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Chapter 14
"Now, here is a sight I have wanted to see for a very long time!" Joey continued, as Mai sank to the ground moaning in pain from Joey's last attack. "After all the duels you've ever fought, you pushed all your opponents to their limits, and you humiliated every single one of them. How does it feel now, Mai? The pain, the agony, the humiliation of defeat, it's all coming together now!"
"I have to win this," Mai whispered weakly under her breath, struggling to stand back up. "I have to free Joey."
"You won't even walk out of the seal, Mai!" Joey shouted, hearing what Mai said, the Seal of Orichalcos glowing on his forehead. "You will be sent to where you belong! Now then, last time I checked, it's your turn."
"Then I summon my Unfriendly Amazon in attack mode!" Mai said, her voice trembling, as her vision goes out of focus again. "My 2000 atk pt monster may look weak, but that'll change as soon as I play this: the magic card Rush Recklessly! This card increases the attack strength of a monster by 700 pts for one turn, and I'll give them to my Amazon!"
As Unfriendly Amazon's atk increases to 2700, Mai begins to shake again. "Now my Amazon, destroy his Raging Flame Sprite!" Unfriendly Amazon swings its sword, and Joey's monster is destroyed. "Now Joey, will you please stop this madness?" Mai pleaded.
"What's the matter Mai?" Joey taunted, as his LP decrease to 3300. "Can't stand defeat? I will not be stopped just because you made one good move! Blue Flame Swordsman, I summon you to the field!"
Blue Flame Swordsman appears on the field (1800 atk, raised to 2300). "Now, I'll equip him with the magic card: Salamandra! This card only works on fire monsters like my swordsman. It raises the atk strength of a fire monster by 700 pts, so my monster is now the stronger one!" Joey announced, as Blue Flame Swordsman's atk increases to 3000.
"Blue Flame Swordsman, destroy her Amazon!" Joey commanded. "Fortunately for you Mai, your Rush Recklessly magic card's effect doesn't wear off until your turn begins, so this attack won't reduce your LP to 0, but since it'll render you defenseless, I'll do it anyway!" Mai's Unfriendly Amazon is destroyed, and her LP decrease to 100.
Mai tried to shield herself from the force of the explosion, but fails as she is hurled into the seal's wall again. "Joey, please!" she begged, her eyes brimming with tears. "Don't you remember what we shared? I know that deep down, you value our friendship!"
But to Mai's surprise and horror, the seal on Joey's forehead began to pulse in green and red, and the entire dome of the seal began to pulse in green energy.
"FRIENDSHIP!? THAT NEVER EXISTED BETWEEN YOU AND ME!!" Joey roared, his eyes pulsing red. "ALL YOU'VE EVER CARED ABOUT IN YOUR LIFE HAS BEEN YOURSELF!!"
"I understand now Joey," Mai whimpered sadly. "You've forgotten what dueling has been about. I'm here to remind you, just like you did for me." She then points to Joey. "You are being fueled by anger, hatred, and your lust for revenge. True dueling is about trust and heart."
"Oh, so you want to talk about trust and heart, eh?" Joey countered. "Then so be it. I figured you were going to bring this up again before the duel is over, and I also know that you're not going to drop it until the conversation takes place. It might as well be now then, since this duel's almost over anyway!"
Blue Flame Swordsman and Joey's Golden Card Treasure Chest magic card suddenly disappear from the field, and black smoke begins to take its place.
"Joey, what's happening?" Mai cried, alarmed.
"Thanks to the dark powers of the Orichalcos, I can now create visions of the past," Joey explained, as the black smoke continues to swirl around them. "Now you'll finally see the truth about trust and heart!"
An image appears before them, showing when Joey and Mai first met each other on the ship to Duelist Kingdom, and how Mai was trying to persuade Yugi to cut Joey loose, saying that he deserves to be crushed along with Yugi, who she felt confused that the so-called squirt could beat Kaiba.
"I figured you were serious, but I thought that was just you displaying a sense of humor then. I was blinded by the bigger picture for me back then. I should've seen your true colors!" Joey seethed.
"Back then I didn't know you well enough—" Mai began to protest, but Joey cut her off.
"I'm not done yet!" Joey shouted. "You call yourself a duelist with heart? Just look!" He pointed as another scene lights up, showing Mai humiliating Rex Raptor on the ship by her so-called telepathy. The scene then shifts to Pegasus's island, where Mai was using the same trick against another opponent, causing the boy to run away in tears, while Mai just laughed in triumph, taking the boy's star chips.
"You never cared about how others felt for the slightest moment! It's a simple matter of something called 'shameful joy': taking pleasure in the humiliation of others!" Joey accused. "But when that trick of yours failed you, you couldn't take it. You couldn't take the fact that you can never win duels without losing first!" The scene shifts again, this time showing Joey accusing Mai of spray different types of perfume on her cards, as well as her LP being wiped out by Joey's monster.
"And to think, you accused me of cheating in that duel!" Joey went on, as another scene appears before them. This time, it showed Mai accusing Joey of cheating in winning the duel with her, and forcing him to duel Rex Raptor without advice from anyone. "You wanted revenge so badly that you'd go any length to make it happen, didn't you?"
"But your plan failed again." Joey continued, pointing to another scene. "But you still saw yourself as all powerful and me as just a worthless duelist." The scene now displayed Mai hanging out with Yugi, Joey, Tea, and Tristan, and barking out orders for Joey and Tristan to fetch buckets of water.
Joey shook his head in disgust. "Now that I look back, I wonder: why didn't I just let myself starve to death? It's much better than having to deal with you!"
Mai shuddered at the images. While every part of her now wanted to go back and change her ways, she knew it wasn't possible. And Joey was simply stating facts, there was no denying them. "Joey, don't you remember at the Duelist Kingdom Finals?" she cried. "Have you forgotten what happened there proves I'm not a heartless person?"
"You're referring to this," Joey replied, as a scene lights up showing Mai giving her entry card to Joey so he can duel Bandit Keith. As Joey walks away to the dueling area, Mai said under her breath that they are still friends.
"So you do remember," Mai said, her eyes lighting up again. But to her surprise, Joey just started laughing evilly.
"Of course I do, but I didn't fully comprehend your act until now." Joey replied, as another image appeared next it. The one showed a scene of Yugi, Joey, Tristan, Tea, Mai, Duke, and Serenity by Domino Pier, right after Yugi freed Joey from Marik's mind control. In the scene, Mai was telling Serenity how Joey was going to be beaten by her in the Battle City Finals. "You didn't give me that entry card as an act of friendship Mai, you gave it to me so that once my sister's eye operation is successful, she could watch you humiliate me in the dueling arena once again!"
"I was too blind to see it then," Joey went on, as another scene lit up. In this scene, Joey caught Mai as she fell off a flagpole when Jean-Claude Magnum kidnapped her. "When I look back, I realized that I should've just let you fall on the concrete ground!"
"But I thought I did inspire you!" Mai cried in protest.
"That's only partially true Mai." Joey explained, as another image appears on the field. In this image, Joey was dueling against Odion on the Battle Ship, and Mai was telling Joey to fight on, for everyone's sake. "But you only wanted me to win because you still held the vendetta against me from Duelist Kingdom. You wanted me to win so that you could have the pleasure of beating me yourself!"
"That was how you had played me Mai," Joey accused, as three scenes appear on the field. The first scene showed how Joey was trying to defend Mai against Ra's attack. The second scene showed Marik sending Mai's mind to the shadow realm. The third scene showed Joey crying over Mai when Marik was defeated, only to be completely humiliated when Mai woke up, laughing like crazy. "Back then I thought there was a caring person inside you, and I tried to bring it out."
The image then shifts to Joey dueling against Marik, and being burned alive by the Winged Dragon of Ra. "But after all the havoc I went through, including being nearly killed, I found out that you didn't even care one bit!" Joey accused. "And that is why you went away as soon as Battle City ended!"
"Back then I didn't want to believe I had deep feelings for you like I do now," Mai whispered.
"Yeah, deep feelings of anger and resentment!" Joey shouted, as more images appear on the field, showing Mai defeating one duelist after another in America. "After coming to America, you dueled against duelists everywhere just so you can get the glory you thought you rightfully deserved! You were furious that your name had been erased, and that my name had been put into its place!"
Another image appears, showing Mai being defeated by Valon. "And after you lost to Valon, you couldn't stand it anymore. You wanted your fame back, no matter how many people you had to hurt, kill, or humiliate to make that happen!" Joey accused, as an image displays Valon taking Mai to Dartz, where she received the power of the Orichalcos. Afterwards, Mai blew Valon off like dirt on the floor. "Even Valon tried to help you, though he didn't fully comprehend the situation, and look at how you repaid him!" Joey roared. "All you wanted was power and glory!"
"But it wasn't enough!" Joey continued angrily, as a scene displays Mai taking Pegasus's soul in his office. "I'm surprised Valon didn't see the real you right away: a greedy, power hungry psychopath who cared nothing more than power and glory!"
Another scene lights up, showing Joey and Mai dueling in the Industrial Illusions building. "And despite all the people you hurt, none of them gave you much pleasure, if any at all!" The scene fades, then displays Mai rebuilding her deck after Valon had interfered with the duel, and thinking about how after she seals Joey away, she'll use the very power she got from Dartz to seal the rest of them away as well.
"Only when you saw me get absorbed by the seal did you finally feel the pleasure you wanted to feel!" Joey seethed furiously as another image lit up, showing their duel right after Joey defeated Valon.
"Joey, don't you remember how it ended?" Mai cried, tears freely pouring down her face. "I didn't want you gone! I wanted to get you out of the seal!"
Joey rolled his eyes. "That's obvious, Mai. It's not that you didn't want me gone, you just didn't want me gone yet," he explained, as an image showed Mai holding Joey in her arms as the seal shrank around them. "That defeat wasn't enough for you! You didn't think I suffered enough, that's why you tried to get me out of the seal! You wanted to humiliate me more!"
"You thought one humiliation was far too little! All that was in your head at that moment was how I defeated you at Duelist Kingdom!" Joey shouted, the seal pulsing brighter between green and red on his forehead.
"Back then I didn't want to admit that I loved you," Mai whispered. "The way I still do."
"YOU NEVER LOVED ME!!" Joey seethed. "Back then, I honestly thought there was a good person underneath your exterior. But despite all my efforts to try to see underneath that, you saw me as anything more than a stepping stone, an obstacle blocking your path to absolute power! And when I finally succeeded in breaking your cold hard exterior, I discovered that underneath it was just an even more cold-hearted person!"
"You never cared who suffered!" Joey ranted, as his 3000 atk pt Blue Flame Swordsman reappeared on the field. "As long as you had power by the end, nothing else mattered to you! And that is what trust and heart was about between you and me! I gave you my trust before, and this is how you repaid me! The power of the Orichalcos didn't warp me, I simply see the real you now. And if I had the ability to look into people's hearts, your heart would be as black as ink!"
"You're only trying to end this duel because you want to avoid judgment to be passed on you! You can only stand being on the giving end, when you were giving out the torture to the people you hurt! You can't stand being on the receiving end! But this time, I'm not giving you a choice in the matter!" Joey shouted, as the seal on his forehead glowed brighter.
"Joey, please don't make me do this!" Mai pleaded, hoping to talk Joey out of it.
"You should know by now that nothing you say is going to make me stop this duel Mai," Joey replied. "The duel will end as soon as one of our LP counters reaches 0. And since I still have 3300 LP and you have only 100, you'll lose as soon as I attack you on my next turn! And with the power of the Orichalcos behind me, I will not be denied! Not to mention the fact that you won't even be able stay standing even if you did somehow survive my next turn! You could never win even if I end my turn right now!"
"Please Joey, just end this." Mai said weakly, her vision steadily deteriorating.
"You're insane. I have a 3000 atk pt monster on the field!" Joey insisted. "You'll never get one stronger than that with just one turn! But if you're so confident about your victory, then I'd like to see you try it. This duel is still on Mai, and I end my turn!"
"Then it time to determine which is truly the stronger force here: the power of the Orichalcos, or the power of our friendship!" Mai called, drawing her cards.
Joey's right on one thing, she thought. I am pretty much out of strength. If the two cards I draw aren't the ones I need, I'll be too weak to continue next turn. Come on Joey, I need your support on this!
"And now," Mai announced, "I activate my Monster Reborn magic card!"
"Big deal, no monster in your graveyard can stand up to my monster!" Joey boasted.
"I didn't say I was going to revive a monster from my graveyard, I'm going to revive one from your graveyard!" Mai announced. "And this monster is one that you once cherished, but now have deserted: your Red Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"
"What's the point?" Joey asked, as his 3600 atk pt monster appears on Mai's side of the field. "It can't take away my remaining LP anyway!"
"Red Eyes Ultimate Dragon, destroy his Blue Flame Swordsman!" Mai ordered. The Red Eyes Ultimate Dragon shoots out a fireball, destroying Joey's monster and reducing his LP to 2700.
"You just activated my monster special ability!" Joey announced. "If Blue Flame Swordsman is destroyed, the original Flame Swordsman is summoned in its place right away!" Orange flames swirl from where Blue Flame Swordsman was destroyed and Flame Swordsman appears (1800 atk, raised to 2300)
"Next, I activate the magic card: Dark Spell Regeneration! The card allows me to activate a magic or trap card from either one of our graveyards, and I choose your Surprise Attack From Beyond magic card!"
"You still can't win after this attack!" Joey protested.
"That's true if it weren't for my final magic card: Reflect Energy!" Mai announced, as a tiny satellite positioned itself behind Joey. "Now, by sacrificing a monster from my hand or field, my Reflect Energy magic card will redirect the attack to your LP directly!"
"I sacrifice my Cyber Harpy from my hand. And now Red Eyes Ultimate Dragon, launch your attack!" Mai shouted weakly.
The Red Eyes Ultimate Dragon roars, then shoots out a fireball at Joey's swordsman, but is then absorbed by the satellite. The satellite then shoots the fireball back at Joey, engulfing Joey's side of the field in fire and light. When the smoke cleared, Joey was on his back.
"It worked," Joey said glumly, standing back up, his LP at 0. "You win, Mai."