The True Battle City Finals

Chapter 1: The Bonds of Duelists

The sun was fresh in the sky behind Joey. The entire street was completely empty, save for himself and his friend, Yugi, who was walking up the street to meet him. Both duelists had a fierce look of determination in their eyes. Everything they had just been through in the past week came flooding back to them as they prepared themselves.

"We made it, Joey. But there's still one thing left to do." Yugi said as he came to a halt. Both men had their duel disks firmly strapped to their wrists and their duel decks in hand. "I still have something of yours."

"Yup, and it's time for me to earn it back, pal." Joey said as he readied his deck.

"You're on." Yugi said as he readied his own.

"Of all the battles I've been through in this tournament, 'dis one means the most. You betta watch out! You taught me everything you know about duel!" Joey declared as his duel disk activated and he placed his deck inside.

"Almost." Said Yugi, a smug grin on his face as he did the same with his duel disk. Both disks activated and their Life Point readouts sparked to life at 4000 a piece.

"Let's duel!" they shouted in unison. The wind kicked up behind Joey and the sun was now at its peak, just over the Domino City sky scrapers. Both duelists drew their first hands.

"I'll take the first move, Joey, and I'll begin this duel with one monster face-down in defense mode and one card face-down." Yugi said as his holograms appeared before him.

Playing conservatively right from 'da start. He'll expect me to run into his face-down monster, whatever it is, thought Joey as he drew his card. Maybe playing conservatively is best for now. This is Yugi I'm talking about. Don't want to run into 'dis guns glazing and get my butt kicked before 'da game really gets going.

"I summon my Swordsman of Landstar in defense mode, and that'll be it from me." He declared. His small swordsman appeared before him with 1200 defense points.

Yugi grinned. "I expected you to try and attack, Joey." He said, drawing his card. "I'm not falling for your tricks, Yug. I aim to win this duel." Joey declared, pointing a thumb at himself. "Hit me with your worst!"

"Very well. I flip summon my Beaver Warrior." Yugi said as his card flipped and his Beaver Warrior emerged. "He won't be staying for long, however. I tribute him to summon my Berfomet in attack mode."

His beaver vanished from the field and in its place stood Berfomet with 1400 attack points. "When I summon my Berfomet, I'm able to search out Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts from my deck." He said as he added the card to his hand. "Now, I activate my Polymerization to combine my Gazelle and my Berfomet to form Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast!"

Gazelle appeared briefly on Yugi's field before it began to combine with Berfomet in a vortex of magical energy. Out of the vortex stood Chimera with a whopping 2100 attack points. "Due to the rules of Battle City, my Chimera is unable to attack the turn it is summoned, so that's all for me." Yugi said.

Joey's really going to give me a run for my money if I don't take this duel seriously. He'd be insulted if he gave him any less than our best, he thought to himself. Joey's grown into a fine duelist, Yugi. I'm sure he will find a way to handle whatever we throw at him. He certainly won't be going easy on us, you know.

Joey drew his card. "Alright, I sacrifice my Swordsman of Landstar to bring out my Garoozis!" and in an instant, his swordsman vanished and out came his sinister looking Garoozis with 1800 ATK. "Next, I'll power up my Garoozis with Salamandra!" he said as Garoozis' axe was replaced by a giant flaming sword. It's attack points jumped to 2500. "Garoozis, take out that Chimera!" Joey ordered. Garoozis leaped across the battle field and brought Salamandra down upon Chimera.

"You'll have to try harder than that, Joey. Go, The Regulation of Tribe!" Yugi said as his face-down card flipped up. "Beast-Warriors cannot attack! Your Garoozis has been halted." He said as Garoozis froze in mid air, just inches away from slashing Chimera. He landed on the ground and returned to Joey's side of the field. "Nice play, Yug. That's my turn then."

Yugi drew. "During my Standby Phase, I'll send The Regulation of Tribe to my Graveyard as I won't be paying the maintenance cost." Yugi stated as his trap card vaporized.

"Now then, I'll sacrifice my Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast, and as per Battle City Rules, he counts as a number of tributes equal to the amount of monsters that make him up." Yugi explained as Chimera vanished. Aw, great. He's going to take me out already with Buster Blader… or maybe his Dark Magician, Joey grimaced.

"You'll like the monster I have in mind, Joey. I summon the Red-Eyes Black Dragon to my field!" Yugi declared as he slapped the card down. With a thunderous roar, Red-Eyes appeared on Yugi's side of the field with 2000 defense points with its arms crossed and its wings protecting it. Joey couldn't help but chuckle. "I shoulda known…" he said as he locked eyes with his monster. I'll win ya back, bud, you can count on it.

"I'll end my turn with one card face-down." The card materialized before him. Joey hardly glanced at his next card as he drew it. "Garoozis, take down Red-Eyes!" he ordered. Garoozis once again leaped across the field, his Salamandra ready to slay his beloved dragon. "Not so fast, Joey. I activate Dust Tornado!" Yugi declared. His trap card shot up and with it, a massive tornado that consumed Garoozis. The flames of Salamandra dwindled until it went out and broke underneath the pressure. Once the sword was gone, Red-Eyes bashed Garoozis, rag dolling him and causing him to land in a heap in front of Joey. His Life Points dropped to 3800.

"A bit determined, Joey?" asked Yugi with a smile. "You could say that. I summon Hayabusa Knight in defense mode and end my turn." Joey said as his monster materialized with 700 defense points. I don't have a counter attack ready yet, but I'm not afraid of a bit of damage, Joey thought to himself.

Yugi drew. "I switch Red-Eyes Black Dragon to attack mode. Now go, Red-Eyes, destroy Garoozis with Inferno Fire Blast!" Yugi ordered. Red-Eyes stood tall and launched a massive fireball that completely engulfed Joey's monster. He winced as his Life Points dropped to 3200. "I'll end my turn with another card face-down. Your turn, Joey."

Joey drew his next card and grinned. "Alright, Yug, I hope you're ready. I sacrifice my Hayabusa Knight to summon up Jinzo!" Joey shouted. Hayabusa Knight vanished from his field and out came Jinzo with an attack value equal to Red-Eyes Black Dragon. "Go Jinzo, use your special ability!" Joey ordered. Jinzo's eyes glowed a fierce shade of red and he fired a laser at Yugi's face down card. His Time Seal flipped up and exploded. "Now you can't stop me with any of your trap cards. Jinzo, attack Red-Eyes!" Joey commanded.

Jinzo launched a massive ball of electrical energy at Red-Eyes, who counter attacked with another Inferno Fire Blast. The two attacks met between the two of them and the resulting explosion engulfed both monsters. "Your Red-Eyes has been taken down, Yug. I'll set one card and hand it over to you." Joey said smugly as his card appeared.

Yugi smiled. "That was only your first test, Joey. The real duel is only just starting." He said as he looked at his card. "I activate the Spell Card, Card of Sanctity! Now we both draw until we have 6 cards in our hands." Yugi said as he drew 4 cards and Joey drew 3.

"Go, Celtic Guardian! Attack Joey directly!" Yugi said as his new monster appeared before him with 1400 attack points. He dashed across the field and slashed Joey across the chest, dropping his Life Points to a measly 1800. He's leaving himself seriously open to attacks, thought Yugi. I'm sure he is more than aware of this, Yugi. He's testing the waters as best he can.

Aw, nuts. The duels barely started and I'm already down to less than half my Life Points. I gotta start thinking of a plan, quick! Joey thought frantically as he searched his hand. He grimaced when he saw one of the cards he had drawn. When am I going to remember to take Parasite Paracide out of here…?

"It's your turn, Joey." Yugi said, snapping him out of his panic. "I knew 'dat." Joey said sheepishly as he drew a card. "I summon my Gearfried the Iron Knight!" he declared as his knight appeared before him with 1800 points. No face downs and no other cards to help him. I'm clear to attack! "Go, Gearfried, take out Celtic Guardian!" Joey ordered.

Gearfried and Celtic Guardian fought for a brief moment before Gearfried came down hard on him, completely shattering his blade and himself in one swift cut. Yugi's Life Points dropped to 3600.

"My move. I'll start my turn with the card I drew, Graceful Charity. It allows me to draw 3 cards, then discard 2." He said as he drew his cards. "The cards I'll be discarding are Necromancy and De-Fusion." He stated as he placed the cards into his duel disk.

"Now, Joey, you'd best prepare yourself." Yugi said with a serious look on his face. "Come on, Yug! Hit me with everything you got!" Joey shouted, clenching his fist and with a smile on his face. "Very well! I activate Fiend's Sanctuary!"

A Metal Fiend Token appeared on his field with zero attack points. Oh, boy. This can only mean one 'ting, Joey thought, his eyes widening. "Next, I activate Multiply! My Metal Fiend Token will now become 3!" Yugi declared as his token did just that. "I now tribute my three Metal Fiend Tokens! Come forth, Slifer the Sky Dragon!" Yugi announced.

His three tokens spun with increasing velocity until the launched into the sky. Dark thunder clouds suddenly appeared above the two duelists. A thunderous boom could be heard from within the cloud. Lightning began to strike the ground and nearby buildings as a large, serpent like red and black body began to emerge from it. The head of Slifer appeared and descended, coming to a halt behind Yugi. His god card had a whopping 3000 attack and defense points.

"Wow, you weren't kidding, Yug. I didn't think you had it in you to whip out a God card on me." Joey said with a firm smile on his face.

"Any less than my best would have only insulted your skills as a duelist, Joey." Yugi said, a serious look on his face.

"Come at me! I'm not scared of your Slifer!"

"Not yet, maybe. But you will soon enough. First, I activate the Spell Card, Pot of Greed to allow me to draw two additional cards." Yugi said as his card appeared. Slifer's attack and defense both dropped to 2000 before climbing up to 4000 as Yugi drew his two new cards.

"With 4000 attack points, I'm afraid our duel is over, Joey." Yugi said grimly.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, Yug. I don't have a single card in my deck that can take down your God card." Joey said, somewhat defeated. He hadn't counted on Slifer gaining another 1000 points. "Go ahead and call your attack, Yug." He said, his eyes locked to the ground.

Wait, Pharaoh. We don't have to… began Yugi. "What are you waiting for? I said, call your attack!" Joey shouted angrily. Yugi was taken aback by his sudden anger. "Don't you dare hesitate for even a second, Yug! I can take it!" There was fire in his eyes now.

"Very well, Joey. Slifer the Sky Dragon, destroy his Gearfried, and end this duel!" Yugi ordered. Slifer obliged and fired a massive ball of energy from his jaw, completely consuming Joey's side of the field. Yugi looked to the ground, somewhat remorseful of his play. "Was that… too much…?" he wondered aloud.

Once the smoke cloud cleared, Joey had no cards left on his field. However, Slifer hadn't vanished from behind Yugi quite yet. A puzzled look soon appeared on Yugi's face. "Sorry, Yug. Joey Wheeler don't go down that easy. My Nutrient Z gave my Life Points just the boost I needed to survive your blast." Joey explained. His Life Point gauge had gone from 1800 to 5800, then settled at 3600. Even with Yugi's. "Impressive, Joey. You managed to survive Slifer's attack. Make your move." Yugi said with newfound respect for Joey and a smile on his face. Joey drew his next card.

"Now, it's time for me to work some magic!"