Yu-Gi-Oh! Avatar
Fanfic Chapter 17: The Zombie Duelist Pt. 2: Offensive-Defensive flip
Episode Basis: Arena of Lost Souls Pt. 2
Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh! Joey was kidnapped and forced to duel Bonz, the protégé of Bandit Keith, the international champion. At first, it seemed that Joey would win, seeing as how the monsters Bonz played were not zombie monsters and therefore, wouldn't receive a field power bonus from the graveyard field they were dueling on. But then Bonz revealed his trump card: Call of the Haunted, a magic card that brings all the destroyed monsters back to life as zombies. As Joey found out, zombie monsters can't be destroyed by brute force. How can Joey destroy something that's not even alive to begin with?
When we last left off, Bonz had three zombie monsters and Joey had no monsters. And while Joey had more life points, he also had no options before him. He desperately tried to summon another monster. "Garoozis (1), attack with five-slash strike!" Garoozis chopped the Clown Zombie up into pieces. "Adios, you Clown Zombie!"
"Not quite. Have you forgotten my magic card? Call of the Haunted is still in play!" The clown immediately came back together.
"The clown's come back to life!"
"That's not all. Each and every time one of my zombie monsters is killed, it will come back to life stronger and more deadly than before!"
(CZ: 1755---1890)
"Clown Zombie, flame dagger acrobatic attack!" The Clown Zombie threw several daggers at Garoozis and destroyed it.
(J: 1530)
(B: 1355)
Yugi and the gang hurried deep into the cave. They've been running for what felt like a mile.
"Still no sign of Joey," Tristan said.
"We have a new problem, guys," Harold said looking behind him. "Bakura's not with us."
The others looked back. "We didn't take any turns and there are no extensions so where could he have gone?"
"I don't know, Tea," Yugi replied.
A scream echoed down the tunnel.
"That was Bakura!" Tea realized.
"Bakura, we're over here!" Tristan called. But as Bakura came into view, the others saw that he wasn't alone. A skeleton was trailing him. It started a cartoon-like chase until Tristan was able to get it off. Furiously, he crushed the skull underneath his feet. "From now on, don't go picking up any more hitchhikers."
"Is it safe yet?" Harold asked hiding behind Yugi. The others had collapsed from exhaustion.
"I think I bit my tongue," Tea said woozy.
"You really had us scared for a minute, Bakura."
"Sorry."
"Forget about that, we have another problem," Tristan said. He referred to a Y in the path. "So which way do we go?"
"Gee, both ways look so inviting," Tea said dryly.
"Well if Joey got 'invited' down one of those tunnels then we should figure out which one."
"Maybe we should split up again," Harold suggested. "Okay, Tristan, Bakura, and I will…"
Suddenly Bakura's foot slid into the ground.
A low rumbling came from behind them.
"What's that sound?" Harold asked hiding behind Tea (much to her chagrin).
"I stepped on a switch of some kind," Bakura analyzed.
"Forget about the switch, we need to figure out where and what that sound is," Tristan said.
"Whatever it is, it's coming this way!"
It wasn't long before the source of the sound was revealed; a giant boulder was making its way towards them. Another frantic chase started. Yugi and the others ran down one of the passageways.
"Why is that boulder chasing us?" Tea asked.
"Because we're down hill," Tristan explained.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Bakura repeated.
On and on the chase went. Bakura tripped and the boulder ran over him.
"No, Bakura!" Harold cried as he turned back.
"Don't look back, just keep running!" Tristan advised. That pause was all it took for the boulder to plow into Harold's head and roll over him as well.
"It got Harold too!" Tea cried. She, Yugi, and Tristan kept running until they reached a dead end.
"There's nowhere else to run," Tristan said as he skidded to a halt. "So I'm going to fight!"
"Tristan, you can't punch a boulder!" Yugi argued.
"I can definitely try," Tristan said as he wound up and slugged the boulder.
The boulder popped into little tiny bits and pieces of rubber and plaster.
"A balloon?" Tristan gaped. An orb-shaped speaker was in the center.
"I bet it was this speaker that was making the rumbling sound," Tea said.
"Someone wired that thing and I bet it was Pegasus," Yugi figured.
"I'LL KILL THAT MOP TOP IF HE PULLS ONE MORE PRANK LIKE THAT AGAIN!" Tristan shouted. His feral look told the others that he was serious. In fact, the look was so wild that it probably would've made Kaiba shiver.
"Harold, Bakura!" They were laying dazed on the group. Yugi went up to them. "Are you guys okay?"
"I should've stayed in bed," Harold complained. Bakura painfully groaned an agreement.
This is a catastrophe! Joey thought. I smack down those zombies and they just come back nastier than before. Man, oh, man, I don't know how I can win this duel!
"Had enough yet, dweeb? I told you there's no way you can beat Bonz with my help," Bandit Keith said.
"Yeah, the boss's the best there is," Zigor praised.
"You can just leave your star chips at the door, mate," Sid added.
Maybe I should quit, maybe… no, I can't think that way. For Serenity's sake, I have to win! Joey drew a card. Time Wizard, this card I got from Yugi has pulled my fat out of the fire before…
"All right, it's the Time Wizard!"
"What good is that thing?"
"Don't you know? The Time Wizard can make time go faster causing my Baby Dragon to grow into a Thousand Dragon."
"That's right, and it's not the only effect the Time Wizard has," Yugi said cryptically. "A millennium has passed on the playing field causing your Harpies to grow old and decrepit. Face it, Mai; time is running out for you and your ladies."
"Go, Thousand Dragon! Attack with Thousand Flame Breath!"
----- -----
"But while I'm at it, I'm making him my weapon of choice too!" Joey flipped over his Time Wizard. "Go, Time Wizard!"
"What are you doing?" Rex asked as his Red-Eyes Black Dragon was fossilized.
Maybe the Time Wizard can save me again. "I summon Time Wizard!"
Both Bonz and Bandit Keith gasped. Time Wizard? Apparently, the dweeb's smarter than I thought. His time magic can age Bonz's zombies right into the dust!
"Spin Time Roulette!" Joey commanded. The arrow started to spin.
"Boss, help me!" Bonz pleaded.
"Relax, Time Roulette is just a game of chance. If your luck is better, you won't be wiped out." Bonz pleaded for the arrow to land on a skull, which it did.
"What, no way!" Joey cried as his Time Wizard and Flame Swordsman were sucked up into a time vortex.
"You're going to love what happens next, Bonz. Half of the monsters' attack points get deducted from Joey's life points."
(J: 630)
(B: 1305)
"Aww, poor Joey, I'll give you a free turn, throw another morsel for my zombies to devouer!"
I can't win at an attack, Joey figured as he laid a monster card face-down. I'll just play this in defense mode.
Bonz started to order his Dragon Zombie to attack but Bandit Keith stopped him. "Why just destroy him when you can humiliate him the way Pegasus did to me. Play the King of Ghosts!"
"I hear you, boss. Go, Pumpking, rise from the grave!" A giant pumpkin with tendrils and a crown on his head appeared.
"What's that?"
"It's Pumpking, the King of Ghosts (2)!" Bonz introduced. Apparently, it was a zombie monster as it gained a field power bonus.
(PK: 1500---1950, 2000---2600)
"What does it do?"
"Pumpking has a very special ability: Ectoplasmic Fortification!" The Pumpking drove its tendrils into each of Bonz's zombie monsters.
"Ecto-who-its, Foto-what-sis?"
"Ectoplasm is the ghostly substance that gives my zombies their power and Pumpking, as the king of ghosts, can pump up their attack points by 10 percent each and every turn." As Bonz spoke, the zombie monsters grew huge.
(CZ: 1950---2025)
(DZ: 2080---2240)
(AZ: 1755---2100)
Bonz destroyed three of Joey's defense monsters.
"You're giving me some great advice, boss!"
Nah, just good advice, but there's one card that could clinch the duel for you.
This is awful, I can barely keep a warrior on the field and his zombies just keep getting stronger.
"Go on, throw another card for my monsters to devourer," Bonz coaxed.
There's got to be some way to beat him. Yugi would know...
"Joey!"
Great, now I'm hearing things.
"Joey, are you down here?"
Wait a second, I'm not just hearing things. Joey turned and saw Yugi and the others running towards him.
"Yugi, it's really you!"
Bandit Keith grumbled and turned to Sid and Zigor. "Stop them at any costs!" He ordered.
"Joey, what are you doing here?" Harold asked. "We could barely find you in this place.
"Not like I had a choice," Joey explained. "Those three creeps knocked me out and forced me into this duel!"
"A duel not overseen by a watcher is invalid," Harold announced. "This duel is over!"
"No it isn't," Zigor said stepping in between them. "It's only over when the boss says its over."
"Butcher them, boys, that'll crush Joey's spirits," Bandit Keith advised.
Tristan charged forward but Zigor ended up slugging him. He then turned to Tea. "Normally, I don't like beating up on girls but this time I'll make an exception!"
"Tea, duck!" Bakura shouted throwing his Millennium Ring like a Frisbee. Tea ducked at the perfect time so Zigor didn't realize it was coming towards him until it was too late. The spikes of the ring gave Zigor a cut on his forearm.
"He cut me! That son of a gun cut me!"
"So you must be that Yugi kid," Sid said. "Time to see if you fight as good as you duel."
Okay, if there's really something in my Millennium Puzzle making me do heroic things, let it come through for me now, Yugi silently pleaded. As if it could hear him, the Millennium Puzzle started to glow and he switched into dueling mode. "Come at me if you dare," he challenged. Sid charged towards him. Yugi waited until the last second then jumped out of the way revealing Harold who sucker-punched Sid in the face sending him to the ground.
A/N: I know this is different from the TV show, I felt this needed a bit more action. :- )
"As official Watcher, I'm calling an end to this sorry excuse for a duel. Everybody retains the same number of star chips they started off with."
"Wrong, this duel continues!" Bandit Keith suddenly pulled a gun out and trained it on Yugi. He turned to Joey. "Finish this duel or spiky here gets a hole in the head!"
"In that case, Joey," Harold said stepping forward. "You're just going to have to win. Here."
"Hey, asking for help is illegal!" Bandit Keith argued suddenly having a flash of deja vu.
"Oh, it's not help, just some motivation." Harold threw Joey his wallet.
"My wallet," Joey realized and opened it to reveal Serenity's photo. "Serenity!"
"That's right, Joey," Tristan confirmed. "Never forget that your dueling for her, and that your love for her and your honor are stronger than anything these lump heads have."
"Oh please, that inspiration is just as pathetic as the dweeb here."
"That's it; I've had it with your smart remarks!" Joey said. Insulting him was one thing, but nobody insults his family and lives. "Spill it, who are you anyway?" He pointed squarely at Bandit Keith.
"You're apparently new to the dueling circuit, otherwise you would've heard of me. They call me Bandit Keith." Yugi and the others gasped.
"Yugi, wasn't he…" Harold began.
"Yeah, he's the International champion," Yugi confirmed. "We heard about him from Kaiba. He only lost one duel and that was to Pegasus himself."
"No wonder skull face has outsmarted me at every turn."
"This is why you ought to just pack it up and go home dweeb because I've given my pal Bonz here the perfect strategy. Nothing you have in your deck can stop him."
"Nobody's going to get inside Pegasus' castle except Bandit Keith and us," Sid declared.
"You fought your last duel, Joey. You're about to join the other zombies in this graveyard field."
"Joey, remember your sister," Harold reminded.
Joey looked down at Serenity's photo, her smiling face, her eternal optimism. "For her sake, I have to keep playing!" He laid a monster in defense mode.
"No, all your hopes and dreams die right here!" Bonz said.
"Says you, geek, I'm going to keep my defenses up until I figure out a way to beat you."
"You know you shouldn't really broadcast your strategy," Bandit Keith pointed out, his gun trained on Yugi but watching the duel. "Especially when it's a losing one; Bonz has a card in his deck that can render all your defenses helpless."
"You got to be bluffing! There's no way you can do that with one card."
"Wanna bet?" Bonz drew a card. "Defense Paralysis!"
"Oh no."
"Defense Paralysis is big trouble, Joey!"
"Now, whatever defense monsters you play will trigger it and neutralize their ability to defend. And you still can't stop my zombies from powering up.
(AZ: 2100---2700)
(CZ: 2025---2565)
(DZ: 2240---2880)
"So now all that's left is to snuff the last monster you have standing. Dragon Zombie, attack with Deadly Zombie Breath!" Joey's last defense monster was blown away.
"End of the road now for you, dweeb."
Joey looked down at Serenity's picture. I let you down, sis.
"Don't listen to him, Joey!" Tea called.
"Hang in there!" Bakura added.
"The duel only ends when someone's life points reaches 0 and that's not happening now," Harold said.
"Whatever he says, don't quit," Tristan said just before Zigor kicked him again.
"He should quit, Bandit Keith is right about everything!"
"Quit, not a chance!" Joey announced. "I can't give up, Serenity's counting on me." He drew a card. "Go, Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
"Yes!" Tea, Tristan, and Bakura cheered.
Yugi smiled. "Good choice, Joey."
Bandit Keith watched as Joey's giant skeletal dragon appeared. Red-Eyes, where'd the dork get a card that rare?
"If all my defenses are blocked, then I might as well take to the attack. Red-Eyes, take out that overgrown pumpkin! Inferno Fire Blast!" Pumpking was destroyed.
"Nice work, Joey, now he can't raise his monster's attack power any higher. And since Pumpking was a ghost from the start, it's unaffected by Call of the Haunted."
(J: 630)
(B: 855)
"Minor set back, Bonz," Bandit Keith said. "Don't forget, you still have more than enough attack power to blow this dweeb away!"
"Yeah, you're right, boss! Dragon Zombie, attack with Deadly Zombie Breath, blow Red-Eyes away!" The dragon was destroyed. "Even Red-Eyes was no match for me."
"With that card wiped out, I'm all but done for," Joey realized.
(J: 150)
(B: 855)
He annihilated my best card! The only monster I have left is Battle Warrior (3) and his attack power is way too weak.
"Well, are you going to play or surrender?" Bonz asked.
"Yugi, isn't there some way Joey can beat that little ghoul?"
"He's in a big jam, Tea, attacking the zombie army doesn't do any good and Defense Paralysis keeps all his monsters from defending… defense, that's it! "Joey, there's a way! You've got a magic card in your deck that can turn this match around!"
"Yeah, right, look, kid, you may have beaten Kaiba but I'm a much better Duelist than he is and I've given my pal Bonz the perfect strategy."
"No strategy is perfect," Harold argued. "Everything has an Achilles heel."
"You sure?" Joey asked.
"Joey, trust your friends, they've never steered you wrong before!" Harold reminded him.
"Yeah, trust in the cards…" Joey took a deep breath and drew a card. This is it! This must be the card Yugi was talking about! Shield and Sword is a magic card that switches the attack and defense points of every monster on the field, so if I lay it on the field, his monsters' attack power will become 0 and he won't be able to stop my next attack! "Yeah, it's my only chance. I summon Battle Warrior in attack mode!" A blue-armored warrior rose and dropped into a karate defense stance.
"Is that the best you got?" Bonz asked challengingly.
"And then I add… the magic card Shield and Sword!"
Oh no! Zombie monsters have no will of their own and as long as Defense Paralysis is in play, Bonz can't shift them into defense mode!
(CZ: 2565---0, 0---2565)
(DZ: 2880---0, 0---2880)
(AZ: 2700---0, 0---2700)
"My zombies' attack power has dropped to 0!"
"And my Battle Warrior's points have switched too."
(BW: 700---1000, 1000---700)
"Smash those zombie freaks! Ultimate Battle Fist!" The Battle Warrior punched the Dragon Zombie and destroyed it.
"Looks like the winner of this match is Joey Wheeler," Harold said eyeing Bandit Keith. "Now, unless you want Pegasus to find out about this, I suggest you take your flunkies and leave."
Bandit Keith just pocketed his gun and turned to leave. "See you around, loser," he said to Bonz.
"But boss…"
"Hey Bandit Keith," Joey called. "Maybe next time you'll have the gall to challenge me face-to-face instead of hiding behind your stooges."
"Duel you face-to-face? You're hopeless, dweeb. The game of Duel Monsters is all about winning at any cost, even if you must use some creative maneuvers."
"We'll just see about that, Bandit Keith."
With a harsh laugh, Bandit Keith and his gang walked away.
"Why couldn't Pegasus steal his soul as well?" Harold cracked.
"He would have to have one first," Tea replied.
"Hey guys," Joey said to the others. "I'm really sorry for making you all worry."
"Next time, don't be in such a hurry to go off on your own," Tristan scolded.
"Its okay, Joey, we know it wasn't your fault."
"Yeah, and besides, you won the duel so we can forgive you."
"Joey you were able to beat a Duelist under the protégé of the Intercontinental champion. Yet you triumphed even though the odds were stacked against you. I think there's some talent growing in that skull of yours."
"I just got lucky."
"It wasn't luck, Joey," Yugi said. "It was your determination, your trust in the cards and the promise you made to your sister. That's what helped you win." Joey just blushed.
"Joey gained four star chips from Bandit Keith's puppet so now he's only two away from entering the finals."
"So now that it's all over, can we get out of this creepy cave?" Tea asked. The others nodded.
As the gang approached the exit, they reveled at the approaching daylight and fresh air. Suddenly a giant boulder moved into place blocking the exit.
Outside, Bandit Keith let out a laugh of triumph. "Tough luck, guys, looks like you're stuck in that cave for life." He turned to his gang. "Now we need to have a little talk."
"Talk about what, boss?" Bonz asked.
"Your star chips." Bandit Keith slugged Zigor and knocked him off.
"Boss, what's the matter?" Bonz asked.
"The matter is you lost."
"But I was following your instructions."
"YOU LOST!" Bandit Keith beat up all three of them and left them on the forest floor. "Ten star chips," he said as he inserted the chip into the last open slot. "Not the way I planned, but at least now I know I'm getting into the castle." He turned and walked off.
Inside, the gang tried desperately to move the boulder.
"This thing weighs a ton," Joey complained. "We can't even get it to budge an inch!"
"Keep trying," Yugi encouraged.
"This can't end like this!" Harold said. "This can't end!
To Be Continued
Monster Glossary
(1)
Name: Garoozis
Level: 5
Type: Beast-Warrior
Attribute: Fire
ATK: 1800
DEF: 1500
(2)
Name: Pumpking the King of Ghosts
Level: 6
Type: Zombie/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 1800
DEF: 2000
Note: On the show, Pumpking is first introduced with 1500 ATK. However, when the card is shown briefly in Bonz's hand, the number looks like an 8. So someone screwed up there.
(3)
Name: Battle Warrior
Level: 2
Type: Warrior
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 700
DEF: 1000
Note: The zombie warrior is actually Armored Zombie from the game. But he really does nothing so his stats weren't mentioned this time around.
