[Yumi, LP 4000]
[Daigo, LP 4000]
"…Tch."
Daigo's eyelid twitched as he finally looked down at his hand. He was clearly irritated, but backing down wasn't an option, especially not now.
"I Normal Summon Vanguard of the Dragon."
A lizard-like draconic warrior emerged onto the field. Its deep cyan scales reflected the surrounding lights, a small shield secured to one arm while the other gripped a long spear. It stood firm, posture disciplined, eyes locked forward.
[Vanguard of the Dragon, 1700 ATK]
"I activate Vanguard's effect," Daigo continued, pulling two cards from his hand. "I send Spear Dragon and Curse of Dragon to the Graveyard."
Both cards vanished as a faint aura wrapped around the warrior.
"For each Dragon sent, its ATK increases by 300."
The energy surrounding Vanguard intensified, its stance lowering as it dug its feet into the ground.
[Vanguard of the Dragon, 1700 -> 2000 -> 2300 ATK]
Another light flickered on within the towering structure nearby.
[Kyoutou Waterfront - 3 Kaiju Counter]
"And now," Daigo said, slapping his final card onto the Duel Disk, "Spell Card, Monster Reborn! I revive Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6 from my graveyard!"
Dark flames burst upward as a large, metallic dragon rose from the ground. Its body was sleek and armored, wings sharp-edged, its screech echoing briefly across the field. Despite its title, it resembled a massive armored bird more than a traditional dragon.
[Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 6, 2300 ATK]
Despite having two powerful monsters glaring down at him, Yumi didn't look afraid, which only annoyed Daigo further.
"Battle Phase!" he snapped, brushing aside the unease creeping up his spine. "Horus, attack Gameciel! Black Flame!"
Dark fire surged forward, cutting through the air toward the massive sea turtle.
Yumi didn't raise his voice."Trap Card, Mirror Force."
His face-down card flipped open. A radiant mirror-like barrier unfolded in front of his field, catching the incoming flames effortlessly.
"When you declare an attack, destroy all of your monsters that are in attack position."
The light began to expand outward.
"I won't let that happen!" Daigo shouted, flipping his own set card. "Continuous Trap, Royal Decree! Negate all other Trap effects on the field!"
The barrier flickered, its glow wavering.
"Then I'll respond," Yumi said immediately. "Gameciel's effect."
The massive sea turtle lifted its head, eyes locking onto Daigo.
"When you activate a card or effect, by removing two Kaiju Counters anywhere on the field, I negate it and banish that card."
"Waves Dispersion!"
[Kyoutou Waterfront - 1 Kaiju Counter]
Gameciel let out a deep roar. The sound alone shattered Royal Decree, breaking it apart into glowing golden fragments that faded from existence.
With nothing suppressing it now, Mirror Force released its full radiance.
The wave of light swept across Daigo's field, erasing both Vanguard of the Dragon and Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6 instantly.
Silence followed.
As the destroyed cards vanished into the Graveyard, several more lights illuminated the central tower.
[Kyoutou Waterfront - 4 Kaiju Counter]
"Then I activate the Trap, Call of the Haunted!" Daigo shouted, flipping his final face-down card. "I revive the Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu, from my Graveyard!"
The ground shook violently. Blue flames erupted as a massive black giant with glowing blue markings began to rise, its enormous hands clawing at the earth as it pulled itself upward.
Normally, Yu-Gi-Oh's protagonists would just stare, wide-eyed, letting the boss monster finish materializing while tension dragged the duel forward.
Unfortunately for Daigo, the one he is dueling is Yumi.
"I activate Gameciel's effect again," Yumi said flatly. "I remove two Kaiju Counters to negate the activation of your Trap."
"Waves Dispersion!"
[Kyoutou Waterfront - 2 Kaiju Counter]
The sea turtle let out another roar, almost sounding amused.
Daigo watched in disbelief as Call of the Haunted flickered, then shattered into golden light, disappearing entirely.
Daigo: "NANI!?"
That busted effects aren't once per turn!?
The massive Earthbound Immortal lost its grip, its form collapsing back into the ground as if it had never been there at all.
"…Turn end," Daigo muttered, clenching his teeth, his field now completely empty.
"My turn. Draw!"
Yumi drew a card, glanced at it for less than a second, then immediately placed it down.
"Spell Card, Card of Sanctity. We both draw until we have six cards in hand."
Light flared briefly as both Duel Disks processed the effect. Cards slid out one after another until both duelists reached the required number.
Daigo frowned as his hand refilled. Getting to draw six new cards is good and all, but the issue is that the one he is dueling is named "Yumi", not "Yugi". So he might not even get a next turn to play these six cards.
[Kyoutou Waterfront - 3 Kaiju Counter]
"Now," Yumi continued, discarding a card without hesitation, "by discarding one card, I Special Summon Black Magician Girl from my hand."
The discarded card vanished into the Graveyard as a magic circle expanded across Yumi's field.
[Kyoutou Waterfront - 4 Kaiju Counter]
Dark, refined magical energy gathered as a familiar figure emerged, but not quite the one most duelists remember.
A young woman stepped out of the circle, posture relaxed, confidence obvious. Her skin was a warm tan, sharp blue eyes locking onto Daigo as she gave him a smug, almost bored smirk. Pale blonde hair flowed behind her, and her outfit mirrored the traditional Dark Magician Girl's attire, except red replaced pink, accented with gold trim.
[Black Magician Girl, 2000 -> 1400 ATK]
Daigo's jaw nearly dropped.
No matter how many times people claimed they were "used to rare cards," seeing one in person was different, especially that one.
The rumor legendary Shiny Dark Magician Girl.
After Yugi Muto's retirement, several of his old duels had been officially released. Among them, the most talked-about was his duel against Arkana, the Dark Magician fanatic who somehow owned three copies of the so-called "Shiny" Dark Magician.
That version of the Dark Magician is even rarer than the one that Yugi used, and besides Arkana, no one else ever shown to have a single copy of that kind of Dark Magician.
From that duel, people get to witness a lot of tactical BISS cast by Yugi.
He even directly reprints his opponent's card's effect midway during the duel. Something which only Yumi currently finds odd, while everyone seems to just accept it because Yugi said so.
Even the President advance AI system couldn't detect Yugi's BISS and approve of those actions. Showing just how powerful the original King of Games' cheat is.
Apparently, cheating was fine as long as your name was Yugi.
In that clash between Dark Magicians, Yugi criticized Arkana for sacrificing his Dark Magician, while Yugi sacrificed his Kuriboh for who knows how many times now.
Damn, you get mad seeing the Dark Magician being sacrificed, but don't get mad when it is the Kuriboh?
Then, during the duel. When Arkana used Dark Magic Curtain to Special Summon out his Dark Magician during 'his' Main Phase, then switched to his Battle Phase. Yugi casually bends the rule and the card's effect to use Arkana's Dark Magic Curtain during Arkana's Battle Phase to Special Summon his Dark Magician Girl.
Still, Yugi was retired now and had zero interest in dueling him, so complaining about it would just be yelling into the void.
Atem From Another Dimension: YUMI UZUSHI! DUEL ME!!!
Anyway.
Inspired by that duel, Yumi had printed his own Shiny variant, not as Dark Magician Girl, but as part of a separate line.
Hence, Black Magician Girl.
With a different name, appearance, and effect to further distance herself from her other counterpart.
"Black Magician Girl's effect depends on the type of card I discarded to Special Summon her," Yumi explained casually.
Beside her, a magic circle opened, rotating slowly.
"If I discard a monster, I add a monster from my deck with equal or lower Level. A Spell lets me draw one card. A Trap lets me Set a Trap from my Graveyard."
The magic circle beside the Black Magician Girl reveals the Level 8, Lava Golem monster card before fading away completely.
A card popped out of Yumi's deck. He raised it slightly so Daigo could see.
"I'll add the Level 6, Ohime the Manifested Mikanko to my hand."
Yumi looked down at his hand, seeing that he could continue, but he wasn't in the mood to play and drag this duel out any longer than it needed.
"It was somewhat fun, Diabolo," Yumi said lightly. "But I'm ending it here."
"It's DAIGO!!"
"Battle!" Yumi completely ignored the furious Ra student. "Dogoran, player direct attack!"
The massive flaming dinosaur spread its wings and roared, unleashing a wave of molten fire straight across the field.
[Daigo, LP 4000 -> 1800]
"Gameciel, player direct attack! Wave Crash!"
The sea turtle let out a low roar, then simply jumped, its enormous body slamming straight into Daigo.
[Daigo, LP 1800 -> 400]
"Black Magician Girl, player direct attack! Dark Burning!"
The magician in red twirled her wand once, condensed a sphere of dark magical energy, and fired it forward.
The explosion was brief and efficient.
[Daigo, LP 400 -> 0]
Daigo collapsed onto the ground, his body finally giving out. The blue markings on his back flickered weakly before fading away entirely, as if they had never been there to begin with.
Yumi walked over at a steady pace, stopping beside the unconscious Ra Yellow student. He crouched down, pulled out Daigo's deck, and began flipping through it with practiced speed.
His eyes scanned each card once.
After a short search, he confirmed it, Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu was gone. Just like the other two Earthbound Immortals.
He slid the deck back into Daigo's jacket, made sure it wouldn't fall out, then stood up and turned away without another glance.
For something involving an Earthbound Immortal, the whole incident had ended far faster than he expected.
Still, their appearance in this world was interesting.
These Earthbound Immortals didn't behave like the ones from 5D's. Their presence felt incomplete, their hostility crude, almost rushed. The pressure they gave off wasn't the same either, more like something unfinished forcing itself into existence.
Either this dimension worked differently… or it's like what Yumi has suspected previously, printed cards attract other printed cards.
Or simply, Card Printer attracts other Card Printers.
The protagonists of the Yu-Gi-Oh series were always forced into difficult, world ending duel against their series antagonists.
One of the main traits they both possessed is the ability to Print Cards, whether they use it subconsciously or not.
One of the biggest examples of this is the Duel between Yugi and Dartz.
While the former subconsciously prints cards that don't exist in his deck, the three Legendary Knights, into existence, and even prints a blank card mid duel, giving it whatever effect he wants.
The latter actively printed out busted cards with broken effects and stuffed them into his deck. Making one of the most broken decks in Yu-Gi-Oh history.
...
Inside a helicopter heading toward Duel Academy, three girls and one boy sat in an uneasy silence.
The rhythmic thrum of the rotors filled the cabin, loud enough to drown out most small talk, but not enough to ease anyone's nerves.
"Rin-nee," a pink-haired girl finally spoke up, breaking the quiet. "Has Celina-nee responded to your text yet?"
The aqua-green-haired girl glanced down at her phone again, thumb hovering over the screen. Rows of unanswered messages and missed calls stared back at her.
She shook her head.
"Celi still hasn't called me back," Rin said, worry edging into her voice despite her effort to sound composed. "She hasn't even seen any of my messages."
"I'm sure she'll be fine." Lulu spoke softly from her seat, her obsidian-dark purple hair falling over her shoulders as she looked down. "Celina is strong."
Her tone was calm, but her hands told a different story. She had folded her arms around herself, fingers gripping tightly at her sleeves.
Across from them, Declan adjusted his glasses, the lenses catching the faint light from the window as he stared out at the open sea below.
"I've already contacted Duel Academy," he said. "They confirmed that she's currently on sick leave."
The words were meant to reassure, but they didn't quite land.
"I don't fully believe it," he added quietly, eyes narrowing just a bit. "We'll only know what really happened once we reach the Academy."
The helicopter continued forward, cutting through the air toward their destination.
Meanwhile, back at Duel Academy.
Celina lay resting while Yumi's Dragonmaids went about their work with quiet efficiency. Bandages were adjusted, fluids replaced, and meals brought in without complaint or ceremony.
She didn't mind it.
Being treated like some kind of sick princess was… surprisingly comfortable.
Nice, even.
Still, she couldn't shake the faint unease sitting in her chest, like she'd forgotten something important. The feeling came and went, never strong enough to demand attention, but persistent enough to be annoying.
She stared up at the wooden bunk for a while before turning her head slightly.
In the end, she decided not to dwell on it.
Probably just my head messing with me.
Celina thought, pushing the feeling aside.
She chalked it up to exhaustion.
Or maybe her increasingly complicated feelings toward her roommate.
Either way, she chose to ignore it for now.
Meanwhile, Yumi and Jaden were jogging together around the campus.
The jellyfish-haired duelist was smiling the whole time, keeping pace easily as he ran alongside his AIBO. Since most of his friends had suddenly joined the Society of Light, they'd stopped hanging out with him altogether. Worse, they didn't even let him visit.
It left Jaden feeling… pretty lonely.
Luckily, Yumi was still around.
At least he still had someone to duel with when he was bored, someone to talk to, someone who didn't suddenly act like he didn't exist.
Jaden knew about Celina's condition too. He was worried, so every now and then he'd stop by to check on her and chat, even if it was just for a bit.
As they ran past a row of trees, something fluttered down from above.
A card landed squarely in Jaden's hand.
"Huh?" Jaden slowed down and looked at it.
The card showed Obelisk, with a massive "30" printed on it.
"…What does this even do?" he muttered.
Yumi glanced at it briefly and shrugged, clearly uninterested.
Before either of them could think too hard about it, a boy dressed in Society of Light white suddenly dropped down from the tree above them, landing with far more noise than skill.
He snatched the card from Jaden's hand and bolted.
"Hey!" Jaden called, but the guy was already gone, running like he'd just committed a crime.
"…What was that about?" Jaden asked, staring after him.
Neither of them got an answer.
"What are you two doing here!?"
Alexis' voice rang out from behind them.
A split second later, a bucket of cold water came crashing down over both of them.
The water soaked them instantly, with the now-empty bucket landing squarely over Jaden's head.
Alexis marched up, yanked the bucket off his head, and glared at him.
"Jaden! Was it you?" she demanded.
"Huh? What?" Jaden was confused.
"Lately, I've had the feeling someone's been watching me!" she snapped, glaring between Jaden and Yumi. "I'm taking you to the headmaster's office."
"No way! I'm not going with you!" Jaden said, tossing the bucket aside.
"What was that!?" Alexis snapped, grabbing Jaden by the collar. Only for Yumi to catch her wrist mid-motion.
She froze.
"Aren't you a bit too full of yourself?" Yumi said calmly, his tone flat, as he let go of her wrist.
"You-" Alexis started. But Yumi cut her off.
"If I raise the female monster Elemental HERO Lady Heat out for Jaden and tell him that he can only choose one, between you and her, who would he pick?" Yumi asks calmly.
"What kind of ques-"
"Lady Heat!" Jaden answered instantly, causing Alexis to freeze, her words stuck at her throat.
"AIBO, does that mean you have more HERO monsters for me?" Jaden asked excitedly, entirely ignoring her expression.
"…So you're saying I'm not even worth comparing to a Duel Monster card!?" Alexis snapped.
For someone who'd spent her entire time at Duel Academy being treated like the school beauty, admired and chased by half the student body, this was a first.
Being rejected for a card.
Yumi didn't let Jaden answer.
"Isn't it obvious?" he said. "You don't even hang out with him anymore. Why would he chase after someone like you?"
That hit.
Alexis' eyelid twitched.
She suddenly grabbed Jaden's hand, locking their fingers. "Oh? If that's the case, Jaden, let's go on a date."
Her smile was stiff, clearly forced.
Before Jaden could even process what was happening, she dragged him away.
"Wait, what, date? What is that?" Jaden asked, completely lost.
"Aibo, have fun," Yumi called out casually.
As Jaden disappeared down the path, Yumi shifted his gaze toward the nearby bushes.
The Society of Light student from earlier was crouched there, quietly sobbing and crying. He has spent months spying on Alexis. Months of obsession.
And now he'd just watched her drag another guy away on a date.
And what's worse, he didn't dare to move or say a word to try to stop it. Especially not with Slifer standing there.