Chapter 11
The Dueling Monkey
Everyone searched around desperately for Mokuba. "Mokuba?! Mokuba?!" Yugi called out. "Where are you, dear?!" Rarity shouted. "Can you hear us, sugar cube?!" AJ bellowed. "This is no time to be playing hide and seek, kid!" Joey yelled as the team regrouped. "That thug, Kemo must've taken him back to Pegasus' castle." Tristan said. "So now they've got Yugi's grandpa's soul, AND Kaiba's little brother." Rainbow said in annoyance. "Looks that way." Joey responded as they all looked toward the castle. "Just another reason for us to win ten star chips and get in there." Yugi said. "No doubt about it." Twilight added. Soon, something on the ground caught Joey's eye. "Whoa! It's my lucky day!" he said as he found some Duel Monster cards on the ground at Tristan's feet. "Hands off, those are mine." Tristan said. "Cool, Tristan, I didn't know you were a Duelist." Spike said as Tristan snatched one of his cards out of Joey's hand. "Yeah, well, I figured if Joey can become a contender in a tournament like this, then, who knows? I might become as good as Rainbow." Tristan responded. "As good as me? Maybe, but you're still kinda wet behind the ears when it comes to dueling, Tristan. No offense." Rainbow said. Soon, Joey found one of Tristan's cards, a level five, Earth attribute Warrior with 1550 attack points and 1800 defense points, which looked familiar. "I recognize that monster!" Joey said as he reached for it. "So do I!" Pinkie added. "Haven't I seen that card in both your decks?" Yugi asked. "Pinkie has this one, but I got something just like it, and I bet she does, too." Joey answered as he pulled out his deck to find the monster he meant, which was a level five, Earth attribute Warrior with 1800 attack points and 1500 defense points. "Bingo! Swamp Battleguard!" he said. "Oooh! I have that one, too!" Pinkie said in excitement. "Well, would you take a look at this. These two look like they're long-lost brothers. Course, that doesn't mean your Battleguard packs the same kind of wallop mine does." Joey said, clearly teasing Tristan. "His wallop is just fine! My Lava Battleguard has never let me down. Try him out. You'll see." Tristan protested. "Thanks." Joey responded. "Those two are perfect examples of Effect Monsters, they each gain attack points when they stand side by side with their counterparts. Swamp Battleguard gains 500 attack points for every Lava Battleguard on the field, and Lava Battleguard gains 500 attack points for every Swamp Battleguard on the field. So they work best when on the field together." Spike spoke. "You know what? I think I can almost see a resemblance between you two and those muscle-heads." Tea joked, causing everyone to laugh. "Laugh it up! I take that as a compliment!" Joey shouted.
Elsewhere, a duel was taking place, and Mai was one of the participants. "Oh, Harpie Sisters, give that monster our kind of makeover, a Triangle Ecstasy Spark attack." she commanded as the Harpie Lady Sisters performed said attack and destroyed the opposing creature. "Wow. That was a real challenge, it ranks right up there with doing my nails." Mai said, unenthused. "But I was ranked fourth in my district finals!" her opponent shouted. "Yeah, yeah. That's great, hon." she responded, still unamused. Later, she sat and watched the sun set. 'I don't get it, trashing hotshot duelists is usually as fun as a fall clearance sale. Why can't I enjoy it anymore?' she thought to herself before sitting up, angry, as she knew just the reason why. "It's all because of that obnoxious punk, Joey! I can't believe such an amateur beat me! I've got to get even with that grinning gutter-punk!" she shouted as someone familiar approached her, nonother than Rex Raptor. "I'm back! Rex Raptor, the Dino Duelist, and I'm itching to finish that match we started on the boat!" he shouted, remembering how he was humiliated on the way to the island. "Funny, I thought I already knocked you on your Jurassic butt." Mai responded. "Think whatever you want, you're about to get stomped!" Rex retorted. "You think I'm gonna waste another minute with a pea-brain like you? Beat it, dino-breath! Shoo! Shoo!" Mai retorted back. "Pea-brain?! I happen to be a finalist at this year's Regional championship tournament! And I'll have you know I already won five star chips!" Rex bellowed, angrier than ever, only for Mai to show him how many star chips she won. "Whoa! How'd you win eight chips already?" he asked in shock. "From wannabes like you who think that by dueling a chick, they'll score some easy stars. I've only lost once, but once I find that punk kid, Joey, it's payback." Mai answered. "Joey Wheeler? How could you lose to him?" Rex asked. "I'd love to see you try and..." Mai began to say, until she got an idea. "Okay, Rex, I'll duel you, if you do something for me first." she continued.
Meanwhile, the gang soon comes across the remaining duelists who were just settling down after a full day of competition. "Wow, after all the crazy duelists we've been running into, it's nice to see some normal kids for a change." Tea said. "Hey, if there weren't any outlandish personalities in this tournament, what fun would it be?" Pinkie asked. "Course, we do have one outlandish fella in the form of Joey. But then again, any of these kids might be his speed." Rainbow joked. "Yeah, how about it, tough guy? Any of these guys puny enough for you to take on, or do you want to go looking for some three-year-olds?" Tristan asked, jokingly. "Tristan, you know that wasn't very nice." Fluttershy said, not happy that her own friend was being picked on. "Come on, Tristan, Fluttershy's right. You know Joey's just biding his time until he finds a dueling monkey to challenge." Tea responded, just as jokingly. But Joey wasn't amused. "Who wants some?! Just one more word about dueling monkeys..." he shouted before they all heard a familiar laugh. "Please tell me that's not who I think it is." AJ said, but to her dismay, it was. "Hello, Joseph. Glad to see me?" Mai asked. "Ecstatic." Joey answered sarcastically. "So, Joey, tell me something; is Yugi still fighting all you battles for you? Everyone knows that if Yugi wasn't there to hold your hand, you wouldn't have beat me. Isn't that right, Yugi?" Mai insinuated. "That's not true." Yugi responded. "Oh, really? Then I propose he steps out of the shadow of the only duelist to beat Kaiba and the one who beat Weevil Underwood just earlier today here and now. If Joey thinks he's so tough, let's see him play for himself! I'm waiting for your answer, Joey. Think you have the guts to step up and face the duelist I've arranged for you?" Mai proposed. "Arranged?" Rarity asked. "It's not you?" Joey asked further before they all discovered just who his opponent was as he stepped out from behind a tree while Mai chuckled. "I'm dueling on Mai's behalf. Recognize me?" Rex asked. "Oh, I definitely remember you, Rex Raptor." Pinkie answered. "This guy supposed to scare me or something? I bet he ain't so tough, if he couldn't beat Weevil at the Regional championship tournament." Joey said. "He may have lost to Weevil, but he still placed second in the Regionals." Twilight pointed out. "Well, Joey? You gotta ask for permission or what?" Mai asked, smugly. "No way! This is my fight, and I'm gonna fight it alone!" Joey responded sharply. "Joey, I may be your friend, but I gotta ask, just what in tarnation are you trying to prove?" AJ asked. "AJ is right, bro, you have to pick your battles more carefully." Tristan added while Rex and Mai looked on. 'I can't believe Mai agreed to duel me just for stomping this amateurus rex!' Rex thought to himself. 'Joey had Yugi's help when he beat me, so having Rex do all my dirty work is the perfect revenge.' Mai thought to herself. "And by the way, if any of you, especially either little Yugi or any of the pastel posse, do any backseat dueling, then Joey is disqualified and the match automatically goes to Rex." she said aloud, bringing a look of shock to everyone. "What do you say, Joey? This is your big chance to prove yourself as a contender in this tournament, or are you gonna back out?" she asked. "Joey, I don't know about this." Spike said, worried. "No. This is just the way I want it, just me and him. It may cost me one or both of my star chips, but I don't deserve to keep them if the only reason I'm winning is because of Yugi's smarts. All my life, people have been trying to help me because they think I can't help myself. Well, I don't need to be helped this time!" Joey responded.
"I'm with Joey on this one, because deep down, I feel like I've been the same way." Fluttershy said as she bravely stepped up. "Fluttershy, your case is totally different than Joey's, and it obvious he's lost it! You two can believe what you want, but I'm not gonna stand here and watch the guy I've been friends with for the longest throw his chips away! I hope you two don't mind, but I'm afraid Joey won't be dueling. Maybe once he gets a couple more star chips, we can arrange a match." Tristan said, hoping to get Joey to reconsider, but it only made Joey more angry. "THAT'S IT!" Joey shouted as he gave Tristan a hard right punch in the face, shocking everyone around. "What'd you do that for?" Tristan asked. "I agree, what in the world are you thinking, Joseph?" Rarity added. "Didn't you hear what I said? I'm sure Rarity did. I'm tired of everyone thinking they need to rescue me and pick my battles for me!" Joey answered. "But, Joey, you know that's not true. We're all friends, we look after each other." Fluttershy said, hoping to calm everyone down. "Keep out of this, Fluttershy. Just let me do what I gotta do." Joey responded as Tristan got up. "Fine! Duel whoever you feel like, even if it means losing the chance to save your sister's eyesight." he said, causing Joey to think about her. 'Serenity. Don't worry, sis. I'll make you proud.' he said to himself. "Hey, guys, let's just cool off a bit..." Tea started to say. "Forget it! If Mr. Macho wants to lose, he can do it by himself." Tristan interrupted before walking away. "Tristan, wait!" Twilight called, but he didn't stop. "Let him go. He probably never had faith in me from the moment the tournament started." Joey responded. "Ah, some trouble in paradise?" Rex asked. "Keep out of our business, dino-breath!" Rainbow responded. "So, what's it gonna be? You gonna run off and apologize to your friend or start acting like a real Duelist?" Mai asked. "I'm still here, ain't I? Yugi, no offense, but I want you to keep out of this one. Likewise to you and your friends, Twi." Joey responded. "Whatever you say, Joey." Twilight spoke. "Alright, then it's dino feeding time!" Rex shouted as an arena rose up from the ground. "We believe in you, Joey! Just don't forget what you're fighting for!" Tea called out as both duelists took their places. 'What I'm fighting for? I've got that part down. It's who I'm fighting that's making me sweat.' Joey thought to himself. "Rex, don't forget our deal! Beat him, and you get to duel me!" Mai shouted. "I can't believe you've reduced yourself to being Mai's attack dog." Joey said, having heard everything. "Least I'm not dueling monkey like your friends were speaking of!" Rex responded, cheekily, but that only made Joey more mad. "So how many chips do you want to lose to my dinos?" he asked. "I got two, but I plan on doubling them right here!" Joey answered. "You wish! I bet your deck isn't even prepared for the fields we're playing on!" Rex retorted. 'Man, if he only knew. I'm still having a hard time telling one field from another, let alone using them in any kind of strategic way. My best bet is to be hitting him hard and fast. And I think I know just the cards to do the job; Baby Dragon and Time Wizard! If I fuse them together, I can speed up time and make my dragon super powerful! Hey, it worked once before when I dueled Mai, so here's hoping it'll do the job again.' Joey thought to himself, remembering the closing moments of his duel against Mai. "Quit stalling! Let's duel!" Rex shouted. "Bring it!" Joey responded as both players' life points set to 2000.
Soon, Fluttershy whispered something to Yugi, who responded with a nod. "Hey, Tea, keep rooting Joey on for us. Me and Fluttershy need to go see about something." Yugi said as they both ran off. Back up on the dueling podium, Joey drew his hand, which contained the very cards he was hoping for. "Pay-dirt! I couldn't have asked for a better hand!" he said before noticing Yugi and Fluttershy were missing. 'Where'd Yugi and Fluttershy go? Oh, well. Wait'll they see what I did all by myself.' he thought before playing his first card. "I play Baby Dragon in defense mode!" he shouted as the creature appeared, catching Rex off-guard. 'That's right, it's a Baby Dragon. If he knows about my duel with Mai, Rex knows he's toast.' he thought to himself. "You never leave a baby unattended, and you're about to find out why! I summon Two-Headed King Rex in attack mode!" Rex responded as his best monster appeared and stomped the Baby Dragon flat. "Poor baby. Looks like we found out what he was made of, the hard way." he continued. "Great, now I done lost my combo!" Joey said in distraught. "And you know why you lost it? Because even three-year-olds know better than to defend on their first move! I can't believe you actually did that, with one of the key monsters in the combo you used to beat Mai! You rookie!" Rex taunted. "Everyone makes mistakes, Joey! Just try not to make another one!" Tea called out while Mai just laughed. "You don't get it, do you? Little Joey's already made the one fatal mistake that's gonna cost him this entire duel, and that was ever agreeing to this match in the first place." the stuck-up, pompous Duelist said.
"Ha! With your Baby Dragon crushed, by Two-Headed King Rex can terrorize the field for the rest of the match!" Rex declared. "Alright, maybe I did mess up, but I think I still have a monster in my hand that can stand up to that thing if not beat it, Leogun!" Joey responded as he played his card, a level five, Earth attribute Beast with 1750 attack points and 1550 defense points, which struck Spike as familiar because he knew there was one in Fluttershy's deck. "Show that overgrown iguana who the real king of beasts is!" Joey commanded as Leogun charged forward, but Rex just laughed. "You amateur. Since I'm playing on a wasteland field, my King Rex gets a nice, fat power bonus. Tough luck for your pussy cat!" he said as his King Rex's attack and defense power increased to 2080 and 1560, respectively. "Field power bonus?! Now he tells me!" Joey shouted. "King Rex, Foot Stomp!" Rex commanded as Leogun was squished underneath King Rex's massive foot. All Joey could say was ouch as his life points dropped to 1670. 'The quicker I bash this tenderfoot, the sooner I'll get to have my chance at beating Mai!' Rex thought to himself. "Let's go! You're the appetizer, I want to get on to the main course!" he shouted as he passed his turn. "I still got plenty to serve up, that is, if I finally figured out how to use this field power bonus thing right." Joey said as he picked his next card. "Here goes nothing. Axe Raider!" he shouted as his next monster, a level four, Earth attribute Warrior with 1700 attack points and 1150 defense points, appeared. AJ was mighty pleased to see a monster she had in her deck on the field as its attack and defense points increased to 2210 and 1495, respectively. "Hey! He got the bonus!" Joey said with glee as his monster attacked and sliced King Rex in half, dropping Rex's life points to 1870. "I did it!" Joey shouted with a smile. "Don't let it go to your head! I summon Sword Arm of Dragon!" Rex retorted as his next monster, a level 6, Earth attribute dinosaur with 1750 attack points and 2030 defense points, now increased to 2275 and 2630 respectively, appeared. "Cut that Axe Raider down to size! Sword Tail Slash!" Rex commanded as Axe Raider was struck down, dropping Joey's life points to 1605. 'That's my third monster he's trashed. Even with the field power bonus, I can't beat him.' Joey thought to himself. "Joey! Don't let that dino-dork intimidate you! Remember, we're all right behind you!" Tea called out. 'Yeah, sure. That's why Yugi, Tristan and Fluttershy ditched me.' Joey said to himself.
Meanwhile, at a pond, Tristan was washing the spot where Joey nailed him while calling him names. "You okay, Tristan?" Yugi asked as he and Fluttershy came up. "Yuge? What are you and Fluttershy doing here? You should be helping and cheering on Joey." Tristan asked in surprise. "Joey made it pretty clear he didn't want my help on this one." Yugi responded. "And since you left, I figured we should check on you." Fluttershy added. "Me being there and you two being there are completely different things. Without any coaching from you, Yugi, Joey won't last two minutes against that little creepasaur. I don't care what he says, you gotta go back and help him out, pronto." Tristan retorted. "I can't do that. Joey needs to fight this duel on his own and we have to let him." Yugi calmly responded. "Yugi!" Tristan said as he grabbed Yuge by his shirt collar. "Tristan, you're forgetting Mai's stipulation! If Yugi goes back on his word, or if me and my friends go back on our own word and help Joey out, he'll be automatically disqualified and lose both his star chips to Rex. Besides, we gotta believe in him so that he believes in himself." Fluttershy pointed out, scoldingly. "Yeah, well, maybe I don't think he can win." Tristan admitted, letting go of Yugi. "But Tristan, this is about something more important than winning or losing; this is about Joey learning to be a strong big brother for his nearly-blind little sister, and even though he doesn't need our help, he needs to know that he has our support." Yugi responded. "I don't know." Tristan said, doubtfully.
Back at the duel, Joey was contemplating what to do. 'Maybe accepting this duel was a mistake. Maybe the only way to help my sister was to rely on my friends. No, that's not true. I can't start thinking that way. If I can't rely on myself, how can I expect my little sister to? Now, think. There's gotta be something in my hand that I can play or save for later.' he thought to himself before finding the other half of his failed combo. 'Wait, I still have the Time Wizard. Too bad I don't have my Baby Dragon to fuse it with anymore. Oh, well, I guess it couldn't hurt to keep it for later. Here goes nothing.' he continued. "I'll place a monster in defense mode, and just so you know, Rex. on my opening turn, I had all the parts for my combo move, and I'm sure you know what the other part is, since you destroyed the first part, the Baby Dragon." he said aloud. 'That means he has the other card he beat me with, I should warn Rex.' Mai thought to herself. "Raptor! He revealed he has the Time Wizard on him, so watch it!" she shouted. "Ah, without Yugi's help, this chump probably doesn't know how to use it without Baby Dragon being there for a fusion." Raptor retorted. 'I know Joey's type, he'll put down monsters in defense mode until he finds another powerful card to play, but he's gonna be in for the prehistoric pounding of his life!' Rex thought to himself. 'Maybe Rex is right. Joey was able to defeat my Harpie Lady Sisters, but only because Yugi partly coached him through it after he fused it with Baby Dragon. This time, Joey's all alone.' Mai thought to herself, remembering the ending of her duel with him. "Come on, now! I got my Rock Ogre Grotto in defense mode ready to protect me!" Joey shouted. "You see? I knew the rookie didn't know what he was doing. I play Megazowler!" Rex said with a chuckle as his next monster, a level six, Earth attribute Dinosaur with 1800 attack points and 2000 defense points, now increased to 2340 and 2600, respectively, appeared, causing Pinkie to worry, as she had that same card in her own deck. "Wreck that rock old-school style! Horn Ramming Charge attack!" Rex commanded as the Rock Ogre was turned to pebbles. "Reduced to rubble! I sure sent him back to the Stone Age!" he added with a laugh. "Fine! I fuse my Flame Manipulator and Masaki, the Legendary Swordsman together to fusion summon Flame Swordsman!" Joey retorted as his next monster, a level five, Fire attribute Warrior Fusion monster with 1800 attack points and 1600 defense points, now 2340 and 2080 respectively, appeared. "Time to turn up the heat and carve that dino like it was a big turkey!" he added. "Didn't you see what I did to your Rock Ogre? Do you really think that your puny little Flame Swordsman will last any longer? Looks like I'm gonna have to teach you respect for my dinos the hard way! Attack!" Rex responded as the Megazowler charged.
However, Mai knew that Rex made a mistake. "Rex, you big dino dummy!" she shouted. "Flaming Sword of Battle!" Joey commanded, and in moments, flames engulfed the sword and, to Rex's surprise and bafflement, the attack destroyed Megazowler, causing it to lose its field power bonus and dropping Rex's life points to 1330. "Someone tell me how a swordsman can beat a dinosaur!" Rex shouted in disbelief. "I actually won that?" Joey asked, equally as baffled as Rex. "There is no way that Joey could've known that dinosaur monsters are especially vulnerable to fire in this tournament. That jerk, he totally lucked out on that one!" Mai said, not pleased with what happened. "Looks like Joey found the secret to beating your dinos, Rex! Hope you're not too Saur about it! Get it? Saur? Dino? Dinosaur?" Pinkie joked before laughing, along with Rainbow. "I'll switch my Sword Arm of Dragon to Defense mode!" Rex declared as he did so. "You want some? Come and get it, buddy!" Joey responded as the Flame Swordsman cut Sword Arm of Dragon down to size, followed by a level four, Earth attribute dino with 1600 attack points and 1200 defense points, formerly 2080 and 1560, respectively, called Crawling Dragon #2 and a level four, Earth attribute dino with 1500 attack points and 800 defense points, formerly 1950 and 1040, respectively, called Uraby, both of which were in Pinkie's deck. "Yeah! We knew you'd make a comeback, Joey!" Tea cheered. "This is far from over, you know. One card won't win this for you." Rex said, clearly not happy with how the duel was going. "Alright, then I'll just bring out another for you! Swamp Battleguard!" Joey responded as the creature appeared, now with 2340 attack points and 1950 defense points. "Big deal! I have a beast that'll wipe that smirk off your face permanently!" Rex retorted as he drew his next card, and he quickly smiled himself as he drew the card he needed. "Alright! Meet the top link of the food chain; Serpent Night Dragon!" he shouted as the creature, a level seven, Dark attribute dragon with 2350 attack points and 2400 defense points, appeared. "I have a dragon deck, but I've never seen THAT dragon before!" Spike shouted. "This rare card's awarded to the elite few who made it to the final round in the regional championships over the years. But for a loser like you, or for a Duelist with a dragon deck like that kid with the purple and green hair, it should be an honor just to either see it in action, or to get thrashed by it! Nightmare Sonic Blast!" Rex said as the dragon attacked and destroyed the Flame Swordsman, dropping Joey's life points to 1595. "He was my best monster." Joey said, distraught. "Come on, Joey. You gotta pull out another miracle." Rainbow said. 'Man, there's not a monster in my deck that can save me now.' Joey thought as he drew his next card, which turned out to be the one Tristan let him borrow, Lava Battleguard. 'Tristan's Lava Battleguard. Man, he always shows up somehow.' he continued as he remembered a flashback to when Tristan came to help him fight some local punks when they were bullying some kid they caught in their warehouse hangout. "Man, after all this time, it finally hits me. Tristan's always been looking out for me, like a brother. Not because he always thinks I need his help, but because he's a true friend." he said aloud, until a familiar voice was heard. "Yo! Joey! We're here for you, buddy!" said the voice. Joey looked and saw Tristan, Yugi and Fluttershy back and ready to cheer him on. "So how about it? You gonna take that card of mine for a test drive or what?" Tristan asked. "You got it, pal! Go, Lava Battleguard!" Joey answered as the monster appeared alongside Joey's battleguard. "Cool! My card's on the field!" Tristan said with a smile. "Brother reunited!" Pinkie shouted with a smile. "What a touching reunion! Too bad my Serpent Night Dragon is gonna blast it to shreds! Now, attack the green one!" Rex responded as the dragon launched another Nightmare Sonic Blast, but it was soon blocked and deflected right back at the dragon, destroying it. "What?! My Nightmare Sonic Blast was deflected?! How was it repelled? There aren't any trap cards out, so what happened?!" Rex asked in shock. Everyone on the sidelines, saved for a shocked Mai, cheered and soon saw what happened, the Lava Battleguard deflected the attack. "I get it! The Lava Battleguard blocked the attack and saved the Swamp Battleguard!" Tristan said in realization. "Tristan's card was there right when I needed it most." Joey said, humbly.
"Of course! Those two monsters are like brothers-in-arms, and when they're together on the field, they give each other a 500 attack point power boost!" Spike revealed as the attack and defense points of the Swamp Battleguard increased to 2840 and 1950, respectively, and the attack points and defense points of the Lava Battleguard increased to 2515 and 2340, respectively. "See, Tristan? Those monsters helping each other are like how you and Joey help each other out in real life." Fluttershy pointed out. "You're right. That's what being a buddy is all about." Tristan confirmed. "Thanks for everything, man. I owe you!" Joey called down to his friend, who gave him a thumbs-up. "Talk about a power team, not only did you take out Rex's best monster, but you also put a serious 390 point dent in his life points, too!" Rainbow shouted as Rex's life points dropped to 840. "Right! And now that we're together again..." Joey said. "There's not a monster Rex has that can stop us!" Tristan finished, but Rex chuckled to himself. 'Celebrate while you can, because your party's about to be crashed!' he thought, knowing full well he had an ultimate creature waiting in the wings.