(A/N: Moving right along here, we have Joey's duel with an OC. Not exactly something you want to see, but hey, we need more female duelists in the mix. This was the best that I could come up with. Don't skip the chapter, even if it feels like filler. You might just miss something juicy.
Also, since many of you missed it, or it simply didn't register in your mind, the courtroom Celeste dueled Johnson in was redesigned to look like the courtroom from the first trial of the first Danganronpa game. Special shout out to Ajani's apprentice who managed to correctly identify all the little Easter Eggs I left scattered in the previous chapter. With that said, bonus points if you can figure out the importance of the scenery that's depicted in this chapter. Enjoy!)
Among those forced to wander Noah's virtual hellhole alone, Joey Wheeler felt as lost as a tourist visiting out of the country for the first time. After escaping the academy with its many paintings and slanted hallways, he was now wandering what appeared to be a tropical island of some variety. As he wandered the humid landscape, Joey soon found himself drawn towards a rickety bridge, leading to a statue erected in Noah's honor, surrounded by trees and white stone walkways.
"Aww, hell no!" Joey exclaimed. "I ain't seeing this." He immediately started to try and push the statue over, but even with all his might, Joey couldn't even make the 7-foot-tall statue budge. Joey slumped against the statue, panting with his tongue hanging out. "It's no good. I'm just too hungry. What's it take for a guy to get a burger around here?"
As Joey sat there complaining though, his brain picked up a delicious scent. He stood up, getting a better whiff. "I smell chocolate!" Joey ran around and around the island, looking for the source of the smell, only to come up empty. "No way! I may not be able to trust my eyes or my ears, but I can sure as hell trust my stomach! Whoever's got chocolate, come on out!"
"You sure do bark an awfully lot for a teenager. Well, if it's chocolate you want, it's chocolate you're gonna get! Henshin a go go baby!" An upbeat, older, female voice rang out.
Suddenly, pink hearts and mist spurted out from the ground and wafted through the air, turning milk chocolatey brown as a caramel skinned, winged red eyed, pointy-eared, mint color haired magical girl, wearing a pointy witch's hat, long boots, and carrying a wand appeared with an appropriate sound effect. "Chocolate Magician Girl is in the house!"
"Nyeh? Who are you?"
"Wow, hearing's not your strong suit. Okay, I'll repeat. I'm Chocolate Magician Girl!"
"Don't play dumb with me. Are you with the Big Five?" Joey demanded.
Chocolate Magician Girl pouted, and not in the cute way. "Hmph. Just take all the fun out of it, why don't you? Yes! I'm with the Big Five. Emma's the name, former Head Programmer at KaibaCorp. I even helped design the last virtual prison you all got trapped in."
"Emma? You're a lady?"
"Isn't that obvious?" Emma asked, gesturing to her figure.
"I mean, we're in virtual reality, can't be too sure," Joey replied.
Emma just swung her hips and her neck back and forth moodily. "I'll have you know I look amazing, even outside this getup. I've got some home. I'm only 30."
"And what's a 30-year-old former programmer want with Kaiba?"
"Because he fired me, duh!"
"Good to know Kaiba is an equal opportunity jerk. What'd you get canned for?"
"I made a few safety cuts here and there to increase profits and suddenly I'm the one in the wrong. It's not like he and Mokuba got burned from the fire."
"Uhhhh, I'm no safety nut, but I'm pretty sure very nearly setting your boss and his little brother on fire is grounds for dismissal no matter what the explanation."
"Whatever," Emma said, picking her nails through her gloves. "You ready to duel or what?"
"Huh? ME?! Look lady, if you got a bone to pick with Kaiba, that's your business. I want out of here."
"And so do I!" Emma declared, pointing her wand at Joey. "No one said I'd get trapped here if I joined the party. Some little brat with green hair told me my Uncle Crump needed help and I'm like "I'm there." Next thing I know, I'm in a virtual pod and there's no exit program and my body is literally rotting in virtual space for seven months."
"Yeah, my heart bleeds. I don't hit women, but I ain't got no problem tossing 'em like throw pillows. So step aside, Emma, or you're going in the ocean."
"Not happening. I want my body back, but since I seem to be locked out, guess I gotta take yours."
"Wait, why mine? No offense, but you're a lady."
"Well, um," Emma blushed. "I've always wanted to try being a boy."
"Okay! Gross! Bring it on, ya freak! I ain't scared a you! Cuz once I'm done beatin' your backside, yer gonna be cryin' into a tub of Rocky Road, lady."
"Better save that spoon for yourself cause you'll have plenty of time to devour it all once you're trapped here forever!"
The card database then began scrolling in front of Joey and Emma.
"Eh? What's this?"
"It's called a database. Every card in the KaibaCorp records is in here, from 7 completed to Zera the Ment. Go ahead and build a deck of 40 to 60 cards."
"Every card?" Joey asked.
"That's correct. Of course, I do have an auto setting based on your Battle City deck if that suits you."
"Save it," Joey said. "I got this."
If I can pick any cards I want, I could pick Red Eyes, Joey thought as he plucked cards out of the database. I know Yugi needs it back in the real world, and the cards don't always make the duelist, but if I'm gonna duel my way outta here, Joey Wheeler's gonna be at 100% baby!
Joey finished picking his deck and finally he and Emma were ready to square off.
"Go ahead and choose your deck master," Emma told him.
"You got it. Cause here comes Flame Swordsman!" Joey exclaimed. His favorite monster appeared at his side.
"And I'm already in the form of my Deck master: Chocolate Magician Girl!" Emma said, winking and making a sideways V-shape in front of her closed eye. "Now then, I know the proper term is lady's first, but I'm feeling generous today. You can have the first move.
"You're gonna regret that," Joey told her. "Here we go!" He drew the top card of his deck and looked at his hand. Nodding, he stated. "I'm playin' Gearfried the Iron Knight in attack mode!"
The armor clad, equip-spell immune knight appeared on the battlefield at 1800 attack points strong.
"Next, I'm playing one card face-down on the field and ending my turn."
The face down card hologram appeared.
"My turn," Emma said, drawing. Perfect. "My first monster of this duel shall be the ever popular Dark Elf!"
A tan, skinned, raven haired elf in a green cloak appeared. She had 2000 attack points to her name.
"What?!" Joey gasped. "2000 attack points!"
"That's right," Emma said, pointing at Joey, "And at the cost of 1000, she can attack. Go! Dark Elf! Destroy Joey's Gearfried! Magic Cannon!"
Emma's life points fell to 3000 as several reddish violet bolts of magical energy were fired by Dark Elf and completely blasted Joey's Gearfried to bits, reducing Joey's life points to 3800.
"Better luck next time, Joey," Emma taunted with a smirk.
"Twisted psycho. I'll show you!" Joey declared, shaking a fist at her.
"You can certainly try. I play two cards face-down and end my turn."
The appropriate holograms appeared as Joey placed his index and middle finger on top of his deck. "All right, here we go!"
Joey briefly looked at his hand, scratching his head. Darn. I don't have any monsters that can send that Dark Elf back to its magical pixie graveyard.
"Perhaps I can be of assistance," spoke Joey's Deckmaster Flame Swordsman.
Awesome, he talks! Joey exclaimed internally.
"If you play a warrior monster, I can raise its attack in exchange for my own."
"You know, that sounds like a killer plan," Joey stated. "I'm summoning Axe Raider in attack mode!" he shouted, playing the axe wielding warrior on his side of the field. "Then, I'm gonna use my deck master's special ability to raise Axe Raider's attack even with your Dark Elf.
Flame Swordsman's attack was reduced to 1500 and Axe Raider's increased to 2000.
"And then, I'm gonna increase Axe Raider's attack points further by giving him a second weapon. Here comes Legendary Sword!"
Axe Raider crossed both weapons across his body and then swung them out, letting out a battle cry. "And now, go Axe Raider! Attack!"
Emma laughed condescendingly. "I activate my deck master special ability: Bait and Switch! By discarding 1 spellcaster type monster from my hand, I can special summon any spellcaster monster in my graveyard, including the monster card I just discarded," Emma said, discarding a card, only to immediately eject it from the graveyard and hold it up with a smirk. "Say hello to Kiwi Magician Girl!" A lavender haired, teal clad magician girl hit the field with a confident smirk and her knuckles on her hips. She had 1800 attack points and 1200 defense points.
"I thought programming was all about math. You're about to lose more life points than if you hadn't summoned you fruity magician to the field."
"Ah, but any good magician knows to save the best trick for last. For you see, when an attack is redirected by my deck master's special ability, your monster loses half of its current attack points permanently!"
"Aw no!" Joey exclaimed, watching in dismay as Axe Raider's attack points fell to 1150.
"Kiwi Magician Girl! Kiwi Gale Blast!"
Kiwi Magician Girl summoned winds that were accented with giant sized kiwis, the fruity smell of which destroyed Axe Raider and reduced Joey's life points to 3150.
Emma laughed. "And just so you know, Kiwi Magician Girl has a special ability of her own. My spellcasters can't be targeted by card effects or targeted by them while she's on the field, so if you're planning on a Mirror Force or something to save you, you may as well surrender now!"
"Sorry, but surrendering ain't an option for me! I'm activating the spell card scapegoat and ending my turn!"
"Ha! As if you could even do anything else. My draw."
Emma drew the top card of her deck. "I summon to the field, Sage of Silence!" A pink clad, scepter wielding, purple haired, fair skinned, caped, hat wielding cleric hit the battlefield with 1400 attack points and 1000 defense points. "And now, all my monsters shall attack!"
One by one, Kiwi Magician Girl, Dark Elf, and Sage of Silence destroyed Joey's scapegoats, leaving him with only one, though Emma's life points fell to 2000 in order to let Dark Elf attack.
"And since Sage of Silence destroyed a monster this turn, that means you can't play any spell cards on your turn."
"Ah c'mon!" Joey exclaimed.
"If you want to quit, that's fine, but that just means I get your body."
"Oh yeah? Well you can forget it! It's my turn now and I ain't never gonna give up!"
Joey drew the top card of his deck. He then looked at his hand, sweat dripping down the side of his face. My scapegoats got sheared and she's got three monsters on the field. What do I do? No matter what monster I play, I'm toast cause even if I boost it, it's just gonna get its attack points cut in half by one of Emma's monsters.
Frustrated, Joey played a monster face-down and another card face-down. "That's all I'm going to do this turn."
"Of course it is," Emma chuckled. "My turn." She drew the top card of her deck. "And now, I'll seal your fate with this: Magician's Valkyria!" A knockoff lookalike to the Dark Magician girl appeared, but wearing a green outfit instead of a blue one.
"Uh, that's Dark Magician Girl," Joey said. "You shouldn't be able to play that without sacrificing a monster."
"No! It's completely different! This is Magician's Valkyria! See, her crooked staff is even different!"
The monster showed off its weapon to Joey, frowning at him.
"Jeez, okay, whatever. You going to attack or something, or what?"
"But of course, but not before I discard another Kiwi Magician from my hand, increasing my current Kiwi Magician's attack points by 300. "And now, the fun begins. I attack your Scapegoat with Sage of Silence!"
"I don't think so! I activate Silver Dollar!" Joey declared. "This trap card protects one of my monsters with less than 1000 attack points from a single battle."
"Ha! With three more attacks to weather that won't help you. Go! Magician's Valkyria!"
The 1600 attack point and 1800 defense point spellcaster zoomed towards Joey's scapegoat and blasted it with an magical ball of energy that resembled a small self-contained nebula.
"And now, Dark Elf will destroy your face-down monster."
A blue-skinned old man, carrying a shephard's staff and with a massive turtle shell on his back appeared. He had 1500 defense points, but he was completely obliterated as Emma's life points fell to 1000.
"And now, Kiwi Magician attacks directly!"
Joey got blasted by fruit centered wind, knocking him over and hitting him hard, bringing his life points all the way down to 1050, only 50 more than Emma's self-inflicted damage.
"Ha! Tied that up pretty quickly!" She exclaimed, smirking smugly. "Now, I shall place one card face-down on the battlefield and end my turn."
The hologram appeared and now Emma had 3 cards face-down on the field, putting Joey in quite the bind.
As she ended her turn, before Joey could draw his card and start his, they felt the ground tremble as suddenly an elevator burst up through the ground and from out of it stepped one Celestia Ludenburg.
"Oh, tropical," she said, noticing her surroundings before the duel blatantly in front of her. "Oh, hello Joey? Having fun."
"Frenchy! Where'd you come from?"
Celeste looked around like Joey was asking a trick question and then just said. "Um, through that door I suppose."
Joey sighed. The obvious answer was not amusing.
Celeste chuckled. "I just finished defeating a corrupt lawyer that tried to out gamble me." She tented her fingers and gave a deceptively evil smile. "I showed him why I am superior."
"So, Johnson has been defeated," Emma said.
It was only now that Celeste took stock of the situation. She chortled. "My, my, my, Joey, you look dreadfully outgunned. I hope you do not lose. Good servitude of your kind is hard to come by."
"First of all, I ain't your servant!" Joey exclaimed indignantly, pointing rudely at Celeste. "Second of all," he gave a self-assured smirk and a thumb's up. "Don't sweat the details, Frenchy. I got this."
"Oh?" Celeste asked, intrigued. "This should be entertaining then. I'm most interested in seeing how you'll come back from this."
Celeste took her position off to the side and behind Joey so that she couldn't see his hand, but to make it clear which side of the battlefield she was cheering for…in a manner of speaking. "So, who is she?"
"Some cheap broad that almost set Kaiba on fire because she cut corners in her programming," Joey stated.
"It was to make money!" Emma shouted. "So what if he and Mokuba were in a self-contained room when the duel terminal caught fire!"
"My, my, that does sound rather hazardous. And while I'm all for Kaiba getting burned for his foul attitude," Celeste gave her deceptively sweet smile, "You deserve every bit of karma that brought you here."
"Both of you can go right to hell!" Emma shouted.
"Oh, I do here it's quite lovely this time of year," Celeste said, unfazed by the comment. "Oh, but I wouldn't want to steal the show." She flashed her sweet smile. "As you were, Joey."
Joey nodded. "Awright! Here goes!" Joey exclaimed, putting his hand on top of his deck. Let's go heart of the cards. I just need a normal monster. Any one will do!
Putting his faith in his deck, the outcome of the duel all depended on Joey's next draw. Gasping as he drew, Joey ripped the card out of the deck holder and flipped it around, finding Tiger Axe resting in his hand. "Aw, yeah! That's what I'm talking about! Jackpot!"
Emma looked confused. No way could Joey turn this around.
"I activate the spell card, Polymerization! And by fusing the normal monsters in my hand, Tiger Axe and Masaki the Legendary Swordsman, I can bring out one of my new favorite monsters! Say hello to First of the Dragons!"
The dark, long, blue dragon appeared on the battlefield with a loud roar.
Emma could only stare up in awe at the mighty dragon.
"And it looks to me like you're a few life points too short to withstand this next blow."
"Read the rules, brat. Fusion monsters can't attack on the turn their summoned."
However, the spirit of the monster she destroyed last turn suddenly appeared next to First of the Dragons as a ghost.
"What?"
"Last turn you destroyed a neat little monster called Fusion Hermit. And when he's the graveyard when I fuse a monster, I can remove him from the game to let that Fusion Monster attack when its summoned."
"But that means…you were planning this since last turn?"
Celeste chuckled sophisticatedly. "I believe this is what they call in laymen's terms: getting played."
"Silence!" Emma bellowed.
"Why? It's funny," Celeste continued to chuckle. Emma just ignored her.
"So now, First of the Dragons, take out that Sage of Silence and end this duel!" Joey shouted.
"Not quite, thanks to Magician's Valkyria's special ability, you can only target her! And don't forget my deck master special ability," Emma chuckled.
"Yeah? Well now it's your turn to read the rules," Joey said. "First of the Dragons is a special type of fusion monster that can't be affected by special abilities and can only be destroyed by monsters without 'em. So this duel's over!"
"Then there's always this!" Emma said, activating one of her trap cards. "I activate Gift of the Mystical Elf! This gives me 300 life points for every monster on the field and I count five."
Emma's life points went up to 2500, but First of the Dragons obliterated her Magician's Valkyria with its powerful breath attack, reducing Emma's life points all the way down to 1400.
Joey sighed with relief and gave Emma a vigorous look. He was making progress, but he was far from out of the woods yet, or off the island in this case. He had no cards in his hand and only one card face-down. Everything hinged on this next turn if he would keep this advantage or if he would tumble into despair.
Emma, irritated, drew the top card of her deck. "So only monsters without special abilities can destroy First of the Dragons? Fine by me. It's time I retire my Dark Elf and replace it with my favorite, dashing hero of a monster: Trance the Magic Swordsman!"
A gallant, literal knight in shining armor appeared in place of Dark Elf. He winked at Emma and she swooned.
"Gross," Joey commented.
"Uh, Joey," Celeste indicated that Joey should pay more attention to the monster's attack stat than its behavior."
"What?" Joey asked, only to get a good look. "Say wha…? 2600 attack points?!" It was only 100 less than First of the Dragons and Joey had a sinking feeling Emma was about to make that not matter in a moment.
Much like many of Joey's gut feelings, this was also right. "I activate the spell card Mage Power!" Emma declared, equipping it to Trance the Magic Swordsman. "This equip-type spell card increases my monster's attack points by 500 for every spell and trap card on my side of the field. That's 1500 attack points in total."
Trance's body was encased in a powerful, green aura as its attack points surged to 4100.
Celeste's jaw went slack. In this situation, Joey was completely done for. Without realizing she was doing it, Celeste shouted, "Joey, no!"
"Trance, attack and end this duel!"
First of the Dragons was cut in half and Joey took the residual shockwave from the beam of the sword stroke and it seemed to wipe out the rest of his life points…except it didn't.
As the dust cleared, a trap card was face-up: Nutrient Z.
"Gotta get up pretty early in the morning to take me out with a surprise beating like that," Joey said as his life points reallocated themselves to 3650.
Celeste let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. "Joey, you incompetent fool! If you have a plan tell me next time!"
"Huh? What're ya getting' all bent outta shape for, Frenchy?"
"I…nothing…" Celeste said, turning her head away and using her ringlet attachments to hide her blushing cheeks. "Nothing at all."
"I hate to interrupt…actually I really don't. Sage of Silence, Kiwi Magician Girl, attack him directly!"
Joey got blasted onto his backside by Emma's two magician's and Celeste stood there and watched with her head turned to one side, expression disinterested, pretending not to care.
As a result of the direct attacks, Joey's attack points dropped all the way back down to 450, making his life point game from Nutrient Z almost moot. Emma could only laugh.
"Once this all over, I'll have your body and your fame and fortune from Duelist Kingdom. Enjoy the front row seat you have there, princess," Emma said, mocking Celeste. "Because I'm about to wipe out the last of your boyfriend's life points."
Celeste looked at Emma crossly. "Then you've made no less than two mistakes. First of all, Joey is not my boyfriend. And second, he is not going to lose, right Joey?"
Joey blinked. For all the time he had known him, Celeste had never rightfully given him her support without any back sass. "C-Celeste?" he stuttered, wondering if this was the real thing and not some poorly created clone of some variety.
"Go on," she said, arms folded, speaking with her familiarly sharp tongue. "Show her what all this Heart of the Cards business is all about. I expect no less from someone who could defeat me." She then chuckled and smirked. "Or maybe it's always been your secret wish to wander cyberspace forever."
Ah. There was the usual sassy remark from Celeste that Joey had come to know and frustratingly tolerate. "Very funny," Joey said sarcastically and then gave Emma his toughest look. "I'm not giving up, cause losing ain't in my dictionary! I draw!"
Joey… Celeste thought. Though she'd given Joey the pep talk he needed, Celeste knew that words were not enough. Wincing, she knew that everything else was in fate's hands now.
Joey pulled the top card from his deck and the card he drew was the gamble he needed to turn it all around. "All right! Here we go!" Joey declared. "I'm activating my spell card: Roll of Fate!"
Celeste, once again, let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding until just now. Let's just hope he gets close a full hand. She then realized what she thought. Wait! Why the hell do I care? She slapped her cheeks. It's not as if I like him or anything! Pull yourself together, Celeste! You're a cold-hearted gambler, not a damsel looking for her white prince! She eyed Joey suspiciously. And even as princes go, Joey is excruciatingly a dullard.
Yet, somehow, part of Celeste remained unconvinced of her own thoughts.
As for Joey, fate it seemed was being generous that day. He rolled a six, putting six cards in his hand at the cost of six cards going to the graveyard. One of the cards in his hand was Monster Reborn and, thanks to Roll of Fate, he had discarded a monster he needed to bring back to the field now!
"I activate Monster Reborn, and with it, I'm bringing back my super rare, ultra best pal! Say hello to Red Eyes Black Dragon!"
Joey's rarest card took to the field with a fearsome battle cry.
Celeste could only let a small smirk fly across her lips. I see, so in this virtual world he is willing to use it. He truly is only letting Yugi borrow it to beat Marik. Celeste knew better than anyone that Joey wasn't as good as his Red-Eyes, yet somehow seeing Joey and Red Eyes cooperating felt…oddly satisfying.
Of course, her moment of elation was ruined by Emma's irritating voice. "Sentimentalism won't win you duels, kid. Check the numbers."
"I am checkin' the numbers," Joey said. "And I got something to change those numbers. Here's Giant Trunade!"
Emma gasped as a hurricane blasted all of her cards back to her hand.
"Fool, I will beat you next turn with the same cards and you can't wipe Trance out."
"Don't be so sure," Joey said. "I summon the warrior type monster Kanan the Swordmistress!"
The 1400 attack and defense point, green clad warrior took to the battlefield, standing next to Red-Eyes. "And now, I'm giving her all of Flame Swordsman's attack points, boosting her strength all the way to 2900. That gives me enough power to take out Trance and blast another one of yer monsters ta be extra crispy! And since you don't have any spellcasters to discard from your hand, you can't activate your deck master's special ability, so you're wide open! Now, go! Red-Eyes! Inferno Fire Blast! Take out Kiwi Magician Girl!"
Emma's monster was incinerated as her life points fell from 1400 to 800.
"And next, Kanan will destroy trance. Precision Sword Slash!"
Kanan rushed Trance, dodging his initial counter attack with a ball of light. She swung her sword and he swung his back. He parried her sword swing, but she was quick to counterattack and pierced through his guard, stabbing his leg before piercing her blade straight through his throat, destroying him.
"Well that seemed rather gruesome, and highly unsuitable for family entertainment," Celeste commented.
"No one asked you!" Emma exclaimed. Celeste only chuckled in response.
The score was now 500 to 450. Even if Joey had taken the lead by destroying Sage of Silence, leaving Emma with 100 life points, Emma still had 3 spell and trap cards in her hand. If she powered up Kiwi Magician girl with them, it would bring its total attack points to 3300, making it powerful enough to obliterate Red-Eyes and end the duel. However, though Joey was losing, even if Emma performed that same feat with Sage of Silence, its attack points would only be 2900. Either way he was screwed, but at least it was less attack points to worry about he figured. Besides, he still had a strategy in mind and now Emma's monsters were vulnerable to card effects without Kiwi Magician Girl on the field.
"Excellent turn around, Joey. I knew you could do it," Celeste chuckled, though she was half lying.
"Grrrr, this duel...isn't over yet," Emma growled.
"You're right, so I'm gonna play two cards face-down and end my turn," Joey told her.
Emma drew the top card of her deck. "I activate the spell card Warrior Elimination!
Crosshairs appeared on Kanan.
"Aw, no!" Joey exclaimed.
"Oh, yes!" Emma said, grinning evilly. "I'm afraid your monster has just been," her smile grew so wide she was practically the Cheshire cat, "assassinated."
A sniper shot rang out and a bright flash illuminated the battlefield and Kanan crumpled to the ground, dead, shattering into fragments as she went to the graveyard, leaving Joey with only Red Eyes.
"Next! I shall equip my Sage of Silence with the Mage Power you returned to my hand last turn!" Sage of Silence now obtained the green aura Trance had previously had, bringing its attack up to 1900. "And next, I'll summon Apple Magician Girl!" A red clad, blue haired magician with 1200 attack points appeared on Emma's side of the field. "And next, I'll play the other card in my hand face-down, allowing Sage of Silence to become even with Red-Eyes, destroying both!"
Red-Eyes and Sage of Silence launched blasts of energy at each other. Red-Eyes' infernal flames mixed with Sage of Silence's amplified magical energy beam. Both attacks exploded and the shockwaves destroyed both monsters, leaving Joey wide open.
"Apple Magician Girl! Attack Joey directly and end this duel!" Emma shouted.
"Sorry, but this ain't over!" Joey exclaimed, "I activate my face-down card: Counter Gate!" The trap card depicting a dragon coming through a gate and blocking a bare-handed knight was flipped face-up. "This lets me draw one card and negate your attack. And if it's a monster, I can summon it."
Joey drew the top card of his deck. Unfortunately, it wasn't a monster, but Emma's turn was over. And now, it was his turn once more. He drew the top card of his deck one more time and looked at his hand. He had nothing to summon and Emma still had a monster capable of wiping out his life points on the field.
Joey sighed. I guess I've got no choice. "I'm bringing Flame Swordsman from the deck master zone to the field!"
Celeste was flabbergasted. "Joey! Are you daft?!"
Emma nearly busted a gut laughing. "I think he's finally lost his mind."
"No!" Joey shot back indignantly. "I know exactly what I'm doing cause I'm playin' this Shield and Sword!" He activated one of his favorite magic cards. "This flips the attack and defenses of all monsters in play until the end of this turn."
"What? No!" Emma shouted watching as Flame Swordsman now had 1600 attack points and Apple Magician Girl only had a measly 800.
"Now that our monsters have their attack and defense points flipped, I can go on the offensive and win da duel! Go, Flame Swordsman! Flaming Sword of Battle!"
Flame Swordsman charged, sword poised to strike.
"Sorry, but I'm not done just yet!" Emma shouted. "I activate my last face-down card: Magical Hats, concealing my Apple Magician Girl!"
Joey's attack only cut straight through an empty hat, setting it ablaze and destroying it.
"Grrrrrrn, damn hats," Joey grumbled. It was now Emma's turn and because of that, Shield and Sword wore off and Flame Swordsman was vulnerable to getting destroyed with nary an attack point to its name.
"This is why I asked if you were daft," Celeste snapped. "You're going to lose the duel because you're an idiot."
"Frenchy," Joey said calmly without turning to look at her. "When I want your opinion, I'll ask for it."
Celeste was left speechless. Joey had never taken that kind of tone with her before, nor dismissed her so casually like that. She couldn't help, but smile. Even when she thought she had this idiot all figured out, he found new ways to surprise her. She now just stood there, smirking in silence.
Emma drew the top card of her deck and then revealed Apple Magician Girl since it was no longer in danger, dismissing Magical Hats. "Apple Magician Girl, attack!" Emma declared.
"Kunai with Chain!" Joey shouted, equipping the trap card to Flame Swordsman, switching Apple Magician Girl to defense mode. "All right, gotcha!"
"Tch, that won't save you for long!" Emma shouted. "Don't act like you've won."
"Aww, what's the matter, Fruitcake? You mad cause I made a saving play yet again. Joey Wheeler ain't nobody's fool. Now watch me turn this whole duel around. I draw!"
Joey drew the top card of his deck and nodded. "I'm summoning Rocket Warrior to the field!"
Rocket Warrior appeared with its weapons out and ready.
"And since Flame Swordsman now has more attack points to shave off, I'm giving 200 of 'em to Rocket Warrior so now when it attacks Apple Magician Girl, the duel will be over."
Rocket Warrior gained 200 more attack points, giving it a total of 1700. "Rocket Warrior, transform to Invincible Mode! Invincible Attack!"
Rocket Warrior condensed into a rocket and slammed towards Apple Magician Girl.
Emma smirked cruelly and then laughed. "Bait and Switch!" she shouted, discarding the only card in her hand to the graveyard. "And the spellcaster I'm bringing back," Emma declared, barely able to contain her laughter, "Is my knight in shining armor, Trance the Magic Swordsman!"
The might spellsword appeared and repelled Rocket Warrior's attack, sending it careening back towards Joey where it uncompacted itself and fell to 850 attack points. Since it was invincible mode when it attacked, it wasn't destroyed.
"You've had a good run, Joey, but I'm afraid it's finally time to call it quits. This duel is finally over."
Joey shook his head. "Well then, if you're so sure, you won't mind if I play one card face-down and end my turn then, do ya?" Joey asked.
Emma chuckled. "Not at all. I draw!" Emma drew the top card of her deck.
"It doesn't matter what I do!" She exclaimed with a manic grin. "Your luck has run out! Go, my knight in shining armor, destroy Joey's Flame Swordsman with your majestic magic sword! Destroy his deck master and his life points!"
Trance held up his sword with both hands and rushed Flame Swordsman to impale it, but this would be Emma's fatal error.
"Go! Magical Arm Chain!" Joey shouted.
"Magical what now?" Emma blinked.
She watched as the arm chain grabbed Emma's still chain bound Apple Magician Girl and dragged it into the path of Trance the Magic Swordsman.
"What?!" She shouted.
"What? Did you think you were the only one with magic tricks up yer sleeve?" Joey asked. "This duel's over and it's gonna be," he pointed to Emma definitively, "By your own hand!"
No! There's nothing I can do! Emma declared, watching as Trance began to bring down his sword. No! No! No! No! No! No! "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Trance cleaved her Apple Magician Girl in half as Emma sunk to her knees in defeat, her life points depleted.
"There, it's as I said," Celeste said. "You lose. Quite poetic, if I may say so myself. You lost because of your own greed and reckless abandon. If you concentrated more on playing things safe instead of always going for the path of least resistance to gain an advantage, then maybe you may not have only won the duel, but you may have never ended up stuck here in the first place."
"What the hell are you blathering about?" Emma shouted, glaring while sitting on her knees. She pointed at Joey. "That moron is just as reckless."
"There's a difference," Celeste said, approaching Emma. "Joey acts reckless because he either has his back to the wall," she smirked and chuckled, "Or simply because he doesn't know any better."
"Hey!" Joey barked, offended.
Celeste gave Emma a condescending look. "You on the other hand, even when you have options, you squander them. That is why you lost. Now be off with you."
Emma screamed as her mind was digitized and she vanished. Noah, observing all of this, could only slump in his chair, feeling bored and growing impatient with the situation.
However, his boredom would soon be curbed. Not only was Hajime slowly wandering into the range of the inside man the Steering Committee had deployed on their behalf, but, somewhere in cyber space, two new IDs were being linked to Noah's virtual world.
In the vast void of nothingness, a static TV screen appeared. "Are you ready big sis?" A cute, childish voice asked from it.
The wireframe outlining of a small, squirrel sized figure began to take shape. Then, it was given color, though only black and white with a dash of red. It looked at itself. "My, my, my," it said with the most high-pitched, annoying voice it could be programmed with. "Giving me your specialized, personally designed avatar? To what do I owe the occasion?"
"Despair," the childish voice answered. "You got all the test data from Emma, right?"
The small figure laughed. "I knew that useless imbecile from your company would be good for something. And yup, I'm all integrated for the deck master system and I'm ready to start my adventure."
"Be careful big sis. If you lose a duel, your avatar will be de-synchronized, and there's no telling how long it'll be before Noah notices I've hacked his little game."
"Don't you worry about that," the figure laughed as piercing red eyes appeared behind it in the shadows. "I'm not looking to make a cannonball, only a teeny tiny splash. As long as no one knows who we are and we leave no trace, then it's fine. Just point me in the direction of Seto Kaiba and that's all I'll need," the figure giggled.
"You got it," the childish voice replied.
The figure held up its sharp claws. "I hope you're ready Seto Kaiba. I may have been knocked out of the Battle City tournament, but I'm back and bearter than ever. A new challenger approaches." The avatar, with its sole, piercing red eye and half, devilishly wide grin, held up its equally sharp claws. "Monokuma appears!"
(A/N: Uh oh. I don't remember this being part of the script. Welp, at least she's only trying to duel Kaiba. He can win…easily…I think. Kaiba don't lose to her! But before we can get to that duel, we will first be getting to Hajime's duel. And the next two chapters that follow will shape not only this arc, but the rest of Battle City in various ways, both large and small. But until next time, as always, from all of me, to all of you, let your hearts stay human, and your wrath draconic. Ja ne!)
Original cards and what they do:
Fusion Hermit: level 4, water attribute spellcaster ATK 400 / DEF: 1500. If you fusion summon a monster while this card is in your graveyard, you can banish this card from your graveyard, that monster can attack this turn.