Yugioh [772-774] (Patreon)

Chapter 772: Come to My Room Tonight

To be fair, the girl in front of him really was quite beautiful.

She wore a Gothic dress as deep as the night, like satin cut from the dark sky. Her skin was as flawless as first snow with a faint blush, so pale it looked as if it had never seen sunlight. Her hair was midnight-black and waist-length, woven into intricate braids adorned with tiny ornaments. Her petite, delicate figure resembled a finely crafted doll; in every movement she carried both the cool, mysterious elegance of Gothic style and the innocence and liveliness of a young maiden.

The first impression she gave was of flawless beauty. No wonder her first appearance had caused a sensation in the entire dorm. Yet there was a touch of unreality to that beauty.

Because Kira could tell at a glance she wasn't human.

Now the story came back to him. It was just a one-off episode somewhere in the 180-episode run of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, so he'd barely remembered it—until he saw the girl face-to-face and then connected it with the missing item notice he'd seen in the student terminal's Ms. Dorothy bulletin.

The girl's name was Alice—that was indeed her real name. But she wasn't human, not even a card spirit. She was one of the rarest things in all of Yu-Gi-Oh!: a doll spirit.

Of course, in the Yu-Gi-Oh! world spirits didn't only dwell in cards; card spirits were just the most common and the strongest. Any object with spirituality might host a spirit.

Alice's true body was a doll sold at the academy's campus shop—a doll rumored to possess extraordinary power. She was originally a doll created to protect duelists, acting like a talisman, and had always regarded guarding a duelist's heart as her duty.

But later, some students at the academy strayed in their hearts toward dueling. They blamed their defeats—and even their life setbacks—on their cards and decks, thinking they lost because their decks weren't strong enough and their cards were too weak.

So in a fit of anger, a student ripped up his card on the spot—tore his monster in half.

That one tear set everything off. The unjustly implicated monster felt aggrieved: clearly its owner was the weak one—can't even draw what he needs and still expects to win—and then blames the card for losing. The monster turned to darkness. From the torn card was born an evil card spirit who hated all duelists in the world and took as its mission "to make duelists lose the heart to duel through duels of despair."

However, the spirit's card had been torn; it didn't even have a vessel to act through. So the hateful spirit set its sights on the guardian doll in the nearby shop, forced its way into the doll and corrupted it, transforming it from a duelist's protector into a cursed doll of resentment.

That was the Alice of now.

She appeared to the students as a petite, adorable young girl, and with her perfect pretty-girl persona and first-rate cooking she quickly captured almost every student's heart—and stomach.

But it was only bait released by a top-tier hunter. In the original, the smitten Tyranno—completely entranced by Alice—got up at midnight, drooling, and sleepwalked into a small grove. Then, according to Alice, she "used a duel to drag him into a country of despair from which he could not escape."

However, despite Alice's description, when Jaden and the others arrived, they saw Tyranno flushed, eyes full of heart shapes, collapsed on the ground in a daze, body twitching now and then, a silly grin on his face with drool at the corner of his mouth. He didn't look like someone trapped in despair; if anything, he looked like he'd visited paradise. So what exactly Alice's "duel of despair" entails, we don't know and we don't dare ask. Judging by the result, it seemed rather enviable…

"Senpai? Senpai?"

The cursed doll blinked her big eyes, then shrank back instinctively, retreating two steps away from Kira in fear.

She lowered her head and whispered, "If you stare at me like that, I'm scared."

Kira, who had been lost in recollection, snapped back to the moment.

He smiled brightly. "Sorry, I was just thinking about something." He scooted over to make room. "It's fine—of course, you can sit here."

But now Alice hesitated.

In the original, after slipping out of the shop, Alice posed as a transfer student and infiltrated the Red Dorm. But with the world line altered, she'd come to the Yellow Dorm. The reason was simple: she was here for Kira.

Just as she said to Jaden in the anime, she sought strong duelists. The stronger the duelist she dragged into a pit where they no longer wanted to duel, the greater her sense of accomplishment.

Bearing the title of Duel King, Kira was undoubtedly the academy's number one. The tree that stands out catches the wind; of course she'd come to the Yellow Dorm—to meet Kira.

Yet the moment she saw him in person, she wavered.

Because she, a cursed doll fallen into darkness, felt as if she were staring into an abyss just by looking at him.

A voice in her heart told her: this person is dangerous.

The students around them, seeing a pretty first-year girl approach Kira on her own, felt a twinge of envy but also found it reasonable. He was the Lord in Yellow, the Duel King. Any newcomer to the school, given the chance, would want to meet him.

Alice felt that the person before her seemed friendly, his smile warm—but for some reason she instinctively wanted to avoid him.

She pinched the hem of her dress and murmured, "Um… Senpai, I just remembered I have something to do…"

"Don't be shy, it's fine, have a seat."

Kira smiled politely, then paused and narrowed his eyes.

"Or is it that… you don't want to sit?"

"N-no, that's not it!"

Alice hurriedly sat down.

But once seated, she only then realized what she'd done and felt puzzled.

Wait—why am I so afraid of him?

Still, since she'd come, she might as well proceed. Since she was already here, she would follow the plan.

Alice took a deep breath and slid a bowl toward Kira.

"Um… Senpai, would you like to try this?" she asked carefully. "This is mango foie gras sushi I made myself. It's really good."

Kira didn't stand on ceremony. He picked one up with his chopsticks and tasted it.

It was indeed excellent. No wonder the line at the cafeteria was so long; apparently it wasn't only for a glimpse of the pretty junior. He didn't know how her dueling skill was, but her cooking was clearly maxed out.

"Quite good. But let's skip the foreplay and get to the point."

Kira smiled.

"You and I both know why you came to me."

The doll girl started and didn't dare answer.

"Let's save ourselves the hassle; my time's tight. Here's the deal. Tonight at nine, come to my room."

The doll shrank back again in fear.

"You and I… what are you planning to do?"

Kira looked at her, puzzled.

"Duel, of course," he said matter-of-factly. "Isn't that why you're here? What else would we do?"

Chapter 773: The Cursed Doll

That night, Alice nervously arrived at Kira's room.

Yes, she really did come obediently. She herself didn't fully understand why, as if his words carried some sort of irresistible force that kept her on edge the whole day—she didn't dare not come.

Right. I'm here to drag a strong duelist into a country of despair. He seems to be the academy's strongest duelist—the best prey.

Be confident: he's the prey. She was the hunter—the very best hunter.

Yes, that's right. Alice steeled her resolve again.

After sorting out her thoughts and lingering outside the door for several minutes to psych herself up, Alice finally mustered the courage to knock.

She discovered on the first knock that the door wasn't closed. She took a breath and walked in.

"You're finally here."

Kira had been waiting. He stood up right away. No small talk—the duel disk was already ready.

"Come on, this is what you wanted, right? A duel?"

"Y-yes!"

Alice stuck out her neck, trying to look imposing. But her doll face was youthful and childlike, which made it look a bit comical.

"I… I'll make you fall into the country of despair and snuff out the light of hope for you duelists!" she cried. "I'll make you see no hope in dueling ever again!"

"Whoa, that's scary," Kira chuckled. "Let's see it, then."

"Duel!" x2

[Kira, LP 4000]

[Alice, LP 4000]

"I—I'll go first. Draw!"

The doll girl drew, took two calming breaths.

"I set 'Alice the Wandering Doll' in defense!" (Anime card)

What she summoned was a refined blonde doll—very pretty, but her eyes were empty, devoid of spirit—crouching in defense to block for her.

[Alice the Wandering Doll, DEF 1000]

"I set two cards, then activate this card…"

She carefully slid another card from her hand into the slot that popped out on the side of the duel disk.

"Field Spell: 'Cursed Dollhouse'!" (Anime card)

With the field's activation, a towering building rose up. The dorm room vanished, replaced by a vast sitting room with white walls, tall windows, and an old fireplace at the far end.

"Turn end."

"My turn. Draw."

Kira added the card to his hand, then calmly played another card.

"Special Summon 'Cyber Dragon.'"

He slapped the monster card onto the disk. A silver mechanical dragon roared, appearing amid crackling arcs of electricity on his field.

[Cyber Dragon, ATK 2100]

"When the opponent controls a monster and I control none, Cyber Dragon can be Special Summoned from the hand."

Alice watched tensely, her youthful face taut. "A 2100-attack monster right away…"

"Cyber Dragon, attack 'Alice the Wandering Doll.'"

The dragon opened its maw; blue light gathered and became an Evolution Burst that blasted straight into the doll.

She shuddered—overwhelmed by the dragon's presence—but held firm.

"Alice the Wandering Doll's effect: this card cannot be destroyed by battle!" Alice explained. "Also, when this card becomes the attack target, it inflicts 500 damage to the opponent!"

[Kira, LP 4000 → 3500]

Seeing the damage land, Alice seemed a bit bolder. She unconsciously puffed out her airport-flat chest and continued explaining.

"After that, control of this card shifts to the opponent!"

The refined blonde doll strode over to Kira's field, still crouched in defense.

"Oh? You're giving me control?" Kira smiled. "That does sound interesting."

"At this moment, the Field Spell 'Cursed Dollhouse' activates!" Alice said. "When 'Alice the Wandering Doll' is given to the opponent, the controller of this card can Special Summon a monster with 'Doll Part' in its name from the Deck!"

Her deck searched, then she revealed the chosen monster.

"I Special Summon 'Doll Part Blue'!"

A somewhat creepy doll head appeared—again with empty eyes. The face, once seemingly beautiful, was split halfway open, like it had rolled off a horror movie set.

[Doll Part Blue, ATK 0]

"Cursed dolls, huh? Pretty good horror vibe. Truly a deck from the underworld," Kira nodded in appraisal.

"However, at this moment I activate the Quick-Play Spell 'Demise of the Land' from my hand!
When your opponent Special Summons a monster, you can activate this to select and activate a Field Spell from your Deck."

His deck searched as well; his advanced duel disk popped out the chosen card and shuffled automatically.

"I activate this from the Deck—

—Field Spell: 'Chaos Zone'!"

A chaotic vortex spun up; the dollhouse vanished in an instant. An expanse of azure, like an endless ocean, dominated the field beneath their feet.

"Ah," Alice lamented, "my dollhouse…"

"Chaos Zone places a Chaos Counter each time a monster is banished," Kira said.

Alice shot him a nervous glance.

"So he relies on card banishing—a duelist type that fights through banish mechanics?"

"I haven't Normal Summoned this turn," Kira said. "I set one monster in face-down Defense. Turn end."

"My turn, draw."

Alice glanced at the card, thought for a moment, then said:

"I activate 'Pot of Greed' to draw two."

"Then I Normal Summon 'Doll Part Gold'!"

A shroud of gloomy black mist coalesced into a battered doll arm.

[Doll Part Gold, ATK 0]

"Straight to battle. 'Doll Part Blue,' attack 'Cyber Dragon'!"

[Doll Part Blue, ATK 0]

"Oh?" Kira watched, intrigued.

The cracked horror-doll head was a Normal Monster with no effect; its text was basically "Broken doll head."

So the trick clearly wasn't on the head…

"At this moment, I activate 'Shrink' to halve a monster's ATK!" Alice said. "Halve 'Cyber Dragon's' ATK!"

[Cyber Dragon, ATK 2100 → 1050]

Even then, the dragon still had higher ATK.

But Kira was interested and wanted to see what the doll girl had planned, so he played along with a wave of his hand.

"Then Cyber Dragon, hit it back.

Evolution Burst!"

Chapter 774: The Undying Curse

"Evolution Burst!"

The beam blasted the suicidal doll part head-on. It couldn't withstand the blast and exploded into fragments.

[Alice, LP 4000 → 2950]

But her intent immediately became clear.

"At this moment, I flip my set Trap 'Necro Dollmeister'!" Alice said. "When a monster with 'Doll Part' in its name you control is destroyed by battle, you can activate this.

Special Summon two monsters with 'Doll Part' in their names from your Deck, in Attack Position!" (Anime card)

Alice searched and pulled two more monsters.

"I Special Summon 'Doll Part Red' and 'Doll Part Pink'!"

Matching the prior art style, Doll Part Red was a pair of damaged doll legs, one foot still wearing a red high heel. Doll Part Pink was a ragged doll torso—only the body, with head and limbs as pitch-black hollows and a huge crack around the waist.

[Doll Part Red, ATK 0]

[Doll Part Pink, ATK 0]

"Then I activate my set Trap 'Soul Resurrection' to Special Summon a Normal Monster from my GY in Defense Position!" Alice said. "I Special Summon the destroyed 'Doll Part Blue' in Defense Position!"

The creepy doll head returned to the field.

"Head, body, hands and feet are gathered. Let me guess," Kira said. "You're going to combine them?"

"Missing just one last step." Alice smiled, then continued: "'Doll Part Blue,' attack your 'Alice the Wandering Doll'!"

Doll Part Blue charged to its death again.

[Alice the Wandering Doll, DEF 1000]

As expected, Alice herself took the reflected damage and staggered back a half step.

[Alice, LP 2950 → 1950]

"But at this moment, Alice's effect activates as well," she said. "When she becomes a target of attack, she inflicts 500 damage to her controller—that is, me."

[Alice, LP 1950 → 1450]

The doll girl gritted her teeth and took her own damage, then said, "After that, her control shifts again. Please return my doll to me!"

The porcelain doll Alice returned to Alice's field.

"With this, we're ready!" Alice cried. "Finally, I activate the Spell 'Marionette Burial'!
While 'Alice the Wandering Doll' is on my field, tribute one each of Doll Parts Gold, Blue, Red, and Pink from my field to Special Summon 'Doll Chimera' from my hand or Deck!"

The four parts fused into a shaggy-haired, ferocious, crawling doll. Its hollow eyes and expressionless face exuded eerie dread.

[Doll Chimera, ATK 0]

"Doll Chimera cannot be Normal Summoned and can only be Special Summoned by 'Marionette Burial,'" Alice explained. "Its ATK increases by 400 for each 'Doll Part' monster in my GY.

I have four Doll Parts in my GY, so it gains 1600 ATK!"

[Doll Chimera, ATK 0 → 1600]

The moment it appeared, Kira sensed from it a hateful aura, like a mass of grudges.

He understood. This was the original body of the card that had been torn—the spirit of hatred that had corroded the doll girl's heart.

But it was just a spirit turned dark by resentment—not some ultra-ancient demon god nor an invader from space, with no heavy background. Creepy, yes, but in terms of supernatural weight, nothing special.

And even corrupted, all it wanted was "to beat those hateful duelists until they no longer wanted to duel." And before that, it would even do chores and cook for them…
Thinking of it that way, it was kind of cute.

If that counted as evil, then by comparison Kira figured he must be heinous beyond redemption.

"This is the terrifying Doll Chimera that drags all duelists into a country of despair where they can see no hope and lose the heart to duel…"

Alice was declaiming her lines with fervor when she frowned.

"What are you laughing at?"

"N-no reason," Kira waved. "Just remembered something funny… Don't mind me, you go on."

He really wasn't trying to be snarky. But this thing—needing to assemble an Alice plus four Vanillas on board and a specific Spell to summon, and then… just this.

If a spirit didn't personally pilot it, who on earth could play this deck…

Alice flushed.

"D-don't underestimate Chimera! You'll regret it!
I activate the Spell 'Doll Hammer' to destroy one of my monsters, draw two from my Deck, and change the battle position of one of your monsters!
I destroy my own 'Doll Chimera' and switch your 'Cyber Dragon' to Defense Position!"

[Cyber Dragon, DEF 1600]

Doll Chimera exploded as soon as it arrived. Alice drew two.

Kira raised an eyebrow.

The doll girl's deck looked like max difficulty to pilot, but that Spell was pretty good—targeted destruction, draw acceleration, and a free position change. Solid utility.

Alice drew, then declared:

"At this moment, 'Doll Chimera's' effect activates! When this card would be destroyed, by sending two 'Doll Part' cards from my Deck to the GY, I can negate its destruction!"

She revealed two cards.

"I send two more 'Doll Part Blue' from my Deck to the GY to negate Chimera's destruction!"

"I see—no matter how many times it's destroyed, it can revive. And each revival mills more doll parts, making it stronger," Kira nodded.

"Exactly!" Alice said proudly. "I just sent two more parts to the GY, so Chimera's ATK increases by another 800!"

[Doll Chimera, ATK 1600 → 2400]

"Now do you understand? Chimera is undying and can grow infinitely stronger!" Alice shouted. "This is the power of the cursed doll cast aside and despised by duelists!

No matter how many times it's cast into hell, it revives endlessly. It is resentment incarnate—an absolutely undying cursed monster!"