that big.
"Let's move into the ballroom. We need more space for a battle like this." Bakura nodded in mute agreement and headed off in the general direction of the ballroom.
As Yami left the room, the rest of the gang followed, discussing the upcoming event.
"Yuge's gonna win for sure. There's no way Bakura can beat him, especially since he had only half an hour to build his deck." Joey expressed his opinion firmly. Tristan and Mai nodded in mutual concurrence. Tea and Grandpa weren't so sure though.
"I don't know. Bakura had a few tricks up his sleeves last time those two dueled. I think Yugi was just lucky last time. And there's not so much riding on this duel, just pride." voiced Tea nervously. Grandpa nodded wisely.
At the entrance to the ballroom, a small group of spectators had gathered, anxious to see two of the best duelists around go at it neck and neck.
Yami stepped onto the dance floor, and Bakura took his position opposite Yami, about ten metres away.
As the DuelDisks activated the holographic generators were ejected and flew to their four corners of the field. They glowed slightly and the field area turned glossy silver, before returning to normal. The duelists drew their five cards and Bakura drew an additional one to signify the beginning of his turn.
"For simplicity's sake, I thought we'd pass on the DeckMaster rule. I find it tiresome. As for my turn, I shall simply play Vengeful Bog Spirit. It prevents any monster from attacking the turn it is summoned. So I'm safe for a turn." The field turned into a viscous black mud, with swirling white mists floating above its surface.
Yami looked at his own hand and slipped one card from it.
"I shall play Sanctuary to draw 1 new card. It also allows you to draw a card to replenish your own hand," Yami stated flatly. As he drew his card, he smiled slightly.
"I just drew Watapon. Its effect allows me to Special Summon it to the field if I draw it outside of my Draw Phase, which I did."
The pinkish cloud appeared, mingling slightly with the natural mist of the bog. Bakura's eyes gleamed slightly.
"Pathetic. It has only 300 ATK. What a useless card," muttered Bakura degradingly.
Yami smirked as he looked at the cards in his hand. He then pulled a monster from it.
"It may be weak, but since it was Special Summoned I can now tribute it to summon Berfomet in Attack Mode (1400/1800)! And when it is summoned I can search my deck for a Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts (1500/1200) to put in my hand," Yami calmly affirmed as he pulled it from his deck. He placed the card on top of Berfomet.
"I can now activate Polymerization to combine my Berfomet with the Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts I just acquired to create Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast (2100/1800)!" declared Yami triumphantly. The beast flapped its long, pure white wings and roared fiercely. Bakura looked at it with slight concern, but then relaxed slightly.
"It still can't attack during this turn, because of my Vengeful Bog Spirit. So I have a turn to counter it." At this comment, Yami chuckled coldly, causing Bakura to look extremely affronted.
"I'm not worried by your swamp. It may be filth like you, but my monsters, like myself, rise above the filth and eliminate it! I'll play Quick Attack to allow Chimera to attack you directly! Go Chimera!" commanded Yami threateningly.
The great beast flapped its wings, pulled itself out of the mud and charged towards Bakura. Its horned head passed through Bakura's body and he screamed in agony at the feeling of rent flesh. He clasped his hands around his stomach as the pain ignited each and every nerve in his body. Yami simply watched coldly over Bakura's writhing agony. Bakura dragged himself into a standing position and, despite his pain, managed to laugh slightly.
"Nice move Pharaoh. I was expecting a pushover of a battle, but it seems you have some talent. It won't be enough though. I shall prevail in this battle."
As Bakura extracted a card from his deck he grinned, his eyes still slightly watery, but sadistic nonetheless. He slipped another card into his DuelDisk.
"Well done Pharaoh. You passed the first test. Now, let's kick it up a notch or two."
A dark being with a blackboard appeared in the swamp and carefully brushed some mud off the cuffs of his jacket.
"I'm activating the magic of Dark Designator. It allows me to name a card in your deck and since Yugi dueled Ryou only this morning, I have a good idea of the cards in your deck," Bakura's face became cloudy as he contemplated what card to choose, "so I shall name Master of Fusion as the card to put into your hand." Bakura grinned as Yami put the card into his hand.
"Excellent. Now then, I will activate Power of Fusion! This Spell Card strengthens any Fusion Monster with 1500 or less ATK by 1000! And I will summon Spirit Reaper in Defense Mode (300/200). Next, I shall play my Aegis Curse! By discarding a card from my hand," Bakura carelessly pushed a card into his graveyard and sneered, "I can reduce Chimera's ATK and DEF by 500, down to 1600!"
Chimera became surrounded by a throbbing pink bubble, which tightened around it, until the bubble burst, leaving Chimera dazed and weakened.
"I shall set one of my two remaining cards and then activate Exchange! It lets me take any card from your hand and, since I have no cards left in my hand, there is no drawback for me. So let's see your hand." He motioned eagerly for Yami's hand. Yami angrily stomped over and handed it to him. Bakura deliberated over which card to take.
'Hmm, Backup Soldier, Magical Hats and, of course, Master of Fusion.'
Bakura took the Master of Fusion card and placed it in his own hand. Yami walked back to his side of the field and waited for Bakura to make his move. Bakura looked at him and grinned.
"Since I have only one monster on the field and none in my hand, I cannot possibly fuse anything, so I shall end my turn."
Yami drew his card and looked at it. He then smirked at Bakura icily.
"You mocked the weakness of my Watapon, and yet your Spirit Reaper is weaker than it. This leads me to believe that that facedown card is a trap, which you wish me to fall prey to. Therefore, I shall play Sealed Box of Gold! This locks your card in my magical chest and prevents you from using it!" called Yami boldly.
An intricately crafted chamber, decorated with many paints and carvings appeared and Bakura's facedown card was pulled into it. The lid snapped shut and the box glowed slightly, before returning to its normal state.
"Now I will summon my Queen's Knight (1500/1600) in Attack Mode! It can't attack this turn, but it shall be part of my army of monsters which will swamp and overwhelm you." Yami pointed towards the small Grim Reaper. "Now, Chimera, attack the Spirit Reaper!"
As the beast lunged at the small wraith, it fluttered out of the way and Chimera's horn simply swept past the ragged edges of the robes the Spirit Reaper wore. Yami's eyes widened in surprise.
"What's this? Your Reaper dodged my attack! How is that possible?" Yami demanded an explanation in aggravation. Bakura's smile widened.
"My Spirit Reaper can't be destroyed in Battle, so it is an effective wall against your monsters. Now then, it must be my turn. So I draw and," Bakura's eyes lit up at the card in his hand, "I will activate Acquisition of the Dead Treasure. It allows me to pay 2000 Life Points," at this Bakura's Life Points fell to 3900, "in order to draw 3 new cards. So I will."
Bakura slid three cards from his deck and added them to his hand.
"Alright Pharaoh, I'll play Spiritualism to return my Vengeful Bog Spirit to my hand, allowing my monsters to attack during the turn that they are summoned. And now I'll summon Goblin Zombie (1100/1050) in Attack Mode! Secondly, I'll activate Master of Fusion to take my own Polymerization and add it to my hand. Then I shall set two M/T cards." A ferocious little monster with bone armour all over its rotting body appeared next to two new brown-backed cards.
"Now, Goblin Zombie, attack Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast!" commanded Bakura sinisterly. The little goblin charged at the great winged beast but as its sword curved down towards Chimera the mighty beast swung its head under the blade and skewered the zombie. Bakura's Life Points fell to 2900. He grinned slightly as his monster exploded into little pieces.
"Excellent. Now, since Goblin Zombie was destroyed it allows me to take a zombie with a defense value of 1200 or less and put it in my hand, so I'll take Nightmare Horse!" Bakura searched his deck for the card and placed it in his hand.
"I'll activate Polymerization to fuse my Nightmare Horse and my Spirit Reaper into the terrifying Reaper on the Nightmare (800/600)!"
The small spirit leapt up onto a skeletal horse and swung its scythe menacingly. Bakura snickered evilly.
"Since I activated my Polymerization during my Battle Phase, my Reaper on the Nightmare can still attack during this turn. At the moment its attack and defense are fairly low, but thanks to Power of Fusion, that is raised to 1800/1600! So now I could destroy your Queen's Knight. Or I could use its special effect."
Yami's eye twitched slightly. That didn't sound promising. Just in front of Bakura, his new beast was surrounded by crackling black energy as its power increased.
"My monster's special ability is that it can attack directly, even if you do have monsters on the field. And if I damage your Life Points then you have to discard a card from your deck. And to compound that, Power of Fusion increases my Life Points by 1000 whenever one of my Fusion Monsters does damage to your Life Points," Bakura grinned malevolently, "so that means I will now have 3900 Life Points, while you have 6200 and one less card."
The reaper charged towards Yami's monsters and leapt gracefully over them, bringing its scythe down through Yami. As the DuelDisk created the illusion of tearing flesh and cleaved bone Yami collapsed to his knees, gripping his head in enormous agony. Bakura simply watched and laughed.
As Yami shakily got back up Bakura snidely pointed out that Yami hadn't yet discarded his card. Yami growled in frustration and shoved his Backup Soldier into his Graveyard.
Yami drew his card and smiled slightly. Bakura only had the Reaper on the Nightmare protecting his Life Points. Since the Aegis Curse had worn off Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast was back to its full ATK of 2100. That would be enough to destroy the Reaper on the Nightmare, and inflict 300 Life Points of Damage. Then his Queen's Knight could attack, leaving Bakura with 2100 Life Points. And Yami had just drawn De-Fusion. That meant he could split Chimera up into Berfomet and Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts and attack for the win. Smirking, Yami set De-Fusion onto the field.
"It's time to end this, tomb robber! Now you lose, for after I destroy your reaper with Chimera, nothing can protect your Life Points!"
Bakura watched Yami carefully as Chimera charged forward. Yami was in for a surprise.
The hellish horse leapt upwards and Chimera's horn dragged slightly across its stomach, drawing blood, but the beast was otherwise unharmed. Bakura's Life Points fell to 3600.
Yami's eyes widened slightly, before he realized what had happened.
"So, your Reaper on the Nightmare inherited the abilities of your Spirit Reaper. Not a bad beast with that Power of Fusion in play. So I shall prepare a counter accordingly."
Yami thought about what he was going to do. When Bakura declared his attack next turn Yami would activate De-Fusion to negate the attack and Special Summon Spirit Reaper and Nightmare Horse to Bakura's side of the field. Both the Spirit Reaper and the Nightmare Horse would appear in attack mode and, since their ATK powers were 300 and 500 respectively, Yami would still be able to inflict heavy damage during his next turn.
Bakura drew his card, smirked, and set it on the field. Then he swept his arm towards Yami as he commanded his reaper to attack.
"Ha! When my reaper attacks you directly, you will have only 4400 Life Points left, while my life points increase to 4600, so I take the lead!" called out Bakura threateningly.
Yami chuckled as the small spirit leapt over Chimera towards him. He held his DuelDisk up and pushed a button on its wing. A beam of light shot towards the reaper, which shattered and disappeared with a howl. Yami smirked and waited for the Spirit Reaper and the Nightmare Horse to reappear. When they did not, he looked at Bakura with an incredulous face. Bakura had a sullen look on his face.
"So, you tried to activate something. Unfortunately, my Reaper on the Nightmare is destroyed the instant it becomes targeted by something. But," Bakura's face brightened as he realized he could use the card he had just set, "I can activate Monster Reborn to bring it back from the Graveyard, so it's allowed to attack again. Say goodbye to a good chunk of your Life Points, Pharaoh!" cackled Bakura evilly.
Yami fell to the ground in agony for a second time as the reaper's blade tore through his stomach. Bakura waited for him to recover, laughing softly all the time.
As Yami got back up Bakura asked unpleasantly, "Have you discarded a card because of its effect yet, Pharaoah? Or are you trying to hoard your treasure for after your death?"
Yami clenched his fist and sent his Magical Hats to his Graveyard. He then stared spitefully at Bakura, tapping his foot impatiently. When Bakura didn't move his eys from his face, Yami snapped.
"Are you done, filth?"
Bakura leered at Yami for breaking so easily.
"Absolutely, Pharaoh. I would have thought that you could tell."
Yami drew his card and studied it.
Hmm… Magic Textbooks. Not the most useful of cards, but maybe it will come in handy. I think now would be a good time to activate it.
"I'll activate Magic Textbooks! It lets me discard my hand, which is zero, to shuffle my deck and draw a card. If it is a Spell card, I can activate it immediately." Yami shuffled his deck carefully and drew his card. When he stared at it, he smirked.
"Yes! I can activate Excalibur! This Equipment Spell card will double the ATK of Chimera the Mythical Beast up to forty-two hundred! And now, Chimera will attack your Reaper on the Nightmare!"
The magical sword Excalibur appeared and Chimera metamorphosed into a more humanoid figure, standing upright on two legs, with a long silvery mane. It snatched the legendary sword from the air and swept it through the reaper and its steed. Bakura's Life Points dropped to 2200 as the reaper fell back to earth, with one of its fingers severed.
Bakura looked shocked at this sudden turn-around in the Life Point levels. He drew his card desperately. It was Pot of Greed. He played it and took two more cards.
"I have nothing, so I shall have my Reaper on the Nightmare attack you directly! Now your Life Points are down to 2600! And luckily, my Life Points increase to 3200."
Yami reached for his Life Deck with some pain and difficulty, then withdrew his hand as he remembered something.
"Excalibur is destroyed when I draw a card, but it allows me to skip any Draw Phase, so that means it remains in play. Now, Chimera will attack your reaper for another 2400 Life Points!"
Bakura drew his card and set it on the field with a smirk. Then he ordered the reaper to attack again.
As the reaper carved through Yami again, he fell to one knee and bit down hard on his fist to prevent himself from collapsing. When he withdrew his fist from his mouth, a thin stream of crimson dribbled down it. Bakura now had 1800 Life Points to his 800.
Yami took his turn and swung his arm out to point at Bakura.
"Now, Chimera, finish him! Legendary Blade Slash!"
Bakura smiled slightly. He activated his Trap card.
"I'm activating Collosal Confrontation of Darkness! By paying 500 Life Points, I can wipe out all of the Spell cards and Trap cards on the field. Then, each player can set up to 5 Spell or Trap cards on the field from their deck, which can be activated this turn!"
Five brown cards appeared on both sides of the field as Chimera, now with 2100 ATK, charged at the Reaper on the Nightmare, whose ATK had been reduced to 800. The attack would do 1300 Life Points of damage. Bakura had only 1300 Life Points left.
Bakura swung his hand out towards Yami.
"I'm activating Curse of Necrofear to remove my Graveyard from the game, while you gain 2000 Life Points! Now I can activate Boundary of the Twilight Zone! As long as I have no Spell cards in my Graveyard, neither of us may attack!"
Yami flipped one of his cards up.
"I'm activating Blood-Seal of Magic! By discarding 5 cards from the top of my deck, I can negate the activation of your Boundary of the Twilight Zone. And I will activate Iron Maiden to reduce your monster's ATK by 800, and increase my Life Points by 800, up to 3600! However, instead of weakening your monster, due to its own effect, Reaper on the Nightmare is destroyed." Chimera continued to charge forward, towards Bakura.
Bakura swept his hand up and slapped a switch on his DuelDisk.
"I activate Frozen Soul. Since you have over 2000 Life Points more than me, I can now end your Battle Phase!"
Bakura grabbed his card and laughed.
"Excellent. I'll activate Devil's Advocate, returning all Life Points to how they were at the end of my last turn. So you have 800 Life Points, while I have 1800."
Yami winced as his Life Points dropped rapidly. Bakura still had two cards in his hand and two on the field.
"I'll summon Dokuroyaiba (1000/400) and activate my face-down Secret Passage to the Treasury, which will allow Dokuroyaiba to attack directly! Now Dokuroyaiba, attack!" roared Bakura ferociously. The small crowd inside the ballroom cheered and booed as the toothed boomerang swung towards Yami. Yami whipped his DuelDisk up to a horizontal position just below his eyes and clicked a button…
… and both DuelDisks shut down. The holographic boomerang faded away just inches in front of Yami's nose. Bakura howled in fury, rage and confusion. Yami also looked bewildered. Bakura stormed up to him in an incensed rage.
"What the hell did you do, Pharaoh! I should have won that!" yelled Bakura, livid with anger. Yami was about to reply when the room began to fade into darkness, leaving himself and Bakura standing on a pitch-black plain. They were in the Shadow Realm.
"Bakura, what did you do?" whispered Yami from the corner of his mouth. Something about this wasn't right. Bakura jumped slightly, and when he replied, his voice was tinged with worry.
"I thought you did it. But if you didn't and I didn't then…" Bakura began to speculate when a bright light filled the Shadow Realm and a beautiful woman, with long, flowing raven-black hair appeared. Clasped in her hands were a wire globe of glowing material and a small pendant. Her form flickered and wavered slightly, as if she had either been in the Shadow Realm for a long time, or was new to the whole process.
Yami and Bakura began to run towards her when she glowed and disappeared. As she disappeared, she whispered something, which echoed around the Shadow Realm as clear as crystal.
"Legion is coming. Watch out, Legion is coming…"
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