(A/N: … (nervous glancing around) Welp. It's been a bit too long since one of these hasn't it? And here I promised a chapter at the end of freaking May! (claps hands over head) I'm sorry! Please don't kill me! I had a lot going on in my personal life, plus a bunch of video games that absolutely needed playing. But that's over. I'm back. And I'm ready to continue. Let's celebrate the lead up to Labor Day with a brand new chapter of Dueling Trigger Finger!)
A first turn Blue-Eyes White Dragon. That was the equivalent of what Joey felt he found himself facing down as he stared up at Black Luster Soldier.
I don't have a card in my deck that can take that thing out head on. What do I…what do I do? Joey thought, finding himself short of breath, zoning out.
Hmm, Junko's missing out, Mukuro thought, recognizing someone in despair when she saw it.
Hmph, giving up before the duel's just begun. I knew you were in over your head, Wheeler. You're nothing but a third-rate duelist and you always will be.
"Joey!" Yami called from his seat.
Joey gasped, snapping from his thoughts.
Although Yami had called to him with such fervor a moment ago, he smiled at his friend, giving him a thumb's up. "You're not thinking of giving up right at the start of the duel are you?" Yami asked, almost smirking. "You haven't even drawn your first card yet. Just relax and take the duel one turn at a time. You might surprise yourself."
Joey stared at Yami momentarily like Yami had just asked him a trick question, but his expression quickly changed. Nodding his brow furrowed and he bent his knees slightly. The sunlight reflected off his eyes and hair, as he gave Eliza and her Black Luster Soldier a tough determined look.
Yugi's right, Joey told himself. This ain't the time for me to be feeling nervous or worried. I came here to duel and if I'm walkin' outta this tournament, it's only gonna be when my life points hit zero, and not a moment sooner. Joey made a fist and shouted at Eliza. "You wanna go? Let's go!" Joey shouted. "I ain't afraid of you or your Black Luster Soldier!"
"You should be," Eliza said and plucked another card from her hand. "I set a card face-down," Eliza said, as the face-down card's hologram appeared behind her soldier. "The gauntlet has been officially thrown, Wheeler." A glint twinkled from Eliza's eye. "Pick it up."
"All right then!" Joey shouted. "You asked for it! Here I go!" Joey picked up the top card of his deck and looked at it. At first glance, it didn't seem like his hand had what it took to bring down something as might as Black Luster Soldier. On second glance however…
This'll work, Joey thought. "I activate Polymerization!"
"Hmm," Eliza reacted, arms folded.
"Watch closely, cause here comes the big one," Joey proclaimed proudly. "I'm fusing together Axe Raider with Battle Warrior to bring out First of the Dragons!"
A might dragon emerged from the card artwork box of Polymerization as it roared and hovered over Joey, bearing down on Eliza's side of the field with its mighty 2,700 attack points.
"Not bad," Eliza said, moving naught but her eyes. "I assume you plan to power it up with a magic card."
"Got that right," Joey said with a smirk. "I got my handy Dragon Nails! This magic card will raise my monster's attack points up by 600!"
First of the Dragons' attack power climbed all the way up to 3,300 points, just enough to take down Black Luster Soldier.
"All right, First of the Dragons! Let's do this! Attack Black Luster Soldier now!"
"Fool," Eliza said calmly and revealed her face-down card. "Intimidation!"
Yami's eyes went wide with shock. This was bad.
Téa covered her mouth in worry and Tristan, Miho, Serenity and Bakura looked equally concerned.
"First, your monster loses 500 attack points," Eliza remarked. "Then, those five hundred attack points transfer to my monster for the duration of the battle step."
"What? No! It can't be!" Joey shouted.
"Joey!" Yami and Téa shouted at the same time in concern.
First of the Dragons' attack points were drained by 500 points, leaving it with 2,800, as those points transferred to Black Luster Soldier, a red aura surrounding it. The battle-hardened warrior now had 3,500 attack points, more than enough to wipe out Joey's dragon.
"Black Luster Soldier, counterattack now!" Eliza shouted. "Chaos Saber Slash!"
Black Luster Soldier charged forward and delivered a hefty blow to Joey's First of the Dragons, causing it to yowl in pain. Joey's life points decreased to 3,300…and then his dragon remained on the field.
"What…your monster should be gone," Eliza stated, eyes wide with shock.
Joey was just as confused as her at first. "Huh? Oh yeah! I totally forgot! First of the Dragons can't be destroyed in battle, not unless it's with a normal monster!" He proclaimed with a smile. "And since you summoned Black Luster Soldier with a ritual, even though it doesn't have a special ability, it's still not qualified to rid my monster from the field!"
"Well, that makes things rather difficult," Eliza said as the attack points of both monsters returned to normal. "As things stand right now, I can't harm you, but you can't harm me."
Joey laughed, chuckling. "Not bad, right?"
Eliza smirked with confidence. "Hardly. This is but a bump in the road. I hope you're prepared."
"I'm more than prepared. I'm gonna win this duel!" Joey shouted. "I ain't going down without a fight! I set one card face-down on the field!" He declared as the hologram appeared, leaving him with only 2 cards in hand. "That ends my turn."
"I draw!" Eliza shouted, pulling the top card from her deck to her hand.
It would be foolish to summon a new monster to the field while his dragon yet lives. I'll need to figure out a way around it if I want a clear shot at his life points. She looked at her hand. For now though, this will more than suffice. "I am preparing to attack!" Eliza declared.
"Is she nuts?" Tristan asked. "Her monster is down by 300 attack points and Intimidation only works on Joey's turn."
"She knows what she's doing," Serenity said. "I can…almost sense it."
"Are…you okay, Serenity?" Téa asked.
"Huh? Oh…yeah, I'm fine," Serenity said, rubbing the back of her head.
Téa wasn't sure, but decided not to press matters further.
"I activate the special ability of Envoy of Chaos in my hand!" Eliza declared. "By discarding it from my hand to the graveyard, I increase the attack points of any Black Luster Soldier on the field for one turn by 1,500 points." Black Luster Soldier now had 4,5000 attack points. "I think you know what that means."
Joey gulped.
"Black Luster Soldier has more than enough attack points to win in a battle with First of the Dragons!" Eliza declared. "And as an added bonus, First of the Dragons' attack points drop to their original 2,700 points during the battle."
"That's not good!" Joey exclaimed, feeling panicked.
"Black Luster Soldier! Attack First of the Dragons now! Chaos Saber Slash!"
Eliza's monster raised its sword high above its head and took a swing at Joey's monster, dealing serious damage to Joey's life points. Joey now only had 1,500 life points left, and it was only the second turn.
"Quake in fear of the mighty soldier of chaos," Eliza said, showing off all intimidating prowess off to Joey.
"Wow, Eliza's ruthless," Yugi said to Yami.
"Indeed," Yami responded. "She commands an aura of relentlessness and mercilessness about her, but all without losing her sense of honor pride. Truly, she is a formidable duelist."
"Joey will pull through, right?" Yugi asked.
"I sure hope so," Yami responded closing his eyes. "For now, all we can do is believe in Joey's belief in his deck."
"I offer one additional face-down card this turn," Eliza said, adding a new mystery card to her side of the field. "As such, Black Luster Soldier's attack points are now back to being 3,000 now that my turn is ending." Her monster's attack points returned to their normal value. "Be forewarned," Eliza cautioned. "One more attack like that from me and this duel is over. Your dragon will not save you. Give up while you still have the dignity for it," Eliza said with a calm tone, almost like she was a female version of Kaiba.
"Give up? No way! Joey Wheeler never gives up, cause losing ain't in my dictionary!" He shouted. "I draw!" He pulled the top card of his deck to his hand. "Since I can't attack with First of the Dragons, I'll switch him over to defense mode."
"Yeah! Now his life points are safe from Eliza's attacks!"
"It's a bit too early to celebrate I think," Bakura said. "I'm sure Eliza knew Joey would do that. I bet she has a plan to not only destroy his dragon, but possibly end the duel."
Tristan sweated. "I really hope not."
Miho grabbed his hand. "It'll be all right," she said. "Joey will win. Miho has faith in him."
"Yeah," Tristan said, nodding. "Yeah, you're right, Miho. You hear that! Show no fear, Joey! Turn this duel around, buddy!"
Even if you say that Tristan, Joey thought, looking at the only three cards in his hand, I ain't got much left to work with. If I had drawn Time Wizard or Roll a Fate, I mighta been able to get myself an advantage, but I got nothin' right now. He looked at the field with a serious, determined expression. I'll just have to hope my luck, and my dragon, will hold. I can't do anything to Eliza's monster right now. "I end my turn," Joey said.
"Of course you do," Eliza remarked. "And with that, it's time to finish you off." She drew the top card of her deck. "I summon to the field Charging Gaia the Fierce Knight!"
A variant of the famous Gaia the Fierce Knight appeared. The horse's eyes glowed a vibrant green and its helmet was adorned with lightning bolt patterns, same for Gaia's shoulder pads. The horse and rider together had 2,3000 attack points.
"Hey, hold on! How can you summon a monster that powerful without tributing a monster?" Joey demanded to know. However, he then watched Gaia's attack points taper off a bit down to a less problematic 1,900.
"Charging Gaia the Fierce Knight can be summoned to the field without a tribute, provided I permit its attack power to drop to 1,900 while it's on the field."
"Man, that's one good card," Tristan said. "I want one."
"Tristan, close your mouth before you start drooling," Téa said snippily.
"You may gaze upon my monster if you wish, you won't have long to bear witness to its glory, for I activate my face-down card: Breakthrough Skill!" Eliza revealed her face-down card to show an albino monster smashing through a force field of some kind. "This trap card allows me to negate all of the effects of a monster of my choosing not controlled by me."
"What…but that means…" Joey gasped.
"That's right," Eliza shouted, "That means your First of the Dragons is completely exposed! Black Luster Soldier! Destroy First of the Dragons! Chaos Saber Slash!"
Black Luster Soldier's blade flashed as it tore towards Joey's dragon. With a single slice, Joey's monster was slashed in half and disintegrated into fragments of light.
"And now for the final blow," Eliza said calmly, raising her arm skyward, index finger extended. "Charging Gaia the Fierce Knight, attack Wheeler's life points directly!" She pointed right at Joey. "End this duel with a Spiral Shaver attack!"
Gaia charged Joey's unprotected field right, lance poised to strike the teen in the chest.
"Oh no!" Yami gasped.
"Sorry, but this duel ain't over just yet!" Joey declared, holding a fist by his chest. "Let's go, Scapegoat!"
"Hmm?"
Four sheep tokens appeared on Joey's side of the field. One of them was completely pierced by Gaia's lance.
"There we go. See my Scapegoats protect my life points and…what are you doing?"
Joey, his friends, the audience, and all the people watching at home, noticed how Eliza had left her side of the arena and was now making an uncharacteristically cute face as she cuddled one of Joey's scapegoats.
"It's so fluffy," she said in a rather uncharacteristically cute tone as well.
The crowd fell silent. No one had any idea what to make of this. The massively intimidating, highly professional Eliza se arc, reduced to looking almost like a happy toddler the way she was face mashing Joey's hologram.
"Uhhhhh," Joey said, sweating and completely at a loss for words.
Eventually, Eliza realized what she was doing and stood up straight, coughing into her hand. Then she retreated backwards to her standard position and pointed at Joey. "Yes, well, do not think you will win simply because the cuteness factor tips in your favor. My goal has not changed. I will crush you."
"Yeah, you know, it's kind of hard to take you seriously now after you just hugged a holographic sheep."
"What was that?" Eliza glared, the light of the sun casting a shadow on her face.
"N-never mind," Joey stuttered.
"That's…outright terrifying," Tristan said.
"The glare or the ability to switch moods?" Téa asked.
"Yes," Tristan responded.
"So, you doin' anything else this turn?" Joey asked.
"No, the time for my turn has passed. It's your move," Eliza said. "Make it count."
Joey nodded and drew the top card of his deck. I better draw the right card or it's goodbye tournament. He didn't even look at the card until he'd placed it securely in his hand. He then looked at the cards he had neatly placed in his hand. All right! He exclaimed to himself. This was exactly what he needed. "Boo-yah! Here it comes! I'm comin' back!"
"Hmm?" Eliza was a bit unnerved, but her gaze didn't show it.
"Thank you defense mode and scapegoats. This is exactly what I needed. Let's go Time Wizard!"
Eliza's gaze shook. Time Wizard?
The goofy looking anthropomorphic clock appeared on Joey's side of the field. "This is just what I needed to turn this duel around, well provided the time roulette doesn't land on a skull."
"Y-you wouldn't…" Eliza stuttered.
"I would," Joey said with a smirk. "What's the matter? Don't you trust your own luck. Cause I know I do! Time Wizard! Time Roulette go!"
"TIME MA-GIC!" The clockwork magician beeped and let its wand spin and spin and spin and spin.
Eliza and Joey's hearts beat rapidly. The outcome of this simple spin of chance would determine the rest of the duel. And that was not an exaggeration nor hyperbole.
Skull. Machine. Skull. Machine. Skull. Machine. The scepter spun as it began to slow down so that where it landed was visible.
The spinner landed barely within the 6:00 position of the wand face. Even a tick to the left and it would've been in skull territory.
"WOO-YEAH! Bring it home Time Wizard! Take her monsters outta the field!"
A portal opened in the sky, removing the little magician and Eliza's soldiers from the field. Aside from Joey's scapegoats and Eliza's Intimidation card, the field was barren of anything.
"How's that?" Joey asked, rubbing a finger under his nose. "Pretty good, right?"
Eliza clapped for Joey, but the slaps of her hands were far apart in their timing and her expression didn't change. "I must admit, you're not bad to have been able to destroy my Black Luster Soldier, but," Eliza said as she picked up the top card of her deck. "What will you do about the second one?"
"Second what now?" Joey asked, enthusiasm dying quickly as his arm dropped down towards the monster zone of his duel disk.
An intense energy emitted from Eliza, more intense than it was the first time. Clearly, her dueling aura was powerful indeed.
"I said when we started, didn't I? I perfected my Black Luster Soldier deck and not a duelist I've crossed paths with since doing so has been able to beat me." She showed Joey the Black Luster Soldier in her graveyard. "Most duelists would be lucky to bear witness to the might of the original Black Luster Soldier, let alone own one," She put the card back in her graveyard. "But I have made an even greater achievement." She held a fist by her chest. "Through hard work and dedication, I have assembled every last Black Luster Soldier monster in Duel Monsters!"
"What? There's more than one!"
"This is the first I'm hearing of this!" Yugi exclaimed, panicking.
"The gates of chaos open once more. By removing both Envoy of Chaos and Charging Gaia the Fierce Knight from my graveyard, I summon the soldier of light! Come to me," Eliza stated, "Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning!"
A gilded soldier graced the field with his stalwart presence standing at 3,000 attack points strong just like his ritual summoned cousin.
"Black Luster Soldier, attack!" Eliza declared. "Destroy one of Wheeler's Scapegoats!" Eliza's monster sprang to action. With its mighty blade, it cut down Joey's scapegoat to pieces. "And I'm not done, Black Luster Soldier, attack again!"
"Say, what?" Joey gasped, watching as another one of his scapegoats was helplessly massacred.
"As long as Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning destroys a monster during its first attack, it can make a second attack in a row," Eliza stated. "Which means on my next turn," she said clenching a fist, "this duel is completely over," she declared, throwing her arm to the side, unclenching her hand and releasing all its tension.
"Sorry, Eliza, but it ain't gonna be that easy," Joey said.
"All right," Eliza said with an unflinching, serious expression, arms folded. "If you're so sure, then let's see you pull it off. Show me your resolve, Wheeler! Because neither I nor my soldier will back down!"
Joey made for the top card of his deck. I talk big, but I'm kinda runnin' outta options. It didn't even cross my mind that Eliza would have a second Black Luster Soldier, let alone a more powerful one. Joey's arm started to shake. Focus, Joey. You ain't scared a nothin', not of losin', not of Eliza, and not embarrassin' yourself in front of Serenity. You got this, now be a man… Joey pulled the top card of his deck and drew, "And draw!"
Joey looked at the cards in his hand. With only one scapegoat on the field and four cards in his hand, and both Time Wizard and First of the Dragons in his graveyard, his ways of getting out of jail free were starting to disappear.
Fortunately, it seemed he once again had exactly what he needed to turn the tide of battle. "I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight, in attack mode!"
A warrior clad in black, iron armor appeared on Joey's side of the battlefield. It only had 1,800 attack points.
"Deciding to face defeat with dignity?" Eliza asked.
"You wish!" Joey fired back. "I'm far from done. Cause with this magic card your through! I activate Release Restraint!"
"Good play, Joey!" Tristan shouted. "Show her who's boss!"
"With this magic card, I can remove the iron armor around my Gearfried the Iron Knight, turning him into the all-powerful Gearfried the Swordmaster!"
An explosion burst out from within Gearfried, his iron armor shattering like fragmented rock as he emerged. His black hair flowed and his unequipped fists were dressed in cloth wraps. He now stood with a firm 2,600 attack points.
"All that talk for a mere 800 point boost. How disappointing."
Joey smirked. "I wouldn't be scoffing if I were you," Joey said and held up another card from his hand. "Cause I've got this, the equip spell: Lightning Blade!"
A sword pulsating with lightning slammed into the ground in front of Gearfried and sparked wildly. He picked it up and swung it in his hands.
"First, Gearfried's attack points raise up by 800 points."
Gearfried now had 3,400 attack points.
"Not bad, but it won't be nearly enough. Black Luster Soldier's attack points are 3,000 strong and with Intimidation, your monster will lose the battle."
"Yeah, I suppose that's true, but that's where my monster's special ability kicks in. When Gearfried is equipped with a magic card, I can automatically destroy one monster on your side of the field. And since you only have one monster, well…you can see where this is going. Gearfried! Take it down!"
Raising the Lightning Blade to the sky, Gearfried unleashed a massive and thunderous blasts from the blade that zapped Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning with catastrophic bolts of lightning. The monster was instantly disintegrated.
"Your field's wide open, Eliza," Joey told her. "And my monster still hasn't attacked yet. All right, Gearfried! Go! Strike with Super Lightning Blade Slash!"
Eliza braced for impact, but still screamed as she was cut pretty badly with a direct attack. The force was enough to make her drop to one knee, but naught else.
"Not bad," Eliza said, looking up at Joey, her hair covering her left eye. Her life points plummeted all the way down to 600. She started to get up. "Its been a long time since someone was able to harm my life points, let alone more than 3,000 of them. That must be commended," she said, tossing the hair away from her left eye. "But this is where your luck runs out. I draw!"
Eliza looked at the cards in her hand. "If you think the power of Black Luster Soldier is limited only to Envy of the Beginning, you're dead wrong. I activate the magic of Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three cards as long as I discard two." Eliza did so rather quickly, as if she already knew which cards needed discarding. "Next, I activate the power of a monster in my hand! I now banish from my graveyard my Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning in order to summon Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Evening Twilight!"
"Another one?!" Joey recoiled.
"You're through," Eliza said. "Come forth, almighty soldier of Chaos!" she shouted, raising her duel disk skyward.
A warrior clad in black armor on his right side and white armor on his left, stormed the field. His sword and shield also manifested the dual color scheme, keeping black on the right and white on the left. The monster had 3,000 attack points and 2,500 defense points.
"Not bad," Joey said, "But not strong enough to beat Gearfried!"
"Ordinarily no," Eliza admitted, "But since I banished a light monster from my graveyard to summon Black Luster Soldier, its radiant special ability activates. I target one monster on the field," she said, extending her arm to Joey, cards in hand face-down, "and banish it from the game!"
"What?!" Joey exclaimed, sweating.
"It's over," Eliza said, tossing the hair on the right side of her head out, "My might is unrivaled! Black Luster Soldier! Rid the field of Gearfried the Swordsmaster!"
Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Evening Twilight held its sword aloft and a bright line shone so brightly as Gearfried was completely erased from the battlefield, Lightning Blade going with it.
"Lucky for you, I cannot attack the turn I activate this ability. It would seem your Scapegoat lives for one more round, not that it will help you. None that have faced my Envoy of the Evening Twilight have managed to best it. This duel is over."
"Sorry, Eliza, but I'm gonna win this duel!" Joey shouted.
"With what?" Eliza asked sincerely. "You have a monster that can't be sacrificed per its own summoning condition, one card in hand, nothing on the field and 1,500 life points. You lack the resources to make a meaningful comeback."
"Maybe, but I got one thing that'll see me through!" Joey shouted.
"And what would that be?" Eliza inquired.
"It's heart," Joey said. "The heart of my cards! And I'm gonna show you the power of my deck! Here goes!" Joey's hand dove for the top card of his deck. It was now or never to pull a comeback from behind and win. Joey looked at the two cards he had in his hand. This was it. This was just what he needed to end the duel. "All right, Eliza! Here goes! I summon Panther Warrior, in attack mode!"
The violet furred warrior appeared on Joey's side of the field.
"And next, I activate the magic card: Energy Drain! This spell card targets one of your monsters and then I draw a card," Joey said and drew the top card of his deck. "And next, my magic card reduces your monster's attack points all the way to zero."
Eliza's gaze didn't flinch as her monster's stamina plummeted, leaving it with 0 attack points.
"And next, I'll sacrifice my final scapegoat to attack your—"
"You'll do no such thing!" Eliza exclaimed and held her open hand aloft over her Intimidation card. It was glowing ominously.
"What the…?" Joey gaped.
"Intimidation doesn't just cause monsters on your side of the field to lose attack points, but if their attack points are lower than the strongest monster in my graveyard, then they're forbidden from attacking at all!"
"Say what?!" Joey exclaimed. This was bad.
"And since attacks are forbidden, lucky you, you don't lose your last scapegoat, but now you've left your Panther Warrior wide open to attack."
"Not good," Joey stated, body tensing. He'd walked straight into that one.
"The card in your hand, will you be using it this turn?" Eliza asked, glancing down at the remaining two cards in her hand.
"Yeah, one card face-down," Joey stated. "That's all I'm gonna do."
"Since it's the end of your turn, my monster's attack points return to their original value," Eliza said as Envoy of the Evening of the Twilight now had 3,000 attack points again. She then drew the top card of her deck. "Whatever card you have there, I'm afraid it won't save you. Mystic Space Typhoon!"
"You gotta be kidding me!" Joey exclaimed and dove to one side as a typhoon tore towards his side of the battlefield, rendering his Kunai with Chain completely useless.
"Next, I summon to the battlefield Gaia the Polar Knight!" A black clad Gaia the Fierce Knight lookalike took field riding a white horse. It had 1,600 attack points and 1,200 defense points.
"Prepare yourself for a painful lesson. Black Luster Soldier, destroy Panther Warrior! Twilight Chaos Slash!"
Black Luster Soldier tore through Joey's monster like a martial art's foot through a plank of wood. Panther Warrior's dead face lay face up on Joey's side of the field as the whole monster was wiped from the board. Joey grimaced, shaking and sweating as he was brought down to his last 500 life points.
"And next, I shall destroy your final scapegoat with Gaia, the Polar Knight! Attack Arctic Shaver!"
With an icy spear, Eliza's monster impaled Joey's monster, leaving his field wide open.
"You have no cards in your hand," Eliza said, staring at Joey. "You have no cards on your field," she said, gazing upon the battlefield. "Even now, will you refuse to concede defeat?"
Joey wrapped his knuckles and just said calmly. "Yeah, I ain't giving up."
Eliza smirked. "Hmph, such will is to be commended, but I'm afraid the odds of you winning are—"
"Don't tell me the odds," Joey said rudely. "I don't care if they're one in a thousand or one in a million! You hear me, Eliza! Nothing's gonna stop me from trying! So why don't you end your turn and you'll see how Joey Wheeler fights to the bitter end!"
Eliza folded her arms and smiled. "Well then, who am I to stop you?" her gaze narrowed. "I shall place the last card in my hand face-down," she declared, slapping the card into the appropriate slot as the face-down hologram appeared. "Show me the length of your resolve, Joseph Wheeler. Let me see if there are others out there besides those two that are capable of besting me."
"You got it! One Joey Wheeler comeback play back special coming right up!" Joey exclaimed. I've only got one shot at this. There's only one card in my deck that's gonna get me outta this mess. If I don't draw it…it really will be the end a me.
Joey reached down for the top card of his deck. He hesitated at first, but this was quickly overcome. I can't afford to have doubts or to have hesitation. I gotta just power through this. Joey Wheeler's going straight for the top. "You got it, Yugi?! I'm gonna win and then I'm gonna be the one to duel you when this is all over!" Yelling like a maniac, Joey then shouted, "I won't lose!" He drew the top card of his deck in a flash. He then flipped the card around so he could look at it and his eyes went wide.
He broke out into a grin and then pumped a fist into the air. "ALL RIGHT! Just what I needed." He kissed the card. "Lady luck never fails me when I really need her."
"So, what did you draw?" Eliza asked.
"Just what I needed to turn this duel around," Joey said. "Let's go: Roll of Fate!"
"Roll of Fate, I know that card," Eliza said. "You intend to gamble your victory on a roll of the dice?"
"Truth be told, I'm kinda outta options," Joey admitted. "You're a really tough duelist, Eliza. If I'm gonna take ya down, I'm gonna need a full hand. Well, no, I could probably still manage if I got a three or four, but…let's see what fate has in store. Go, Roll of Fate!"
The large white dice block hurled into the air and then tumbled onto the ground. After it finished moving, six dots were visible on the face-up side of the die.
"All right! Full hand baby! Watch and learn! Cause now I draw six cards and then send the top six cards of my deck to the graveyard. Let's see what I can do!" Joey exclaimed and drew six cards. Then he put six cards into the graveyard.
"Well," Eliza said calmly. "Do you have what you need to beat me?"
"I sure hope so," Joey said. "I activate another copy of Polymerization, allowing me to fuse two of my favorite monsters. I'm puttin' together Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Rocket Warrior to create Red-Eyes Slash Dragon!"
Red-Eyes stormed to the field, but it was wearing armor like it had been given the same iron armor Gearfried normally wore. It had 2,800 attack points and 2,400 defense points.
"Have you learned nothing from your last turn? Your monster can't attack unless it has 3,000 or more attack points."
"I didn't forget," Joey said, holding up an equip spell. "That's why I got this, the equip-spell Big Bang Shot!"
The artwork of a man kicking an explosion was revealed on Joey's side of the field as its power boosted Red-Eyes Slash Dragon's attack power by 400 points. It now had 3,200 points total.
"Hmph, even with that many points, your monster would still be beaten by Black Luster Soldier."
"Who said anything about targeting your Soldier?" Joey asked. "I'm going straight for Gaia!"
Eliza was surprised to say the least. If Joey dealt damage right now.
"W-well, Gaia still gains 500 of your monster's attack points," Eliza pointed out.
Joey's monster's attack points fell to 2,700 and Eliza's gained 500, bringing it up to 2,100. The gap was now 600 points wide, which was just enough to wipe her out.
"And I still have this," Eliza pointed out. "Go! Reinforcements!"
Eliza revealed her trap card. "This gives my monster an immediate 500-point boost!"
Eliza's monster gained 500 attack points, giving it a total of 2,600.
"And my monster gets to equip one of the warrior monsters in my graveyard for an extra 200-point boost!" Joey declared.
The spirit of Gearfried the Iron Knight appeared along Red-Eyes Slash Dragon as its eyes glowed, raising its decreased attack power to a solid 2,900.
The two monsters clashed and Gaia, the Polar Knight, was cut down by Slash Dragon, reducing Eliza's barely there life points down to only 300.
"Aw, yeah!" Joey exclaimed, giving Eliza a thumb's up. "Advantage, Joey! Now, I'm just gonna play one card face-down and end my turn."
"I wouldn't be celebrating if I were you!" Eliza declared. "I still have life points and my Black Luster Soldier! This duel is not over!" Eliza drew the top card of her deck. "And next, I activate this magic card, the mighty Fissure! Now I can destroy your monster just because it's the only monster on your field!"
"I don't think so!" Joey exclaimed. "Check this out!"
A trap? Eliza thought, figuring Joey was going to use his trap card to win.
However, suddenly, Joey's Gearfried the Iron Knight suddenly engulfed the artwork of Eliza's spell card.
"What?" Eliza gasped.
"Sorry, Eliza," Joey told her, "But Red-Eyes Slash Dragon can discard one of the monsters or any other equip card I control to the graveyard and negate any effect targeting it, which means your magic card ain't gonna cut it. Get it? Cut it? See what I did there?"
Eliza was not amused. "Then I shall bring it down the old fashioned way!" Eliza shouted, plucking a card from her hand. "With brute force!"
"Brute force?" Joey asked, digging wax out of one of his ears with his pinky. "Uh, doesn't your monster have lower attack points?"
"Not for long," Eliza said as she brought her hand and the card in it down towards the card reader. "I activate Lucky Iron Axe! This magical axe will raise my monster's attack points by 500 points!" Black Luster Soldier's sword was replaced as it now held aloft a mighty katana and its attack power surged to 3,500.
"Uh, okay, this does not look good here," Joey gulped. His monster only had 3,200 attack points by comparison.
"Black Luster Soldier! Attack! Murasame Blade Slash!"
With a powerful swing of his new sword, Black Luster Soldier cut straight through Joey's monster, utterly annihilating it in one swing, and bringing his life points down to a measly 200 points.
"So much for the dragon you loved so much," Eliza said calmly.
"You wish!" Joey shouted. "This duel ain't over yet! I draw!" Joey pulled the top card of his deck to his hand and didn't look at it before proclaiming. "And I got a little surprise for you, Eliza. Go, Graverobber!"
Joey's face-down card was revealed, showing the little gremlin that had gotten him out of many jams before and he was holding up Eliza's Mystic Space Typhoon.
"A valiant effort, but you'll accomplish nothing by targeting Lucky Iron Axe."
"Who said anything about targeting your fancy sword?" Joey asked, "I'm going right for Intimidation!"
"No! You can't!" Eliza shouted.
"I just did."
The whirlpool tore across the arena and destroyed Eliza's powerful continuous trap. Eliza grit her teeth after her card was destroyed. "I don't see what this is going to gain you. I still have a monster on the field with 3,800 attack points. I might only have 200 life points to spare, but you've only got two cards in your hand and nothing on the field."
"And that's all I need to finish this duel, Eliza," Joey said. "I activate Monster Reborn! This'll bring Red-Eyes Slash Dragon immediately back from the graveyard!"
Joey's new, armored Red-Eyes dragon returned from the graveyard snarling and growling, mouth agape.
"My monster still has 700 more attack points than yours."
"That's true, but not for long," Joey said. "I activate the magic card The Warrior Returning Alive!" Joey shouted. "Now I can bring Rocket Warrior back to my hand!" he pulled the monster out of his graveyard. "And since I haven't summoned a monster this turn, I can summon it! Let's go, Rocket Warrior!"
Joey's monster appeared, holding its cute little sword and shield.
With her hands held together under her chin in prayer, Serenity said softly, "Joey just won the duel."
"What? How can you tell?" Tristan asked.
"I don't know…" Serenity said as her eyes shook while gazing up at the arena. "But it's like…I just…can see it."
"Rocket Warrior, activate Invincible Mode and take Black Luster Soldier down a peg or two! Invincible Attack!"
Rocket Warrior transformed into its Rocket mode and slammed into Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Evening Twilight. The monster took a knee as if in pain, attack points dropping to 3,000.
"Okay. My monster still has 200 more attack points!" Eliza proclaimed.
"Wrong again, or did you forget Slash Dragon's special ability. Red-Eyes Slash Dragon, attack!"
Upon beginning the attack, the spirit of Gearfried the Iron Knight yet again adorned the powerful dragon as it, and the weakened Black Luster Soldier clashed blades. It was a fierce cross up with the wrist blade of Red-Eyes scraping against Lucky Iron Axe. However, in the end, Black Luster Soldier won out and shattered the wrist blade, cutting into Red-Eyes flesh, the armor on its body being little more than plastic against the axe's sharp edge.
However, Red-Eyes retaliated by breathing hot flames onto the ground and taking a big bite out of Black Luster Soldier. With one last shield bash against Red-Eyes open wound, the two monsters fell to the ground and perished in the blaze, neither of their owners taking damage. Eliza still had 300 life points left and Joey still had 200.
"Okay, so what? I still have a monster in my hand to summon next turn. With it, I will—"
"Hold on, before any of that happens, Red-Eyes Slash Dragon's special ability activates," Joey said cheerfully.
"Special ability? It's dead," Eliza said, only for her eye to dilate as she noticed Gearfried's spirit materializing. "No way…"
"Whenever Red-Eyes Slash Dragon is destroyed, any monsters equipped to it are automatically summoned to the field. And since it's still my turn, that means I can still attack!" Joey exclaimed, thrusting a fist forward in tandem with the 1,800 attack point Gearfried the Iron Knight.
Eliza scowled and growled as Gearfried rushed forward, but it faded quickly and it turned into a smile. How ironic that an armored monster would seal my demise. She opened her arms, standing with her legs together as though she were nailed to an invisible cross. She closed her eyes. I face defeat with dignity.
Gearfried swung out wide at Eliza as the wind made her hair billow in the breeze, but she didn't budge all that much else. She opened her eyes and stood with a smirk, arm down at her side as her life points ticked down all the way to 0.
"Well done," she said.
"We have a winner!" Mokuba declared as the triumphant chibi of Joey stood over the fallen chibi of Eliza. "Joey Wheeler wins!"
"All right, big brother!" Serenity cheered.
"That's how ya do it, man!" Tristan shouted.
"That's it, Joey! Nice goin'" Téa added.
"Miho knew you could do it!"
Bakura, not the cheering type, merely nodded in approval.
"Aw, yeah!" Joey exclaimed, jumping into the air. "Did you see that, Yug? I won!"
"Yes, I did," Yami said with a smile.
"Yes, quite impressive," Eliza said with a calm, practically serene demeanor. "You're natural born duelist, Joseph Wheeler."
Joey's face broke out into a goofy grin. He put both hands behind his head and laughed.
"Well, there's nothing else to say on the matter. I lost. I suppose I'll find a seat somewhere in the audience." She turned to leave the arena. However, before her first foot left the arena, she stopped. "Perhaps our paths will cross again one day, under the skies of another tournament, with another prize on the line."
"I'd like that. You were really tough Eliza. I can tell I got a long way to go before I'm as tough as you."
Eliza turned around in confusion. "As tough? But you won."
Joey continued to grin like an idiot. "Nah, I just got lucky. Honestly, if I hadn't drawn Warrior Returning Alive I didn't know what I was gonna do, but I sure made it seem easy, huh?"
Eliza smiled. "Dueling is about heart, isn't that what you said, or something close to it at least?"
"Yeah, you got that right," Joey said with an equally friendly smile.
Eliza placed her right hand over her left breast. "Then I shall grow my heart. I shall become a fearsome duelist whose kind heart is known throughout the world. That way none will be able to defeat me."
"I think that's an admirable goal," Yami said. "I look forward to seeing where your path will take you."
"Praise from you, king," Eliza said, bowing, "Is most appreciated." She then put her knuckles against her hip and looked all around. "Anyway, I should not be wasting the audience's time with such a trivial conversation." She jumped down off the arena and circled away from the break room and along the rows and rows of seats to find an open one. "Good luck to you, Joey. May fortune favor you."
"You two, Eliza. You really let me see what this tournament's gonna be like," Joey said, but he had said it so quietly that, even if Eliza were much closer, it's unlikely she would have heard him.
"Quite the first duel," Yami said to Joey. "You performed admirably."
"Yeah, but I got a lot of work to do," Joey said. "I spent so much time stuffing my face, I was completely unprepared for someone like Eliza. I'm gonna go back in that break room and I'm gonna double down on my training. I'm a real duelist now so I gotta act like one if I wanna win the honor of dueling you at the enda this tournament, pal."
"I believe in you, Joey," Yami said. "See you next round."
Joey smirked and bumped fists with his best friend before heading off into the break room. Yami then sat back down in his chair.
"Joey did amazing," Yugi said, watching his friend leave.
"He performed well, but he'll have to perform better if he wants to win in the next round," Yami said.
"Oh yeah, he'll be facing Gundham after all, huh?" Yugi realized. "Well, we'll just have to believe in him like we've always believed in him. Right, pal?"
"Agreed," Yami stated.
"The first half of the first round of the Kaiba Corp Grand Prix has now concluded!" Mokuba exclaimed. "We'll be back to announce the start of the second round after this commercial break!"
After a healthy dose of ads run and approved by the Kaiba Corporation, it was time to announce the next match.
"The ninth match of the first round of the Kaiba Corp Grand Prix is about to begin!" Mokuba exclaimed. "Who do we have next, Seto?"
Running the randomizer in his computer, Kaiba called, "Will Rex Raptor and Celestia Ludenberg please make their way to the stage now?"
After some cheering and clapping, the Dynamic Dino Duelist and the Ultimate Gambler made their way to the arena, Celeste taking the spot on the far end from the break room. She gave little waves to the audience, some already with banners. A scant few audience members had come all the way from Canada just to see her duel.
"Well, shall we get the formalities out of the way?" Celeste asked. "You could spare yourself the embarrassment and thrust your hand on top of your duel disk in surrender now. It'll be far less painful."
"Fat chance!" Rex responded. "I did not claw my way through the preliminaries only to quit now!"
"Oh my, you do know who I am yes?"
"Yeah, you're Celestia Ludenberg. You're the Ultimate Gambler and you won the Canadian Nationals when we competed."
"Quite, which begs me to ask the important question," Celeste said as she mischievously covered her mouth with her fingers, "How many Joeys have you beaten?"
"All right, enough!" Rex shouted. "I'm not gonna stand there and let you belittle me! I came here to duel! So get out your deck and let's do this thing!"
Celeste did so, activating her duel disk, but she wasn't done with the head games. "Standing on the legacy of what, exactly, Rex? A bug enthusiast who cheated and manipulated his way to the top?"
"Weevil was a good duelist!" Rex shouted. "So he cheated a few times when the pressure was on! So, what? He was still my friend!"
"Tell that to the internet," Celeste chuckled.
Rex growled. "I am going to enjoy wiping that smug little grin off your face, Celeste."
"Many have tried," Celeste said as she drew the top five cards of her deck. "All have failed."
"Well there's a first time for everything," Rex said, doing the same.
"Rex, trust me. You're not a bad duelist, but you're so boring you couldn't make the top five of the most interesting duelists here. If not to me, you could've lost against any number of top-level competitors, like Mai Valentine."
Oh. It was on now.
"You gonna run your mouth all day, or are we going to duel?" Rex asked.
"Of course we are," Celeste said. "As soon as that big screen up there decides who goes first."
The randomizer flipped back and forth between Celeste and Rex and, ultimately, it was the Gambler that got the first turn.
"This duel will be over before you've even begun to realize it," Celeste said and went for the top card of her deck.
"Let's duel!" She and Rex declared at the same time.
The ninth duel of the Kaiba Corp Grand Prix was now underway.
(A/N: Phew. Done. Finally. I hope the four months of waiting lived up to the intensity of that duel. I tried my best. Anyway, the second half of the first round is where things really begin to pick up. I hope that it just won't take me four months between now and another updated ^^;. Anyway, got little to say. Although, I will say that for those of you on my server, the first person to find the Naruto reference in this chapter gets 100 free bonus points. Please use spoiler tags when declaring it.
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!)