"So remind me again why you're insisting that I get one of Kaiba's new contraptions?" Bakura drawled, crossing his arms and giving Ryou a mix between a bored and a stern look.

Ryou met Bakura's gaze and merely smiled at his yami. "Because I know you'll like it. He let me and Yugi test them with him and they're a ton of fun. So, I figure I'll get you one as well so you don't steal mine," he answered with a small shrug. The two white haired males were currently standing in line at the Turtle Game shop, where Seto, in a business agreement with Yugi's grandfather, had decided to sell his new invention exclusively.

"Fine," Bakura sighed, "So what exactly does it do now?" The store was due to open shortly and Bakura was grateful that he and Ryou had gotten there early enough to get a decent spot in line. That was always a good thing so the ever impatient thief wouldn't get bored and start tormenting those around him.

"Well, it's a device where you put a duel monster card into it and it will create a solid hologram that you can interact with. Kaiba got the idea from ka battles. He said that while you don't have to, you can battle with them and the battles won't harm the battlers. Otherwise, you'll have a duel monster companion to keep you company."

"So the attacks don't hurt people? How boring," Bakura replied, fighting to not pout. In reality he was intrigued by the idea of the replication of ka battles. He could have Diabound back by his side even though it wouldn't be the same as housing the monster in his soul.

"I'm sure that you'll enjoy it," Ryou told him with a smile. Seeing the store open, Ryou nudged Bakura forward. "Yami said he's looking forward to seeing how well you fare with this new version of dueling."

…

An hour or so later found Bakura, Ryou, Yugi, Yami, and the rest of the group gathered in the living area of the game shop, all trying out the new devices. Bakura lounged on the floor, flipping through his deck to determine which monster he should bring out first while Ryou and Yugi were cuddling monsters that were awfully fluffy and cute enough that had almost made Bakura retch. Yami was chatting quietly with the Dark Magician, surprise, surprise. The others were laughing at something but Bakura paid them no mind.

Stopping on a card, Bakura let a smirk cross his lips. He would pull Diabound out later, for now he'd summon his Dark Necrofear. Pulling his device closer, Bakura sat up and slid the card into the slot. Almost immediately a life-sized monster appeared before Bakura. "Oh Pharaoh, I want to test the battling on this. Care to duel?" he called, immediately gaining Yami's attention.

Yami looked at the Dark Magician who nodded at him before smirking confidently. Smiling in return, Yami turned back to Bakura. "Yes, let's go outside and duel. We'll put a little show on for the people waiting in line," he suggested, standing and heading outside, the Dark Magician following him obediently. Bakura stood as well and beckoned for the Dark Necrofear to follow him. Dark Necrofear gave a little bow before following Bakura.

Idly, Bakura realized that Kaiba had programmed personalities into the data that was read by the card. Otherwise, Necrofear never would have bowed to him. "I'm surprised you're not going to use Diabound so it'd be like old times," Yami observed as they faced off outside.

"I would rather try it out on one of my favorite monsters, rather than my diabound card. His present day attack power is nowhere near enough to match the Dark Magician," Bakura replied with a shrug.

"From what Kaiba has revealed, attack power and advantage for this form of dueling is going to depend on the card's level, type, and attribute," Yami explained, letting his voice carry to the line of spectators, "It's going to be whoever has the best strategy wins."

"Wonderful, now let us begin."

…

Yami had been right. It turned out to be a literal battle. Neither monster had any real advantage, both being dark monsters, and their types didn't have an advantage over the other. As a result of choosing similar types of monsters, they were strong enough to wipe each other out simultaneously, ending the duel in a draw, causing both Yami and Bakura to get blown backwards due to the resulting shockwave of colliding magic and shadow powers.

During the duel, the two monsters showed more of their personalities. Yami's Dark Magician had obviously been programmed to act like the mage from Egypt, something that Bakura found increasingly annoying. On the other hand, Dark Necrofear had shown a strong loyalty to Bakura, determined to not let him down. As Bakura and Ryou headed home that evening, Bakura could tell that this was going to be the beginning of an interesting relationship between him and his monster.