Yu-Gi-Oh! Epic Battles #3: Judai Yuki vs. Judai Yuki Part One

Since I was stupid enough to lose my draft for DF7, while I am looking for it, I have decided to copy/paste some more of my Epic Battles from yugiohcardmaker.net. I will also be continuing the series here, up to the point that I had finished plotting it out. I don't know how often that'll be, but whatevs.

There's no action in this one, just set-up, so keep that in mind.

Duel Three

Judai Yuki (Season One)

vs.

Judai Yuki (Season Four)

Judai Yuki was lying in his bunk in the Osiris Red dorm on Academy island. Of course these days, that's usually what he was doing. He didn't yet see what his friends, human, spirit, and Duel Monster had all begun to see, that since his many life or death duels in the other dimension and then against the entity known as Truman, Judai just wasn't himself anymore. He'd forgotten how to have fun dueling, something that would have been the end of the world to the Judai who'd arrived at Duel Academy only a few years ago. As the spirit of Judai's friend and teacher Lyman Banner watched invisibly, Judai absentmindedly took the 'Honest' card that he'd received before his most recent duel and turned it in his fingers, examining it.

At that moment, Judai's oldest spirit monster, his childhood favorite card Yubel appeared alongside Banner. The two didn't usually communicate, but both recognized that their friend was having issues, and that he needed help.

"This is your fault, you know," Banner told Yubel. "You went crazy and forced him to duel for his life, and now you've fused with him, along with all of your instabilities and abandonment issues. It isn't healthy."

"My past actions were misguided," Yubel admitted, "but it was his choice to fuse with me. Doing so returned me to what I was. My 'instabilities' are no more."

As Yubel spoke in her strangely androgynous voice, the plump orange cat, Pharaoh, jumped up onto Judai's desk and looked from Yubel to Banner and back, "Besides, I live in Judai's mind now. I see in him the potential to return to the person he was, but I do not know how to bring him to realize that potential."

As the spirits watched, Judai placed the 'Honest' card back into his deck. Even though he no longer wanted to duel, even though he no longer enjoyed it like he once did, he kept dueling out of a sense of responsibility, like the responsibility of keeping the promise to the spirit of that card, to keep it safe and give it a new home.

"It is a shame," Banner said. "At its base level, Duel Monsters is a game. It may be the weapon of choice of modern magic users and spirits, but it is still an instrument to bring fun and enjoyment to as many people as possible. It is a shame that anyone who once loved the game could forget that."

Yubel said nothing, and when Banner looked over at her, he saw that she was even sadder than he was. She had not yet completely forgiven Judai for the missteps of his youth, which had cast a dark shadow upon their relationship, and she had far from begun to forgive herself for what she had done to him in return, but she did obviously still care for the boy.

"I can't help him," Banner told her. "I don't have the powers that you do."

"How can I help?" Yubel asked. "I may see bits and pieces of the young man that he was before I hurt him in his stray memories, but I didn't know him then."

"No," Banner agreed as Judai, having fallen asleep, began to snore lightly, "but he does. Go into his mind and find a memory of the Judai from before and bring it out in his dreams. Let him meet the person he once was face to face, and let him decide which person he really wants to be."

Yubel seemed to consider Banner's suggestion, and then, finally, she disappeared without a word, leaving Banner alone with the cat.

"Don't even think about it, Pharaoh," Banner said. "I'm no one's lunch."


Meanwhile, in the depths of Judai's subconscious, Yubel found what she was looking for and, after using her powers to make it 'real', she returned to real, current version of him. She found him dreaming of the river near the red dorm. It was a place he often went to be alone and think.

"I was wondering where you were, Yubel," he said.

"I don't always follow you into your dreams," she replied. "You know that when you're not dreaming."

"Am I dreaming?" Judai wondered aloud. Before his question could be answered, however, he heard something behind him. Yubel faded away, returning to Judai's soul, as Judai turned and found himself face to face with a boy. He had brown hair that was a bit shorter and lighter than Judai's, and the red jacket that he wore was the brighter red that the school had used during Judai's first year. His Duel Disk was also the same drab, gray basic model from Judai's previous years at Duel Academy. Even for a dream, it was unbelievable, but as Judai looked into the eyes of the other boy, the eyes that were so much brighter than, but otherwise the same as his own, there was no mistaking who the other boy was. He was also Judai, but Judai from his first year at Duel Academy. From before everything went wrong. Seeing that forgotten part of himself made Judai sad, and then it made him angry.

"Wow," the other Judai said, awestruck, "this is too weird. You look just like me, but older! Are you, like, my future self?"

"Go away," Judai told his younger self as he turned to face the river. "There's no place for you here anymore."

"Wow," the other Judai said, almost as sternly as his older counterpart, "future me is harsh."

Then his voice almost instantly turned playful once again, "But hey, that's fine. I get it. I grew up, right, so I don't wanna live in the past. I'm still in school, in red dorm, but I bet I'm still dueling up a storm and loving every minute!"

The other Judai smiled, waiting for a response, and when none came, he said, "I still duel, right?"

"I duel all the time," Judai replied, "but it's not because I want to."

"What's that mean?" the younger Judai asked, clearly confused.

"You wouldn't understand," Judai replied.

"What's that mean?" the younger Judai asked, insulted.

"Listen," Judai told his younger self, "all I mean is that you're gonna go through a lot in the course of the next couple of years, and through it all you'll realize the truth, that dueling isn't fun for someone like us. It's a responsibility. My responsibility, to fight to protect other from whatever villain plans to misuse Duel Monsters next."

"What about my dream of becoming the next King of Games?" the younger Judai asked.

"I forgot about that a long time ago," Judai answered sadly.

"What?" the younger Judai demanded. "That's been my dream for as long as I can remember. Since before I built my Elemental Hero deck. Since before I won the chance to send my card designs into space. No way I'd ever give that up."

"Well believe it it not," Judai snapped, turning back to his younger self, "you did."

The younger Judai looked warily at his older self, "I don't think I like you very much."

"Yeah, well neither do I," Judai told him.

"You've forgotten how to enjoy dueling," the younger Judai insisted. "Even when you're in a tough situation, you've gotta remember that. And if you won't remember on your own, I'll make you."

He placed his cards in his Duel Disk and switched it on.

"Okay," Judai told his younger self, "Maybe when I win you'll go away."

He hadn't noticed his Duel Disk on his arm before, but there in his dream, when he needed them, Judai's cards and Duel Disk were there. His eyes glowed bi-chromatically green and orange to match Yubel's, and he felt her with him there in spirit, ready to lend her strength.

"You know, future me," the younger Judai announced, the ghostly image of 'Winged Kuriboh' appearing at his side, "I don't think this duel is gonna be as quick as you think. In fact, let's have some fun and play a full duel."

"Fine," Judai agreed, setting his Life Points to eight thousand, "it doesn't matter to me how many Life Points I take from you."

The two versions of the same Duelist stood face to face, at the ready, and two nearly identical voices rang out, "Duel!"

Part Two >>