TWO SIDES, ONE COIN

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"You finally made it," repeated the man on the throne. "It's not a smart move to keep a deity waiting."

Yugi's mouth felt dry, but he was able to rasp out an answer. "You're not a God."

"I am Pharaoh, little Yugi, in case you've forgotten. That means I am a representive of the divine in this pitiful dimension."

Tea simply stared in silence, slack-jawed.

The man speaking wore Atem's face and spoke with his voice. The words, however, sounded completely alien compared to the man they had known.

Yugi did not reply to this, and seemed to be wrestling internally with what to say next.

"What are you doing with all those Millennium Items?" he managed finally.

"I needed them to return to my final resting place, or so I was told… Along with the knowledge of my true name," came the languid reply. "When I got to that point, however… I decided that I would rather stay. The world around me looked like it needed, shall we say, a firmer hand to guide it forward."

"What… What did you do?"

The man had raised his hand into the air and seemed to be casually inspecting the back of it. He turned to Yugi and smiled evilly.

"What a Pharaoh is meant to do. Guide his subjects onto a righteous path… By any means necessary."

Silence hung over the room again, as the implications of his words slowly sunk into both Yugi and Tea.

"The Millennium Items… They weren't just given to you willingly, were they?"

The man closed his eyes and smiled again. Another cruel smile, one completely foreign to the features of the Atem Tea had known for years.

"No, unfortunately they were not. I won the Eye from that fool Pegasus after defeating him in a Shadow Game. After this, it turned out that the likes of Shadi and Ishizu, disagreed with my methods despite being sworn servants of the Pharaoh. So their Items had to be taken by force."

A hint of anger seemed to enter his voice as he spoke, seemingly disgusted with the idea that there were those who did not regard his will as absolute.

"What about the Rod… the Ring?"

Another cold chuckle rang out from the man's lips, and he jerked his head to the right of the wall behind him.

"See for yourself."

Yugi followed his eyes and froze when he saw what adorned the sandstone there.

It was a head pinned to it. Heads, actually. Familiar ones. Two were on the right of the throne and another two on the left. All four were seemingly embalmed as they didn't seem to show any signs of degradation.

One on the right belonged to an older man, with long white hair hanging out behind him. He was missing one eye. Next to that was the head an olive skilled man with spiky blonde hair behind him.

On the left, one head was fair skinned with brown eyes and long spikey white hair. The other had angular features and thick brown hair.

Pegasus, Marik, Bakura, and… Kaiba.

"You… You killed them," choked out Yugi.

"I did, as is my right," came the calm response. "Their lives were forfeit the moment they stood against me. I am ordained by the Gods, so to stand against my will is-…"

"SHUT UP!" snarled Yugi, cutting him off. His face was white with anger, and his fists were clenched so tight that his nails almost drew blood.

"Kaiba and Pegasus are good men, they are my friends. Marik and Bakura were both being controlled against their will… And you killed them! You don't have that right."

At first, a dark look crossed the man's face as he seemed ready to explode with rage at the interruption. Instead, he then broke into another nasty smile.

"Ah, there's that famous fight from my aibou. The last time I saw it was back when we dueled that ingrate Kaiba on the top of that tower at Duelist Kingdom… and killed him."

Tea swallowed nervously. It seemed Yugi's theory about how exactly this… thing that wore Atem's face had come into being had been accurate.

"So I was right," confirmed Yugi in a low voice.

"Of course you were, aibou. You know I exist in this dimension because of the nightmares that the demon god Apep was kind enough to allow to manifest."

"Don't call me that," growled Yugi. "You're not him, so I was never your aibou."

"You're right, I am not the man you knew because I'm not as weak as he was," scoffed the man. "In fact, the Atem of this world really was too pitiful to even be worthy of being called Pharaoh, and I refuse to share the name of someone who was a representative of the Gods, yet had his will overridden by a mundane boy and girl such as yourselves."

"Who are you then?" muttered Tea, just loud enough for both of the others to hear her.

The man wearing Atem's face turned to look at her.

"Like I said, I am Pharaoh. As a God I have moved beyond the need for names and titles. I don't need to be tied to the rest of you insects with a mortal moniker like the wretch that once walked this world."

He gave a dark chucke.

"It's fitting that you are here as well, since it seems that the point of divergence in this dimension that prevented me from being born has your fingerprints all over it as well."

Yugi took a step sideways to get in front of Tea, obscuring Pharaoh's vision of her.

"Leave her out of this," he growled. "This is between us, only us."

"Perhaps you shouldn't be so cavalier about the thought of standing in opposition to me," drawled Pharaoh. "After all, what do you think happened to the version of you that I once shared a body with?"

Yugi didn't respond, so Pharaoh then merely set down the Millennium Rod and tapped the Puzzle hanging around his neck.

"Let's just say that after you took umbrage to the lengths that I was willing to go to rescue your foolish grandfather, I decided to end the disagreement by locking your spirit in the very same prison that I myself spent five thousand years in."

Tea's eyes widened. "You… monster."

Pharaoh laughed again, a sound that resembled the rattling of bones in the wind.

"You were a useful tool to me once, Yugi, but on that day I realized that humanity had strayed from its destined path. Your natural place is on your knees before your ordained ruler. The bright allure of freedom diminishes your life's joy… I was ready to use any means necessary to rectify this. Since you unfortunately disagreed with this mission, I had no choice but to eschew sentimentality and confine you to a place from where you could not interfere."

"You're not a God, and you will never stand above everyone else," shot back Yugi. "I resisted you back then and I will do the same now."

"That resistance did not pan out well for you," reminded Pharaoh with a pitying look on his face.

"Maybe in your existence. In this one I stopped the Atem that I knew from going down that path. I even beat him in a duel… So you're really not aware of what you're up against here," snapped Yugi.

"Such spirit. It will be satisfying to drain you of it."

Pharaoh stood up, and as he did, the Millennium Rod, Eye, Scales and Key all levitated off the arm rests of his throne and took up position behind his head, floating in a half circle. They were soon joined by the Necklace and Ring off his neck. Only the Puzzle remained in place, with the Eye of Anubis glowing intensely on all of them.

A golden Duel Disk-like implement appeared on his left arm. It almost resembled one of the Dia Dhanks that Yugi had seen in the Memory World.

"You stood against a God once in another existence and paid the price. That this must happen again is proof that humans are simply slow learners."

Yugi reached out behind him and placed a hand on Tea's shoulder without turning back, gently moving her away.

"Yugi-…"

"Tea, I have to do this," he stated evenly, not taking his eye off Pharaoh. "It's not him, but all the same this is my battle to fight."

"I know it's not him. I just hope you remember that yourself the whole time," she breathed, grabbing his hand and gently moving it off her shoulder before giving it an extra squeeze. "Just win."

With that, she took a bunch of steps back and to the side.

The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife.

Yugi exhaled, firing off his holo projectors. The implement on Pharaoh's arm simply glowed.

"LET'S DUEL!"

(Pharaoh: 8000, Yugi: 8000)

"Gods will always go first," declared Pharaoh, earning a sharp glare from his opponent.

"I place one monster in defense mode and then one more card facedown. That will conclude my turn."

Two brown backed cards materialized on his field, one horizontal and the other vertical.

Yugi added a sixth card to his hand.

"I have no idea what his deck is going to be like. He could still be using the same deck I was using in Duelist Kingdom before he… took over, in which case this duel should be pretty easy. I doubt it though, because the whole idea is he's meant to be a manifestation of my worst fears, and that would mean he isn't going to be playing with only extremely outdated cards."

"I summon Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700) in attack mode."

A mage in black robes with large shoulder pads, a green staff held in two hands, black gloves, a black helmet, and only the bottom half of his face visible materialized. His staff had a small purple ball at the top with a wider base of the same color as well. Three white orbs were planted across his upper body, one on each shoulder and one right below the neck.

"Then, I discard one card from my hand in order to special summon The Tricky (2000/1200) in attack mode!"

Appearing onto his field next to the robed mage was a fully masked man dressed in a yellow and black doublet, with large orbs on each shoulder and a blue cape around his shoulders while flowing down his back. A crimson question mark adorned both his chest and face. The new arrival looked more like a court jester than anything else.

"Ah, still using magicians, I see?" mocked Pharaoh. "Of course, a mortal can only hope to contend with a God by using trickery."

Yugi's eyebrow wrinkled with irritation, but he ignored the jibe.

"Tricky, attack his facedown monster now!"

The mage brought his arms up, waving them in an intricate pattern in front of himself. Finally, he opened both palms, joined together at the tips of his thumbs, and fired out a large red energy blast in the form of a question mark.

The question mark slammed into Pharaoh's facedown card, flipping over and revealing itself to be an olive-skinned man with blonde hair, dressed in a pristine white robe. Large yellow wings fanned out behind him, but they were not enough to get him away from the Tricky's attack in time, as it reduced him to ashes upon impact.

"Well, I appreciate your destruction of my Shining Angel (1400/800)," taunted Pharaoh. "It allows me to special summon a light attribute monster with fifteen hundred or less attack points from my deck to the field."

"I've never used that card…!" thought Yugi instantly.

"Are you surprised that I am no longer utilizing the same pitiful cards that you were before I took over your body?" scoffed Pharaoh. "Come now, aibou, a God can do better than the leftovers of a mortal. I summon Ojamachine Yellow (0/100) in defense mode."

Appearing in the place of the destroyed angel was a small, skinny yellow gnome with an awkward grin on his face. It looked almost robotic, wearing only a pair of red boxers while its eyes were on the ends of a stalks that issued out of the sides of its head.

Before Yugi could speak, the gnome glowed and then four more copies of it instantly popped up around it, filling Pharaoh's field (0/100) (x4).

"When Ojamachine Yellow is summoned, he summons as many tokens as possible with the same name, statistics and effects as him," narrated Pharaoh.

"I don't know what I expected from him in this duel but it wasn't… this," thought Yugi.

"Very well. Skilled Dark Magician, attack his Ojamachine Yellow!"

The robed spellcaster raised his staff and fired a green energy blast at the gnome in the center of the quintet on Pharaoh's field. It collided, causing its target to squeal before exploding. For some reason, however, the shockwave it gave off was targeted in the opposite direction, hitting Yugi in the torso, and drawing a grunt from him.

(Pharaoh: 8000, Yugi: 7700)

"The destruction of Ojamachine Yellow, and by extension any of his Tokens, will deal you three hundred points of damage," chuckled Pharaoh.

Yugi grimaced. "Great… That'll have me fifteen hundred down from the get-go just to clear his field."

He wavered momentarily, glancing at his field, then Pharaoh's field, then his hand.

"I… end my turn."

"What's the matter, aibou?" taunted Pharaoh as he drew, seemingly amused at the flash of irritation on Yugi's face at being addressed a such. "Are you already regretting your decision to tangle with a God? Sadly, you are going to have to learn to finish what you started."

"I have no regrets," fired back Yugi. "You're nothing but Apep's pawn and I intend to get you out of our way so we can deal with him after and save the world again."

Pharaoh's face darkened.

"Save the world, you say? So that humans can return to their status quo of chaotically ripping civilization apart? You are a selfish and frightened race of savages, completely unfit for self-governance because you're unable to see beyond their base desires. I am the only one capable of saving the world and humanity from its short-sightedness."

"No matter how much you say you're a God, you're not," growled Yugi. "If humanity is so corrupt, then so are you because you're still one of us."

Pharaoh seemed ready to fire back with even greater ferocity, but his expression eased instead.

"Ah, you speak with such certainty for someone who yet doesn't recognize so many truths that are right in front of him. For example, I can tell that you're clearly confused by my use of a monster like Ojamachine Yellow," commented Pharaoh.

"What does that have to do with anything?" muttered Yugi.

Pharaoh closed his eyes and allowed a small smile to grace his lips as he continued.

"It's such a seemingly innocent, foolish and carefree creature. The truth, Yugi, is that is what you once were yourself. So many underestimated you, expected so little of you… Yet they were all wrong, you were so much more than that."

He opened his eyes, fixing his opponent with a piercing stare.

"You were the key to destroying the world."

Yugi began to retort, confusion and indignation on his mind, but he was cut off as Pharaoh slid a card into his Dia-Dhank.

"I will equip one of my Ojamachine Yellow Tokens with United We Stand."

Yugi's eyes widened as one of the four remaining gnomes suddenly began to glow intensely (3200/3300).

"As you're aware, United We Stand will increase my Token's attack and defense points by eight hundred for each monster on my field. I will now switch it to attack mode."

The Token, which had been sitting cross-legged on Pharaoh's field now stood up, though its face continued to display a thoroughly confused grin.

"Well, this changes things," thought Yugi grimly.

"Now, I move to my battle phase… Attack his Skilled Dark Magician. Ojama Smash."

The single standing gnome let out a strange wail and slightly bent its knees before bouncing across the field. It seemed on track to headbutt the mage with stupendous force when Yugi tapped a button on his Duel Disk.

"Not so fast! I banish Electromagnetic Turtle (0/1800) from my graveyard to end the battle phase before your Token can finish its attack!"

A diminutive, mechanical reptile materialized floating over the Ojamachine Yellow Token. It was barely a foot long, framed with a metal shell and helmet. The letters 'S' and 'N' were emblazoned across its front, and a small tail which extended out behind it. It fell down onto the gnome just as it was about to reach the Skilled Dark Magician, and a small spark left its body. The Token stopped, fell to the ground and then languidly walked back to Pharaoh's field, a sheepish grin on its face the whole time.

"And since you activated United We Stand, my Skilled Dark Magician gains one spell counter," added Yugi.

As he spoke, one of the orbs on the mage's robes lit up brightly.

"Impressive foresight, aibou," mused Pharaoh. "To set up such a defense even while simultaneously making such an aggressive opening move… I wonder if this is how you were able to defeat the weak-willed version of me that existed in this dimension."

"You'll just have to wait and see," deadpanned Yugi. "And stop calling me that."

"You wound me, little Yugi," mocked Pharaoh. "Are you so willing to cast aside our relationship after everything we've been through together?"

"He's right," came Tea's voice from behind Yugi.

Both duelists looked over at her. Her hands were clasped down in front of her, and she seemed to be shaking with nervous energy.

"You don't get to call him that, because you're not Atem."

"Oh?" mused Pharaoh. "And I suppose you're an expert on this subject?"

Tea simply glared at him.

"Of course, I suppose you might think you are. You were foolish enough to think that a gnat such as yourself could be capable of restraining the impulses of a God. So I suppose that, combined with your perpetual fascination with me might lead to your presumption of-…"

"Don't give yourself so much credit," she hissed, interrupting.

Pharaoh narrowed his eyes. "Feisty. A good example of why humanity needs some obedience and discipline beaten into it."

Tea was about to retort again, when Yugi held up a hand, meeting her gaze and nodding tersely, as if to say, "I've got this."

She wasn't cowed, but fell silent nonetheless.

Pharaoh chuckled. "Bravo, Yugi, I see you're able to keep your wench in line. Shame that you were unable to do so atop that tower when we dueled Kaiba."

Yugi's eyes twitched at the use of the word "wench" but he simply snarled, "Are you done?"

"Ah yes, I almost forgot about our little game. I suppose I am, so I will turn the board over to you."

Yugi paused before drawing, making a concerted effort to get his breathing under control. Losing his temper was not going to be conducive to winning this duel.

He brightened when he saw what his next draw was.

"I activate Mythical Bestiary, which allows me to place two spell counters on any card on my field: I of course choose Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700)."

The other two orbs on the spellcaster's robes lit up as Yugi finished speaking.

"You know what that means. I now sacrifice him to call out, from my deck, my greatest monster… Dark Magician (2500/2100)!"

The black robed mage vanished in a small flash of light, but replacing him was the classic spellcaster, wearing purple armor and flowing robes. He wore a long, dark violet, tipped magician's hat, and held out a pale green and yellow-ringed staff, pointing it at Pharaoh's army of Ojamachine Yellow Tokens. His armor seemed to be covered with mysterious runes.

Pharaoh smirked.

"Ah, yet another former servant of mine from a time long past."

Yugi did not respond to this, but the Dark Magician was fixing his opponent with a cold and contemptuous stare.

"Next, time's up for your Token: I activate Thousand Knives!"

Several glowing knives with maroon-colored hilts all materialized in mid-air around Yugi's iconic monster.

"When Dark Magician is in play I can now automatically destroy one monster on your field! Go, take out his strongest Token!"

As he spoke, the mage swung its staff forward, directing the knives forward. The gnome dodged the first few by comically hopping from one foot to the other, but eventually enough of them skewered him so that he couldn't move anymore before he was shattered into pixels by a steady barrage of the remaining ones, departing with a high-pitched squeal.

"The Tokens all deal you three hundred points of damage as well when they're destroyed," warned Pharaoh.

(Pharaoh: 8000, Yugi: 7400)

Yugi ignored the jab of pain he felt and then pointed at the remains of Pharaoh's field.

"Dark Magician, Tricky… Destroy two of his three remaining Tokens!"

The former lowered his staff while raising his other hand, palm flat and pointing at one of the gnomes. His brow furrowed, and the gnome froze, the air around him seemingly turning purple for a moment before he shattered into pixels.

The latter, meanwhile, had fired off another question mark-shaped energy blast which obliterated its own target, leaving only one on Pharaoh's field.

"Don't forget, the destruction of each Token will drain you of three hundred life-points," warned Pharaoh with a cruel smile.

(Pharaoh: 8000, Yugi: 6800)

Yugi grimaced in pain again, but it was worth it. His opponent's field was finally almost clear, soon he would be able to launch a counterattack on Pharaoh's life-points in earnest.

"I end my turn there."

Pharaoh drew.

"Ah, yes… That'll do. I place one card facedown and end my turn there."

Yugi narrowed his eyes in suspicion as he drew.

"So defensive… What's he playing at?"

He hadn't drawn a monster yet, but he still had enough to finally take a chunk out of his opponent's life-points.

"Tricky, attack his final Ojamachine Token!"

The masked magician raised his hands and once more fired off the purple question mark. It slammed into the last gnome, who barely had time to squeal before exploding.

(Pharaoh: 8000, Yugi: 6500)

"Now, it's time for a taste of your own medicine… Dark Magician, attack his life-points directly!"

The iconic wizard this time raised his staff, grasping it with one hand on the middle and the other near the base. A sphere of green energy glowed around the tip, growing in size before being fired off directly at Pharaoh. It hit him straight in the midsection, with enough force to knock most people off their feet.

Instead, the olive skinned-man simply tightened his jaw and didn't break his line of gaze, which was directly at Yugi.

(Pharaoh: 5500, Yugi: 6500)

"I end my turn," muttered Yugi.

As Pharaoh slid the top card off his deck, a low and deep pulse seemed to reverberate throughout the room. It was almost as if the air around them had just shuddered.

He looked up at Yugi with a mad glint in his eyes.

"You recall, aibou, how I compared the way you were underestimating Ojamachine Yellow with how so many have done so with you, to their detriment."

"What do you even mean?" growled Yugi.

"That's exactly what you're about to find out," drawled Pharaoh, sliding a card into his Dia-Dhank. "First I activate Awakening from Beyond, which allows me to add one monster from my graveyard to my hand. Meanwhile, you draw two cards."

Yugi wasn't exactly unhappy about the ability to add to his options but he knew there was going to be a catch.

"Next, I'll immediately summon the Ojamachine Yellow (0/100) I just added back to my hand."

The grinning yellow gnome reappeared, followed immediately by another four clones of it filling the rest of Pharaoh's monster card zones.

Yugi grimaced. It was now going to cost him another fifteen hundred life-points and multiple turns to have another crack at his opponent's life-points. Somehow, however, Pharaoh's prior words made him feel like something worse was on the way…

"Finally, I activate Quick Summon, giving me an extra normal summon this turn. Then, I offer a triple sacrifice…"

"What?!" Yugi managed, his eyes bulging as the middle three gnomes on Pharaoh's field vanished into balls of light, which then shot up into the ceiling. The air in the room, ordinarily static, had somehow picked up motion and was blowing in every direction.

"Bare witness to the unchained divine power of the Pharaoh, foolish mortal!" roared Pharaoh, his voice booming even over the gusting winds. The Millennium Items floating behind him glowed with blinding intensity, practically forming an indoor sun.

The three spheres of light had merged into a one single larger orb of black energy above Pharaoh's field, and as it descended it began to grow much larger in size with each second, until it covered almost the entirety of his field and almost reached the cavernous ceiling of the throne room.

The energy then began to recede, revealing the form of a serpentine, red and black monster. The front of its body was shaded with a dry blood-like color. Mechanical rib cages and plates completed the monster's armor-like design. Four red rubies displayed on the front of the monster, protecting its thin arms. It had two massive, four-clawed hands and a light-beige head that was shaped like an odd helmet, containing the small and red-eyed face. Long, bronze horns shot out of its forehead.

"Come serve me, Wicked God – Eraser (X000/X000)!"

The creature let out an ear-splitting screech, causing Tea to cry out in pain and grab the sides of her head, sinking to her knees.

Yugi twisted to look at her in concern for a moment before turning back to face his opponent, a grim look on his face. The powerful winds were still blowing, yet he stood firm in their wake. Both remaining Ojamachine Yellow Tokens on Atem's field had comically fallen over on either side of the new arrival, staring at it with trepidation.

"What is-…"

"The Wicked God – Eraser is the instrument by which I will bring humanity to heel!" crowed Pharaoh. "I will shape the world according to my vision, I will choose who lives and who dies… I will be GOD!"

He drew his arm back in a grand flourish before continuing with a wicked smile, "And just like my harmless Ojamachine Yellow gave way to my Wicked God… You were what triggered my arrival into this world, Yugi."

"I'm here to duel, not listen to your insane ranting," ground out Yugi through clenched teeth.

"Ah, I see the truth hurts, aibou," taunted Pharaoh. "Fear not, soon my Wicked God will be causing you enough pain to subsume the rest of it. But first, I will explain how it draws power: Wicked God – Eraser gains one thousand attack and defense points for each card on your field."

"I have only two, which means…"

"Yes, Eraser (2000/2000) is too weak to challenge your Dark Magician… for now. However…"

Pharaoh's facedown card flipped up, revealing purple borders and a young man surrounded by three skeletal figures, each glowing a different shade of green.

"I activate Nightmare Archfiends: by tributing one monster on my field, I can now special summon three Nightmare Archfiend Tokens (2000/2000)… to your side of the field."

Yugi's eyes widened as one of the two remaining Ojamachine Tokens on Pharaoh's field vanished, while his own three remaining monster card zones were filled up with the skeletal imp-like figures that had glowing red eyes and twig-like limbs.

Meanwhile, the dark divine beast on Pharaoh's field glowed with black energy (5000/5000).

"Damnit…"

Thick mist had began to build up around the bottom half of the Wicked God on Pharaoh's field.

"Now, my Eraser… Exterminate his Dark Magician. Black God Eraser Cannon!"

The God had raised its hands up in front of it, pointing them directly at the Dark Magician. The mist from beneath it began to rush upward in streams, forming into a sphere right above its hands and in front of its jaws.

Suddenly, the blue gemstone in its chest glowed, and the accumulated ball of mist then exploded outward into a bolt of lightning that lanced towards the purple-robed spellcaster. He raised his lance reflexively as a defense, but it was to no avail: the bolt exploded as soon as it made contact with him, obscuring the field in smoke. When it cleared, the iconic magician was gone.

Yugi, meanwhile, staggered forward, barely keeping his balance as he gagged in pain.

(Pharaoh: 5500, Yugi: 4000)

"Now are you beginning to understand the depth of your failure, aibou?" queried Pharaoh, softly. "This is the power of the Pharaoh fully unleashed, the power that now guides the primitive race that is humanity to a higher path."

Yugi was still panting with exertion, unable to speak while slowly shaking off the ache of being dealt fifteen hundred points of damage. Instead, another voice interjected.

"Yugi is not responsible for your actions," snapped Tea hotly, loud enough to draw Pharaoh's gaze.

"Ah, the wench can't keep her opinions to himself," he replied, still in a dangerously soft voice.

She was not intimidated.

"Even if you exist somewhere in another universe and you really did all these horrible things, that's not Yugi's fault. He also completed the Millennium Puzzle here and also brought out the Pharaoh, our Pharaoh, the real one, and he didn't turn out anything like you. You're a monster because of who you are… and that has nothing to do with either Yugi or our Atem."

Pharaoh's face had now broken out into a cruel smirk.

"Deluded fool. Do you think I am the only thing that I was referring to when I said my dear aibou was the key to destroying the world?"

He raised a fist until it was level with his face and jerked his thumb behind him. It took Tea a second to realize that he was pointing at the embalmed heads on the wall behind him. The heads of Pegasus, Marik, Bakura and Kaiba.

"When he completed the Puzzle, he brought Shadow magic back to this plane of existence. The corrupt designs of those individuals all wreaked havoc on this world in their mad pursuit for the power of the Puzzle," continued Pharaoh. "In fact, he should be thanking me, since I was the one who finally corrected these wrongs and restored order to this fallen world."

"Yeah, I really don't think you're really in a position to be calling anyone else corrupt," grunted Yugi, finally seemingly over the effects of the Wicked God's attack.

"Either way, the blame still lies at your feet, does it not?" scoffed Pharaoh. "You are the one who completed the Puzzle and returned Shadow magic to this dimension… And for what? So that you could have your pitiful wish fulfilled?"

Yugi stiffened at this, but didn't respond.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" put in Tea, confused by Pharaoh's last statement.

He grinned maliciously. "Oh, the wench doesn't know, does she aibou?"

"Stop calling her that," snapped Yugi.

Pharaoh ignored this. "Oh, how truly pathetic. I suppose you never told anyone, did you?"

He then turned to Tea before continuing, "You see, the box containing the Millennium Puzzle had a message inscribed on it that stated, "The person who solves this puzzle will have their wish granted." As it turns out, little Yugi here was isolated and friendless at the time and took this to heart. He completed the Puzzle hoping for an end to his loneliness, and in doing so unleashed hell upon the rest of the world."

Tea felt her heart drop. She was stunned; this was something she had never known about her friend.

"Yugi…"

He didn't respond, simply remaining silent with his head slightly bowed so that his ridiculously long bangs cast a shadow over his eyes.

"Yes, you wished for friends, didn't you my aibou?" sneered Pharaoh cruelly. "And sure enough the Puzzle did grant them to you," he pointed at Tea before continuing, "Yet at what cost? So that they could then experience the various horrors you had unleashed upon the world up close and personal by your side?"

"Shut UP!" screamed Tea, her voice shaking. "We're not friends with Yugi because of some magical wish, and he isn't responsible for anything that happened to us. Everything we got involved in was through our own choices and I, for one, don't regret any of it. So stop playing your mind games on him!"

"You can call them mind games if you wish but Yugi knows that my words represent frank truth, nothing more and nothing less. After all, I was literally a part of him at one point, which means that I share all his memories… I saw the deep inadequacy he felt before completing the Puzzle. It's not hard to see how those same feelings would return once the Pharaoh you knew left this world… Especially since he's always known that you preferred me over him," Pharaoh replied, the last sentence leaving his mouth with an especially malignant glint in his eyes.

Tea felt her breath catch in her chest again, and before she could find the words to retort angrily, she was cut off.

"Enough," rasped Yugi, finally raising his head so that his eyes were visible again. They were cold and impassive.

"Ah, so eager to face my Wicked God again?" derided Pharaoh. "Does the truth of my words cut so deep that Eraser's wrath would be preferable?"

"Just go," came the frigid reply.

Pharaoh shrugged. "Well, there will be plenty of time to talk about these, as I'm under no illusions this duel will end anytime soon. My turn will end here."

Wicked God – Eraser (4000/4000) was now slightly weaker but still towered over Yugi's Tricky and the trio of Archfiend Tokens on his field.

Yugi drew, bringing his hand size to five.

"I switch Tricky and the three Archfiend Tokens to defense mode. Then I'll place one card facedown and end my turn there," he finished quietly. (Wicked God – Eraser = 5000/5000)

Pharaoh snapped the top card off his deck, but his eyes remained fixed on his opponent in a piercing gaze.

"Where is your prior vigor, aibou?" he asked in a dangerously quiet voice. "It seems to me that all of a sudden the fire inside you has been extinguished."

"You don't want to know what's inside me," retorted Yugi flatly.

"Oh, I don't?" mocked his opponent. "Perhaps my Wicked God does then."

He thrust his hand forward. "Eraser, destroy one of the Archfiend Tokens."

The mist around the serpentine titan once again began to coalesce into a sphere beneath its maw, and a lightning bolt lanced outward, shattering one of the glowing gremlins on Yugi's field. Given it was in defense mode, he didn't expect to feel another stab of pain in his side when this happened.

(Pharaoh: 5500, Yugi: 3200)

"Perhaps I forgot to mention that when a Nightmare Archfiend Token is destroyed, you're dealt eight hundred points of damage," taunted Pharaoh (Wicked God – Eraser = 4000/4000).

Yugi did not respond. His gaze remained fixed on the ground right in front of him with an almost unflinching focus.

Pharaoh was about to follow this up with further derision, but he stopped, seemingly intrigued at the intensity with which Yugi seemed to be staring at a piece of sandstone.

"I set one card facedown and end my turn there."

Yugi did not draw. He just kept staring at the ground, almost refusing to blink, as if he was trying to bore a hole through it using just his eyes.

"Too afraid to confront your past?" snorted Pharaoh. "Has Eraser finally brought out the lonely and easily terrified little boy you once were prior to completing the Puzzle?"

Still no response. In fact, Yugi had dropped down to his knees, one hand flat on the ground.

"Yugi!" cried out Tea in concern, taking a tentative step forward.

The scene remained almost frozen like that for a moment. Yugi on his knees, Pharaoh looking down at him in condescension and Tea halfway between staying where he was and running forward to comfort her friend, whom she thought was overwhelmed by the moment.

But then… then.

The ground began to shake. It was almost imperceptible at first, but it soon grew in intensity.

"What's this-…" began Pharaoh, before he then noticed something else.

The ground under Yugi's hand was glowing. Glowing with almost blinding intensity in fact. It also seemed as if Yugi was trying to pull something out of the light.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Twenty floors beneath him, Kaiba felt it.

He didn't know how and he'd never be able to explain it to anyone, but he knew.

"Yugi… He's done it too!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yugi had now gotten to his feet, with his right arm raised above his head. In it was a card. A card that he seemed to have pulled out of the shining light in the ground.

A card with red borders, arguably the only Duel Monsters card ever printed with such.

"I sacrifice all three of my monsters," he stated simply.

The Tricky and remaining two Archfiend Tokens all turned into spheres of white energy which then shot up into the ceiling above them, in which a hole had now opened up, growing in size every moment.

"This… can't be," uttered Pharaoh, frozen which shock at what was happening.

"The heavens twist and thunder roars, signaling the coming of this ancient creature," muttered Yugi. A deafening sound, part shriek and part roar, practically split the air in half.

"… And the dawn of true power."

A titanic red form began pressing through the now enormous hole in the ceiling.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Well, that did take longer than expected, which I apologize for. This should have been up 10-12 days ago but I did a bit of traveling and then fell ill, which really made work on the last part of this chapter drag.

In any case, the ending was one of the moments I envisioned very early on once I decided to write a post-DSoD story so that was very hype to finally get out.

Also want to add: the idea of having Pharaoh use Ojama monsters and the metaphor they served was 7th Librarian's idea, so props to him once again for helping me figure that part out.

I promise the next one will be written much quicker. I can see the end of this story on the horizon and I want to finish this story sooner rather than later. That being said, reviews will definitely help me in the motivation department. Especially those of you who have added me to notifications, I would really appreciate a few words of feedback if you have the time.

Galaxyquest240: I am very glad you enjoyed the last chapter and hope this one is meeting your expectations so far! This duel will likely be a three-parter so strap yourself in, it's only going to get wilder from here.

ChroniclerDL: Yeah, Sylar is a bit of a brat to say the least. I didn't get the chance to delve this far into his character when I was writing Nightrise so I am happy that I was able to write that part out. Fun fact regarding Orochi: the original card it was based on was something I used back in early 2008 for my very first YGO story: Advent of Power. Metal Overlord 2.0 designed the Cyber Venom version a couple years later and it FINALLY made its long delayed writing debut in 2023 lmao.

Metal Overlord 2.0: Yes indeed, Nightrise DID play out fully somewhere in the multiverse and when this story is finished I will post the full summary of Nightrise as well. I think you probably know most of the twists that were planned but there were a few I still had in the chamber I think.

I'm glad you liked what I did with Joey's deck, I went for a vintage feel but with upgrades, and that's exactly what I'm going to be doing with Yugi and Kaiba's as well. My goal with the duels of this story is to feel as close to DM as possible, where every move has weight and the pace isn't out of control. Boss monsters exist but they're not as ludicrously over the top as Nightrise. I initially wanted to have Yugi and Joey bring out Dark Dragoon in a tag duel but I couldn't figure out decent opponents and I think that it fits with the theme of Joey using a bunch of Red-Eyes fusions.

Glad to see you're excited about Yugi's duel, hope it's lived up to your expectations so far!

Well, that will do it for now. Like I said, will do my best to put up the next chapter sooner, in the meantime your feedback will be VERY much appreciated!