The Queen of Games
Waking the Dragons
Chapter 31: The Battle for Mai's Soul
As Joey and Mai activated their duel disks, the gang watched.
"I hope Joey knows what he's doing" Tea said.
"I'm more worried about Mai. If she plays the Seal of Orichalcos..." Jun trailed off.
"Joey can win this. He just needs to trust in himself and in his deck" Daisuke said.
"Daisuke's right. Joey has faced tougher opponents in his dueling career and Mai's no exception" Yami said.
"This is it. This is the only way to get through to Mai. I can't hold back. Not with everything at stake" Joey thought as he and Mai drew their initial hands.
"Let's duel!" The two shouted.
(Joey: 4000)
(Mai: 4000)
"I'll start off by summoning Alligator Sword in attack mode" Joey said as his monster appeared with it's sword at the ready. (Attk: 1500) "Next, I place 2 cards face down and end my turn" Joey finished as 2 face down cards appeared.
"If that's all, then this duel will be easy" Mai said as she drew a card. "I play Cyber Harpy" Mai said as the purple armored harpy appeared with a screech. (Attk: 1800)
"Attack Alligator Sword!" Mai commanded as her monster charged at Joey's and slashed it with it's claws, destroying it.
(Joey: 3700)
"I'll also place 2 cards face down and end my turn" Mai finished.
"Here goes" Joey said as he drew Gearfried the Iron Knight. "I'll save Gearfried for later" Joey thought. "I play Rocket Warrior in defense mode" Joey said as Rocket Warrior appeared in it's warrior form. (Def: 1300)
"How pathetic" Mai said as she drew a card. "I play Harpy Lady in attack mode" Mai said as her signature monster appeared. (Attk: 1300) "Take out his Rocket Warrior!" Mai commanded as Harpy Lady flew towards Rocket Warrior and destroyed it with one slash of it's claws. "Now for Cyber Harpy, attack Joey's life points!" Mai commanded as her second harpy went in for the kill.
"Activate facedown card, Scapegoat" Joey said as 4 colored sheep appeared.
"It doesn't surprise me that you and Daisuke carry the same card in your deck, so this shouldn't surprise you either. I reveal my facedown card, Nightmare Tri-Mirror. This trap card lets me summon 4 more Harpies to the field" Mai said as a mirror appeared and it showed a reflection of Joey's scapegoats. Soon, 4 Harpy Ladies appeared on the field. (Attk: 1300 x4)
"Fortunately for you, my Harpies can't attack until next turn" Mai said.
"That means Joey's safe" Willis said.
"But for how long?" Mokuba asked as Mai drew a card.
"It's time to take this duel up a notch" Mai said.
"She didn't..." Tristan trailed off.
"I'm afraid she did" Daisuke said with dread.
"I play the Seal of Orichalcos" Mai said as the dreaded Seal descended from the night sky and soon landed on the field, surrounding Joey and Mai. "And thanks to the Seal, my monsters get a 500 point boost" Mai said as the Seal appeared on her forehead and there was a hint of red in her eyes. The Seal appeared on all 6 of her Harpies and their eyes glowed red.
(Cyber Harpy: 1800-2300)
(Harpy Lady: 1300-1800 x5)
"This isn't good" Tai said.
"And it's about to get even worse, Harpy Lady 1 attack his Scapegoat!" Mai commanded as her first harpy flew at one of Joey's Scapegoats and destroyed it.
"Now for Harpy Lady 2, attack his second Scapegoat!" Mai commanded as her second harpy flew at a second Scapegoat and destroyed it.
"Now Joey only has 2 Scapegoats left" Tea said.
"It's going to take a miracle for Joey to stay in this duel" Duke said.
"Joey won't give up. He'll find a way to beat Mai. We just have to believe in him" Daisuke said.
"You can cheer till you're blue in the face, it still won't be enough to stop me. And once Wheeler's out of my way, you're next, Daisuke" Mai said.
"Bring it on, I'll kick your ass all the way to China and back!" Daisuke dared.
"Calm down, Daisuke. That's just what Mai wants" Matt said.
"It's Joey's turn now" Tea said as Joey drew a card.
"I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight in attack mode" Joey said as his iron knight appeared. (Attk: 1800) "Next, I place 2 cards face down and end my turn" Joey added as 2 face down cards appeared behind his monster.
"Is that all? Then, take this. I play Aero Nail and equipped it to Harpy Lady. Increasing her attack points by 300" Mai said as a long claw appeared on Harpy Lady's right hand.
(Harpy Lady: 1800-2100)
"Attack Gearfried the Iron Knight!" Mai commanded as her monster flew towards Joey's side of the field.
"Activate face down card, Double Magic Arm Bind" Joey said as his face down card flipped up and his last 2 scapegoats vanished. "By sacrificing my last 2 scapegoats, I get 2 of your Harpy Ladies" Joey said as 2 arms grabbed 2 of Mai's harpies and brought them to Joey's side of the field.
"Then they have to go" Mai said.
"Not after I activate my second face down card, Vow of Tribe. If we have the same monster on the field, then they can't attack this turn" Joey said.
"Nice save, Joey" Tristan said.
"You got this duel in the bag" Yolei said.
"Here goes" Joey said as he drew a card and he smiled at what he drew. "I hope you're ready for some fireworks, Mai. I sacrifice Gearfried, along with your 2 Harpies to summon Gilford the Lightning" Joey said as his 3 monsters vanished and soon lightning struck the field, and soon the muscular warrior appeared. (Attk: 2800)
"Alright, Joey" Jun said.
"And there's more. Gilford, show Mai what you can do" Joey said as Gilford took his sword and raised it in the air and lightning struck Mai's monsters and destroyed them.
"My monsters..." Mai said in shock.
"When Gilford is summon by sacrificing 3 monsters, he can destroy all monsters on my opponent's side of the field, but I'm not done yet. Gilford, attack Mai's life points directly!" Joey commanded as Gilford charged at Mai and slashed her across the chest, causing her to slide back.
(Mai: 1200)
"Way to go, Joey. Now, Mai's down to 1200 life points" Daisuke said.
"All Joey needs is one more attack and he'll win" Tea said.
"Yeah, but don't forget if Joey wins, Mai loses her souls" Kari said.
"But if Mai wins, we lose Joey. And we're next" Tristan said.
"Joey will find a way to win" Yami said.
"Let's hope so" Willis said.
"It's been a long time since anyone has been able to land a scratch on me, but now the gloves are off. It's my turn" Mai said as she drew a card. "I play Monster Reborn to bring back Cyber Harpy" Mai said as the purple armored harpy appeared. (Attk: 1800-2300)
"Next, I play Amazon Paladin" Mai added as a woman wielding a sword appeared on the field. (Attk: 1700-2200) "Then, I'll place one card face down and end my turn" Mai said as a face down card appeared.
"Here goes" Joey said as he drew a card. "I play Blue Flame Swordsman in defense mode" Joey announced as Flame Swordsman appeared on the field, except he was wearing blue armor and was carrying a blue sword in its hand. (Def: 1600) "Now Gilford, attack Mai's Amazon Paladin!" Joey commanded as his monster charged toward Mai's.
"I reveal my face down card, Amazon Magician. This lets switch the attack points of my monster with the attack points of your monster" Mai said.
(Gilford the Lightning: 2800-2200)
(Amazon Paladin: 2200-2800)
"Now, Amazon Paladin, take out Gilford the Lightning!" Mai commanded as her harpy slashed Gilford with her claws, destroying it.
(Joey: 3100)
"That was Joey's best monster" Mokuba said.
"What next?" Tai asked.
"This" Mai answered. "Cyber Harpy, attack Blue Flame Swordsman!" Mai commanded as her monster charged and slashed Joey's warrior with its claws.
"By destroying Blue Flame Swordsman, you activated it's special ability, allowing me to summon the original Flame Swordsman in its place" Joey said as a bright flame appeared in front of him and his signature swordsman emerged from the fire. (Attk: 1800)
"He won't be around for long. My move" Mai said as she drew a card. "I play Amazon Trainee" Mai said as a young woman wielding a chain appeared. (Attk: 1500-2000)
"You triggered my trap card. Trap Hole" Joey said as Mai's monster fell in a hole. "When you summon a monster with 1000 attack points or more, Trap Hole automatically destroys that monster" Joey said, causing Mai to snarl in fury.
"I end my turn" Mai said.
Joey drew a card and saw he drew Star Blaster. "I place one card face down and I'll summon Armored Lizard in defense mode" Joey said as the blue armored monster appeared, followed by a face down card. (Def: 1200)
"Is this your way of trying to drag this duel out in hopes of waiting for the right card? Well, it won't work" Mai said as she drew a card. "I play Elegant Egotist. This splits me trade in my Cyber Harpy for the Harpy Lady Sisters" Mai said as her monster glowed and soon 3 Harpy with different hair colors appeared. (Attk: 1950-2450)
"Attack Armored Lizard!" Mai commanded as her 3 monsters flew at Joey's monster and destroyed it.
"Mai's beating Joey left and right. Is there anything he can do?" Tea asked.
"There's only one card that can help, it's just a matter of drawing it" Yami said.
"Let's hope so, because I don't think Mai is going to give him a chance" Yolei said as Joey drew a card.
"Just what I need. I play Pot of Greed, this lets me draw 2 cards" Joey said as she drew 2 cards from his deck and he saw he drew Red Eyes White Dragon and the Claw of Hermos. "First, I'll sacrifice my Flame Swordsman in order to activate my face down card, Star Blaster" Joey said as his monster vanished and a red die rolled across the field. "Star Blaster lets me roll any number on the field thanks to my monster's power level, if it lands on any number, I can summon that monster with that many stars" Joey said as the die slowed down and soon the die landed on a two.
"Alright, 5+2= 7. Now here comes a 7 star monster. I summon Red Eyes White Dragon" Joey said as the white dragon appeared with a roar. (Attk: 2600)
"Alright, way to go, Joey!" Duke cheered.
"And I'm afraid there's more bad news. I play The Warrior Returning Alive. This lets me bring back any warrior monster from the graveyard and I choose Gilford the Lightning" Joey said as his muscular warrior appeared. (Attk: 2800)
"And there's more, I play the Claw of Hermos" Joey said as the ruby spiked dragon appeared with a roar.
"No, it can't be" Mai said with a stunned look.
"Now I fuse Hermos with my Red Eyes to create the Red Eyes White Dragon Sword" Joey said as the 2 dragons fused to create the weapon that was used to beat Rex. "And thanks to my sword, Gilford's attack points increased by 1000" Joey said as Gilford took the sword into his hands.
(Gilford the Lightning: 2800-3800)
"Now what's Joey going to do?" Tea asked.
"Attack, hopefully" Rebecca said.
"Mai, I don't want to do this. But I have to attack, it's the only way. I promise we'll rescue you and everyone else Dartz has taken" Joey said as tears started to form in his eyes.
"No, I can't lose" Mai said as she wrapped her arms around herself.
"It's going to be ok" Joey said. "Gilford, attack Mai's Harpy Lady Sisters!" Joey commanded as his monster swung his sword and sent a shockwave towards Mai's harpies and destroyed them, Mai could only stare in stunned shock as she looked at her duel disk and saw her life points drop.
(Mai: 0)
Soon, the Seal began to shrink around Mai as she looked to the gang. "Please, I can't go back there, please don't let me go back there" Mai begged as the gang could do nothing but watched as Mai fell unconscious as the Seal disappeared.
"Poor Mai" Mimi said.
"She didn't deserve to go out like this" Tristan said.
"I know. But now's not the time to mourn for Mai. we need to get Dartz and fast" Yami said.
"Yugi's right. Beating Dartz is the only to set everyone he captured free" Matt said.
"I'll call for a helicopter to take Mai and Valon to the hospital" Mokuba said.
"We better get going too. I've already got the location of Paradius Headquarters" Rebecca said as the gang went to the trailer, while Duke, Tai and a couple of the others went to the truck. Just then, Daisuke spotted a card on the ground and picked it up. "Cyber Harpy?" Daisuke asked.
"It seems she wants to go with you, Daisuke. Mai would want you to have that card" Hitmoi said.
"If it'll get us closer to Dartz" Daisuke said as Joey walked over to her.
"Daisuke, we got one more duelist left to deal with before we can get to Dartz" Joey said.
"Raphael" Daisuke said.
"Here, I think you'll need this" Joey said as he gave Daisuke the Claw of Hermos.
"You sure you want to give me your legendary dragon, Joey?" Daisuke asked.
"Yugi's going to need to some help when he faces Raphael, and I have a feeling that card is going to help" Joey answered.
"Thanks, Joey" Daisuke said as she put Cyber Harpy and the Claw of Hermos in her deck and shuffled it.
"Let's go" Daisuke said as she and Joey went to catch up with the others.
The End
A/N: Coming up next, Yami and Daisuke join forces to take on Raphael as the gang gets closer to taking down Dartz. You don't want to miss it. As always, I don't own Digimon or Yu-Gi-Oh! Just Asta and her fusion forms.