Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Chapter 4: Shin's Merciless Deck
"Pretty bold to accept my challenge, tough guy." Joey said as his holographic projectors shot out. "So without further delay, it's time to duel!"
Joey: 8000
Shin: 8000
"You may go first if you'd like." The cloaked man rasped as he drew his hand.
"Then I will." Joey said with a large grin. "I'll start off with my Alligator Sword in attack mode (1500/1200)! That'll be all. Your turn."
Shin silently looked at his hand. "I will place one monster face down in defense mode." A holographic card appeared in front of him. "And I'll also play four cards face down in my magic/trap slots. My turn is over."
"Watch out Joey!" Yugi warned. "He's bound to have some trap cards ready to defend against an attack! Be careful."
"Don't sweat it, Yuge." Joey smirked confidently. "I know what I'm doin'. It's my turn now so I'll sacrifice my Alligator Sword for Jinzo (2400/1500)! His special ability makes all traps totally useless!" Joey's grin widened. "Told ya that I know what I'm doin'. Now attack his monster, go Jinzo!"
The holographic image of Jinzo released its attack wave, destroying the face down monster. However, the face down card then revealed the monster known as the Morphing Jar, activating its effect.
"You've attacked the Morphing Jar, and activated its special ability." Shin informed. "We will each discard our hand and draw a new one."
"Dat's fine with me." Joey said without a bit of nervousness. As he drew his new hand, his confidence rose. "I'll end my turn by playin' a card face down in my magic slots. But watch out, 'cuz next turn I'll show ya why people need to think twice before duelin' me."
Shin made no comment on Joey's boast. "I'll play this monster in attack mode." Shin said as he placed the card onto his duel disk. "Queen's Double (350/300) has the special ability to attack your life points directly." A holographic image of a robed woman with sharp needles clenched in her fist appeared.
"Big deal." Joey scoffed. "That puny thing only got 350 attack points. I'll easily take it out on my next turn."
"I'll now activate the three magic cards that I've laid on the field." Shin continued as the three cards rose. "Sword of the Deep-Seated, Axe of Despair, and Mage Power will increase the Queen's Double's attack power (3850/2800). And I will attack your life points directly." The holographic powered-up woman threw her spine-like needles towards Joey, greatly reducing his life points. "My turn is over."
Joey: 4150
Shin: 8000
Sakura froze. The duel had only begun, and the silent stranger had already halved Joey's life points. The moves seemed to flow eloquently from Shin's deck without waste. Every move was precise.
"Joey, are you alright?!" Yugi asked as his friend nearly fell to the floor after getting attacked.
"It's alright, Yuge." Joey said as he stood back up. "I'll beat this guy." His attention then turned towards his opponent. "All right tough guy, you got lucky that time but now I'm playin' for real. And I'm gonna bust your strategy with these cards!" Joey placed a magic card in his slot. "First I play monster reborn, and bring back my Alligator Sword from the graveyard. Then I'll sacrifice both my monsters that I got on the field for my newest rare monster, the Tri-Horned Dragon (2850/2350)!"
"But Joey." Yugi shouted. "Your dragon doesn't even have enough power to destroy his monster. And he can still do a direct attack against your life points!"
"I know, Yuge." Joey said as he pressed the button above his face down card. "But that's why I can use this magic card on his monster, Block Attack!"
"Block Attack will force the Queen's Double into defense mode." Sakura whispered to herself. "And with a defense of 2800, Joey's dragon will rip through it without a problem!"
"Alright, say good-bye to your monster." Joey shouted as he declared his attack. "Destroy the Queen's Double!" At the sound of Joey's command, the blue horned monster leapt towards Shin's monster with its claws poised for attack.
But the attack never made it to the Queen's Double. "I'll activate my trap card." Shin interrupted. "Negate Attack." With his trap card activated, Joey's monster could not do anything but swipe fruitlessly at the invisible negating wall.
Joey sighed. "That's okay, you still can't attack. So make your move."
"I play the monster, Armed Ninja (300/300), in attack mode." Shin began. A familiar image of the Armed Ninja appeared. "Then I'll play Tailor of the Fickle on your Block Attack magic card, and place it onto my Armed Ninja."
"This is bad." Yugi pointed out. "Now his Queen's Double can attack again."
"I'll switch my Queen's Double to attack mode and play the magic card, Swords of Revealing Light." Shin continued.
"Why play that?" Joey asked. "You don't even need any defense."
"He doesn't need it, but the Swords of Revealing Light will benefit his Mage Power card." Yugi explained. "I'm afraid this duel is over for you, Joey."
"He is correct." Shin whispered. "Queen's Double, attack his life points directly."
"Huh?" Joey looked at the oncoming monster with his puzzled face. But before he knew it, his life points had already dropped to zero and the duel was lost.
Joey: 0
Shin: 8000
"Wow…" Was all Sakura could say. Shin had beaten one of the top ranking duelists in all of Japan without losing a single life point. And what was more was he did it in only three turns. She looked at Joey, who could do nothing but surrender his powerful Tri-Horned Dragon to the shrouded man.
"I can't… believe I lost my rarest card just like dat." Joey stammered with his head ducked down. "Maybe I'm not cut out for duelin' anymore…"
"Don't say that, Joey." Yugi said, hoping to put some faith in his friend. "You lost to an excellent duelist, there's no shame in that."
"But I lost my best card, Yuge." Joey sighed. "I tend to do that a lot don't I?"
"You may win it back." The stranger said as he approached Joey. But there wasn't any sympathy in his voice. Instead, he sounded like he was merely stating a fact. "Tomorrow at night, by the docks. I shall then give you a chance to redeem yourself."
"Really?" Joey said with a hint of hope in his voice. "Alright, I'll accept your challenge. Tomorrow night, by the docks. I'll be there."
"That's the spirit, Joey." Yugi encouraged. "I'll be there to root for you. Hey Shin, you're not so much of a merciless guy after—" But before he could finish his sentence, the stranger was already gone, disappeared without notice. "—all." Yugi finished as he looked around with awe.
"I'll be there too." Sakura declared. "It might do my dueling skills some good to hang with you guys."
"Alright." Joey said. "We'll meet at the warehouse near the docks at 6 o'clock. Then we'll go there together. I gotta go home and prepare my deck for tomorrow."
"I'm okay with that." Sakura agreed. It was good to have new friends. And especially famous ones like Yugi Moto.
"I can do that too." Yugi said. "Sounds like a plan."
----------
Elsewhere.
"Sounds like a plan." The microphone emitted.
"Excellent job, Shin." A dark robed figure commended. "I would not have expected any less from one of my most capable servants. Now that Yugi Moto and his other pharaoh half has been lured to my trap, I'll finally exact my revenge on the ancient pharaoh. And these three cards will ensure my victory."
The dark figure looked at the three powerful monsters held by his hand, the three Egyptian God Cards, stolen from the safe-keepers of the Ishtar family once again.
"Jubei." The dark figure commanded. Another robed man appeared. "Ready your deck for battle. Locate Tamashii and Kaede and tell them to do the same. You three servants shall set out for the warehouses tomorrow night at 6 o'clock. Be sure to give Yugi a surprise he'll never forget."
The servant quickly acknowledged his orders and went off to prepare for the mission.
"And what of me?" Shin asked.
"I require nothing of you for now." The dark figure said. "But you should prepare for battle in case the others fall. The pharaoh has proved to surprise his opponents before, so I assume that my three servants will not prevail. But still, it would provide me with a very thorough test of his deck, so I can prepare my following battles against him."
"Understood, Master." Shin replied. But secretly, he knew something the dark figure did not. He knew that tomorrow night it would not be Yugi Moto who would provide the surprises.
No. The star shining brightest tomorrow shall be the girl.
==========
Backstage Bonus: The Author's Power.
Joey: Yo, Shin.
Shin: ……
Joey: How about a duel, a real one? I can't have you start thinkin' dat you're better than me, can I?
Shin: Very well.
TheForthMan: Hey! I didn't say you guys could duel now. That would mean that I would have to make one up for you guys and I'm too tired to do that right now.
Joey: Come on. We're just gonna have a small duel. It'll be a breeze.
TheForthMan: Fine… but I'm warning you. When I'm too tired to write, I get lazy.
Joey: Yeah, whatever. Come on Shin, it's time to duel.
Joey: 8000
Shin: 8000
Joey: I'll go first. I'll start by playing the—
Shin: I win.
Joey: Wha—? It's not even your turn yet.
Shin: This card says "An automatic victory can be declared by the player whose hand contains this card together with the Left Leg/Right Leg/Left Arm/Right Arm of the Forbidden One."
Shin shows his hand to Joey, which consisted of all the pieces of Exodia the Forbidden One.
Joey: How da—? Hey, you don't even got those cards in your deck.
TheForthMan: He does now.
Joey: You can't mean dat!
TheForthMan: Anything I write is law in this fanfiction, and I wrote that his first draw was Exodia."
Joey (raising his fist at TheForthMan): You cheat! How da hell can you write dis crap? I demand you rewrite this duel at once or I'm gonna sock ya in da nuts.
Suddenly, Joey finds himself without hands. Instead, puny stubs stand where the wrists should be.
Joey: HEY! You can't write dat!
TheForthMan: Why not? I'm the damn author so I can do whatever I want. Like this.
Joey: I'm a little girl that likes to wear pink skirts that go up to my skinny thighs and I like to do the Macarena in front of the mirror cuz I feel so pretty.
TheForthMan: Hahahahahaha!!
Joey: Stop making me say that! What the hell are you typing?!
TheForthMan: Hey, Shin. Do you know what the tune to that West Side Story song?
Joey: Wha—? NOO!
Shin: Do Re Mi So.
Joey: NO! ANYTHING BUT— (starts singing) I feel pretty. Oh so pretty. I feel pretty and witty and gay. And I pity. Any girl who isn't me today…
Chapter 4: Shin's Merciless Deck
"Pretty bold to accept my challenge, tough guy." Joey said as his holographic projectors shot out. "So without further delay, it's time to duel!"
Joey: 8000
Shin: 8000
"You may go first if you'd like." The cloaked man rasped as he drew his hand.
"Then I will." Joey said with a large grin. "I'll start off with my Alligator Sword in attack mode (1500/1200)! That'll be all. Your turn."
Shin silently looked at his hand. "I will place one monster face down in defense mode." A holographic card appeared in front of him. "And I'll also play four cards face down in my magic/trap slots. My turn is over."
"Watch out Joey!" Yugi warned. "He's bound to have some trap cards ready to defend against an attack! Be careful."
"Don't sweat it, Yuge." Joey smirked confidently. "I know what I'm doin'. It's my turn now so I'll sacrifice my Alligator Sword for Jinzo (2400/1500)! His special ability makes all traps totally useless!" Joey's grin widened. "Told ya that I know what I'm doin'. Now attack his monster, go Jinzo!"
The holographic image of Jinzo released its attack wave, destroying the face down monster. However, the face down card then revealed the monster known as the Morphing Jar, activating its effect.
"You've attacked the Morphing Jar, and activated its special ability." Shin informed. "We will each discard our hand and draw a new one."
"Dat's fine with me." Joey said without a bit of nervousness. As he drew his new hand, his confidence rose. "I'll end my turn by playin' a card face down in my magic slots. But watch out, 'cuz next turn I'll show ya why people need to think twice before duelin' me."
Shin made no comment on Joey's boast. "I'll play this monster in attack mode." Shin said as he placed the card onto his duel disk. "Queen's Double (350/300) has the special ability to attack your life points directly." A holographic image of a robed woman with sharp needles clenched in her fist appeared.
"Big deal." Joey scoffed. "That puny thing only got 350 attack points. I'll easily take it out on my next turn."
"I'll now activate the three magic cards that I've laid on the field." Shin continued as the three cards rose. "Sword of the Deep-Seated, Axe of Despair, and Mage Power will increase the Queen's Double's attack power (3850/2800). And I will attack your life points directly." The holographic powered-up woman threw her spine-like needles towards Joey, greatly reducing his life points. "My turn is over."
Joey: 4150
Shin: 8000
Sakura froze. The duel had only begun, and the silent stranger had already halved Joey's life points. The moves seemed to flow eloquently from Shin's deck without waste. Every move was precise.
"Joey, are you alright?!" Yugi asked as his friend nearly fell to the floor after getting attacked.
"It's alright, Yuge." Joey said as he stood back up. "I'll beat this guy." His attention then turned towards his opponent. "All right tough guy, you got lucky that time but now I'm playin' for real. And I'm gonna bust your strategy with these cards!" Joey placed a magic card in his slot. "First I play monster reborn, and bring back my Alligator Sword from the graveyard. Then I'll sacrifice both my monsters that I got on the field for my newest rare monster, the Tri-Horned Dragon (2850/2350)!"
"But Joey." Yugi shouted. "Your dragon doesn't even have enough power to destroy his monster. And he can still do a direct attack against your life points!"
"I know, Yuge." Joey said as he pressed the button above his face down card. "But that's why I can use this magic card on his monster, Block Attack!"
"Block Attack will force the Queen's Double into defense mode." Sakura whispered to herself. "And with a defense of 2800, Joey's dragon will rip through it without a problem!"
"Alright, say good-bye to your monster." Joey shouted as he declared his attack. "Destroy the Queen's Double!" At the sound of Joey's command, the blue horned monster leapt towards Shin's monster with its claws poised for attack.
But the attack never made it to the Queen's Double. "I'll activate my trap card." Shin interrupted. "Negate Attack." With his trap card activated, Joey's monster could not do anything but swipe fruitlessly at the invisible negating wall.
Joey sighed. "That's okay, you still can't attack. So make your move."
"I play the monster, Armed Ninja (300/300), in attack mode." Shin began. A familiar image of the Armed Ninja appeared. "Then I'll play Tailor of the Fickle on your Block Attack magic card, and place it onto my Armed Ninja."
"This is bad." Yugi pointed out. "Now his Queen's Double can attack again."
"I'll switch my Queen's Double to attack mode and play the magic card, Swords of Revealing Light." Shin continued.
"Why play that?" Joey asked. "You don't even need any defense."
"He doesn't need it, but the Swords of Revealing Light will benefit his Mage Power card." Yugi explained. "I'm afraid this duel is over for you, Joey."
"He is correct." Shin whispered. "Queen's Double, attack his life points directly."
"Huh?" Joey looked at the oncoming monster with his puzzled face. But before he knew it, his life points had already dropped to zero and the duel was lost.
Joey: 0
Shin: 8000
"Wow…" Was all Sakura could say. Shin had beaten one of the top ranking duelists in all of Japan without losing a single life point. And what was more was he did it in only three turns. She looked at Joey, who could do nothing but surrender his powerful Tri-Horned Dragon to the shrouded man.
"I can't… believe I lost my rarest card just like dat." Joey stammered with his head ducked down. "Maybe I'm not cut out for duelin' anymore…"
"Don't say that, Joey." Yugi said, hoping to put some faith in his friend. "You lost to an excellent duelist, there's no shame in that."
"But I lost my best card, Yuge." Joey sighed. "I tend to do that a lot don't I?"
"You may win it back." The stranger said as he approached Joey. But there wasn't any sympathy in his voice. Instead, he sounded like he was merely stating a fact. "Tomorrow at night, by the docks. I shall then give you a chance to redeem yourself."
"Really?" Joey said with a hint of hope in his voice. "Alright, I'll accept your challenge. Tomorrow night, by the docks. I'll be there."
"That's the spirit, Joey." Yugi encouraged. "I'll be there to root for you. Hey Shin, you're not so much of a merciless guy after—" But before he could finish his sentence, the stranger was already gone, disappeared without notice. "—all." Yugi finished as he looked around with awe.
"I'll be there too." Sakura declared. "It might do my dueling skills some good to hang with you guys."
"Alright." Joey said. "We'll meet at the warehouse near the docks at 6 o'clock. Then we'll go there together. I gotta go home and prepare my deck for tomorrow."
"I'm okay with that." Sakura agreed. It was good to have new friends. And especially famous ones like Yugi Moto.
"I can do that too." Yugi said. "Sounds like a plan."
----------
Elsewhere.
"Sounds like a plan." The microphone emitted.
"Excellent job, Shin." A dark robed figure commended. "I would not have expected any less from one of my most capable servants. Now that Yugi Moto and his other pharaoh half has been lured to my trap, I'll finally exact my revenge on the ancient pharaoh. And these three cards will ensure my victory."
The dark figure looked at the three powerful monsters held by his hand, the three Egyptian God Cards, stolen from the safe-keepers of the Ishtar family once again.
"Jubei." The dark figure commanded. Another robed man appeared. "Ready your deck for battle. Locate Tamashii and Kaede and tell them to do the same. You three servants shall set out for the warehouses tomorrow night at 6 o'clock. Be sure to give Yugi a surprise he'll never forget."
The servant quickly acknowledged his orders and went off to prepare for the mission.
"And what of me?" Shin asked.
"I require nothing of you for now." The dark figure said. "But you should prepare for battle in case the others fall. The pharaoh has proved to surprise his opponents before, so I assume that my three servants will not prevail. But still, it would provide me with a very thorough test of his deck, so I can prepare my following battles against him."
"Understood, Master." Shin replied. But secretly, he knew something the dark figure did not. He knew that tomorrow night it would not be Yugi Moto who would provide the surprises.
No. The star shining brightest tomorrow shall be the girl.
==========
Backstage Bonus: The Author's Power.
Joey: Yo, Shin.
Shin: ……
Joey: How about a duel, a real one? I can't have you start thinkin' dat you're better than me, can I?
Shin: Very well.
TheForthMan: Hey! I didn't say you guys could duel now. That would mean that I would have to make one up for you guys and I'm too tired to do that right now.
Joey: Come on. We're just gonna have a small duel. It'll be a breeze.
TheForthMan: Fine… but I'm warning you. When I'm too tired to write, I get lazy.
Joey: Yeah, whatever. Come on Shin, it's time to duel.
Joey: 8000
Shin: 8000
Joey: I'll go first. I'll start by playing the—
Shin: I win.
Joey: Wha—? It's not even your turn yet.
Shin: This card says "An automatic victory can be declared by the player whose hand contains this card together with the Left Leg/Right Leg/Left Arm/Right Arm of the Forbidden One."
Shin shows his hand to Joey, which consisted of all the pieces of Exodia the Forbidden One.
Joey: How da—? Hey, you don't even got those cards in your deck.
TheForthMan: He does now.
Joey: You can't mean dat!
TheForthMan: Anything I write is law in this fanfiction, and I wrote that his first draw was Exodia."
Joey (raising his fist at TheForthMan): You cheat! How da hell can you write dis crap? I demand you rewrite this duel at once or I'm gonna sock ya in da nuts.
Suddenly, Joey finds himself without hands. Instead, puny stubs stand where the wrists should be.
Joey: HEY! You can't write dat!
TheForthMan: Why not? I'm the damn author so I can do whatever I want. Like this.
Joey: I'm a little girl that likes to wear pink skirts that go up to my skinny thighs and I like to do the Macarena in front of the mirror cuz I feel so pretty.
TheForthMan: Hahahahahaha!!
Joey: Stop making me say that! What the hell are you typing?!
TheForthMan: Hey, Shin. Do you know what the tune to that West Side Story song?
Joey: Wha—? NOO!
Shin: Do Re Mi So.
Joey: NO! ANYTHING BUT— (starts singing) I feel pretty. Oh so pretty. I feel pretty and witty and gay. And I pity. Any girl who isn't me today…