Hey guys! Sorry this took a while to post, but I'm visiting my mom and she has no internet access! I have to go to coffee shops to get any on my laptop. Anyways, here it is. Review please!
Joey was taken to the same clinic room Mai was lying at. Hanaski gasped when he saw Joey being carried. He practically burst into tears! First Ryan was gone, then Mai, then Ryan again, and now Joey. Though, compared to Mai, Joey's heart was slowly failing. Fear was drawn to everyone, even to Seto Kaiba.
Tea, Hanaski, Mokuba, and Tristan burst into tears while Duke and Seto tried to stay strong. All Seto could do was stare at the heart rate on the machine that was continually making a beeping sound. It wasn't long before Joey's heart began to fail and the doctors were taking Joey to the other room to put him through cardiac arrest.
"He can't die!" Tea shouted with more tears bursting from her eyes, wishing for someone to take the pain away. She covered her face, knowing this would be no use.
"There's nothing we can do!" Seto said, showing a glare on his face.
"Do we really need any comments from you!" Duke snapped.
"It's the truth!" Seto snapped back. A sigh escaped his lips. "I've faced the death of my loved ones as a kid! I know how all of you are feeling! Sometimes facing the horrible truth is the best medicine you're gonna get... maybe even some comfort if you need it. I know your friend's gonna need it more than Tea and Hanaski put together. In case you've forgotten, Atem and Joey grew up together! That bastard's known him longer than even Tristan! He only met Joey when he hit f***ing adulthood!"
Nobody said a word. There was just dead silence. Tea bowed her head, staring at the floor. She knew Seto was right. Atem was taking this harder than everyone else. He practically yelled at Serenity and he's never done that in his life. She slowly lifted her head and noticed Seto leaning his head against the wall with his arm over it, staring at the floor. Had Joey's near death been stressful on the CEO President as well?
Tea sighed, then walked up to the CEO President, before lightly patting his back. Seto turned his head with his stressful glare.
"It'll be alright. After all, you have a duel to go to and it's like you said, Atem needs his friends with him. He needs you," Tea said as Seto nodded. He gave her a warm hug, feeling the load of stress lifting from his shoulders. He separated, then placed his deck in his duel disk slot.
"If the bastard dies, prepare to wrap him!" Seto told the group, who bowed their heads. "Death is only part of life we must live by. We don't decide on who lives or dies."
"We will," Tristan promised while wiping his tears. Hanaski nodded.
"And thanks... Tea," Seto thanked Tea, who showed a small smile.
Everyone heard the door to the blimp close. Knowing who it was, everyone turned their heads and saw Serenity appear, holding Atem's hand with both hands with great care. Atem held bloodshot eyes and stared at everyone, who seemed to have sad faces shown. He scrunched his lips before feeling embraces from everyone.
"We're here, Atem!" Tea said with a sad smile. Atem hugged everyone as more tears rolled down his cheeks.
"Where's Joey?" Atem asked in a horse voice.
"He's..." Tea said, not wanting a reply.
"It doesn't matter," Serenity said with a bright smile. "I just saw a vision. I saw you and Joey preparing for a duel!"
Everyone stared at Serenity dumbfoundedly. She smiled brightly as Atem smiled, wiping the tears from his eyes. Seto held a smile himself, giving the girl credit that she knew how to give Atem some fighting spirit. He was going to need it for their duel. For a second, he was starting to seem like he lost the whole world.
Seto looked at Atem with a gaming face. He looked up and nodded, then entered his room to find his duel disk. He placed it on his arm, then shoved his deck into the device as Yugi and Marik appeared by his side. Yugi smiled brightly, then put his hand on his brother's duel disk, which brought a smile on Atem's face.
"You can do this, brother!" Yugi said.
"I'll cheer you on too, so Kaiba's ego doesn't get to big," Marik slightly joked as Atem made a chuckling snort.
"Thanks guys," Atem thanked his friends, who smiled and nodded at the same time. They floated and followed him to the Dueling Stage on the tower.
Atem was able to keep his game face as he made his way to the dueling tower. He left the blimp, walked inside the foot of the tower, then took the elevator to get to the stage. Marik and Yugi were with Atem the whole way up to the top of the tower where Seto was waiting with his game face. The two oppnents walked to the middle of the duel stage and shuffled their decks before returning to their positions. This was the duel to make up for the previous duel at Duelist Kingdom. This time, no lives were at stake.
Seto held a smirk as he entered a small chip inside his duel disk. Once he turned on his duel disk, the whole stage turned into a Colosseum surrounded by holographic people screaming and cheering. One side screamed Seto's name and the other screamed Atem's name. Atem convinced Seto to set up the holographic Colosseum, so it would seem like basketball in high school where one side cheered for the home team and the other side cheered for visitors. This way, Seto's ego wasn't as huge as the millionaire would wish for it to be. He finally gave in and agreed, since it would really not be fair if Atem didn't get the same amount of cheering as Seto did, even with his friends around.
"You ready for this?" Seto asked.
"I'm more than ready!" Atem replied with glaring eyes. "Despite the Shadow Games commencing, no thanks to Melvin, we can at least have one duel where no more lives will be at stake. The winner will duel Melvin, defeat his Egyptian god, and help gain Yugi's memories back."
"Of course," Seto agreed with a smirk on his lips. "I really don't need the god cards to defeat you anyways. They make defeating my opponents too easy and as you said, your friend needs them to gain his memories back. Besides, if I really needed the god cards that badly, they'd-"
"Just make your ego bigger?"
"Whatever!" Seto glared as Atem chuckled in response. He knew that whoever won would duel against Melvin and he had faith that if Seto won, he would defeat Melvin, gain the god card, and give all three to himself to help return Yugi's memories.
Seto and Atem drew five cards into their hands as Mokuba shouted, "GOOD LUCK, GUYS!"
"Thanks!" Atem thanked the kid, who was cheering on both of them, because it didn't matter who won to him. To Mokuba, Atem and Seto were both his brothers he looked up to. Atem drew the first card. "I summon Queen's Knight in defense mode!" A queen appeared on the field with a sword and shield in a defensive position. "Then I fold one card. I end my turn!"
"Then, looks like I go!" Seto smirked as he drew his next card. Atem wasn't sure what strategy Seto was planning on using, but it would be different from any of the others he's used during the previous duels. That, Atem was curtain. "I play X-Head Cannon, then one card face-down!" An upper body of some sort of robot appeared on the field. "I end!"
"I didn't know you created Transformer cards!" Atem teased with a slight smirk.
"Just draw your damn card!"
"Okay," Atem shrugged before drawing his next card. "I summon my Beta the Magnet Warrior in defense mode!" A small puffball appeared on the field, holding big round eyes.
"I believe it's my turn." He drew his next card. "I use my spell card, Soul Exchange! This lets me take up to three of your monsters!" Kuriboh and Queen's Knight disappeared from Atem's field and ended up on Seto's field. X-Head Cannon was now on Atem's side of the field due to Soul Exchange. "Now, I sacrifice your pathetic monsters, but before I do that, I play Enemy Controller! This lets me control one of your monsters, X-Head Cannon!" A game controller, which could be mistaken as a Nintendo 64 controller, appeared on Seto's field with the wire hooked to X-Head Cannon on Atem's field.
"Wow, I knew you were a gamer, but I'd think you were into Game Cube's, not Nintendo 64!" Atem teased with a sly smirk.
"I wouldn't be joking now! I pay 1000 life points and X-Head Cannon becomes my sacrifice!" Seto declared as a hand above the controller pressed left, right, A, B, making X-Head Cannon, Kuriboh, and Queen's Knight Seto's sacrifices. Seto was now left with 3000 life points remaining. The monsters were on their way to being sacrifices until...
"I play my card, Lightforce Sword! This chooses one card from your hand and that card is banished until your 4th standby phase!" Atem declared with a smirk on his face.
"Son of a bitch," Seto seethed, but then showed a slight smirk. "I suppose I saw that one coming. Looks like I end my turn and our monsters return to our field." Queen's Knight and Kuriboh were now back on Atem's field and X-Head Cannon was back on Seto's field.
"Go Atem!" Mokuba cheered excitedly.
"Looks like it's my turn!" Atem declared drawing his card. "Unfortunately, I don't have a good monster. I'll just put one card face-down and end my turn!"
"At this point, three turns will pass by before you can even blink," Seto said.
"I'm quaking in my shoes," Atem said sarcastically while rolling his eyes.
"I summon Y-Dragon Head!" Seto declared as a robot dragon appeared on the field. "You've probably already figured it out, but when my X and Y monsters are-"
"The Transformers! More than meets the eyes! Autobots wage their battle to destroy the evil forces of the Decepticons!" Atem sang as Seto glared in frustration. "The Transformers!" Then Atem made his voice sound like a broken computer voice. "Robots in disguise! The Transformers more than-"
"WOULD YOU SHUT THE F*** UP? I GET THE POINT!" Seto yelled as Atem laughed his guts off.
"Sorry, I just couldn't resist."
X-Head Cannon and Y-Dragon Head combined together and created XY-Dragon Cannon. Atem smirked, figuring out part of Seto's plan to make his three sacrifices to summon Obelisk the Tormentor. Not only did this fusion combo make a powerful monster, but if one more appeared and were uncombined, it'd make three perfect sacrifices.
"XY-Dragon Cannon attacks your Magnet Warrior!" Seto smirked as XY-Dragon Cannon evaporated Beta the Magnet Warrior from the field. "Now, I play Voice of the Heavens! All I have to do is say the name of a six star or above monster in your deck and it's mine for the taking! SLIFER THE SKY DRAGON!"
"SHOUTING IS NECCISARY!" Atem shouted with a mocking voice as Seto's head boiled hot read.
"Just bring me Slifer already!"
"Okay, okay, gee!" Atem replied while rolling his eyes as he searched through his deck and pulled out Slifer the Sky Dragon, giving it to Seto.
"Now, I have two gods! What do you think of them apples?"
"I think we both think alike!" Atem replied as he revealed his face-down. "I play Exchange! Now we must take one card from the other's hand! I was originally gonna take Obelisk just to piss you off, but I suppose getting Slifer back is worth the sacrifice," he shrugged. Seto glared in annoyance as Atem snatched back Slifer the Sky Dragon, then stuck out his tongue, irritating his rival even more. Seto also chose a card from Atem's deck, then added it to his hand. Atem kissed Slifer the Sky Dragon's card, then placed it on his butt, which annoyed Seto alot.
"You are such an ass!" Seto glared.
"Thank you. I'm glad we have something in common."
"Har!"
"Anyways, I believe it's my turn," Atem smirked as he drew his next card. He began thinking about the card Seto chose due to Exchange. Life Shaver could render Slifer's attack, since its attack depended on the number of cards in the holder's hand. Though, this was a challenge to face. "I play Big Shield Guardna in defense mode! Then, I play one card face-down! That ends my turn!"
"Looks like defending is all you can do, isn't it?" Seto asked with a cocky smirk.
"Last time you said that, you got yourself screwed by Exodia," Atem pointed out as Seto glared in annoyance. "Oh, and don't forget my lovely wall of Kuribohs!"
"Wall of Kuribohs?" Mokuba questioned.
"You'll see what I mean later on," Atem promised with a wink.
"Over my own dead body!" Seto replied harshly.
"Co'mon Seto. Be nice. Don't you be showing that pouty face," Atem mocked as Seto twitched with irritation.
"I place one card face-down, then I summon Z-Metal Tank!" Seto declared as a tank-like robot appeared on the field. Atem bit his bottom lip hard as if he was holding back something. Seto sighed with pure annoyance. "Go ahead."
"The Transformers! Robots in disguise!" Atem sang as Z-Metal Tank fused with XY-Dragon Cannon to create XYZ-Dragon Cannon.
"And my XYZ-Dragon Cannon destroys your Big Shield Guardna!" Seto declared as XYZ-Dragon Cannon shot Big Shield Guardna with millions of huge blasts, wiping it from the field. Atem laughed throughout the whole destruction.
"Well, now that that's over, I reveal Soul Rope!" Atem declared, revealing his trap card. "When my monster is destroyed, this allows me to bring out a four star monster, and the monster I choose is King's Knight!" A mighty king with a huge sword in his hand, armor, and shield appeared on the field next to Queen's Knight. "And when King's Knight and Queen's Knight are together, I can special summon Jack's Knight!" Between King's Knight and Queen's Knight stood a younger knight with mighty armor, shield, and sword.
"King, Queen, and Jack, where's your Ace and 10 to make a straight?" Seto joked, trying to give Atem payback for mocking his XYZ monsters.
"Get better jokes," Atem smirked, not being phased. "I sacrifice King's Knight, Queen's Knight, and Jack's Knight to summon out Slifer the Sky Dragon!" The three knights disappeared and a bolt of light appeared on Atem's field, revealing Slifer the Sky Dragon.
"How dare you summon a god before me!"
"How dare you summon a god before me," Atem mocked in a mocking voice.
"Wha- are you copying me?"
"Are you copying me? Waaaaa, waaaaaa, the big ol' meany dragon is gonna wipe the rest of my life points. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
"THAT'S IT MOTO, YOU'RE F***ING DEAD!"
"Slifer attack!" Atem declared as Slifer the Sky Dragon breathed in a gulp of breath and shot balls of fire at XYZ-Dragon Cannon.
"I reveal my face-down!" Seto declared as he revealed his spell card Interdimensional Matter Transporter. "This removes one monster on my field from play until the end of this turn!" XYZ-Dragon Cannon disappeared from the field and Slifer's attack missed. "Looks like your turn was wasted!"
"Ah well. Better luck next time," Atem shrugged happily. "I place one card face-down and end my turn!"
"Wait, you're placing a card face-down? You know that decreases your attack points on Slifer!" Seto asked in shock.
"You know the whole saying about never questioning anyone above you? Seeing that I've kicked your ass a number of times I keep a record of, I get the feeling you only tell it to other people to put a point on your ego."
"You're an ass!"
"Tu shay!"
"Very well, your Lightforce Sword disappears and I can bring back my Obelisk!" Seto smirked as the sword disappeared and Obelisk appeared back in his hand. "I separate my XYZ-Dragon cannon into its three monster forms and offer them as sacrifices to summon Obelisk the Tormentor!" The XYZ monsters disappeared from the field and a huge blue monster appeared in their place. Seto began laughing aloud as the Egyptian God decided onto the tower against Slifer the Sky Dragon.
Atem smiled and clapped his hands. Seto glared at his opponent in confusion before Atem said, "congratulations. You win the award for the over-the-top performance. You deserve an Oscar."
"Oh shut up!"
"I'll do one!" Atem smirked as he put his hand over his forehead and fell on his knees. "Obelisk, it's power is unimaginable! I'm quivering in fear and anticipation like I've never felt before!"
"I swear, you're worse than Yugi. GET ON YOUR F***ING FEET!"
"CO'MON SETO! What the hell was with the evil laugh? I mean what's next, are you gonna make a Clash of the Titans reference? 'This is it, the clash of the Titans has finally come... I will destroy your Slifer AND ALL THE GODS WILL BE MINE! I WILL BE THE DUELIST KING! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!' Seriously, that's like the most pathetic over-the-top performance I've ever seen in my life!" Atem smirked as Seto glared in response.
"Whatever, my Obelisk has higher attack points than you! You stand no chance against me, Atem!"
"We'll see about that. Hey, there's another over-the-top performance! 'You stand no chance against-'"
"SHUT UP!"