Chapter Seven:

Please End This Madness

Yugi felt the Phantom release his arm, but he didn't move.

"Do I really have to give up my sensei to be with my friend?" he wondered, "If the Phantom is so cruel…why did he talk to me like he did? Why did he say he didn't want to 'leave my light' after being in darkness for so long? Oh, God, I just wish I knew if what he says is true…"

"I'll go first, if you don't mind, monsieur," said the Phantom, drawing from his deck, "I summon Beaver Warrior ((1200 ATK.)) in attack mode, and then one card facedown. That ends my turn."

Joey drew. "Ah, a rat just like you…how fitting," he smirked, "I summon Alligator Sword ((1400 ATK.)) in attack mode! Attack his Beaver Warrior now!"

Alligator Sword started to attack, but the Phantom said, "Not so fast, fool! I activate my facedown magic card: Horn of the Unicorn! This magic card strengthens my Beaver Warrior by 700 points, for a grand total of 1900 attack points!"

And to Joey's shock, the "rat" destroyed his Alligator Sword with ease.

Joey: 3700

Phantom: 4000

"So much for a challenge," taunted the Phantom, "You're barely putting up a fight, fou."

"The duel's barely begun!" snapped Joey, "I play two cards facedown, and end my turn."

"Like that'll help," the Phantom muttered as he drew, "Now I summon Celtic Guardian in attack mode ((1400 ATK.))! Celtic Guardian, attack his lifepoints directly!"

The Celtic Guardian raised his sword, but Joey smirked.

"You're not the only one with magic cards," he said, "And now I activate my own: Scapegoat!"

Four different colored goats appeared as a barrier in front of Joey, making Celtic Guardian attack one of them instead of him.

"Those things will last you less than two turns," scowled the Phantom, "This turn, two will be destroyed, one by each of my monsters, and if I summon a monster next turn, you'll end up getting attacked directly anyway…" he smirked, "You're only delaying your eventual defeat."

"You're not going to defeat me!" Joey retorted.

"I'd like to see you stop me," the Phantom sneered, "Beaver Warrior, attack!"

Beaver Warrior attacked a second Scapegoat.

"I play a card facedown," the Phantom said, "Back to you, Wheeler."

"Finally, your voice was getting annoying," Joey replied coldly as he drew, "I now summon my Panther Warrior ((2000 ATK.)) in attack mode! I need to sacrifice a monster so he can attack, so I sacrifice one Scapegoat to have him attack your Beaver Warrior!"

This time, however, Panther Warrior's attack was not stopped, and Beaver Warrior was destroyed.

Joey: 3700

Phantom: 3900

And although he was not pleased his monster was destroyed, the Phantom smirked. "You're better than I thought, Wheeler…but you're still not good enough to defeat me."

"We'll see," Joey replied, "Your move."

The Phantom drew. "I now summon Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress ((1500 ATK.))! Then I sacrifice my Celtic Guardian in order to summon my Dark Magician Girl ((2000 ATK.))! And then I reveal my hidden magic card: Book of Secret Arts! This raises Dark Magician Girl's attack and defense power points by 300 points ((2300 ATK.))! Dark Magician Girl, attack his Panther Warrior with your Dark Magic Attack!"

But as Dark Magician Girl's magic headed toward Joey…

"Nice try!" Joey laughed, "But you forgot about my other facedown card: Magic Arm Shield! This grabs one of your monsters as uses it to block your attack!"

The trap card suddenly grabbed the Winged Dragon, and pulled it in front of the Panther Warrior just as the attack hit.

Joey: 3700

Phantom: 3100

The Phantom gritted his teeth. "I place a card facedown, and end my turn."

"Bien," said Joey, "I play one card facedown, and then I sacrifice my Panther Warrior, in order to summon Red Eyes Black Dragon ((2400 ATK.))! Red Eyes, attack his Dark Magician Girl with Flash Flare Blast!"

"That's what you think!" laughed the Phantom, "Reveal trap: Mirror Force! This sends your attack right back at you, destroying your Red Eyes!"

And indeed, Joey's Red Eyes was destroyed with its own attack. It didn't lose him lifepoints, but it was painful to watch.

"Now all you've got is one Scapegoat," the Phantom said derisively, "And I'd like to see you do anything with that."

"I end my turn," Joey muttered.

"That's the best thing I've heard all day," the Phantom replied, "I play Graceful Charity, which lets me draw three cards, as long as I discard two. Then I summon Beta the Magnet Warrior ((1700 ATK.))! Next, I activate the Magic Card De-Spell, which destroys your Scapegoat magic card, and, in turn, your last Scapegoat! Beta, attack his lifepoints directly!"

Joey cried out in pain as Beta attacked him directly.

Joey: 2000
Phantom: 3100

"Then I play one card facedown," the Phantom stated, "Your turn."

Joey drew. "I summon Swordsman of Landstar ((1200 DEF.)) in defense mode, and end my turn."

"How intelligente of you," mocked the Phantom, as he drew, "I now summon Alpha the Magnet Warrior ((1400 ATK.))! Then I reveal my facedown card, Reborn the Monster, to bring my Gamma the Magnet Warrior back from the Graveyard!"

"But…but I never destroyed your Gamma!" Joey protested.

"Graceful Charity, Joey," Yugi moaned, "It makes him discard two cards after drawing those three. He discarded Gamma so he could summon it again later."

"My Aibou is right, Wheeler," the Phantom smirked, "And then I combine my three Magnet Monsters in order to summon Valkyrion the Magna Warrior ((4500 ATK.))! Valkyrion, destroy his Swordsman of Landstar!"

And with that, Joey's Swordsman was destroyed. Luckily, as it was in defense position, Joey didn't lose any lifepoints.

"You're one attack away from defeat," the Phantom taunted, "Time to see if you can climb out of the grave you dug for yourself."

Joey glared, before drawing his card. "First I activate a trap card known as Grave-robber! It lets me borrow a card from your Graveyard…and I choose Reborn the Monster to bring back my Red Eyes Black Dragon ((2400 ATK.))! Then I play the magic card Graceful Dice! According to the number I roll on the die, my monster will be multiplied by that number for one turn!"

The die rolled…both players and Yugi held their breath…and it rolled…a two.

"That multiplies my Dragon's attack points by three, all the way to 4800 attack points!" Joey explained, "Red Eyes Black Dragon, destroy his Magna Warrior with your Flash Flare Blast!"

And Valkyrion the Magna Warrior was gone.

Joey: 2000
Phantom: 2800

"Now who's one attack away from defeat?" asked Joey with a pleasant smile, "Our scores are almost equal, and you have no monsters on the field!"

"The table can turn in one move," the Phantom snapped back, drawing his card.

Then he smirked. "Your monster is mighty, c'est vrai…but what if his attacks couldn't do a thing?"

"What?" Joey was taken aback.

The Phantom's smirk broadened. "My next move will make every attack you attempt useless…so stand back, for now I summon…Kuriboh, in attack mode!"

Joey was prepared for something big, but this move made him stare for a moment at the small monster, before cracking up completely. Even Yugi was astonished.

"You expect to win this duel with that?" Joey laughed, "Not only is Kuriboh the weakest monster in all of Duel Monsters, you played it in attack mode! Only a complete imbecile would put Kuriboh in attack mode!"

"Really?" asked the Phantom, looking a little annoyed that Joey thought that this was a joke, "But what if I combine Kuriboh with a magic card, monsieur?"

"Huh?"

"I now activate my magic card Multiply! This works with monsters with less than 500 attack. points, and multiplies them endlessly."

Slowly, the Phantom's Kuriboh was multiplying into more and more.

Joey, his eyes wide, tried to focus.

"That won't stop my Red Eyes!" he yelled, "Red Eyes Black Dragon, attack his Kuriboh and win this duel!"

The Dragon attacked…but the Kuriboh didn't stop multiplying.

"What did I tell you?" the Phantom said derisively, "The Kuriboh multiply so fast that you couldn't possibly destroy them all…so your attacks are completely useless!"

Yugi's eyes widened in horror. "But if Joey loses, the Phantom will kill him!"

Joey's eyes narrowed. "I end my turn."

The Phantom drew a card. "I pass for now."

"He must be waiting for something," Yugi thought to himself.

Joey drew. His eyes widened at his card.

"Je suis desole…but I win," he whispered, "I play the Trap Card Just Desserts, which decreases your lifepoints by 500 for every monster you have on the field…and as your Kuriboh are endless, your lifepoints automatically go to zero."

Joey: 2000

Phantom: 0

"That's so cheap!" the Phantom spat.

Joey knocked him to the ground, pointing his now-unsheathed sword at his chest.

"Cheap it may be," Joey replied grimly, "But I still won. And now…it's time to make sure you never hurt Yugi again…"

He raised his sword.

"Joey, non!"

Yugi ran over in front of the Phantom.

"Yugi, get out of the way!"

"No more, Joey," Yugi moaned, "No more…"

"But he-"

"You'd be no better than him, Joey!" Yugi cried.

Joey stared down at Yugi for a moment, before lowering his sword and sheathing it again.

"C'mon…let's go," he muttered, taking his hand and leading him to his horse. He hoisted his friend up, and then climbed on behind him before riding the horse out of the Graveyard.

The Phantom stood shakily, and watched them leave.

"Now let it be war upon you both," he whispered.