The Tomb Keepers' clan, an ancient and solemn crypt, had been a place of silence for thousands of years. Yet now, strange noises echoed from within.
"Ouch!"
"No, not there, anywhere but there—"
"Wait! That side's not okay either!"
"No, no, I really can't take this anymore. If you go any further, something terrible will happen!"
"Please, I beg you, stop looking, wuwuwu…"
"..."
At this moment, flickering torches illuminated the massive altar, their wavering flames casting shadows everywhere. A circle of burly men in black robes stood around the altar, chanting ancient incantations that few in the world could still understand.
And at the center of their circle—the source of the strange noises—was Kira's card.
That utterly useless spirit, now with a single floating eye, was howling and shouting, its cries growing ever stranger.
Even the experienced Marik was left speechless, his face darkening as he listened. After a moment, unable to endure it any longer, he turned to Kira and asked, "Is your spirit… alright?"
"It's fine," Kira replied calmly. "It's always like this. Let it mess around—it's no problem."
What they were doing was using the ancient ritual of the Tomb Keepers to awaken the sealed self within the spirit. The Eye was screaming the whole time, as if someone were violently rummaging through its mind, stirring and searching its memories.
Hence, the nonstop strange noises.
After about half an hour, the card was finally returned to Kira.
Strangely, though it was obviously just a card, it somehow looked as if it were covered in sweat. Kira wondered curiously where a card's sweat glands could possibly be.
"Finally... it's over."
The Eye looked utterly exhausted.
Kira scrutinized the card, frowning slightly. He couldn't see much difference—the card still offered no information, and the illustration showed only a single eye.
"Did it fail?" Kira looked at Marik. "Should we try again—"
The Eye instantly snapped awake in fright: "No, please! I remember now, I remember everything!"
Marik said, "The ritual can only help recover some lost memories; it seems it cannot awaken the spirit's dormant power."
Kira asked, "So, what are you?"
"Ah, I haven't quite recalled that part yet... But!" The Eye hurriedly added, "I do remember the exact location of the Guardian's Domain!"
…
Duel Academy
Another day of torrential rain. Thick raindrops pounded violently against the ground, creating a cacophony of rapid impacts. The downpour was so heavy that the world seemed shrouded in mist, distant scenery blurred beyond recognition. Water quickly pooled into streams on the mountain path, surging forward with unstoppable force.
"Ahhhh—!"
A twisted, agonized moan echoed through the woods. Sometimes it sounded like a woman's voice, sometimes a man's, as if two completely different tones were overlapping in a bizarre, teeth-gritting snarl.
Trees swayed wildly in the wind, their leaves battered by rain, sounding especially fragile.
A hand crawled forward through the storm—an inhuman, demonic claw. But only one such hand existed, ending at the elbow; the five fingers dug deep into the soaked earth, nearly embedding themselves in the mud.
It was Yubel.
"Why struggle? Why hesitate?"
A voice seemed to come from above, its gloomy tone carried by the rain, adding an eerie chill.
"Get lost," Yubel snarled.
"You still have a wish, don't you? There's someone you desperately want to see, something you'd give anything to accomplish, isn't there?"
The voice coaxed on, persistent.
"But you're too weak. At least, in your current state, you're very weak. Like this, you can do nothing."
"Get lost. I don't need... don't need your kind of help."
This time, Yubel's voice was more feminine. But after a brief pause, the deeper, masculine tone overwhelmed it, rasping, "No, he's right. We need Jaden, no matter what, at any cost. But as we are now, we don't have enough power.
Yes, power. Any way we can get it, as long as we have power..."
"No, we can't." The feminine voice quickly suppressed the masculine one, "We can't let ourselves be used by someone like that. Jaden is ours, and can only be ours!"
Yubel's body showed both male and female features; in the anime, her initial form is distinctly feminine in speech and demeanor. After evolving during duels, her voice grows deeper, hinting at her personality's descent into darkness.
Now, both voices overlapped, each taking turns dominating—like two warring consciousnesses inside her. One urged her to resist the temptation, the other urged her to embrace the vast dark power, believing only with strength could she achieve her goal.
As the internal struggle raged, footsteps suddenly rustled through the storm.
"Kuri Kuri!"
Winged Kuriboh's voice.
"This way, partner?"
The familiar voice made Yubel shudder all over, as if deeply moved.
She looked up. A red-clad boy was striding through the rain, his jellyfish-like hair soaked through. Who else could it be but the one she had longed for, day and night, for ten years—Jaden?
"Ja... Jaden?"
Yubel froze, stunned. Jaden, too, was momentarily surprised when he saw the demonic claw struggling in the mud.
But just then, Yubel was focusing all her strength on resisting the seductive voice. Normally, she was a master of mental warfare. Her opponent was powerful, but if she'd been at full strength, she wouldn't have been caught so off-guard.
But she had been ambushed, and now, seeing Jaden appear, her mind wavered. The seductive voice seized on this opening, immediately breaking through her defenses.
"Ahhh!"
Yubel sensed disaster but was too late to rally her strength. Her claw clenched into a fist, leaving five deep gouges in the muddy ground.
"Go... go..."
She mumbled.
Jaden: "What?"
"Go! Jaden, go now!"
As she shouted, a surge of darkness exploded from her arm, enveloping the stump in waves of demonic energy.
Jaden felt a chill, but didn't flee. Peering through the suffocating darkness, he guessed what was happening.
"You're... Yubel?"
The darkness coalesced into a torso and limbs. Empowered by the evil god's energy, Yubel's body was restored to its original form.
But as her heterochromatic eyes opened, they now surged with ink-black darkness.
"Why didn't you leave when I told you to?"
She asked, her voice cold as ice.
Jaden recalled how Kira had helped him recover his memories, how Yubel had been sent into space, and how she'd been possessed by evil forces, blurring the line between good and evil—she needed help.
He didn't realize that the evil Kira spoke of referred to the Light of Destruction in space, and that Yubel's current state was different.
But, guided by Kira, Jaden had already made up his mind about what he would do when they met again.
"Of course I won't leave."
Jaden took a step forward, looking serious.
"I'm going to save you, Yubel."
….