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Fanfic Chapter 38: Final Duel of Souls Pt 5: Ritual of Friendship
Episode Basis: Match of the Millennium Pt 5

Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh! Tristan and Harold returned with an unconscious Bakura and Mokuba in time to see Pegasus draw Yugi into a Shadow Game. Once inside, Yugi found it difficult to control his monsters and perform his Mind Shuffle at the same time. Pegasus summoned a monster called Relinquished that had the power to absorb any attacking monsters and use their attack points to defend itself. If a monster that Relinquished absorbed was destroyed then the damage would be taken to the life points of the controller of the monster. Yugi was able to lay a card face-down before Pegasus attacked overwhelming him. Yugi fell and it looked like he would never get up. Even Yugi's friends outside the dome of shadow magic could feel Yugi fall. Distraught over the lost of his host, the Spirit took over the duel but it was too little too late. Pegasus had gotten back his mind-reading ability, assimilated the Dark Magician into Relinquished and activated Jigen Bakudan, a monster that could self-destruct, taking Yugi's monster and the rest of his life points. With Yugi gone, can the Spirit do anything to turn the duel around? Doesn't look like it.


"I hate this," Harold said for the fifth time. "Yugi's trapped in there and there's nothing we can do about it!"

"I know, Harold, but we have to have faith that Yugi will succeed," Tea said clutching her heart.

"How?" Tristan asked. "It's like I can't feel him any more. It's like he's d… well… I mean it feels like we've been cut off from him."

"Or vice versa," Harold offered.


That Jigen Bakudan is set to go off in just two more turns! The Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle thought. But with Yugi gone, I can't prevent Pegasus from reading my mind and countering my strategy!

"Yugi is still with you," a new voice said. An image of an old man appeared along with the fallen Yugi, a man that the Spirit recognized.

"You must be…"

"Yugi's Grandfather," Solomon Moto confirmed. "And believe me, Yugi is very much still alive."

"But how can that be? I thought"

"You thought only what your eyes show you. The unshakable devotion of Yugi's friends keeps his spirit alive!"

"His friends? Of course, his friends haven't given up on him!"


"Isn't there anything we can do?" Joey asked.

"I don't know," Harold said solemnly.

"There must be something… hey I know," Tea said. "Yugi reached out to us, that's why we could feel what he feels. What we need to do is reach out to him, give him our strength!"

"But how do we do that?" Harold asked.

"Remember the friendship pact we made when Yugi first went to duel Kaiba?" The boys nodded. "If we could feel Yugi's pain and emotions, maybe he can feel ours. If we concentrate and try to reach him with all our might…"

"Maybe our bond can get through to him even in the Shadow Realm," Joey finished. "Let's do it!"

"What do we have to lose?"

Everyone placed their hands together.

"Come on, Yugi!"

"All of us are here for you!"

"We're not giving up on you, not now, not ever!"

"Yugi, we believe in you, and even know we can't see what's going on, we'll help you stop Pegasus' cheating ways and return you to us once and for all!"


The Spirit felt it, devotion, pure steadfast devotion, and caring, strength, courage, and honor, he could feel it all. With new determination, he said, "It's my move!"

"Then let's take a look!" Pegasus activated his Millennium Eye. He could see the outline of a magic card but couldn't make out the image. Ah, trying to conceal your card, eh? Fool, there's nothing you can hide from me since you've lost your Mind Shuffling partner! He turned up the power of his Millennium Eye. The card came into his mind's eye.

Suddenly the image was blocked. Instead, Pegasus saw an image of Yugi and his friends, with Little-Yugi (still unconscious) being held up by Tea.

"No, it's impossible, inconceivable!" Pegasus cried. "My Millennium Eye is being blocked! This can't be, outside forces can't penetrate a Shadow Game! And how can mere mortals block my Millennium Eye? I should be able to see everything he sees!"

"Not any more, Pegasus," Joey said. "Not as long as we're here. So get out of his mind and stay out!" Pegasus was forced to withdraw.

"Thank you," the Spirit said. "Together, we can stand strong against him!"

Pegasus growled like a dog.

"Pegasus, you just don't get it, do you?" Tea asked.

"Your magic means nothing," Harold continued.

"It's now facing a power no magic eye could ever comprehend," Tristan added.

"The power of friendship!" Joey finished.

"That's right," the Spirit agreed. "And thanks to them, I can free my magician from your Jigen Bakudan!"

"No you can't," Pegasus flat out rebutted. "I'll show you that my Bakudan will win me the duel despite your pathetic little friends!"

"Wrong, because now that these friends are working with me on a whole new level, this is a whole new game! Now prepare yourself, Pegasus, because with Yugi's friends preventing you from seeing all the cards in my hand, you'll just have to take them as they come! And for this turn, they don't come any better than this: go, Mystic Box!" Jigen Bakudan and the Dark Magician (still integrated with Relinquished) were enclosed in two separate boxes. The box that held Jigen Bakudan opened and the Dark Magician came out and returned to the Spirit's side of the field. "The magic of the Mystic Box frees my Dark Magician and puts your Jigen Bakudan in its place!" The other Mystic Box disintegrated revealing that it was now Jigen Bakudan who was part of Relinquished. Now when Jigen Bakudan explodes, it would only take Relinquished.

Pegasus drew a card. "I pass, there's nothing I can do."

"Very well then, it's my move!" The Spirit drew a card and smirked, causing Pegasus to audibly gasp. "Go, Brain Control!"

"No, now Relinquished will be…"

"Brainwashed for one full turn!" Two ghostly hands picked up Relinquished and took him to the Spirit's side of the field. "How does it feel, Pegasus, to have the tables turned and the power of mind control used against you?"

Suddenly Pegasus burst into laughter. "Go ahead and take Relinquished, you fool! That detonator you set on him is scheduled to go off this turn! It'll blast your magician and destroy your life points!"

"You're wrong, Pegasus."

"Huh?"

"I still have one card face-down, the card Yugi gave his life to lay on the field!"

"You mean you know what it is?"

"Oh yeah!" The Spirit turned the card over.

"It's a ritual card!" Pegasus realized.

"Go, Dark Magic ritual!" A sacrificial alter appeared. "And to invoke its great power, I must make a double offering. So I choose to offer your Jigen Bakudan and my Dark Magician!" The two monsters disappeared.

No, Pegasus thought. Bakudan was sacrificed before it could go off! But what has he created in its place? A pool of black energy was emitted from the alter.

"The offering has been accepted," the Spirit announced. "A new power has been brought forth! Now, Pegasus, behold… THE MAGICIAN OF BLACK CHAOS (1)!"

The monster that descended was humanoid with a blue face dressed in black garmets. Long dark hair flowed out of an elaborate headdress. It carried staff larger than the Dark Magician's.

No, not him, not him, Pegasus pleaded.

"You may have succeeded in taking down Yugi, but not before his final selfless act set the stage for the greatest magician in all of Duel Monsters! And with the Magician of Dark Chaos, I will avenge my fallen friend! Face it, Pegasus, you lost, nothing you have in your deck can save you from its wraith! Yugi's sacrificial card will be the end of you!"

As powerful as that creature may be, it matters not, for in one turn, that Brain Control card will expire and I will regain command over my beloved Relinquished! The power to assimilate monsters will be mine again! And with it, I'll steal that Magician of Black Chaos AND his powers! Instead of being his deliverance, this monster will be his undoing! "You know, I think you're right, the Magician of Black Chaos will bring about the end of the duel, a lot sooner than you think."

"We shall see!"

We will indeed! Go ahead and take your best shot!

"Now to complete my strategy, I'll place this card face-down and a monster in defensive mode." The monster card was also face-down and with Yugi's friends blocking him, there was no way to tell what it is.

"It's my turn now! And the effects of your brain control wear off and Relinquished is back where he belongs… with his daddy! And even with your two mystery cards on the field, I think you'll find that he's just as effective as ever!"

The Spirit just humphed.

That is, after I make a small addition to him, and create the most terrifying beast my deck can produce! Then I'll crush this fool and make him regret ever trifling with my powers! "If you think you have Relinquished figured out, think again, for I'm using Polymerization to fuse Relinquished with Thousand Eyes Idol (2) to form the most sinister beast you have ever seen! The Thousand-Eyes Restrict (3)!" Relinquished turned a nasty purple color. Tons of little eyes appeared all the way along its body. "Quite the looker, wouldn't you say? Well if you think he's a stunner now, just wait until all 1000 of his eyes open up! Then I think you'll find out that he's more than just another pretty face."


Yugi's friends stood strong, each giving his or her support and encouragement to their friend, each vowing not to let up until Yugi was back with them.

Come on, Yug, I know you can do this, pal.

We won't give up on you, Yugi, we're all in this together.

I told you that we would back you up in the final battle and that's what we're doing.

Yugi, we believe in you, like we always had, like we always will.


"The end is truly 'in sight', wouldn't you say?"

"Not with my Magician of Black Chaos protecting me!"

"Oh, I think once you find all eyes on your Magician of Black Chaos, he won't be able to protect himself!" Pegasus burst into laughter. "Trust me, you'll 'see' what I mean soon enough!" Soon every eyeball on my Thousand Eyes Restrict will open up and all the monsters he has on the field will be paralyzed, unable to attack or defend. Then nothing will stop me from absorbing his Magician of Black Chaos and winning this duel once and for all!

I may not know what Pegasus is planning with that monstrosity, the Spirit thought. But I can't let it happen, not after the humungous sacrifice Yugi had to give to give us a fighting chance. "Pegasus, you can do your worst, but this duel will be won by the card that Yugi drew in his final courageous act!"

We'll see about that. "Thousand-Eyes Restrict, time to open those peepers!" All the eyes began to open.

"Magician of Black Chaos, prepare yourself, try to hold him off as much as you can!"

"There is nothing you can do to keep this attack from going off! For now I release… the Thousand-Eyes Spell!" Green light emitted from all of Thousand Eyes Restrict's eyes. Yugi's Magician of Black Chaos was enclosed in an energy field. "Now, even the monsters you've hidden from me are paralyzed, not able to attack or defend!"

"You haven't won yet!"

"Don't be a fool, in just a minute, my monster will assimilate your Magician of Black Chaos, absorb his magical powers and finish you off in one thunderous blast! Face it, Yugi's pathetic card has failed you both, and his puzzle shall soon be mine! Restrict, Absorption Force!"

"Just the play I was waiting for," the Spirit said as he turned over one of his face-down cards. Suddenly hundreds of Kuribohs all appeared in front of the Magician of Black Chaos. "What, what is this?"

"You were right about your Thousand-Eyes Spell, it did affect all my hidden monsters, especially my Kuriboh!"

"No, this can't be!"

"It can, I also activated my other down card, Multiply!" Pegasus soon realized that the Kuriboh were spreading like wildfire, covering the Magician of Black Chaos. "And since it's already too late to cancel your Absorption Force spell, your monster has no choice but to assimilate them all!" All of the Kuriboh began flying into Thousand Eyes Restrict's mouth. Soon, the Kuriboh were covering its eyes as well giving it attack points.

(TER: 0-300)

"No, there must be thousands of them!" Pegasus gasped.

"Tens of thousands of them actually, and considering the way Kuriboh attack, you're about to see just as many explosions!" What Yugi meant was that among the Kuriboh's abilities was the ability to self-destruct upon contact with the enemy. And that's just what they did, explode, damaging all of Restrict's eyes.

"Curse you, Yugi Moto, you and your Kuriboh!"

"Of course since Kuriboh was my monster, I lose 300 life points."

(Y: 100)
(P: 600)

"But still, that's a small price to pay for crippling that giant eyesore." The Kuriboh's explosions had now crippled every one of Thousand-Eyes Restrict's eyes except for the main one. "And now that my Magician of Black Chaos is free, you, Pegasus, are through!"

Pegasus was scared, very scared.

"Attack, Magician of Black Chaos, with Chaos Scepter Blast!" The Magician of Black Chaos slammed his staff on the ground and created a large ball of lightning that obliterated Thousand Eyes Restrict.

(Y: 100)
(P: 0)


"I'm feeling three sparks again!" Harold announced. Joey, Tristan, and Tea all gasped and stared at that bubble.

"Does… does that mean what I think it means?" Tea asked.

Harold nodded. "Yeah… Yugi's back!"


"Pegasus, you're finished, we won!" The voice who spoke this wasn't the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle, but it was the real Yugi Moto.

Pegasus just stared into the distance. No, how can this be? My eye, my magic, it all failed me! Cecelia, my love, I'm sorry! "I lost!"

Yugi breathed a sigh of relief and turned inward. "Spirit of the Puzzle, I don't know how to thank you."

"It was your courage and the love your friends had for you that prevailed this day."

"And your determination, we all did it together!"

"That's right," the Spirit said as the two gave each other a high-five. "As friends!"


"Hey look, it's clearing up!" Joey said.

"Yeah, and I think I can see something," Tristan threw in. As the shadow bubble dispersed, they could see someone standing on the blue podium.

It was Yugi!

"Yugi!" The others cried running up to him. Joey gripped his smaller friend's shoulders. "Oh man, I can't believe you did it, you actually did it, I mean… I… uh…"

"What Joey is trying to say is that it's wonderful that you and your Grandfather are going to be reunited," Tea explained.

"Yeah, that's right," Joey agreed. "But also…"

"But also, we wanted to say how impressed we are with how brave you were back there," Tristan interrupted.

"That's true," Joey also agreed. "And you…"

"Yugi, you went up against an opponent who had stacked everything in his favor with no regards for your own safety," Harold pointed out. "And you did it to save people, even those who may not like you. Yugi, that act, that single act alone, makes you… a true hero!"

Joey face-faulted. "You guys stole the thing that I was going to say!"

"So then talk," Tea insisted.

"Aww, forget it, it doesn't matter now, what matters is… Yugi won!"

"I couldn't have won without your guys help," Yugi said. "I admit; there were times when I thought that it was all over, but… but you all gave me strength. This victory… is just as much yours as it is mine."

"Don't forget, this isn't over until Pegasus restores everyone's souls from their prisons."

"So, let's get the creep and shake him upside that metal eyeball of his until he does," Harold said. Yugi nodded.

But as they turned to face Pegasus' side of the dueling field, all they saw was a messed up pile of Duel Monster cards.

"Oh brother," Harold moaned slapping his forehead.

"Why am I not surprised?" Joey asked rhetorically.

"Let's go find him," Tristan said.

"But we can't just leave Mokuba and Bakura here," Tea pointed out.

"Hey, guys!" It was Bakura who was calling to them from the upper gallery.

"Bakura, feeling back to normal?" Tristan asked.

"Back to normal? What do you mean, Tristan, was I not acting myself?"

"He must not be able to remember anything," Tristan figured. "Yeah, that weird ring you wear around your neck was making you act like a real freak again!"

"Tristan, where is the Millennium Ring now?" Yugi asked.

"I chucked that thing as far away as I could."

"Perhaps its all for the better," Bakura said. "If I was acting crazy, it's probably a good thing that you did it."

"In that case, can you watch Mokuba for us?" Tea asked.

"I suppose."

"Good, now let's go and find that creep Pegasus," Joey said. Yugi, Joey, Tea, Harold, and Tristan all ran off. As soon as they did Bakura turned to face Mokuba.

If Pegasus succeeds in restoring Mokuba's soul, I won't be able to use his body as my new host, Yami Bakura thought. But it matters not, because now that Pegasus is weak from his battle with Yugi, he's been giving me the opportunity I need to take his Millennium Eye from him. The Millennium Ring appeared around Bakura's neck as he chuckled sinisterly.

To Be Continued


Monster Glossary

(1)
Name: Magician of Black Chaos
Level: 9
Type: Spellcaster/Ritual
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 2800
DEF: 2600

(2)
Name: Thousand-Eyes Idol
Level: 1
Type: Spellcaster
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 0
DEF: 0

(3)
Name: Thousand-Eyes Restrict
Level: 1
Type: Spellcaster/Fusion/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 0
DEF: 0