"Looks like I'm still the one who can squeeze out a bit more. In any case, that's Duel Monsters for you... always like this."
Drawing out her Deck, Youmi walked over to Joey, who had been blasted aside by The Winged Dragon of Ra.
She almost offered him her left hand, then awkwardly switched to her right to help him up.
Since Ra had no intention of gravely injuring a Duelist, it acknowledged that Joey—though sore all over—had no serious injuries.
Rubbing his head, he grasped Youmi's hand and stood up. "Man... who would've thought I'd lose because of my own specialty—good luck. My luck really sucked at the end. And if I had gotten Ra into Battle Mode earlier, maybe I wouldn't have lost like that, right?"
Indeed, Joey had forgotten Ra's summoning chant and was overly afraid of Youmi's OTK potential, which made him hesitate. That hesitation allowed Youmi to draw enough cards to set up 'Share the Pain' and 'Monster Reborn'. If he had awakened Ra one turn earlier—or started applying pressure sooner—he might have had a chance.
Marik had even warned Joey beforehand that Youmi could read ancient priest writing and use Ra herself. If Joey didn't immediately recite the chant the moment Ra was summoned, control could be stolen. Joey had practiced over and over, but once he stepped onto the Duel arena, he forgot everything—his mind went completely blank.
"It was just my good luck this time. If possible, we can always duel again later. I'm sure we'll get that chance."
Walking off the platform together, Youmi—despite now holding The Winged Dragon of Ra—had absolutely no intention of adding it to her Deck.
No matter how many monsters she swarmed with, Tribute Summoning a high-ATK Ra was still... troublesome.
"Ah, next up, Yugi and Seto Seal—them—should have a great match."
Passing by the two Duelists entering the arena, Youmi "accidentally" called Kaiba by the wrong name.
"It's Zeto Kaiba."
Still annoyed that his entire plan had been thrown off by Youmi, Kaiba didn't bother hiding his displeasure. He handed his Deck to Yami Yugi for shuffling and began cutting Yugi's Deck as well.
"Is this... Blue-Eyes White Dragon?"
Seeing that Kaiba's entire Deck was sleeved with Blue-Eyes-themed card sleeves, Yami Yugi blinked.
Maybe he should also get a set of Dark Magician sleeves?
"After both Duelists shuffle and return the Decks to each other, the Duel begins upon declaration!"
"DUEL!"
"D↗U↘E↗L↘!"
Turn 1.
"My turn—draw!!"
At the moment of the Duel declaration, Kaiba forcefully drew his first card—securing the first turn.
"I activate the Normal Spell 'Lullaby of Obedience'—Tribute 2000 Life Points and declare a monster name to activate this card. Y↗u↘gi↗—you must reveal your Deck, and if the declared monster exists in it, you must reveal one copy and either add it to my hand, or I Special Summon it to my field in Attack Position ignoring its Summoning conditions."
[Seto Kaiba, LP: 4000 → 2000]
"The monster I declare is the Egyptian God Card—Slifer the Sky Dragon!"
Posing like a character straight out of a JOJO panel, Kaiba dramatically pointed at Yugi's Deck.
Yami Yugi calmly removed his Deck from the Duel Disk and spread it open. No monster with a red card frame appeared.
"There is no Slifer the Sky Dragon in my Deck. Therefore, the effect does not resolve further." He shuffled, then returned the Deck to the Duel Disk—this system still lacked automatic shuffling, which was rather inconvenient.
"I see. So it's in your hand." Kaiba showed no concern about losing 2000 LP. Instead, he sent a monster from his hand to the Graveyard. "I activate 'King of the Swamp'. By sending it from my hand to the Graveyard, I add 'Polymerization' from my Deck to my hand—and now I activate it."
Kaiba smoothly retrieved 'Polymerization' from his Deck and placed it in his Spell/Trap Zone.
"I fuse two 'Blue-Eyes White Dragons' in my hand to Fusion Summon—Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon!"
Formed solely from two Blue-Eyes White Dragons, the Fusion Monster roared onto Kaiba's field. Though not his strongest form—requiring all three Blue-Eyes—it was more than enough for Kaiba's setup.
"I Set two cards and end my turn."
Turn 2.
"Not summoning your strongest ace—Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon—or Obelisk on your first turn? That's unusual for you, Kaiba." Yami Yugi smiled confidently and drew a card. "I activate 'Pot of Greed' to draw two cards."
Kaiba lowered the hand hovering over his backrow, signaling that he would not chain.
Yugi drew two cards, tucked one into his hand, and showed the other to Kaiba.
"I activate 'Joker's Straight'. I discard one card to Special Summon a 'Queen's Knight' from my Deck, then add either 'King's Knight' or 'Jack's Knight' to my hand.
"After that, I may Normal Summon one monster. For the rest of the turn, I cannot Special Summon from the Extra Deck except LIGHT Warrior monsters."
Yugi sent a card to the Graveyard, Special Summoned 'Queen's Knight', then Normal Summoned the 'King's Knight' he had added. "When Queen and King stand together, the Knight who guards them appears—come forth, Jack's Knight!"
With all three Knights assembled, Kaiba could already guess what Yugi planned—and he was right.
"I Tribute Queen, King, and Jack to Tribute Summon Slifer the Sky Dragon—descend before me, God!"
The crimson god coiled around the Duel Tower, leaving only its head hanging near the arena.
"Slifer's Attack and Defense depend on the number of cards in my hand. So its Attack is now 4000."
Although its power exceeded that of Twin Burst Dragon, the latter was a Level 10 monster created with three cards—giving it the potential to affect Slifer due to God Cards being vulnerable to monsters Level 10 or higher. Because of that risk, Yugi refused to take any reckless actions. "I Set one card and end my turn. Slifer's Attack drops to 3000."
Kaiba stared at Slifer, whose Attack had fallen by 1000, and thought rapidly: "You voluntarily lowered Slifer's Attack?! Yugi... what are you planning?"
Yugi revealed a Spell and a Trap to Kaiba.
After returning two Knights to the Deck via effect, he added both cards to his hand. "I activate the Graveyard effect of 'Joker's Straight', chaining 'Joker's Wild' that went to the Graveyard earlier. I return Queen's Knight and King's Knight to the Deck, and add 'Joker's Wild' and 'Joker's Straight' back to my hand. With my hand increasing to two cards, Slifer the Sky Dragon's Attack rises to 5000!"
Yami Yugi's gaze sharpened as he looked at the first card in his starting hand—Card of Sanctity.
...
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