Last Time: Yugi and Kaiba met up in the diner to discuss their pending third duel. Both agreed to hold it this Friday, but they're both surprised when the press immediately jumps all over it. The third duel between Yugi and Kaiba is about to be HEAVILY publicized! And that gives an idea to one Joey Wheeler.


Tiebreaker: Part 2


Home alone for the moment, Joey dug through a heavy pile of junk looking for anything he could use for his latest endeavor. Seeing the coverage that Yugi's duel with Kaiba was sure to get, it gave Joey the best idea he had had in years.

But he was so wrapped up in looking through his pigsty that he didn't notice somebody clunk him on the head with a frying pan.

"HEY!" Joey turned around to see his good friend, Tristan, holding the pan in question. "What's the idea, Tristan?!"

"What's the idea of you running out on us in the diner?" Tristan shot back. "It was your turn to pay! Téa had to take the check!"

"Why didn't YOU pay?" Joey asked frankly.

Tristan sweatdropped. "Uh…I was short. But that doesn't excuse you for running out on us. What was your hurry?"

"The idea of the century!" Joey said proudly. "If Yugi's duel with Kaiba is REALLY gonna get all the attention we know it is, then it should be really easy…to cash in on it!"

"What do you mean?" Tristan asked skeptically.

Joey held up a blank white T-shirt. "We'll sell souvenirs! We'll sell Yugi/Kaiba T-shirts! Yugi/Kaiba caps! Yugi/Kaiba mugs! Yugi/Kaiba posters! Yugi/Kaiba commemorative plates! We'll go the whole nine yards! And we'll make a fortune off this stuff!!"

Just thinking about the possibilities made Joey break out one of his trademark impish grins. Tristan wasn't biting just yet, but Joey knew him better than anybody. It wouldn't be long before he was playing ball right alongside him.

"First of all, we don't HAVE any of that stuff!" Tristan pointed out.

"Doesn't matter," Joey replied. "We have until Thursday to get all of our inventory in gear and be ready for Friday's duel. Now if we're looking for maximum profits, we'll need to have a lot of inventory, so we'd probably have to miss a whole week of school."

"I have no problem missing school."

"Me neither," Joey grinned. "And we'll probably need supplies and materials. We can get all that stuff tonight. And by the end of the week, we should have more than enough souvenirs ready to go on sale! Think of it, Tristan! We can't miss with this! We're gonna be RICH!"

Tristan was thinking about it. "Rich, huh?"

While Tristan was merely thinking, Joey had blasted off into all-out daydreaming. Joey was thinking about laying back on a lounge chair in the Hawaiian islands, drinking out of a coconut shell with beautiful Hawaiian hula girls fanning him and catering to his every whim. Just thinking about it made him want to get right to work. But there was still the matter of making sure his partner in crime was in on the deal.

"So what do you say, Tristan?"

Tristan smirked. "I'm in!"

Joey and Tristan whooped and exchanged a high five. The stage was set for the biggest merchandising campaign in Domino City's history to begin.

And they would start immediately.

Yugi couldn't concentrate the next day at school. Everyone would occasionally stare at him, even his teachers. Everyone was excited about the coming duel with Kaiba. But Yugi was feeling butterflies in his stomach as he sat down at the bench in front of school. His friends weren't even there to comfort him. Joey and Tristan, for some strange reason, weren't at school that day. And Téa was at a club meeting.

So Yugi found himself at a bench and didn't even move. Usually, he'd head back to his grandpa's card shop after school, but seeing all those Duel Monsters cards would only remind him of what was coming up.

"Yugi?"

Yugi turned around to see that a friend HAD showed up. It was Bakura Ryou. Bakura took a seat next to Yugi, still wearing his Millennium Ring around his neck. Like Yugi, Bakura possessed a Millennium Item of his own, but his Yami was the spirit of an ancient grave robber who would stop at nothing to possess all seven Millennium Items. Bakura constantly struggled to keep that spirit buried.

"The coverage is unreal," Bakura began. "It's on every single channel and on every radio station. Everybody's talking about your duel with Kaiba this Friday."

"I can't believe this, Bakura! I've never been so nervous about a duel before in my life! It's like the whole world will be watching! I'm worried about what will happen if I lose."

"Do you really think you can win, Yugi?"

Yugi sighed. "I honestly don't know. The first time I beat Kaiba, it was because I was lucky enough to draw the five pieces of Exodia. But I didn't have Exodia the second time and I ended up losing."

"You didn't lose because you didn't have Exodia," Bakura pointed out. "You lost because Kaiba put himself in danger and forced you to back out of your last move."

"But I can't forget how good a duelist Kaiba is. And with all this publicity, he'll be sure to stop at nothing until he beats me."

Bakura reached into his backpack and pulled out his card deck. "Maybe this can help." He pulled out the top card and handed it to Yugi.

Yugi gasped. "The Change of Heart card?"

Bakura nodded. "Kaiba's deck holds the only three Blue Eyes White Dragons in the game of Duel Monsters and that's definitely nothing to sneeze at. But with this, you can take control of any Blue Eyes he has on the field for one turn. It'll give you a great advantage."

Yugi started envisioning his duel with Kaiba if he had the Change of Heart card, Bakura's favorite card, on his side. He could turn one of his Blue Eyes White Dragons against another. Because they have even attack strength, they could eliminate each other. Or Yugi could turn it against a weaker monster Kaiba has on the field and take out a chunk of his life points. It would definitely be useful in a tight spot.

But Yugi shook his head and gently declined. "Thanks, Bakura. But I'd rather win with my own cards. I've beaten Kaiba before and I'm sure I can do it again."

"You're absolutely sure, Yugi?" Bakura persisted. "Kaiba could have many tricks that he hasn't shown you yet. Are you willing to risk heading into this duel without the Change of Heart card?"

Bakura made a good point. Yugi still remembered the day Kaiba came into the card shop looking for his grandpa's Blue Eyes White Dragon. Kaiba's briefcase was filled with Duel Monsters cards. He must have had every card in the world. And to become the world's best duelist meant that Kaiba obviously knew how to use them and implement unbeatable strategies.

But Yugi declined, nonetheless. "I believe in the Heart of the Cards. I'll find a way to win this duel."

Bakura took back the Change of Heart card and put it in his deck. "I sure hope you know what you're doing, Yugi."

Yugi sighed deeply. "I hope so, too."

The sun was starting to set and Joey was getting exhausted. He had been laboring with many of the supplies he had picked up for his merchandising campaign out in his front yard, but creating merchandise from scratch was much more difficult than it first seemed.

"What have we got so far, Tristan?" Joey moaned.

Tristan held up the results of a whole day's worth of work. "Five T-shirts."

"You mean that's it?!" Joey exclaimed. "We worked all that time and all we have are five stinkin' T-shirts?!"

That's when Joey heard a feminine voice behind him. "You really have no idea what you're doing, do you, little Joey?"

Joey sweatdropped and groaned when he heard that voice. He turned his head to see that familiar head of blond hair that belonged to Mai Valentine.

"What do you want, Mai?" Joey asked dryly.

"To give you two amateurs a hand," Mai answered. "I'm assuming that you want to cash in on Friday's big duel by making a bunch of souvenirs to sell?"

"What's it to you?" Joey responded snidely.

Mai smirked. "What if I said I could help you go a lot faster? I could make it so you have every piece of merchandise you could ever hope to make."

Joey wasn't buying this. "I'd say 'What's the catch?'"

"I want a piece of the pie," Mai proposed. "Think about it, Joey. You won't get very far at your current pace, especially with Tristan over there as your only helper. But let me in on this and you'll get everything done. What do you say?"

"Welcome to the team!" Tristan blurted out.

"Hold it!" Joey cut in. "Just how BIG a piece of the pie are we talking about here?"

Mai made her offer. "I want half the profits!"

"But there are three of us!" Joey pointed out.

"Suit yourself, little Joey. But I can guarantee you more than ten times the current output you're getting. All I'm asking for is half. Take it or leave it."

"We'll take it!"

"TRISTAN!"

"Come on, Joey! We've got FIVE T-shirts done! If Mai thinks she can get us farther, then let's give her a chance!"

"Yeah, Joey! You don't even know what I've got in store yet."

Joey conceded with a sigh. "Alright Mai. Just what do you have in mind?"

"Well, I've got a lot of preliminary ideas, but we can always expand. I'll tell you what. Come on by the empty warehouse a few blocks over by the diner and you'll see exactly what I have in mind."

"Why can't we go now?" Joey asked suspiciously.

"Because I want you to see how everything goes after a full night of work. You can see that giving me half the profits will be more than justified. So if there aren't anymore questions, I'll see you two tomorrow."

Mai walked off with a satisfied look on her face. Joey was still feeling suspicious. But more than that, he was feeling deflated. With Mai now getting half the profits, Joey could see his fantasies of coconut drinks and hula girls on a tropical island fading away. He would be lucky if he got enough for the plane fare.

But if Mai felt that she could help Joey, then he was willing to give her a shot. After all, what could possibly happen?

Seto couldn't get it out of his head. He knew this Friday would mark the day he defeated Yugi and his Yami once and for all, but he couldn't get it out of his mind. Even in his own office, Seto couldn't get the duel off his mind. And most of it was because of Mokuba, who was flipping channels on the office's TV.

Every single channel was saying the same thing. Friday's duel would be the Duel of the Century. There was literally nothing else on.

"This Friday's duel promises to be…"

"Seto Kaiba and Yugi Moto, one more time…"

"Their series is even at one a piece and this Friday…"

"A lot is riding on this Friday's duel between Seto Kaiba and Yugi Moto…"

"Mokuba, turn that off!"

Mokuba shut the TV off just before Seto lost his mind. He couldn't believe that all eyes were on him and Yugi. But Seto believed in his own abilities. Even with the power of the Millennium Puzzle helping him, Yugi could not beat him. Seto knew it. Seto believed it.

"You'd think this was all that was going on in the world," Seto grumbled. "Don't these people have anything better to cover?"

"It's because they know what a big event this is," Mokuba suggested.

"I should be blaming you for this," Seto shot back. "You're the one who called that reporter! Don't you think there's enough pressure riding on me without having the media watching over everything like a hawk?"

"Why feel pressured, big brother? You know you can win, right? You're the best duelist in the world. You have every powerful card at your disposal and there's nothing Yugi has that could possibly defeat you. I know you can win!"

Seto had nearly forgotten that. That's why he loved his little brother. Mokuba was his number one supporter. And he made a good point. Seto knew in his heart that he was the best. He could not be beaten.

"You're right, kiddo. I will beat Yugi AND his Yami. They don't stand a chance."

Seto's phone suddenly rang. He knew this was coming. The first time he lost to Yugi, the members of his board had lost faith in him and attempted to shift control of Kaibacorp to Maximillion Pegasus. After returning from Duelist Kingdom, Seto made sure they paid for their disloyalty.

But with this pending third duel, he knew that he couldn't lose again. The new board wouldn't stand for it. There was more on the line for Seto than anybody else knew.

Finally, after four rings, Seto picked up the phone.

"This is Kaiba. … Yes, I'm aware. … Trust me. I won't lose."


Next Time: Preparations for the duel are still underway. Feeling pressured, Yami Yugi has a quick practice duel. But is the pressure of media coverage throwing Yami off? And the Joey Wheeler merchandising campaign is underway. What's Mai's surprise?


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