(A/N: Hi, everyone! You may have noticed that this story has artwork now for its cover image, brought to you by deviantART's Starcoookies. She is now Dueling Trigger Finger's official fan artist and she's becoming a great friend too. As such, DTF is now my primary project. I'll still push out chapters of Fairy Without Wings every now and again, but it's going to be a slow grind. With no job, I need to prioritize getting the most fans possible so that I have a platform to self-publish my first-ever novel. If you guys enjoy my writing, I encourage you to buy a copy. I'm intending to go forward with e-books on Amazon and Itunes too. I'll inform you all of the title and where you can get a copy—even links on my profile page if I'm allowed. Doubt I'll be doing audio books. I have a shitty microphone and no one wants to hear my voice trying to sound like multiple different female characters the book has to offer XD. Right then, that's enough about my personal life. Who's ready for a good-old fashioned, rip-snorting TAG TEAAAAAAAAAM!)
Backs to the door, Mai and Joey stood side by side, preparing to face off against Valon and Natsumi, backs to the elevator.
"All right, who wants to start things off then?" Valon asked with a wry smirk.
"Let me," Mai said, drawing the top card of her deck. "I draw!" She looked at her hand. "I summon, Cyber Harpie!"
With a cry, Mai's 1800 attack point monster hit the field, decked out in its illustrious, purple cyber armor.
"And next I'll activate this! Double Summon!" Mai shouted. "This allows me to play Harpie Lady Aero!" May played a standard Harpie Lady with 1300 attack and 1400 defense, but the design was different. Instead of Harpie Lady's typical blue tank top and bluish skin, this one had a complete purple latex suit and fairer skin.
"Huh? It looks just like a normal harpie, what gives?" Tristan wondered, scratching his head.
"Oh yeah, the new expansion came out with all sorts of new cards, like the new Harpie trio," Yugi said, tapping his fist into his palm.
"New trio?"
Mai chuckled, answering Téa's question. "I guess you can say the Harpie Ladies got an upgrade and this one boosts the attack points of all wind monsters by 300 points, including itself."
Cyber Harpie's attack points shot up to 2100 and Harpy Lady Aero reached 1600. Both retained their original defense points.
"Next, I'm setting a card," Mai said, carefully placing a trap face-down in the proper slot. She had two cards remaining in her hand. "My turn's over. And I say play goes to the left. Let's see what you've got, darling."
"Huh? Why can't I go?" Joey asked, pointing to himself. He was pretty miffed Mai didn't trust him to bounce off her play.
"Joey, I've been at this game a lot longer than you have," Mai said, crossing her hands over her forearms. "I may come second to you in heart, but I know keen strategy and pro-circuit tips."
"I don't really get it," Joey said, scratching his head. "But…I trust you, Mai. I know you'd never let me down."
Mai smiled.
"Ugh, gag me," Natsumi said as she drew the top card of her deck. "I draw!"
"Any idea what Mai's plan is, Yugi?" Téa asked.
Junko herself was even stumped. Even if she never intended to vocalize any knowledge she had, she looked at the situation and was uncertain why Mai wouldn't let her partner, Joey, go next. That seemed like the most rational decision, even if no players could attack until it was Mai's turn again.
Much to Junko's surprise, and delight, Yugi nodded. "Yeah, I think I get what she's up to. Just watch."
Now Junko's eyes were glued on the duel. Much as she took despair in admitting it, she was not perfect at duel monsters. It was a game she loved because it was a great unknown. New content every so often kept the game from getting boring. Strategies that worked in the last expansion might not work so well anymore and she herself was behind the learning curve. Initially, she never thought she'd pick up the game, but, and she would never admit it until the moment was right, Yugi inspired her.
Such wonderous hope, Junko thought, licking her tongue across her teeth, lips closed. I can't wait to utterly destroy it.
"M-my move!" Natsumi exclaimed. "I'm setting a monster!" She declared, slapping the monster in face-down defense position. "I'm also setting one card face-down!" The appropriate hologram appeared. "I'm completing my turn."
"Bad hand, darling?" Mai asked.
"Shut up," Natsumi said, keeping a steeled poker face.
"Ladies please, you can argue all you want, but now it's time for the men to brawl!" Valon exclaimed. "And now, it's time. I activate the Seal of Orichalcos!" Valon shouted as he and Natsumi obtained the emblems on their foreheads, their irises gaining a tint of red to them. The infamous seal also sealed Joey, Mai, Natsumi and Valon inside.
"Oh, that's great!" Tristan exclaimed sarcastically. "Now whoever loses this duel loses their soul too!"
"Oh as if that's some grandiose twist that needed to be announced," Junko stated. "Was never a question of if, only when." This'll be a chance to get some good data on tag dueling playstyles. Not the best of subjects to study from, but it'll do for now.
"So that's the Seal of Orichalcos," Yugi said. He'd only heard it described by his friends. He'd never seen it before himself.
"I wonder if this is how Ibuki felt," Joey said, the pace of his heart quickening.
"Don't get psyched out before it's even your turn, Joey. I'm counting on you!" Mai exclaimed.
Joey nodded firmly.
"Heh, look at you two so quick to back each other up. Natsumi and I aren't so weak that we need to rely on each other, but a little aid never goes too far. Now then, stand back! Cause I play Jet Gauntlet!" Valon got a spiffy looking armored arm on his left arm.
"What's with the spacesuit piece?" Joey asked. "It doesn't even have any attack points without the Seal of Orichalcos."
"Oh yeah, then why don't you attack it?" Valon asked. "It'd make my day, Wheeler."
"He's baiting you, Joey. Don't fall for it!" Mai shouted.
"Awww, gonna let a bird tell ya what ta do?" Valon asked.
"Hey! I respect Mai. Keep your comments to yourself, artichoke head!" Joey shouted.
"Excuse you?" Valon asked.
Junko started giggling. Oh, she had to admit, that was a killer insult.
Valon growled. "I'm settin' two cards face-down!" He exclaimed. "And next, I activate Graceful Charity! Now, I get to draw 3 cards from my deck, as long as I discard two to the graveyard." Valon drew the three and then took only about 15 seconds to know which two to discard. "All right, Wheeler. Your move!"
"Damn right it is! Here we go!" Joey drew the top card of his deck. He looked at his opening hand, scanning it for the optimal play. "I play Blue Flame Swordsman! In attack mode!" Joey shouted as a swordsman carrying a hefty, blue, fiery greatsword appeared. It had 1800 attack points and 1600 defense points.
"Right into my trap!" Natsumi exclaimed.
"A trap already?" Joey exclaimed, looking panicked.
"I activate this!" Natsumi exclaimed, pressing a button as her trap card flipped face-up. "Behold Automatic Laser!" She revealed an Iron Core of Koa'Ki Meiru in her hand. "By showing off the power of one of my iron cores, I can automatically blast to bits any monster summoned with greater than 1000 attack points. "Bye-bye, Blue Flame Swordsman!"
A rig with a mining laser appeared that charged up and zapped straight through Blue Flame Swordsman, destroying it.
"Nice shot," Joey said. "Unfortunately, when Blue Flame Swordsman gets destroyed, he brings the original Flame Swordsman right to the field!" Joey exclaimed as the fiery, red clad Flame Swordsman took to the field.
"Hmph, so what?" Natsumi asked, pouting, knuckles on her hip. "I know that. Better now than later."
It took Yugi a few minutes to connect the dots. "Oh! I get it!"
"You…do?" Téa asked.
"Yeah, Natsumi was worried about Blue Flame Swordsman's other ability where it can drain its own attack points to power up other monsters. She must really need her face-down monster and is worried about Mai destroying it."
"The peanut gallery can be quiet!" Natsumi shouted.
Yugi gulped and took a step back.
"Seriously, Yugi, keep the backseat dueling out of this. Joey and I can handle ourselves."
"Y-yeah," Yugi said, scratching his cheek.
"It's okay, Yugi. You can tell me all the things you're thinking!" Junko exclaimed, hugging his arm, boobs pushing into his shoulder. Yugi blushed hard. Téa fumed a little, but kept it within moderation.
"You okay, Joey?" Mai asked.
"I'll be fine," Joey responded. "Minor setback." He grabbed two cards from his hand. "I'm setting two cards face-down and ending my turn," Joey said as the proper holograms appeared. "Letterip, Mai! It's all on you!"
"Right!" Mai shouted as she drew the top card of her deck. "I draw!" She looked at her hand. Unfortunately, she didn't have a monster worth summoning at the moment. However, as she looked at the trap she drew…
A little field presence never hurt anyone. "I set one card face-down," she said as the card she played created a face-down backrow hologram. "Next, it's time for me to attack! And I attack with Cyber Harpie! Scratch Slash!"
However, Natsumi smirked. "Right for the old bait and switch!" she shouted. Her monster turned out to be a chrome dipped robotic creature with jet turbines for kneecaps. However, the striking thing was that it had 2200 defense points, 100 more than Mai's Cyber Harpie.
Shocked faces went all around the room, Valon and Junko being notable exceptions. Valon was happy for Natsumi's trickery and Junko always enjoyed any form of despair of any party, including herself, being wrong about something.
"This is gonna hurt," Tristan said, gritting his teeth for impact.
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but that deformed jet is scrap metal!" Joey's voice pierced the lobby as he flipped a trap card of his face-up. "Go! Metalmorph!"
Mai sighed with a smile, To think I'd have a duel saved twice by the same card. Cyber Harpie transformed with a decked out suit of armor, becoming practically Cyborg Harpie in the process. With 2400 base attack, plus the 850 it had from Natsumi's monster, it had more than enough to wipe it out, shattering it to dust.
"Hell yeah! She's wide open, Mai!" Joey shouted. "Go for it!"
"Harpy Lady Aero! Attack! Air Boosted Scratch Slash!"
With its mighty talon, Harpy Lady Aero raked its nails across Natsumi's chest, actually tearing her shirt and exposing part of her rip cage beneath her bust a little.
Natsumi covered her exposed skin and glared as her life points fell to 2,400. First Blood had gone to team Joey and Mai.
"Your move, hon," Mai winked at Natsumi. "Make it count."
"You asked for it!" Natsumi shouted as she drew the top card of her deck. She smirked when she saw what was in her hand. "I hope I'm about to trigger some PTSD, cause here comes one of the monsters I took out poor widdle Ibuki with! Come on out!" Natsumi shouted as she slapped a card on the duel disk. "Koa'ki Meiru Bergzak!"
Shouting angrily behind its dual colored mask, Bergzak made its appearance on the field with piercing red eyes and two oversized swords. Its base 2,000 attack points were massive and they only got stronger with help from the Seal of Orichalcos, bringing it all the way up to 2,500.
"Bergzak! Attack Mai's Cyber Harpie now!"
"Oh no! Mai!" Joey exclaimed.
However, Mai was hardly worried. "Heh, amateur! I activate my face-down card, Mirror Wall!"
Mai's infamous Mirror Wall appeared and blocked off Mai's monsters. It looked like Bergzak was going to attack itself.
However, Valon was quick on the draw. "Sorry, Mai, but we ain't paying for that wall. You are! I activate Trap Jammer!" Valon revealed his face-down card as the hologram for Mai's Mirror Wall glitched out and then shattered, disappearing in an instant.
"Mai!" Joey cried out in alarm.
Natsumi grinned same as she imagined Bergzak might if she could see his face, his sword hitting home and destroying Mai's Cyber Harpie, sending it to the graveyard. Mai's life points fell to 3900, but Bergzak wasn't done. Eyes flashing brighter than normal for a moment, it pivoted around and brought its other sword down onto Harpy Lady Aero's back, destroying it. Mai's life points fell all the way to 3,000 from the resulting attack.
"I'm setting two cards face-down onto the field," Natsumi said as Bergzak backed up to her side of the battlefield. "And since I control a Koa'ki Meiru monster, I must send an Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru from my hand to the graveyard. Now, my turn ends."
"Outgunned and outmuscled," Valon chuckled. "Ain't it great?"
Mai sneered. She was completely exposed. If Valon decided to hit her with something hard, she only had one other face-down to protect herself and it wasn't anything she could use with the battlefield in its current state.
"My move then," Valon said. "And don't think I've forgotten about you, Wheeler. First, I summon Active Guard!" Valon gained chest armor in similar design to his Jet Gaunlet. It had 0 attack points and 2500 defense points. "And next, I attack with my Jet Gauntlet to Wheeler's Flame Swordsman!"
"Say what now?"
"Have a taste of this, Wheeler!" Valon shouted and slammed his fist squarely into Flame Swordsman's chest. Both the armored arm and Flame Swordsman were destroyed, leaving Valon with just his chest armor to show for it.
"No! My Swordsman!" Joey shouted, left with even less. "What the hell was that?"
Valon chuckled. "What's the matter, Wheeler? Havin' trouble? See, when Jet Gauntlet and another monster battle, both are destroyed and neither player gets hurt. Pretty nifty, right?"
Joey growled. "I'll show you nifty, wise guy!"
"It's going to be okay, Joey," Mai said. "I believe in you."
Joey smiled, calming down. "Thanks, Mai." He drew the top card of his deck. He looked at his hand. He only had 4 cards to use to their fullest. He wished he could bring down Natsumi's Bergzak, but with 2,500 attack points, it seemed untouchable.
Okay, Valon's got a weird funky suit of armor and it probably has a weird effect just like the last one. Joey looked at his face-down card, Good thing I got my handy Graverobber in case something goes wrong. Okay, here we go then! Joey plucked a card from his hand. "I play Hayabusa Knight!"
A bird knight appeared. It was dressed all in plate armor with purple feathers on its head.
Natsumi started laughing. "Aha! What is that? Do you want me to make chicken tenders, Joey?"
"Who said anything about attackin' you this turn?" Joey asked. "I'm attacking goggle head over there!" Joey shouted, pointing at Valon.
"Joey, don't be stupid!" Mai shouted.
"Relax, I know what I'm doin," Joey said. "Hayabusa Knight, attack! Destroy Advanced Guard!"
"Well mate, bring it!" Valon exclaimed as Joey's knight darted forward and slashed the armor in half, no problem.
"All right, so spill it, what's that fancy armor piece do," Joey said.
"Well it's simple mate," Valon said. "I don't take damage this turn at all if Advance Guard is used up."
"What? Aw, man!" Joey exclaimed. "And the advantage of Hayabusa Knight is bein' able to attack twice."
"Sorry, mate. Shoulda picked a different monster," Valon said, tapping his temple. "But then again, you've never been the brightest duelist out there and everyone knows it."
Joey growled.
"Relax, Joey," Mai said. "That could've been a worse move. I can cover for you."
Joey nodded. "Okay. I'm countin' on you, Mai."
Mai nodded and drew the top card of her deck. Excellent. "I summon Amazoness Tiger!" A big tiger with a golden collar and bracelets and anklets appeared. One of its eyes was scarred shut and it had light red, almost pink fur. It had 1,100 attack points and 1,500 defense points. "And with every Amazon monster on the field, including itself, Amazoness Tiger gains 400 attack points."
"Laughable," Natsumi said, comparing Bergzak's 2,500 attack points to Tiger's 1,500.
"Oh? I wouldn't be laughing if I were you, hon," Mai said, holding up a spell card. "Go! Amazoness Spellcaster!"
An Amazoness Shaman appeared and began making hand gestures with her hands, creating spell stones.
"What's going on?" Natsumi asked, voice quivering.
She watched as Bergzak's attack power started dropping.
"What are you doing?" Natsumi shouted.
"Thanks to the effect of Amazoness Spellcaster, I can switch the original attack points of one of my Amazoness Monsters and any monster on the field."
"N-No!" Natsumi shouted. She watched as Bergzak, still powered up by the Orichalcos, now had only 1600 attack points, whereas Amazoness Tiger, beefed by stealing Bergzak's attack, now had 2,400.
"All right, Mai!" Joey shouted. They finally had a clear shot at Natsumi's big monster.
"Amazoness Tiger, attack!" Mai shouted, the tiger roaring as it dashed forward. "Wild Amazon Claw!"
"I hate skinning pets, but in this case I'll make an exception! Go! Koa'ki Meiru R&D!" A small laboratory with the Koa'ki Meiru symbol on the front of the awning appeared as part of the artwork to Natsumi's trap card. "Here's how it works, by shuffling one Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru in my graveyard into my deck, I can cast any card I have face-down even if it's a spell card. And I choose, Koa'ki Ring!" Natsumi's ring sprang to life like a landmine, slamming onto the ground in front of Amazoness Tiger, halting its advance. Natsumi waved the remaining card in her hand, another Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru. "Looks like your monster is about to get blown to bits! Bye-bye!"
Joey gasped. "Mai, no!"
The landmine exploded, but when the dust settled, Mai didn't look damaged or hurt. She appeared to be smirking.
"Wh-what's with that look?" Natsumi snapped, only to realize that Mai had activated a trap card: Dramatic Rescue. "What? What's going on? What happened to my explosion?"
"Dismissed!" Mai shouted. "Thanks to this card, Dramatic Rescue, any card that targets an Amazon card lets me return it to my hand." Mai held up the last card in her hand. "And in exchange, I can summon any monster in my hand, level stars be damned."
Natsumi visibly gulped.
"So now, I summon this!" Mai declared. A big pink dragon roared as it hit the table. It looked like Harpie's Pet Dragon, but there were two small differences. For one, the collar around the dragon's neck had a bell instead of a chain around it. Second, on the tip of the monster's tail, there was a big, black and pink ribbon bow, almost like an accessory made for its tail. But the biggest difference was the difference in power. Harpie's Pet Dragon had 2,000 attack points and 2,500 defense points. This monster had 2,500 attack and defense points.
"Say hello to the new apex predator of the Harpie family, Harpie's Tamed Pet Dragon!" Mai smiled, giddy with how this had completely worked out in her favor. "And thanks to its special ability, it gains 300 attack points for every Harpie monster in the graveyard and on the field, including itself." Natsumi watched as Harpie's Tamed Pet Dragon's attack power surged to 3,400. Oh, this was going to hurt. "Harpie's Tamed Pet Dragon, attack! Giga Ton Flare!"
Rearing back its head, Harpie's Tamed Pet Dragon unleashed a powerful blast of flame that completely consumed Bergzak.
When the flames disappeared, Mai watched in satisfaction as Natsumi's life points dwindled down to almost nothing. She wobbled on her feet, eyes blinking slowly as she stood with only 800 life points remaining.
Natsumi's barely hanging in there. Poor bird. We gotta finish this soon. I think her life points are going to outlast her spirit at this rate.
"Quit looking down on me!" Natsumi shouted, drawing the top card of her deck. She looked at what was in her hand. "I activate Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two new cards." She looked at her hand and started laughing. "They say revenge is a dish best served cold and I like mine extra breezy! I summon Koa'ki Meiru Tornado!"
A golem designed to look like a green, horned, wind djinn appeared on the battlefield with 1,500 attack points, which immediately jumped to 2,000 thanks to the Seal of Orichalcos.
"Watch out, Joey," Mai told him, realizing what was going on.
"Oh he'd better watch out, and you should too because you're both about to start crying!" Natsumi showed her Koa'ki Meiru core that she'd just drawn with Pot of Greed. "I place this on top of my deck to activate Koa'ki Meiru Tornado's special ability. This allows me to destroy all monsters on the field…" Natsumi could barely contain her laughter, "That weren't normal summoned!"
Joey and Mai's faces were like nectar to Natsumi. If she could she would drink their metaphorical tears in a coffee mug.
A massive hurricane totaled the battlefield, ripping apart Mai's Harpie Dragon, leaving her wide open.
"And now, I attack with Koa'ki Meiru Tornado! Golem Gust Gale!"
A powerful wind blast slammed into Mai, throwing her against the wall of the Seal of Orichalcos, dropping her life points to 1,000.
"Jeez, you'd think the guys weren't playing at all," Tristan said, referencing the fact that Joey and Valon hadn't lost a single life point.
"It's like they say, catfights are brutal," Junko said.
"I don't think this technically qualifies as a catfight," Téa stated.
"Next, I discard my remaining Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru to the graveyard and end my turn," Natsumi said. "My turn is over."
"You okay, Mai?" Joey asked her.
"You should worry more about yourself mate," Valon said. "Cause now it's my turn! I draw!" He smiled at the card he drew. "Your luck's run out mate. I activate Full Armor Gravitation! Now, I can pick up 10 cards from my deck and summon all the armor monsters I draw as a result!" Valon drew and began summoning monsters. "And I summon: Active Guard, Advanced Shield, Buster Pyle, Psychic Armor Head, Overboost, and Jet Gauntlet!"
"Hang on, that's six monsters!" Joey shouted.
Valon grinned as he held up the remaining three cards in his hand, sending the four cards that weren't armor monsters to the banishment pile as a result of the effect of Full Armor Gravitation. "Sorry to burst your bubble mate, but the Seal of Orichalcos grants more than just 500 attack points, it also gives those benefited by it the ability to summon up to 10 monsters.
"Ah come on!" Joey shouted.
"And next, I'm activating this: Advanced Shield Core Blast! This magic card powers up my advanced shield by 200 points for every armor monster on my side of the field, giving it a total of 2,700 attack points. And then, I can select any monster on the field and blow it to bits, inflicting battle damage in the process."
Joey gasped. Oh this could not end well.
"Bye-bye, birdie!" Valon flexed his arms as a bright beam shot out of his chest and blew up Joey's Hayabusa Knight, reducing Joey's life points to 2,300 as a result of his monster getting destroyed.
"And if you think that hurt, I still haven't attacked this turn. I'm just getting warmed up!" Valon darted forward and kicked Joey in the chest with his armored boots. Joey slammed against the wall of the Seal of Orichalcos and dropped to one knee, having had the wind taken out of him. His life points fell once more to 1,800.
Valon tapped his helmet. "And there's more where that came from mate. Ya see the thing is Advanced Shield Core Blast is a continuous spell. So I'll be blasting your monsters from here to Kingdom Come no matter what it is you try to play. And if I don't stop 'em, well, Natsumi's more than ready to deal with that, mate. And don't forget I still have one card face-down and you don't want to trigger it, mate. Trust me."
Natsumi grinned.
"Hey, Yugi, what exactly was Mai's strategy again?" Junko asked. "Your friends look like they're gonna lose."
"I know she believes in Joey," Yugi said. "She must've felt it was easier for her to work off of his moves than for him to work off of hers. And also…" Yugi looked at Natsumi. "Natsumi is more inexperienced. She can't predict Joey's next turn and so her and Valon's plays are a little disrupted."
"That's…ingenious!" Junko exclaimed. "But…for that to work…" she looked at the distraught Joey. "Mai would have to completely trust Joey with her life under the circumstances."
"She definitely does," Yugi said. "My friends and I have a bond that cannot be broken."
"Save your platitudes for someone who cares, mate," Valon said. "This duel is over for your friends."
"It ain't over till it's over!" Joey shouted. "You got anything else you wanna throw at me? Come on! I can still take a few punches ya biker freak!"
Mai's eyes shook in admiration. She knew Joey was full of it right now. She knew his deck almost in and out. Nothing the two of them could come up with was likely to pull out a win. Mai had no cards. Joey had no monsters. Sure, he had his own face-down, but was it even any good? Why hadn't he played it yet?
It's…over…
Joey could almost feel Mai's drop in morale. "Mai! Don't quit on me now! Come on!"
"Joey! I know you!" Mai exclaimed, putting a hand on his chest, turning to face him. "I know you're going to fight to your last breath, but there comes a time when—"
"Mai," Joey said loudly, but without yelling.
"Uh…" Mai trailed off.
"I'm not giving up. I don't know if there's a card in my deck that can win us this duel, but I'll be darned if I ain't gonna give it a try! The heart of the cards has never let me down before and it's not about to start now!"
As Joey placed his hand on his deck, Yugi's deck flashed too. High in the air on a plane ride to Florida, Hajime's deck glowed as he plucked Pythagoras out of it. It was glowing.
"Pythagoras…glows?" Sonia asked.
"What do you think it means?" Hajime wondered aloud.
He wasn't the only one. In his Blue-Eyes Dragon jet, Kaiba noticed Critias glowing from within his duel disk. "Huh? My duel disk." He looked at Critias, keeping one hand on the joystick to steer the jet. "It's that dragon. It's the Fang of Critias."
Then, a bright flash of light brought Yugi, Joey, Hajime and Kaiba into another dimension, but they could not see each other.
This place again? Hajime wondered to himself.
Joey was now standing in front of one of the other two remaining dragons. "Whoa," he remarked. "That's one big ice sculpture."
"It is a dragon, frozen in time," a desperate, female voice pierced the dome atop the temple that the three dragon wielders, and soon to be fourth, were in.
"Say what?" Joey seemed taken aback by the statement.
"Please, brave warrior, remove the sword from the dragon's claw for you are its chosen wielder."
"Eh?" Joey pointed to himself.
"Please! For the sake of both worlds, you must awaken the dragon!"
"I uh…I see. Here goes nothin then…heh eh…" Joey gulped and gingerly reached for the sword.
"Yes, you are the one," the voice told him.
"Hey! If you're gonna talk to me, show yourself," Joey said. Nothing. Shaking his head, he put both hands on the sword. "I must be some kinda crazy to be listening to voices in my head, but whatever! Heave ho!" Joey grasped the sword firmly and drew the sword with all his might, releasing the mighty red dragon, Hermos.
"Joey…Joey!"
Joey was suddenly startled to his senses as he heard Mai calling his name. "Quit spacing out! I'm talking to you! What the heck was that flash?"
"Destiny was calling out to Joey," Yami said, suddenly possessing Yugi's body.
"Destiny? For Joey Wheeler?" Junko asked, barely able to contain her laughter. "Fascinating. And what qualities make Joey a chosen one?"
"Yeah, seriously, if Joey's the chosen one of anything, it's the last hot dog at a full cart on the side of the street," Tristan said.
"How can you joke at a time like this?" Miho asked, pouting and fuming at the same time.
Natsumi then looked at Valon's ring. It was glowing. "Valon! Your Orichalcos Stone!"
"Eh?" Valon looked at his hand. The ring was glowing underneath the gauntlet he was wearing. "Don't tell me…"
By the time Valon's attention had snapped back to Joey, the blond had already drawn the top card of his deck. "You're about to meet my new friend, Hermos!"
Joey placed the dragon in his hand. "And he's not coming to the party alone! Cause I'm activating Monster Reborn! This'll let me bring back to the field Mai's Harpie Lady Aero!"
"Why Aero?" Téa shouted. It was one of the weakest monsters in Mai's graveyard.
"Relax," Junko said, putting her palm over her face and leaning to one side. "When the power of the dragon chooses its wielder, they become infused with its Ancient Atlantean Knowledge as though it were second nature. Hermos' power is Joey's power as visa versa."
"Oh yeah, your magic book tell you that?" Tristan asked with a glazed look, finding Junko's waxing philosophy a bit hard to swallow.
"Well if you want a better explanation, I'm afraid that's the best I've got," Junko said, adopting a valley girl accent out of nowhere. "And yeah, it was in the book, smartass."
"Now! I combine Harpie Lady Aero with The Claw of Hermos!"
Harpie Lady and Hermos fused into one being, creating a…peculiar looking bow. Its string was as green as a blade of grass and its limbs resembled purple Harpie wings. A quiver floated with it, full of arrows that had Harpie plumes in place of the index and nock of each arrow, the shafts of which were green, tips razor sharp like a Harpie Talon.
Joey, Mai, Natsumi and Valon were at a loss. Valon started laughing. "Pretty neat trick, Wheeler. You gonna pretend you got my nose next?"
"Laugh it, ya biker freak," Joey said. "Mai! Take 'em down!"
"Yeah, but…how?"
"Just summon a monster," Joey said, seriously, looking across the room at Valon and Natsumi.
Mai nodded. "Okay. My move!"
They can't be serious, Valon thought.
Mai drew the top card of her deck with firm and renewed purpose. "Joey, thanks for not letting me down, even when I'd let myself down."
"No problem, that's why I'm here, right? We work together!"
Mai nodded. "I activate Pot of Greed, letting me draw two cards!" Mai shouted. "Next, I summon Harpie Queen!" A graceful, green haired Harpie, hair knotted into a ponytail appeared as it stood elegantly with its blue and teal body suit and fair skin. It had 1900 attack points and 1200 defense points. She seemed so elegant with her snow white wings."
"I activate the power of my new Feather Shaman Bow!" Joey shouted. The bow floated in front of Harpie Queen as she became equipped with it, raising her attack power to 2,200 as she nocked an arrow, quiver slung over her back.
"Next!" Mai shouted. "I activate Harpie's Feather Duster, destroying all spell and trap cards on the field that aren't on my side of the field."
Natsumi's R&D Lab and Valon's face-down were completely destroyed as Harpie Queen beat her wings, completely blowing away all traces of enemy spell and trap cards.
"Next, I attack with Harpie Queen!" Mai shouted.
"And thanks to Feather Shaman Bow's special ability, all Mai has to do is keep taking cards off the top of her deck and she can keep attacking monsters. Better yet, Feather Shaman Bow negates all the abilities of all monsters it attacks, so your funky space armor," Joey said, giving Valon a thumb's down. "Ain't got nothin' on us!"
Mai removed the top 7 cards of her deck. Harpie Queen then loaded Feather Shaman Bow with seven arrows that were let loose, sinking into Natsumi's monster and all of Valon's armor pieces. Natsumi's monster was destroyed, leaving her with only 700 life points.
"And better yet, whenever Feather Shaman bow destroys a monster, it deals 300 points of damage to the owner of that monster."
Natsumi and Valon clenched their teeth as Natsumi's life points dropped to only 400 and Valon's life points plummeted to 2,200.
"Valon…what do I do?" Natsumi asked, tears in her eyes.
Valon looked at the situation. This…was bad. He'd just lost all his armor pieces and Mai's monster was packing 2,200 attack points, plus it negated the effects of monsters when they were attacked. Valon was able to stop himself from losing all his life points by activating the power of Advanced Guard beforehand, but nothing he had could stand up to such power.
"Valon!" Natsumi shouted.
Natsumi's screaming wasn't helping. Worse, she looked like she could collapse any second. Her knees were shaking.
There was nothing for it. They had to retreat, consequences be damned.
Clenching his fist, Valon crouched down and launched towards the top of the Seal of Orichalcos. "With the power of the Orichalcos, I break the Seal!"
Valon's ring smashed into the top of the dome, shattering the ring's gem as the duel fizzled out, seal and all. Then, like lightning, he and Natsumi rushed to the fire exit. "This isn't over, Mai! Wheeler! We'll get you next time!"
"Hey! Get back here!" Tristan shouted, but Valon and Natsumi had already circled the building, hopped on their motorbikes and were driving away, both of them flipping the gang off. "Hey!" Tristan shouted.
"Let them go, it's not worth it," Junko said.
"I didn't think the seal could be broken," Tristan said.
"It's a failsafe," Junko said. "Each of Dartz's minions carries with them one of those stones. In an emergency, they could leave the duel. It was supposed to be reserved for unsafe dueling conditions. Oh, Dartz will not be happy with Valon."
"His problem, not ours," Yami stated.
"It is our problem!" Joey shouted. "I was so close to helping Ibuki. Rrrrnnngh! Wait till I get my hands on those two!" he exclaimed, clenching his fists.
"Logically, simply beating them will not return your friend safely. You would have to defeat Dartz," Mukuro said. Everyone looked at her. "What?"
"You have bad breath you flat-chested deviant," Junko said.
Mukuro blushed and immediately inspected this.
"N-no, that's not the reason," Téa said. "It's just that…you're so quiet, Mukuro. It's like you're not even here half the time."
"Talking serves little purpose for a soldier like me," Mukuro said as an excuse.
"Especially for a soldier like you," Junko chuckled.
Yugi and friends wrong off Junko's insults as friendly-natured sibling ribbing. If only they knew the truth.
"Joey, are you all right?" Mai asked, one hand on his upper arm, the other against his back.
Joey gave her a kind, warm-hearted smile. "All things considered, never better." He gave her a thumb's up. "You?"
Mai's eyes shook with pure tenderness. Much to Joey's surprise, she actually ended up hugging him around the shoulders. He blushed.
"M-Mai?"
At first, it sounded like Mai was going to cry, but then she let out a hearty laugh, wrangling her arm inadvertently around Joey's neck and pointing her index finger at the ceiling. "We sure showed them, huh? You and I make quite a team!"
"Mai…can't breathe…" Joey gasped.
"Oh great, just what I needed to walk into, dork country."
Everyone looked to see Seto Kaiba, with Mokuba in accompaniment, walking through the front door.
Low enough so that no one else could hear her, Junko purred.
"Out of the way, dweebs. I have business with Pegasus," Kaiba barked.
"I'm afraid that will be very one-sided business," Junko said, "And not in the way you're thinking."
Kaiba glared at Junko, only for his gaze to ease up. "You look familiar."
"Junko Enoshima, charmed, I'm sure," Junko said, bowing.
"Oh, right, the blonde causing a ruckus in the fashion community. I only recognized you because I see your magazines everywhere."
"Oh I'm sure you see them everywhere," Junko winked.
Kaiba remained unfazed.
"Ew," Joey said at the prospect that anyone would flirt with Kaiba.
"Kaiba," Yami said. "I have news about that matter we spoke of."
"Oh great, let me guess, Mahiru and Sato's conditions have to do with this Dartz maniac currently running around."
"You ran into Dartz?" Joey asked.
"Settle down puppy dog. The grownups re talking."
"Why you!" Joey shouted.
As she had been instructed by Junko if the need ever arose, Mukuro held Joey back. She had Tristan's help of course, but this was hardly needed.
Kaiba looked at Yugi. "I met one of his henchmen. And, judging from that strange dream I had, I seem to have come into possession of a new card for my deck." He held out Critias. "You can only look."
Yami nodded and showed Timaeus to Kaiba.
"I see." Kaiba glared at Wheeler. "And judging from that vision I had, it seems baby got his bottle and is trying to play at the big kid's table."
Joey growled.
"Joey has a dragon, yes," Yami said, placating Kaiba.
"Well then," Kaiba said. "I'm sure you have a wonderful story you'd like to tell me, but I really don't care. All I want to know is the next step."
Suddenly, Kaiba's phone went off. He promptly answered it. "Seto Kaiba speaking."
"Kaiba, it's Yukizome."
"Oh, hello Yukizome. I didn't expect I'd be hearing from you today."
"I'm en route to the US with my class. The wifi on the plane makes for great cell reception."
"And I care…why?" Kaiba asked, not one for small talk.
"I have a Kyoko Kirigiri with me. Kaiba, if you need help retaking your company—"
Kaiba angrily cut Yukizome off. "Hang on! I told Kirigiri to mind her own business!"
There was a sharp silence on the other end before Kaiba heard another voice he recognized. "Are…are you mad at me, Mr. Kaiba?"
"Fujisaki?" Kaiba hadn't expected to hear Chihiro's voice.
"I'm sorry," Chihiro apologized. "I was just…I was really worried about the Kaiba Corporation. I…I promise I'll pay Kirigiri for her hard work. It was my idea. I was just trying to help. P-Please don't fire me."
"That depends, what have you found so far?" Kaiba asked.
"U-um, w-we found out that your company was being overtaken by shell companies. Noah did some digging and, um, we found out that the company really trying to buy you out is called Paradius. They're based in the US and seem to have some connection to what's going on with all of the real monsters. Miss Kirigiri and I are headed to the states to check out the Atlantean Exhibit to find out more information about Paradius' culture and then we were going to go to the headquarters to check the paperwork."
Kaiba pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, shutting his eyes. Oh, this stung. Not the part about Chihiro going behind his back, but the entire part about Noah being involved. Kaiba had brushed Noah off when he told him he was chasing ghosts. He must've been talking about the Shell companies. And, of course, being the security database, Noah would, of course, know that.
Well, what a day for my ego to be humbled, Kaiba said, taking his hand away and opening his eyes. "No, Fujisaki. You're not fired. And tell Kirigiri if she can cuff the person responsible, I'll foot the bill myself."
"Y-yes! Th-thank you, Mr. Kaiba."
"I have a name for her too. Tell her to investigate a man named Dartz," Kaiba said and then promptly hung up.
As he put his phone into the inside pocket of his suit jacket, Yami spoke up. "Everything all right?"
"It doesn't concern you," Kaiba said.
"I'd like to judge that for myself," Yami replied.
"Hmph," Kaiba scoffed. "I have a private investigator watching my back. She got some good dirt on whoever's trying to buy out KaibaCorp and I think it's proper this Dartz character. Paradius, huh," Kaiba mulled over the phone call.
"Paradius?" Téa piped up.
"Paradius is a large international company, with their main office based in the United States," Mukuro said. "They own a little bit of every major company in the world. They even paid Fenrir a job once."
"Big shots, huh?" Tristan said.
"That would be an understatement," Mukuro said. "They're practically a privatized corporate superpower."
Kaiba stared at Mukuro briefly, but managed to put the pieces together of what she was saying without asking questions. "Well then, I guess I owe Dartz a visit." Kaiba turned around and prepared to walk out the door to where he'd parked his jet out on the empty street.
"You're a fool if you think you can face Dartz alone," Junko said to him before he got far enough away. "There's something here for us that Pegasus left behind. He was working on a way to beat the Leviathan."
"That's cute," Kaiba said. "You dweebs need a handicap. I'll be fine."
Junko shrugged. "Suit yourself." She watched Kaiba walk away.
I'm not going to waste my time on this for much longer, Kaiba thought, as Mokuba followed. I'm making my way straight to Dartz's headquarters and then he and I are going to have words.
As Junko watched Kaiba walk away, she could only grin. Ah, Kaiba, as stubborn as everything I've read about you has led me to believe. I love that about you. It's so… Junko grinned inwardly, a sinister look reflected in her false blue eyes …easy to manipulate.
(A/N: Goddammit, Junko! Why do you have to ruin everything? (sigh) Oh, I meant to say this before, but the Millennium/Atlantean Spellbook is canon, I just took a few liberties after asking myself a few…pertinent questions. But holy hell, I really like the way that duel turned out. It certainly wasn't one of my longest duels, but I hope the action and tension more than made up for it. And yes, of course Valon caused a No Contest. He did it in canon. At least Junko was kind enough to fill in a few plot holes from canon.
Next time on Dueling Trigger Finger, the final dragon emerges. But who will it go to? I hear camps of votes for Sonia as well as for Yukizome. But, ultimately, the decision has already been pre-determined by destiny. I'm eagerly looking forward to writing the next duel.
Also, it is very unnerving to me, and I'm the one writing it, to have Junko acting so…benign outwardly. Please tell me I'm not the only one.
And lastly, I encourage all of you to check out Starcoookies' profile on deviantART. She's done some great work for the story already and there's more to come.
Until next time, as always, from all of me, to all of you, let your hearts stay human and your wrath draconic. Ja ne!)