The transparent Dark Magician Girl blinked her big eyes, full of curiosity.
"...Master, is that treat tasty?"
"This? It's delicious," Youyu said. "Do you want some?"
"...Yes," the girl whispered, sticking out her little tongue a bit shyly.
"Sure."
Youyu thought if there was such a thing as a Spirit Protection Association, he should definitely receive a medal for being such a generous and considerate master to spirits, which was rare these days.
Without a second thought, Youyu immediately got her a big, hard... popsicle.
And two of them at that!
One strawberry flavor, the other chocolate.
Youyu expressed that after selling so many cards, he now lived in affluence, buying two popsicles at once!
What? You say spirits can eat popsicles?
Well, Youyu explained that it's a privilege unique to their household spirit. Not only can she eat his popsicles, but she can also sleep in his bed.
The materialized Dark Magician Girl turned her head with an expression of having discovered a new continent: "Master, this is delicious!"
"Is that so? Eat more if you like," Youyu said, handing her a napkin.
The Magician Girl didn't realize her little mouth was covered in cream and strawberry syrup, looking quite like an innocent little girl.
Speaking of which, since she's a spirit, she probably won't gain weight from eating cream?
Suddenly feeling quite envious, what's that all about...
While Youyu walked, she followed behind, eating her popsicle. Occasionally, passersby, who found the sight impressive yet bewildering, might think she was a girl cosplaying. They might even secretly marvel, thinking, wow, the resemblance is uncanny, just like the real Dark Magician Girl...
"..."
While happily eating her popsicle, the Dark Magician Girl's expression shifted slightly, suddenly assuming a battle stance. Her popsicle disappeared as a small magic staff materialized in her hand. She flashed in front of her master like a loyal bodyguard, vigilantly watching ahead.
Though, the white, sticky cream at the corner of her mouth, combined with the serious expression, did look rather amusing...
A man appeared suddenly on the road ahead. A shiny bald head, a skinny frame, with a backpack slung across his torso, wearing a Duel Disc, and deep dark circles under his eyes, might lead uninformed onlookers to mistake him for some national treasure running amok in the streets.
The bald man grinned: "Finally, I've found you. You must be so puzzled now, wondering who I am, right? You're probably racking your brain trying to figure out my identity..."
"Marik Ishtar," Youyu replied without hesitation.
The man was taken aback: "How did you know?"
Youyu glanced at the conspicuous golden eye mark on the man's bald head and felt it wasn't even worth commenting on...
With that big eye of yours painted on your forehead, who wouldn't recognize you?
This is just like in the animation where President Haima would be shocked and say, "Could it be that Yugi already guessed I would summon my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon?"—
—Every Earthling knows the president is going to summon the White Dragon, yet he makes it seem like it's some kind of secret ace up his sleeve...
"That's right, it's me." Once exposed, Marik straightforwardly admitted, "This is a puppet I'm controlling. Though it seems I have underestimated you somewhat, handling you doesn't require my personal intervention..."
As he spoke, he noticed that Youyu's eyes were fixated intently on the Duel Disc on the puppet's hand...
"Your Duel Disc looks pretty new, just unboxed?" Youyu suddenly remarked.
This seemed to trigger some unpleasant memories for Marik, and he erupted in instant rage: "You'll pay for your frivolous behavior!"
"I was just about to say, last time I only took a Duel Disc and you got so angry you disconnected on the spot," Youyu shook his head with a look of disappointment. "A Duel Disc isn't worth much, yet you're this pained over it. Seems like your Ghouls aren't very well-funded after all.
No wonder you guys couldn't provide any cards when I asked, turns out you're a bunch of paupers. Lucky I didn't get suckered onto your lousy ship back then..."
Marik was so angry...he almost laughed out loud.
For heaven's sake, I didn't disconnect last time because I was heartbroken over a few lousy cards and a broken Duel Disc!
No, it was because of scoundrels like you who don't play by any rules!
Marik decided to change the topic and try to regain control. The puppet's creepy, eerie eyes shifted to the Dark Magician Girl, who was holding her little magic staff with a wary expression.
"Hey, I didn't expect you to be an Elf Master," he snorted, with a sinister laugh. "Well, after I defeat you, I'll take this card housing the spirit. Rest assured, I'll take good care of her."
It's worth mentioning that compared to other animations with sinister and ruthless antagonists, Marik is really quite simple and honest as a boss, he doesn't even know how to trash talk.
Youyu didn't respond to him, but instead, stared at his deck: "Is the Egyptian God Card housed in that deck?"
"That's right!" Marik's spirits lifted, and he raised his voice, "This deck contains the Egyptian God Card, Slifer the Sky Dragon!"
Originally, he expected to see awe and fear on Youyu's face, the kind of fear towards a god - a reaction that any normal duelist should have.
Yet this guy...
"Really?" Youyu's eyes lit up, "Is it a genuine card? You're not trying to trick me with some knock-off copy, are you?"
Marik's mouth twitched, and he snorted, "Of course, it's a genuine card."
"Oh? Is it holographic?" Youyu continued to ask, "Gold lettering? Silver print? Ultra rare? Does it have a holographic effect?"
Marik: "..."
He suddenly had a strange illusion, feeling like he was manipulating this puppet to deliver the Sky Dragon all the way to Domino, while in front of him was a customer, grilling him about the product details...
I'm here to deal with you, not to deliver you a card, okay!?
Marik was furious, and the consequences were severe!
"Enough talk." Marik raised his Duel Disc, "Let me show you the majesty of a true god, and you'll realize how ridiculous it is to challenge a god!
Come on, accept my duel!"
"Wait a moment!" Youyu quickly raised his hand, "Before we officially start, there's something I need to do first."
Marik was suspicious, "What's that? If you're thinking of making an excuse to run away, don't bother, you won't be able to escape."
Youyu rolled his eyes.
Ha, judging by myself, do I look like someone who'd pretend to go to the bathroom to secretly slip away and leave the opponent here hanging?
"Before that," Youyu pulled out his deck, "I need to adjust my deck first."
Marik folded his arms and snorted, "Do as you like."
Marik indicated that he didn't care about the deck adjustments, even if Youyu swapped all forty cards.
Gods are absolutely invincible, there's no way to defeat them! No matter what cards or strategies you use!
It must be said, Marik was quite gallant, actually turning his head to the side to enjoy the breeze, not caring at all about what adjustments Youyu was making to his deck.
Such principled and ethical antagonists are rare these days...
"Duel!" x2
[Youyu, LP 4000]
[Puppet (Marik), LP 4000]
The order of play is determined randomly by both Duel Discs, with equal probability to both sides, akin to flipping a coin.
This time, Marik was the first to go: "I take the first move, draw a card!
I summon 'Revival Jam', in defense position!"
[Revival Jam, Defense 500]
The image on the card appeared, projecting a blob-like monster onto the field, with a soft and sticky body sprawled into a big pile, looking somewhat disgusting.
However, don't let its feeble appearance fool you, this thing is quite despicable. The anime effect of Revival Jam allows it to revive immediately from the graveyard when destroyed by battle or effect. In the early environments, it was quite broken and once gave Yugi a hard fight.
"Heh heh, this monster is just the prelude to a series of nightmares you'll face, keep your eyes open." Marik sneered, "And now for the Continuous Magic Card - Jam Breeding Machine!"
The Magic Card was activated, and a silver metallic machine resembling a boiler appeared on the field. The exhaust pipes on either side of the gigantic machine spewed out white smoke with a sharp whistle, ejecting a soft little slime from the core of the furnace, which landed stickily in the monster zone on the ground.
[Slime Token, Attack 500]
"Jam Breeding Machine is a Continuous Magic Card that Special Summons a Slime Token in attack position once per turn onto my field." Marik explained.
Youyu wasn't surprised by this play at all: "Do you intend to quickly gather the three sacrifices needed to summon the Egyptian God with this ability?"
"Exactly." Marik chuckled, "Now there are already two monsters on the field, and by the next turn, I'll have enough sacrifices to summon the god. From now on, you will face the deepest nightmare of your life!"