Honorable Vow
A Yu-Gi-Oh One-Shot by Yung Warrior
They agreed to meet in the morning. There was no banal discussion on cross-checking timetables, nor debate on whether it should be at midday or evening or even the dead of night. The two men knew the duel would be at first light.
There is a long historical precedent for duels at dawn. It was a phenomenon that arose independently of culture and time period - nearly every society in human history thought that matters of honor should be settled during the first part of the day. This choice allowed for relative isolation, for avoidance of pesky legal authorities, for ambiguity and plausible deniability. It was a sensible choice, in the days where duels were fought with steel and death was an expected settlement.
This duel would not be to the death. Indeed, the two men chose morning for its representation of a new beginning, a closing of a previous chapter in their lives and an acknowledgement of the broadening horizon. It was the height of summer, and sun was only just peeking over the steel spires at six in the morning. The well-to-do, conscientious runners trekked the same path as the shambling drunks on their way to fitful sleep. In an hour, the silence would be replaced by deafening bustle as the city's workers would stir.
A tremendous battle would be waged in an empty shopping mall's parking lot. They chained their bicycles to nearby racks, each sharing a brief smile before unsheathing duel disks from their backpacks.
"Man, I had a hard time waking up this morning, Yuge." The blond-haired youth was taller and lankier than his companion. He wore a plain school uniform in navy blue, in sharp contrast to the other's loud style. "But I wouldn't miss this for anything!"
"You wouldn't want to miss the last duel of the Battle City tournament, would you?" The spiky-haired man was adorned in goth streetwear, with more belts on his person than some people had in their entire wardrobes. "This is how it should have ended, Joey."
"Well, it worked out alright in the end. I don't got much use for them god cards anyhow.' Joey shrugged. "I just got something to prove to myself, something I have to know. Yugi...I need to know if I've become a real duelist."
"I understand it, more than you know." said Yugi. "I've brought it with me - the Red-Eyes Black Dragon. If it is parted from me on this day, I won't be upset. But that doesn't mean I'm going to go easy, Joey. This will be a true battle and I will give no quarter." And he meant it. Within Yugi's deck dwelled the three Egyptian God cards. Despite not wanting to attract too much attention, Yugi would certainly use the cards if he drew them. Anything less would not truly be his full strength. Joey had insisted on it, claiming he wanted no doubt that Yugi was fighting him with everything.
"I'm glad to hear it, Yugi." Joey activated his duel disk, and after a moment Yugi did the same. "This is our battle city!"
No more words needed to be spoken between them, not until the battle was over. A quick roshambo, and the first turn was Yugi's. It had been a few days since a new booster pack was released, and both duelists had upgraded their decks accordingly. Although they could guess, neither Yugi nor Joey knew what the other would be playing. It would be a blind battle of wits.
"My draw!" Yugi's voice boomed. "I activate the spell Advanced Ritual Art! This card allows me to perform a ritual summon by sending normal monsters from my deck to the graveyard! I send the level six Summoned Skull to call forth Archfiend's Awakening (2500/1200) to the field!" In a flash of blue lightning, the demon appeared. It was similar in appearance to the classic Summoned Skull, a bone-white carapace covering the demon's softer pink flesh. However, blue electricity coursed along its body, and blue shoulder pauldrons differentiated the ritual monster from its sacrifice. With his first summon, Yugi made it clear that he would not need to warm up.
"This monster cannot be destroyed by battle or by monster effects, except those of ritual monsters." Yugi explained. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."
"Nice, I always liked that Summoned Skull." Joey fondly recalled their team-up against the Paradox Brothers. "Granted, I don't like him so much right now, but I think I got a way around him." Drawing, Joey revealed the card with a flourish. "Alright Yuge, first thing I'm gonna do is play Reinforcement of the Army, a spell that lets me add a level four or lower warrior from deck to hand. Then, I activate Polymerization!"
Joey used Gearfried the Iron Knight and Rocket Warrior as fusion materials, both monsters appearing briefly in the air before the holograms swirled together. From the vortex of energy emerged a lean knight with spiky brown hair and gleaming silver armor adorned with rubies. He wielded a large steel halberd in his right hand, and a functionally useless but aesthetically pleasing grey cape flowed cleanly from his plate. "I summon Gilti-Gearfried the Magical Steel Knight (2700/1600) in attack mode!" The monster only required two warriors with different attributes as materials.
Although Joey knew that the archfiend couldn't be destroyed by battle, he decided to get some damage in. "I'll attack with Gilti-Gearfried!" The knight launched forward, rearing back the axe for a vertical swing. Right before Gearfried brought his arms down, a sudden flare of red energy boosted his attack potency, and Yug found himself taking more damage than he expected. Although the archfiend tanked the blow, the resulting shockwave unbalanced Yugi, the king of games taking a moment to recompose himself. (Yugi 3000/Joey 4000)
"During damage calculation, Gearfried can banish a spell from my graveyard to boost his attack points by half of his current defense value. Since his defense is 1600, that effect boosts his attack by 800, meaning you take a cool thousand, Yuge!" Joey rubbed his nose, removing Reinforcement of the Army from play. "And they say the godfather of games can't do math!"
Yugi smiled - Joey's math and reading comprehension skills had notably improved since he started playing Duel Monsters. It was a far cry from just a year and a half ago, when Joey was running around with gangs, pickpocketing, and stealing bikes off the street. Internally, Yugi was proud of how his friend had begun to change his life, but he would not voice this aloud in a battle between equals. "A sound blow, Joey."
"And there's more to come." Joey's confidence bordered on excess "I set one card, and then activate the continuous spell Heart of the Underdog. If I draw a normal monster, this card lets me draw again. Back to you, Yuge."
"Very well." Yugi had to be careful to avoid targeting Joey's Gilti-Gearfried. Not only could it negate card effects that targeted it, it could then destroy a card on the field in response. Running over it in battle would be the best option. Drawing slowly, Yugi found that his deck responded to his need as it always did. "I cast the equip spell Mage Power! This will boost Archfiend's Awakening by 500 attack and defense points for each spell and trap I control! With two on my side of the field, he gains 1000 attack points!" A harsh golden glow enveloped the demon.
"Attack with azure lightning strike!" Extending a fist, Yugi bid his monster to unleash a thunderbolt which soundly vanquished Joey's knight. Stumbling, Joey found himself on the back foot. "That will be all for my turn." (Yugi 3000/Joey 3200)
Although Joey could have banished the polymerization from his grave to boost Gearfried's attack, it wouldn't have mattered since Archfiend's Awakening couldn't be destroyed by battle except by a ritual monster. This next draw would have to be good.
Well, it wasn't good in and of itself but it could be a way forward. "The card I drew is Battle Warrior, which is a normal monster. That gets me another draw off of Heart of the Underdog." Joey revealed the famously useless monster to Yugi, who smirked in response. "And my next draw is Axe Raider, so I get to draw again!" Now Yugi was curious to see how long the streak would go. "And my third card is Alligator's Sword, so I get to draw again!" Finally, Joey drew something that wasn't a normal monster, so his draws were over. However, Yugi wasn't worried. Despite Joey's now-sizeable hand, he knew it was filled with fairly weak monsters that could be easily vanquished.
"Now, I'll summon Battle Warrior (700/1000) in attack mode." The bare-knuckled blue brawler took the field, his diminutive stature exaggerated by how imposing Yugi's Summoned Skull was. "But he won't be here for long, because I'm playing the spell card White Elephant's Gift. By sending a normal monster from my field to the graveyard, I can draw two more cards!"
Struggling to hold so many cards in his hand, Joey clumsily flipped over his trap. "And I'm not done adding cards, Yuge! I play the trap card Fusion Reserve. This lets me reveal one fusion monster from my fusion deck, then add one of its materials from my deck to my hand. Then, I can add back a copy of the Polymerization spell from my graveyard to my hand."
Revealing Meteor Black Dragon from his fusion deck, Joey retrieved a copy of Meteor Dragon from his deck to his hand. Yugi was very curious about the purpose of running those cards since Joey did not have Red-Eyes Black Dragon in his deck. "Unless….could he be running a fusion substitute?" Yugi wondered. However, Joey went a different route.
"Alright, now I'm gonna play the ritual spell Red-Eyes Transmigration!" Joey's body was encircled in bright red flames, which eventually covered him completely. Smoke rose above the tops of the nearby apartment complexes as the fires cooled, revealing that Joey had donned a suit of armor fashioned in the style of his prodigal ace monster, the Red-Eyes Black Dragon. "By sacrificing Axe Raider and Alligator's Sword from my hand, I can ritual summon the level eight Lord of the Red (2400/2100)!"
Yugi had to admit the Red-Eyes Black Dragon armor looked pretty cool on Joey. It almost made him wish for a similar card about the Dark Magician...sadly, none existed. "I see...even without your Red-Eyes, your bond with the card still exists. Show me the strength of that bond!"
"I will! Activate spell card, Roll of Fate!" declared Joey. "This card lets me roll a dice. I get to draw cards equal to the number I roll, then I have to banish that same number of cards from the top of the deck."
"I have a bad feeling about this…" Yugi grimaced. Joey withdrew a scuffed dice from his pocket, which caused his hand to dip through the holographic projection of the Lord of the Red armor. He then threw the dice a little too hard, as it bounced into a nearby puddle.
"Aw, nuts!" Awkwardly picking up the dice from the water and wiping his hands on the nearby side of the building, Joey tossed it more gently this time. Sure enough, it was a six, allowing Joey to draw six cards then banish six more from his deck.
"Since I just activated a spell, Lord of the Red's effect triggers! This lets me pop one of your monsters! Say goodbye to that Archfiend's Awakening!" Jumping into the air, Joey was ensconced in a burning aura. Reaching his apex, Joey fell towards the fiend like a comet, tearing through it in a blaze of speed. Landing in a three-point stance, Joey grinned impishly at Yugi as he leapt back to his side of the field. As he bounced back, Joey was surprised to see a thin yellow string of light emerging from a gap in the concrete, its end plugged into Yugi's duel disk.
"You activated my trap card, Soul Rope. Since my monster was destroyed by a card effect, I can pay 1000 life points to special summon a level four monster from my deck. I call forth Big Shield Gardna (100/2600) in defense mode!" The long-haired guardian knelt behind his purple shield, which nearly covered his entire body. (Yugi 2000/Joey 3200)
"Furthermore, when Archfiend's Awakening is destroyed, I can return Summoned Skull (2500/1200) to the field." Yugi explained. The normal version of the powerful fiend came back, unfurling its skeletal wings proudly. Joey had no way of beating over those two monsters, so he had to end his battle phase.
"Alright fair enough. I guess my luck had to run out sometime. I'll play One Day of Peace. This spell lets us each draw a card, and neither of us can take any damage until the end of your next turn. So I'm getting another turn no matter what!" Joey then set three cards and ended his turn.
"That much is true, I cannot end this duel now." Yugi admitted. "But there are still many options afforded to me, the first of which is destroying your monster! I activate Soul Taker! This spell can destroy your Lord of the Red, although you will also gain 1000 life points."
"Nice try, but I don't wanna lose my sweet new duds so soon. In response, I flip over the trap card Interdimensional Matter Transporter, banishing Lord of the Red until the end phase." In a flash of light, the armor was temporarily gone, leaving Joey in his blue school uniform once again.
"Wow! I didn't expect that. I believe Kaiba used that card against the both of us." Yugi chuckled.
"Rich boy's got plenty of good cards, that's for sure. I woulda smacked his Blue-Eyes down if he didn't have this trap, so I thought I'd use it too." Joey shrugged.
"You learned a great deal from that experience. Kaiba may be a bit tiresome to deal with at the best of times, but our battles with him have made us both stronger. I'm grateful to have him as a rival." Yugi said appreciatively.
"He's next after I get my Red-Eyes back!" Joey wasn't so quick to sing Kaiba's praises. "But that's for another time. Let's keep this thing going, Yugi!"
"Heh, don't get ahead of yourself Joey! I play Double Spell! By discarding another spell from my hand, I can use a spell from your graveyard as if it were my own! I think I'll go ahead and use that Roll of Fate, if you don't mind of course." A large hologram of the Double Spell card appeared in front of Yugi, and as he spoke it slowly changed to reflect the artwork from Roll of Fate. Yugi pulled out a dice, which was a free sample from Kame Game. Dropping it, Yugi couldn't help a smile from breaking out on his normally stoic face as he saw it land on a six.
"Oh, come on!" Joey complained despite also rolling a six earlier.
"Apparently you're not the only one who has good luck today, Joey." Yugi smirked. "Tell you what, let's make our wager a bit sweeter. Winner buys the loser a lottery ticket...and the buyer gets to keep whatever's on the ticket. Sound good?" They were going to the gas station to get coffee anyways.
"Alright, you're on. So on top of getting my Red-Eyes back, I'm gonna be a millionaire. Not a bad day." Joey laughed.
"We shall see." Yugi's voice deepened an octave, and Joey felt the mood shift suddenly. Chills raced down the blond's spine as he wondered...did Yugi draw one of the sacred cards?
"You were the one who wanted this, Joey. I told you I was going to fight with everything I had. I meant it!" Yugi roared, and in that moment Joey's friend was gone, and in his place was the warrior king of Ancient Egypt. "I activate the spell Fiend's Sanctuary, summoning a metal fiend token (0/0) to the field. And now…"
The sky was clear, and yet lightning struck the ground all around them, cracks of thunder punctuating the air. Big Shield Gardna, Summoned Skull, and the metal fiend token each vanished in golden pillars of light. A deep red aura surrounded Yugi, who called forth his duel energy in waves. Raising a card up, he bellowed, "Noblest lineage of Egypt, I call on thee; great sky lord, I invoke thy name on this battleground! Sacrificing three monsters, I summon the almighty Slifer the Sky Dragon (?/?)!"
The alleyway wasn't nearly large enough to accommodate the true size of the Egyptian God, so it was represented as smaller than it truly was - still, its presence was overwhelming, and Joey felt frozen in fear as painful memories of his battle against Marik resurfaced. The red, serpentine body of Slifer slithered along the ground, and Joey could almost feel the hot breath emanating from its twin mouths.
"With five cards in hand, Slifer's attack power sits at 5000." Yugi explained calmly. "I apologize, Joey. I didn't want to use the gods in a battle like this."
"You're right, I did. I didn't want there to be any what-ifs...no excuses. You earned those cards fair and square, just like I earned my Jinzo, or my Legendary Fisherman...it's no different! We've both progressed as duelists, and I want to face you at your very best! So don't go feelin' bad for me, I'm the godfather of games! I can take whatever you throw at me!"
"I commend your spirit." Yugi nodded his head. "Very well. At any rate, I cannot deal any damage this turn due to your One Day of Peace. I end my turn." At the end phase, Joey donned his Lord of the Red armor once more, although whether the monster would be of any use against Slifer remained to be seen.
"Ok...I can do this…" Joey drew. It was the Swordsman of Landstar, which would normally be a horrendous draw, but with Heart of the Underdog on the field it was actually a good thing, as Joey now got to draw again. Baby Dragon was next, another normal monster. His third draw was not a normal monster, which should have meant the drawing was done. "I play my trap card, Common Charity. This lets me draw two cards, but I have to banish a normal monster from my hand afterwards." Joey was desperately digging through his deck for a way to out Slifer. Looking through his expansive hand, Joey finally found something helpful and smiled.
Yugi furrowed his brow. "He can't summon anything with less than 2000 attack points or Slifer will instantly destroy it with its second mouth. And since Slifer is at 5000 attack points, I shouldn't have to worry about it being destroyed by battle…you've done well Joey, but this appears to be the end of the game."
"Sorry Yuge, but that dragon of yours ain't gonna stay out for very long after all the trouble you went to play him. I got the perfect tool for the job! I equip Moon Mirror Shield to Lord of the Red!" In Joey's let hand appeared a round, golden shield with a vaguely ancient Greek aesthetic. "I'll tell ya what it does in a minute, but first I'll trigger Lord of the Red's effect since I played another card. I'm taking out one of your face-downs!" Joey thrust his hand forward and shot a volley of fireballs from his fingertips, incinerating Yugi's face-down Negate Attack trap. Yugi still had another set card, but Joey felt a little more comfortable battling now.
Unfazed, Yugi said, "What does that shield of yours do?"
"Whenever the equipped monster battles, its attack becomes 100 points higher than the monster it's battling!" Joey chuckled as Yugi's eyes widened in shock. "That's right buddy, there's no limit to what I can destroy now! Not even an Egyptian god!" The blond leapt into the sky once more, soaring towards the awaiting Slifer with supreme confidence. "Here I come, Yugi!"
Like a comet, a trail of fire streaked behind Joey as he shot toward Slifer, ready to strike down the dragon with no fear. "Bring it on!" Joey shouted as he drew inexorably closer.
Yugi smiled and shook his head. "Joey...did you really think it would be that easy?" He flipped over his remaining trap card. "During damage calculation, I activate Jar of Avarice. This lets me shuffle five cards from my graveyard back into my deck. Then, I can draw a card." Returning the cards back to the deck barely mattered. What was important was that the extra card in Yugi's hand boosted Slifer's attack power to 6000, which was enough to destroy Lord of the Red's current value of 5100. And since it was the damage step, the effect of Moon Mirror Shield wouldn't activate again. Slifer reared back and fired a reactionary beam of lightning at Joey, halting his attack in midair and sending him flying down to the ground. Joey skid along the pavement for a while, the armor breaking off of him in pieces until it had all shattered, the shield gone with it. Joey laid on the ground for a moment, struggling to get up after the fierce counterattack. (Yugi 2000/Joey 2300)
"Man...I guess I shoulda known...heh…" Joe eventually got to his feet, looking haggard. Slifer let out a derisive roar, as if to mock Joey's effort. "It's not over...not yet! I set two cards face-down. And I'll also set a monster. That's it for my turn, Yugi."
Despite how bad Joey's position looked, Yugi knew his friend was far from beaten. He would not lapse in caution now, even with a powerful Egyptian God on his side of the field. "I play Upstart Goblin. This card lets me draw a card, while also letting you gain 1000 life points." said Yugi. (Yugi 2000/Joey 3300)
"Now, I'll activate Monster Reborn, allowing me to bring back Summoned Skull to the field." The chalky fiend made his third appearance, but only briefly. "Now, I'll activate Polymerization, allowing me to fuse together Summoned Skull with Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight in my hand! In addition to Summoned Skull, all I need is another dark monster to form Archfiend's Manifestation (2500/1200)!"
This transformation of Summoned Skull wasn't overly different from the last, only this time the creature was wrapped in purple lightning, and its right hand had extended and morphed into a larger, sharper set of claws. "This card and all other Summoned Skull monsters on my field gain 500 attack points as long as it's on the field, boosting my fusion monster to 3000."
Unexpectedly, a dark portal opened beneath the winged demon, wind funneling downwards as the pit threatened to swallow up Yugi's monster. "I'm using this trap card, Bottomless Trap Hole! When you summon a monster with over 1500 attack points, this can destroy and banish it!" Joey flipped over one of his set cards. It was a fairly common card, but Yugi hadn't expected it.
"I didn't think I would have to use this so soon." Yugi thought, caught off guard. "From my hand, I chain the quick-play spell Dimension Explosion! This card returns a fusion monster I control to the fusion deck. Then, we both can summon two banished monsters each to the field!" A wider, multicolored portal appeared above them both, pulling in the Archfiend's Manifestation before the Bottomless Trap Hole could swallow it up. Since both duelists had used Roll of Fate earlier, they each had a few banished monsters to choose from.
Two rainbow beams shot from the portal, landing on Yugi's side of the field. "I call forth Dark Magician (2500/2100) and Buster Blader (2600/2300) to the field!" The ever-faithful sorcerer and the dragonslaying swordsman stood to each side of Slifer, brandishing glaive and staff respectively.
Two more beams fell to Joey's field, and then the portal closed. "I summon Little Winguard (1400/1800) and Rocket Warrior (1500/1300) to my side!" Joey declared, the plucky warriors kneeling in defense mode. Realizing that both of his monsters had less than 2000 attack points, Joey frowned, "Aw, nuts…"
"Slifer's second mouth activates! Destroy his monsters!" Yugi commanded, and two bolts of lightning from the dragon swiftly struck down Joey's monsters as soon as they appeared, leaving only his set monster.
Joey held an arm up to shield from the light. "He got all of the upside and I got nothing!" He muttered. He saw that Yugi still had four cards in hand, putting Slifer at 4000 points.
"Now, to end this! Dark Magician, attack Joey's set monster with Dark Magic Attack!" The wizard was quick to obey, firing a sphere of violet energy at the face-down, destroying it with ease. With Joey's field cleared, Yugi bid Buster Blader to attack next, the warrior heaving his absurdly large sword overhead as he lunged towards Joey.
"Wait a minute...there might still be a way out of this!" Joey realized. "I flip over my trap card, Powerful Rebirth! This revives a level four or lower monster from my graveyard and boosts its attack and defense points by 100. Not only that, but its level goes up by one. I'm gonna bring back my Neko Mane King, which you just destroyed!" Joey's resurrected monster was a laughably small cat that could have been the mascot of a casino chain - it had no chance whatsoever of battling Buster Blader, much less Slifer. Luckily, that was not the card's use.
"And since I just summoned a monster, Slifer's effect is forced to activate!" Joey grinned and Yugi realized what he was doing. Sure enough, Slifer easily swatted aside the cat with a blast from its second mouth.
"And get this! When Neko Mane King is destroyed by a card effect, it instantly becomes the end phase of the turn!" Joey breathed a sigh of relief. "Man, that was lucky…."
"It wasn't luck, Joey. You took advantage of Slifer's effect and made it work for you. Few could hope to accomplish such a thing." Yugi complimented.
"Yeah, now I just gotta find a way to actually beat it. And you got two other big guys now! I just can't catch a break." Joey grimaced as he drew. "Alright, I'm gonna play the spell card Arduous Decision. Now how things go is up to you, Yugi. I pick up two cards off the top of my deck and you pick one of them at random. If the card you pick is a monster, I get to summon it and then send the other card to the graveyard. If it's not a monster. I send both cards to the graveyard." Joey picked up two cards and shuffled them a few times before showing their backs to Yugi. "Go on, pick one."
"Well, I suppose I'll pick the right one." Yugi said, bemused.
"My right or your right?" Joey questioned with a growing smile.
"Erm...my...no, your right side!" Yugi stumbled, off-kilter a bit.
"My right? Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure!" Yugi chuckled in exasperation. Even if it was a monster, Yugi figured that Slifer's second mouth would make quick work of it.
"Good choice, because the one you picked is my Divine Knight Iszhark (2300/1800). You would not believe how long it took me to learn how to pronounce that right." Joey's knight was clad in ornate silver armor with lavender accents. His sword was wide and flat, lacking much of an edge. Upon summon, the knight held up his sword to defend against Slifer's effect, the dragon immediately hurling bolts of lighting at him. The force of the electricity knocked Iszhark off of his feet, but the knight soon recovered and managed to stay on the field. His attack was now at 300 after being reduced by 2000.
"He looks weak now, but just wait! I flip over my trap card, Metalmorph!" A sheen of mercury covered Joey's knight, making it look like a sculpture of constantly undulating liquid metal. "This trap acts as an equipment. It boosts my knight by 300 attack points. And when it attacks, it gains further attack points equal to half of the attack points of the monster it's battling." Even with the added armament, Joey couldn't beat any of Yugi's monsters.
"Now, I play the spell Shield and Sword! This flips our monster's attack and defense values for the turn!" Joey continued.
"Oh, very nice. Your knight's defense points weren't lowered at all by Slifer's effect." Yugi recognized. Since Iszhark's defense was 1800, its new attack value was now at 2100 due to Metalmorph. Yugi then realized that Slifer's attack hadn't changed either - its attack and defense were both 4000. Doing a bit of panicked mental math, Yugi calculated, "Wait a minute...2100 plus 2000...no!"
"Oh yeah! Divine Knight Ishzark, attack Slifer the Sky Dragon with vanishing blade!" In a streak of sliver, the knight's blade glowed as it cleaved Slifer's serpentine body at a divisional angle. Finally, Joey had managed to defeat an Egyptian God in battle using his own wits. Yugi stumbled back from the slight damage, and the shock of Slifer actually being defeated. (Yugi 1900/Joey 3300)
Breathing hard, Joey's gasps slowly morphed into laughter. "Ha! I did it! I really did it!" He then made his infamous creepy chin face, startling Yugi into a laugh despite the latter's disappointment at losing Slifer. Slifer was not only destroyed, it was banished due to Iszhark's effect.
"Defeating Slifer is an impressive feat, to be sure. But that doesn't mean this duel is over. I still have Dark Magician and Buster Blader on my field. Your Knight only gains attack points from Metalmorph when it is attacking. Next turn, I'll be able to destroy your knight and clear your field." Yugi explained with a touch of condescension, his pride wounded from the last exchange.
"Who said my turn was over! During my main phase two, I'll play the spell Landstar Forces! This summons as many Landstar monsters from my hand as possible! I summon Swordsman of Landstar (500/1200) and Comrade Swordsman of Landstar (500/1200) to the field!" The two goofy cartoon knights were nearly identical in appearance, although the latter's clothes were a deeper purple than the original's, which were more red. Comrade Swordsman of Landstar's effect boosted the attack points of all Joey's warrior monsters, but that wasn't going to come up. As soon as they appeared, they were disappearing, offered for a tribute summon. Although Slifer was gone, lightning still wracked the parking lot, this time generated by Joey's monster.
"I still haven't normal summoned yet, Yugi! By sacrificing three monsters, I can call on one of my strongest guys! Let's get em, Gilford the Lightning (2800/1400)!" In a flash of orange and yellow, Joey's caped knight took the field, waving his longsword proudly.
Yugi shook his head. "Incredible…"
"When Gilford is summoned, I can destroy all monsters you control! Go, lightning blade!" A wave of Gilford's sword tore up the concrete (holographically - Joey wasn't really damaging the mall's parking lot) and fried Yugi's Buster Blader and Dark Magician simultaneously, leaving his field bare.
"I set a card and end my turn…" Joey grunted. Yugi paused before drawing his next card, both duelists beginning to feel the strain of a prolonged battle at maximum strength. "I've been throwing everything I have at Yugi, but I feel like he's just getting started!" Joey thought with worry.
"Joey has surprised me many times already. He's become unbelievably strong, even since he faced Kaiba a few days ago. I suppose that new booster pack helped his deck out more than I anticipated. I can't afford to be complacent!" Yugi thought with admiration.
"Go on, take a moment if ya need to, Yugi." said Joey.
"Oh, no need to worry about me!" Yugi couldn't believe it, but Joey had him on the back foot. It was time to turn this around! "I activate the Shuffle Reborn spell. Since I control no monsters, this card brings back a monster in my graveyard, although its effects are negated and it is banished at the end of the turn. Return to the field, Dark Magician!" Yugi's favorite monster flew in through a runic green circle of magic.
"Now, I'll play Fusion Recovery, returning Polymerization and a monster used as fusion material back to my hand. I'll bring back Swift Gaia alongside Polymerization." Yugi retrieved the cards from the graveyard. "Now, I'll play Polymerization, merging Dark Magician with the King of the Swamp in my hand. King of the Swamp can be used as a substitute for any fusion material, as long as the other fusion material is correct. You may remember this one from our duel against the Big Five, Joey." Yugi smiled, recalling the battle against the possessed body of their friend Tristan. It was probably the most fearsome that Tristan had ever been, even if it wasn't really himself in there. Joey smiled and nodded as he briefly recalled that odd voyage into cyberspace.
The King of the Swamp appeared next to Dark Magician, shifting and forming the rough shape of Joey's Flame Swordsman. Swirling together, the newly fused monster was clad in a black cloak with red accents. His shield was a bright crimson and the blade seemed to glow orange as a campfire would. "I summon Dark Flare Knight (2200/800)!" Although Yugi didn't normally play this card, he tossed it in his fusion deck on the off-chance he could use Joey's Flame Swordsman as a material. "Now, I'll attack Gilford the Lightning!"
Dark Flare Knight's effect ensured that Yugi would take no battle damage from the suicide attack. Dark Flare Knight rushed Gilford only to be cut down as fast as lightning. However, it was then that the shadowy cloak of the knight reformed, hardening and turning a luminescent golden. A cascade of blue hair fell from this new knight's helm, and its sword transformed into a scythe. "When Dark Flare Knight is destroyed, I can summon Mirage Knight (2800/2000) to the field!"
Right where he left off, Yugi commanded his new knight to attack Gilford. Joey frowned, knowing what this particular card did all too well. "Our monsters have the same attack points, but Mirage Knight's effect will change that! When it attacks, it can gain attack equal to Gilford's attack!" Gilford attempted to swing its blade at the Mirage Knight only for the golden warrior to suddenly speed up as its attack doubled. Phasing through the enemy's sword, Mirage Knight cleaved Gilford in twain. The force of the attack sent Joey reeling as he lost most of his life points. (Yugi 1900/Joey 500)
"Man...I didn't think I'd ever be on the receiving end of that…" Joey panted. "Still, it's all good. Mirage Knight gets banished by its own effect at the end of the turn. Let's be honest, the card isn't really very good. But hey it's nostalgic right? Anyways, since ya only got 1900 life points left, I just might be able to finish you off next turn, Yuge."
"I thought of that, Joey. That's why I'm going to play this spell - Re-Fusion. By paying 800 life points, I can revive a fusion monster from my graveyard in attack mode. I'll revive Dark Flare Knight." The shadowy crusader had a respectable attack value of 2200, and its effect would afford Yugi a bit of damage protection. With that, Yugi set two cards and ended his turn. Mirage Knight shimmered and dispelled, leaving only Dark Flare Knight on the field. (Yugi 1100/Joey 500)
"Alright Yugi...I'm taking that Polymerization! I activate my trap card Graverobber, which allows me to use a spell from your graveyard!" Joey flipped over one of his set cards, a green-clad imp appearing in a puff of smoke. With a puckish grin, the creature dug Polymerization out of a bemused Yugi's graveyard with a shovel, tossing it to Joey's hand. "Now, I'll draw."
Joey revealed his own copy of Monster Reborn in his hand. "Monster Reborn can summon a monster from either of our graveyards, so I'm taking one more of your cards. Come out, Summoned Skull!" Now, the summoner of lightning served Joey's side.
"Black Skull Dragon?" Yugi guessed that was what Joey wanted to summon. "How? You don't have Red-Eyes."
"You oughta know, you just used a fusion substitute last turn! You're not the only one who's using King of the Swamp." Joey's own copy of King of the Swamp rose from the concrete cracks, its ruddy gaze and draconic shape a rough facsimile of Joey's lost ace monster. "Even without Red-Eyes, I can still use his evolved forms! I fuse together the King of the Swamp in my hand with Summoned Skull!"
The green swamp water heated up and took the color of magma, a dark red crust that was taking the form of another monster formed from the bond Yugi and Joey shared. They each remembered the duel against the Paradox Brothers. Although it was relatively harrowing at the time due to their individual goals during the Duelist Kingdom tournament, in retrospect the brother's rhyming and bizarre personality was very amusing. Those fun memories faded soon enough however, and both returned their focus to the fight. In a swirl of fire and brimstone appeared a mighty dragon, its hide covered in blackened bone and flames emanating from its nostrils. "I summon Archfiend Black Skull Dragon (3200/2500)!" Joey roared.
Yugi gulped, respecting the sheer strength of the dragon in front of him. Beyond its battle power was an ability that could bypass his defense...if Joey had Red-Eyes with him. As is, he didn't, so the monster's full potential was stunted. Still, it was strong enough to win the duel if Yugi didn't play around it carefully. Wasting no time, Joey made to attack. "Archfiend Black Skull Dragon attacks with skull meteor!"
The dragon's effect prevented Yugi from activating cards or effects in response to its attack, so the spiky-haired king of games could do nothing but allow it to go through, his Dark Flare Knight swallowed up by the flames. The dragon had an additional effect. After battling, it could deal effect damage equal to the attack of a Red-Eyes normal monster in Joey's graveyard. Since he didn't have any, it wouldn't come up, but if he did, that attack would have won the duel. Knowing how lucky he was, Yugi drew cautiously as Joey set a card to end his turn. Yugi couldn't do much with the cards in his hand. Fate, or perhaps Fortune, would decide it.
"I activate Card Destruction! Both players discard the cards in their hands and then draw the same number they discarded." Yugi unbricked his hand while Joey's frown told him that he would have rather kept his cards. Both of them were running low on cards in their decks. If this battle didn't end the game, someone was probably going to run out of cards to draw.
"Well...we both know this won't go on much longer. It's been a lot of fun, Joey." Yugi smiled.
"It sure has, Yuge. No matter which way this thing ends up going, I can't wait until our next match! I'm gonna get way stronger than this, just watch me!"
"Me too! I activate Magicalized Fusion!" A tower of five violet magic rings appeared on Yugi's side of the field. "This spell allows me to fusion summon a spellcaster by banishing its materials from the graveyard! I'll banish Dark Magician alongside Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight!"
Galloping loudly, a horse and its rider burst through the five runic circles, shattering them like stained glass as they rode proudly into battle. The Dark Magician was atop an angry violet destrier, swapping out his staff for a sharp spiralling lance. "I summon Dark Cavalry (2800/2300)!"
Magical energy glowed around the rider as his horse drew to a stop. "This monster may not be strong enough to challenge your dragon now, but it soon will be! Dark Cavalry's effect gains it 100 attack points for every spell and trap card on the field and in our graveyards!"
"Uhh….how many is that, again?" Joey didn't feel like counting all of them, it would be a very tedious process considering how long the game had gone. Luckily, the duel disks automatically calculated the proper amount.
"Could you imagine having to keep track of it with pencil and paper?" Yugi laughed.
"Yeah, talk about a pain in the rear. Too much math!" Joey complained. "So how much is it anyways?"
"The answer is...a lot! Between the two of us, we have thirty-three spells and traps on our fields and graveyards, boosting my monster's attack power to 6100!"
"And if my calculations are correct, that means I'm toast!" Joey wailed.
"Aptly put! Dark Cavalry, strike down his Black Skull Dragon and end this duel!" The spearman raced towards Joey's dragon, prepared to lance it through the head. However, before the knight could complete his charge, he found himself entangled by thin white threads.
"This is my last chance…" Joey thought desperately. "I activate my quick-play spell, Roulette Spider! When your monster attacks, I can roll a dice, and apply an effect from there!" The spider had a checkered black and yellow thorax, and an arrow pointing from its hindquarters that pointed to Yugi, then to Joey in equal measure.
Roulette Spider had six potential effects depending on what number Joey rolled, but the only ones that would help him in this scenario would be a five or a six. If Joey rolled a five, the Dark Cavalry's attack would be negated and Yugi would take damage equal to half of its attack, winning Joey the duel. If Joey rolled a six, Dark Cavalry would be destroyed on the spot. This would effectively win Joey the duel since Yugi didn't have any obvious ways of defending his life points next turn. To roll another number...no other result would stop the attack, so Joey would lose for certain.
"All I need is for my luck to hold for just one more moment!" Time seemed to slow as Joey pressed the red button on the side of his duel disk, causing a holographic dice to be thrown. Yugi watched it fall calmly - no matter what happened, he was confident he did everything he could to win. If fortune, or perhaps it was destiny, decided Joey to be the winner, then that was alright.
"Joey's willingness to take risks is what sets him apart. Against any other duelist, I could discern their strategy, understand the goals of that strategy, and work to circumvent it. I've never met another duelist who would take such massive leaps of faith, who is ok with getting burned if it means a chance at victory. Most people are too averse to pain and disappointment to try that." To put it simply, Joey was the sort of man who would risk it for the biscuit. He could lose everything, start at zero, build everything back up, and lose it all again without despairing, because he would just build it all back again. Since Joey started with nothing, he knew that he could survive without that which he gained on his journey. He had lost countless times both on the dueling field and in life. Being punched in the face hurt a lot the first time, less so after the hundredth time.
"In a way, his strength was born of failure." Yugi thought. Shamefully, he knew he could not deal with failure the same way. The darker side of him still lurked beneath the surface...Joey would have never killed Kaiba, even if doing so ensured getting the money for his sister's surgery. The pharaoh would have, and almost did if not for Yugi's interference. "Failure is an unavoidable part of life...I must learn to accept that."
The spider spun around rapidly. Yugi knew the odds were in his favor, with two-thirds of the available outcomes proving helpful to him. And yet still his heart beat like a drum. "I have always been assured that destiny and God's will was on my side. Losing has never really been a possibility for me. But to fight like this...to leave everything in the fickle grasp of fortune...I've never done it before. This is exhilarating! This is living!"
For maximum dramatic effect, the spider seemed to momentarily stall between the numbers four and five. A four would redirect Yugi's attack to another monster on the field. However, since Dark Cavalry and Joey's dragon were the only monsters on the board, this effect would still result in Yugi's victory.
The dice finally landed.
"A five!" Joey's voice cracked, not believing his eyes.
"No!" Yugi let out, equally in shock. The spider shot out its arrow, piercing through Yugi's monster and continuing its path through Yugi. Sure enough, his life counter hit zero, an unfamiliar and unbelievable feeling. (Yugi 0/Joey 500)
Joey was equally in disbelief before his shock morphed into a wild grin. "No way...there's no way…" The tension left him and he let out a hearty laugh. "I did it! I won! Somebody pinch me, I've gotta be dreaming here!"
"It's no dream. You won fairly and honorably. Congratulations, my friend." Yugi was able to swallow his pride enough to offer kind words, although inwardly he was burning for the chance to face Joey again. "Now I must prove myself to him...is how Kaiba feels?"
Putting his deck and duel disk away, Yugi withdrew the lost card. "You've earned this." In truth, Yugi wanted to give it back to Joey anyway. He had wanted to give it back to him since the beginning of the tournament. It had no use in Yugi's deck, and it felt wrong to win something that rightfully belonged to someone else. Besides, Joey had more than earned it by essentially defeating Marik on his own and surviving the full force of an Egyptian God's attack. No one could say that Joey wasn't a true duelist now - indeed, he was one of the world's strongest beyond a shadow of a doubt. But for Joey to actually best Yugi only confirmed that he deserved the card back. Only now it wasn't being given to him, it was conferred by Joey's own force of will.
He handed over the Red-Eyes Black Dragon card. Yugi had taken the utmost care of it, even double sleeving it. Joey looked long at his wayward companion, a teardrop landing on the sleeve. "Yugi...thank you. You're the best friend a guy could ask for."
It was still early enough that no one had seen their duel. The lottery ticket only had a couple dollars on it, which they used to buy coffee. From there, the pair went to school, and no one could understand why Joey seemed to be in such a good mood.
AN
Hope you all enjoyed.
A lot of people have their various takes on how the unseen Yugi vs Joey duel at the end of the battle city arc went, I thought I'd throw my own hat in the mix after seeing some cool youtube videos that did a simulated duel between them. These two characters are very fun to write with modern cards since they've received so much support over the years. I ended up using a few anime effects for cards like Graverobber as well as a few anime-only cards like Landstar Forces. I normally like to stick to tcg effects only but it made for a more smooth duel to do things this way. This isn't really canon compliant since they're using the modern cards, but hey oh well.
I like Joey quite a bit and I knew I wanted him to win by chance in the end. I agree with Kazuki Takahashi's assessment that Joey is stronger than Atem and Kaiba in his own way since he really doesn't have any special lineage or abilities to help him. Since Yugi is blessed by the gods much in the same way classical heroes like Aeneas were, leaving things to fortune is really the only way to beat him if we go by Yugiverse logic. Also Yugi is not likely to crank up the fate manipulation hax against Joey since the idea is for it to actually be a fair game between friends. However, I don't think Joey would parade the fact that he beat Yugi in public. He's not so much interested in being king of games as much as simply proving himself as an equal to Yugi, a man he respects immensely. The Yugiverse essentially runs on an old-fashioned warrior's code of honor, which is important to remember. If Joey dueled Yugi again and still lost, it would be difficult to justify why Joey would accept the Red-Eyes back. We know Joey gets the Red-Eyes back in both the anime and the manga. In the anime he uses Red-Eyes in the future arcs while in Duel Links, Joey's DSOD incarnation has Red-Eyes as his ace (DSOD is canon to the manga, not the anime).
Anyways I appreciate you reading and have a good one!