Paths Chapter 20: VS The Dark Master!, a yu-gi-oh fanfic

"The mage attacks!" Dark Yugi rolled the dice.

"Apprentice bolt!" Anzu shot a magical missile at Zorc, hitting him on the arm and severing his hand.

Bakura laughed, "It's nice to meet a fellow spirit!"

"Spirit?" Dark Yugi frowned.

"What did you think you were?" Bakura laughed even harder.

"Explain!"

"Now, now…you have something else to focus on now, don't you?"

"Yugi! Focus! Our lives are in your hands! You have to defeat Zorc!" The miniature group screamed at the new player.

"...We'll talk more about this later, Bakura…or whatever you are…"

"So, 'Other Yugi', from now on, you'll play for the whole party! But if someone's HP hits 0, they'll die! Both their souls and bodies!"

"Hey! I can't die looking like this!" Katsuya screamed.

"Have some faith in the other me, okay?" Yugi smiled.

Dark Yugi frowned, "The outcome of this depends on dice rolls…I have to break Bakura's control over the dice!"

"The battle continues! Even if he lost his hand when his guard was down, he's completely unfazed! Actually? You could even say that the battle got even worse for the adventurers!" Zorc's severed hand started mutating.

"It turned into monsters!" Anzu said.

"Any flesh cut from my body spawn minions under my command!" Zorc laughed, "Kill them, my servants!" Zorc turned around.

"Why are you running away, Zorc? Fight us!" Yugi yelled.

"I have a special place prepared for our battle! Come to my castle, and you'll find me there!" Zorc left.

"We're playing by Bakura's rules! We're really stuck in his game…" Yugi frowned.

"Yes, he made Zorc appear when we were distracted, so he could seal your souls into the figurines, everything is going according to his plan," Dark Yugi answered his thoughts, spooking Yugi for a second.

"Wait, we can read each other's minds?" That was convenient.

"Of course, we are both Yugi, aren't we?" Dark Yugi smiled at his counterpart.

"Is there even a way for us to win? He's controlling the dice! He always gets super criticals!"

"I have a plan." Dark Yugi reassured him, "The warrior attacks!"

"Get them, YugI!" Katsuya took his attacking stance.

"Roll your dice, Yugi. But remember, if you roll a fumble, he will die!" Bakura smirked.

Dark Yugi smirked and rolled his dice, spinning them like spinning tops.

"Energetic slash! The warrior cuts his opponent in half!" Dark Yugi said while Katsuya cut his opponent in two.

"W-what?" Bakura was shocked.

"I killed it, right? What happens next?" Katsuya asked Bakura.

"Eer…Seeing his companion slain, the other monster hesitates and loses his action. Beast Tamer, your turn!"

"Right, I should have the maximum number of monsters that I can!" Yugi looked at the strongest monster on the field.

A LVL 4 Dragon.

"I'm capturing you!"

"Until minutes ago, the dragon was part of Zorc. You need below 10 to brainwash it successfully!" Bakura stated.

Dark Yugi rolled the dice. The ten-sided dice had different colors for each digit, the first was red and the second was white.

The red one's result was 8.

Bakura smirked, but the white die hit the red one, making it spin again.

"One of the many ways to cheat in a dice roll is the 'double hit', if you cheat then you should expect the other player to cheat too," Dark Yugi smirked.

The final result was 02.

"Another critical?!" Bakura gritted his teeth.

"That means I brainwashed it successfully!" Yugi smirked as the magical hand appeared and grabbed the dragon. The dragon was purified and flew to his side.

"So that bastard was really cheating! Yugi, you can control the dice roll?" Katsuya asked.

"To a certain extent, yes."

"The dice have 10 sides with numbers from 0 to 9, the 5 even numbers are in one face and the 5 odd numbers are in the other," Yugi explained in his alter ego's behalf, "In the double hit, you spin the dice like a top with the even numbers up, so the chance of rolling a 0 is of 1 in 5 instead of 1 in 10! You also spin the second digit die stronger, so the weaker one will stop first, and if it stops in anything other than 0, you hit it with the still spinning one to change its result!"

"But how can you make the other die hit the first one when you want to?" Anzu asked.

"I lightly hit the table with my knee, so the table will shake and change the trajectory of the die," Dark Yugi explained, "If you're cheating, Bakura, so will I!"

"Fine, so from now on let's throw the dice like this," Bakura raised his hand and opened it, letting the dice fall, "No spinning."

"Agreed," Dark Yugi nodded.

"On with the game, after taking care of Zorc's servants, the adventurers move to Zorc's castle, the bridge lowers, making a path into the castle," The castle's walls lowered, revealing the interior of the building, "You finally reached the final stage of your quest! Somewhere in the castle, Zorc waits! Can the heroes slay the demon?"

"Zorc! Where the fuck are you?! Face us, coward!" Katsuya announced their arrival.

Hiroto noticed a weird contraption inside a tower in the hall, "Hey, that tower looks suspicious!" They went to check.

"There are some weird carvings," Yugi said, analyzing the half-circle carvings, "It looks like the upper half is missing…"

"Wait! Don't go in the tower!" Dark Yugi yelled, but it was too late, the ceiling fell, "Bakura, you bastard!"

"The adventurers have fallen into a trap, but don't worry! Instant death traps are such bad game design, I'll give you a chance to save them!" Bakura smirked.

"The ceiling is not only heavy, it's full of spikes too! We can't hold it for long!' Katsuya and Honda tried in vain to hold the ceiling.

"You have three turns, Yugi, three chances to roll the dice…if you fail, they die." Bakura clasped his hands under his chin, "It's a puzzle! You need to complete the column, and to do that, you need to roll a certain number."

"If you need a roll to solve it, then what's the puzzle?" Yugi rolled his dice.

"Yes! A critical!"

The ceiling lowered further.

"Congrats, Yugi, but I told you that you had to roll a certain number, right? A hint: You need to roll doubles," Bakura smirked, "Oh, I just remembered something! I have to roll a monster encounter! There's a 30% chance for Zorc to appear!"

"If Zorc appears, they're dead!" Dark Yugi gritted his teeth.

Bakura rolled his dice.

"It looks like your luck ran out," The door on the hall opened, revealing the Dark Master himself.

"You fell into my trap, fools! Prepare yourselves!" Zorc approached the group.

"Yugi! Quickly!" Anzu yelled.

Dark Yugi rolled the dice.

"No no no, I have to roll doubles, dammit!"

"Zorc attacks! Since his opponents are restrained, his success chance is 95%!"

"Not the best, but perfect for a slow and painful death!" Bakura laughed as Zorc slashed his enemies.

Yugi took a deep breath and analyzed the field, "Wait, I got it! The bottom and upper parts of the pillar are half circles! Which means that the middle completes it! It can only be 0, 3, 6, 8 and 9!" He rolled the dice.

The middle materialized, completing the number and freezing the ceiling.

"You found the answer, but it's Zorc's turn!" Bakura rolled the dice.

Zorc attacked again, but the adventurers had already freed themselves, "By taking Zorc off guard, the adventurers get a surprise attack!" Dark Yugi rolled the dice once again.

Katsuya attacked Zorc, "There's more from where this came!"

"By taking Zorc off guard, the adventurers all get to attack this turn!" Bakura frowned, "Roll your dice, YugI!"

"Let me do it!" Hiroto armed himself.

"This dice has all of our rage, Bakura!" Dark Yugi rolled the dice.

"Thunder Grenade!" The gunner shot Zorc.

"Me too!" Anzu said as Yugi threw the dice.

"Apprentice Death Blaze!" The mage shot a powerful spell at Zorc.

"One more time!" Dark Yugi rolled Yugi's dice.

"Let's go, guys!" The Beast Tamer commanded his monsters to attack Zorc.

The dust slowly dissipated, revealing an unfazed Zorc.

"Fools! It doesn't matter how good your rolls are, you're still LVL 1 adventurers! You'll never defeat Zorc!" Bakura laughed.

"No way…" Hiroto dropped his gun.

"Even with all these criticals, we still have no chance…" Yugi clenched his fists.

"Idiots! You never played a game before? You can't go to the final boss with no experience and good equipments! I'll win and it's your own fault!" Bakura laughed harder, "My turn! After those pathetic attacks, Zorc focused his wrath on his enemies!" He rolled his dice.

"Dark Catastrophe!" Zorc shot a powerful attack, obliterating all of his opponents, "Zorc is powerful enough to kill even enemies with 50 HP! Your pathetic friends with less than 15 HP stand no chance!"

"No…" Dark Yugi clenched his fist, "I'm sorry…"

Bakura inputted the new data on his laptop, expecting negative HP numbers, but the result surprised him.

Every single one of them had 1 HP remaining.

"Impossible!"

The group got up on their feet, "We're not done yet!" Katsuya said.

Dark Yugi smirked, "The game is not over!"

Bakura looked at his laptop and frowned, "It looks like my host is still conscious!"

"The warrior attacks!" Dark Yugi rolled the dice.

Katsuya jumped and stabbed Zorc's eye, ripping the eye off.

"Hgh!" Bakura grabbed his eye, as if in pain, "You're starting to piss me off, Yugi…" He looked at the laptop again, and then he pulled it to the other side of the table.

"Something weird is happening, what was that miscalculation? It was impossible to survive Zorc's attack!" Dark Yugi frowned, "Yes! That's the key to defeating Zorc!"

"Back to the game! The warrior strikes a critical move on Zorc! His sword gouges his eye out, but Zorc's HP barely lowers!"

"It's no use! No matter how many criticals we get, we can barely scratch him!" Hiroto gritted his teeth.

"Okay, first thing: Heal them, Anzu can heal the group, but she's too low leveled to resurrect! They'll die if they're killed! Her turn needs to be the next one!"

"Rolling initiative," Bakura rolled the dice, "Anzu goes first."

"Good!"

"BUT, Zorc's score was tied to her! So they'll move together! We'll both roll initiative again, if Anzu goes first she'll be able to save the group, but if Zorc goes first-"

"He'll wipe us out! I got it! Roll the damned dice!" Dark Yugi said with anger.

They rolled their dice.

"Super critical! Victory is mine!" Bakura grinned.

Dark Yugi chuckled.

"What's so funny?!"

"Are you blind or just stupid? Look at your dice."

Bakura had a 10 as opposed to Dark Yugi, who had 09, "I-Impossible!"

"Anzu goes first! Healing of Luona!" Anzu filled their HP with her magic.

"Fine! You healed successfully! But it doesn't matter! You're just maggots compared to Zorc's might! I'll destroy you in my next turn!" Bakura raised his right hand, but threw the dice with his left hand instead, "W-What?"

Zorc blew himself up.

"This fucking hand!" Bakura stabbed his left hand on the castle, "How do you like it, Ryou?!" He laughed maniacally, driving the hand even further on the castle.

"So this is the other Bakura's true self…" Yugi frowned.

"Geez, I'm glad your other self…spirit…whatever…is nicer," Katsuya cringed while Bakura grinded his stabbed hand on the castle.

"It's little Yugi's turn!" Bakura held his wounded hand, blood staining his white shirt.

"Yugi will use his power on Zorc!" Dark Yugi declared.

"Do you really think that will work? Fine! Let's do it your way!"

Dark Yugi rolled his dice.

"Idiot! Even if that was a super critical, you'll need to be LVL one million for this to work!"

Zorc's left hand's stump started smoking, "No! This is impossible!" The magical hand appeared and pulled a person out of the hole.

"Thank you for saving me," The new ally said.

"Bakura?!" The group said in union.

"I'm the White Wizard Bakura! An NPC created by Ryou Bakura! Let me join your party!"

"Of course! Let's defeat Zorc together!" Yugi shook the wizard's hand.

"It's the Magic Gunner's turn! Roll your dice, Yugi!" The game master said.

"The gunner shoots Zorc!" Dark Yugi rolled the dice.

Hiroto shot the monster, causing more damage than before, "Wait, that hurt him way more than normal!"

"It was me," The wizard said, "I used my white magic to lower his defenses!"

"Looks like we have a powerful ally!" Dark Yugi smirked.

"It's the least I can do! You saved me from Zorc, after all."

"This is the final stage, but I'm sure he still has tricks under his sleeve!"

Zorc started mutating.

"W-What's happening?!" Katsuya yelled.

"It's his second stage! Just like a video-game boss!" Anzu answered.

Zorc turned into a deformed giant monster covered in flesh and bones, "This is Zorc's final form! Both his defenses and attack rise up!" Bakura laughed, "And it's his turn, too!" Zorc started charging.

"Look out! He's charging an attack!" Hiroto said.

"Die!" Bakura rolled his dice.

An eye opened on Zorc's chest and shot a powerful beam at the party, "Zorc Inferno!"

"White Magic! Shining Shield!" Ryou jumped in front of Zorc's attack.

"How long can you last against Zorc's power? Ryou!" Bakura laughed.

The attack ended and the White Wizard fell on his knees, all of the party had taken considerable damage but were all alive, "Ryou!" The party ran to him.

"I'm…fine…" He had 1 HP remaining.

"Hang on! I'll heal us in the next turn!" Anzu said.

"No…if you have enough mana to heal…attack Zorc instead…"

"If this form is stronger, why didn't he use it before? It has to be a catch, this is still a game!" Yugi frowned.

"You're right, he got way stronger, but he exposed his weak point! Look!" Dark Yugi pointed at the opened eye on Zorc's chest.

"It's already closing! We don't have time!"

"~Poki!" Yugi's ally monster flew to Zorc, stucking himself on the weak point and keeping it open.

"Thank you, Poki! But we won't sacrifice you!" Yugi said while his alter ego rolled the dice.

"Critical! The beast tamer attacks!" The magical hand appeared once again, but closed into a fist and punched Zorc, "Jet stream punch!" The hand pierced Zorc, taking Poki to safety.

"Now it's the warrior's turn!" Dark Yugi rolled the dice.

"Explosive energetic slash!" Katsuya attacked, cutting Zorc in half.

"He's still alive?!" The group said.

"Not beating Zorc this turn was your worst mistake! In the next turn, we must roll initiative again! Let's roll the dice, Yugi!" Bakura roared.

"This is the end! I'll pour all of our feelings on this roll!" Yugi held the dice tightly in his hand.

"Roll!" Bakura said, and they rolled their dice together.

Yugi's dice was 00, a super critical.

The party watched Bakura's dice with apprehension.

"Victory is mine! Just when you thought you were saved, victory was torn from your hands! What a cruel twist of fate! This is the best game ever!" Bakura laughed maniacally.

The dice cracked.

"What?!"

An ethereal image of Ryou Bakura appeared over the dice, "I'll not let you kill my friends!"

"Ryou!" Bakura screamed at the top of his lungs.

"I'll not let you hurt anyone else! Even if my soul must be destroyed to defeat you!"

"T-That's suicide! You fucking idiot!" The spirit wearing his body yelled desperately.

"Guys, thank you for being my friends…see you in heaven!" Ryou smiled while the image faded.

The dice exploded in a million pieces.

"You have no dice! I win the initiative!" Dark Yugi said, "Anzu, attack!"

"Apprentice big bang!" Anzu shot a magical attack, destroying Zorc.

"We won!" The party celebrated, but soon remembered the current situation, "Bakura!"

Dark Yugi got up and ran to his friend's body, "Bakura! Wake up, please!" He shook Ryou, but he didn't answer.

"How's Bakura?" The group asked.

"He…he's gone…he's gone," Dark Yugi closed his eyes, "Bakura…I'm sorry."

"No, he's not dead yet!" The White Wizard said, "He used part of his soul to create me, through this battle I grew strong and helped you beat that devil that was possessing him! And now, it's my turn to repay him!" He looked at Dark Yugi, "My magic should be strong enough to return all of our souls back to our own bodies, but I'm just a figurine! I need someone to roll for me."

Dark Yugi rolled the dice.

The wizard cast his spell and went immobile along with the rest of the group, the unconscious teenagers woke up shortly after.

"Hey guys…" Bakura said as he woke up.

The group looked down at the miniatures that had been their bodies for the past few hours, they looked happy.

A few days later, everyone who went comatose because of the other Bakura woke up.

"Stop running through the halls!" Even the P.E. teacher Karita, "Bakura! Your hair looks great today! You should go fast or you'll be late!"

"Thanks, sensei!" Ryou waved at him and ran to class.

"Bakura-kun! Good morning!" His new friends greeted him.

"Morning, guys. I have something to show you! I made it myself!"

It was a diorama in an acrylic box, it showed Zorc on the ground with the adventurers over him all pointing at the sky with the other Yugi behind them holding a die.

Ryou would never forget what those four, I mean, five, did for him. They freed him from the demon that lurked inside him, the only thing that confused him was what happened to the Millennium Ring…Well, it was not his problem anymore, it probably disappeared with the other Bakura, right?

Right?

Bonus:

Ryou took a deep breath, he was waiting for this moment for years.

His hands wouldn't stop trembling, he thought that this was supposed to be easier! Well, it was his fault to begin with, he had to face this.

He opened the door.

The old lady looked at him and god, she was so skinny, her eyes took a second to focus, "Ryou?"

"G-Grandma! I'm so glad to see you!" He approached her, "How are you feeling?"

"Like I just woke up from a coma," She smiled, "They told me that I was out for two whole years…and they have no idea how this happened nor of how I'm already talking, but enough of this! Come here! I want to see my grandson!"

"I brought something!" He took a case out of his pocket, taking a pair of glasses out of it.

"My glasses! Can you put it on for me?" Ryou put the glasses on his grandmother. She blinked, "Oh my! Look how big you are! How have you been, dear? Are you eating well? How's school?"

"I'm fine, grandma, I'm…really…fine…" He couldn't contain the tears anymore.

"Oh, dear! You don't need to cry! I'm fine now!"

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…"

"You don't need to apologize for crying!"

"I'm…sorry…" Guilt consumed Ryou, he couldn't stop apologizing.

And his grandmother would never know why.

Hey, happy new year! :)

I hope last year was good for you and I hope this year is even better! Next week I won't post, I'll take a week off to prepare some chapters ahead as this is how I prefer to write. I'll return in 01/14 with the start of a new arc, the Duelist Kingdom!

See you soon!