Attacked by the Rare Hunters

"Guys, I gotta get going," said Joey. "My sister's waiting for me at the hospital and I promised I'd be there for her operation tomorrow."

"Okay," said Emily. "Be careful on your way and tell Serenity we're all praying for her."

"Thanks, guys," Joey said and headed for the hospital. Max decided to go with him.

"I hope Joey's okay," Tristan said. "Going to the hospital's not going to be easy for him. His mother's going to be there. She's the one who separated Joey and Serenity when they were kids and Joey hasn't seen her ever since."

"So Joey hasn't seen or spoken to his mother in almost seven years," said Yugi.

"Yes, but I'll make sure the Wheeler family is reunited once again."

Emily laughed. "Aren't you getting a little carried away there, Tristan?"

"Not if he's trying to be a hero to impress Joey's sister." Tristan blushed hearing Yugi say that.

At the hospital, Serenity tried to sleep, but kept turning over and groaning in her bed. "Serenity, what's the matter, dear?" her mother asked.

The auburn girl sat up and said in honesty, "I guess I'm terrified about getting this eye operation, Mom. But I'll feel better once Joey arrives. He should be on his way."

Mrs. Wheeler's eyes widened. "Joseph's coming?"

Joey was on his way, but was cornered by a gang of thugs disguised in hooded cloaks. "Out of my way, I'm in a hurry."

The ringleader chuckled. "You won't be going anywhere for a while."

"What do you freaks want with me?"

The leader laughed again. "You're a feisty one, aren't you, Joey? I see you've never met a Rare Hunter. We stalk our prey and take what we desire. In this case, your Red-Eyes Black Dragon."

Joey didn't know who these guys were or how they knew about his Red-Eyes or why they wanted it. But it was clear to him that they wouldn't let him leave without a fight. So he agreed to duel their leader. He took his duel disk out of its box and strapped it to his wrist. "Let's get this over with! I got somewhere I gotta be!"

The hospital had a curfew and it was now time for all patients to turn out their lights and go to sleep. Serenity sat up in her bed. Where is Joey? she wondered. He said he'd be here. He's always been there for me before. I hope he's all right. Worried that something might have happened to him, she starts crying.

The Rare Hunter wanted to have the matched played by the Battle City rules. Joey accepted his terms. He knew that the faster he played, the sooner the match would be over with and he could hurry to the hospital. He decided to take the first turn and summon Panther Warrior in attack mode. The armored feline had 2000 attack points. The Rare Hunter drew his card and played his monster in defense mode.

It was Joey's turn. He played a magic card called Scapegoat. Four lamb tokens appeared on the field as monsters. In order for Panther Warrior to attack, Joey had to sacrifice a monster. So he sacrificed one of his tokens and his Panther destroyed the Rare Hunter's monster. The Rare Hunter played Graceful Charity to draw three new cards and discard two. After that, he played another monster in defense mode.

Joey summoned another monster to the field in attack mode. It was a reptilian warrior named Alligator's Sword and had 1500 attack points. Joey sacrificed another token and attacked the Rare Hunter's monster with Panther Warrior. "So you wanna play by Battle City rules, huh? Well, since you have no monsters left on the field, I can attack you directly with my second monster." And Alligator's Sword reduced the Rare Hunter's life points by 1500, leaving him with 2500 life points remaining. "Give up yet?"

"No, not quite," the Rare Hunter said, drawing his card. "I play Graceful Charity again."

"Again?"

"Yes, a good hunter must acquire stronger hands to replace the weaker ones." But he made the same move once again and played a monster in defense mode.

"Boring," Joey said slowly. "Gimme a break, I'm fallin' asleep! How many times are you gonna keep makin' the same move?" Joey decided to end the duel right away by summoning his Red-Eyes Black Dragon. But he remembered that the rules said he had to sacrifice his monsters in order to summon it. So he sent Panther Warrior and Alligator's Sword to the graveyard and played his Dragon. Its Inferno Fire Blast destroyed the Rare Hunter's last defense.

"I think this was my easiest duel ever," Joey laughed. "While you were busy picking cards and playing defense, I was blasting you away!"

The Rare Hunter chuckled. "Foolish boy, I've been luring you into my trap."

Joey didn't believe him. "I think you've got your cape on too tight. I've been creamin' ya!"

"Wrong, I'm about to finish you off!" The stage was set and the Rare Hunter had all the cards he needed in his hand. He placed all five pieces of Exodia on his duel disk and summoned the Forbidden One. The duel was over.

"Exodia's the rarest monster I know," Joey said, recovering from the blast. "How'd you get it in your deck?"

The Rare Hunter took his deck. "It is true that the individual pieces of Exodia the Forbidden One are extremely rare cards. But Rare Hunters thrive on relieving duelists of their rarest cards. That's how I managed to assemble three complete sets of Exodia in one single deck."

"You won them all!?"

"Let's just say we acquire them by whatever means necessary." The Rare Hunters surrounded Joey. "Now we'll do the same for your Red-Eyes Black Dragon."

Joey groans as he gets on his knees. "Hey, I'll get it."

"We prefer to take it from you by force," the Rare Hunter insisted.

"I said, 'I'll get it!'" But the Rare Hunters beat Joey to the ground and knocked him out cold. They lifted his arm and took his Red-Eyes Black Dragon from his deck. When the Rare Hunters left, Max found Joey unconscious and tried to help him.