A few more days slipped by in the blink of an eye.
According to what Yumi's Duel Spirits told him, Alexis had suddenly vanished, right in the infirmary while watching over her brother. Celina instantly jumped off her bed, grabbed her Duel Disk, and sprinted out the door.
Yumi, meanwhile, just lay there on his bed, tucked cozily in his blanket.
He was curious about whether this sixth Shadow Rider would be Titan or not. But not curious enough to get up in the middle of the night and his warm bed.
Besides, it wasn't like anyone was in actual danger… well, not anyone he personally cared about at the moment.
He yawned, rolling over and pulling the blanket up to his chin. "Knowing my luck, if I show up, the Shadow Rider might just scream and run away before the duel even starts."
His Effect Veiler floated above him, nodding in agreement.
The next day, Lyman had disappeared. Out of mild curiosity, Yumi texted Professor Midori to ask about him.
The only answer he got was: Lyman called in sick.
Yeah, like he would believe that.
Then came the day of Duel Monsters Spirit Day, Duel Academy's annual school festival.
Lights and banners draped across the campus, shining from morning until dusk. The luxurious Obelisk Blue Dorm looked more like an amusement park than a dorm, lined with cafes, large tents, small dueling arenas, and rows of elegant shops.
The Ra Yellow Dorm had a more festival-like feel. Tents and stalls covered the area, with students calling out to customers, selling food, trinkets, and Duel Monsters merchandise.
Meanwhile, down at Slifer Red, the atmosphere was… less inspiring.
The students were still hammering together props and setting up a painted dueling arena in front of their dorm, half the decorations held together with tape and hope.
"Yeah, that's not gonna work," Momoyo said, arms crossed. She was dressed head-to-toe in her Iris Swordsoul outfit.
Her expression, however, was pure disappointment.
"This is a Red Cosplay Duel, Yumi. You can't just dress up as yourself."
Indeed, Yumi stood there in his Sky Striker HERO - Yumi outfit. It shared the same sleek, tactical look as Raye and Roze's uniforms, but it looked quite ordinary.
"Yeah," Celina added, adjusting the rabbit ears on her Lunalight White Rabbit costume. "Cosplaying as yourself doesn't count. That's just lazy."
Yumi tilted his head. "I thought you liked cats."
"I do," Celina replied flatly. "But Cat Dancer's outfit is too heavy. So I picked something light." She crossed her arms, trying to sound firm.
"You should've gone with Blue Cat instead." Yumi said it without hesitation.
Celina's eye twitched. "You want to be stepped on again!?"
Most of her Lunalight monster's outfit is too revealing and provocative. At least White Rabbit has a full body suit; it's better than going out almost half-naked.
Yumi sneered. "You are lucky I'm a sadist and not a masochist!"
Momoyo turned toward the bed, where Raye sat cross-legged, playing a handheld console with complete disinterest, trying to speed run the game. A slow, sinister smile crept across her face.
Outside the room.
"Let go of me!"
Standing outside the door, Zane, dressed in a Black Luster Soldier costume, hears Yumi's voice coming from inside the room.
Thinking something bad was happening, he was going to open the door before remembering Momoyo was also on the other side.
If he walks in on her changing like during their first year, he might have to spend the last few months in Duel Academy in the infirmary.
So he quietly lowered his hand from the doorknob, turned on his heel, and muttered under his breath.
"Yeah, not making that mistake twice."
A few minutes later, the door opened.
First out was Celina, still dressed in her Lunalight White Rabbit outfit, face red as a tomato.
Then came Momoyo, smirking like she just conquered the world.
And finally… Raye stepped out.
Wait.
Something wasn't right.
Zane blinked, staring from the blonde hair to the outfit. It looks just like the Sky Striker Ace - Raye in Yumi's deck.
"...What?" Then "Raye" spoke. "What are you looking at?"
Zane's brain short-circuited. "…Yumi?"
"Yeah, it's me," Yumi replied flatly, brushing imaginary dust off his borrowed skirt.
Zane looked past him into the room, where the real Raye sat on the bed in Yumi's Slifer Red uniform, still gaming like nothing was wrong.
Yumi sighed. Although he isn't afraid of crossdressing into a cute girl, he doesn't like doing so while walking around in public.
The moment he stepped into view, chaos erupted.
The Slifer Red students collectively froze, then screamed like a swarm of crazed fans seeing their idol in person.
"It's Raye! It's really her!"
"She's so pretty in person!"
"Wait, could it be that she left that horrible guy and came to me!?"
"Dude! Stop dreaming, she obviously came to me!"
Yumi didn't say anything and ran off, his sister and friends might be allowed to see him crossdressed as a girl, but there is no way he is going to let strangers find out about this dark history.
"Huh. He's faster than I thought," Celina murmured.
Momoyo smirked, folding her arms. "So the punk's been holding back on me, huh."
The Cosplay Duel had always been a Slifer Red tradition, one that Blue and Yellow students rarely even knew existed, since they never bothered to visit the Red dorm's side of the island.
Now, the area buzzed with laughter, music, and students in every kind of costume imaginable.
Atticus strutted proudly in his Celtic Guardian armor, beaming as he saw his little sister Alexis dressed in a sexy Harpie Lady outfit.
Chazz, meanwhile, shuffled around inside a massive XYZ-Dragon Cannon suit that looked hard to move in.
Rio, graceful as ever in her Yuki-Onna, the Ice Mayakashi costume, wandered through the crowd searching for Yumi. Her brother Reginald, in a ridiculous full-body shark costume, followed a few paces behind, watching over her like an awkward bodyguard.
Jaden had, as usual, misunderstood the assignment. His outfit was a bizarre mash-up of different Duel Monsters parts: a Bubbleman arms, a Flame Wingman wing, a Gaia the Fierce Knight chestplate, a Beaver Warrior shield, and something that might've once been a Dark Magician hat.
High above, on the Slifer Red dorm roof, the Dark Magician Girl Duel Spirit sat, watching the festival below with a fond smile. It had been so long since she came to the human world.
She didn't even notice the figure standing silently behind her: a blonde in the male Slifer Red uniform.
Bonk!
The magician spirit dropped like a stone. Raye caught her mid-fall and slung her over her shoulder before heading off toward Yumi's direction.
The first thing Dark Magician Girl saw when her eyes fluttered open was a bare-chested Yumi standing before her.
She froze. Then panic hit.
"E-Eh!?!" She squeaked, backing away until her back hit a nearby tree. Her trembling hands clutched her staff like a shield.
Yumi turned toward her, casually putting his Slifer Red uniform back on. Nearby, Raye sat calmly beneath the shade, sliding her black stockings back on her slender white feet.
This only made the magician spirit more nervous.
By now, whispers of Darkness's return had spread through the Spirit World like wildfire. Even mighty spirits like Black Luster Soldier had fallen before him.
If someone that powerful could be defeated.
What chance did she have?
Still, she'd come to the Human World anyway, like she did every year on Duel Monster Spirit Day, hoping to peek at the celebrations from afar now that Darkness has returned.
She just wants some harmless fun. But to come face-to-face with Darkness himself.
"D-D-Don't come any closer!" she stammered, raising her staff as Yumi walked toward her. His expression was calm, but those piercing golden eyes burned like molten glass.
He stopped just in front of her, crouching down to meet her gaze. "Good. You're awake."
Then, in a low voice that made her breath hitch. "Tell me everything you know about Darkness."
"I-I-I don't know anything!" she squealed, shaking her head so hard her hat nearly flew off.
Yumi narrowed his eyes. "Tch. Not willing to talk, huh?"
He smiled. Just slightly. But that smile made her imagination spiral.
'Th-this is it!' she thought, heart pounding as wild scenarios flooded her mind.
'He had captured me… now he is gonna tie me up… force me to do all sorts of terrible things… like in those forbidden stories…!'
She clutched her staff tighter, trembling.
...
"This… isn't what I was expecting…" Dark Magician Girl muttered, clutching the duel disk strapped to her arm.
Of all the things she thought would happen after being caught by him, this was not one of them.
In her head, Yumi fit the exact image of the terrifying bad guy from one of those forbidden romance scrolls she secretly read, dark, quiet, way too handsome, and probably the type who'd force her to join his evil army.
But instead of doing anything remotely villainous… he told her to pick up her duel disk.
And now she was dueling for her life.
"If he went too hard on me, I might actually disappear…" she whispered under her breath, trembling slightly.
Yumi raised an eyebrow. "Then what were you expecting?"
"N-Nothing!" she squeaked instantly, waving both hands in panic. The movement nearly dislodged her hat. "Absolutely nothing!"
He gave her a puzzled look but said nothing more, placing his hand on his deck.
The duel began.
[Dark Magician Girl, LP 4000]
[Yumi, LP 4000]
"I'll go first, draw!" She drew her first card, exhaled softly, and then her eyes brightened.
It was her own card. Dark Magician Girl.
She smiles, thinking that if she could win, she might get to leave without suffering much injury.
"I set one card face-down," she said, sliding the monster card onto her disk. "And two more cards!"
Three cards appeared in a flash of light, one monster face-down, two traps set behind it.
"Turn end!"
"Draw!" Yumi slid the top card from his deck and glanced at it briefly.
"Spell card, Take Over 5. Send the top five cards from my deck to my grave."
Five cards were sent to his graveyard before he placed down another card in his hand.
"I Normal Summon Raye."
A swirl of blue digital code spiraled open beside him. From the data storm stepped a young woman with pale blonde hair and cool red and green eyes, his signature Sky Striker Ace herself.
[Sky Striker Ace - Raye, 1500 ATK]
"E-Even the odd-eyed woman is here too…" she murmured, her tone uneasy as she grows more tense.
"I activate the Equip Spell, Formal Dress: Nun Style to Raye." Yumi placed the card down as a flash of magenta and white light enveloped Raye. Her outfit morphed, her sleek uniform transforming into a ceremonial habit with white and crimson accents.
"The equipped Raye will now be treated as an Exosister monster, and her Attribute will be treated as LIGHT." Yumi explained, "And she gains 200 ATK and DEF for each Exosister monster on my field and grave."
[Sky Striker Ace - Raye, 1500 -> 1700 ATK]
"Battle!" He lifted his hand, eyes gleaming. "Raye, strike down her set monster."
"Ace Striker!"
Raye dashed forward, sword glowing as she brought it down in a clean, decisive arc.
The card flipped up, a young blonde witch clutching a wand of flame.
[Fire Sorcerer, 1500 DEF]
The sorceress barely raised her arms before Raye's blade cleaved through her, shattering her form into embers.
"Fire Sorcerer's flip effect!" Dark Magician Girl shouted, quickly banishing two cards from her hand. "I banish two cards to inflict 800 damage to you!"
The fallen sorcerer's flames surged, racing toward Yumi in a crimson burst. Only for a beam of holy light to descend, neutralizing the fire entirely.
[Yumi, LP 4000 -> 4800]
"Huh!? How!?" Dark Magician Girl blinked in disbelief.
"Nun Style's continuous effect," Yumi said, with a calm smile. "Any time I'd take effect damage or pay Life Points, I gain that amount instead."
"Trap Card, Soul Rope!" she declared, swinging her hand forward. One of her set cards flipped open in a brilliant flare. "When a monster I control is destroyed, I can pay 1000 Life Points to Special Summon a Level 4 monster from my Deck!"
[Dark Magician Girl, LP 4000 -> 3000]
She pulled out her deck and searched for her card. "I Special Summon Magician's Valkyria!"
She searched quickly, sliding a card out.
"Come forth, Magician's Valkyria!"
White light gathered, and a young woman with orange hair emerged gracefully from it. Dressed in a similar magician-style robe as the Dark Magician Girl appeared on the field, kneeling with her arms crossed.
[Magician's Valkyria, 1800 DEF]
"I activate Raye's effect!"
Yumi lifted his hand as Raye's body began to glow brigthly. "By Tributing her, I can Special Summon a Sky Striker Ace from my Extra Deck!"
Raye's form dissolved into a surge of digital light. Fire flared around her, and from the blaze emerged a sleek orange combat suit, armor locking into place piece by piece.
"Henshin! Sky Striker Ace - Kagari!"
[Sky Striker Ace - Kagari, 1500 -> 2000 ATK]
The fiery samurai spread her high-tech wings, the tips glowing white-hot.
"Kagari's effect, when she is Summoned, I can add a Sky Striker Spell from my grave to my hand," Yumi said as a card popped out from his graveyard. "I add the Continuous Spell, Sky Striker Mecha Modules - Boost to my hand. And she gains 100 ATK and DEF for every spell in my graveyard."
[Sky Striker Ace - Kagari, 2000 -> 1900 ATK]
"Now I activate the Continuous Spell, Sky Striker Mecha Modules - Boost." Yumi slammed the card onto his Duel Disk, and Kagari's flames flared even brighter. "Boost's effect, my Sky Striker cards now have their effect doubled and can be activated twice per turn!"
[Sky Striker Ace - Kagari, 1900 -> 2300 ATK]
"Battle! Kagari, cut down Magician's Valkyria!"
Raye launched herself forward with a burst of propulsion, her blade slicing through the air like a meteor. The orange-haired magician barely had time to raise her staff before she was engulfed in flame.
"Quickplay Spell, Sky Striker Mobilize - Linkage!" Yumi said, his voice smooth and unhurried. "By sending Kagari to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon another Sky Striker Ace from my Extra Deck!"
The samurai armor disassembled into glowing fragments before reassembling into a new, taller figure with larger curves, wearing high-tech silver armor, her long silver hair streaked with cyan and crimson on the ends.
"Cast off! Sky Striker Ace - Zero!"
[Sky Striker Ace - Zero, 2000 ATK]
Dark Magician Girl takes a step back. "S-she's even scarier than the last one!"
"Zero's effect, I can add a Sky Striker Spell from my deck or grave to my hand. And thanks to Boost's effect, I can add another card."
Yumi explained as he picked a card from his deck and another from his graveyard.
"I add the Quickplay Spells, Widow Anchor, and Linkage to my hand." Yumi raised his two chosen cards as the Dark Magician Girl before him gulped in fear.
He ignored her trembling. "Zero, direct attack!"
Zero charged forward, blade in hand, propelling her forward like a silver comet, ready to cut down the magician standing in her way.
"Trap card, open! Valkyrian Guard!" Dark Magician Girl cried out. "I can revive a Level 4 Spellcaster from my Graveyard in Attack Position!"
A bright seal appeared on the ground, and Magician's Valkyria rose from it once more.
[Magician's Valkyria, 1600 ATK]
"Then I can change up to three attack position monsters I control to defense position!" The revived magician quickly knelt down, crossing her arms.
[Magician's Valkyria, 1800 DEF]
But before the high-tech blade could crash into the young magician.
Yumi smirked. "Quickplay Spell, Sky Striker Mecha - Widow Anchor. I target your Valkyria, negate her effect, and since I have three or more Spells in my Graveyard… I can take control of her."
A giant mechanical claw shot from the spell, grabbing the magician and yanking her to Yumi's side.
Dark Magician Girl: "..."
Her jaw fell open in utter despair.
Yumi tilted his head. "Problem?"
"Y-you're stealing my friends now!?" she squeaked.
"Borrowing," he corrected calmly.
As Zero's blade crashed into her.
[Dark Magician Girl, LP 3000 -> 1000]
"UmU! Making Boost is a really good decision." Yumi smiled and muttered to himself, completely ignoring the teary-eyed' Dark Magician Girl.
She really wants to run, but how far could she even run is the question here?
Before she could even recover, Yumi raised his hand again. "I activate Linkage! By sending Zero to the Graveyard, I Special Summon another Sky Striker Ace from my Extra Deck!"
Zero's armor broke apart into glowing pieces, recombining into a more compact, agile blue form.
"Cast off! Sky Striker Ace - Shizuku!"
[Sky Striker Ace - Shizuku, 1500 -> 2500 ATK]
The once silver armor and large curves shifted, turning an ocean blue, and her size and age returned to Raye's original.
"This isn't a duel anymore!" Dark Magician Girl wailed, voice breaking into a high-pitched squeal.
Yumi ignored her dramatics, as calm as ever. "Shizuku, direct attack."
Shizuku charged forward, leapt high, raising her high-tech blue shield above her head.
BONK!
And hit the Dark Magician Girl directly on the head, knocking her out again.
[Dark Magician Girl, LP 1000 -> 0]