Here's the next chapter. This will be the duel with Joey and Melvin. Let me warn you, this is gonna be really intense. Good news, not as bad as two chapters ago. By the way, I'm not kidding, the hand from Joey's graveyard sticking up its middle finger really did happen. This only proves, this manga was meant for adults! Review please!
Joey and Melvin shuffled each other's decks before giving it back to the other. Joey promised himself to not show Melvin any mercy. If this turned into a Shadow Game, Joey was willing to take the pain just to give this guy a piece of his mind. As long as he taught this guy the true meaning of pain.
Melvin was prepared to put Joey through extreme and horrifying torture he's never experienced throughout his whole life. Melvin knew the perfect Shadow Game for Joey to play against him. This would be one he would remember for a long LONG time. This, Melvin was sure of.
"Let's get started, shall we?" Melvin asked aloud as he lifted his millennium rod in the air and the sky turned black.
"Not good!" Tea said.
"I'm glad Hanaski and Ishizu stayed back in the blimp to watch over Mai," Atem said with a soft smile. Serenity looked up at Joey, biting her bottom lip.
"I'm coming for you, Marik!" Joey shouted. Serenity gasped and froze in fright as her millennium necklace began to glow for a mere second.
"What did you see?" Atem asked as Serenity ran beside the stage.
"Joey, if you duel, you'll lose!" Serenity warned Joey as he turned and faced his sister. "Please don't die!"
"I'll be fine, Sis. You just watch," Joey smirked with his game face. Serenity nodded, then walked back to her boyfriend's side.
"I'm sure Joey will be fine," Atem said with unsuring eyes.
"I don't need the necklace to know you're lying," Serenity muttered as a tear rolled down her cheek. She looked up and watched her brother.
"I'll start things off! I play Panther Warrior in attack mode, then place one card face-down! That ends my turn!" Joey declared as Panther Warrior appeared with a long sword in its hand and a green cap around its back. A glowing line appeared on Joey's chest, which connected to his panther warrior. "What the hell?"
"This is the same Shadow Game your girlfriend played! In this game, you will feel the pain of your own monsters! Though, compared to your dear Mai, if you lose, you will end up with the land of the dead!" Melvin explained as Joey stood with pure confidence. He chuckled darkly. "Are you ready to prepare for that?"
"I'm ready for this, Melvin! BRING IT ON AND DRAW YOUR DAMN CARD!"
"Very well," Melvin smirked before drawing his next card. "I summon Helpoemer in attack mode! Then, I place one card face-down and end my turn!"
"Joey!" Tea cried out to Joey as he faced his friend. "Please win this duel! Please!"
Joey smiled, then put a thumbs up. Atem put one hand on Tea's shoulder to comfort his friend. Tea turned to face Atem with wearying eyes. He nodded, then Tea let out a huge sigh, feeling helpless of the situation. At this point, there was nothing anybody could do to stop this game. Even Serenity couldn't stop it.
Joey drew his next card, then declared, "I summon Rocket Warrior in attack mode!"
"Then I activate my trap!" Melvin smirked as Joey gasped. "Hidden Soldiers! Because you summoned your Rocket Warrior, I can summon out one monster from my hand! I think this should be familiar: Viser Des!"
"HOLY SHIT!" Atem cried aloud. He placed two hands against the sides of his head, remembering the painful headache from when Mai dueled Melvin.
"That's the monster that hurt Mai!" Tristan said aloud.
"I activate Viser Des' special ability and use this on your Panther Warrior!" Melvin smirked as Viser Des hooked on Panther Warrior's head and the drills began drilling through the monster's head. "Your monster's attack drops by 500 points and you will suffer and unbearable pain!"
"YAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Joey screamed as he pressed his hands against each side of his head with blood oozing through his fingers.
"JOEY!" Tea screamed with fear in her voice.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Atem shouted angrily at Melvin.
"Suffer Joey! The more you suffer, the closer you will be to entering the Shadows," Melvin smirked deviously before laughing darkly and evilly.
Joey panted heavily while clutching onto the sides of his head. His eyebrows pointed toward his nose, feeling the warm blood in his fingers. He slowly stood on his feet while everyone gasped at this amazing move. Joey was not planning on giving up that easy or letting Melvin get the best of him.
"I activate Rocket Warrior's special ability! Time to put a hole in your stomach!" Joey shouted bravely as Rocket Warrior changed into its rocket form and drove right through Helpoemer, bringing its attack down to 500. Melvin gasped while falling on his knees with his hand over his stomach, blood oozing from his fingers. "How do you like feeling the pain? Panther Warrior also attacks!"
Panther Warrior, being attached by Viser Des, attacked Helpoemer, slashing its sword across its opponent's stomach, showing a slash on Melvin's stomach. More blood poured from Melvin as Helpoemer disappeared from the field and left him with 3000 life points remaining. Everyone cheered joyfully for Joey's counter attack.
"Nice going, Joey!" Tristan cheered.
"Good job!" Serenity cried happily. She closed her eyes and took in the temporary happiness. She knew the true future of the duel's outcome, but was prepared to take in as much happiness as she could.
Melvin then began to laugh oh so deviously. He responded, "that felt sensational! Now, I activate Helpoemer's special ability! When it's destroyed, it goes into your graveyard instead of mine!"
"What?" Joey gasped as Helpoemer instantly ended in his graveyard. A hand then appeared from his duel disk, which made the blond jump. "Oh f***!"
"Helpoemer's other ability kicks in! Once per turn, he takes one of our cards from our hand to the grave!" Melvin explained as the hand snatched one of Joey's cards from his hand and placing it into the graveyard before sticking out its middle finger.
"Okay, why do I get the feeling that card hates me?" Joey asked himself as the hand returned back in his duel disk.
"Just like your cards, you will slowly be walking towards the Shadows!" Melvin smirked sickly before drawing his next card. "I play one card face-down, then summon out Gil Garth in attack mode, then end my turn!"
"Melvin's not attacking. You think it might be a trap?" Duke asked his friends.
"I have a bad feeling it is," Atem replied honestly.
"You can do it, Joey!" Serenity cheered, clapping her hands. She wanted her brother to still have hope in his heart despite his future failure.
Joey drew his next card. He raised two eyebrows, then peered at his hand before declaring, "I play Baby Dragon in defense mode, then change Rocket Warrior to defense!" Baby Dragon appeared on the field in a defensive position and Rocket Warrior copied the same position.
"Before I forget, Viser Des tightens its grip on Panther Warrior's skull some more!" Melvin pointed out as the drills from Viser Des drilled into Panther Warrior's head.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Joey cried in dire pain, clutching on his head as more blood oozed from his head.
"JOEY!" Everyone cried in agony, except Serenity, who was biting her finger nails.
"And I'm not done yet!" Melvin smirked deviously as the hand from Joey's graveyard appeared and took a card from the blond's hand and sent it to the graveyard. Joey gasped, seeming to have lost an important card. "Well, looks like you just lost something important!"
"SHUT UP!" Joey yelled aloud.
"But I'm not done yet," Melvin smirked even deeper. "I activate my permanent trap, Coffin Seller!" His face-down card revealed as Atem gasped. "Every time one of your cards goes to the graveyard, you lose life points! Now, how fun is that?"
Joey felt a huge shock from his duel disk as his life points dropped to 3300 and he fell on his knees. He began breathing hardly in and out. His vision was starting to turn blurry and turning slightly dizzy. He knew this was due to him losing blood through this Shadow Game. He couldn't pass out! NOT NOW!
"CO'MON JOEY! DON'T GIVE UP!" Serenity screamed in terror.
Joey turned to his sister, whose eyes were filled longing. He smiled and gave a confident nod. Serenity showed a bright smile as Joey stood up on his feet, not willing to give up.
"I place two cards face-down! Then, I sacrifice Gil Garth to summon out Legendary Fiend! Now, once per turn, its attack rises 700!" Melvin explained as Joey glared in frustration. "I end my turn! You're dead Joey! I can feel your soul drifting into the darkness!"
"It's a good thing he's psycho, because that made no sense whatsoever," Tristan said with a glaring face.
"My turn!" Joey glared as he drew his next card.
Serenity looked up at her brother with furrowed eyebrows. Tristan walked next to the girl and asked, "you okay, Serenity?"
"I'm fine. It's Joey I'm worried about," Serenity replied, slightly touching the millennium necklace.
"You really see Joey's defeat?" Tristan asked as Serenity nodded. "That's pretty brave for you to watch your brother with this situation going on."
"I want to be strong for my brother."
"I reveal my spell card Question!" Joey declared with a huge smirk on his lips. "We have to guess the name of the monster card on top of our opponent's graveyard. If you guess right, nothing happens and it stays in your graveyard. I'll go first!" He smirked, pointing his thumb at himself. "You sacrificed Gil Garth, so he's in your graveyard!" Melvin checked in his graveyard and sure enough, Gil Garth was on top of his graveyard. "Now, you have to guess the card on top of my graveyard!" Melvin began sweating nervously. "Can't guess can ya? That's because your dumbass monster took a random card from my hand, so you wouldn't know what it is!"
"Nice going, Joey!" Tristan cried happily.
"YOU DID IT!" Serenity shouted joyfully.
"You son of a bitch!" Melvin spat.
"Sorry, wrong answer, which means your monster won't be summoned, but mine is!" Joey smirked as Jinzo was instantly summoned on his side of the field in attack mode. It used its lasers from its eyes to destroyed the trap cards from Melvin's trap and spell card zone. "Also, it's my turn!"
"YOU MOTHER F*** BASTARD!"
"Thanks. That's why Ma married Dad."
"Daaaaaaamn," Duke responded.
"You didn't know?" Atem asked in surprise. "Even Serenity knew about that before she wore the millennium necklace."
"My Jinzo attacks your Legendary Fiend!" Joey declared as Jinzo attacked Legendary Fiend with a huge electric energy blast. Melvin was shocked with pure electricity and left with 2400 life points remaining.
"Go Joey!" Tea cheered gloriously.
"Hey Seto, you think Joey will win this duel?" Mokuba asked.
Seto focused his eyes on Joey, not sure what to answer. He did hear Serenity telling about Joey's future loss to Melvin. Though, it did seem the duel was in his favor. He eyed Serenity, who was cheering for her brother, but there seem to be a hint of preparation for a future loss. There was no doubt that Joey's defeat was only mere seconds or minutes away. It was counting down.
"Shit's about to happen," Seto replied to Mokuba. His eyes lid up and watched the duel from his eyes.
"Here I come, Melvin!" Joey shouted with a huge smirk on his lips. All his monsters began to attack Melvin directly.
"I reveal my spell, Dark Wall of Wind!" Melvin revealed as a dark whirlwind surrounded him, preventing Joey's monsters from attacking.
"DAMN!" Joey cursed at himself.
"Before you end your turn, it's time for Viser Des to attack your Panther Warrior some more!" Melvin smirked deviously as the drills from Viser Des drilled into Panther Warrior's head and Joey began screaming in pain, more blood seeping from his head, while a large hand appeared and took another one of his cards from his hand.
"JOEY!" Atem cried, about to run to his friend in agony before Serenity stopped him with two hands on his left arm.
"You know, I'm considering of what to do with you when you receive your Penalty Game! Perhaps making you suffer the same pain you're giving me?" Melvin smirked deviously as Joey shot a glare, his vision turning blurry once again and feeling dizzy. He couldn't pass out now! "My turn!" He drew his next card and showed his sickly smirk. "I summon Lava Golem!"
"WHAT? But it's a level 8 monster! You can't just-" Joey glared before being cut off.
"Who said I wasn't using sacrifices. This monster's special ability activates. You see, I can sacrifice two of your monsters to summon it to your field!" Melvin explained as Joey gasped and found Lava Golem on his side of the field and trapping him in a steel cage. He also found Jinzo and Baby Dragon gone from the field, since they were used as sacrifices to summon Lava Golem.
"WHAT THE F***ING HELL?"
"This monster scorches the earth, melting every turn, which causes its controller great pain! You lose 700 life points once every turn!"
"Oh shit!" Duke responded in surprise.
"I place one card face-down and end my turn!"
"Don't give up, Joey!" Serenity cried aloud. "I know I said you're going to lose, but it's not because your life points reached zero!" Joey looked at his sister with confused eyes. "It was by default!"
"Default?" Seto questioned with raised eyebrows.
"You're strong! You can win this duel!" Serenity shouted.
"If it wasn't because of his life points, then what was it?" Duke asked as Serenity shook her head. He then got the idea. "Oh god!"
"My turn!" Joey declared. He began realizing his sister's predictions meant that he was so tired and hurt from the Shadow Game that he probably passed out, but he wasn't willing to give up. Now, that he knew the reason for his loss and his key to victory, he was willing to surpass the millennium necklace's predictions or die trying. "I'll use your Lava Golem to attack you!"
"Oh?"
"I'm not afraid to attack!" Joey shouted bravely. "FIRE UP, GOLEM!" Lava Golem blew a wisp of fire right at Melvin, who held a slight smirk.
"I activate my trap, Revive Monster! Due to this trap, I can return one of my monsters from the field to my hand and special summon a level 4 monster!" Melvin declared as he revealed his trap card. Viser Des returned to Melvin's hand, then resummoned to Melvin's field. "Now, Viser Des becomes a perfect wall for three turns against Lava Golem! By the way, Lava Golem's ability!"
Joey felt melting lava being poured onto his body and he screamed, "YAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Burning from the melting lava. He developed tears from the horrible pain.
"JOEY!" Atem screamed in terror. He never felt so scared in his life. He knew this pain Joey was going through... it was what he went through during Mai's duel. Joey was now left with 2600 life points left.
"Helpoemer also takes a card from your hand!" Melvin smirked as a huge hand appeared from Joey's graveyard, taking a card from his hand and placing it in his graveyard. "Now, your turn ends and it's my turn!" He drew his next card with his devilish smirk. "I fold one card, then activate my spell card Machine Duplication! This allows me two summon out two of the same monsters on my field!" Two more Viser Deses appeared on the field. Joey gasped in fear. "Now, their effects activate!" Two Viser Deses hooked onto Lava Golem and Rocket Warrior. "If you want the pain to end, you can surrender!"
"Not good!" Tristan said.
"Is Joey out of options, Atem?" Tea asked.
"There's a way," Atem replied with furrowed eyebrows. "I'm just worried of how much pain Joey can take."
"My turn!" Joey declared as he drew his next card. A smirk appeared on his lips. "I play my magic card Graceful Dice! This can increase any monster's attack by 500 points, times the number I roll!" A little man appeared on the field with a die in his hand. Melvin glared with frustration as the little man rolled the die and it landed on a six. "This increases your Viser Des by 3000 points, which destroys your two annoying Viser Des, since your permanent trap can only work on monsters with 500 points or less!"
"You-" Melvin growled in annoyance as his two other Viser Deses were destroyed, including his permanent trap.
"Now, I'll sacrifice my monsters to summon Gilford the Lightning!" Joey declared as he sacrificed his monsters and Gilford the Lightning appeared on his field. He no longer had to deal with Lava Golem dripping lava on him.
"NICE GOING, JOEY!" Tristan cried out. Joey felt proud, but was still feeling slightly dizzy from his previous loss of blood.
"Don't give up, Joey!" Serenity cried out happily.
"Gilford destroys all monsters, no matter its defenses!" Joey smirked as Gilford the Lightning used its mighty sword and destroyed the last of Viser Des, leaving Melvin with 2400 life points and a huge shock and slash from the pain of his monster, leaving a huge burnt slash on the side of his waist.
"Marik's gonna be feeling that when he gets back in," Atem muttered, smirking slightly.
"Now, time for Gilford to get a crack at ya!" Joey smirked as Gilford the Lightning ran for Melvin to attack him directly.
"I'll give you a congrats for lasting this long, but now it's over!" Melvin smirked as he revealed his face-down card. "I play Nightmare Mirror!"
"SHIT! HOW MANY F***ING TRAPS DO YOU HAVE? ARE YOU LIKE ODION OR SOMETHING?"
"This trap card makes it to where your ally attacks you directly!" Melvin explained as the mirror from the trap showed Joey's reflection and Gilford the Lightning attacked the reflection. Joey felt a burnt cut across his chest area as his life points dropped to 1600.
"F***! I'm gonna be feeling that in the morning!" Joey complained, placing his hand around the burnt slash.
"Of course, I have to choose one card to place in my graveyard!" Melvin said as he placed one card from his hand to his graveyard.
"Damnit!" Tristan cursed.
"Don't worry, Joey still has a chance!" Duke said.
"Co'mon Joey!" Serenity cheered loudly.
"Now, it is time for you to meet Ra! I play Monster Reborn!" Melvin declared as he activated his spell card.
"Aw shit," Duke responded.
"But isn't Ra's attack and defense depend on the attack and defense of the monsters used as sacrifices?" Tea wondered as everyone's eyes lid up.
"Not really," Serenity muttered. From her millennium necklace, she already knew all of the Winged Dragon of Ra's abilities.
The Winged Dragon of Ra appeared on the field and it instantly turned to flames. Everyone gasped at this sight. Serenity bit her bottom lip, holding Atem's hand to comfort her boyfriend. Joey trembled in fear from the wrath of the powerful flaming god. It was filled with firey furry.
"Joey, hang on!" Atem cried out, trying to sound brave, but knew he wasn't.
"I will be dueling you or Seto Kaiba, two of the reincarnates of the former Pharaoh's of Egypt!" Melvin smirked devilishly as Atem and Seto gasped at the same time. "Surprised? Don't be! There's a reason Yugi chose Atem, he not only has a heart of darkness, but is also his reincarnate! That is why you both possess a strong unbreakable bond! It is common for reincarnates to have opposite personalities of their ancient spirits!"
"Is this some kind of a joke?" Seto asked with glaring eyes.
"I'm afraid not! You are also the reincarnate of the former Pharaoh of Egypt after Yugi! After Yugi transferred his soul into the puzzle, his cousin Pharaoh Seth took the position!" Melvin explained as Seto's face turned blank, feeling the vibration of his left hand once again. "I guess some relationships never cease after 3000 years! Yugi and his cousin Seth were just as close as you and Atem are! Grew up together and did everything together! Best of friends! Your problem is that you're not willing to accept that, which is why that mark on your hand still exists!" Seto covered the name on his left hand and shot daggers at Melvin. "Of course, if I duel Atem, it will be Yugi who will be truly playing against me, so it's one or the other!"
"I'll send you straight to hell!" Seto glared with firey eyes.
"I'd like to see you try!" Melvin smirked with confidence before turning back to Joey. "I can pay 1000 life points to wipe your monsters from the field! You could say this is a one win for me!"
"You might be able to wipe out my monsters, but you will have to snatch my life points out of my cold dead fingers!" Joey shouted boldly.
"You forget, this is a Shadow Game, meaning that you will feel the firey burning of your monsters just like Mai did!" Melvin smirked as Joey glared deeply at the Phoenix version of Ra. Melvin's life points were now 1400. "RA, BURN JOEY IN HELL!"
"JOEY!" Everyone screamed.
"Oh god!" Mokuba cried in fear.
"Took the words right out of my mouth," Seto glared.
The Winged Dragon of Ra shot out its firey furry all over the field. Joey screamed in pure agony, burning every inch of his body away. Atem began running to the stage with Serenity pulling on his arm to keep him safe from the fire. Tristan and Duke had to stop Atem from making it to the stage.
"JOEY! JOEY, PLEASE NO!" Atem screamed with tears leaking from his eyes.
"Wait!" Serenity shouted as Atem looked into her eyes, then back on the field.
The smoke from the Winged Dragon of Ra slowly cleared out and Melvin laughed uncontrollably. He felt victorious for his win, but... Joey was still on his knees. His skin was cooked red and black on almost every inch of his body. His face seemed fine, luckily, and his clothes were completely black now if not burned to ashes. The part of his skin covered in clothes only left him with second degree burns.
Melvin gasped in pure shock, including everyone else. Joey's eyes were half-way open and he was barely standing. Through the intense pain, Joey drew his next card and placed it on his monster zone.
"I play Gearfried and... and..." Joey said in a whisper. Seto and the others didn't hesitate to run to Joey as he instantly fell face-forward into Serenity's arms.
"JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOEY!" Atem screamed, seeing his friend dead cold in Serenity's arms.
"Um..." The employer said.
"Melvin wins," Seto said to the Employer. "I'm not putting him through anymore of this!"
"Joey! Wake up, man!" Tristan shouted.
"JOEY!" Atem screamed, snatching Joey's body from Serenity's arms. "DON'T DO THIS TO ME! OH GOD, PLEASE!"
"Joey's still alive! He's just in a coma right now fighting for his life!" Serenity assured with a saddened face. "I tried... I tried to warn him, I-"
"You did what you had to do," Duke assured.
"WHY COULDN'T YOU STOP HIM?" Atem screamed at Serenity as she glared.
"I've already had my shed of tears," Serenity replied, then placed a hand on Atem's cheek. Atem released Joey and held Serenity close to him. She sighed, then looked up at the others.
"I'll take Wheeler to the clinic," Seto said, carrying Joey over his shoulder and walking him to the clinic. Everyone followed Seto as Atem stayed holding Serenity and crying bitter tears.