"I've heard enough," Joey said as he turned to leave.
"Where are you going?" Mai asked.
"I won't just stand by while some nut case slaughters my friend. I'm going to go help him!"
"But Joey, he could... you could end up like Yugi. I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you."
Joey took Mai's hands in his own. He gave them a reassuring squeeze. "I don't plan on biting the big one today." He then left the control room.
"Joey, wait, I'm coming with you."
"But Mai..."
"Don't argue with me, buster, I'm coming and that's that."
"I'm with Joey," Tristan said. "I mean about helping Yugi. I'm going with them."
"And so am I," Bakura volunteered.
"I'm coming too," Mokuba said stepping forward.
"Mokuba, this isn't our business."
"Yes it is," Mokuba almost snapped. "Seto, Masters is trying to take over Kaiba Corp. I'm not going to stand by and let what you and I worked so hard for come undone because some guy just wants to prove that he's better than everyone else. Please, Seto, come along to protect your company if nothing else." Kaiba hated to admit it, but Mokuba was becoming more decisive, more assertive every day, like him. He has never been more proud of his little brother.
Mokuba took an ear piece from a drawer. "Computer, relay us anything of importance that might happen."
"You can count on me."
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"Yugi, get up!" Tea called. "Yugi, you have to get up. Yugi! YUGI!" No matter how much Tea yelled, Yugi wouldn't move.
Edric went up to Yugi's body. "So how does pain feel, Yugi Moto? This is where Duelists like you belong, on the ground like the worms you are. But don't worry, you won't be there alone. I plan to lay all vile Duelists at my feet, and make all bow down to the all-mighty power of technology!" He kicked Yugi's body so that it was totally on the floor and looked at Tea. "Did you get a good show, my dear? I guess your precious Little Yugi wasn't half the Duelist he thought he was."
"How could you... how could you do such a thing? Have you no humanity?"
"Oh I have plenty of humanity, my little peach. I did raise that barrier to protect you from Machina's assault. But selfish people like Yugi Moto don't deserve to be treated humanely." He kicked Yugi again turning him onto his back.
"You're wrong! Yugi Moto is the kindest person I've ever met!" Edric reacted with surprise. "Time and time again, Yugi put his life on the line for his family and friends! He didn't want glory, fame, or any sort of reward; he just wanted to protect the people he loves. He just wanted to do what's right. And his kindness wasn't just limited to his duels. He willingly came to see me when I hurt my shoulder just to see if I was all right. Nobody had done that for me before. I was a stranger and he showed me compassion. He didn't ask for anything in return except friendship. You see, Yugi Moto isn't a selfish Duelist at all. He's the most caring person I know. And he definitely has more humanity and compassion than you and your heartless machines!"
"Even in the off-chance that was true, the fact of the matter is I'm standing and he isn't. The game is over, I've won." Edric closed the screen muting any future protest Tea might have. He walked up and looked at the card that fell out of Yugi's Duel Disk. "Enchanted Javelin, huh? Looks like you were able to protect your life points, Yugi. Too bad you weren't able to protect yourself." Edric laughed maniacally before walking away. Tea couldn't watch any more, she closed her eyes, praying to any deity out there (except the God of Machines) that this was just a nightmare. But it wasn't, it was real. Yugi was dead.
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"Yugi, get up!" Yugi wondered who was calling him. It didn't sound like Yami, but who else would be calling out inside his head? He could hear more voices, the voices of his friends.
Joey: "Come on, Yug!"
Tristan: "You've got to get up!"
Bakura: "Don't give up, not when you're so close."
"Get up, Yugi, show him you're a man!" That was Kaiba of course.
Mai: "Tea's counting on you to rescue her."
Mokuba: "We're all behind you, Yugi."
Yami: "Yugi, I'm right here with you."
I appreciate the support, Yugi thought. But my body feels like lead. I don't think I could get up even if I wanted to.
"Pharaoh." Yugi opened his eyes. He was in some sort of dark tunnel. There was a figure standing at the end. But Yugi couldn't figure out if he was moving towards the figure or if the tunnel around them was moving.
Who...
"You must get up, my Pharaoh. You must still finish."
Yugi was now Yami-Yugi. But how? That Machine God is practically invincible! He was thinking it but it sounded like he was saying it out loud.
"Thousands of years ago, you faced an invincible evil and killed him!"
Anubis?
"Yes, Anubis was powerful, so powerful that commoners thought him to be a god. You challenged him, but you weren't alone."
I... wasn't alone...?
"The other Chosen Ones, the bearers of the other Millennium Items, joined you, for they knew that if this evil won, they would all be doomed. All around Yami-Yugi, multiple shadows appeared. There were six in all and on each of them could be seen the Millennium Item. The Millennium Eye glowed underneath the hood of one. The Millennium Rod, Key, and Scale were being held out like weapons. The Millennium Necklace and Ring were being worn by their Chosen Ones.
"You stood united."
Yami-Yugi saw a shadow that looked like him wearing the Millennium Puzzle and the other Chosen Ones with their Millennium Items standing around a large creature that looked like Anubis in his final form. Each of the Millennium Items glowed and a monster appeared from around them. The Millennium Rod produced the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. The Millennium Eye created the Archlord Zerato, an archangel-like being. The Millennium Ring created The Dark Master – Zorc, which looked like a demon in every sense of the word. The Millennium Necklace created Wingweaver, a six-wing angel. The Millennium Scale produced Seiyaryu, a metal dragon. The Millennium Key created Skull Knight, a warrior in skeleton armor. The Millennium Puzzle that his mirror self wore produced the Dark Magician.
"The ultimate Shadow Duel commenced and you emerged victorious." The monsters all unleashed their powers on the dark creature. In the end, with the Chosen Ones unleashing the powers of the Millennium Items on it, the monsters were able to defeat the dark creature.
"You never gave up back then and I know you won't give up now."
He... she... whoever said that is right! I can't give up, not after all I been through. I don't want to let my friends down.
"Your friends care about you more than any of them would ever admit. You must stand united as you did in ancient times. Remember the secret of the Puzzle."
I... remember. Yugi was himself again and he did remember. It was when his Grandpa first gave him the Millennium Puzzle. The inscription on the bottom of the box the puzzle pieces were found in said that whoever solved the mystery would gain its hidden power. At first, Yugi thought it was simply putting it together. Then, he realized that it meant something else. According to the text, he had to figure out what the hidden power of the puzzle was or risk losing the puzzle forever. Fortunately, he figured out the answer when he realized that putting it together was the key to the answer. The hidden power of the Millennium Puzzle was: unity, uniting the pieces to achieve great power, uniting with others to achieve great strength and courage.
"Your friends shall always be with you, as will I... my beloved." Yugi was finally able to get a better look at the figure. It was a woman dressed just like Ishizu Ishtar was during Battle City. But her features... except for her skin tone, hair, and eyes being darker, she looked exactly like Tea! Her last sentence echoed in Yugi's mind as Yugi found himself in a very familiar place: the inside of the Millennium Puzzle.
"Yugi," Yami called appearing besides him. "How do you feel?"
"Sore all over, but other than that, I'm fine."
"I'm glad; I would hate to think what would happen if you were destroyed like at Duelist Kingdom."
"I'm not that easy to get rid of. Besides, I can't go anywhere until we figure out the secrets of your past," Yugi reminded him as Yami helped the smaller boy up.
Yami nodded. "But right now, we have a duel to win and a friend to save."
"Yami, I think... I want to finish this duel by myself, but..."
Yami laid a hand on Yugi's shoulder. "Do you really care about her that much?" Yugi nodded. "All right, I will try to hold off the pain with the Millennium Puzzle. You will finish the duel. But remember, Yugi, I'll always be with you inside here..." Yami lifted his Millennium Puzzle. "And here..." he patted his chest where the heart was.
"Thanks, Yami. We must put all our faith into the heart of the cards and all our hearts into our faith."
"Yugi... I think you're becoming a wiser person than me. Go, rescue Tea, and show Masters where the true power lies."
The two clasped hands. "Let's do it!" Yugi cried. Both Millennium Puzzles started to glow incredibly.
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Edric was still celebrating and Tea was still mourning when a small voice said, "Is that all you got, Masters? My pal, Joey hits harder than that."
"No, it can't be!" It was true. Yugi was standing. He was panting heavily but there was a magical glow around his body as well as coming from the Millennium Puzzle. "I made that photonic attack powerful enough to kill a horse, how can you still be standing?"
"You'd be surprised at how powerful friendship is, especially when it's joined with the human spirit."
Tea was overjoyed. "Yugi... he's alive!"
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"Hey guys, good news," Mokuba called. "Yugi's all right!"
"I'm not surprise," Kaiba said. "I knew it would take more than a direct attack from a ritual monster to stop him." Mai was driving towards Edric's mansion with Joey and the Kaibas in tow. Tristan and Bakura followed on Tristan's motorcycle.
"Let's just hope we can get there before Yugi and Tea really do bite the bullet," Tristan said.
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"What does it take to put you down for good?"
"I'll never give up, Edric, not while the people I care about are in trouble. I will keep fighting you for as long as possible, until my friends are safe and sound or until my last breath. Now, if I'm not mistaken, I still have 2500 life points left and it was my turn."
"I don't know how you survived, but I guarantee you won't survive another attack!"
"We'll see."
(Y: 2500)
(E: 550)
Yugi drew a card. "Enough playing around, it's time to show you the driving force behind all my duels: the heart of the cards, and the heart of the Duelist! I activate Card of Sanctity." Yugi drew four cards and Edric drew two. "Masters, you're about to pay for hurting my friends. I'm going to beat you just like you beat me, by defeating your best monster."
"Not your best bluff, Yugi."
"It's not a bluff. And it all starts with this." He showed him a spell card. "Rally to the Cause!"
"What's that?"
"For all but 50 of my life points, I can special-summon any 5 monsters from my graveyard.
(Y: 50)
(E: 550)
"And the monsters I choose are: the Dark Magician, the Swamp and Lava Battleguards, Harpie Lady, and Vorse Raider! Next, I'll use Monster Reborn to revive the Man-Eating Treasure Chest!" The monsters all appeared in front of Yugi.
"This isn't possible! How is he able to have so many different monsters? It's like I'm dueling more than just Yugi."
"That's because you ARE dueling more than just me, Edric."
"What?"
"Each of my friends have entrusted to me their favorite card. Their hearts are in the cards you see before you now. And now that we stand united, we're ready to unleash power unlike anything you have ever seen before. And speaking of standing united, I also play United We Stand in accompaniment with my Dark Magician."
"Oh no, that raises the monster's attack power by 800 points for every monster on the field!"
"Precisely, and I'll set one monster card face-down and end my turn."
Edric quickly drew a card. "I summon Steel Scorpion in attack mode!"
Name: Steel Scorpion
Level: 1
Type: Machine/Effect
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 250
DEF: 300
I had a feeling he would make a blunder eventually.
"Steel Scorpion, attack Yugi's face-down card now!"
"Reveal: Magician of Faith!" From the card rose a purple-haired woman in purple and maroon robes carrying a staff with a moon-shaped ornament on the end. She blocked the scorpion's tail blade with her staff.
Name: Magician of Faith
Level: 1
Type: Spellcaster/Effect
Attribute: Light
ATK: 300
DEF: 400
(Y: 50)
(E: 400)
"Take a good look at this monster card, Edric. The heart in this card is the same as the one who's currently chained up in your dungeon!"
Tea had never felt more proud of him. Yugi had gone from a quiet kid who was the victim of bullying, to becoming a true hero.
"Magician of Faith's special ability allows me to retrieve one spell card from my Graveyard. And I choose Morale Boost. Since there are seven monsters on the field, my Dark Magician's attack power is now raised by 5600!"
(DM: 2500---8100)
"I end my turn," Edric grumbled.
Yugi drew a card. "I'll play Morale Boost which allows the attack power of my equipped monster to be increased by 1000!"
(DM: 8100---9100)
(M,tMG: 11950---12950)
"I also place two cards face-down and end my turn."
"Hah, your trap cards won't affect me or my monsters. I'll sacrifice my Steel Scorpion to Machina so he can get more powerful!" The metal scorpion disappeared
(M,tMG: 12950---13200)
"Who said my trap cards was designed to affect your monster. In fact, whoever said it was a trap card?"
"You speak in riddles. I'll get you!" Edric drew a card and let out a holler of triumph. "I play Inferno Tempest!"
"But that card will only work if you lose 3000 or more life points."
"Oh yes, that. I guess I might activate another of Machina's abilities, the ability to play any spell card regardless of rules."
He lied about Machina having only five abilities!
"Say good-bye to your monsters!" An incredibly huge ball of fire was launched at Yugi.
"I don't think so," Yugi said as he revealed one of his face-down cards. "Activate Mystical Space Typhoon!" A small tornado broke through the fireball. The Inferno Tempest card blew up.
No, he defeated my best card! "Why you... Machina, attack with Cyber Force!"
"Reveal trap card: End Turn! Three guesses as to what it does." Edric had definitely heard of End Turn before. Just as the name suggested, End Turn fast forwards the turn that it's activated in to its end phase. If it's played during a battle phase, all attacks are void. Machina's attack fizzled out. "Now it's my turn." Yugi drew a card. "Yes, this is what I've been waiting for. I play..."
"Just hold it right there, Yugi Moto!" Edric cried. "You're standing on a time bomb!"
Yugi and Tea gasped at that.