Thank you wonderful reviewers! So I was researching card effects and I immediately noticed that they did different things in the anime. For a bit I was struggling on which of the traditional rules I should abide by, either way I think you'll enjoy this duel!
03 - Joey vs Yugi: Part One
"Duellists please follow me to the duelling area!" Rolund announced to the room, speaking loudly so as to snap them out of their shock and stares. "Everyone else is free to make their own way up to the Stratos Level and observe the match take place."
Kaiba was still smiling. Not only would he get to see Slifer the Sky Dragon in action but he'd be able to watch Yugi squirm as he used it to crush his own friend Wheeler, finally getting the blonde idiot rightfully ejected from the tournament. Yugi and Wheeler were still staring at each other while everyone else cast nervous glances between them. The taller boy looked determined while his soon-to-be-opponent was grimacing. Kaiba watched Yugi's brow twitch and his eyes were shifting like someone trying to think of a way to weasel out of something. Kaiba could guess what that something was so his grin fell and he approached his rival.
"Listen to me, Yugi. You will play against Wheeler with your god card in your deck. And if you're too cowardly to use it and go easy enough on this clown to the point where he miraculously beats you, well, I'll be winning that card off him." He narrowed his eyes and Yugi did the same.
Behind his scowl it was obvious Yugi was squirming over this conundrum. But this was Kaiba's tournament and Yugi would abide by his rules.
"God card?" a brown-haired girl spoke up.
"My brother is a great duellist!" another girl fired at him.
"Don't you worry Kaiba!" Wheeler was grinding his teeth together, his hunched shoulders and the way he held his arms made him look even more like a furious monkey. "Yugi's going to give me everything he's got and I'm still going to win and beat the pants off you afterwards!"
Although Kaiba didn't break eye contact with Yugi he couldn't help smiling again at that. Turning away without even acknowledging the others he started walking to the voyeur's entrance. Mokuba ran to catch up and then called to everyone else.
"Come on guys! Viewers follow us this way! The duels are going to take place at the very top level, in the sky!"
"No way!"
"You're kidding?"
If Joey Wheeler were to do as he said and beat both Yugi and Kaiba, then he would end up holding both Slifer the Sky Dragon and Obelisk the Tormenter. The thought of such legendary monsters being shuffled into his pathetic deck was blasphemous. Joey had no chance of winning this duel. The idea almost made Kaiba laugh out loud again as he strode towards the main elevator.
'We have to defeat Joey as quickly as possible!' Yugi thought desperately, and Yami could tell he was already losing his nerve as the three men ascended in the elevator tube. 'Without being pushed to rely on Slifer the Sky Dragon.'
'Joey will be a difficult opponent to beat.'
Maybe it was Yugi's anxiety that was mixing with his own, but maybe not. Yami also thought of Joey as a friend. The image of him crying out while the almighty red dragon (that he'd faced off against while fighting Strings) rained down yellow fire made his stomach knot. Joey was as determined as ever, standing tall as he faced the door. Yugi leaned against the back as he struggled with his internal turmoil.
'We have to!'
'Joey has greatly improved from Duellist Kingdom. He made the mistake of using Time Wizard to strengthen my Dark Magician and it cost him the match. This time he's not likely to mess him up again, not anymore. We may have no other choice but to use Slifer.'
'We can't!' Yugi's voice was shrill inside Yami's mind.
"Hey Yuug," The elevator slowed to a stop. Joey's expression was almost mean. "I meant what I said before. We need to make sure that the one who wins now is the one most ready to take on Marik. I don't know why you look so spooked. You better be ready to take this seriously."
"I am, Joey."
"I mean it, you dope!" He suddenly yelled, leaning in. "Don't start getting all scaredy-cat or I'm going to destroy you in no time!"
Yugi was shocked and so was the moustached worker. The glass doors opened and their guide was temporarily speechless. Yugi on the other hand finally felt as though he'd been snapped out of his glum trance.
"Alright Joey! Prepare yourself for my best!"
The blonde boy almost smiled but he kept up the tough act and paced out of the opening and onto the field. Yugi watched him swinging his rigid arms with his fists clenched as he walked. He followed his opponent out with a determined smirk and their guide exited while scratching his head. The fate of the world is depending on us both. High altitude winds were sweeping across the playing field and the blanket of clouds looked much closer than normal. Yugi's eyes moved to scan their audience who stood below the elevated platform. No Marik and no mysterious eighth finalist.
"This duel is taking place four thousand feet above ground!" Kaiba announced. "The cold winds will test your stamina and endurance. This isn't a competition for kiddies who want to frolic in a magical island castle! Now begin the duel!"
"Let the first battle of the Battle City semi-finals… begin!"
Two life point counters appeared and beeped up to 4000 each.
Joey drew five cards and then studied his hand. He stood atop the blue arrow while five metres away his old pal Yugi stood atop the red arrow and examined his own cards. The moustached referee stood between them. Below the railings that surrounded their elevated stage he could see his audience – his friends and his sister. Serenity had her hands bunched up to her chest, wide eyes looking both anxious and excited at the same time. Rainbow light flickered from the holographic simulator machines on either side. Joey took just a moment to observe his surroundings before his fierce glare returned to Yugi.
"Alright! You ready for this one buddy?! I summon Little Wing-Guard in attack mode!" as he slapped the card onto his duel disk a small sword-wielding blue warrior with wing patterned armour appeared. "And I set one card face-down. Show me what you got, Yuug."
"Very well!" Yugi drew a card and studied it.
Little Wing-Guard only has 1400 attack points, Yugi thought. He can change to defence mode but only at the end of Joey's turn. So that face-down is almost definitely a trap. Yugi tried to recall what Joey's most powerful traps were as he summoned his own monster.
"Beta the Magnet Warrior!" his yellow monster appeared and hummed electrically. A holographic square appeared displaying '1600'. I also have a trap card in my hand and if things go wrong now I'll just flip it next turn. "Attack Joey's monster!" Yugi roared.
"Sorry buddy, you walked right into my trap."
"I figured as much."
"It's true that skill is an important factor in this game, but so's luck!"
"What do you mean?"
"Activate Graceful Dice!" Joey raised his hand and the card faced upwards.
A small angelic figure with a pink top hat emerged carrying a huge blue die the size of its own body. "Do you remember my quick-play magic card? The result of the roll will increase my monster's attack! Hope you're feeling lucky!"
His magnet warrior's only two hundred points stronger than my wing-guard, Joey thought smugly. Chances are my monster will get strong enough to beat his! "Let's go! Roll the dice!"
Bounce, bounce, plunk. The huge blue die landed squarely on two. Yugi blinked and then watched as his angry monster continued the charge. Little Wing-Guard glowed briefly with energy and then they collided. Both monsters exploded and neither player took any damage.
Joey shielded his eyes "Aw man!"
"Perhaps you're not as lucky as you thought, Joey." Yugi commented.
"Let's see if you can do any better!"
"I set one card face-down and end my turn." Yugi crossed his arms and his trap appeared facing downwards.
"Rocket Warrior! Attack his life points directly!" The green warrior blasted off while brandishing his sword only to be stopped by Spellbinding Circle. Joey growled in frustration. "I set another card face-down and end my turn."
Our trap cards are helping us for now but our hands are getting smaller and smaller, Yugi drew another card. I absolutely have to stop Joey before he forces me to use Slifer.
"My trap card means your monster can't change its battle position or attack, and for that matter it can't use its special ability to inflict direct damage to my life points either."
"You know my cards after all this time, Yuug. Just like I know yours. Now make your move." He crossed his arms and Yugi felt his body tense, because Joey did in fact not know about his god card and how dangerous it was. How necessary it would be for Yugi to win this tournament with it.
"…I'm waiting." He teased.
"King's Knight!" A caped swordsman with gold armour appeared and slashed the air. "Destroy Rocket Warrior!"
"Go Fairy Box!" Joey exclaimed and his trap card activated. The spellbound Rocket Warrior was sucked into an arcade whack-a-mole game.
Yugi's eyes flickered between the monster as it popped in and out of separate holes. His knight bore the sword in preparation to strike.
"There's about a fifty-percent chance I'll get your monster, Joey. I hope this time you feel more lucky."
"Why don't you continue your attack and we'll find out." He answered with serious eyes.
Yugi examined Rocket Warrior's movements before pointing fiercely.
"Go King's Knight!" he watched his monster dive and swing the weapon over his head. Ping! Rocket Warrior ducked out of sight just in time. Joey released a sigh.
Yugi watched his monster skulk back to his side of the field and then Joey's rocket monster flew out and landed, Yugi's glowing Spellbinding Circle still orbiting around its middle.
"My turn yet? Good!" Joey slammed another card onto his duel disk and it flickered. "Come on out Panther Warrior!" A flurry of sparks generated and then the huge purple humanoid with a giant sword emerged with a snarl. A holographic rectangle appeared displaying '2000'.
"Smart move, Joey." Yugi praised. "You're going to sacrifice your immobile monster so Panther Warrior can destroy my King's Knight."
"Not exactly," Joey lowered his gaze with a smile and Yugi blinked in confusion. "You got to stop complementing my moves, Yuug. Sure it encourages me when I'm duelling someone else, but this time you need to worry about your own situation." He raised his head looking serious. "Your Grandpa has trained me a lot, I owe a great deal to you both, but this time…" he plucked a card from his hand and slid it into the slot of his disk "You need to help yourself! I cast Giant Trunade!"
A billowing storm wiped out Yugi's trap card and Rocket Warrior levitated higher into the air.
"Oh no!"
"Now before I sacrifice Rocket Warrior I can use his special effect to attack you directly! Go! Enter Rocket Mode!" the green monster transformed, his body closing in on itself until he completely resembled a rocket.
It blasted off, circling the field and Yugi's knight before shooting towards him for a direct attack. Yugi clenched up as the monster collided. Smoke billowed out and his life point counter reduced by 750 points.
Joey raised his arm "And now I sacrifice Rocket Warrior so Panther Warrior can attack!" he slipped one card off the disk and into the discard slot. His green monster shattered and then his sword-wielding beast lunged, cleaving Yugi's gold knight in two. With a howl it exploded in a flurry of sparks.
Yugi grimaced as his life point counter reduced further to 2850.
Joey crossed his arms from behind his snarling purple cat-giant "Your move."
Joey… is a capable duellist, Yami thought to Yugi. As I already knew. But if he continues to lead in this match I may need to consider my last resort.
"Wow big brother!" Serenity cupped her mouth so she could yell. "You're amazing!"
"Hehehe…" the blonde guy scratched his head.
"I'm not quite sure who I'm supposed to be cheering for right now," Tea spoke up confusedly "But that was a good move by Joey. It looks like he utilized his cards well and did some serious damage."
"Hey don't get too cocky!" Tristan called out. "You haven't won the duel yet!"
"I know that you dope!" Joey shouted back.
Kaiba blinked with an expression of boredom. He knew Wheeler didn't stand a chance. His longstanding stretch of good luck in this competition was sure to run out once Yugi draws Slifer.
Namu made sure he was standing behind the others because he was having difficulty concealing his glee. The Pharaoh was far too weak to crush his opponent with the legendary Slifer. If Joey ends up winning that card it would be even easier for him to take it. With no connection to Ancient Egypt Joey couldn't even hope to summon it once it was in his possession. Like taking candy from a baby.
Bakura could see the anguish going on behind Yugi's eyes. It was certainly amusing to watch him struggle but he was quite capable of hiding this satisfaction from the others.
"You going to go, Yuug?" Joey prompted.
"Yes!" He waved his hand and with an agile flick drew another card from his deck. "It's time for my comeback, Joey! I hope you're ready!"
"Bring it on!"
The audience leaned forward in anticipation to witness his next move.
What do you think so far? Using all the cards from the anime is fun! I planned out this match in a separate document beforehand so I could make my first duel as epic as possible! Stay tuned for Part 2! To Slifer or not to Slifer? That is Yugi's question.
