Chapter 12: Mai vs V: Mai Victory?

(Life Point Count: Mai 300, V 2650)

"All right V, you've talked a lot of trash, and you backed a fair amount up. But it's over now. Time to show you why I came in third in Duelist Kingdom!" Mai said.

"Third? Who came in first?" V asked. Mai nearly facevaulted.

"THAT DOESN'T MATTER! Let's get this over with so I can eat!" Mai said. "Ok, first I play the magic card Elegant Egotist! Say hello to the pretty, marvelous, and powerful Harpy Lady Sisters!" Mai announced, as her Harpy Lady morphed into the trio of siblings. "But unfortunately, they're only here long enough to say goodbye, as I sacrifice two of them to call the card I brought back to my hand out again: Harpy's Pet Dragon!"

The two Harpy Ladies waved as they vanished, and then Harpy's Pet Dragon was back, roaring.

"For every Harpy on the field, Harpy's Pet Dragon gains 300 attack points! But it gets better V! Now I reveal my face down magic card: Magician of Faith!" Mai said, as the Magician of Faith appeared. "This lets me re-use a magic card, and the card I choose is ELEGANT EGOTIST! So glad to have you back!" Mai said, as her Harpy Lady again became the Harpy Lady Sisters. "And since one Harpy became three, so does the increase!"

V looked a bit alarmed, as he suddenly found himself facing the Harpy Lady Sisters (2450/2100), and worse, the back and now supercharged Harpy's Pet Dragon (2900/3400).

"And so it ends. First, my Dragon, attack his Banisher of the Light!"

The Dragon did so, smashing through V's defense.

"And now my Harpies, attack his life points directly!"

V recoiled, expecting the far too realistic holograms to smack him with something vicious, but instead the Harpy Ladies flew over to him.

And then stopped, right in front of him, as if frozen. V blinked, then leaned over.

"Hey I think the machine might have…"

And then the lead Harpy Lady slapped him across the face, nearly knocking him down as his life points plummeted down to 200. He knocked his drinking cup over with him, spilling the rest of the water. At least he didn't spill it on himself.

"Ha ha ha ha ha! Hey, you ok?" Mai said, amused. V pulled himself up.

"Very…cute…" V said. "Amusing."

"I'd say so! Ok V, take your last turn and get ready to open your wallet!" Mai said. V grimaced and leaned down to pick up his cup, putting it next to him.

"Oh, I didn't break that, did I?" Mai asked, actually concerned.

"Nah, it's supposedly nigh-indestructible. Don't know about that, but it is pretty tough." V replied.

"Ok then! Draw so I can eat!"

V shook his head, picked up his deck again, and drew.

He stared at the card.

Then he began to chuckle.

"They say great minds think alike, and that comes to me now. You're right Mai, this is the last turn. But not for me."

"You're bluffing." Mai said.

"Am I? Allow me to show you you're not the only one who can chain cards. In fact, let me show you how it's REALLY done." V said. He splayed his cards out in his hand.

"First, I activate the magic card I laid down next to my Banisher: Mourn of the Fallen! This allows me to draw four new cards! Next, I lay a monster card face down! Next, I play Monster Reborn! And I'll combo it with my face down card, which I will reveal now, Magician of Faith! Like I said, great minds think alike!"

Mai arched an eyebrow, puzzled at what V was doing.

"Using the Magician, I bring back my Blessed Dice magic card! And I combine it with my Monster Reborn card!"

The angel tossed out the dice, and again it came up a three.

"Perfect! I can bring back three monsters! And I choose the Skull Feline, the Vileon, and your Faith Bird!" V said, as the monsters re-appeared on his side. "But as you said, they're just here to say goodbye, as I'm sacrificing them to bring out THIS!"

V held the card over his head.

And Mai's eyes nearly bugged out of hers. It was true. She thought she might have been seeing things when she had looked down on V's earlier duel, but it hadn't been a trick of her eyes. He really had it.

"No! How did you get that card!?!??!?"

"I'll tell you later. On an empty stomach." V said.

Anyone standing outside the door of the private arena, despite the heavy soundproofing, would have heard the racket of what followed.

******************

"So…you're certain we're going to get to eat?" Tristan asked.

"That's what Mai said!" Joey said. When Mai had called him and told him she had a line on some food, he hasn't wasted any time. Not just because he was a guy and almost constantly hungry, but because if Mai called him up for the sake of food, it might mean…nah. Well, maybe. Could be.

"Well, in any case, at least I got this indestructible cup!" Tristan said, holding up his new purchase. Not knowing where to go, Joey and the friends he had invited (Tristan and Tea, and his sister Serenity was along for the ride as well. Joey had called Yugi, but his grandfather told him he was still resting from his head injury and it was best if he didn't go out. Oh well.) had checked out the restaurants. Not finding Mai there (and that puzzled him. She SAID there was food), Joey and the gang were now wandering around the D-Arena looking for her. But not before Tristan had been suckered into buying that cup by a slick sales rep.

"Tristan, that thing isn't indestructible. You got ripped off." Tea said.

"Yes it is! Look!" Tristan said, squeezing the cup.

"Oh yeah Tristan, your grip is the greatest determining factor in measuring strength in today's modern world." Joey said.

"Yeah…HEY!"

"Joey, are you SURE you didn't mishear?" Serenity asked her brother.

"No! I heard her! She has to be here somewhere! If we don't get to eat, I'll eat that so called indestroyable cup of Tristan's!"

"Indestructible Joey."

"WHATEVER!"

******************

The door opened, and Mai stumbled out.

She didn't look very good, for two reasons. One was the final attack that had defeated her went a little further beyond a hologram. It had always been that way with those cards. The second reason was the fact that V had USED that card. After all had happened, to see that show up out of nowhere…she was stunned beyond belief.

She was also a little sooty, much like Weevil and Rex, and as mentioned, shocked as hell. So we really must forgive her for tripping and falling down.

A few seconds later, V ran out of the arena after her.

"Mai! Are you ok?"

"Define it…" Mai muttered.

"Mai, I'm sorry. I didn't expect…it shouldn't have…" V said, trying to help Mai up.

"Forget what it did! How the hell do you have it? Something like THAT? HOW? HOW?" Mai said, getting freaked all over again.

And at that EXACT moment, Joey Wheeler came around the corner and onto this little scene.

Let's put this in perspective. We know that V is trying to help Mai get up, and she's freaked over the final card that he drew.

Now let's look at this from Joey's angle, with the information he possesses, and factor in his feelings for one of the participants. We really can't blame him for seeing the situation as Mai on the ground and looking freaked while some stranger bends over her in a manner that could very well be viewed as threatening.

And considering that is what Joey saw, we really cannot fault him his reaction.

"HEY! HEY YOU! GET AWAY FROM HER YOU FUCKING CREEP!" Joey roared, charging headlong at the two.

V heard someone yelling behind him, and he turned around just in time to see Joey swinging at him.

V dodged aside, the fist missing him and nearly hitting the wall. That didn't stop him, as he snapped off another blow that V dodged by jerking his head back.

"YOU BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU!" Joey yelled.

"Joey! Stop!" Mai shouted, trying to get up and get between V and Joey at the same time.

"Kid, stop it! Whoa!" V said as Joey snapped off another hook, again dodged by V. Mai managed to get a hold of Joey and was actually DRAGGED by him for a few steps before he registered it.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Came a new voice, as Tristan caught up, followed closely by Tea and Serenity.

"Joey stop it! Nothing's happening! He was trying to HELP me, you idiot!" Mai yelled in Joey's face.

"No way! You don't have to lie Mai! I saw what I saw! I can put two and two together!" Joey snapped, and again took a swing at V.

Who grabbed his arm, twisted, and flipped Joey to the ground with a thud and a yelp.

"And get five." V said. "Kid, I'm not trying to steal or hurt your girlfriend. Calm down before you regret it."

Joey growled. Mai suddenly looked embarrassed.

"What's going on guys?" Serenity asked.

"This guy here, his name's V, we were dueling. After we finished I slipped and fell down, and he was trying to help me up. And then your hotheaded brother saw this and decided he was attacking me." Mai said. Joey was getting up, looking both angry and sheepish as he rubbed his arm.

"Well, it certainly looked bad to me." Joey said. He took a closer look at V. "Hey, it's you!"

"You know this guy Joey?" Tristan asked.

"I saw him in Yugi's shop a few days ago. Geez, no wonder you could dodge me! I thought I was slowing down!" Joey said, trying to explain away his embarrassment.

"Right. Don't jump to conclusions." V said, reaching over and picking up his cup, which he had put aside when he had come out of the arena to help Mai.

"Well, anyway, no harm done! Mai, you said something about food?" Joey said.

"Yeah…sorry Joey. That was the bet. If I won this guy would buy us dinner. But…I lost." Mai said.

"You LOST? No way!" Joey said, looking at V. "How did this punk Wanna-D beat you?"

"This 'punk Wanna-D' is standing three feet from you and still has workable hearing, kid." V said. Joey ignored him.

"Well…uh…it's kind of a blur…" Mai said, not really wanting to tell them the truth. She wasn't sure she believed it herself.

"Which reminds me. I won Mai. We never specified what would happen if I won the duel." V said. Mai looked embarrassed.

"Yeah…right…" Mai said. "What do you, uh, think we should do…?"

"I don't know…" V said, stroking his chin in an exaggerated motion. "You kept talking about how hungry you are, and it does get lonely eating alone…maybe…"

V was joking to bug Mai, and he would have said so, except he never got the chance to, as Joey suddenly grew a fiery red colour again.

"You punk! You think you can force Mai into a date? You think you deserve that, huh? Huh?" Joey said, getting into V's face. V seemed unperturbed. In fact, he seemed to be studying Joey.

"Joey, don't bother him. He did win, maybe…"

"MAYBE NOTHING! Think you're hot stuff, huh? Because you got lucky and beat Mai! Well buddy, I say you're nothing but a poser Wanna-D, and I'll be glad to prove it!"

"If you say so." V said. He wasn't angered by Joey's insults: rather he was amused at all the leaps of logic Joey was making due to the clear indication he liked Mai. V found it charming.

"Yeah I say so! You and me, right now! I got the bang, you bring the boom!" Joey said, holding up his deck.

"Yes well…what?" V replied, having had no idea what Joey had said in his last sentence.

"Let's duel! You win, I'LL buy YOU dinner for your date! But I win, and you buy US dinner, as you would have had you not gotten so lucky and beat Mai!"

"You really want to?"

"Hell yeah!"

"What's your name kid?"

"Joey Wheeler, Duelist Extraordinaire!"

"That's a long name."

"Shaddup wise guy, let's go!"

"Hey, I have a question."

"What?"

"You were born here? Raised here?"

"Yeah."

"Then why do you have a Brooklyn accent?"

Joey went into a stream of curses as Tristan had to hold him back from jumping V again, more for Joey's sake then V's.

"Look kid, I just…"V said, and then his ear caught it. Under the loud racket of the D-Arena, there was the sound of yelling. Angry yelling.

V turned his head from Joey, who was being chastised by Mai again for being rude, to trace the source.

He found it quickly.

It was the girl and her father again, the one V had dueled and lost to on purpose. They were being screamed at by a woman, who seemed to be on the verge of trying to pull the girl away from her father. The girl clearly wanted to stay, and the man had a look on his face of some attempted explanation and some fear and some resignation. He was trying to explain something to the woman, but she was clearly having none of it.

V focused, and all the other sound dropped away.

"My watch stopped…I thought it was…"

"FUCK YOU HAROLD! IT'S PAST FIVE! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO HAVE HER BACK! THIS IS ALL I NEED, AND I DAMN SURE WILL!"

"Karen…"

"SHUT UP! Come on Stacey, we're leaving!" the woman called Karen screamed, grabbing at the girl. The girl called Stacey cried, trying to hold onto her father, but the woman peeled her off and dragged her away.

"YOU'LL NEVER SEE HER AGAIN YOU FUCKING BASTARD! NEVER!" the woman screamed. Her hate was so thick and vile V could feel it crashing into him in waves.

And finally V understood the whole situation. The father seemed tired and defeated because he wanted to spent time with his little girl, who he genuinely seemed to care about, time that was so short due to…what he had seen. And a girl, who clearly loved her father, being dragged away by a woman, a mother who…

No. V was watching deeply now, reading her as no man or woman could. This wasn't a mother. That construct had never really been there in the first place. This woman didn't care a lick about the girl she was dragging away. All she wanted to do was hurt the man. Cause him pain for reasons totally irrational except to her.

Cause her daughter pain because she really didn't care.

And the rage awoke in V, smoldering embers erupting into full flame, as V looked at the stupidity and the pettiness and the injustice of it all, saw the woman's face, how her features had been scoured and warped by her hatred, saw the way the girl reached back at the father she so desperately wanted to stay with, saw the father standing there helplessly, unable to do anything via orders of law or something, so tired and so close to breaking down and yet caring…

"Hey buddy, you in there?"

The cup exploded in V's clenched hands, disintegrating into a spray of plastic shards. Joey yelped and jumped back at it, but V only noticed enough to open his hand and let the shards fall free.

Then he turned back to Joey.

"Change of plans. We'll meet tomorrow and duel then, same terms. But not now. I have to go." V said, and he walked off.

"Hey! Come on! Hey, what are you doing?" Joey said.

V looked over his shoulder, and the flash of rage Joey saw for a moment sent ice water running through his veins.

"I have some business to take care of."

And then he was gone.

"Whoa…man, something's not right there…" Joey said.

"Man, that guy…I saw him looking…he looked like he wanted to burn a hole through the wall with his eyes…it was creepy as hell…" Tea said.

"Yeah…weird man…" Tristan said.

"I know…I saw some of it too…but any of you feel…none of us have nothing to worry about?" Mai said.

For a moment, silence.

"Ahhhhhhh can you believe this nonsense we're babbling about? Come on guys, let's go get some burgers so we can put the great meal I'm gonna have that guy buy for us tomorrow in perspective! Mai, you can come too!"

"Thanks Joey, but I have to be getting home. But I'll come back tomorrow to watch you duel." Mai said, and before Joey could protest she had turned and left.

"Ah crud! We get dragged all the way here, there's no fancy food, the guy runs off like a coward, and Tristan, I told you, THIS CUP IS NOT UNBREAKABLE!" Joey said, grabbing it away from Tristan. "You saw what freak boy did to it! It must break with a little…pressure…" Joey said, as he squeezed the cup as hard as he could.

And found it barely moved. Arching an eyebrow, Joey put more pressure on it. Same result. Growling, he began putting all the weight he could on the cup, banging it against the wall, throwing it down on the floor and stomping on it, and then even jumping on it with both feet, which made the cup slide out from under him and caused him to fall on his rear, which finally made Tristan and Serenity break out in laughter.

"What gives!?!"

"Truth in advertising!" Tristan laughed.

"But I saw him break it!"

"He must have had a defective model."

Tea was the only one not laughing, as a thought had occurred to her.

I hope he had a defective model Joey. Because if he managed to do that to an actual one…how strong is he? Strong enough to…crush a human skull…in his bare hands?

**************************

The woman, Karen, dragged her daughter to her car and practically threw her in the back seat, screaming at her daughter's cries. Some people saw it, but they ignored it in the way people do. The Kitty Gervoise Syndome. They didn't want to get involved. They didn't want the trouble.

But as this Karen starts up the car and drives off to a place that is not a home, indeed is far worse then any of you even realize, one person does care, a dark figure in the shadows, watching the car drive off.

And maybe the light is wrong, but for a moment we could almost swear this person has…claws.

But we hear his voice clear enough.

"THIS WILL NOT STAND."

And then V was gone. Dueling, for the moment, could wait.

He had to deal with an Unworthy.

To Be Continued.