"Hahahahaha, I didn't expect the Millennium War to begin right here, Yugi!"
The moment he stepped onto the Duel Arena, Yami Bakura revealed his true self, taking on his classic form of the rabbit-eared Dark Lord. On his chest gleamed the Millennium Ring—the same one Tristan should have thrown away back during Duelist Kingdom.
"You are... the other personality within the Millennium Ring. But the Millennium Ring should have been discarded! Why are you…" Yami Yugi took over, fitting his Duel Disk and Deck in place, eyes wary of the dark persona that had seized his friend's body.
"Oh, don't look at me like that, Nameless Pharaoh. My only goal is to gather the dark power that comes from collecting all the Millennium Items. If you hand yours over willingly, I don't mind letting you win this Duel, you know?"
Yami Bakura also set up his Deck, offering a deceitful bargain. "Relax, I'm quite fond of this body and its host. I won't do anything reckless to endanger him again. Since you won't give up your Item voluntarily, let's settle this right here—in a Duel!"
"DUEL!"
"DUEL!"
Turn 1
"My turn—Draw!" With strange phrasing, Yami Bakura took the first move, letting out a dark chuckle as he Set two cards. "I Set one monster and one card facedown. Turn end."
Turn 2
"My turn—Draw." Yugi eyed Yami Bakura's sinister grin and field, adding the newly drawn card to his hand.
After a moment of thought, he chose one card from it. "Whatever scheme you're plotting, I'll break through it. I activate the Spell Card [Mystical Space Typhoon] from my hand to destroy your Set card!"
A gust of wind howled across the field, flipping up Yami Bakura's Set card and shattering it.
As the card flipped face-up, the projection system activated, displaying a coffin whose ominous aura seeped out as [Mystical Space Typhoon] destroyed it, wrapping around Yami Yugi's hand.
"Hahahaha! You fell right into my trap! The card I Set was the Trap Card [Dark Coffin]. When this Set card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, you must choose one of the following effects: Randomly discard one card from your hand. Destroy one monster on your field."
Yami Bakura pointed at Yami Yugi's hand with a triumphant grin. "Since you have no monsters, you must discard one random card from your hand to the Graveyard."
Yami Yugi shuffled his hand, then held it out face-down. Yami Bakura picked the card on the far end—and it was discarded.
The discarded card was [Dark Magician Girl].
"[Dark Magician Girl]... I'll bring you back soon." Yami Yugi declared calmly. "I activate the Normal Spell [Emblem of Dragon Destroyer], adding one [Buster Blader] from my Deck to my hand."
He then played another Spell. "Next, I activate [Polymerization]! I fuse [Buster Blader] in my hand with [Beastking of the Swamps], which substitutes as [Dark Magician], to Fusion Summon [Dark Paladin]!"
In a flash of light, [Dark Paladin] appeared beside Yami Yugi—a mighty figure, like [Dark Magician] reborn in gleaming armor, wielding a long blade with pride and power.
Watching Yami Yugi summon [Dark Paladin] after using so many cards, Youmi commented, "Eh... even though he summoned [Dark Paladin], its Spell-negate effect requires discarding a Spell Card. With just one card left in hand, what can he do—"
Abruptly, before she could finish, she had to swallow her words.
"I activate the Normal Spell [Graceful Charity]! Both players draw until they have six cards in hand."
Yami Yugi used one of the most powerful draw cards in the original series, restoring his hand size to six. "Next, I activate [Monster Reborn]! I target [Dark Magician Girl] in my Graveyard and Special Summon her to the field!"
Bathed in radiant light, [Dark Magician Girl] appeared before Yami Yugi, spinning her staff gracefully.
"Then I activate [Sage's Stone]! Since [Dark Magician Girl] is on my field, I can Special Summon [Dark Magician] from my Deck. Entering the Battle Phase—[Dark Magician Girl], attack his Set monster! Dark Burning Attack!"
The Set monster flipped up—revealing its DEF—before being destroyed. Yami Bakura picked up the card and, before sending it to the Graveyard, declared, "The destroyed card's effect activates! [Goblin Zombie]! When it's destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, I can add one Zombie with 1200 or less DEF from my Deck to my hand. I add [Gernia] to my hand!"
He sent [Goblin Zombie] to the Graveyard and revealed [Gernia] before adding it to his hand.
"[Dark Magician], attack directly! Dark Magic Attack!"
Clad in his iconic purple robes, [Dark Magician] raised his hand and unleashed a burst of black magic toward Yami Bakura, who staggered back half a step from the impact—but then began to smile.
[Yami Bakura, LP: 4000 → 1500]
"I activate the effect of [Gorz the Emissary of Darkness] from my hand! When I take damage while I control no cards, I can Special Summon this card, and based on the type of damage, activate an additional effect."
Yami Bakura revealed one of the early-era hand traps of Duel Monsters. "Since it was battle damage, I Special Summon one [Emissary of Darkness Token] with ATK and DEF equal to the damage I took. I Special Summon both monsters in Defense Position!"
"That card..." Youmi recognized [Gorz the Emissary of Darkness]. Wasn't that one of the cards Yami Yugi used in Yu-Gi-Oh! R?
While Youmi was puzzled, Marik raised his hand. "That was actually a bootleg card my evil half gave Bakura during our alliance. Didn't think he actually put it in his Deck."
"I see… then Yugi really chose the right attack order," Youmi noted.
If [Dark Paladin] had attacked first, the Token on Bakura's field would have had 2900 ATK and DEF. Could Yugi have anticipated the possibility of [Gorz]?
"[Dark Paladin], attack [Gorz the Emissary of Darkness]! Dark Paladin Slash!"
[Gorz] had 2700 Attack—nonetheless, Yami Yugi commanded [Dark Paladin] to cut through it. The magical warrior raised his long blade, releasing a wave of sword energy that cleaved through the foe with ease. "I Set two cards facedown and end my turn."
...
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