The following takes place during Best of Friends, Best of Duelists.


I slowly get up from the table and reach Yugi and his friends.

"That was a very good duel" Yugi comments.

"Thank you" I answer "You'll be next so don't disappoint me"

He looks at me with a determined look and I do the same. He then looks at Joey saying: "Will you leave the rest to me?"

What the... Is he really asking Joey to give up on their duel?!
"If we duel we'll expose to Pegasus our tacticts more than we must. I guess it could only hurt..."

I see Joey looking at Yugi with a confused look. "Yugi... I know you're da only person who can defeat Pegasus... But still... can I really weigh you down with mah baggage? Ya'r already fightin' for yarself and yo' grandpa! D'ya really want ta fight for me?"

"Of course" he answers "I'll win because I fight for you. Just like you fought for your sister"

Joey silently handed over the partecipation card to Yugi and then looked away.

"Very touching, really" I admit "But first, Yugi, you have to go through me before you reach Pegasus!"

He looks at me with a smirk. "I've been waiting for this moment for a very long time..."

I smirk as well. "So do I. Are you ready?"

"Of course!"

"LET'S DUEL!"

LP Richard 2000

LP Yugi 2000

"I'll start thing off!" Yugi declared drawing a card.

"Bring it on!" I tease him.

"I Summon Celtic Guardian in Attack Mode!"

The elf swordsman appears on the field with its sword ready (ATK: 1400).

"Now it's your turn, Richard!"

"Here I come!" I say drawing my own card "I Summon Emperor of the Land and Sea in Attack Mode!"

The green reptilian monster appears on my field roaring (ATK: 1800).

"Attack with Breath of Fire!"

My monster fires a flaming attack from its mouth and hits Celtic Guardian, destroying it.

LP Richard 2000

LP Yugi 1600

"Come on, Yugi! I know you can do better than that!"

I just hope he falls for my provocations: if he Summons his best monsters first and I'm able to take them down, it will be easier for me to win.

"My turn!" Yugi says drawing "I Summon Gaia the Fierce Knight in Attack Mode!"

A blue armored knight on top of a purple steed appears on the field (ATK: 2300).

"Attack with Spiral Shaver!"

The knight grabbed its red spear and stabbed my monster, destroying it.

LP Richard 1500

LP Yugi 1600

"Yeah, that's what I'm talkin'about!" I say as I draw my card "I Summon Takriminos in Defense Mode!"

A green sea serpents appears on my field guarding itself (DEF: 1200).

I see Yugi smiling as he draws his new card. "I Summon Summoned Skull in Attack Mode!"

The giant demon appears on the field (ATK: 2500). It suddently summons lightning from the air and destroys my monster.

"I was waiting for this moment, Yugi!" I declare "The time you would have brought out your Summoned Skull! I Summon 7 Colored Fish!"

The enormous fish appears on the field, its body shining (ATK: 1800).

"What's the meaning of this?" he asks.

"I use the Magic Card Mirror's Curse!" I declare holding up the card "This card allows me to switch my monster's attack and defense points with yours' until the end of the turn!"

"What?!"

A demonic mirror appears between our two monsters, one side reflecting Summoned Skull and the other 7 Colored Fish. All of a sudden the mirror's glass turns, the monsters facing the other's reflection, and 7 Colored Fish's attack becomes 2500, while Summoned Skull's becomes 1800.

"Here I come!" I exclaim in order to prepare Yugi "7 Colored Fish attacks Summoned Skull!"

7 Colored Fish fires a rainbow beam from his mouth and destroys Summoned Skull as the attack collides with it.

LP Richard 1500

LP Yugi 900

"So your Takriminos was just a bait in order to lure out Summoned Skull..." Yugi comments "That's not bad"

"Heh... Thank you, I guess"

"Now it's my turn! I Summon Curse of Dragon!"

The serpentine yellow dragon appears on the field (ATK: 2000). Wait a minute! He has Gaia the Fierce Knight on the field... and now Curse of Dragon as well... Is he trying to Summon-

"And now with Polymerization I fuse Curse of Dragon and Gaia!"

I knew it!

"Gaia the Dragon Champion!"

Gaia's steed disappears and the knight goes up to Curse of Dragon's back (ATK: 2600).

"Gaia the Dragon Champion, destroy 7 Colored Fish!"

Gaia rushes towards my monster and hits it with its spears. Unfortunately, Mirror's Curse effect has ended, I lose 600 Life Points.

LP Richard 900

LP Yugi 900

Now we're even!

"Come on!" he teases me "Try and defeat my Gaia the Dragon Champion!"

I focus my attention on my hand, which contains Polymerization, Akihiron, Shadow Spell and Levia-Dragon – Daedalus. Right now, the latter is the only monster in my hand that can stand up to Gaia. But they have the same attack points, meaning they'll both be destroyed if they'll collide. The only thing I can do is power up Daedalus. I silently draw: Steel Shell! Perfect!

"I Summon Levia-Dragon – Daedalus!"

My ace monster appears on the field (ATK: 2600).

"Next I use the Magic Card Steel Shell to increase its power by 400 points!"

My monster roars as its attack raises up to 3000. I see Yugi tremble in fear.

"Daedalus, take down Gaia the Dragon Champion! Water Blast Cannon!"

My ace monster fires the attack against Gaia and destroys it.

LP Richard 900

LP Yugi 500

"Now things are getting interesting..." Yugi comments smirking as I imitate his smirk.

He draws silently. "This turn I'll use this card" he declares placing it on the field "Dark Magician!"

Yugi's ace monster appears on the field (ATK: 2500).

"It finally came out..." I say "But it cannot compete against my Daedalus!"

"I'm well aware of that. I activate the Magic Card Magical Hats!"

All of a sudden four hats appear on the field, conceiling Yugi's field, along with Dark Magician.

"So, which hat will contain the Dark Magician?" he teases me.

I decide to fire at the second on the left... but I miss.

"Too bad" he says "There're still three of them"

"This means I'll take some time. I Summon Akihiron in Attack Mode!"

A weird sea creature appears on my field (ATK: 1700). I'll use this as a bait in order to lure out Dark Magician, so that I can use my Daedalus to destroy it once and for all.

"I'll simply place one card face-down and end with that" Yugi declares.

Oooookay, he didn't take the bait. Let's change plan, then.

"Attack, Daedalus!"

This time I fire the second on the right... and I miss again! Now two hats remains: one has Dark Magician, the other an unknown card, probably a Trap Card.

As Yugi passes his turn, I launch my attack, this time aiming for the leftmost one. From said hat a hexagram comes out and traps my monster, its attack power going down to 2300.

"Spellbinding Circle" Yugi explains "With it your monster's attack decrease!"

"In this case I switch Agathion to Defense Mode!"

"Then it's my turn" he declares drawing a card "Are you ready? I play Book of Secret Arts to increase Dark Magician's attack by 300!"

Dark Magician's attack rises up to 2800. Yugi then declares battle and Dark Magician destroys Daedalus with its Dark Magic Attack.

LP Richard 400

LP Yugi 500

I look to the floor for a second, then I place my hand on top of the deck and look at Yugi. "I realized something" I say to him "I can't win against you. I give up"

"WHAT?!" everybody but Yugi yells.

"Yes, what's the point of continuing a fight if you know it's already over? Yugi just beat my most powerful monster. There is no way I can continue. Just promise me one thing: defeat Pegasus and become the King!"

He looks at me and smiles. "I will do more than that" he says taking my partecipation card "I'll use this to collect the money for you as well!"

I look at him confused.

"By winning I can make a wish, two with your card" Yugi explains "I'll us emy second wish to give you the money you need!"

I stare at him surprised before looking at the ground and starting to cry. "Why... are you doing this?" I ask.

"Because we are your friends" Tea steps in "And we support each other"

"You...are my... friends?" I ask.

"Of course!" she says "Why else did you won those Star Chips for Mai before? Or when you divided your win against Mako? I know you feel it inside!"

I close my eyes and smile. "Thank you very much. I appreciate it"

Yugi returns the smile before looking towards Pegasus with a serious look.


Fan-made cards:

Mirror's Curse
Quick-Play Spell Card
Effect: Select 1 monster you control and 1 your opponent controls. Switch those monster's ATK and DEF until the end of the turn.

And this is the end of this chapter! I know is shorter than the previous ones, but I think it stands up pretty well. In case any of you is wondering why I let Joey concede his duel, it's because in the manga is what actually happened: instead of Yugi and Joey dueling, Joey concedes his match even before dueling. For the reason because Richard did... well, you can figure it out yourselves. I sincerely thank the Guest and most of all Cloud4012 for reviewing. Hasta la vista!