Yugi sucked in a painful breath.
He looked down at the hand reaching from behind him, pinching the soft flesh at his waist.
"What are you doing, Anzu?"
Yugi looked back at the girl behind him, torn between laughter and tears.
"Yugi, you were smiling just now, weren't you? What was with that stupid grin you were giving Duel Monsters?"
Anzu's expression was frighteningly dark.
"Um... what are you talking about, Anzu?"
Yugi's face stiffened slightly. It seemed the girl had been seen through, leaving her somewhat embarrassed.
"Hey, Yugi. Who's prettier, me or Dark Magician Girl?"
Anzu asked the question of death.
"Dark Magician Girl is prettier..."
Yugi answered far too honestly.
Even the King beside him couldn't bear to watch and rubbed his forehead with a sigh.
As a result, Anzu's hand tightened even more.
"Ahh—! Anzu... let go already..."
Yugi was in so much pain that he was nearly crying.
"You idiot deserve it. Who told you to say Dark Magician Girl was prettier? Even though it's true..."
Anzu wanted Yugi to favor her. After all, in her eyes, Dark Magician Girl was just a flat character on a card.
Yugi had no idea why he had angered Anzu and could only endure the pain.
After quite a while, Yugi finally spoke.
"Anzu, has your anger calmed down yet? Everyone is still waiting for us. If we don't leave to find them now, it'll be too late."
Only then did Anzu remember that Yugi still had to help their other companions.
"Hmph, I'll let you off for now."
Only then did she release her grip.
However, after all that fuss, Yugi and the others really did fail to save their other companions in time.
Among them, Jonouchi only reunited with Yugi and the others after defeating his opponent, arriving too late to prevent Honda Hiro from having his body taken away, just like in the original story.
After the Great Five Elders were defeated one after another, Noah found them too useless and merged their five consciousnesses into Honda Hiro's body to stop Yugi and his companions.
As for President Kaiba, he went alone to find Noah and rescue his kidnapped Millennium Hostage, his younger brother Mokuba.
"Alright, let's duel, Yugi!"
"Honda Hiro" summoned a deck and Duel Disk before Yugi.
"Fine, I was hoping for this!"
Yugi deployed his Duel Disk as well.
Yugi and his companions had already learned that the "Honda Hiro" standing before them was actually the five Great Five Elders.
The real Honda Hiro's consciousness had been sealed inside a mechanical monkey, which was currently being held by Jonouchi's younger sister, Shizuka.
"Wait! There are five of you, isn't this five against one? That gives you way too much of an advantage! Let me join too!"
Jonouchi stepped forward and deployed his Duel Disk as well.
"Jonouchi..."
Yugi had actually wanted to say there was no need for him to join, but seeing how fired up he was, Yugi didn't stop him.
The two quickly assembled their decks and each selected a Deck Master. Yugi still chose Dark Magician Girl, since her skill was simply too useful. Jonouchi, meanwhile, chose Flame Swordsman.
The Great Five Elders could choose one Deck Master every turn, and their starting Life Points were 8000, while both Yugi and Jonouchi had 4000 Life Points.
"duel!" ×3
[Yugi Muto: LP 4000] [Katsuya Jonouchi: LP 4000] [Great Five Elders: LP 8000]
"Then let my Kounosuke Oshita's Deep Sea Warrior be your opponent first!"
A Deep Sea Warrior projection appeared behind "Honda Hiro."
"This time, we won't lose to you again, Yugi Muto! My turn, draw!"
[Great Five Elders' hand: 5→6]
After glancing at the card he had drawn this turn, "Honda Hiro" placed a card in the Field Spell Zone.
"I activate the Field Spell Legendary City: Atlantis. The Attack Points of WATER monsters on the field increase by 200, and the Levels of WATER monsters in the hand decrease by one."
Great waves surged across the open space.
"A Level decrease of one? Don't tell me...!"
Jonouchi was immediately startled. He knew exactly what that meant.
"That's right. I summon Legendary Fisherman from my hand without a Tribute."
Splash—!
A fisherman riding a shark leaped out from beneath the water.
[Legendary Fisherman: ATK 1850] [Great Five Elders' hand: 6→4]
"That's... Kajiki Ryota's most treasured monster!"
Jonouchi happened to have that card in his deck as well. He had won it from Kajiki Ryota during Duel City. However, the monster's effect and Attack Points were both rather underwhelming, so he had never found a use for it.
Legendary Fisherman's effect: As long as Umi exists on the field, this card on the field is unaffected by Spell Card effects.
Since the Field Spell Legendary City: Atlantis was treated as Umi by the rules, its Attack Point increase could not apply to Legendary Fisherman.
Therefore, the Great Five Elders had merely summoned a monster equivalent to a low-Level monster. Of course, Yugi didn't care how high his opponent's monster's Attack Points were.
"My turn ends."
At that point, the Great Five Elders had already declared the end of their turn.
Blood Sacrifice
"Yugi, let me go first..."
Before Yugi could agree, Jonouchi had already drawn a card.
"My turn!"
[Katsuya Jonouchi's hand: 5→6]
Jonouchi directly slapped the card he had drawn onto his Duel Disk.
"Here I go! I summon Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #1 from my hand in Defense Position."
A wingless dragon-man warrior appeared on Jonouchi's field.
[Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #1: DEF 1200] [Katsuya Jonouchi's hand: 6→5]
"In a Tag Duel, the first turn cannot attack, so my turn ends."
He simply ended his turn.
"Next is me. Draw!"
[Yugi Muto's hand: 5→6]
Yugi also slapped a card from his hand onto his Duel Disk.
"I summon Giant Rat from my hand in Defense Position."
A giant rat clutching a skull appeared before him.
[Giant Rat: DEF 1450]
"Then I set one card. My turn ends."
Yugi ended his turn just as decisively.
[Yugi Muto's hand: 6→4]
"My turn, draw!"
[Great Five Elders' hand: 4→5]
"The voice changed!?"
Jonouchi noticed that the Great Five Elders had switched members.
"That's right. From now on, my Shuzo Otaki's Nightmare Penguin will be your opponent. Hehehe..."
As he spoke, the Deep Sea Warrior behind "Honda Hiro" disappeared and was replaced by Nightmare Penguin.
"This time, I'll definitely defeat you and seize the body of a young girl. Hehehehe..."
The penguin was as perverted as ever.
"Please, Yugi, you have to beat him!"
After hearing the old pervert's words, Anzu could no longer stay calm and urged Yugi to defeat him quickly.
Of course, Yugi would do so even without her saying anything. Those defeated losers were simply too disgusting.
"According to Nightmare Penguin's Deck Master effect, the Attack Points of our WATER monsters increase by 200."
[Legendary Fisherman: ATK 1850→2050]
"This time, I'll definitely defeat you, Yugi Muto! Go! Legendary Fisherman, attack Giant Rat!"
The penguin immediately targeted Yugi, who had defeated it before. At its command, the fisherman thrust his fish spear toward Giant Rat and pierced it through.
After the rat shattered, Yugi hurriedly spoke.
"You really never learn! At this moment, Giant Rat's monster effect activates. When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon one EARTH monster with 1500 or less Attack Points from my deck in Attack Position."
As he spoke, Yugi took out his deck and searched through it.
"Oh no!!"
The overheated penguin instantly panicked. It had not expected to fall into the same trap again.
By then, Yugi had already selected the card he needed.
"I Special Summon Green Gear from my deck."
A green gear-shaped robot appeared before him.
[Green Gear: ATK 1400]
"And when Green Gear is successfully Special Summoned, its monster effect activates. I add one Red Gear from my deck to my hand."
[Yugi Muto's hand: 4→5]
"Nice one, Yugi! That leaves us with a Tribute!"
Jonouchi was energized beside him.
"A Tribute... AIBO's strategy shouldn't be that simple..."
After repeatedly examining the cards in Yugi's hand and his set card, the King pondered for a moment.
"This is... could it be..."
When he noticed one of Yugi's cards in hand and the set card, he suddenly realized something. His gaze toward the other side became somewhat sympathetic. He knew the Great Five Elders were about to be crushed by Yugi once again.
Before you continue