After the whole fiasco with the card thief incident, Yumi returned to his dorm room like nothing had happened. He flopped onto his bed without a care in the world and promptly fell asleep.
Some time later, Celina stepped inside, only to find him already snoring away.
"Oi, aren't you gonna write that report Crowler told us to do?" she asked, giving him a light kick in the side.
Yumi groaned and rolled onto his other side. "Didn't we agree you'd do my homework for me?" he muttered sleepily.
"Tch! I said I'd help, not write two different reports in one night, dumbass!" she snapped, glaring down at his lazy grin with growing irritation.
"Alright, alright… I'll do it later," he replied, waving her off half-heartedly.
Translation: "I'll ask one of my Duel Spirits to do it later…"
Yumi's Duel Spirits: "..."
...
Later that night, after finishing her report, Celina glanced over and saw Yumi still sleeping like a salted fish.
"Tch… lazy ass," she muttered, slipping out for some fresh air.
As she stepped into the cool night, she noticed Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley sneaking off in the middle of the night. All three of them are Slifer Red.
Sensing something was off, without hesitation, she rushed back in, grabbed Yumi by the leg, and started dragging him out of bed.
Yumi: "Heh!?"
Raye: "Huh!?"
Neither of them got a chance to ask anything as Celina just hauled Yumi up and dragged him out after the trio.
They tailed the three Slifer Reds away from the dorm, across the beach, and deep into the woods. The forest swallowed them in shadows, with moonlight barely illuminating the damp path. The air was thick with the scent of moss and earth.
Duel Academy Island was a mysterious place; portals to the spirit world had appeared more than once in the original, each time to a different dimension. Random spirits, even the legendary Dark Magician Girl, would show up.
The anime said the Academy's location was one of the places closest to the spirit world, which explained why so many strange events happened.
Every rustle of leaves sounded louder than it should, like the trees themselves whispered secrets. The forest felt alive.
Eventually, they arrived at a decrepit building.
The walls were peeling, windows shattered and webbed over. Cold wind rattled the broken glass, making the place groan like it was alive.
"Is this the abandoned dorm?" Celina whispered.
Rumor had it that many students disappeared here, including Atticus Rhodes, Alexis's brother, once called one of the Academy's two aces alongside Zane.
Of course, Atticus was the literal unbeatable myth; he never won on screen, despite lots of duels, so his reputation might be overrated.
As they stepped closer, both Yumi and Celina felt a chill crawl down their backs.
"Hey… is it just me, or did the temperature drop?" Celina asked, rubbing her arms.
Yumi wordlessly took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders.
"Thanks," she muttered, now wrapped in two layers of warmth.
It's only February… Why does it feel like December?
Yet it suddenly turned as cold as winter, which confused her. While Yumi was directly linked to many Duel Spirits immediately understood what was going on.
"Celina, have you ever heard of Duel Spirits?" he asked, his tone shifting to something serious.
"Duel Spirits? My sister, Ruri, mentioned them once. Said it was just a theory, though," she answered, remembering the time her sister told her about her theory of Duel Spirit.
The idea of a parallel dimension connected to theirs, one tied to Duel Monsters.
"They're real," Yumi said bluntly, deciding there was no point in hiding it since later they would eventually encounter more than one incident involving Duel Spirit.
"Wait, what!? You're messing with me, right?" Celina asked, eyes narrowing in disbelief.
Yumi didn't answer. Instead, he turned toward the dark forest.
"I know you're there. Come out!" he called.
Silence. Then a sudden gust of icy wind.
From the shadows emerged a figure, pale as snow, with long white hair and a flowing white kimono adorned with blue ribbons. Her feet hovered inches above the ground.
"A g-ghost!?" Celina shrieked, instantly ducking behind Yumi.
The spectral woman giggled, eyes cool and calculating as they locked onto the pair.
"Such rich spirit energy," she purred. A slow lick of her lips followed. "I like you."
Yumi: "..."
That didn't sound like 'I like you, let's get coffee', but more like 'I like you, seasoned and slow-roasted.'
Duel Spirits get stronger and recover by absorbing spirit energy.
In the anime, the Orichalcos God takes the souls (spirit energy) of thousands of people, along with the Three Egyptian Gods, to resurrect itself.
Also, he figures out that by transferring his spirit energy to Raye, he could get random Sky Striker Ace supports cards to suddenly pop up.
Although this method mostly creates random cards, he doesn't know what cards will pop up from this. This method is still much cheaper than directly printing and adjusting cards by himself, but it would take a bit more to adjust those cards.
Yumi suddenly realized that by stocking up on spirit energy, he had turned himself into an all-you-can-eat buffet of random Duel Spirits.
"If you want it." He said, activating his duel disk. "Then you would have to take it. But you already know that."
"Oh?" The spirit smirked, and a ghostly duel disk formed on her arm. "I have a feeling you would say that."
"Let's make a bet, if you win, you can have me. If I win, you'll belong to me." He said with a smirk.
Celina: "!!?"
"Kukuku." She chuckles, placing her right hand over her soft lips. "Very well, I, Yuki-Onna, accepted your offer."
Celina suddenly lost her earlier fear of this ghost girl and suddenly had the urge to punch Yumi, but since Yuki-Onna is interested in Yumi's body. It would be before for him to stay awake instead of being knocked out, which makes him an easier target.
"Duel!" x2
[Yuki-Onna, LP 4000]
[Yumi, LP 4000]
"I'll take the first move," Yuki-Onna said calmly, her pale fingers gliding over the top card of her deck.
"Draw."
She drew with practiced grace, her expression unreadable.
"First, I activate Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards."
The iconic green jar with its devilish grin appeared, then shattered into shards as she drew two more cards from her deck.
"Next, I Normal Summon Yuki-Musume, the Ice Mayakashi, in Defense Position."
A chilling gust blew across the field. From within it emerged a petite ghost girl with short raven hair, dressed in a flowing blue kimono. Her arms were folded calmly as she knelt in front of Yuki-Onna, emanating a quiet frost.
[Yuki-Musume, the Ice Mayakashi, 1900 DEF]
Yumi's eyes narrowed.
Mayakashi…?
That was a Zombie archetype he recognized, heavily reliant on Synchro and Link summoning in the future. But Synchros and Link didn't even exist yet in this timeline.
So how does she plan to use them here?
Would her Extra Deck adapt, like his Sky Strikers, transforming into Fusion forms to fit the era?
"Interesting," he muttered under his breath, lips curling into a faint smirk.
"I'll set two cards face-down and end my turn."
Two reversed cards shimmered into place on her field. A cold wind swirled once more as she folded her arms, her hauntingly serene gaze returning to Yumi.
"Your move."
"My turn!" Yumi declared, hand resting on his deck. "Draw!"
He glanced at the cards in his hand and furrowed his brow slightly.
"Wrong deck." He murmurs before looking back up and picking a card from his hand.
"I Normal Summon Exosister Stella in Attack Position!"
Celina: "Huh!? "
Exosisters? Where the hell is your Sky Striker Ace!?
...
Meanwhile, back in their dorm room...
A girl with silver-gray hair sulked over a glowing laptop, furiously typing.
"Why do I have to write this report?" She groaned, fingers dancing across the keys.
"Roze, you've been bumming around while I've been out dueling for Spirit Energy. So now this is your job." Raye responded flatly, slurping her cup noodles.
"So good." She enjoyed the noodles.
"Ugh! Not fair!" Roze glared. Her eye twitched as she muttered, glaring at her friend, who was happily eating "Master Emergency Food".
She is so going to snitch on her later.
...
Back in the woods outside the Abandoned Dorm,
"I Normal Summon Exosister Stella in Attack Position!" Yumi announced.
A glowing glyph appeared as a modest girl with reddish-brown hair materialized, wearing a crimson nun-like uniform and holding two woven baskets.
[Exosister Stella, 300 ATK]
"Since I control an Exosister monster, I can Special Summon Exosister Elis from my hand!"
Another glyph. This time, a tall, elegant woman with long blonde hair appeared beside Stella, clad in a forest green outfit with a calm, devout expression.
[Exosister Elis, 500 ATK]
"When Elis is summoned while Stella's on the field, I gain 800 LP."
Light bathed Yumi's body as Elis performed a prayer motion.
[Yumi, LP 4000 -> 4800]
"Stella's effect activates! I can Special Summon one Exosister monster from my hand, and, since Elis is here, another 800 LP boost!"
Stella also gets into a praying motion, standing beside her sister, as another glowing light covers his body.
[Yumi, LP 4800 -> 5600]
"I Special Summon Exosister Sophia!"
A girl even smaller than Stella appeared in a deep blue uniform, holding what looked like a flashlight with a serious expression.
[Exosister Sophia, 100 ATK]
"Then I'll chain this with my Quickplay Spell- Quick Summon! Letting me Normal Summon or Set a monster from my hand."
Pulling out another card in his hand, he quickly slapped it down.
"I'll Normal Summon Exosister Irene!"
[Exosister Irene, 400 ATK]
Yumi placed down the card as a mature, cyan-clad blonde appeared with a calm, composed demeanor.
Four nun-like sisters now stood on the field in a V-formation, radiating protective energy.
"Sophia's effect activates when I control another Exosister monster, draw one card!"
He quickly drew his card.
"Then, since Irene's on the field, I gain another 800 LP!"
[Yumi, LP 5600 -> 6400]
"Now Irene's effect: I return an Exosister card from my hand to the bottom of my deck, then draw one."
He slid a trap card back into his deck and drew again.
"And because Sophia is on the field, Irene let me gain another 800 LP."
[Yumi, LP 6400 -> 7200]
Yuki-Onna raised a pale eyebrow, her icy breath visible in the night air.
"Exorcist sisters…?" she murmured. Her expression shifted from playful to mildly annoyed. "Hmph. Purification nonsense."
"Cool and all, but what are four girls with less than 1,000 ATK supposed to do?" Celina asks.
Yumi smirked.
"Let me show you."
He raised his hand dramatically.
"Stella! Elis! Contact Fusion!"
The two girls joined hands, leaping into a vortex of holy light.
"Two souls, joined in purpose, let the sacred light shine! Fusion Summon: Exosister Gibrine!"
Descending in a beam of holy radiance came a tall, regal woman with pale blonde hair, clad in white and cyan, wielding a mystical tech-rifle.
[Exosister Gibrine, 1400 ATK]
"Now, Sophia! Irene! Contact Fusion!"
The remaining two vanished into another vortex.
"Two hearts aligned, let your justice pierce the night! Fusion Summon: Exosister Asophiel!"
A sharp beam of light followed, unveiling a fierce young woman with twin blonde pigtails, dressed in a stylized guard's outfit with a cap, drawing back a radiant white bow.
[Exosister Asophiel, 2100 ATK]
Yumi raised his hand as the two warriors stood side by side, their weapons aimed squarely at the specter before them.
Seeing the two exorcist sisters standing side by side protectively over their Master, their shared gaze glaring at both Yuki-Onna and her monster.
"Oi, is this some kind of psychological warfare?" she hissed. "Those sisters are staring at me like I'm some cursed doll they're about to exorcise."
Celina snorted. "Well, you are a ghost."
"I'm a Duel Spirit!" She shouted.