The Masked Duelist

by Agent Baron

Follow the adventures of Yugi and friends in Battle City from a new duelist's point of view! Is he friend or foe? What are his intentions? What is his obsession with potatoes?

15. The Revenge of the Masked Duelist

"The Revenge of the Masked Duelist"

            By: Von Stupor

            "So you wish to own the Millennium Eye, do you? Do you truly believe you can harness its power?" asked Bakura, smugly.

            "I shall not harness the power of the Millennium Eye; I shall return it to its rightful owner through this shadow game!" Von Stupor replied, his voice quivering with raw hatred.  His fists were tightly clenched, shaking ever slightly.

            "Fine then, let us begin!"

            A dark fog emitted from Bakura's Millennium Ring, engulfing the arena.

            "This game shall not only test our dueling skills, but our shadow powers as well, as our mind's energy shall be slowly drained!  I'm sure you remember this little nuance of dueling from your duel with Marik," Bakura informed him.

            Von Stupor surveyed his surroundings.  The blimp within the shadow realm was much darker, and to his dismay, he also found Téa inside the evil void, staring helplessly at the two.

            Von Stupor snapped his attention back to Bakura and shouted, "Bakura, she is not involved in this!  Let her go at once!"

            "I am afraid that is too late as the shadow game has already begun," Bakura chuckled smugly.

            "She has no experience with the Shadow Realm, nor has she any mental power to withstand this duel's toil on her brain!  Don't you understand?!  Should she pass out her mind could sustain permanent damage!!!"

            "Then you had better lose quickly if you wish to save her, ha ha."

            As Von Stupor's blood began to boil, Majora spoke to him in his mind.

            Well now, it appears that there is anoth—

            No, Von Stupor thought back, cutting him off.  This is personal.  I shall take care of this myself; now take your leave of me.  I do not wish to hear your voice.

            Majora snorted and left.

            "Will you make the first move, or shall I?" asked Bakura.

            "You make the first move," Von Stupor flatly answered.  "I wish to smash through every one of your defenses."

            "Fine then.  I'll set two M/T cards and one monster.  Your turn."

            "I shall set two M/T cards and one monster.  Go."

            "I shall set a second monster and flip summon the White Magical Hat and attack your set monster!"

            A man in a blue tuxedo wearing a white top hat and cape jumped out of a portal and using his sabre slashed Von Stupor's face-down monster.  It was a Kuriboh, and was quickly severed.

            Just then, a sharp pain shot through Von Stupor's chest.  He clutched it with his hand and dropped to one knee, groaning.

            Téa snapped out of her shock and dashed to Von Stupor.

            "Von Stupor!!!  What's going on?!" she shrieked, bending down over him.

            "Oh?  Did I forget to tell you?" asked Bakura, smiling evilly.  "We each put our heart and soul into our decks, so our monsters represent little parts of our soul.  We all know that our soul is a very sensitive part of our being, so naturally the slightest touch can send one reeling in pain, and seeing that our monsters represent our soul, one can infer…"

            "You monster!"

            Von Stupor stood back up and abruptly sneezed twice in succession.  Drawing, he ignored this new stipulation and said, "I'll set one M/T and one Field Magic card, ending my turn.  Your move, thiever of light."

            "You set a Field Magic card?  It must be something that can help me out.  Now I shall summon the Bistro Butcher!" Bakura announced.

            A chef rose out of a portal.  He was rather muscular, and had dark blue, warty skin.  He had horrid teeth and blood spattered all across his outfit.  In place of his right hand he bore a rusty hook, and in the other he held a rusty machete.

            "White Magical Hat, attack his Life Points directly!" ordered Bakura.

            The White Magical Hat dashed at Von Stupor and with lightning speed, he stabbed him right through the chest.  Von Stupor stood, stunned, and grunted loudly in pain.  After a moment, the saber was removed.

            "Since this is another realm, monsters cannot crush nor pierce nor physically harm a duelist in any way.  However, their attacks may still sting a bit.  By the way, my White Magical Hat's special effect has just been activated.  Whenever he damages your Life Points, one card is randomly discarded from your hand to the Graveyard!"

            Von Stupor watched as the White Magical Hat snatched a card from his hand.  He showed it to everyone prior to making it disappear in a magic trick.

            "My Relinquished!" cried von Stupor.

            "Do my eyes deceive me?!" Bakura asked, laughing.  "You have just lost your strongest monster!  Also, since it was not properly summoned, you may not special summon it back from the Graveyard!"

            "Neither can you," Von Stupor said, indifferent.  "'Tis my turn now?"

            "Not quite yet," replied the disgruntled spirit.  "Go, my Bistro Butcher, attack his Life Points directly!"

            The Bistro Butcher leapt over and tried to jam its hook into Von Stupor's mask.  The mask met the hook with a fierce clack, but was left unscathed.  The butcher looked at Von Stupor incredulously and grunted in bewilderment.

            "My mask cannot be broken by physical ways," Von Stupor gloated.

            Grinning evilly, the butcher shoved his machete into Von Stupor's gut and wrenched it around.  Von Stupor fell to the ground instantaneously, clutching his stomach and crying in pain.

            "Von Stupor…" Téa said faintly.  Von Stupor looked up and saw Téa sitting on her knees next to him.  She appeared extremely groggy and wobbled to and fro.

            "Téa…" he said to her.  "You're succumbing to the shadows…  Fight it…"

            He struggled for a bit and sat up.

            "I can't…" she replied.  "My mind… just isn't strong enough.  I want to stay awake, but my body…  It won't let me."

            "Don't concentrate, just speak to me.  What do you wish to do after high school?"

            "I… I want to become a dancer…"

            "Where will you move to achieve this dream?"

            "I… I…"  Her eyes started to close.

            "Where will you move?!"

            Her eyes snapped back open.  "Oh!  I… I want to move to New York in America…  Von Stupor, I can't last much longer…"

            "Yes you can!  I don't want you to leave me…  I… I am copeless and strong, but… still my strength declines without your, nay, anyone's support…"

            Téa wobbled and fell to the side.  Von Stupor caught her and held her in his arms.

            "Don't you understand, Von Stupor?" she said faintly, a slight smile across her lips.  "No matter how far apart we are, we'll always be together…  Maybe not in body, but… but in spirit.  We'll always be there to… to stand up for each other when we need each other… the most…  I… I'll always be there for you…"

            Von Stupor clutched his chest again.  "What about your sake, Téa?  What about… your safety?"

            "Do not fear for me… fear for yourself.  I… am expendable…"

            Von Stupor gasped.

            "As long… as what I do helps… I'm always glad to… to make that sacrifice…  It's just a shame… that… I couldn't tell you… my truth…"

            She then closed her eyes, but did not open them.  Von Stupor stared for a moment in fear.  He half-expected her to jump up and grab his shoulders, shouting "Just kidding!", but he knew it wouldn't happen.  Clutching his chest tighter than ever, he slowly reached for her face.  Then, his hand quivering, he lightly stroked her cheek with the backs of her fingers.  He had never noticed the warmth she emitted nor the smooth texture of her skin until just now.

            While Von Stupor was in utter shock at what happened, Bakura was chuckling to himself.

            "It appears you should not have resisted me," Bakura told him.  "Now your friend is about to pay for your stubbornness."

            Von Stupor gently laid her down and stood up, infuriated.

            "Curse you… you turd of bass!!!"

            "You may draw two cards whenever the bistro Butcher damages your Life Points.  Once you do so, you may begin your turn," Bakura said, completely ignoring Von Stupor's outburst.

            Von Stupor took a moment to attempt calming himself down.

            I cannot become consumed by anger or it will cloud my judgment, he thought.  But what he has done to Téa…  No.  It is in her best interest that I keep my mind on the duel.  I won't let anything happen to her…  I will not allow anything to happen to her.  She isn't involved in this matter, and yet her sweet, innocent soul had to be sucked into it…  Damn him!  He shall pay by the edge of my cards!  Seeing as I have no stronger monsters to summon, I must bide my time.  "I'll activate 'Swords of Revealing Light'!  This card—"

            "I discard one card from my hand to activate 'Magic Jammer'!  I know very well what that card's effect is, and I was well prepared for it."

            The swords that appeared were very dim and weak.  Within moments, they fizzled and dimmed out.

            No!  This is not good… Von Stupor thought.

            "I'll summon the Whiptail Crow, ending my turn."

            "Fine then.  I'll set one monster and shift my White Magical Hat to defense position.  Next I'll attack your Whiptail Crow with the Bistro Butcher!  Use your Cleaver Cutter attack!"

            The Bistro Butcher engaged the Whiptail Crow, but in a violent rage, the massive bird tackled the butcher and pecked its face to pieces.

            "He-he didn't use his tail to attack?!" Bakura sputtered in disbelief.

            "Behold the power of 'Rush Recklessly'!  It is a Quick-Play Magic card that raises a selected monster's attack by 700 for the duration of the turn in which it is activated!"

            Smirking, he ended his turn.

            "You… you did not flinch?" Von Stupor wondered.

            "Heh, heh…  I am a spirit, I have no soul anymore.  Not since I was locked away in the Millennium Ring, anyway.  Your attacks cannot hurt me.  The only soul that suffers is the one that belongs in this body…"

            "Wh…?!  No!!!"

            "That's right.  The closer you get to your victory, the more this boy suffers!  This is indeed a cruel world, isn't it?"

            "No…  Why?  Why must it be like this?  Why must a young boy suffer due to a feud between you and I?"

            "That is what makes you weak, Von Stupor.  Just like the Pharaoh, you care too much about others to be strong."

            "…And yet he still defeated you," said Von Stupor through clenched teeth.  His mask began to glow once more.  "You will feel the pain you've inflicted on others one way or another, evil spirit."

            Bakura grunted in surprise as he felt a tug at his chest.

            Von Stupor pointed his finger at Bakura and said, "I cannot allow you to hurt another being!  Therefore by the dark powers of this mask, I shall exorcise your spirit from that vessel!!!"

            Just then, the spirit felt itself be torn away from the vessel.  He looked down to see himself still in possession of Bakura's image, while the true Bakura lay on the ground next to him.

            "What is this?!" sputtered Bakura in surprise.

            "This mask…" Von Stupor replied, looking at his hands.  "Perhaps it wasn't truly intended for evil…  It seems that when the time is right, knowledge of its uses come flooding into my head, but only for a split second."  He looked up at Yami Bakura.  "I could not allow you to involve another innocent in our battle; therefore I separated you from Bakura for the duration that we are in the Shadow Realm.  Oddly enough, the realm's power supports this, as the earthen realm does not.  Since you are but a spirit, however, you have no physical form, and thusly you are forced to share the image of your vessel."

            "You fool!  You still cannot harm me!"

            "You are halfway correct, O heartless one!  Since you have no soul, I cannot damage you through destruction of your monsters!  However, you physically stand before me now, so that I may attack you directly at the source."

            "Wah hah hah!!!  What makes you think you'll ever land a direct attack on me???"

            "This does," said Von Stupor, holding up a 'Dark Hole'.

            He activated a card and hunched in pain as his monster alongside Bakura's two were sucked into a dark void, never to be seen again.

            "Now I summon the Man-Eating Treasure Chest and attack you directly with Treasure Trove Chomp!"

            Bakura gaped in horror as the monstrosity latched onto his leg and shook itself about.  After a moment, it let go and wandered back to Von Stupor's side of the field.

            Bakura sat on one knee, clutching his bitten leg and crying in agony.

            "Feel my anger, Bakura!  Does it hurt?!" Von Stupor shouted at him.  "What you feel is the sensations I have felt all this time!!!  Thou hath sinned horribly!!!  Thou hath taken over an innocent youth's life!  Thou hath nearly destroyed Yugi and his friends!  Thou hath involved an innocent girl in our personal matters, simply to get under my skin!  Thou hath— no, you have injured my idol!  So help me Farore, I shall insure that what has gone around shall damn well come around!!!"

            Standing back up, Bakura angrily said, "I haven't felt true pain in a long time, I will admit that, but with the hinderments I have placed before you, you will pass out before you ever defeat me.  I can tell simply removing me from the vessel's body took a lot of your mental strength to accomplish.  You're probably hiding your fatigue as we speak.  I'll activate 'Raigeki' and destroy your monster, ending my turn."

            A lightning bolt shot down and struck Von Stupor's monster, felling it.

            "I'll play 'Dian Keto the Cure Master', but for another cause!" declared Von Stupor.  In the Shadow Realm, the rules are unchanged, but drastically upgraded!  For instance, when one summons a monster, it is very real and the duelist feels this harsh reality when it attacks directly.  If a monster can be used for reasons other than its primary, then perhaps…

            Out from a portal stepped an older woman dressed in a white robe.  She had long, curly green hair that went down to her shoulders.  She began to recite a spell when Von Stupor cut her off.

            "No, don't!" he said quickly.

            Dian Keto looked at him, puzzled.

            "Listen.  Get the white-haired boy on the ground and set him near the girl lying behind me.  Next use your healing powers on them.  Do not allow any serious damage to befall their minds!  Can you do that?"

            "I can, but their protections from the Shadow Realm's strain begin to fade in time," she replied kindly.

            "How long?"

            "I am uncertain, but when I use my magic on them, they will have a protective aura around them.  When it is gone, so is my magic."

            "Very well, then."

            Von Stupor returned to the duel.

            "Very interesting move," he commented and passed his turn.

            "I'll set one M/T and end my turn."

            "I shall pass this turn also."

            "I set another M/T and end my turn."

            "I'll set one M/T.  Your turn."

            "I shall activate 'Mystical Space Typhoon' and destroy the M/T card on your far right!"

            A black tornado blew Bakura's 'Magic Thorn' Trap card up and away.

            "Next, I'll summon the Whiptail Crow once more!" continued Von Stupor.  "Now I shall also equip it with 'Axe of Despair', raising his attack from 1650 to 2650!  Attack Bakura's Life Points directly with Axetail Chop!"

            The Whiptail Crow's tail tip metamorphosed into a large axe blade.  It jumped into the air and it came down, swinging its tail with such force that it sliced clean through Bakura's neck.  He clutched his throat and hacked in pain.  He dropped to his knees, gasping and wheezing.

            While Bakura recovering from the attack, Von Stupor thought, I have now crawled back to a decent lead, 5200 to his 2700.  I'm not in the clear yet, I must remain focused.

            He looked behind him to see Bakura and Téa's auras holding fairly strong, but Dian Keto was nowhere to be seen.  Von Stupor figured that she must have disappeared once her duty was fulfilled.

            "I will not allow myself… to be beaten…" muttered Bakura between breaths.  "Especially… by one who does not own a Millennium Item!  I'll play 'Tribute to the Doomed', which destroys one of your monsters at the cost of discarding a card from my hand!  I'll then set one monster and end my turn."

            As white ribbons shot up from the ground and wrapped around the Whiptail Crow, dragging it into the ground, Von Stupor felt his soul being torn.  Curled over, he thought to himself, There is no denying the fact that I am considering giving up.  I want to give up, but I know I can't.  I am not only fighting for myself, but for everyone else that he has wronged…  No!!!  What am I thinking?!  How can I allow myself to think of such things?!  As long as Téa and I are friends, we'll always be together, and as long as we're together, she would never want me to give up, and as long as she doesn't want me to give up, give up I shall not do!  No matter what I'm fighting for, I shall not give up!  I shall fight to the end!!!

            Von Stupor straightened up with a jolt and cried, "Strike me down as many times as you want, I will never stay down!  I summon the Mystic Tomato and attack your set monster!"

            The monster was a Man-Eater Bug.  The two monsters stared at each other incredulously for a moment.  Then the bug lightly poked the tomato with its claw and the vegetable exploded, taking the Man-Eater Bug with it.

            "I'll set one M/T and end my turn," Bakura stated.

            "I'll activate a second 'Dian Keto the Cure Master' to raise my Life Points by 1000, bringing them up to 6200!"

            Dian Keto appeared once more and healed Von Stupor.

            "Oooooooh, what a burden that was lifted off of my pounding head!!!" Von Stupor cried in relief.  "You were correct in saying that I was hiding my fatigue, but now I am fully charged!  Now, I shall destroy the M/T of which you had just set with another 'Mystical Space Typhoon'!"

            The resulting whirlwind blew away Bakura's set 'Mirror Force'.

            "Considering the appearance of your side of the field, that was only a mere setback," said Bakura indifferently.  "I shall summon another White Magical Hat and attack your Life Points directly, bringing them right back to 5200!"

            The White Magical Hat threw a knife that impaled one of the cards in Von Stupor's hand and then lodged itself in his chest.

            Von Stupor howled in pain and yanked the knife back out.  As he did this, the card attached to the knife disappeared.

            "Cretin!" Von Stupor said to the White Magical Hat and threw the knife back at him.  The man cowered as the knife flew at him and the handle hit his arm.  He shook his fist at Von Stupor menacingly and in return, Von Stupor flicked him off.  The man came to attack Von Stupor again, but was bound by the rules of Duel Monsters.  Von Stupor laughed at him.

            "I'll pass this turn," said von Stupor, and the White Magical Hat smiled, pulling out his saber.

            "With no monsters on the field?  It appears you have dug yourself a hole you cannot escape from.  White Magical hat, attack his life points directly!"

            "Not so fast!  I'll activate 'Skull Lair'!  By removing cards in my Graveyard equal to a monster's number of stars from play, I can destroy the respective monster!  Kiss your prom queen jockey good-bye, for this is the end of the dance!  Ha, ha, that was a tad risqué now that I think about it…"

            The Skull Lair rose from the ground as the White Magical Hat rushed towards Von Stupor.  Fortunately, he was shocked and destroyed before he reached him.

            Frowning, Bakura ended his turn.

            "I'll pass this turn as well," Von Stupor announced.

            "Fine.  I'll set this monster and end my turn."

            "I set one M/T and end my turn."

            "I shall do the same.  Your turn."

            "Now I'll summon the Whiptail Crow and attack your set monster with Whiptail Whip!"

            The set monster was yet another Man-Eater Bug.  It was able to stab the Whiptail Crow in its gut before it was destroyed.  Von Stupor's strong spirit allowed him to ignore the sharp pain in his chest.

            "Now I shall summon the Vorse raider!" Bakura announced.

            I see through his plans.  He's enticing me to waste the cards in my Graveyard.  I can't waste them, but I do not wish to suffer another attack… thought Von Stupor.

            "Any counters?" asked Bakura impatiently.

            "Do it!" Von Stupor ordered fearlessly.

            "Vorse Raider, attack his Life Points directly with Arts of the Raider!"

            The Vorse Raider leapt over and slashed Von Stupor across his chest, dropping his Life points to 3300.

            Von Stupor clutched his chest tightly and tried to absorb the pain.  Despite his best efforts not to, he emitted a soft groan through his gritted teeth.

            "I'll draw and set one M/T card," he said.  "I'll then activate 'Fissure' and destroy your Vorse raider as it is the only monster on your side of the field."

            The ground collapsed under the Vorse Raider, destroying it.

            "That ends my turn," finished Von Stupor.

            "I'll summon the Slate Warrior and attack your life points directly with Slate Slam attack!"

            Three robed women appeared and chanted as the Slate Warrior charged at Von Stupor.  The monster attempted to punch him, but was blown away by an unseen force.

            "I have activated the Trap card 'Waboku', which reduces any battle damage from your monsters to 0 for this turn!"

            "You're only delaying the inevitable."

            "I implore to disagree!  I am merely biding my time," Von Stupor corrected him as he drew.  He turned to look at Bakura and Téa and saw their auras were beginning to fade.  I only hope that my biding doesn't show any negative consequences…  He turned back to Bakura and said, "My stalling has served me well, for I have drawn a very useful card."

            "Is that so?"

            "Yes!  I'll summon the Sonic Bird, which allows me to place one Ritual Magic card from my deck to my hand!"

            "Another Ritual monster?"

            "No, just one.  Now I shall play 'Black Illusion Ritual'!"

            "No!"

            "…And I'll sacrifice my Sonic bird to Ritual Summon Relinquished!  Behold, for he hath returnéd!"

            "You have more than one Relinquished?!"

            "Too much of a good thing is not necessarily a bad thing, Bakura.  Now, Relinquished, absorb his Slate Warrior and attack his Life Points directly with Absorption Blast attack!"

            Relinquished easily absorbed the Slate Warrior and fired a large blast from its eye at Bakura.  This left him with a raging fire clinging to his body.

            He wildly slapped at himself, but to no avail.  He ultimately dropped to the ground and rolled until the flame died.  He stood back up, smoking and furious.

            "I set one monster," he said, panting heavily.  "and end my turn.  You shall meet the same fate as Pegasus, mark my words."

            "Pegasus is not dead!  …And your Life Points are at 800."

            "Be silent and take your turn!"

            "…You contradicted yourself."

            Bakura sneered.

            "Relinquished, attack his set monster now!"

            Relinquished fired a mighty blast at the newly revealed Vorse Raider, reducing it to a charred corpse prior to disappearing.

            Bakura drew a card and began to laugh.  "Your Relinquished shall disappear just as fast as it came!  I play 'Dark Hole' and destroy all monsters on the field!  Now I am free to play 'Monster Reborn' to special summon the Summoned Skull from the Graveyard!"

            "Wait!  I may now destroy it with 'Skull Lair'!"

            As the Summoned Skull crawled out of the floor, the Skull Lair electrocuted it with such force that it exploded.

            Damn it, thought Bakura.  I jumped the gun that time.  Now I have no protection!  "Your turn."

            "I shall set one M/T and end my turn."

            "I'll… pass my turn," Bakura said with a frown that could kill.

            "You are most fortunate.  I have no monsters, therefore I shall activate 'Mystical Space Typhoon' on your Trap card."

            "Wh… which one?"

            "The one on my left."

            The tornado blew away the Trap card, but Von Stupor could not see its picture.  Bakura began cackling.

            "You have made a fatal error in which trap card you should have destroyed!  I now activate 'Destiny Board'!"

            "No!!!  You used that combination on Yugi!"

            "Yes!  Each turn, one letter shall be added to its message, and once each letter is in place, this duel shall automatically end in my favor!"

            In four turns, this duel shall end! Von Stupor thought to himself.   He must be getting desperate, for I have a clear Life Point advantage.  If I can manage to destroy any of those letters, his plans will be ruined, but unfortunately, I have no cards that can destroy any Magic or Trap cards!  If I am to win this duel, I must act fast!  This is a race… a race for many things… for my life… for Téa's life… for Bakura's life… for retribution…  I must win.

            "It is now your turn," announced Bakura.

            Von Stupor looked up to see a large Ouija board floating in the air.  In front of it hovered a spirit holding a letter 'F'.

            "I have no choice but to pass this turn," said Von Stupor.

            "Ha, ha, now my message begins to take form.  Behold, there are two letters now!"

            In front of the Ouija board, there now hovered an 'F' and an 'I'.

            "By the way, I pass this turn," Bakura added.

            Von Stupor drew once more, but could not draw a monster.

            Damn it, a dry spell is uncalled for!!!  Von Stupor thought to himself angrily.  Three turns left…  At this rate, the message will be completed faster than my mind could snap!

            "I pass," Von Stupor grunted.

            "Now the letter 'N' is added to my message!  In addition to this, I shall summon a second Bistro butcher and attack your Life points directly!"

            The Bistro Butcher leapt over and tried to jam its hook into Von Stupor's mask.  The mask met the hook with a fierce clack, but was left unscathed.  The butcher looked at Von Stupor incredulously and grunted in bewilderment.

            Just then, Von Stupor threw himself to the ground and acted hurt.  He clutched his mask and screamed while thrashing.  He noticed his Life points go down to 1500 as the Bistro butcher wandered back to Bakura.

            Von Stupor chuckled to himself as he stood up and Bakura berated him for cheating.  He would have ordered the butcher to attack again, but he was now bound by the rules of Duel Monsters.

            "Now I draw two cards," he said with a snicker.

            "I'll set one M/T and end my turn.  This will not happen again."

            "That I am sure of, ha ha.  One of the two cards I drew shall help me greatly!  I summon the Copycat!  With this monster, I shall copy the attack and defense of your Bistro Butcher!  Now you may only destroy my monster at the cost of your own!"

            The Copycat appeared and shoved its mirror in the butcher's face.  It then peered into the mirror, which retained the butcher's image and transformed its face to match that of the butcher.

            "Well, you are actually correct.  First, my message gains the letter 'A'.  Next, at the cost of sacrificing my Bistro Butcher, I may Tribute Summon a Summoned Skull!  If I'm not mistaken, you shouldn't have enough monsters left in your Graveyard to destroy this monster!"

            "No, I do not…  I should have taken my chance while I had it…  Now you shall destroy my monster…"

            "Yes, exactly!  Summoned Skull, attack his Copycat with Lightning Strike!"

            The Summoned Skull's electricity sent the Copycat into a seizure prior to disappearing into smoke.  Von Stupor's Life Points became even with Bakura's at a low 800.

            "Oh, no…" Von Stupor said, grasping his chest.

            He turned and looked at Bakura and Téa.  He saw their auras fading rather quickly now.

            "That's correct, Baron Von Stupor.  Not only will you have to prevent my message from completion, you must also overcome my Summoned Skull in your next turn if you wish to emerge victorious.  You were doomed at the start.  I will admit, you gave me a good challenge, but the holder of the Millennium item shall always win against one who does not!"

            This is it! He thought.  If I am to save Bakura and Téa…  I must win this duel now!  "I believe I shall prove you wrong right now!  First, I shall activate 'Harpie's Feather Duster', which destroys all Magic and Trap cards on your side of the field, including your message!"

            "Do you expect me to be unprepared for this situation?!  I knew you'd discover a way to destroy my message!  I shall discard a card from my hand to activate 'Magic Jammer'!"

            A giant feather duster appeared, but one by one, the feathers fell out until none were left.

            "Ha!!!  You fell for my bluff, and now you shall pay dearly!  Without worry, I now play my third 'Black Illusion Ritual'!!!"

            "No!!!"

            "…And by sacrificing a Whiptail Crow from my hand, I may Ritual Summon my third and final Relinquished!!!  Come to me, Summoned Skull!"

            Relinquished sucked in Summoned Skull and then stared straight at Bakura, as if it knew what it had to do.

            "Relinquished… go now, and finish off he who has desecrated thy creator… and mine idol."

            "Nooooooo!!!" cried Bakura as he was hit by Relinquished's Absorption Blast attack.

            "This duel is won, evil spirit of the ring, and you shall now be banished to the Shadow Realm… for all of eternity!!!"

            Bakura, flaming, was then consumed by the shadows.  All Von Stupor could hear was the faint voice of the spirit crying, "I'll be back…  I'll have my revenge…"

            The fog then cleared away, leaving a beautiful starlit night sky.  Yugi and friends came into view just then.  They took one look at Bakura and knew what had happened.

            "Bakura!!!" cried Yugi, running to him.

            "Von, what happened here?!" demanded Joey.

            "The evil spirit of the Millennium Ring had plucked the Millennium Eye from Pegasus's face… and I have just now avenged him," explained Von Stupor.

            "You didn't have to punish Bakura to fulfill your own intentions!  Why would you do such a thing?!" Yugi shouted at him, holding up Bakura's head.

            "Eh?  I never punished Bakura, Yugi.  'Twas the spirit.  Watch the boy and see what occurs."

            Von Stupor then picked up Téa and left.

            "Y… Yugi…  What happened?" asked Bakura in a faint whisper.

            "You've just been saved," Yugi answered, astonished.  "Saved by Baron Von Stupor…"