Chapter Thirty-Six: The Last Medal
"Saria! You awake?" Ryan whispered. Saria rubbed her eyes. Her brother was still dressed in his white undershirt and shorts. She glanced out the porthole and found that it was close to sunrise.
"What's up Ryan?" Saria asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes.
"Commander Matson needs us up in the bridge," Ryan replied.
"Why this early?" Saria mumbled.
"I don't know, but if he woke me up and asked me to wake you, it must be important."
"OK." Saria pulled the covers aside, revealing that she had spent the night in her camisole. She reached for her lavender bathrobe and put it on. The two silently padded past everyone in the dorms and walked up to the bridge, the cold metal floor under their bare feet. They entered the bridge and saw Commander Matson and the crew already busy. The Courage IX had spent the night at the harbor for refueling and Commander Matson had the ship take off after everyone went to bed. Matson was first to notice them.
"Well, morning. I take it Ryan woke you up?" Matson wondered, glancing at the still sleepy Saria.
"Yeah, but he said it was important. What's going on?" Saria mumbled.
"Here, lets go to the rec room and talk," Matson said, ushering them into the recreation room where some of the crew were just finishing up breakfast.
"What's up? What's so important that you have to wake me up at the crack of dawn?" Saria snapped. Matson was a bit surprised at her tone of voice.
"Well, I got a message from Kaiba early this morning. The night crew took the message and gave it to me when we switched shifts. Turns out Kaiba is going to Needle Rock," Matson informed them.
"And?" Ryan pressed.
"He said he'll meet you at Needle Rock Tower to exchange the Triforce Destiny Cards we have for your parents," Matson said.
"OK. If that's all, I'm going back to bed," Saria mumbled, turning to leave. But Yami in Yugi's body awaited, dressed in his black T-shirt, jeans, and black shoes. As usual, he had the Millennium Puzzle around his neck and his blue duel disk watch.
"Hold on Saria. There is one part you haven't considered," Yami pointed out.
"What's that?"
"Why would Kaiba make the exchange in a public place?" Saria sighed.
"My thoughts exactly. This has to be a trap, but we have to meet him at the tower at noon. If we fail to show up, it could mean the deaths of the Floyds," Matson reminded them.
"You don't have to remind me. I don't know how we're going to stop Kaiba. I'm not an anti-terrorist unit. I'm no hero either. I can't do the impossible like Mom and Dad when they were younger. It just seems so hopeless. Kaiba's got us at a dead end," Saria admitted. She and Ryan looked up at the clock. It was close to 6:30 am.
"Well, we have at least five hours to plan a strategy. The first thing we should do is see if Dad's transmitter is giving a signal on the island," Ryan said, turning to Matson.
"I've already checked out that angle. No signal. Unless Kaiba found the transmitter and wiped it out, there is no guarantee that your father is anywhere near Needle Rock. That's why I suspect Kaiba isn't totally honest about returning the Floyds to us," Matson explained.
"Have you had any luck in finding Dad on any other island?" Saria asked, now a little more patient.
"We've already scanned the lower half of the Great Sea and found no traces of him," Matson replied.
"Damn," Saria swore as she stood up to pace.
"Maybe we are looking at this the wrong way. We should try thinking like Kaiba would. Maybe that'll give us an idea on what to do," Ryan said thoughtfully. Yami nodded.
"It's worth a shot. OK, if Kaiba just kidnapped someone, he would need a place to hide them. I doubt that he would keep them on his submarine. There's not enough protection aboard it and no way to stop any inspectors from investigating and seeing the Floyds. So..." Matson began.
"So he would have to hide them! And isn't there a convenient KaibaCorp building on Windfall Island?" Saria asked, snapping her fingers.
"Actually yes! It has a private harbor so no one would see prisoners being led in!" Matson replied, seeing where Saria was going.
"Commander! Scan the Windfall KaibaCorp building immediately! I got a feeling Saria's right about this," Ryan commanded.
"Yes sir," Matson saluted, and he dashed off.
"Well, we have a long day ahead of us. You, Yugi and Joey have to get medals today from Needle Rock, we have to plan out what to do to when we meet Kaiba, and rescue our parents if they are there," Saria sighed.
"Yeah, but lets start with breakfast," Ryan declared. By eight, everyone was up and had finished eating. The Courage IX had docked at Needle Rock Harbor and the first thing they saw was the hundred foot tall Needle Rock Tower. People were already stewing about, busy with their everyday tasks.
"OK, lets get busy. Everybody break up into groups of two and scour the island for clues. Meet back here in an hour," Saria commanded. The teens split up and for the next hour, they were interviewing locals for clues. No one had any ideas of where the leader was until Yugi and Joey stumbled into him. It was a short kid of about five feet tall, with blue hair, gold glasses with the mark of the beetle in the center. He had a wide sadistic grin on his face and his light blue eyes were ablaze with humor. Next to him was a twin except he had red hair, green eyes and black glasses.
"Hey Yugi! Tell me I'm not seeing two Weevil Underwoods," Joey asked. Yugi saw the two.
"I'm afraid you are," Yugi frowned, turning to the two.
"Is that really my greeting after all this time? It's been a while since Battle City hasn't it," Weevil laughed.
"So cousin Weevil, these are the guys who beat you in Battle City and Duelist Kingdom? They don't look like much," The twin scoffed.
"Yeah, that's what I thought Melvin, but they beat me and Wheeler took my Insect Queen! Well, I'm going to take it back by beating him and Yugi!" Weevil declared.
"I wouldn't count on it Weevil Underpants! We're gonna win and then go get a medal so we can get to the Great Sea Islands Tournament Finals! Got that?" Joey shot back.
"Well, it must be your lucky day! Melvin and I just happen to be working for Seto Kaiba as the Needle Rock Leaders! Beat us and you'll get Killer Medals! Lose and we'll take your rarest cards! So what do you say you two?" Weevil grinned. Yami merged spirits with Yugi.
"I'm astounded the Kaiba would hire a cheat like yourself to work for him as a gym leader, but if access to the finals means beating you and your partner, Joey and I will take you down," Yami declared. Weevil laughed.
"Melvin here just happens to be my cousin and my apprentice! He's no ordinary duelist! We'll duel at the town square by the large fountain. Follow us," Weevil explained. Joey and Yugi followed the twin cousins to a large park in the center of the island. The area they were currently standing in was a perfect dueling stadium. It was flat, surrounded by benches, and had a nice view of Needle Rock Tower. There were trees all around them, and light filtered through a gap in the trees providing the light they needed. Yugi and Joey would have enjoyed the beauty of the area if it wasn't for the duelists they were about to face.
"Well, now I'll tell you the rules of our duel. Each of us will start with 4000 life points each. When one team runs out of life points, the duel is over understand?" Weevil explained. The duel was on!
MEANWHILE...
"You find anything?" Serenity asked. Everyone else had returned from their search except Yugi, Joey and Teran.
"No. No one has seen a gym leader. Except for occasional duels for cards from other duelists, no one has seen a gym leader match," Saria replied.
"Strange... Oh! Here's Commander Matson! You find anything?" Ryan asked.
"Yeah, apparently the gym leader is actually two guys. One is an expert on bug-type monsters and the other no one is sure about. Last names are Underwood," Matson said.
"Weevil! Damn," Tristan swore, punching a fist into an open hand. Serenity put a hand to his shoulder.
"Take it easy there Tristan. What's up with this Weevil guy?" Ryan asked.
"We've known Weevil since Duelist Kingdom. He was a nasty cheat and almost knocked Yugi in the first round but he was defeated. Then in Battle City, Weevil was back to his old tricks. He had a card slipped into Joey's deck and he almost lost because of it. Joey still beat him and both times, Weevil got knocked out of the tournaments," Tristan explained.
"If this Weevil guy is as bad as you say he is, then we better find Yugi and my brother. There's no telling what tricks he might try to pull this time," Serenity said worringly. Saria slipped an arm around Serenity's shoulders.
"Don't worry Serenity! We'll find your brother. Won't we guys?" Saria wondered.
"Yeah! Leave it to us! Lets get searching' and remember to send an SOS when you find them!" Ryan declared and the group split up once more seeking their friends.
MEANWHILE...
"OK! I'll go first! I'll place one card facedown and play Neo Bug (1800/1700) in attack mode!" Weevil declared. His monster looked like a dragonfly and was just as small but it had large pincers.
"OK Weevil! My move!" Yami said, drawing a card. He smiled at what he had.
"I place two cards facedown and summon Kuriboh (300/200) in defense mode!" Yugi stated, his cards appearing on the field.
"Kuriboh! You're really slipping Yugi. Have you gotten so good that you've gone bad?" Weevil taunted. Yugi wasn't falling for it.
"Just let Melvin take his turn," Yugi said evasively.
"Yugi! Are you going to let him insult you like that?" Joey demanded.
"Stay calm Joey! Don't fall to their taunting," Yami advised. Joey nodded as Melvin drew his card and smiled, showing his slightly purple teeth.
"I summon a monster in defense mode and place one card facedown to end my turn!" Melvin said.
"Alright! Here comes Joey Wheeler!" Joey shouted as he drew his card, "I summon Swordsman of Landstar (500/1200) in attack mode. Then I'll place two cards facedown to end my turn!" Joey stared heavily at Weevil as he drew his card.
"For my turn, I'll sacrifice my Neo Bug in order to summon my Empress Mantis (2200/1400) in attack mode!" Weevil smirked, summoning his large mantis monster. It had large gray scythes, a red body and its blue eyes were staring intently at Yugi.
"Now! Empress Mantis! Attack Yugi's pathetic Kuriboh with your royal scythes!" Weevil commanded. Kuriboh huddled in fear as the mantis prepared for attack.
"Not so fast! Reveal facedown card, Multiply! It'll make one Kuriboh become many, making your attack useless!" Yugi interrupted. The duelists watched as the Kuriboh quickly multiplied and the mantis took out just one.
"Well, I guess I have to end my turn, but I will destroy that Kuriboh wall! I swear it!" Weevil warned.
"Well, you shouldn't swear to begin with. I'll throw Big Shield Guardna (100/2600) in defense mode for my turn," Yugi simply said, placing his monster.
"Now, lets see what I can do," Melvin mumbled as he drew. He quickly smiled a wide grin.
"Yugi! Your wall of fuzz balls is about to tumble! I'll first reveal my Poison Mummy (1000/1800)! Its special ability automatically reduces your life points by 500 Yugi! Then I'll sacrifice it for my rarest card, Spell Canceller (1800/1600)!" Melvin declared, Yugi's life points dropping and a machine monster appearing on the field. His monster resembled a four-legged tank with a long cannon.
"My monster's special ability destroys all magic cards in play and any anyone tries to play so say goodbye to your Multiply!" Melvin explained. Yugi watched as Spell Canceller shot a green beam at his Multiply. The extra Kuribohs vanished, turning back into just one.
"Now I'll play my facedown card, Life Force Vest!" Melvin added, his facedown card revealed.
"What does that do?" Joey asked.
"Watch! First, I pay 1000 life points. This card is a magic vest that can turn a person's life points into attack points that can be transferred to any machine monster I control. And I think Yugi will be a perfect fit for my vest!" Melvin explained. A gold light shot towards Yugi and he gasped as the light hit him and it turned into a gold vest with a cord attached to Spell Canceller.
"What does this do? Answer us!" Yami demanded.
"At the start of your turn, this vest will drain 500 of your life points and transfer them to Melvin's monster's attack points! Which means that in seven turns, you're finished!" Weevil laughed, "Now Melvin, take out Kuriboh will ya?"
"Sure thing cousin. Spell Canceller! Attack Yugi's Kuriboh with your spell destructor plasma beam!" Melvin commanded. Yugi felt his body being electrocuted as gold energy flew from the cord to Spell Canceller. The cannon's nozzle then opened up like a flower and shot a green energy beam at Kuriboh, destroying it.
"Oh Yugi! I almost forgot! You'll also lose 300 life points with each time my monster attacks and destroys one of your monsters. Almost forgot to mention that!" Melvin laughed at Yugi. Yugi glanced wearily at Joey through his semi-transparent form.
"Stop him Joey!" Yugi urged. Joey nodded.
This duel is getting out of hand. I have to destroy that creepy monster before it wipes out Yug. But I don't have a monster powerful enough to destroy it yet and all our magic cards are useless. There's gotta be a way out of this mess. Joey thought as he drew. He smiled at the card he drew.
"Hey Weevil! Guess what? I just drew a monster with more attack power than your partner's oversized metal spider! I'm gonna sacrifice my Swordsman of Landstar in order to summon my Jinzo (2400/1500)!" Joey declared, his monster appearing at his side.
"No not Jinzo! He'll throw our whole strategy off!" Weevil screamed.
"That's right! Jinzo can destroy all active trap cards on the field with one shot so do your thing Jinzo! Destroy that pesky vest and free Yugi!" Joey commanded. Jinzo shot out a red laser beam and destroyed the card and the vest.
"Thanks Joey! Now junk that robot!" Yami urged to him. Joey nodded.
"Jinzo! Attack Spell Canceller with cyber shock attack!" Melvin recoiled in fear as his monster was destroyed by purple energy waves from Jinzo.
Alright! If Yugi can get a monster on the field with at least 2400 attack points on his next turn, we can finish Melvin and concentrate on Weevil. Joey thought excitedly.
"Well, it looks like this duel has turned in our favor. You can go, but I would get ready to hand over those medals," Joey taunted. Weevil frowned at him as he drew.
"I'll place Petit Moth (300/200) in defense mode and add the Cocoon of Evolution (0/2000) to it!" Weevil suddenly said with much enthusiasm. Yugi and Joey gasped as a giant green catepillar monster appeared and sealed itself in a large pink cocoon.
"That's right! You should be scared, because in five turns, my Great Moth will get another chance to destroy you!" Weevil replied. Then Yugi and Joey began to laugh.
"What's with the snickering?" Weevil wondered.
"It's you Weevil! Your monster has only 2000 defense points!" Yami laughed.
"Yeah! My Jinzo can destroy it on my next turn!" Joey pointed out.
"Not if I add the Horn of Light to it! It's an equip magic card that'll raise the defense points of my cocoon by 800 points. And I bet neither of you have a card in your deck that can stop me!" Weevil shot out, playing his magic card, "Five turns left!"
We've got to stop that moth before it hatches and the only card I know that can destroy it is still in my deck, but if I believe in the heart of the cards, I know I can draw it! Yugi thought hopefully. He held his breath as he drew his card.
This'll destroy Melvin. Yami thought.
"Melvin! It's over for you! I'm going to sacrifice my Big Shield Guardna in order to summon my Summoned Skull (2500/1200)!" Yugi said, summoning his best fiend. Melvin stared at Yami fearfully.
"No! This can't be!" Melvin argued.
"It's over Melvin! Summoned Skull! Lightning strike attack!" Yami shouted. Melvin shouted out as the thunderbolts from Summoned Skull's attack drained his remaining life points.
"No! Melvin! You OK?" Weevil asked.
"I'm fine! Just finish those creeps!" Melvin replied bitterly.
"Watch yourself you carbon copy Weevil Underpants!" Joey warned as he drew his card, "I summon Battle Warrior (700/1000) in defense mode and I'll have Jinzo destroy your Empress Mantis!" Weevil groaned at this. Weevil frowned as his monster was blasted away.
"That's it! When my moth appears, I'm taking you down first, Wheeler!" Weevil promised.
"Bring it! I beat your moth before and I'll do it again!" Joey reminded him.
"We'll see about that. I'll just draw one card and end my turn," Weevil said, "Only four turns to go." Yugi drew his card and gasped.
I got Slifer the Sky Dragon, but in order to play it, I need three monsters to sacrifice and I don't have three. Yugi thought disappointedly.
Not yet Yugi! You have all the means to get three monsters and finish off Weevil! But first, we need to prepare to get Slifer on the field. Yami informed Yugi.
Right! Yugi said as he drew a card from his hand.
"I summon the Celtic Guardian (1400/1200) in attack mode and end my turn!" Yugi said, summoning his elf swordsman. The next two turns for everyone was a bore: Everyone just drew a card and didn't do anything.
"Just two turns left Yugi until my moth emerges!" Weevil informed as Yugi ended his turn. Yugi glanced at Joey and nodded. Joey nodded back.
Yugi's got a plan. I know it. But I should probably build up an attack force in case his plan doesn't work. Joey thought as he drew from his deck.
"I'll sacrifice my Battle Warrior in order to summon my Flame Swordsman (1800/1600) in attack mode to end my turn!" Joey declared, his flame sword bearing warrior appearing in Battle Warrior's place.
"Hey Wheeler! I just drew a card that can finish your Jinzo off! I play Double Snare! This magic card can automatically destroy your Jinzo!" Weevil said, playing his magic card. Joey watched as Jinzo suddenly vanished.
"No! Jinzo!" Joey cried.
"Now, I'll play one card facedown and let Yugi take his last turn!" Weevil laughed.
"Don't count on it Weevil! This duel is over for you! I'll first play my Change of Heart magic card to take control of your cocoon!" Yugi began, the cocoon appearing at his side.
"My Cocoon!" Weevil exclaimed.
"Now prepare to feel a power like no other as I sacrifice your cocoon, my Summoned Skull and my Celtic Guardian in order to bring forth my ultimate beast!" Yugi said as his entire body began to glow a bright red.
No! He sacrificed my cocoon before it can open! Weevil thought.
"Behold the monster that will destroy you Weevil! Behold Slifer the Sky Dragon (X000/X000)!" Yami shouted as a lightning bolt from the dark cloud-ridden sky struck Yugi's held up card. Yugi slammed it onto his duel disk as lightning struck all around the duelists. As it did, a large shadow began to take form. Slifer's body wrapped around the forest area and he flew over Yugi's head. The dragon's body was hundreds of feet long, it had two long-reaching arms and his head had two mouths on it. Extremely large crimson wings supported Slifer's head and upper body. Weevil stood in fear at the mighty Egyptian God monster. Somewhere in the distance, Saria and the others saw the lightning strike the forest area.
"Holy Nayru! What's that?" Ryan exclaimed as Slifer took form.
"That's Slifer the Sky Dragon! Yugi must be there!" Tristan exclaimed.
"Hurry!" Saria urged and the group quickly dashed to the dueling site. Unfortunately, Kaiba saw Slifer too.
"Hmm. So Yugi got Slifer back. I guess the goddess of power favors me today. As soon as I get the Triforce Destiny Cards, I'll go take his dragon," Kaiba smiled as he stood atop Needle Rock Tower. It was then he noticed movement behind him and had to ignore Yugi.
"Weevil! My monster has exactly 4000 attack points, more than enough to obliterate you! Any last requests? Want to surrender?" Yami smiled.
"Never! I can still destroy your dragon like you destroyed my cocoon! Reveal Raikegi! It'll destroy all of your monsters!" Weevil said, lightning bolts firing down upon his rivals. Flame Swordsman was destroyed but the bolts just bounced off Slifer's long body.
"What? Why didn't my magic card work?" Weevil demanded.
"Because Weevil, Slifer is an Egyptian God monster. He's invulnerable against most magic, trap and monster effects!" Yugi informed him. Weevil shrunk down in fear.
"That means my facedown Negate Attack won't work either!" Weevil realized.
"Sorry Weevil, but it's over! Slifer the Sky Dragon, prepare for attack!" Yugi commanded. Weevil screamed in fear as lightning bolts flew into Slifer's mouth.
"Attack with your thunder force beam attack!" Yami commanded. Slifer looked down at Weevil and everyone arrived in time to see Weevil be engulfed in a flash of white-hot lightning bolts.
"Whoa!" Ryan and Saria said awed as Weevil reappeared, smoke simmering off of his clothes. He fell to his knees as his life points dropped to zero. Yugi and Joey walked up to him and a shocked Melvin as Weevil slowly stood up.
"OK Weevil! Cough up your medals and we'll be out of your faces," Joey commanded, stretching out his hand.
"No! I can't! I'm outta here!" Weevil said, dropping his disk watch and deck and making a run for it.
"No! Get back here!" Joey commanded as the two almost disappeared from view.
"Hey! Get off me!" Weevil suddenly cried. There were the sounds of a scuffle and Joey and Yugi laughed as Saria and Ryan dragged a tied up Weevil and Melvin back to the square, Tristan and Serenity at their heels. Ryan and Saria set them on a bench as Tristan popped his knuckles.
"OK! Where are the medals, or are you going to get a premature trip to the dentist?" Tristan threatened.
"Have mercy," Weevil said pathetically.
"His back pocket," Melvin quickly replied as Tristan launched a fist. Yugi and Joey reached in and pulled out the pale green medals and two boosters.
"We'll just take these and be on our way," Yugi taunted as they left the two screaming siblings.
"Well that was a headache and a half! But we did it Yugi! We qualify for the finals. Sorry I wasn't much help," Joey sighed.
"That's OK Joey! Jinzo really did help us out! If he hadn't taken out that stupid vest, who knows if we could have won. But I must say I'm disappointed in Weevil. He hasn't improved at all since our last meeting," Yugi said.
"Actually, I think he has. He didn't cheat this time," Tristan grinned. Everyone laughed.
"You're right!" Serenity said with good humor. But she then noticed that Saria was worried.
"What's wrong Saria?" Serenity asked.
"Teran's been missing since we went to find the gym leader."