Joy: As promised, here's the next chapter. ^__^
kurama'sdarkangel1: *Joy gives you a cookie* Glad you liked it! ^__^
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A Duel with Seto Kaiba
"Ready, Kaiba?" Joy said as she drew her first five cards.
"Never more ready to win, Houyoku!" Kaiba called back.
Joy glanced at her cards and smiled. It felt good to be dueling again. She felt at peace when she was in a duel. It was exciting and unpredictable. Every duel was a new adventure, and this was the biggest adventure of them all. A duel against Seto Kaiba – one of the best duelists in the world.
"I play two cards face down and Neo the Magic Swordsman in attack mode. Your move."
Kaiba looked at his cards. "I also place two cards face down and play Opticlops in attack mode. Attack!"
Joy's monster vanished. Why didn't she play her face down cards? Kaiba wondered.
Yugi and Yami were wondering the same thing. Yugi looked over at Joy, who simply shrugged. "No big loss. Neo was a good card, but I have better ones waiting for you. I won't waste my face down cards on a weak monster like that." She smirked and drew a card. "I place this card facedown and call forth the Dark Magician in attack mode. Your move, Kaiba."
Mmm…so she also possesses a Dark Magician. Yami said, slightly amused.
But Kaiba has Blue Eyes. She knows that. She must be planning something.
Kaiba glared at her and drew a card. His expression changed. He grinned at her. "I call forth the Lord of D! And I will equip him with two Flutes of Summoning Dragon to bring forth my three Blue Eyes White Dragons and Hyozanryu in attack mode. I also activate Polymerization to fuse my Blue Eyes into Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon." The mighty fused dragon appeared in front of him. "Attack!" Dark Magician vanished.
Joy: 2000
Kaiba: 4000
"Your move, but this duel is over," Kaiba said with a smirk.
"At least we agree on something, Kaiba. You see, I wanted you to summon your ultimate beast. Now I will win this duel." Kaiba raised an eyebrow. "Let me show you. First I activate this Magic Card – Fissure! Fissure destroys the monster with the lowest attack points. Say goodbye to Lord of D."
Lord of D. vanished. "Now that you can't protect your dragons with his special ability, I activate another face down card. Just Desserts."
Joy: 2000
Kaiba: 3000
"Now I activate my third facedown card. Change of Heart!" Kaiba's eyes grew wide. "I thought that you would be surprised. Change of Heart lets me take control of your Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon." Blue Eyes moved to Joy's side of the field. "Now I'll just enhance your dragon with Malevolent Nuzzler, increasing his attack points by 700. Attack Hyozanryu!"
Kaiba: 0
"I lost." Kaiba muttered.
The holograms disappeared. Joy removed her duel disk. "Good duel, Kaiba." Joy turned to Yugi and sighed. "Can we take a rain check on that duel, Yugi? I'm feeling a little tired."
"Sure, Joy."
Kaiba looked the girl over. She did look exhausted. "You can stay here if you want."
"All right. Thanks Kaiba." She turned and walked into the house, Yugi walking next to her. Kaiba watched the two of them for a moment.
She's an excellent duelist. Not many people can duel against my dragons and not be shivering in fear. She was calm and cool under pressure, and she's not a bad strategist either. I admire that.
Joy went upstairs and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Yugi hanged back, wanting to talk to Kaiba. "Kaiba, can I ask you something?"
"Go on."
"When Joy won that duel, you didn't get all that angry. I was wondering why."
"Because she won fair and square. Her strategy was better than mine. When you beat me, it was the first lost I ever had. I was pretty upset by it. I couldn't understand why I lost. Then that whole Pegasus thing happened and I cheated to win. After that, I felt that win wasn't satisfying enough. I hadn't won with honor. That's why that win didn't even count. It wasn't a real win. So I started Battle City, hoping to defeat you for real. But I lost again. Maybe it's the 'Heart of the Cards' as you say, but you seem to be unbeatable."
Yugi blinked.
"Don't get me wrong. I still want to beat you. But I have also accepted that in order to beat you, I must also learn from my defeats. I've learned from my defeat, and the next time Joy and I face off, I will be prepared. As I will be when we face off again, Yugi."
Yugi nodded.
Just then they heard a female laugh. (AN: Dun, Dun, Dun!)
"You had better be prepared, Seto Kaiba. Be prepared for annihilation!"
"Yukia! Show yourself you coward!" Yugi shouted. Kaiba's eyes narrowed. He closed his eyes and the watch turned back into a staff. A second later, the voice spoke again in their minds.
"Such a pretty little girl. So full of life. But not for long!"
"Joy!" Yugi and Kaiba shouted at once, both running up the stairs to Joy's room.
Yukia pointed her black staff at the sleeping teenager. "Prepare to die, my dear."
"I don't think so, witch!" A blast hit Yukia, knocking her across the room. She looked up to see an extremely pissed off Katilli standing over her, her staff pointed at Yukia's heart.
"Arrgh! You! How did you break my spell!" Yukia snarled.
"She had a little help!" Yukia and Katilli looked over to see Kaiba and Yugi standing in the doorway. Kaiba held his green staff in front of him.
"The staff of the high priest!" Yukia gasped, her eyes wide.
The puzzle shone. Yami scowled at her. "That's right, now it is time we ended this once and for all." He raised his hand, preparing to attack. Before anyone could do anything, though, Yukia vanished.
"You may think you've got the upper hand, but I will defeat the Power of Three the next time we meet. I guarantee it!" her voice echoed in their minds.
Joy yawned and sat up. She looked around. "What the hell is going on here? Why are you all in my room?" She turned to her dark for explanation. Katilli smiled sheepishly.
"Yukia showed up and tried to get rid of you," Kaiba explained quickly. He turned to Katilli. "What did she mean by the Power of Three?"
Katilli sighed. In order to explain that, I will have to tell the pharaoh everything. I did not want to reveal that just yet, but I will have to. I have no choice. It looks as though the Power of Three is the only way to destroy Yukia once and for all. We must resurrect the Wings of the Pheonix to aid us.
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Joy: I'm gonna end it there. Was the duel too short? Sometimes that happens in real life. I wanted to put at least one duel in this story, just as an experiment if nothing else. BTW, I used the Kaiba's evolution deck for the duel. Anyway, the next chapter will explain a lot, I hope. It will be entitled 'The Power of Three.' So, until then, Review and ponder, readers! ^__^