Last time on Yu-Gi-Oh: Yugi, Joey, Mai, Tristan, and Bakura were invited to
Duelist Kingdom II. The three semi-finalists were allowed to bring a guest
each, allowing Solomon, Serenity, and Tea to come along. A mysterious young
duelist, Stephen Renaud, appeared, revealing he is the brother of an
eliminator.
~
"Yug," Joey whispered.
"Yeah?" Yugi murmured, half-asleep.
"I'm gonna check out what other duelists are trading."
"Knock yourself out. . ."
Joey stood from his cushioned seat. After stretching a little bit, he proceeded to enter a main area of the boat. Some duelists were dueling, others were trading. Joey watched as Rex Raptor and another kid dueled. Rex couldn't think straight. He continually made errors, such as accidentally playing high leveled monsters.
"My Harpie's Brother attacks your Trakadon, it is destroyed and you lose 500 life points," the kid stated, "that's game."
Rex Raptor cursed under his breath as he cleared his cards away, leaving the enclosed area. The kid looked quite pleased with himself, having taken one of Rex's star-chips.
"Hey," Joey called, "we haven't been told we could duel for star-chips yet!"
"Huh?" the kid looked up, "you must have missed the speech. Richard Pegasus is on the boat with us. He announced that Duelist Kingdom has officially begun. All duels onboard the boat will have to be held without the holographic dueling system."
"Speaking of which," a voice from behind Joey began, "I've been looking to duel an amateur like you."
Joey swung around at the insult. He saw Stephen Renaud. He held up his dueling deck, placing it on one of the many tables.
"Want revenge?" Stephen smirked, "One star-chip match."
Joey tore his deck from the pocket of his green jacket, "You're on!"
They shuffled their decks, then cut their opponent's. They each drew five cards. Stephen allowed Joey to take his first turn.
'This game's already in the bag!' Joey thought as a drew his card, "Go Joey! You're bad! You're bad!"
"Make your move," Stephen stated firmly.
Joey played one monster face-down, along with a Battle Ox in attack mode. He played one card face-down and ended his turn.
Stephen raised an eyebrow. That was barely enough to sing a song about. He drew, "I play Man-eating Treasure Chest, one monster face-down, two cards face-down, and the field magic card Mystic Plasma Zone, raising my Man- eating Treasure Chest up to 2100 attack points. My Treasure Chest attacks your Battle Ox, doing 400 life points damage."
Joey flinched as he heard these words, he placed his Battle Ox in the graveyard.
"I end my turn, Joey."
Joey drew. 'Great, a level 5 monster. I can flip my face-down monster and then tribute it for this one!' Joey flipped his Masaki and placed it in the graveyard.
"I bring out my Flame Cerebrus, who attacks your Man-eating Treasure Chest, destroying it!" Joey laughed.
Stephen stared at him, "Did you forget? My Mystic Plasma Zone brings him up to 2100 attack points, they're both destroyed."
'Crap,' Joey thought, biting his lip. He had no monsters in his hand, he would have to hope that Stephen wouldn't attack with anything too powerful. . .
Stephen drew, added the card to his hand, and looked up at Joey, eyes flashing, "I play Darkfire Soldier #1 in attack mode. I also play this card face-down in magic or trap position. Darkfire Soldier attacks!"
Stephen: 8000, Joey: 5900
Joey drew, immediately playing the card face-down. He ended his turn.
Stephen drew, playing a Darkfire Soldier #2. Both of them attacked. The first attacked the face-down card, an Armored Lizard. The second attacked Joey's life points. With nothing to defend Joey, his life points were very low, with no hopes of rising.
Stephen: 8000, Joey: 4200
Joey drew. It was a Goblin Attack Force. He sighed, playing it in attack mode. He ended his turn, not wanting it to be in defense mode.
Stephen drew. He flipped his Witch of the Black Forest, which he then tributed for Summoned Skull. Joey winced, flipping his trap, a Trap Hole. Stephen glared at Joey as he moved his Summoned Skull to the graveyard.
"I do still get to take a monster from my deck," Stephen stated, looking through his deck and taking a card, "I play one card face-down and end my turn."
Joey grinned broadly, seeing the card he drew, "My Goblin Attack Force attacks your Darkfire Soldier #2, destroying it. I then tribute it to play Judge Man! And now I play the field magic card Sogen, to power up my Judge Man to 2400 attack points!"
Stephen: 7400, Joey: 4200
Stephen drew. He calmly flipped his face-down monster, a Man-eater Bug. He destroyed the Judge Man using its effect, "There is nothing to these cards but sheer strategy. You can't win by using your favorites. Abandon your miserable idealism, embrace the realistic style! Darkfire Soldier, attack!"
Stephen: 7400, Joey: 2500
Joey drew, "So you're like Kaiba, eh? Well, I'll have you know that I. . .well. . .never mind about me an' Kaiba!"
Joey played a monster face-down and ended his turn. Stephen drew, then tributed his Darkfire Soldier and Man-eater Bug for his Dark Magician. He equipped it with a Sword of Deep-seated. He played a monster face-down and then attacked with Dark Magician, sending Prevent Rat to the graveyard.
"Your move, Joey."
Joey drew, playing a monster face-down once more and ending his turn.
Stephen drew. He flipped his Hane-hane, sending the monster back to Joey's hand. His Dark Magician attacked, reducing Joey's life points to 0.
"No!" Joey shouted, "How could I lose to a Kaiba like you?"
"I'm not a Kaiba," Stephen muttered, taking Joey's star-chip, "I'm a Renaud."
"I didn't know you had those cards," a friendly voice said from behind him.
Joey turned, seeing Serenity. Apparently, she had been watching the whole duel, "Well, Yugi and I, along with Mai, bought a bunch of booster packs. You know, to soup up our decks."
"I guess it didn't work," Serenity smiled, looking at Joey's one remaining star-chip in his glove.
"Yeah. . ." Joey sighed.
A young man stood in the corner, smiling. He was shadowed in the dim light. He was leaning against the wall, holding a Duel Monsters deck in his left hand.
'Well done, little brother,' he thought to himself.
~
Yugi woke up. The first thing he saw was Joey. More specifically, Joey's arm, which he was leaning against during his sleep. He looked down to see the familiar glove.
"Gaa!" Yugi screamed, leaping from his seat.
"What's wrong, Yug?" Joey asked dully.
"You only have one star-chip!" Yugi pointed.
"Yeah, I lost to that Kaiba, Stephen."
"Kaiba Stephen?" Yugi asked, dumbfounded, "Stephen a Kaiba? I thought he was a Renaud."
"He is, but he acts all snooty like a Kaiba," Joey muttered staring out the window.
Yugi sighed "You need to be more careful, Joey. Don't duel professionals like him."
"How was I supposed to know he was a professional! He was just some kid!" Joey yelled.
"Joey, you disgust me!" Mai scolded, "You lose a match to a kid whose better than you, and what do you do? You spend your time complaining! Go out there and practice or win some star-chips or something! If you get hit once, do you sit there and get beaten to a pulp? No, you defend yourself! Fight that kid, he's got. . .weird hair!"
"That's Rex Raptor," Tristan pointed out.
"Yeah, kill him!" Mai shouted, "I can't stand him, he's so arrogant!"
Joey stood, walking over to his next opponent. He held up his deck, "Hey, Rex. We've both only got one star-chip, how 'bout a duel. Loser becomes the first spectator onboard, deal?"
Rex nodded, beginning to shuffle his deck. Rex went first. Joey thought that he lost last time he went first, may as well try something different.
"I play Uraby in attack mode and end my turn."
Joey drew. He thought hard. His mind felt like it was going to burst. In his hand was an Armored Lizard, Battle Ox, Garoozis, Moon Envoy, Shield and Sword, and Ookazi. He started by playing Ookazi, along with his Battle Ox in attack mode, Moon Envoy face-down, and Shield and Sword face-down. Battle Ox attacked Uraby.
Joey: 8000, Rex: 7000
Rex drew. He played two monsters face-down and ended his turn.
Joey drew. It was a Summoned Skull. It was coming back to him. He had found a Summoned Skull in a booster pack, so Yugi had given him his Polymerization card for his Red-Eyes Black Dragon. If only he could draw those cards, though.
He tributed his Moon Envoy for Summoned Skull. Summoned Skull attacked one monster, which was Mammoth Graveyard, but he forgot to attack with Battle Ox. He ended his turn.
Rex drew. Closing his eyes to think, Rex moved his lips, talking silently to himself. He decided to flip his face-down Krokodilus card and tribute it to bring out a Megazowler. Megazowler attacked Battle Ox, destroying it.
Joey: 7900, Rex: 7000
Joey drew. He had a Prevent Rat. He played it and his Armored Lizard face- down and Summoned Skull attacked.
Joey: 7900, Rex: 6300
Rex played a monster face-down and ended his turn. Joey drew.
'Alright, a Red-Eyes! I just need my Polymerization now!'
He flipped Prevent Rat and Armored Lizard, tributing them for Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Red-Eyes attacked the defense monster, Tomozaurus, and Summoned Skull attacked life points directly.
Joey: 7900, Rex: 3800
Rex drew. He played two monsters face down. He then used the magic card Share the Pain, destroying Two-mouth Darkruler and Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Joey sighed, knowing that Rex had smashed his hopes of getting his Black Skull Dragon. Rex ended his turn.
Joey drew. He smiled weakly, seeing Polymerization. Summoned Skull attacked, destroying the face-down Serpent Marauder. Joey ended his turn.
Rex played a monster face-down, along with a magic/trap card. He ended his turn.
Joey drew. He played a Blue Winged Crown. Blue Winged Crown attacked, revealing a Prevent Rat. Joey then attacked with Summoned Skull, destroying it.
Joey: 7500, Rex: 3800
Rex drew, then smiled grimly. He flipped his Ultimate Offering. He then played a Mammoth Graveyard, which he tributed for a Bracchio-Raidus. Playing Raise Body Heat and Wasteland, powering it up to 2700 attack points. It attacked the Blue Winged Crown, trying to do as much damage as possible.
Joey: 6400, Rex: 3800
Joey grimaced. With that thing out, his Summoned Skull didn't stand a chance. He would have to hope that the next card would save his skin. Joey stared at the image of the card, seeing the cross.
"I play Monster Reborn, to get back my Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" Joey shouted.
"That won't help you," Rex sneered.
"It will once I play Polymerization, melding my Summoned Skull with Red- Eyes Black Dragon to make Black Skull Dragon! With 3200 attack points, it's more than enough to finish your Bracchio-Raidus!"
Joey: 6400, Rex: 3300
Rex drew. He closed his eyes, ending his turn. A smile quickly spread across Joey's face.
"That's game!" he declared.
The shadowed figure raised an eyebrow, 'He's improving, but it won't be enough. I'm afraid there are people much too powerful for them to handle in this tournament.'
Rathje turned and walked down the hall to his private room. Looking down the hall, he saw a youth opening a door and entering the room. Rathje recognized him. His name was Gavin Threadbare. He is the European champion duelist. He specializes in using fusion. He deck is themed toward three polymerization cards and three Magician of Faith cards. Rathje smiled wryly, knowing their duel was yet to come.
~
Author's Note: Well, that's it for chapter two. "Go Joey! You're bad! You're bad!"
~
"Yug," Joey whispered.
"Yeah?" Yugi murmured, half-asleep.
"I'm gonna check out what other duelists are trading."
"Knock yourself out. . ."
Joey stood from his cushioned seat. After stretching a little bit, he proceeded to enter a main area of the boat. Some duelists were dueling, others were trading. Joey watched as Rex Raptor and another kid dueled. Rex couldn't think straight. He continually made errors, such as accidentally playing high leveled monsters.
"My Harpie's Brother attacks your Trakadon, it is destroyed and you lose 500 life points," the kid stated, "that's game."
Rex Raptor cursed under his breath as he cleared his cards away, leaving the enclosed area. The kid looked quite pleased with himself, having taken one of Rex's star-chips.
"Hey," Joey called, "we haven't been told we could duel for star-chips yet!"
"Huh?" the kid looked up, "you must have missed the speech. Richard Pegasus is on the boat with us. He announced that Duelist Kingdom has officially begun. All duels onboard the boat will have to be held without the holographic dueling system."
"Speaking of which," a voice from behind Joey began, "I've been looking to duel an amateur like you."
Joey swung around at the insult. He saw Stephen Renaud. He held up his dueling deck, placing it on one of the many tables.
"Want revenge?" Stephen smirked, "One star-chip match."
Joey tore his deck from the pocket of his green jacket, "You're on!"
They shuffled their decks, then cut their opponent's. They each drew five cards. Stephen allowed Joey to take his first turn.
'This game's already in the bag!' Joey thought as a drew his card, "Go Joey! You're bad! You're bad!"
"Make your move," Stephen stated firmly.
Joey played one monster face-down, along with a Battle Ox in attack mode. He played one card face-down and ended his turn.
Stephen raised an eyebrow. That was barely enough to sing a song about. He drew, "I play Man-eating Treasure Chest, one monster face-down, two cards face-down, and the field magic card Mystic Plasma Zone, raising my Man- eating Treasure Chest up to 2100 attack points. My Treasure Chest attacks your Battle Ox, doing 400 life points damage."
Joey flinched as he heard these words, he placed his Battle Ox in the graveyard.
"I end my turn, Joey."
Joey drew. 'Great, a level 5 monster. I can flip my face-down monster and then tribute it for this one!' Joey flipped his Masaki and placed it in the graveyard.
"I bring out my Flame Cerebrus, who attacks your Man-eating Treasure Chest, destroying it!" Joey laughed.
Stephen stared at him, "Did you forget? My Mystic Plasma Zone brings him up to 2100 attack points, they're both destroyed."
'Crap,' Joey thought, biting his lip. He had no monsters in his hand, he would have to hope that Stephen wouldn't attack with anything too powerful. . .
Stephen drew, added the card to his hand, and looked up at Joey, eyes flashing, "I play Darkfire Soldier #1 in attack mode. I also play this card face-down in magic or trap position. Darkfire Soldier attacks!"
Stephen: 8000, Joey: 5900
Joey drew, immediately playing the card face-down. He ended his turn.
Stephen drew, playing a Darkfire Soldier #2. Both of them attacked. The first attacked the face-down card, an Armored Lizard. The second attacked Joey's life points. With nothing to defend Joey, his life points were very low, with no hopes of rising.
Stephen: 8000, Joey: 4200
Joey drew. It was a Goblin Attack Force. He sighed, playing it in attack mode. He ended his turn, not wanting it to be in defense mode.
Stephen drew. He flipped his Witch of the Black Forest, which he then tributed for Summoned Skull. Joey winced, flipping his trap, a Trap Hole. Stephen glared at Joey as he moved his Summoned Skull to the graveyard.
"I do still get to take a monster from my deck," Stephen stated, looking through his deck and taking a card, "I play one card face-down and end my turn."
Joey grinned broadly, seeing the card he drew, "My Goblin Attack Force attacks your Darkfire Soldier #2, destroying it. I then tribute it to play Judge Man! And now I play the field magic card Sogen, to power up my Judge Man to 2400 attack points!"
Stephen: 7400, Joey: 4200
Stephen drew. He calmly flipped his face-down monster, a Man-eater Bug. He destroyed the Judge Man using its effect, "There is nothing to these cards but sheer strategy. You can't win by using your favorites. Abandon your miserable idealism, embrace the realistic style! Darkfire Soldier, attack!"
Stephen: 7400, Joey: 2500
Joey drew, "So you're like Kaiba, eh? Well, I'll have you know that I. . .well. . .never mind about me an' Kaiba!"
Joey played a monster face-down and ended his turn. Stephen drew, then tributed his Darkfire Soldier and Man-eater Bug for his Dark Magician. He equipped it with a Sword of Deep-seated. He played a monster face-down and then attacked with Dark Magician, sending Prevent Rat to the graveyard.
"Your move, Joey."
Joey drew, playing a monster face-down once more and ending his turn.
Stephen drew. He flipped his Hane-hane, sending the monster back to Joey's hand. His Dark Magician attacked, reducing Joey's life points to 0.
"No!" Joey shouted, "How could I lose to a Kaiba like you?"
"I'm not a Kaiba," Stephen muttered, taking Joey's star-chip, "I'm a Renaud."
"I didn't know you had those cards," a friendly voice said from behind him.
Joey turned, seeing Serenity. Apparently, she had been watching the whole duel, "Well, Yugi and I, along with Mai, bought a bunch of booster packs. You know, to soup up our decks."
"I guess it didn't work," Serenity smiled, looking at Joey's one remaining star-chip in his glove.
"Yeah. . ." Joey sighed.
A young man stood in the corner, smiling. He was shadowed in the dim light. He was leaning against the wall, holding a Duel Monsters deck in his left hand.
'Well done, little brother,' he thought to himself.
~
Yugi woke up. The first thing he saw was Joey. More specifically, Joey's arm, which he was leaning against during his sleep. He looked down to see the familiar glove.
"Gaa!" Yugi screamed, leaping from his seat.
"What's wrong, Yug?" Joey asked dully.
"You only have one star-chip!" Yugi pointed.
"Yeah, I lost to that Kaiba, Stephen."
"Kaiba Stephen?" Yugi asked, dumbfounded, "Stephen a Kaiba? I thought he was a Renaud."
"He is, but he acts all snooty like a Kaiba," Joey muttered staring out the window.
Yugi sighed "You need to be more careful, Joey. Don't duel professionals like him."
"How was I supposed to know he was a professional! He was just some kid!" Joey yelled.
"Joey, you disgust me!" Mai scolded, "You lose a match to a kid whose better than you, and what do you do? You spend your time complaining! Go out there and practice or win some star-chips or something! If you get hit once, do you sit there and get beaten to a pulp? No, you defend yourself! Fight that kid, he's got. . .weird hair!"
"That's Rex Raptor," Tristan pointed out.
"Yeah, kill him!" Mai shouted, "I can't stand him, he's so arrogant!"
Joey stood, walking over to his next opponent. He held up his deck, "Hey, Rex. We've both only got one star-chip, how 'bout a duel. Loser becomes the first spectator onboard, deal?"
Rex nodded, beginning to shuffle his deck. Rex went first. Joey thought that he lost last time he went first, may as well try something different.
"I play Uraby in attack mode and end my turn."
Joey drew. He thought hard. His mind felt like it was going to burst. In his hand was an Armored Lizard, Battle Ox, Garoozis, Moon Envoy, Shield and Sword, and Ookazi. He started by playing Ookazi, along with his Battle Ox in attack mode, Moon Envoy face-down, and Shield and Sword face-down. Battle Ox attacked Uraby.
Joey: 8000, Rex: 7000
Rex drew. He played two monsters face-down and ended his turn.
Joey drew. It was a Summoned Skull. It was coming back to him. He had found a Summoned Skull in a booster pack, so Yugi had given him his Polymerization card for his Red-Eyes Black Dragon. If only he could draw those cards, though.
He tributed his Moon Envoy for Summoned Skull. Summoned Skull attacked one monster, which was Mammoth Graveyard, but he forgot to attack with Battle Ox. He ended his turn.
Rex drew. Closing his eyes to think, Rex moved his lips, talking silently to himself. He decided to flip his face-down Krokodilus card and tribute it to bring out a Megazowler. Megazowler attacked Battle Ox, destroying it.
Joey: 7900, Rex: 7000
Joey drew. He had a Prevent Rat. He played it and his Armored Lizard face- down and Summoned Skull attacked.
Joey: 7900, Rex: 6300
Rex played a monster face-down and ended his turn. Joey drew.
'Alright, a Red-Eyes! I just need my Polymerization now!'
He flipped Prevent Rat and Armored Lizard, tributing them for Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Red-Eyes attacked the defense monster, Tomozaurus, and Summoned Skull attacked life points directly.
Joey: 7900, Rex: 3800
Rex drew. He played two monsters face down. He then used the magic card Share the Pain, destroying Two-mouth Darkruler and Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Joey sighed, knowing that Rex had smashed his hopes of getting his Black Skull Dragon. Rex ended his turn.
Joey drew. He smiled weakly, seeing Polymerization. Summoned Skull attacked, destroying the face-down Serpent Marauder. Joey ended his turn.
Rex played a monster face-down, along with a magic/trap card. He ended his turn.
Joey drew. He played a Blue Winged Crown. Blue Winged Crown attacked, revealing a Prevent Rat. Joey then attacked with Summoned Skull, destroying it.
Joey: 7500, Rex: 3800
Rex drew, then smiled grimly. He flipped his Ultimate Offering. He then played a Mammoth Graveyard, which he tributed for a Bracchio-Raidus. Playing Raise Body Heat and Wasteland, powering it up to 2700 attack points. It attacked the Blue Winged Crown, trying to do as much damage as possible.
Joey: 6400, Rex: 3800
Joey grimaced. With that thing out, his Summoned Skull didn't stand a chance. He would have to hope that the next card would save his skin. Joey stared at the image of the card, seeing the cross.
"I play Monster Reborn, to get back my Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" Joey shouted.
"That won't help you," Rex sneered.
"It will once I play Polymerization, melding my Summoned Skull with Red- Eyes Black Dragon to make Black Skull Dragon! With 3200 attack points, it's more than enough to finish your Bracchio-Raidus!"
Joey: 6400, Rex: 3300
Rex drew. He closed his eyes, ending his turn. A smile quickly spread across Joey's face.
"That's game!" he declared.
The shadowed figure raised an eyebrow, 'He's improving, but it won't be enough. I'm afraid there are people much too powerful for them to handle in this tournament.'
Rathje turned and walked down the hall to his private room. Looking down the hall, he saw a youth opening a door and entering the room. Rathje recognized him. His name was Gavin Threadbare. He is the European champion duelist. He specializes in using fusion. He deck is themed toward three polymerization cards and three Magician of Faith cards. Rathje smiled wryly, knowing their duel was yet to come.
~
Author's Note: Well, that's it for chapter two. "Go Joey! You're bad! You're bad!"