Chapter 10: The All-Seeing Truth

"Whaddya think dat note meant?" Joey asked as the gang walked down the hall to Yugi's next match.

"Who cares," Tristan dismissed. "It was just some note."

"I'm curious with the initials at the end there," Yugi noted. "They're not even her initials."

"Dat's true," Joey said, looking at the note. "Maybe it's a conspiracy or a secret code?!"

"Or maybe you're just overreacting," Tristan suggested sarcastically. He drooped an arm over Joey's shoulders as he said, "You should relax! You're almost in the tournament finals!"

"Dat's right!" Joey exclaimed excitedly. "Me and Yug are in da top eight now, aren't we?"

"Yeah," Yugi nodded. We're almost there.

Yes. Soon we'll have the Egyptian Gods back in our possession, and then I can finally unlock my memories.

They finally arrived at the appointed duel field, finding Yugi's next opponent already there. And talking to her is-

"Andrew?!"

Turning to face them, Andrew smiled. "Well fancy seeing you here!" he said. "I was just talking to your next opponent, and she had already figured she would face you in this round! Can you believe it?"

He turned to indicate the girl he was just talking to, dressed in rather extravagant robes with intricate patterns detailed into the weave. She kept a hood over her eyes and stood rather still, watching, waiting. Yugi felt a strange aura coming from her.

I have a bad feeling about this, he thought. Yami appeared next to him, saying, "You feel it too?"

"Something's different about this duelist," Yugi said. "She feels cold, distant...I'm not sure what to think, but I don't think this is going to be like the other duels we've had."

"If you ever need my help, I'm here for you," Yami said, fading away into Yugi's mind.

"Well, I wouldn't want to get in the way of your duel," Andrew said, "so I think I'll just head onto the sidelines!"

"Hey, wait for us!" Joey said, and so the others followed Andrew into the spectator booth. Meanwhile, the mysterious duelist revealed a Duel Disk and a deck of cards, handing it over to Yugi for him to shuffle. Yugi returned the gesture by handing his deck over and allowing for the duelist to shuffle his deck.

"I see the long history you have shared with these cards," the duelist said, her voice coming out for the first time as she shuffled the deck with great care.

"I've dueled by this deck for a long time," Yugi said whilst shuffling her cards.

"Yes," she said, "I can see it all. I see many things, past, present, future. It is a curse as well as a blessing. For instance, I can see the moves you will make, and I already know a way of countering your strategy."

"Oh?" Yugi said, finishing shuffling the deck and ready to hand it back to her. The duelist handed his deck back.

"Indeed," she said.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I-"

"Caught my name? It is Leila, Leila Kimber," the duelist said, turning away and heading to her spot on the dueling field. Yugi was a little taken aback but then headed to his own spot on the field. The two activated their respective Duel Disks and prepared for the duel to begin.

"LET'S DUEL!"

Yugi: 8000
Leila: 8000

"It would be unfair to you if I received the first turn in this duel," Leila said. "It's your turn."

Yugi nodded and drew his first card. "I'll start by summoning Queen's Knight (4/1500/1600) to the field in Attack mode!"

The red female knight appeared on Yugi's field, ready for battle.

"Now I'll set these two cards face-down on the field," he said, "and that will end my turn."

Leila closed her eyes. "I can see you've set Mirror Force and Mystical Refpanel, have you not?" she asked.

Yugi gasped. "How did you-"

"I told you, I can see everything," Leila stated plainly. "I already know the card you drew was King's Knight, and the other two cards in your hand are Big Shield Gardna and Swords of Revealing Light. Am I wrong?"

Yugi was stunned. Even the spectators watching were taken aback.

"Hey, what gives?!" Joey shouted. "How'd she know what cards were in Yugi's hand?!"

"She's a psychic," Andrew replied.

The others turned to look at Andrew. "Whaddya mean she's a psychic?" Joey asked.

"I mean just that," Andrew answered. "She has that third-eye 'read your mind' psychic power you normally think of."

Joey chuckled. "I'm surprised she hasn't been disqualified for cheating yet," Joey said as he crossed his arms. "Besides, psychics aren't real. I would know, I've dueled a couple of so-called psychic duelists."

"Well that's the thing, she's not faking it," Andrew reiterated. "No matter how thoroughly the personnel around here search the room, no matter how attentively they observe her duels, no matter what they do, there's nothing to suggest that she's faking it."

"Oh really? And what exactly was she doing in here so early, huh?" Joey asked.

"Standing here waiting for you guys to arrive," Andrew answered. "Like I said, there's nothing to suggest she's faking her psychic powers."

Joey's eyes narrowed. "I don't like dis," he muttered. He turned to watch as Leila opened her eyes and drew her next card.

"Now I will activate the effect of my Prophecy Seeker (1/0/0) in my hand," Leila announced. "This allows me to discard it from my hand."

After discarding her card to the graveyard, a mage suddenly appeared next to her, its robes outfitted with a multitude of eyes.

"Now with Prophecy Seeker sent to my grave by its own effect," Leila continued, "it now allows for your hand to be revealed, as well as any cards you draw and any cards you should Set before they are."

Yugi's hand was then projected in front of him, revealing King's Knight, Big Shield Gardna, and Swords of Revealing Light.

"And now I will Set this monster in Defense mode," Leila continued, "and then Set two cards face-down. That will end my turn."

Yugi nodded. "It's my turn," he said, drawing a-

"And now I activate the Predicted Demise Trap card!" Leila interrupted, revealing a card depicting an eye burning away cards. "Now during your Draw Phase, I'm allowed to guess the name of the card you drew. If I am correct, I am then allowed to send that card to the Graveyard and inflict 1000 points of damage to you. Regardless, you will need to reveal the Summoned Skull to me due to Prophecy Seeker's effect."

Yugi looked at the card and then revealed it to be the Summoned Skull.

"How'd she know it was gonna be da Summoned Skull?!" Joey yelped.

"Psychic powers kinda goes over your head, doesn't it?" Andrew asked rhetorically.

"I got it! She must've stacked the cards when she was shuffling them!" Joey announced, his fist hammering into the palm of his other hand.

"She's not stacking them," Andrew replied. "The cameras in the room are monitored by the securities for the tournament. If she were stacking the cards so precisely, I'm pretty sure they would've noticed it by now."

"Of course! She musta hacked da system and is using dose cameras to-"

"Again, they would've noticed if someone had done that," Andrew countered. "Certainly wouldn't be a surprise to them if the system was being used by someone on the outside."

"Gahhh, she's gotta be cheating somehow!" Joey shouted.

"Well, she's definitely not cheating with skepticism," Andrew joked.

Meanwhile, Yugi sent the Summoned Skull he drew to the grave, and then the Predicted Demise Trap card sent off a large psychic wave at him.

Yugi: 7000
Leila: 8000

"Well then," Yugi said, "I'll summon King's Knight (4/1600/1200) from my hand!"

The orange armor-clad bearded knight arose on the field ready to-

"I now activate my other Trap card," Leila announced. "Inevitable Consequence."

Her next trap card was revealed, depicting Prophecy Seeker pointing a finger at a player's hand, specifically a card that glowed.

"With this card," Leila continued, "I can negate the Summoning of your monster by discarding a monster of my own from my hand. So I discard Big Eye (4/1200/1000) to destroy King's Knight."

After discarding Big Eye, another psychic wave emanated from Inevitable Consequence and destroyed King's Knight!

"And due to his summoning being negated," Leila added, "his effect cannot activate, thereby preventing you from summoning Jack's Knight from your Deck."

She knew my strategy the moment she knew the cards in my hand, Yugi thought, and for all I know, that was before I even drew out my hand!

"Gahhh, dere's no way she could be a psychic with cards like dat!" Joey yelled out.

"Well, yelling isn't going to do much about it," Andrew said, a pinky wiggling in one of his ears after Joey's shouts.

"How's Yugi supposed to win against someone who can see every card he has before he gets it?!" Joey shouted. "There has to be a way she's cheating!"

"Like I said, there's hardly any substantial evidence to prove she's cheating," Andrew repeated again. "For all we know, she's just really good at guessing cards."

"But dat many in a row?!"

"...really good at guessing cards."

Joey looked at Andrew and said, "Tell me there's a way to find out if she's cheating!"

Andrew looked back and answered, "I understand you're adamant about kicking her out because of this, but there's honestly nothing you can do except to-"

"Except to find out she's really a psychic at best," Joey said, grabbing onto Andrew's collar. "Now tell me where I can prove she isn't!"

"Easy Joey!" Tristan remarked, working to calm him down.

"Yeah, don't hurt him!" Tea added.

"Guys, this guy knows more about what's going on than even we do," Joey stated. "He's known about regulations and rules and even the ship layout before we ever did, and if there's a way at all of getting that information out, I wanna know about it."

Andrew, startled since Joey grabbed his collar but maintaining some composure, finally said, "Alright, but you're gonna have to promise me you won't tell anyone, especially Matt, about this."

Joey's eyes narrowed again. "Why Matt in particular?" he asked.

"Cause it's better he doesn't know I'm going to be letting you into authorized access only kind of areas," Andrew replied with a smile.

Joey smiled too. "Dat's what I like to hear!" He turned to Tristan and Tea and asked, "You guys'll stay here, right? Keep on rooting for Yugi and all dat."

"Of course," Tea nodded.

"Good luck dude," Tristan said, "and try not to rough up anybody too badly on the way."

Joey finally let go of Andrew's collar, much to the latter's relief, and said, "Alright, tell me where we're headed."

"Just follow me," Andrew said, taking Joey to the exit.

The others turned to look back on the duel, just in time to see Yugi declare an attack.

"Go, Queen's Knight!" he said. "Attack her face-down monster!"

The red armored female knight struck at the card, revealing Hiro's Shadow Scout (2/650/500)!

"Now we'll be able to see the next three cards in your Deck and send the Spell cards to the Graveyard," Leila said, "although I already know that you'll be sending one card to the Graveyard."

Yugi drew the top three cards of his Deck and revealed them: Kuriboh, Magic Formula, and Giant Soldier of Stone. As per the effect, he discarded Magic Formula.

"When my Magic Formula is sent to the Graveyard," Yugi explained, "I regain 1000 of my Life Points."

Yugi: 8000
Leila: 8000

"Back to the start," Leila noted.

"That will be the end of my turn," Yugi declared.

"And the beginning of mine," Leila said, drawing her next card. "I will Set a new monster in Defense mode and end my turn."

With that, a new card was placed on the field in the same position as before, replacing her Hiro's Shadow Scout.

"And now it's my turn," Yugi said.

"And accordingly due to Predicted Demise's effect," Leila said, "I predict that your new card is Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight."

Yugi drew his card and revealed it to be Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight. Sending it to his Graveyard, Yugi took the damage from Predicted Demise.

Yugi: 7000
Leila: 8000

Yugi...

Just then, Yugi was brought into the residence of his mind, where Yami awaited him.

"Yugi," he said, "I think I should take over for this duel."

"Are you sure?" Yugi asked. "I don't know if she's a real psychic, but from the way things are going right now, she's set things up to be difficult."

"We may be able to find a weakness to her psychic powers, but I think I should take over to see what I can do," Yami replied.

Yugi looked at him and said, "Alright. Good luck."

On the duel field, the Millenium Puzzle began to glow, and Yugi and Yami switched minds and bodies. Now in where Yugi stood there was Yami, confident as ever. In the booth, Tea and Tristan witnessed it and were surprised.

"The Pharaoh's come out," Tristan noted.

"I wonder if it's because of Leila's psychic powers," Tea wondered aloud.

Meanwhlie, Leila looked at Yami and said, "I knew you would come out eventually."

"I hope you're ready then," Yami said. "This duel's about to get interesting. And I'll start with Giant Soldier of Stone (3/1300/2000) in Defense mode!"

A large statue-esque golem soldier appeared on Yugi's field, crossing its arms in front of itself.

"I activate the effect of Inevitable Consequence," Leila said, discarding The All-Seeing White Tiger (3/1300/500) to unleash a psychic wave upon the Giant Soldier of Stone, causing it to crumble.

"And now, I'll play the Swords of Revealing Light," Yami said. "This will reveal your face-down monster and prevent you from attacking for three turns."

With that, a shower of swords composed of light rained down upon Leila's field, revealing her Ceremonial Bell (4/0/1850).

"Now that Ceremonial Bell is face-up on the field, I must reveal my hand to you," Leila said. "However, at the moment I have no cards in my hand so this poses no risk to me."

Yami smiled. "I end my turn."


Joey followed Andrew through a door reading "Authorized Personnel Only" and into the accompanying room, in which there was a computer and several monitors showing different dueling fields and different duelists.

"Nothing too fancy, but it oughta get the job done," Andrew muttered, closing the door as Joey sat at the control console.

"Alright, time ta expose a fraud!" Joey remarked gleefully, looking about the keyboard. He stared at the console for a minute before a dumb blank expression appeared on his face. "Ehhh, what do I do?"

"Here," Andrew said, moving Joey aside for a moment and typing in several keys. Eventually, the monitors all showed Yugi and Leila's Duel from various angles.

"Perfect!" Joey said.

"Yeah, and these buttons here oughta be able to show you the duel through various layers like infrared, X-Ray and all that," Andrew explained. "All sorts of things to help expose cheaters."

"Man, they really decked dis place out, huh?" Joey asked, wondering which button to try first.

"Matt was very serious about exposing cheaters," Andrew said with a little smile. "Makes it pretty difficult to cheat under such watchful eyes."

"How come no one was in here?" Joey asked, to which Andrew merely shrugged and suggested, "Maybe we're lucky like that?"

Joey turned his attention back to the console and the duel. Andrew looked up at one of the screens and asked, "Did Yugi change his hairstyle when no one was looking?"

Joey looked at the monitor in question and saw Yami, which surprised him as he nearly fell out of the chair he was seated in. "Nyeh, it's a long story," he said, scrambling back to the keyboard.

"What do ya think's going on?"

Joey looked back at the monitor to see Leila's eyes closed. "Ya got me," he said. "But if the Pharaoh's come out, something serious is up."

Andrew raised an eyebrow at that. "The Pharaoh?"


Back at the duel field, though, Leila was meditating. Yami watched on with hesitation, waiting for her next move.

"I've waited a while for this," Leila muttered. "And now that I know of your presence, I'm going to open your mind."

And with that, Leila drew her next card and pointed a finger at Yami!

"Pharaoh!" she called out. "I will show you the future unseen! Behold my power!"

And then suddenly Yami was transported into a whole other landscape entirely. He had been transported into a world of crystal and mirrors. A bright moon shone down with moons of its own, and the mirror reflected the light and brightened the landscape such that the whiteness was only dulled by the night sky.

"Where are we?" Yugi asked, appearing by Yami's side.

"I don't know," Yami answered. "But wherever it is, we should be prepared for anything."

"Help...me..."

A quiet voice echoed through the world, mysterious and desperate.

"What was that?!" Yugi asked.

"Welcome Pharaoh."

Yami turned and saw Leila standing there, amidst the crystals.

"I have waited for quite some time to bring you here," Leila greeted, speaking calmly.

"Where have you taken us?" Yami demanded.

"Relax," Leila said. "As I've said, this is the future unseen, a world in which the truth is brought to light and all things hidden are revealed. It is the world we seers see, the one that gives us guidance and brings us solace. I show you this to warn you of the future and the ultimate outcome of it."

Suddenly, the crystals and mirrors began to shatter and fracture, and the world surrounding them collapsed until only the moons above them remained. The two smaller moons transformed into devilish bat wings and attached themselves to the larger moon, which became a giant eye that looked down upon them.

"What in the world?!" Yugi asked aloud.

"Prevent the disaster from coming, Pharaoh," Leila said, as she suddenly began fading away into the darkness. "Save her..."

"Help...me..."

As Leila faded into nothingness, there appeared a spotlight on a lone girl, sitting by herself. There were some small wooden toys surrounding her in various forms; there was a toy soldier, a train set, a horse, a car, and beyond that were more objects. Shelves lined with books, pens, drawings of cartoons, assorted coins - a gallery of objects all compiled into a single space.

And there was that one girl, crying to herself, holding something against her chest. Yami and Yugi looked at each other and then back at her, and they started to drift towards her. As they approached, Yami raised his hand and placed it on her shoulder.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

The girl sniffled a little, turned a little bit, and said, "Help...me..."

Suddenly, a flash of green, and then-!

They were back at the dueling field as if nothing had happened. Yami looked at Leila, who simply revealed her card as The Eye of Truth and said, "I end my turn."

(Swords of Revealing Light: 2 turns left)

In the spectator booth, Tea and Tristan watched on.

"What happened?" Tristan asked. "She just pointed her finger at him, and the Pharaoh just became paler."

"I hope she didn't do anything bad," Tea said, a worried expression on her face.


In the control booth, Joey and Andrew witnessed as Leila held up her hand, pointing towards Yami. A few moments later, she revealed her card and ended her turn.

"Okay, now DAT, I don't know what dat was," Joey said.

"Maybe she has more than just telepathic powers," Andrew noted.


On the duel field, Leila watched Yami as he recovered from his experience. "I can only hope that you are well, Pharaoh," she said. "It will be difficult to help her if you remain as you are."

Yami breathed in slowly and calmed himself before standing straight again. "What exactly did you show me?" he asked her.

"A vision," she answered. "A vision of a future I have seen countless times and that I wish to avoid. And I believe you are the only one who can help me."

"Why me?"

"I cannot say exactly. I just believe that you are the one."

"Who was that girl?"

"She is...a friend. Someone who needs your help."

"How will I know to help her?"

"You'll know her when you see her..."

"How will I know it's her?"

"...she'll recognize you..."


AUTHOR'S NOTES

Wait, a chapter with non-tournament plot? What's all this about? Does the answer lie in the cards?

Prophecy Seeker (Effect Monster)
Level 1, 0 Atk, 0 Def, Spellcaster, DARK
Effect: During your Main Phase: you can discard this card. While this card is in your GY, if it was sent there by its own effect, your opponent must reveal all cards in their hand and any card they draw, also you are allowed to look at their Set cards.

Predicted Demise (Continuous Trap)
Effect: During your opponent's Draw Phase, when they draw a card(s): declare 1 card name; if one of the drawn cards is the declared card, send it to the GY, and if you do inflict 1000 damage to your opponent.

Inevitable Consequence (Continuous Trap)
Effect: Whenever your opponent Summons a monster or activates a Spell/Trap card: you can send 1 card of the same type (Monster, Spell, Trap) from your hand to the GY; negate the Summon or activation, and if you do, destroy it.

Will Yami and Yugi be able to beat Leila's psychic powers? Or will her all-seeing power win her the duel? And who is this strange girl shown in the vision? Is she a friend in need...or an enemy lurking in the shadows? The next chapter reveals more!