The Pharaoh and the Wayfarer (Atem/Yami Yugi x Spirit! Reader)

Chapter 22: The Master of Magicians

...as I said before, OC duels are hard.
I own nothing.
Chapter 22: Duel with a Deranged Diva

After getting taking a moment to breathe, the two duelists claimed their opponents' rarest cards and the locator cards, calling an ambulance first of course (thank you, Kaiba, for hiring officials to look after injured duelists so the girls didn't have to come up with an explanation for their state). (Y/N) claimed Chaos Hunter, though she didn't see a need to use it in her deck, while Yami reclaimed Joey's Red-Eyes Black Dragon, also taking the time to rip up the tampered Exodia pieces. Yami tried to return Red-Eyes to Joey, but the blonde insisted that he needed to earn it back in a duel, vowing that it would be in the Battle City finals, which Yami accepted. As such, Joey split off from the two of them to follow his own path and grow as a duelist, leaving Yami and (Y/N) to their own devices. The former Queen had suggested the idea of splitting up to gather more locator cards, but Yami did not seem to like that idea given the particular interest Marik had shown with Rain.
Speaking of Rain, (Y/N) could sense her partner lost in thought, even from within the Millennium Bracelet.
"Rain?" She said out loud.
The (L/N) girl appeared, looking contemplated. "It's familiar."
"What?"
She looked at (Y/N). "Marik. It sounds familiar, like how Ishizu looked familiar."
Yami turned to join their conversation. "You're well traveled, correct? Perhaps you have crossed paths. It could explain his interest in you."
"Probably." Rain admitted. "He can't be a business partner of my gramps, I'd know for a fact. A relative, maybe? Someone with a grudge?"
Yugi then appeared. "Whoever he is, you really should be careful, Rain. I don't like the idea of some creepy cult leader coming after you."
(Y/N) smirked. "Well, Yugi, you'll just have to protect her if I'm unable to."
"Gah!" The boy squeaked as Rain's face went crimson.
"(Y/N)!"
The female spirit chuckled mischievously. "Well, if he's so concerned, I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask."
"You so didn't!" Rain yelled before both of the teens vanished.
Yami chuckled, amused by all of this. "That was a bit mean spirited, (Y/N)."
She grinned at him. "Oh, it's just some light teasing. It keeps them on their toes."
He offered her his arm. "I'd dare say you're taking revenge for them ambushing us with a date."
"Now why would I do that?" She took his arm. "I quite enjoyed our date."
"You know, if you were like this back in our lifetime, I'm starting to see how I fell in love with you."
Her grin fell as her cheeks went red. "Shameless flatterer."
"Only for you, it seems."
The two walked on together before a group of duelists raced past them.
"Did ya hear?" One yelled. "Joey Wheeler's dueling some guy with ESP!"
"This I gotta see! Come on!"
The two spirits watched as they headed towards the duel.
"That makes two of us." Yami noted and (Y/N) pursed her lips.
"Another psychic?" Her voice betrayed her skepticism. "Well, at the very least Joey has experience with these types."
"You do recall us facing someone with mind reading abilities, correct?"
(Y/N) held up a finger. "Pegasus had a Millennium Item, that doesn't count. Anyways even if he wants to do this on his own, that doesn't mean we can't give our support to Joey on the sidelines."
Yami nodded in agreement and the two followed the other duelists to the site. Rather than standing in the crowd, the two headed for a building and watched from one of the public balconies. Joey had difficulties in the beginning, having to adapt to the different rule sets, but just as (Y/N) had predicted, Roba was indeed a phony. In truth, his brothers were spying his opponent's cards and relaying the information to their older brother. Unfortunately for them, Rain had Mokuba on speed dial and the younger Kaiba took his job as commissioner very seriously, racing over to bust the younger brothers. To his credit, Joey had already figured out Roba was a fraud and tricked him by using Graceful Dice and Skull Dice. Despite the cheating, after hearing the younger boys explain that their brother's dueling was to protect them, Yami and (Y/N) gave Mokuba a non-verbal gesture to let the duel continue, this time without interference. Despite some close calls and an appearance from the rare Jinzo (something that had Rain squealing), with a bit of luck and well timed Roulette Spider, Joey was able edge out a win.
(Y/N) sighed in relief. "I think we've all made too much of a habit of comeback from behind victories. Honestly, I don't think the suspense is good for us."
Yami chuckled. "Joey did well today. He gets better with every duel."
"Well, that is the goal."
As the two walked, (Y/N) suddenly felt her whole body freeze. A roar filled her ears as the image of a blue colossus flashed before her.
"(Y/N)!" Yami shouted as she felt his arm prop her up.
To an outsider, it looked as if the female had simply tripped, but Yami by now was able to tell the difference between that and a vision.
Steadying herself, the former queen rubbed away the slight ache in her head. "I'm fine."
Yami looked less than convinced. "What did you see?"
"If I had to reason a guess: I think someone just played one of those Egyptian god cards Marik told us about, and it's every bit as terrifying as he mentioned."
"That's putting it mildly." Rain said, appearing beside her partner with a shiver. "I felt like I was gonna drop dead from just its gaze, and I'm in spirit form!"
Yugi also materialized. "If that's the case, I'm glad we're together. I just hope Joey's okay."
"Have some faith in him." (Y/N) assured the younger male. "As we said, Joey grows stronger with each duel. He'll make it through the tournament with his own power. For now, we should focus our efforts on Marik."
Yugi perked up. "Right. How are we supposed to know where he'll strike next? We don't even know what he looks like."
Rain rolled her eyes. "I doubt it'll be hard. Trouble has a way of finding us."
A loud cackling filled the air as the two spirits turned to see a clown staring them down.
(Y/N) side eyed her Wayfarer counterpart. "You just had to say something."
"Who are you?" Yami demanded.
"Hello, Yugi and Rain." The clown greeted with a bow. "We have been looking for both of you."
(Y/N) crossed her arms. "And who is we?"
"You'll find out if you walk that way. 53 steps forward and into that tent. My master is waiting for you inside." The two turned to see a circus tent set up across the street before turning back to the clown. "It's in your best interest to go."
The deranged entertainer cackled once more and disappeared into the brush. (Y/N) sighed and turned to her spouse.
"Are we truly about to walk into a trap because we were told to?"
"Ladies first." Yami said jokingly as the two headed into the tent, neither noticing Tea and Grandpa calling out to them.
Despite his earlier joke, Yami entered the dark room first, motioning (Y/N) to enter when he saw the coast was clear. The two glanced around before a spotlight turned their attention to two Mystic Boxes on a stage. The boxes open as the clown from before stepped out from one of them, standing between the two.
"Enter here." They said. "Yugi on the right, Rain on the left. My master awaits."
The clown disappeared into the left box.
Yami clenched his fist, his eyes narrowed with mistrust. "They're trying to separate us."
"Well, let's not disappoint them then."
"(Y/N), wait." Yami grabbed her wrist gently as she walked towards the box. "For all we know, that box could lead you straight to Marik."
"Then it'll save us the trouble of tracking him down."
"Shagngu."
She gave him a soft smile. "I'll be fine, kianga. I'm just as capable a duelist as you. Besides, I have an inkling Marik isn't ready to get his own hands dirty just yet. I'll defeat any minion he tries to send my way."
Yami sighed before slipping his hand from her wrist to her hand. "Just...promise me. Tournament or not, as soon as you think your life is in danger, run. Please, just be safe."
"So long as you promise me the same."
He nodded, pausing for a second before bringing up her hand to press a quick kiss to her palm, letting go after. (Y/N) blinked in surprise, blushing slightly before nodding back. Letting go, the two stepped towards their respective boxes, disappearing in a puff of smoke, and again missing Tea and Grandpa Solomon calling out to them. (Y/N) emerged in a dimly lit room.
"Welcome, Rain (L/N)." A spot shone from above, illuminating the clown that had led her here. "Let the show begin!"
The room burst into light, revealing a circus like arena, complete with a holographic crowd cheering. The clown ripped away the disguise, revealing a beautiful woman with long, fiery locks and luminous green eyes. She wore a bright red and gold coat resembling the attire of a ringmaster, and on her arm was a Duel Disk.
"Why have you brought me here?" (Y/N) demanded.
"Why, to duel, of course! I am Sonata Aika, follower of Lord Marik and devotee of the Master of Illusions, Arkana! In the names of both my masters, I shall defeat you, Wayfarer!"
"You aren't the first to declare such a thing." (Y/N) said, approaching her side of the dueling field. "And you certainly won't be the last."
The woman huffed. "Bold words from such a...let's be generous and say average looking girl."
"Better that than a flaunting peacock!" Rain yelled angrily in her spirit form as they began shuffling their decks, and allowing the other to cut their decks.
"Oh, and just in case you're holding out hope for a hero, Master Arkana has gone to great lengths to hide our location from the outside world. Not even Seto Kaiba will be able to find our location."
"If that is what you believe, you vastly underestimate Kaiba."
Sonata sneered before the two took their positions.
"Let's duel!"