Death T 5
Yugi left the elevator, finding himself in a glass arena with a table in the center.
"Kaiba…I'll never forgive you! You hurt my old man, hurt my friends, killed one of them! No matter what, I'll not forgive you," Yugi paused, that last thought came out a little weird. Was his other self telling him something? He wasn't asking him to be merciful with Kaiba, right?
"Kaiba! Kaiba! Kaiba!" The crowd cheered, oblivious to the teenager's sadistic death game.
"Welcome to the final stage, Yugi!" Seto smirked.
"Kaiba!" Yugi marched to the table and aggressively sat on his chair.
Duel
Dark Yugi: 8000
Seto Kaiba: 8000
Turn 1
"I'll start!" Seto said, "I'll start by summoning the A-Assault Core!" The machine appeared on the table.
A-Assault Core: LVL 4/Light/Machine/Union/Effect/1900 ATK/200 DEF
"And I'll activate the spell 'Unauthorized Reactivation' to equip the B-Buster Drake from my deck on it!" The new machine appeared and connected with the other one, "I'll end my turn."
Turn 2
"My turn! I draw!" Yugi analyzed his hand, "That's a good hand…Wait, Exodia's arm? Really? I can't rely on this! Well, I'll just do this for now," "I'll set a monster and a facedown card. I end my turn."
Turn 3
"A lackluster play from a duelist past his prime, I draw!" Seto smirked, "I'll attack your set monster with my Assault Core!" The machine shot, revealing the monster to be Marshmacaron.
Marshmacaron: LVL 1/Light/Fairy/Effect/200 ATK/200 DEF
The pink creature was ripped in half by the Assault Core, but the pieces regenerated in two separate monsters, "Effect! When Marshmacaron is destroyed, I can summon two more from my deck, hand or graveyard!" Yugi set the two new monsters from his deck.
Marshmacaron: LVL 1/Light/Fairy/Effect/200 ATK/200 DEF
Marshmacaron: LVL 1/Light/Fairy/Effect/200 ATK/200 DEF
"And I'll also activate my trap card, 'Magician Navigation'! I'll Special Summon from my hand, the Dark Magician!" The master magician appeared on the field.
Dark Magician: LVL 7/Dark/Spellcaster/2500 ATK/2100 DEF
"And the Dark Magician also brings out his shadow! When I summon the Dark Magician with Magician Navigation, I can also summon a LVL 7 or lower Dark Spellcaster from my deck! I Special Summon the Magician of Dark Illusion!" A shadowy figure raised from Dark Magician's shadow.
Magician of Dark Illusion (Dark Magician): LVL 7/Dark/Spellcaster/Effect/2100 ATK/2500 DEF
"Magician of Dark Illusion is called Dark Magician while on field!" The figure took Dark Magician's appearance.
"...Are you done?" Seto frowned in annoyance.
"Yes, for now."
"Then I'll set a card and end my turn."
Turn 4
"I draw!" Yugi frowned at Exodia's other arm, "Another brick…"
"You don't look too happy, Yugi," Seto smirked.
"I'm just frustrated that I can't beat you faster!" Yugi smirked back, "I'll attack your Assault Core with my Dark Magician! Dark Magic Attack!" Dark Magician shot the Assault Core with a spell, but the monster remained on the field.
"When a monster equipped with Buster Drake would be destroyed, I can destroy it instead! When Buster Drake is sent from the field to the graveyard, I can add one Union Monster from my deck to my hand! I'll add the C-Crush Wyvern!"
Kaiba: 8000 - 600 = 7400 LP
"I attack your Assault Core again with my Magician of Dark Illusion!"
"I activate my trap card 'Negate Attack'!"
Yugi frowned, "I end my turn!"
Turn 5
"I draw! I'll summon my C-Crush Wyvern!"
C-Crush Wyvern: LVL 4/Light/Machine/Union/Effect/1200 ATK/2000 DEF
"You know what comes next, right?" Seto smirked.
Yugi gritted his teeth, "Make your move!"
"I'll banish my A, B and C to Fusion Summon the ABC-Dragon Buster!"
ABC-Dragon Buster: LVL 8/Light/Machine/Fusion/Effect/3000 ATK/2900 DEF
"I'll discard my Blue-Eyes White Dragon to activate ABC's effect! I'll banish your Marshmacaron! The monster vanished, "Battle! I'll attack your Dark Magician! ABC Hyper Buster!" The magician shot a spell at the machine, but Dragon Buster's attack overpowered him.
"No!"
Yugi: 8000 - 500 = 7500 LP
"I end my turn!"
Turn 6
"I draw! I'll set a monster and end my turn!"
Turn 7
"I draw! I'll summon the Enraged Battle Ox!" A minotaur appeared.
Enraged Battle Ox: LVL 4/Earth/Beast-Warrior/Effect/1700 ATK/1000 DEF
"I'll send the Polymerization to the graveyard to activate ABC's effect and banish your set monster!" The mechanical dragon shot the card, revealing the Sentry Soldier of Stone, "Battle! I'll attack your Magician of Dark Illusion with my Dragon Buster! ABC Hyper Buster!" The machine annihilated the ethereal mage.
Yugi: 7500 - 900 = 6600 LP
"I end my turn!"
Turn 8
"Go, Yugi, your lack of skill is highly entertaining!"
"I draw!" Yugi smiled at his new card, "You don't know the extent of my skills, Kaiba! I activate my spell 'Dark Magic Veil'! I sacrifice 1000 life points to Special Summon from my graveyard, the Dark Magician!"
Yugi: 6600 - 1000 = 5600 LP
"And I'll discard my Assault Wyvern to banish your Dark Magician!" The mage disappeared as fast as he appeared.
Yugi smirked, "Since you control a monster with more than 2300 attack points, I can Normal Summon my Gaia, The Magical Knight with no tributes!"
Gaia The Magical Knight: LVL 7/Light/Warrior/Effect/2300 ATK/2100 DEF
"When Gaia is summoned, I can Special Summon a LVL 5 or less dragon from my hand! I'll su-"
"I'll activate ABC effect! I'll tribute it to Special Summon my banished A, B and C in defense mode!"
A-Assault Core: LVL 4/Light/Machine/Union/Effect/1900 ATK/200 DEF
B-Buster Drake: LVL 4/Light/Machine/Union/Effect/1500 ATK/1800 DEF
C-Crush Wyvern: LVL 4/Light/Machine/Union/Effect/1200 ATK/2000 DEF
"As I was saying, I'll summon from my hand, the Cur-"
"Yes, yes, yes! You sound like a broken record! I know this combo!" Seto exclaimed in annoyance.
"...Rude…" Yugi did the rest of his combo, summoning the Curse of Dragon, searching 'Spiral Fusion' and summoning the magical knight of dragons.
Gaia The Magical Knight of Dragons (Gaia The Dragon Champion): LVL 7/Wind/Dragon/Fusion/Effect/2600 ATK/2100 DEF
Gaia The Dragon Champion: 2600 ATK → 5200 ATK
"I'll attack your Assault Core with my Gaia!" The dragon knight destroyed the machine, "And his effect activates! Increasing his attack by 2600 points!
Gaia The Dragon Champion: 5200 ATK → 7800 ATK
"Due to Spiral Fusion, Gaia can attack two times for battle phase! I'll attack your Buster Drake!" The knight stuck the machine with his lance, destroying it and activating his effect again.
Gaia The Dragon Champion: 7800 ATK → 10400 ATK
"I'll activate Gaia's effect! I'll decrease his attack by 2600 points to destroy your Crush Wyvern!" The knight destroyed yet another monster.
Gaia The Dragon Champion: 10400 ATK → 7800 ATK
"I end my turn!" Yugi smirked, "Let's see how you get out of this!"
Turn 9
"I draw!" Seto smirked, "I'll set a monster, change my Battle Ox to defense and end my turn!"
Turn 10
"I draw!" Yugi frowned, "What is his plan? His set card can't possibly beat Gaia!" Yugi looked at his hand, "I just drew another piece of Exodia…well, only two to go, it's a good Plan B if things go south." "I'll activate Gaia's effect to destroy your set monster!" Gaia struck the card, revealing Saggi, the Dark Clown, a surprisingly weak card for a champion deck.
Gaia The Dragon Champion: 7800 ATK → 5200 ATK
"I'll attack your Ox!" The warriors clashed, but the dragon rider came out on top.
Gaia The Dragon Champion: 5200 ATK → 7800 ATK
"I'll attack you directly, Kaiba!"
"I activate from my hand, The Goddess of Sweet Revenge! When I control no cards and this is the only card in my hand, I can discard it and destroy all the cards you control!" The goddess appeared on the field and cast a powerful spell, destroying every card Yugi controlled and disappearing right after.
"When Marshmacaron is destroyed, I can summon two additional copies! Since one of them is banned, I'll summon a Marshmacaron from my graveyard!" The pink blob regenerated.
Marshmacaron: LVL 1/Light/Fairy/Effect/200 ATK/200 DEF
"In addition to destroying my opponent's field, I can Special Summon a monster from my deck! Come forth, Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" The majestic beast burst from its card and hovered over Kaiba.
Blue-Eyes White Dragon: LVL 8/Light/Dragon/3000 ATK/2500 DEF
"End your turn, Yugi!"
Yugi gritted his teeth, "I'll activate the spell card 'Swords of Revealing Light'! You can't attack until your third turn after this card is activated!" The swords struck the Blue-Eyes, locking him in place, "I end my turn!"
Turn 11
"I draw!" Seto smirked, "I'll play your game, but you'll regret it! I activate 'Monster Reborn'! It allows me to resurrect a monster from either of our graveyards! Come, my Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" The dragon that Kaiba discarded a few turns ago came out of its grave.
Blue-Eyes White Dragon: LVL 8/Light/Dragon/3000 ATK/2500 DEF
"I end my turn!"
Turn 12
"I draw!" Yugi frowned even deeper, "De-fusion? Give me a monster!" "I end my turn!"
Turn 13
"I draw and end my turn."
Turn 14
"I draw!" Yugi's eyes widened, "Exodia again? Good! I can win with this!" He smirked, "I end my turn!"
Turn 15
"I draw! I activate my spell 'Ancient Rules' to Special Summon my final Blue-Eyes! Come, Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
Blue-Eyes White Dragon: LVL 8/Light/Dragon/3000 ATK/2500 DEF
"I end my turn!" The Swords of Revealing Light destroyed themselves, "It's the end, Yugi! In my next turn, I'll beat you like the pathetic excuse for a duelist that you are!"
Turn 16
Yugi took a deep breath, this is the end, what was the chance of drawing the last piece of Exodia? Marshmacaron couldn't save him either, Seto was going to attack in the next turn and end this.
Anzu couldn't stop sweating, Katsuya and her had guns pointed to their heads and Yugi was losing, this Seto Kaiba was insane! If only rich people weren't immune to the police…
When Kaiba summoned the final Blue-Eyes, her Millennium Key started vibrating.
"The Key…is it trying to tell me something?" Anzu concentrated on the Key, trying to feel it.
Suddenly, disconnected images filled her head.
. .
She blinked, "What was that?"
.
The visions stopped and her key stopped vibrating, "What the hell was that?"
"Yugi! Don't you dare lose!" Katsuya suddenly yelled.
"Yugi! You can do this!" Anzu joined the cheering, still trying to understand what the Key showed her.
"Stop screaming!" The henchman poked her head with the pistol, shutting her up.
"C'mon, Yugi! You can't lose!"
Yugi gulped, his hands wouldn't stop shaking. He was scared! He couldn't draw the last card!
He looked at the faded ink of the smiley face that Anzu drew on their hands.
He looked at the ragged strings that he used to call bracelet.
"No! I can't give up here! My friends are counting on me!
"Draw your last card, Yugi. Let's end this!"
"Yes, Kaiba, let's end this! My last card is the unstoppable Exodia!" The forbidden one appeared and broke his shackles.
"What? Exodia? Where the hell did you get this?!"
"I collected all the five pieces in my hand! Victory is mine! Exodia, obliterate!" Exodia released a powerful energy blast, destroying every card in the field and winning the game.
"I-I lost? Again? But…but I have all the Blue-Eyes…I'm the strongest…"
"Maybe you are, Kaiba. But even if your Blue-Eyes White Dragons make you powerful, weaker monsters can join up and beat even the strongest of them all! Now, it's time for you to pay, Kaiba!" Dark Yugi was about to punish his enemy, but something inside him held him back.
His other self, the original Yugi, wanted him to be merciful.
"Mercy? With him?"
The feeling got stronger.
"...Fine…"
"Kaiba, I could do whatever I wanted with you, I could destroy your mind, drive you insane, turn you into a drooling vegetable! But I'll do you a favor instead…"
"N-No! Please!"
"Penalty Game! Mind Crush!" Seto's eyes went blank.
"I did it…I defeated him."
After a second of silence, the stadium exploded in applause and cheering.
"He defeated Kaiba! He defeated the national champion!"
"Wait…Isn't that Yugi Muto? He's the former champion!"
"Really? He's that Yugi Muto? The king is back!"
"Muto! Muto! Muto! Muto!" The crowd started cheering.
Yugi reluctantly raised his fist, and the crowd cheered louder.
"He did it!" Anzu and Katsuya cheered.
"Master Kaiba!" The henchmen yelled.
Katsuya frowned at the gun pointed at Anzu, frustrated with his own inaction.
Suddenly, someone grabbed the henchmen behind Anzu, judo threw him to the ground and kicked the gun away, "Kept you waiting, huh?"
"Honda! I knew you were alive!" Katsuya quickly disarmed the distracted enemy and punched him, sending him towards Hiroto.
"Did you really think that some blocks would kill me?" He kneeled the opponent on the stomach, dropping him unconscious.
While the duo was distracted, the first man quickly grabbed the gun of his fallen companion "You brat! I'll kill you!"
"Jonouchi! Look out!" Anzu tried to alert him, but she was too late, the man shoved his gun at the blonde's face.
"Halt! It's over!" A boyish voice commanded the henchman.
"Master Kaiba?"
"I said that it's over! Release him already!" The man obeyed and left, dragging his unconscious companion with him.
"Is that…?" Hiroto asked.
"Kaiba's younger brother, as much of a psycho as the other one," Katsuya frowned at the boy.
"Well, this 'psycho' saved my life! I ran out of space to dodge, I thought that I was going to die today, but this kid turned them off and got me out of the room."
"Don't take it personally, I just owed Yugi a favor."
"I'm glad you saved him, Mokuba," Yugi joined them.
"Yugi! You did it!" Anzu hugged the shorter teenager while Katsuya gave him a thumbs up.
"I wished I was here to see it!" Hiroto chuckled.
"Honda! I'm glad you're okay!" Yugi gave him a thumbs up.
"Mokuba…Why did your brother want vengeance? Why do all of this?" Anzu asked.
"...It all started when we lost our parents…" Mokuba told them about the orphanage, told them about Gozaburo, told them about Seto's horrible study regime and ridiculous expectations, told them about how Gozaburo reacted with Seto's first loss against Yugi, told them about how his kind brother became a ruthless avenger. He told them all.
"Yugi, when you got me out of the dueling box…I remembered the old Seto, the brother I loved…He would never do something like this! I'm not asking you to forgive me or him, just to understand his point. Unlike him, I have no excuse, I just followed his lead, if you want to hate someone, hate me instead."
"...Mokuba, your brother is reassembling his heart…I crushed his mind, destroyed the evil that lurked inside him, now, he needs to rebuild himself, maybe now he'll be the person that he was always meant to be."
Mokuba looked sadly at his catatonic brother, "Will he snap out of this?"
"Yes, and he'll reemerge as a better person."
"...Yugi, I'll never forget this. Thank you." Mokuba quickly released them.
Anzu wasn't sure about what was weird about Dark Yugi, but after leaving Kaibaland, she finally realized what was different.
He was smiling, not a sarcastic smirk or a sadistic grin, it was a genuine smile.
"Let's go to the hospital! I bet your gramps is already up and running!" Katsuya accelerated his pace.
"Yeah! Let's go together!" Yugi lost the dangerous glint in his eyes, replaced by the usual kindness and innocence.
It was a long day.
Yugi smiled, happy for finally getting out of that nightmare, but also for another reason.
That was the first time that he remembered everything that happened while the other Yugi was in control. Maybe this was a good signal?