The Vicious Devil's Wrath
A Yu-Gi-Oh GX one-shot by Yung Warrior
"Hey, check it out, Yubel! We're at the abandoned dorm now!" Jaden Yuki chirped sheerily as they stood outside of the blackened, dilapidated husk.
"Yes, I noticed." Yubel rolled all three of her eyes as her demonic form materialized at her king's side. Though she loved him dearly, his penchant for stating the obvious was wearisome. "It was my idea to come here, remember?"
"Yeah, you had me skip class for it." Jaden replied with faux-remorse, his hint of sly humor charming her right back again.
"As if you would have learned anything anyways." She yawned. "Besides, this is a better use of our time. Whenever you're stuck in class, so am I…and the abandoned dorm is right here. I want to know what the story behind this place really is."
Jaden opened his mouth to reply, before closing it, realizing he didn't really understand what really went down at this place either. He remembered hearing bits and pieces from Banner, Alexis and Atticus. It seemed his fallen teacher was the only one who knew what really happened, and what exactly he had done there. But Banner's spirit refused to speak on it nowadays, no matter how hard Jaden pressed. As an incorporeal spirit, Banner was untouchable now and if he refused to speak, that was the end of it.
But both the Slifer Red and his devilish companion were too curious for their own good, and Jaden greatly desired to uncover the real truth behind the abandoned dorm, so they broke down the ramshackle wooden boards that covered the entrance and headed inside. Immediately, Jaden flared his black and gold energy as the abyssal pressure of the cursed place fell over him and Yubel, their pace momentarily stopped as they adjusted to the sludgy morass of the dorm's mysterious dark aura.
Their eyes glowed like lamps in the black, Jaden's remaining their usual warm brown while Yubel's blazing orange shocking teal irises roved about the walls and floors, warning Jaden of any rickety or unstable boards as they descended into the basement.
A glimmer of gold caught the edge of Jaden's vision, and they both drew closer to it. It was a bewitching sight, not because of the wealth ordinary gold promised, but instead due to the hidden power that seemed to lurk within it as tendrils of black smoke seemed to leak from the steel. "Wowzers, do you sense the power coming off that thing? What do you suppose it could be?" Jaden wondered, reaching out to poke the object.
"Wait Jaden, maybe we shouldn't touch - oh." Yubel warned, then cringed as he proceeded to touch the metal anyways, only for nothing to happen. "Huh, usually when that happens -" She began to muse.
"BAAWWWWW!" A surge of black aura, blacker than even the darkness already present in the derelict basement, surged upwards suddenly, causing both of them to be thrown backwards. Jaden hit the wall with a hard thud while Yubel's astral form harmlessly passed through the foundation, until she looped back around, intent on staying close to Jaden's side.
"My king, are you alright?" She immediately went to check on him, only to find Jaden had slumped over unconscious from the force of the blow. "That should not be…Jaden is normally much more durable than this." She peered over at the mass of dark energy in front of her. "This is not an ordinary power…" The demon mused as the smoke began to form and solidify.
"Indeed it is not…" A sly, mocking voice chuckled. The darkness paled and gave way to clever brown eyes, ghostly pale skin, and long white hair that flared out like a bat's wings. The man was stick-thin, pulsating black veins visible just beneath the flesh. His garb, an ordinary white and blue striped tee shirt with stone-washed jeans, only lent to the uncanny nature of his appearance. "It is far more than you realize. And only a piece of the whole, to boot." He bared a fanged grin.
Yubel's eyes widened. "I know you…I know your face. But from where…" Her memory had never been the best even thousands of years ago when she was young. The millennia since, and the events that transpired in that time, had done little to improve her memory or sanity.
"Well, there are many of me, but let us not get lost in semantics…it does little to change the nature of things as they are. Call me Bakura, the last survivor of Kul Elna, the master of the Millennium Ring, and the herald of the dark one." He spread his arms out and opened his palms as if to invite an embrace. "Or a piece of him, anyways. You see, I did not have many friends while I lived, so I spread little piecemeal portions of my soul across the world in my travels, so I might live on eternally."
"You're that guy from the battle city finals." Yubel realized, having memories of watching the tournament with Jaden when he was a little boy. "I must say, I've always liked your style. But you haven't made the best first impression, harming my beloved king so." She leaned down to wipe a trickle of blood from the unconscious Jaden's forehead. Sure enough, he wasn't too seriously injured, and would wake up soon…but perhaps not soon enough, depending on the intentions of this mischievous sprite in front of her.
"Ah, if you say so. I confess, I was separated from my original host before that happened. But I assure you, I have much of his power." Bakura looked down upon the form of Jaden as well. "And I have long sought a new host to resume my quest for the Millennium Items. That boy at your side has quite a powerful command of duel energy…but it looks like you're already using his body. I don't suppose you have room for one more in there?" He questioned impishly, unaware of the nature of Jaden and Yubel's relationship.
Yubel frowned, her possessive instincts immediately rising at the thought. "His body, mind and soul belong to me. That is the end of it. We were merely interested in exploring the root cause of the dark presence in this place. If you are the root of the foul acts that have occurred here, I would not be surprised."
"I did bear witness to the truth of this dormitory, true. But information is the most valuable currency in this world, much more than money and cards. I am open to a bargain, if you truly wish to know the facts as they happened." The pale man ventured.
Yubel considered it, but knew there was no way she could trust Bakura, knowing what little she did of him and sensing the duplicitous, layered nature of his duel energy. "You seem to me like someone who would rather climb a tree and tell a lie than stand on the ground and tell the truth. I know it because you are like me."
This did not dissuade Bakura's seeming good cheer. "That boy seems pure as fresh snow, whereas I can practically smell the poison off of you. You make a curious pair, to be sure…I have met my share of duel spirits, particularly fiends. Tell me, does he let you fight and kill as you please?" He probed.
Yubel took a deep breath. Her own body began to solidify and take shape, becoming corporeal as she drew on Jaden's duel energy alongside her own. Opening her eyes again, she replied, "He does not, but it is a compromise I am happy to accept. Jaden is my king and lover. His will is mine."
Bakura clucked his tongue, waving his fingers in a patronizing 'tut-tut' motion. "He appears asleep for the moment. You seem loyal to him, so it would appear my only chance to gain a physical body is through force. And yet, perhaps that is for the best, as I may give you a moment's joy of indulging your appetites before placing you to sleep as well, foul spirit."
Yubel's blood ran hot. "I did not anticipate a duel using entirely my own power ever again…you will make the perfect victim." Her thick energy began to rise skyward as a fleshy, veined duel disk protruding from her forearm. "Yes, no one will mind if I take my liberties with you…let out a little of what I have been holding back…" She justified it thinly. "A chance to reveal my true power once again, the power of Yubel, the mightiest duel spirit!"
"That's the spirit." Bakura snickered at his own pun before a duel disk formed on his own arm from threads of shadow. "The table has been set, so let us begin…" The silver-haired spirit's eyes glimmered in the low lighting, slanted pillars of dusty light poking through small cracks in the shanty house's roof and walls. Likewise, Yubel's shocking teal and burning orange irises stayed fixed on the mysterious opponent even as the rest of her winged body was cast in darkness, hovering protectively over the slumped form of her lover.
"It will be enjoyable to play with someone who understands the stakes of what is at hand, someone who knows the true nature of this game as I do. When I hear ignorant children refer to Duel Monsters as a way of connecting hearts, I confess to a feeling of illness, for I know, I have seen how this game was created with my own eyes while they have not. It was birthed in the blood of my friends and family. The blood of Kul Elna." Bakura hissed, even this small fragment of his soul holding onto the intense hatred and misery that the massacre inspired. He refused to let the name fade into the annals of time.
"Ah, but it is a way of connecting hearts, or a way of understanding them at least.. This game protected the bond between my king and I, when everything seemed set to tear us apart…including his own wishes." A flicker of resentment crossed Yubel's features, but it was soon replaced by the overwhelming devotion she had, and always would have, for her lover.
"You are a peculiar one indeed. I look forward to the truths this fight will reveal. I'll begin…I activate Dark Spirit's Mastery! By discarding a card, I can add my Destiny Board trap to my hand." Bakura smirked, knowing that his unorthodox tactics would be enough to befuddle most ordinary, straightforward duelists. He knew nothing of Yubel's abilities though, and expected from the depth of her energy and appearance that she would be a little more challenging than the usual duel spirit.
At Yubel's lack of outward reaction, Bakura continued, "I'll set four cards and end my turn." He said carelessly before the shadowy tablets of the set cards appeared in front of him. "It's your move…"
Yubel furrowed her brow. In her centuries of life, she had seen much and more of the vile creatures, dark spells and underhanded traps a man like Bakura would use, even before their magical essences were shelled within the cards. It had taken a moment, but she had been able to recall Destiny Board as well, and knew that it would require all of the enemy's spell and trap zones to spell out the death curse. However, there was a reason it was so obscure, as the ouija board was rather easy to shatter under most circumstances. Still, she did her best to temper any preconceived notions - since reuniting with Jaden, Yubel's mad impulses had eased, and she found herself more open-minded towards an opponent's style, in an effort to share her beloved's temperament.
Her clawed hands gripped the drawn card eagerly. It took a moment to get used to playing her own deck, but only a moment. The powers at Yubel's grasp were vast, especially since they were on the island… "I reveal my field spell, Nightmare Throne!" The dark, musty chambers of the abandoned dorm were swept away and replaced by a pristine, empty chamber of shimmering holographic steel, rainbow colors seeming to vibrate in and out of perception. Yubel carried the unconscious Jaden up to the feet of the cobalt seat at the center of the chamber, where he would be away from the fighting. Then, she unfurled her webbed wings before flying down to face the spectral Bakura once more. "This field will bring close a card near and dear to me, Spirit of Yubel. Then, by revealing Spirit of Yubel in my hand, I can summon two monsters!"
Bakura was startled to find a heavy, hulking steel golem clank and whirr as it rose beside him. All the while, an ephemeral, hazy twin of Yubel herself stood beside her. "The effect of Geist Grinder Golem (3000/300) summons itself to your field, while Spirit of Yubel (0/0) is summoned to mine."
Bakura frowned, vaguely recalling memories of his fraught partnership with Marik Ishtar. In a duel, any gift to the enemy was poisoned, and Marik had one such card in his own deck. He knew that he should be anything but thankful that Yubel gave him this automaton. Likewise, he of all people would know better than to underestimate a monster with no attack or defense points, when those were often the most fearsome creatures of all.
"Spirit of Yubel allows me to play a continuous spell directly from my deck, a particular favorite of mine - Nightmare Pain!" Bursting from the steel floor, an array of venous, thick green vines shot up, their tips barbed and pointed. Yubel knew that Jaden disapproved of cards like these, which made it somewhat of a relief that he was unconscious at the moment. A rare chance to really have some fun…why waste it? "With Nightmare Pain, I'll destroy the Spirit of Yubel to add a monster that mentions my name from my deck to my hand!" The ivy constricted around the Spirit of Yubel, a gleeful grin on her face as she was squeezed tighter and tighter before eventually popping in a burst of pomegranate-colored duel energy.
"Any monster that mentions your name? A bit egotistical, are we?" Bakura mocked with a sly grin.
"Oh, you haven't seen half of it yet. When Spirit of Yubel is destroyed, its effect materializes my corporeal form in this realm, who I truly am, Yubel (0/0)!" The deep red fluids splashed over the floor before gradually reforming and coalescing into a solid form, an identical clone of Yubel. "And that's not all…Nightmare Throne allows me to summon my evolved form alongside my base form! Unleash your misery, Yubel - Terror Incarnate (0/0)!"
The throne which Jaden rested on glowed with unearthly power, the Slifer Red blissfully oblivious to it all as he slept beneath the spell of Bakura's mystical powers. Rising from the shadow of the seat, a violet and black-scaled dragon howled with wild anger, its twin heads joined at a muscular torso, where a singular, turned-over orange eye bulged at Bakura in a vain attempt to frighten him. The white-haired ghoul said nothing yet, though his fingers eagerly waited to flip over his set cards.
Yubel's silver and purple hair flared outwards as she bared her fangs. "I don't know why you have that smirk on your face - this duel is over now! I activate the effect of Gruesome Grave Squirmer (0/0) in my hand! This fiend summons itself and destroys another monster I control!" On one side of the demon appeared a bandaged mummy, its bloody talons and dark wings similar to Yubel itself. Simultaneously, a whirlwind of dirty white gauze shot up from the ground and ensconced Terror Incarnate, the dragon letting out another wail of agony before it was crushed beneath the sudden bindings.
"Most curious. I can respect your unconventional ideas…" Bakura mused, though he still was far from scared. "I can read as well as any man. You're intending to use the power of the Grinder Golem on my field against me, aren't you?"
"Grr…you talk like you aren't about to die! Come forth, my final form! Yubel - The Ultimate Nightmare (0/0)!" In the place of Terror Incarnate emerged an even more horrifying creature, an eldritch mass of eyes and faces where they should not be, laid all over the demonic dragon's hulking, fierce frame, black fur contrasting with rippling muscles. Even the mere sight of the monster was sufficient to drive lesser duelists to drooling madness, but naturally the spirit of the Millennium Ring was unphased. "Now, back to the ancient past where you belong! I attack Geist Grinder Golem with Yubel!"
The metal monstrosity on Bakura's field glowed with an odd blue light as it seemed to draw Yubel in like a moth to flame, the demon's rictus grin only widening as it flew towards the enemy. The key to victory was in the Nightmare Pain continuous spell. As long as it was on the field, Bakura would suffer all of the damage from battles that Yubel would normally take. This allowed her to use the enemy's power against them, and if they did not summon a powerful monster of their own, then Grinder Golem would serve just as well. By reflecting the power of Grinder Golem back multiple times, Yubel planned to win this turn.
"How unfortunate, that you think even a fragment of my soul would be vanquished so readily. You really must not know your history." Bakura grinned. "I reveal my trap card, Metaverse, allowing me to play my own field spell from the deck."
The vast, iron-gray sky of Nightmare Throne's world began to shift and warp, bloody crimson blossoming over the clouds and casting the plane below in an eerie red glow. Swollen, ruddy eyeballs dotted the sky, leering down at Yubel with intense focus. They were accompanied by wide rows of teeth and hungry lips that opened and closed intermittently. Meanwhile, inky black shades of a faraway castle loomed far behind Bakura. "Welcome to my realm…the realm of Dark Sanctuary!"
Yubel paused, her grin faded to a frown. Bakura reared up and stood tall, his own fangs exposed as he smiled. "With this on the field, I toss a coin whenever you attack me, and if it lands on heads, that attack is negated and you take damage equal to half of your attacking monster's power. Not a problem for you, I suppose, considering all of your monsters have zero attack points." He said with a sly look. "So, will you continue to attack me?"
Trepidatious of his other trap cards, Yubel decided to hold off. She needed to land attacks with boh Yubel and the Ultimate Nightmare to win, and it was unlikely both would go through, especially with Bakura's other traps in play. "Tch, fine…I'll set a monster and one more card face-down before ending my turn…" She hissed in frustration. Growing so close to drinking the enemy's blood only to be denied at the last moment was driving her appetite wild.
"I thought so. In the end phase, I'll reveal my trap, Destiny Board! Above his head, a brown, wooden ouija board inlaid with little blue sprites of hellish flame appeared. One of the fires burned larger and brighter than the others, a gap in the flames spelling out the letter D. "Tell me, do you know of this card's power?" He teased, although any duelist worth their salt was familiar with Destiny Board from watching the Battle City tournament finals thirteen years ago, which was the most widely viewed Duel Monsters tournament of all time up to that point.
"I know you'll need every one of your spell and trap zones to spell out your little death curse, which will be rather difficult since you already have two other face-downs there." Yubel mocked, refusing to be intimidated.
"Ah, that's where you're wrong. Dark Sanctuary allows me to place my Spirit Messages in the monster zones as well, tokens with no attack or defense points that are unaffected by other cards effects and cannot be attacked." With a vampiric grin, Bakura placed his first Spirit Message E on the field, two of the five letters lighting up his board.
"And you'll see that I've devised methods of spelling out my special little word all the more quickly! Reveal face-down continuous trap, Sentence of Doom!" Bakura declared, with violet duel energy rising around his body. "Since I control two Spirit Messages, I can return two fiend monsters in my graveyard or banishment back to my hand."
Yubel's hackles were definitely raised now. Even though it was her turn, it felt like Bakura had subtly at first, then overtly taken control of everything while she was making her moves. "During the end phase, I must sacrifice a monster to keep my physical form on the field…" She growled, taking out some frustration on Gruesome Grave Squirmer. She squished its head beneath her clawed fist, absorbing its essence to fuel herself.
"In that case, it's my turn…" Bakura liked to trail off and let his words linger in the air as the opponent was frozen in fright, or perhaps caution was the better word for one such as Yubel, who had committed atrocities and been the victim of the same, and wasn't scared by much either. "During the standby phase, I'll use Sentence of Doom's second effect. By sending it to the card graveyard, I can play another Spirit Message from my deck!" The third Spirit Message, with the letter A emblazoned on its emblem, flew forth onto Bakura's field.
"And by discarding a card from my hand, I can use another trap card - Booby Trap E. This lets recycle one continuous trap from my grave and use it again this turn." He said with languid calm.
"At the start of the main phase, Pot of Extravagance will let me draw two cards at the cost of banishing six random cards from my fusion deck face-down." Bakura carelessly threw the cards from his extra deck to the ground, probably only playing them for the sake of using this card. The strewn cards went up in plumes of black smoke while he replenished his hand. "From there, I'll call upon the magic of Second Coin Toss, allowing me to repeat a coin toss if the result displeases me."
Yubel frowned, knowing that this would make it nearly impossible to pierce through his Dark Sanctuary's red miasma. But the worst was yet to come. "Contrary to what you might assume, I know of ways to purge demons as well as birth them. Come forth, Jowgen the Spiritualist (200/1300)!" Far more than the high level fiends and demonic beings in Bakura's deck, this was his most fearsome creature of all, a serene, unassuming man in white and red robes, an oaken staff in hand. Its expression was solemn and restrictive befitting its effect, which would prevent both players from special summoning monsters - hardly a problem for Bakura but much more so for his opponent. "With Jowgen's effect, I'll discard the last card in my hand to wipe out all special summoned monsters on the field!" Bakura cackled, the Shinto priest cleansing the realm of the dark spirits - Yubel, Geist Grinder Golem, and Yubel - The Ultimate Nightmare went up in tufts of pitiful white steam.
As Yubel's fingers shook in trepidation, pale blue fires seemed to glow behind Bakura's irises. "The card I just discarded was Curse Necrofear, a level eight fiend. Since I discarded a level eight or higher fiend, my Dark Spirit of Banishment returns from the graveyard to my hand. Now then, it's your move…your last, since my Destiny Board will spell out its special message fully at the end of your turn. Enjoy the last moments of your life as the coffin closes around you!" He cackled, white hair flaring out like wind-whipped snow in a blizzard.
As Yubel drew slowly, she looked to Jaden, knowing that he would likely say something silly about how a duel isn't over until the last card is played or some such nonsense. Even for her, who loved him more than life itself, that sort of prattling got old. And yet, when backed into a corner like this, what choice was there but to fight on as fiercely as possible, to refuse to go gently into the darkness that once consumed her? Though the next draw wasn't helpful, there was one way to break through the tricky labyrinth that Bakura had constructed, with a little luck. "My move…I'll flip summon Grave Squirmer (0/0)!" A bulky, bandaged beast rose from the earth, lacking the demonic wings and talons of its upgraded form.
"Very well. I see what you're doing, but it doesn't matter. I'll activate my Sentence of Doom, sending it to the graveyard to spell out the fourth Spirit Message "T" from my deck!" Bakura interrupted with a careless wave of his hand, believing victory was inevitable.
Yubel was keen to prove him wrong. "Grave Squirmer, attack Jowgen!" She bid desperately. She was at the mercy of Dark Sanctuary twice over, since Bakura could use Second Coin Toss to weigh the scales of fortune his way. But if the attack went through, then the spirit of the ring was in for a nasty surprise.
No fool himself, he was perfectly aware of what Grave Squirmer could do. As the mummy rushed towards his shaman, he lazily grinned, the ghosts of Dark Sanctuary circling around him in ghoulish black and white wisps. "Letting the gods decide your fate, eh? So be it!" The coin was flipped skyward, a golden circle projected through a mixture of the shadow game and the duel disk holograms. Both pairs of eyes followed it until it hit the steel floor, clattering tails.
"Yes!" Yubel exclaimed. While Bakura was slightly irritated at this, he didn't even bother using Second Coin Toss to attempt to stop the blow, allowing Grave Squirmer to encroach only for Jowgen to swipe it away with its staff. "Tch…" Yubel grimaced as the glancing blow caused the shadow game to send pinpricks of pain up and down her spine. (Yubel 3800/Bakura 4000)
"When Grave Squirmer is destroyed by battle, so is the monster that vanquished it! Say goodbye to your pathetic Jowgen!" Yubel howled as the remains of her monster's corpse floated upwards and rotted away Bakura's monsters until even its bones were dissolved into atoms. Although Yubel was glad beyond measure the attack succeeded, she had to wonder why Bakura didn't even try to use his Second Coin Toss…did he truly not care if Jowgen was destroyed? If so, why?
With that, both players were free to special summon once again, although Yubel's ticking clock was very nearly to the hour of her and Jaden's demise, as once the turn ended, the fifth letter of Destiny Board would end them both. Bringing forth all of her cleverness, Yubel began to mount a counteroffensive. "I banish Gruesome Grave Squirmer from my graveyard to revive Spirit of Yubel!"
Her astral twin returned to the field, its ability calling one of her signature spells to the hand. "I'll play the continuous spell Mature Chronicle!" A worn, ratty papyrus tapestry unfurled above Yubel's head, its page depicting an arcane array of symbols with lines interweaving throughout, all signs pointing towards a golden starburst at its center. "Whenever I play a monster that mentions my name, I can add one counter to this card."
"Ha! As you say." Bakura folded his arms, content to watch her flail as the inevitable defeat would no doubt soon befall her.
"I'll also play the continuous spell Nightmare Pain! Once per turn, I can destroy a dark monster in my hand or field to add a monster that mentions my name from deck to hand." Yubel continued smoothly, crushing his astral spirit once more and using its energy to multiply her monsters. Apart from adding Samsara D Lotus to her hand, destroying Spirit of Yubel also triggered its own effect and the effect of Nightmare Throne. "And the fun doesn't stop there. Destroying my spirit will revive my physical form along with Terror Incarnate to the field!" With the original Yubel and its evolution rising alongside the duelist herself, the tapestry of Mature Chronicle began to glow with two golden pinpricks of light on its surface.
Bakura was momentarily startled out of his smug satisfaction as he saw the hulking gray Geistgrinder Golem emerge from the shadows and take its place beside him. "Wherever I go, Geistgrinder Golem follows, rising from the graveyard to your side of the field." Yubel explained as the papyrus gained another small, glowing beacon.
On a roll now, Yubel's form shimmered in a kaleidoscope of rainbow energy. "I'll reveal my face-down trap, Eternal Favorite! By discarding one card from my hand, I can fusion summon using myself and monsters on both sides of the field! Terror Incarnate, become one with Geistgrinder Golem!"
Yubel cackled as the monsters swirled together in a violent purple maelstrom of energy, bolts of electricity illuminating the dark chamber as her new form emerged from clouds of viscous, unearthly miasma. "Come forth, Yubel - The Loving Defender Forever (0/0)!" The new creature had the same form as the duelist herself, with a key difference in the right arm, which had been replaced with a draconic appendage. Sparks of black flame flickered from its maw as her wings unfurled, hovering above Yubel and Bakura. Then, with a sudden wail, the loving defender let loose a wave of bright black flame upon Bakura, the pale spirit raising his arms to shield himself from the fires. "For each monster I use as a fusion material, the loving defender deals you 500 points of damage." Yubel grinned, finally able to damage the enemy as she loved to do. (Yubel 3800/Bakura 3000)
"Urgh…good, finally you're beginning to mount a resistance. But I'm afraid it's too little, too late for you, stray spirit. My last letter will be spelled out. It's inevitable." Bakura grinned. With the letters D, E, A, and T floating in hazy, fiery print around him, it wasn't hard to guess what the fifth letter would be. At the end of the turn, it would all be over.
However, as he spoke, Yubel had raised her free hand, gathering the orange energy from her Mature Chronicle tapestry into her grasp. "Oh, but I'm afraid it's too little, too late for you, actually. I've gathered four counters on my Mature Chronicle spell, and by removing all four, I can use its effect to target and destroy a card on the field!" With a vicious expression, Yubel hurled the fireball directly at Bakura's wooden ouija board, the blow burning it away along with the blue letters in the air around it. Not only that, but it wiped away Bakura's smirk. With his Destiny Board destroyed, all of his other spirit messages went to the card graveyard as well. His expression became pensive and cagey, knowing he would have to resort to his backup plans at this point.
Her smile never fading, Yubel continued, "I'll normal summon Samsara D Lotus (0/0) before ending my turn." By Yubel's side, a pink-petaled flower unfolded, with a small, green body affixed to it. Below the anthropomorphic plant's feet was a lilypad covered with pulsating veins. However, just as soon as it appeared, Yubel grabbed the flowery monster by the heat and crushed it, scattering drops of bright green fluids across the field and her own body. And just as soon as the petals of the lotus burned away, they rematerialized, a cyclical loop of regenerating duel energy. "I need a sacrifice at the end phase to maintain my duel spirit on the field." Yubel explained, licking away a bead of lotus juice at the edge of her lips. "But luckily for me, Samsara D Lotus summons itself from the grave at the end of the turn, as long as I control a Yubel monster."
Bakura slowly drew his next card. At first, a flicker of displeasure marred his delicate features, but it was soon replaced by usual unctuous mask. "Well done on destroying my Destiny Board. Even with my accelerated tactics to complete the message, you still erased it. But if you know anything about me, you ought to realize that it is impossible to completely destroy me. I'll always crawl back, even if only a spark of my consciousness remains. Let me show you! I'll use the effect of Sentence of Doom in my graveyard, banishing it to shuffle the four letters of Destiny Board in my graveyard back into my deck, along with the one I just drew. Then, I can draw five new cards!" Just like that, their expressions changed as Yubel grew defensive at the array of options her enemy now wielded, and what other tricks he may have up his sleeve.
"You know, Yubel, our styles are not so dissimilar. That Nightmare Pain card of yours is right out of my book. If I summon any monsters in attack position, I'll be forced to attack you and reflect the battle damage directly onto myself." Bakura mused. Yubel nodded. It was a devilish magick that could steal games out from under the opponent's nose. "That's why I'd rather just dispel it. I activate the spell Spiritualism, returning your Nightmare Pain to the hand." He continued, trailing waves of white ghostly spirits bouncing away Yubel's spell for a time.
"That's fine, I'll just play it next turn." Yubel shrugged, only for Bakura's smile to widen.
"Will you now? I'll set a card face-down, then use the magic of Card Destruction! Both of us will discard our hands and draw cards equal to the number discarded." The thief king was sure to set the card he needed for pitching the rest of the cards in his grip, looking quite satiated at his new ones while Yubel was displeased at the loss of Nightmare Pain.
"From there, I'll keep drawing with the power of Allure of Darkness, gaining two new cards at the cost of banishing a dark monster from my hand!" Bakura's eyes glimmered as he smoothly transitioned into his secondary strategy. "And the monster I'll banish is Necroface (1200/1800)! Its effect will banish the top five cards from both of our decks!" Bakura carelessly tossed five of his cards into the air, their forms burning away in flowers of shadowy flame. Yubel, for her part, simply set the top five cards on the floor next to her since she didn't have any pockets or slots on the academy duel disk to place them.
"Using the Monster Reborn I just set, I'll revive an Illusion monster known as Golgoil the Steel Seismic Smasher (1800/3200)!" Unlike the ghouls and ghosts that Bakura normally employed, this creature burst from the earth in a cacophony of clanging metal, though the eye of Wdjat at the center of its frame highlighted its true nature, powered by magic and fell arts rather than any true engineering. Its red eyes glowed beneath silver and crimson plate.
"Hehe…let's battle! Gogoil, attack Samsara D Lotus!" The dark spirit commanded with a flare of his white hair, the djinn bearing down on the weak plant and poised to destroy it. Yubel expected as much, and was glad Samsara Lotus was in defense mode. However, the illusion monster's fists passed harmlessly through the enemy monster, and it returned to its master's side of the field without any result from the battle.
"What trickery is this?" Yubel growled, growing weary of Bakura's slippery fighting style, even as part of her was curious about the abilities of these mysterious illusion monsters.
"Whenever my Gogoil battles, neither it or the monster it is fighting are destroyed. However, when it does battle, Golgoil's effect summons one of my banished monsters back to my side of the field. Return, Necroface!" Bakura grinned as his mutated nightmare served him once more, and Yubel's heterochromatic eyes widened as she realized what Bakura's new strategy was.
With fangs bared, Bakura commanded, "Necroface, let's embrace the loving defender!" He cackled as Necroface's tentacles lunged for Yubel's fused form, even the demonic duel spirit repulsed at its proximity. With a wave of black fire from its draconic arm, Yubel vanquished Necroface and banished it. But even this played right into Bakura's hands. (Yubel 3000/Bakura 1800)
"Argh…" He briefly reeled from the damage inflicted by the dark flames, but smiled through the pain. "Your loving defender forever banishes my Necroface upon destroying it, causing us both to banish five more cards from the top of our decks!" Both of their decks were running low on cards, causing Yubel to wonder exactly how Bakura planned to keep himself from defeat. The spirit of the Millennium Ring was far more reckless than she expected, seemingly careless about destroying himself along with his opponent.
"I'll set three cards and end my turn." Both of them only had a few cards left in their decks, but Bakura didn't seem worried in the least. Yubel, for her part, was glad to still have at least one card to draw for her turn.
"My move!" Her draw brought some relief. "I'll use Pot of Acquisitiveness, shuffling three banished cards into my deck, then drawing one!" Apart from staving off the immediate threat of decking out, this allowed Yubel access to a very special card, one that reminded the demonic spirit of her lover and king. With a fond smile, she glanced over at Jaden's form, still but safe beneath the blanket of duel energy she had laid over him.
"This is for you, Jaden." "I sacrifice Samsara Lotus and myself to tribute summon Elemental Hero Neos (2500/2000)!" In a column of rushing winds accompanied by the rich, black canvas of the cosmos, Jaden's own creation appeared, a muscled champion with alien gray skin and blank blue eyes, the boy's childlike imagination given shape and definition by the mysterious powers beyond the stars.
"Then, with the magic of Monster Reborn, I'll revive my monster spirit to my side of the field, which will also place Geistgrinder Golem back to your side of the field!" As Yubel stood alongside Neos, Bakura's slight frame was dwarfed by the iron giant, Geistgrinder Golem seemingly impossible for him to get rid of. Two more counters lit up the paper contract of Mature Chronicle.
"My my, what touching loyalty. It appears that Neos card has some special meaning to you. Does it have anything to do with your vessel over there?" The white-haired ghoul gestured to the slumped Jaden.
"I told you, he is not my vessel! I do not use him as you used others in the past." Yubel passionately protested. Luckily, since Bakura did not know the circumstances behind Jaden and Yubel's reunion, he could not call her out on this questionably true claim. "He is everything to me." Yubel added, and that much no one could doubt.
"As you say. It makes no difference to me, I assure you. But I am curious why you bother using such a monster when it doesn't seem to work well with your other cards. I confess, I always found heroism highly overrated." Bakura smirked, only for his expression to pale further as Yubel revealed the next card in her hand, her aura spiking in a flurry of golden starbursts.
"Neos is in harmony with me, just as I am with Jaden, just as we always will be. Our union is fate and our love is eternal. Nothing is stronger than our bond, and I'll show you that now! I activate Super Polymerization, discarding a card to fuse Neos with me!" The auric sparkles began to cluster together, obscuring the forms of Neos and Yubel as their forms spiraled together in a shower of light.
The kindness of Jaden and the passion of Yubel were tempered in wisdom, the fused form of their monsters releasing a smothering black and gold aura over the battle field. Neos' muscular form was covered in the black carapace of Yubel's own design, with webbed wings protruding from its back. "Come forth, Elemental Hero Neos Kluger (3000/2500)!" Yubel cried, her heart full at the sight of her evolved form the loving defender standing alongside Neos Kluger. It was what she always wanted, to fight alongside Jaden, to be one with him in purpose, in strength, and in thoughts. She only wished he could be awake to see this glorious victory. "And that's not all! Since Yubel left the field, I can summon Terror Incarnate from the graveyard!" The twin-headed dragon loomed over all. With Bakura's field open, Terror Incarnate seemed to place no additional pressure on him, but its true purpose became apparent when the tattered scroll of Mature Chronicle burned orange once more.
"I activate my Mature Chronicle's effect one more time to cleanse this place of your Dark Sanctuary!" With a wave of her clawed hand outlined in blazing blue duel energy, Yubel swiped away the field spell, the swirling red skies and bulging eyeballs of Dark Sanctuary spiraling into nothingness as if flushed down the Slifer Red outhouses. Although Bakura still didn't look worried at his seeming last line of defense being tossed aside, Yubel fell victim to her impetuousness - there was no choice but to charge forward anyways.
"Elemental Hero Neos Kluger, end this duel with Wrathful Force!" A sphere of thick black energy coiled into the fist of the dark hero. He reared his fist back before leaping skyward, wings almost brushing against the ceiling of the abandoned dorm as he fell upon the spirit of the ring.
"Reveal face-down card, Zoma the Earthbound Spirit (1800/500)!" Surrounded by the pale shades of its prior victims, Bakura called on the shambling husk of a decayed dragon's corpse, its reanimated body jerkily moving about like a puppet on strings. "This is a trap monster that I can summon to my field in defense mode, and all monsters you control must attack it!"
Yubel's fanged grin stalled. "What happens when I attack that thing…?" She carefully looked it over, as was needed when dealing with an opponent such as this. She realized that if she destroyed Zoma the Spirit, it would deal damage to her equal to the attack points of the monster that vanquished it - Neos Kluger in this case since it was the only monster she controlled with any attack points.
"And that's not all. I'll activate my trap card, Jar of Avarice! By shuffling five cards back into my deck, I can draw one." Bakura only had one particular card in mind, and carelessly put back the other four.
"Then, I'll activate the effect of a trap card in the graveyard, one I sent earlier with my Card Destruction spell. I'll use the power of Transaction Rollback! By paying half of my life points, I can copy the effect of another normal trap in my graveyard - another trap I sent to the cemetery with Card Destruction. With the effect of Metaverse, I can play a field spell directly from my deck. And since I just returned Dark Sanctuary to my deck with Jar of Avarice, now is the perfect time to come back home!" Bakura cackled, even as the shadows ate away at his body while he paid the life points. (Yubel 3000/Bakura 900)
Yubel focused her gaze. Dark Sanctuary would reduce everything to a game of chance. She had only a fifty-fifty chance of any attack going through. If she lost the coin toss that the field spell subjected her to, her attacks would be negated and she would take damage equal to half of her attacking monster's battle power. However, there was another way out. "I'll attack Zoma the Earthbound Spirit with Yubel - The Loving Defender Forever!" She cried, her fused form unleashing a torrent of black flames at the undead creature. This would avoid destroying Zoma, since the loving defender would banish it instead. Not to mention, its effect would deal damage equal to the 1800 attack points of Zoma the Earthbound Spirit, ensuring victory. All she needed to do was win this coin toss…
"The gods shall decide our fate this night…" Bakura seemed to take thrill in sanding on the precipice of oblivion, one misstep away from a screaming death. It was where he felt the most alive. "I flip a coin!" With his remaining hand that wasn't eaten by the shadows, Bakura pressed the accompanying button on the duel disk, causing a holographic gold coin to spin upwards in the air between the two demons before slowly lowering.
It seemed to take an eternity, but the coin finally landed…on heads. "Damn!" Yubel howled as a wall of white ghosts shielded Zoma from the dark fires of her fusion monster's attack. Like an unfurling umbrella, they reflected the flames back at her, although luckily she took no damage due to the loving defender having no attack points of its own.
"Haha…well now, it appears I came out the better on this particular game of chance. But there is much more fun to come…all of your monsters must attack, I promise you that. Would you care to waste our time by flailing away with your Terror Incarnate, or would rather end this dance early and strike with your Neos Kluger?" Bakura laughed, twirling his fingers and appearing entirely comfortable now.
"Grr…" Yubel had taken it for granted that she would emerge victorious over this shade from the past, but now she understood how close to death both her and Jaden were. "I won't back down. Not after how far I've come! How far we've both come!" Yubel took one more look at the boy she loved so much, her special boy, and wished he would open his eyes one more time so she could sink into those warm pools of chocolate…but they remained closed, and she steeled herself for the final move of this deadly dance. "Neos Kluger, attack!"
Bakura's expression calmed and even became apprehensive as their eyes watched the coin's progress, up and down, both duelists enslaved to fortune, as all were when they chose this path in life. This time, the blank gray surface of tails was the side facing up. "Yes! This game is over!" Yubel whooped, a childlike grin on her face as Neos Kluger soared down, its fist ever closer to Bakura's dead dragon. "I activate Neos Kluger's effect! In the damage step, before the battle concludes, it deals damage to you equal to your Zoma's attack points!" She saw that Bakura had one more set card, but very few cards could even trigger in the damage step…this had to be the end. Neos Kluger fired a volley of violet energy arrows at Zoma and its owner, their points sure to pierce through them both and the veil of darkness that surrounded this place…all involved in the abandoned dorm would be brought to the light with this final blow.
As the final set card on Bakura's field raised upwards, it felt as though the guillotine was falling down. "My final set card, Forbidden Droplet…by sending my Dark Sanctuary to the graveyard, I can negate the effects of your Neos Kluger and cut its strength in half." A silver goblet field with viscous blue liquid materialized in Bakura's free hand, and carelessly tossed the fluid towards the oncoming hero.
As it was splashed with the forbidden drink, Neos Kluger slowed down tremendously, as if were moving in amber. Even through the applied poison, Neos Kluger's fist swung down on Zoma, cracking apart the beast's bones and sending them clattering across the floor. And yet, this was exactly what Bakura desired, as he ironically turned Yubel's power against her, just as she had done to many souls in the past.
"When Zoma the Earthbound Spirit is destroyed, its effect deals damage to you equal to the original attack value of Neos Kluger!" He cackled long and loud as the bulky warrior on the field clutched its head from the psychic compulsions that Zoma's death curse had placed upon the monster. But it was for naught, and Yubel felt the fist of Neos Kluger crash into her gut, causing the demon to fall to her knees in defeat. (Yubel 0/Bakura 900)
As the forms of the cards on the field faded back into the shadows, Yubel struggled for breath, Neos knocking the wind out of her in brutal fashion. Bakura casually closed the distance between them, walking across the creaky floors of the abandoned dorm like a cat stalking a fallen piece of prey.
And yet, when he finally ceased his approach and looked down at Yubel, Bakura's expression changed. His eyes softened, seeming to round as the edges sharpened, the warm brown gaze not so different than Jaden's kind expression. His fangs receded, and his smile appeared forgiving and graceful. "You fought well, better than any spirit I have ever met before. You truly are something special."
Yubel's eyes gradually roved up, meeting Bakura's as best she could as she was unused to being in a position like this. "I…really?" She could not reconcile such words with Bakura's previous behavior, but a mad part of her wanted to believe in mercy, as Jaden did. That was the lesson he worked so hard to teach her.
"Yes, really. This battle taught me a great deal. From one duelist to another, I'd like to give you credit for what you truly are, from one duelist to another…" Bakura extended his hand for Yubel to take, in the spirit of friendship. Despite herself, Yubel found herself reaching out for that hand. Yes, perhaps things weren't so bad after all…
A moment before their fingers would have interlaced, Bakura smoothly twisted his palm so it faced Yubel, his expression instantaneously shifting to malice and wickedness.
"You're a fool!" He took delight in the fear on Yubel's face before his energy blast vaporized her body, a bright yellow flare of concentrated duel energy more than enough to do the job after the duel weakened her.
With a satisfied smirk on his face, Bakura dusted off his palms as if he had just finished a hard day's work. "Well, that was fun. Good to stretch my legs again." His dark eyes looked to Jaden. "But I think taking this young boy's body for a spin is going to be an even better time."
Steadying himself for a moment, the apparition of Bakura sank into Jaden's body, and he took a moment to get used to the new vessel alongside the immense power it wielded. It took some time, but eventually Jaden stood again, cracking his neck and stretching his arms.
However, when his eyes opened, it was Bakura's consciousness that shone behind the brown eyes, a gleam of cruel humor in those irises. "Hehe…I can't wait to play games with all of my new friends…" Bakura chuckled to himself before departing the abandoned dorm, his mind whirring with all of the possibilities to cause havoc and mayhem that now laid before him.
A/N
Thank you for your time and hope you enjoyed. Happy Halloween.
I really think that Yubel would beat Bakura if we're being "serious", I think Yubel is more comparable to Zorc or Exodia in terms of power than Yami Bakura, especially just a fragment of him like we see here. But it's Halloween so I like having the bad guy win. Or the worse guy is maybe the better term.