The full moon hung high over Domino City, casting silver streaks across the cracked pavement outside the Turtle Game Shop. Inside, the air was suffocating—thick with tension, dust, and the scent of ozone. Shattered cards littered the floor. Solomon Muto lay slumped in a corner, blood dried at his temple. His eyes, though weary, locked onto his grandson.
Yugi stood just inside the door, duel disk lit and ready. Beside him, invisible but present, was the spirit of the Pharaoh—his eternal companion. The Duelist Exterminator stood calmly across the counter, his black coat rippling slightly with the draft. Three Millennium relics glinted around his neck. And in his hands, a dark deck box with "YUGI MUTO" etched into the leather in cruel precision.
"You bastard..." the Pharaoh growled inside Yugi's mind, his eyes narrowing.
The Exterminator didn't flinch. "The one who should be angry is me, spirit. You and your kind—the chosen ones, the favored by fate. I was born with nothing. No Duel Energy. No connection to the Heart of the Cards. Only pain. But tonight, I prove that an abomination like me… can beat destiny."
Yugi's hand trembled slightly as he placed his deck into the duel disk. "We won't let you win."
Duel Start
Yugi (Pharaoh): 4000 LP
Duelist Exterminator: 4000 LP
Turn 1 – Duelist Exterminator
The Exterminator's eyes glinted with cruel resolve as he drew his card. A sick grin crossed his pale face. His movements were robotic, yet precise—as though following a sequence preordained not by heart, but by design.
"I summon Banisher of the Radiance in Attack Mode!"
From a shimmer of golden light, a humanoid knight emerged—its armor shining with blinding luminescence. The air seemed cleaner, sterile, as it stood still with arms crossed.
[Banisher of the Radiance – ATK 1600]
The Exterminator's lips twisted slightly. "While Banisher remains on the field, any card sent to the Graveyard is banished instead."
He tapped his duel disk. "I set two cards face-down. End turn."
A faint ripple of unease passed through the air.
Turn 2 – Yugi (Pharaoh)
The Pharaoh stood tall, cape swaying behind him, his gaze firm.
"Your strategy is sound—but I've defeated worse."
He drew.
"I summon Beta the Magnet Warrior!"
A flash of light. The stoic metallic warrior clanked onto the field, raising its arms in challenge.
[Beta – ATK 1700]
"Next, I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your right face-down!"
A vortex erupted, engulfing the trap in a violent swirl of wind and magic. The Exterminator's grin twitched.
"Now, Beta—attack Banisher of the Radiance!"
The clash was quick. Banisher shattered into fragments of light, disintegrating mid-air.
[Duelist Exterminator LP: 4000 → 3900]
"I set one card face-down. End turn."
Turn 3 – Duelist Exterminator
The Exterminator drew, fingers twitching. He gave a cold, unreadable smile.
"I summon Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer in Attack Mode!"
[Kycoo – ATK 1800]
Yugi's eyes narrowed. "Another card that banishes from the graveyard…"
"Kycoo—attack Beta!"
The ghost destroyer surged forward—but Yugi's trap flipped instantly.
"I activate Magic Cylinder! Your attack is reflected back at you!"
Kycoo's spectral energy slammed back into the Exterminator's chest like a cannon blast.
[Duelist Exterminator LP: 3900 → 2100]
The Exterminator staggered back, his grimace now evident. But he said nothing.
He set another card. "End turn."
Turn 4 – Yugi (Pharaoh)
The Pharaoh's face was composed, but a growing storm brewed in his eyes.
"I summon Skilled Dark Magician!"
The seasoned sorcerer rose from the shadows, his robes flaring.
[Skilled Dark Magician – ATK 1900]
"Attack Kycoo!"
An arcane blast shattered Kycoo into spectral particles.
[Duelist Exterminator LP: 2100 → 2000]
"Beta Direct attack!"
[Duelist Exterminator LP: 2000 → 300]
The Pharaoh's stare lingered on the Exterminator's face. He could see the fear on his face.
Turn 5 – Duelist Exterminator
the Exterminator drew a card and placed one face-down in Defense Position, the motion almost mechanical—but beneath it, a dark intention brewed. His eyes glimmered with malice, and a slow, crooked smile began to twist across his face.
"Now," he said with a hiss, "I activate the Spell Card… Exchange."
The Exterminator's lips curled into a smug, predatory grin as the glowing sigils of Exchange swirled between them. The faint, echoing chime of the spell rang out like a clock tolling the start of something sinister.
He spread his arms theatrically, stepping forward just slightly, relishing the moment.
"Ah... the beauty of this spell," he said with deliberate calm, his voice smooth but laced with malice. "Each of us must now reveal our hand... and choose."
He turned his gaze directly into the Pharaoh's, eyes gleaming with wicked glee.
"You pick a card from my hand to take for yourself," he continued, dragging each word out with slow, poisonous intent. "And I—well, I'll be doing the same."
A pulse of eerie magic rippled across the arena. Time seemed to hesitate as arcane symbols flickered into the air between the duelists. Both their hands were revealed in a shimmer of light. Yugi squinted at the cards displayed. Then his breath caught in his throat.
Floating in the Exterminator's hand was The Seal of Orichalcos.
The Pharaoh's eyes widened. His pupils contracted with alarm and disgust. A dark wind seemed to whip through the room as the aura of the card made its presence known—heavy, pulsing, poisonous.
"You dare bring that evil into this duel?" the Pharaoh growled, his voice low and trembling with restrained fury.
The Pharaoh hesitated, jaw clenched, hand twitching at his side. His spirit screamed in rejection. The Seal's green aura made his skin crawl. Every fiber of his being cried out against touching it.
But then the Exterminator leaned in, eyes glowing with sadistic glee.
"You don't want to use it? Fine. Then don't. Just know that if you don't, the rest of your little friends? They won't be around long enough to miss you."
The Pharaoh's eyes snapped up, confusion and rage flaring.
The Exterminator chuckled. "Oh yes. You think this is just about you? You think I only came for your soul?"
He raised his arm and tapped a communicator clipped under his jacket.
"I've got Rare Hunters on standby. All across Domino. One for each of your precious little companions—Tea, Tristan, Joey, even the old man's best friend and his brats. I give the word... and they vanish."
The words landed like stones dropped into still water. The shop's warm lamplight seemed suddenly thinner, as if a frost had crept under the door. The Pharaoh's breath hitched. Beside him, Yugi's lips parted in a silent, horrified plea that burned behind the elder's eyes. "No! He's lying! Don't believe him!" the younger voice screamed inside their heads—too loud to be merely thought, too raw to be ignored.
The Exterminator's hand rose without haste. He pointed not toward some vague horizon but toward the shop's narrow front window, where the street beyond lay half-lit and dangerous. Outside, under the jaundiced glow of a flickering streetlamp, a duel was playing out—small, frantic, and utterly unmistakable.
Through the glass, the Rare Hunter Minion stood across from a lithe teenage figure—the boy with the easy grin and the stubborn heart: Joey Wheeler. Duel disks flared, holograms erupted into life, and the familiar clack of a duel in full swing carried faintly inside the shop like distant thunder. The Hunter's cloak was damp with sweat; his hands trembled. He was not built for honest combat—his stance was defensive, his eyes darting like a trapped animal's. He moved with practiced deceit rather than the blunt courage of a true duelist.
Joey's movement was all raw courage and honest desperation. He shouted over the hum of energy, calling plays, slamming cards in with the reckless grace that had gotten him this far. The duel outside was painfully lopsided against the rare hunter.
"See?" he said. "Yes—Joey will win his little scrap. He always does. You can celebrate his single victory if you wish." He tapped a finger on the countertop, and the sound was small but absolute. "But what about the rest of them? What about Tea in a café whose back door is poorly watched? Tristan alone on his way from school? One word from me and they don't even get the dignity of a duel. They simply... disappear."
The shop swallowed the silence that followed. The Pharaoh's hands clenched around the edge of the counter until knuckles blanched. Yugi's throat worked; the little god in his heart wanted to leap forward and strike the man down by sheer force of will. Instead, they felt the weight of the Exterminator's bargaining scale: proof offered, and hope dredged back up only to be held hostage.
The Duelist Exterminator leaned closer, the bronze Millennium relics at his chest catching the lamplight like two cold moons. He allowed the shop to taste the threat fully before delivering the final slice. "You activate that card," he said slowly, "and I may change my mind. Maybe they live to see tomorrow—if you beat me. If you win here, today." His smile sharpened into something lethal. "Or you decline, lose this duel, and I banish you. Then I pay them all a visit—one… by… one."
His voice broke the spell in measured syllables, each one promising slow, inevitable endings. The air in the shop felt suddenly too thin to breathe. The Exterminator straightened as if the negotiation were already concluded. Outside, the last echoes of Joey's victory faded into the night, proof that courage could win a single battle—but now proof was also currency the Exterminator held, and he was not inclined to spend it freely.
He extended the Seal once more, mockingly polite. "Here. Take it since it's the only card in my hand."
The Pharaoh's hand trembled. He reached out slowly, painfully, and closed his fingers around the card. It pulsed violently in his grasp, burning cold. Even his Duel Disk seemed to recoil.
But the Exterminator ignored him. His cold, calculating gaze was locked not on his own hand, but on the Pharaoh's.
A grin began to spread slowly across his face as his eyes settled on one card in particular.
"Well now… what do we have here?"
His gloved fingers hovered over the image of a feral, electrified demon—Summoned Skull.
"Ah, this one…" he said, voice reverent and cruel. "The classic fiend. Elegant in its brutality. A walking storm of rage and thunder. One of your favorites, isn't it?"
He selected it, the card phasing into his Duel Disk with a shimmer of malicious satisfaction.
"I'll take Summoned Skull," he declared, savoring each syllable like a cruel child tearing the head off a doll. "Seems fitting. A monster with just enough bite to remind you of what you lost."
The Pharaoh's expression darkened as the card vanished from his side of the projection, now under the control of his enemy.
"That card means nothing to you," the Pharaoh said, voice low and sharp. "You don't understand its power."
The Exterminator gave a low chuckle.
"Oh, I understand plenty. I know exactly what this card is to you—a trusted ally. A symbol of your early duels. A memory, forged in pain and growth."
He leaned in, voice soft and venomous.
"And now, it's mine."
He tapped his Duel Disk with mocking finality. "Think of it as symbolic. A little piece of your soul… now under my control."
The Pharaoh didn't respond with words. His eyes, however, burned with smoldering fury.
Deep within his spirit, Yugi cried out—"Don't let him get to you! He's trying to make you angry!"
"Marik sent me," the Exterminator whispered. "To finish what he started. You. Your grandfather. Your entire legacy."
He leaned in, whispering now like a devil at confession.
"You're nothing more than unfinished business."
The Pharaoh's teeth clenched. His knuckles went white as he gripped the Seal tighter.
"You'll pay for your blasphemy," he spat, barely able to contain the surge of rage threatening to overtake him.
"Your move," the Exterminator said, his voice dripping with triumphant venom.
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