Yugi vs. Rare Hunter

Yugi was about to leave the building until Emily looked down and saw Joey coming their way. They went down the stairs and saw Joey talking to a man in a dark cloak. He recognized him by his voice that he was the Rare Hunter who stole his Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Joey kept challenging him to a rematch, but the Rare Hunter had no interest in dueling him again. But when he saw Yugi, he figured maybe he'd like to duel him instead.

The Millennium Puzzle glowed and Yami took over. "Do we have a deal, Rare Hunter? If I win, you must return Joey's Red-Eyes Black Dragon. But if I lose, you'll take my Dark Magician."

"Very well," said the Rare Hunter.

Joey was against the idea. "No, Yugi."

The Rare Hunter laughed. "Don't even think about revealing my strategy, Joey." He removes his cloak and warns him, "If you tell your friend how I beat you, I'll tear your Red-Eyes Black Dragon to shreds. So I'd give my mouth a rest if I were you and allow me to duel my opponent without any commentary. "

Joey still tried telling Yami not to go through with it, but he held up his hand to stop him. "Thank you, Joey, but this is my fight now. I'll have to risk my Dark Magician eventually."

Emily took Joey's hand. "He's doing this for you, Joey. Let him duel."

Joey placed his arm over Emily. "Okay. Go for it, Yugi."

The field was set up as Yami and the Rare Hunter went to the middle of the square. They held out their left arms and the hologram projectors launched out of the duel disks and positioned themselves several inches away. Yami made the first move by summoning Beta the Magnet Warrior in attack mode. The machine had 1400 attack points. To end his turn, Yami played two cards face down. The Rare Hunter made his turn by playing Graceful Charity to draw three cards and playing a monster in defense mode. That activated Yami's trap Light of Intervention, revealing all of his hidden monsters. It didn't matter to the Rare Hunter that he would have no more surprises on the field. He had plenty in his deck. The monster he had on the field was Stone Statue of the Aztecs. It had a powerful defense of 2400.

Yami sacrificed his Magnet Warrior to summon a powerful beast called Berfomet. It had the ability to bring forth Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts. Next, Yami used Polymerization to merge them into Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast. He remembered that fusion monsters had to wait one turn before attacking, but Chimera was strong enough to reduce the Stone Statue to rubble. To end his turn, Yami played another card face down.

The Rare Hunter drew Graceful Charity from his deck and drew three more cards and discarded two. He looked down at his hand and saw that he had four pieces of Exodia. To protect his life points, he played Gear Golem the Moving Fortress in defense mode. Joey watched and remembered this move. He was about to tell Yami to watch out, but the Rare Hunter stopped him and warned him that he would tear his Red-Eyes Black Dragon next time he spoke up.

The duel was being traced back to the company by Kaiba's satellite, allowing him to watch the duel and all the other duels. By keeping track of everyone's progress, he would know if any of the duelists had an Egyptian God card. "Yugi's opponent is dueling well. But who is he? What info do we have on him?"

"Very little," answered one of Kaiba's tech experts. "He wasn't listed in your tournament database until about a week ago."

"What? How is that possible?"

"He must have hacked into the system and added himself."

"That's illegal," Mokuba cried. "We'll disqualify him."

Kaiba stopped his brother. When he heard his tech expert mention that this duelist was a Rare Hunter, it meant that the underground duelists took his bait. Kaiba's satellite also detected a chemical in his cards, meaning that they were marked. Kaiba was aware of the Rare Hunter's misdeeds, but he was willing to let it slide. He wanted Yugi to feel like what it was like to be up against Exodia. Plus, the Rare Hunter could have one of the cards he was looking for.

Joey had enough. "Yugi, I can't stand by and watch this. I won't let you risk your Dark Magician."

But Yami wouldn't allow Joey to say another word. "That's enough, Joey. You must not reveal the Rare Hunter's strategy. I will defeat him. I promise you as a friend. Just as Emily said, I'm dueling for you as you would for me." Joey finally calmed down. "Do you remember when Weevil tossed my Exodia cards into the ocean? You risked your life to recover my cards not because Exodia was rare or powerful, but because I was a friend in need."

Then Yami got an idea. The Rare Hunter was drawing cards and playing defense until he could assemble all five pieces of Exodia. "I'm on to you, Rare Hunter. I know your strategy. You're planning to summon Exodia the Forbidden One!"

The Rare Hunter was shocked. Ahh, no! How does he know?

Yami smiled at Joey. "Thank you, Joey. You helped me to figure out the Rare Hunter's strategy without telling it to me."

The Rare Hunter pulled himself together and chuckled. "Just because you figured out my strategy doesn't mean you can stop me from succeeding. How do you hope to stop the unstoppable?"

"True, no one has ever stopped the unstoppable Exodia, but I'll be the first." Right now, that was an empty threat. If Yami hoped to make such an accomplishment, he would need to draw the right cards. He had Chimera attack the Stone Statue and placed a card face down. The Rare Hunter was about to draw, but Yami activated one of his traps. It was Time Seal and it prevented the Rare Hunter from drawing this turn. That trap was able to buy Yami some time, but he wouldn't be able to skip the Rare Hunter's turn again. He played Lightforce Sword and pierced one of the Exodia cards in the Rare Hunter's hand. It was the Right Arm of the Forbidden One. The card wasn't destroyed, but the Rare Hunter wouldn't be able to use it until the next three turns. To strengthen his forces, Yami sacrificed Chimera and played Summoned Skull in attack mode and destroyed the Moving Fortress.

The Rare Hunter was in a tight spot and needed to protect himself. He was the one who needed to buy himself some time now. He played Swords of Revealing Light to prevent Yami's monsters from attacking for three turns. Yami wouldn't be able to attack, but he could still play spells and traps and summon new monsters. For now, all he could do was draw and end his turn.

The Rare Hunter wasn't worried. Despite his card being under the effects of Yami's trap, he had other copies of the Exodia cards in his hands. He drew and got a second Exodia head, but he still had plenty of time to make his move. Yami drew and summoned Alpha the Magnet Warrior. He also warned the Rare Hunter of the flaws in his deck of relying on one monster to win. The Rare Hunter didn't want to take his chances. The individual pieces of Exodia could still be played as monsters. To protect his life points in case Yami would be able to attack, he played Exodia's head in defense mode.

This was exactly what Yami wanted the Rare Hunter to do. He activated his Chain Destruction trap. It couldn't destroy the Exodia head on the field, but it could destroy the ones in the Rare Hunter's hand and deck. Now that Exodia was destroyed, it was time to finish off the Rare Hunter. The effect of Yami's Dust Tornado removed the Swords of Revealing Light. Now Yami was free and used Monster Reborn to resurrect Chimera and destroy the Exodia head on the field. Summoned Skull and Alpha combined their powers to attack the Rare Hunter directly. Summoned Skull had 2500 attack points and Alpha had 1400 attack points. And thanks to Alpha's magnetic power, they got a 200 point boost which was more than enough to reduce the Rare Hunter's life points to zero.

It was an official Battle City duel, so not only did Yami get Joey's Red-Eyes Black Dragon back, but he also got a locator card. Yami took the Rare Hunter's deck, but as he looked through it, he felt something rubbing off on his fingers. Realizing that the cards were marked and the Rare Hunter was cheating, Yami ripped the cards to pieces.

The Rare Hunter started whimpering. "No, Master, please don't be angry," he begged and got on his feet. He placed his hands on his head and cried out in pain. "No, Master, please spare me!" Joey approached Yami and asked what was going on. Emily remembered seeing this happen to Bandit Keith and realized that the Rare Hunter's mind was being taken over.

The same villain who took over Bandit Keith's mind began speaking through the Rare Hunter. "We meet again, Pharaoh. Remember me? Actually, perhaps you don't. You were trapped in the Millennium Puzzle while I was dueling against little Yugi. But I assume you remember, Princess Emily."

"Yes, I remember," she replied.

"Anyway, congratulations on defeating my Rare Hunter. But he was the weakest of my army. My other minions will prove to be much more formidable. I have no patience for this nonsense, so I have taken over his body and sent his mind to the Shadow Realm. I am in complete control." Then the Rare Hunter's body began moving around like it was a ragdoll being roughly played with.

Joey groaned. "This guy's creeping me out!"

"How are you controlling his mind?" Emily asked.

"Each Millennium Item has its own unique power. Mind control is a simple task afforded to me by my Millennium Rod."

"No good can come from that kind of power," Emily growled.

"Allow me to introduce myself. Remember my name: Marik."

"Marik," Yami repeated and took a step forward. "What is it you want from us, Marik?"

"I want what's rightfully mine and I'll take it by using the strength of the Egyptian God cards."

"Egyptian what?" Emily asked.

"Millennia ago, a trio of powerful behemoths rampaged throughout ancient Egypt until they were sealed away," Marik was telling them. "When Pegasus created Duel Monsters, he resurrected these mighty beasts as cards. With these Egyptian God cards, I can destroy the both of you and claim the power I deserve."

"You'll never claim the Millennium Puzzle or the Millennium Star," Emily promised.

"You misunderstand," said Marik. "I want more than just the Puzzle and the Star. I also want the boundless energies of the ancient ruler himself. With it, no one will stand in my way. I'll use the all mighty power to conquer the world. I will be unstoppable. The end is near, Pharaoh and Princess. It's my world now!"

"Not yet, Marik," said Yami. "It's my destiny to defeat you."

"Then your destiny is easier said than done," Marik told him. "Your days are numbered, Pharaoh, so enjoy this tournament while it lasts." Then the Rare Hunter fell to the floor and remained motionless.

"Man, that was weird," Joey sighed. "I knew this guy was a big creep, but who knew he was working for an even bigger creep?"

Yami presented Joey with his card. "Here you go, Joey. Take your Red-Eyes Black Dragon back."

Joey was grateful to Yami for winning back his card like he promised, but he wouldn't take it. "Nah, Yuge. You hold on to it. It isn't mine to take, pal. You won it fair and square."

"But he won it for you," Emily told him.

"I know, Em," Joey replied. "But I think Yugi should take it. The Rare Hunters have collected tons of rare cards. Their decks are totally souped up. So I know they're gonna be tough to beat." He turns his attention to Yami and tells him, "Besides, this means that a part of me will be a part of your deck. You can think about me whenever you play my Red-Eyes. It's the least I can do to repay you. Back in Duelist Kingdom, you taught me about the rules and many different strategies and everything else I needed to know."

Emily smiled. "That's what friends are for."

"And that's why I want Yugi to keep my Red-Eyes. He's always helped me out, so it's time I helped him for a change. It's kinda cool knowing I'm helping you guys save the world. But don't forget, I'm still in the contest. And I have the rare card requirement covered. You see, Red-Eyes wasn't the only rare card in my deck. Yugi gave me another one way back at Duelist Kingdom." He looked through his deck and brought out the Time Wizard. "It bailed me out many times before and I know it's going to help me a lot again." He looked back at Yami. "You know, when you think about it, Yugi, both of our hearts are in our decks. We're a team and we'll get through this together. It's true, we'll whoop this Marik creep and his Rare Hunter goon squad so hard, they won't know what hit 'em. They'll be sorry they ever messed with us."

"Thank you, Joey," Yami said. "I'll take good care of your Red-Eyes."

"Don't sweat it. It's yours," he said and held out his hand.

Yami shook Joey's hand. "You are a true friend, Joey, and together we can take on any evil that comes our way." Emily wrapped her arms around Joey to hug him. He did the same thing. After that, they went their separate ways.