Rain poured down in sheets, drowning every corner of the campus, shrouding familiar scenery in haze and chaos. The sky was thick with dark clouds, the heavy ceiling hanging so low it felt almost touchable—like the whole world had been compressed into a suffocating gloom.
Marcel Bonaparte stood silently at the center of the field, letting fat raindrops hammer him without mercy, as if the storm—and the world itself—had nothing to do with him. The roar of rain all around, tangled with howling wind, became a fierce, discordant symphony. His soaked Ra Yellow uniform clung tight, outlining a thin, lonely figure. Water slid from his hair and ran down his face like tears.
And not far in front of him, also in the downpour, also in a Ra Yellow uniform, Kira stood soundlessly.
They faced each other, letting the storm fall, with no expressions and no words—as if their eyes alone were enough.
After a moment of silent confrontation, Marcel slowly raised his hand.
Kira could clearly see: the boy's right hand had already been replaced by the arm of some monster—like a demon's claw. With a sharp snap, it snapped its fingers through the curtain of rain.
In an instant, the rain was cut off, along with the storm's thunderous roar. Outside the barrier was the orchestra of wind and rain; inside was quiet.
"Yubel, right?" Kira pinched the bridge of his nose. "Didn't expect that even like this you'd still end up on Marcel. What an unlucky kid.
Let me guess—even if I politely ask you to get off this child right now, you won't do it, will you?"
Marcel—or rather, Yubel—gave a low, amused snort. "This boy may look ordinary, but the darkness in his heart is quite delicious.
You'll probably have to blast me out of him."
She paused, lips curling upward, and pointed at her own body with the demon claw.
"But only if you're not worried the boy can't take it."
"All right. Figured as much," Kira said.
Within ten minutes of Yubel taking the risk and infiltrating the academy, Kira had already blocked her path.
He hadn't expected to resolve this with words alone anyway. It was going to come down to cards.
"Before we begin, I have a question for you," Yubel said.
"Oh?"
"You and my Jaden," Yubel's eyes were full of hostility. "What exactly is your relationship?"
"Me and Jaden?"
Kira froze. His first instinct was to say they were just classmates he knew fairly well—but then he glanced at Yubel's jealous expression, couldn't help but laugh, and smoothly changed his answer.
"Oh, that would be best friends—people who understand each other deeply, who've supported each other and grown together all this time," Kira smiled. "Sorry you came all the way back from the far side of the universe.
But as you can see, Jaden has grown just fine without you. He's even awakened and mastered the Supreme King's power—because he already has me."
He narrowed his eyes and added with deliberate mockery:
"Looks like he doesn't need you anymore."
Yubel exploded in rage, screaming incoherently. She didn't even want to duel anymore—she raised the demon claw and fired an energy blast.
Of course, it crashed into a transparent magic barrier etched with intricate patterns, forcibly stopped several meters from Kira. Silent Magician stood before him, staff in hand, guarding him, while Kira himself didn't move an inch.
"Bastard—bastard, bastard! Best friends? I don't remember ever giving you permission to be Jaden's friend!"
Yubel shrieked.
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"
As she spoke, the demonic hand began to morph. A Duel Disk structure extended along the arm; the Deck was mounted and ready.
Kira activated his Duel Disk.
So far, this wasn't bad. Yubel's revival was incomplete—she shouldn't be able to perform at full power. Even so, she'd evolved and mutated after ten years drifting in space, steeped in the evil power of the Light of Destruction. She couldn't be underestimated.
Rattling her emotions before the duel would disrupt a duelist's momentum and on-the-spot judgment, widening the advantage.
Yubel had floated around the cosmos too long without talking to anyone—maybe she'd forgotten the power of trash talk. Kira kindly helped her review it, so that once she reunited with Jaden, she could more quickly assume the role of a top-tier possessive guardian spirit.
"Duel!" ×2
[Kira, LP 4000]
[Yubel, LP 4000]
"I'll go first. Draw!"
With six cards in hand, Yubel scanned her opening hand one by one. During that time, her emotions calmed a little.
She was in poor condition, and her opponent was no ordinary enemy. This wasn't a foe she could handle while overheated.
"I summon 'Samsara Lotus.'"
Leaves appeared on her field, spreading outward. Between them, a vivid lotus bloomed.
[Samsara Lotus, ATK 0]
Samsara Lotus—a card Kira used often as well. In the anime, it first appeared in Yubel's hands. In the end phase, it could revive itself endlessly from the Graveyard. The real card requires you to have no Spells/Traps on your field after the end phase to activate; in the anime there was no such restriction—if it existed in the Graveyard, it would jump back unconditionally.
Yubel herself had an effect where, at each end phase, if she didn't offer a monster as tribute, she would self-destruct. So Samsara Lotus formed the perfect synergy with Yubel's true body: each end phase the lotus revived, was fed to Yubel as tribute, and kept her on the field.
…Assuming the lotus was in the Graveyard.
Kira's lips curved slightly.
"I set one card. End my turn," Yubel said.
"My turn. Draw."
Kira drew, added the card to his hand, then calmly pulled out another.
"First, I activate this card.
Continuous Spell—'Dimensional Fissure'!"
The Spell card slid into his Duel Disk. Black lightning immediately split the sky. Countless arcs of electricity seemed to tear space open, revealing a massive rift. On the other side was pitch-black chaos—an unknown dimension.
"As long as Dimensional Fissure remains in the Spell & Trap Zone," Kira said, "any monster sent to the Graveyard by either player does not go to the Graveyard—it's banished from play instead."
A "Macro Cosmos" in Spell form!
Yubel's expression changed sharply.
Not sent to the Graveyard—banished directly…
Damn it.
On turn one, she'd summoned Samsara Lotus precisely to send it to the Graveyard and prepare for her true body's arrival. But with Dimensional Fissure active, once the lotus leaves the field it must be banished. Her setup hadn't even begun, and a key card had already been effectively deleted.
Yubel's mouth twitched.
What kind of bastard opens with something like this?
Don't you need your own Graveyard too!?