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Fanfic Chapter 18: The Labyrinth Dungeon Pt. 1: The Dueling Brothers
Episode Basis: Double Trouble Duel Pt. 1

Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh! Yugi and the gang came to the support of Joey, who was locked in a losing battle against Bonz. Bandit Keith tried everything to crush Joey's dueling spirit by sending his other two flunkies, Sid and Zigor, after the others but Yugi and his friends were able to hold their own. Drawing strength from his friends and his sister, Joey used the Shield and Sword magic card in combination with the Battle Warrior monster to win over Bonz's zombie monsters. But it was Bandit Keith who had the last laugh as he locked the heroes in a cave while he took his henchmen's star chips and headed to the castle. Can the gang escape or has Bandit Keith moved our heroes out of the way for good?


Joey, Tristan, and Harold tried as hard as they could to move the boulder but it was a no go.

"This thing ain't budging, boys and girls," Joey announced. "We're trapped."

"I guess Bandit Keith wasn't kidding when he gave us that win at all costs line," Harold said.

"So what do we do now?" Tea asked. "There must be another way out."

"These tunnels are probably spread throughout the entire island," Harold pointed out. It could take us weeks, even months to find the right way." Bakura looked at his Millennium Ring. One of the spikes was tugging in a certain direction. Bakura allowed it to lead him.

"What's up, Bakura?" Joey asked seeing Bakura walk to one of the side passage ways.

"It looks like my Millennium Ring is pulling me in this direction," Bakura explained.

"Why?" Tea asked.

"Yugi and I think that my Millennium Ring has the ability to track other Millennium Items and that it's been homing in on Pegasus' Millennium Eye."

"So it could be leading us right to Pegasus' castle," Yugi concluded.

"Let's just hope it does," Harold said.


Pegasus was watching them from the comfort of his dining room. He chuckled. "I love this show, but let's see what's playing on Dungeon TV…" Pegasus' screen was showing various places around the island. Right now, the image of Yugi and his friends was prominent on the screen but that was reduced and a new image was enlarged. It was Mokuba chained to a dark cell. "Oh goody, it's another installment in the sad little saga of Mokuba."
In Pegasus' dungeon, Mokuba struggled to hold in his tears. He knew his older brother wouldn't cry in the face of adversity and neither should he. My big brother will come, I know he will, just like he always had.

(7 years ago)

He came for me the day Mom and Dad died.

"Looks like it's just you and me, kid."

"I… I'm scared, Seto."

"Don't worry, I'll always be there for you, Mokuba, I promise."


Pegasus thinks that by locking me away, he can force Seto to do anything he wants like take over Kaiba Corp. But I know you won't let it go without a fight. Pegasus doesn't know you like I do. Mokuba removed a locket from underneath his shirt. When we were growing up, you never lost at anything, especially games.


(6 years ago)

"That's checkmate again, Mokuba."

"Wow, Seto, in only ten moves, you're good."


Please come for me soon, Seto. Mokuba opened his locket. Inside was a picture of his older brother when he was younger, the day he won his twentieth straight game of chess against him. Mokuba wasn't ashamed, in fact, he was proud, because it was his brother, he couldn't have been more proud if it was he who won.


The cave had become stone walls but Yugi and the others still continued, guided by the slight tug of Bakura's Millennium Ring.

"So, we getting anywhere, Bakura?" Joey asked.

"Feels like we've been walking forever," Tristan complained.

"You guys don't think this could be another trap like with the skeletons and the fake boulder?" Harold asked.

"This seems too elaborate to be a trap," Yugi analyzed.

"But look at this, it feels like we're in a giant maze," Tea observed.

"Yeah, there are probably an infinite number of directions we could take," Yugi complained.

"So which way is the right one?" Harold asked.

"This way," Bakura said. He broke into a run. "The ring's pulling me this way."

"Well tell it to pull slower," Joey said as the others struggled to keep up. Finally, Bakura stopped in front of a well-lit room. And as Yugi and the gang caught up, they could see why.

The room was huge, artificially constructed out of natural smooth boulders. In the center of the room was a giant dueling arena with four stands instead of the usual two. On the other side were two doors marked with different symbols.

Suddenly a duo of strange voices spoke out. "You have entered…"

"… Sacred ground…"

"… Where only Duelists…"

"… Can be found."

"Yeah, well, we're Duelists," Joey acknowledged. Two figures bounced across the room in a combination of acrobatics and martial arts.

"Before you pass…"

"… Across this chamber…"

"You must agree…"

"…To face the danger."

"So let the contest…"

"… Now begin."

"Notify…"

"…Your next of kin." The two struck over-dramatic poses but it gave the gang a good chance to see them. It was two men, twins; both were bald and had beady eyes with the same markings as the two doors on their foreheads. One wore orange Chinese combat uniform and the other wore a green one.

"You're trapped…"

"… And the doors are locked."

Then they both cried out, "You face the brothers… Paradox!"

"Who are you guys?" Harold asked as if he didn't hear the long-winded introduction.

"Hired by Pegasus as Eliminators," the orange-garbed one, Para by the symbol on his forehead, introduced.

"… To take away all your star chip indicators," the green one, who bore the name Dox, finished. The two showed off their double-row dueling gloves, all slots were filled with star chips.

"You got to duel these goons, Yugi?" Joey asked.

"As if, by some crazy fluke, you win," orange one said.

"Then a puzzling new test shall begin." Apparently the orange-garbed one starts sentences, and the green one finished them.

"For over my shoulder, you see a door and over my brother's, you'll see…"

"… One door more."

"The test, a choice…"

"… That you must make…"

"Which of these doors will you take?" They both finished.

Tea and Bakura were thinking the same thing. Ten seconds and they're already annoying me.

"One door leads to an endless maze…"

"… Where you will wander all your days."

"The other door's the path you need…"

"… Choose correctly and be freed."

"But which door leads out…"

"… and which leads to woe."

"That's for you to guess…"

"…and the Brothers Paradox to know."

"So even if Yugi wins, there's still a chance we could wind up wandering those tunnels forever?" Tea checked.

"Against us, one mere Duelist will be creamed."

"So you must duel as a team."

Harold snapped his finger. "I get it now; it's like a tag team. Each team consists of two Duelists and must alternate turns."

"I never heard of anyone dueling like that before," Joey said.

"Neither have I," Yugi agreed. "But we don't really have much of a choice." He summoned the power of his Millennium Puzzle. "Tag team it is and I'd be honored if Joey would duel by my side."

Joey stepped forward. "You got it, bro. All right, you Brothers Paradox, me and Yugi are going to clean your clocks."

Harold smacked his forehead and then said, "Remember guys, Eliminators like to make their own rules so be ready for anything."

"Prepare to be puzzled…"

"Prepare to be fooled…"

"Prepare to be baffled, for on this field we rule," they both said.

"I'm going to bash their heads in if they don't stop rhyming," Joey complained.

"Enough of your quips," Para said.

"Yes, time to wager star chips," Dox threw in.

After his duel with Bonz, Joey learned to be more careful in wagering star chips. "I'll wager two."

"Plus four more for a total of six," Yugi threw in. "This is it, Joey, if we play our cards right, we'll have enough star chips to enter Pegasus' castle."

Para laughed, "You fool; that's why Pegasus pays my brother and me."

"To keep you from achieving victory."

"Okay, guys, teamwork's the secret of winning this duel," Harold coached.

"That's right, so we'll be the team and you guys do the work."

"Good luck," Bakura simply said.

Please let both of you win, Tea silently pleaded.

"Enough, fools, time to duel," both the brothers said.

"First turn honors are mine," Dox said as he did some fancy hand gestures with his cards. "And I summon Labyrinth Wall (1)!"

But that card has hardly any attack points, Yugi thought. Why would he play that? Everyone watched as stone walls started to rise from the arena floor forming…

"A maze?" Yugi asked bewildered.

"Quite right, and unless you can navigate it successfully, you will wander its passageways forever," Dox explained. Para joined him in saying, "Now, no more questions, no more stalls, make your move, the labyrinth calls!"

"I told you guys Eliminators like to make their own rules," Harold reminded.


Kaiba had been walking ever since he first stepped foot on the island. Soon Pegasus will be sorry for the pain he's caused me and my little brother. He held up a locket that was shaped like a Duel Monsters card. Inside was the other half of the picture, only this one had Mokuba's face on it. Doesn't Pegasus realize that nothing will stop me from rescuing him? He closed the locket. Well, he soon will find out.

"Make your move."

"Go."

"Now."

"Now."

"Hold your horses," Joey said interrupting their verbal jabbing. "We don't even know how this tag team stuff works!"

"It's simple," Dox said. "We all start with 2000 life points like any duel."

(Y: 2000)
(J: 2000)
(P: 2000)
(D: 2000)

"However, if just one Duelist loses those 2000 points, then his partner loses too."

Joey cast a side glance at Yugi. Man, Yugi's putting a lot of faith in me. I can't let him down!

"Each team will alternate turns with every passing round," Para took over. "First my brother, then Yugi, then me, then Joey. Now as for the labyrinth arena, it too is quite simple. All our monsters will act like pieces on a game board. As for moving, each monster can move a number of spaces equal to its power level."

A/N: In case you're all wondering, the power level of a monster is indicated by the number of stars on the card. For example, Dark Magician has 7 stars, therefore its power level is 7, and therefore it can only move 7 spaces. As you'll soon find out, they can move fewer spaces than their power level.

"So let's win this duel!" Yugi said. I better be careful, I never played on a labyrinth field before. Since Dox already went, Yugi decided to take his turn. "I summon Beaver Warrior!"

"A good choice, a rat for a maze…"

"…But his time's running out, this is the last of his days."

"We'll see about that; Beaver, move four spaces into the maze."

"Ha-ha, four spaces and he's already in too far," Dox said.

"Now it's my turn," Para declared. "And I am merging Shadow Ghoul (2) into the Labyrinth Wall itself by means of Polymerization." A dark shadow moved along the wall of the maze. The monster, a green nightmarish creature with large claws and red balls along its body came out of the wall over the Beaver Warrior. "Wall Shadow (3), Ripping Claw Slash!" The monster sliced the Beaver to pieces. Yugi and Joey both gasped at that action. "Good-bye, Beaver Warrior."

"It came out of the wall!" Tea cried.

"And now it's going back in," Tristan said as the monster faded into the Labyrinth Wall again.

"Very lethal," Yugi commented.

(Y: 1600)
(J: 2000)
(P: 2000)
(D: 2000)

"They cheated!" Joey accused. "It moved too many spaces!"

"On the contrary, the Wall Shadow didn't move spaces, it moved on the wall."

"And the wall doesn't have any spaces."

A/N2: Okay, from now on, unless I write otherwise, Para will always start their rhyming sentences and Dox will always finish them.

This isn't good, Yugi thought. Our monsters have to count spaces as they walk through the maze, while their Wall Shadow can move through the maze's walls. And that means he can strike when we least expect it!

"Now you know our strategy is unleashing a monster you can not see."

"You fools, you won't know when the Wall Shadow is about to land a blow."

"We'll see who has the last laugh in this duel," Joey said. "I summon Axe Raider in attack mode! I'll also lay one card face-down. But since I can't see your shifty little shadow, I can't attack it so I won't advance at all this turn, I'll just keep Axe Raider as far away from your sneaky little weasel as possible. And I'll still be ready to attack it at any moment." He looked to Yugi hoping his move was a right one.

"That's a good move, Joey," Yugi congratulated.

So far so good, Joey thought. I haven't cost us any life points.

"I agree, that was a good decision," Tea said. "I hope Joey can keep this up."

"Don't sweat it, Tea, with Yugi helping him, Joey can't lose."

"I hope you're right," Tristan said. "This tag team stuff is tricky because they can focus on attacking the weakest Duelist first."

"Joey," Harold simply said.

"My turn," Dox said. "And I'll lay one card face-down. I'll also lay the Labyrinth Tank (4) in attack mode and move it forward seven spaces." The metal tank with multiple drills on its front rolled into the maze.

"Good job, brother, that should help trap them in our maze."

"Why thank you, brother."

"It's my turn," Yugi announced. He and Joey locked eyes for the briefest of moments. "I play Celtic Guardian in attack mode!" Yugi's elfin warrior appeared. "Advance four paces into the maze."

"But the Celtic Guardian's attack power is much lower than Wall Shadow's Bakura argued.

"Then he would be wiped out.

The Paradox Brothers did another acrobatic routine. "You fool, have you learned nothing? Wall Shadow, attack Celtic Guardian now!" The Wall Shadow moved along the wall towards the Celtic Guardian. "Your guardian's toast."

"And your life points along with it."

Yugi just smiled. "I don't think so."

"Kunai with Chain!" A chain wrapped around Wall Shadow keeping it from descending back into the wall.

"What is this?"

"My trap card worked," Joey cried happily. "Reel him in, Axe Raider."

"Explain yourself," Para demanded.

"Gladly, the card I laid face-down was a trap card called Kunai with Chain. I laid it there last turn to help Yugi out. It raises Celtic Guardian's attack power higher than Wall Shadow's."

(CG: 1400-1900)

"Celtic Guardian, attack Wall Shadow!" The Celtic Guardian sliced Wall Shadow in two.

"Oh no!"

"Wall Shadow is vanquished," Yugi and Joey announced together.

"That's the thing!" Harold said.

"Yeah, they're working together."

Joey's really becoming a much better player, Tristan thought. He's thinking more strategically now.

(Y: 1600)
(J: 2000)
(P: 1700)
(D: 2000)

"To stop our decline, this we must halt!" Para said.

"Don't look at me, it's not my fault," Dox protested.

"If they keep this up, they'll have enough star chips to enter the castle," Harold said excitedly.

"We can do this, Yugi," Joey encouraged.

"Yes, but we must be careful, we'll have to move carefully if we're going to beat the Paradox Brothers and win our way out of this twisted underground labyrinth."


Pegasus held up his glass towards the screen that was now fully showing the duel between Yugi and Joey and the Paradox Brothers. "A toast to Yugi for winning round one with the help from his little pal, Joey."

There was a knock on his door and Croquet entered. "Master Pegasus, a thousand pardons for interrupting, Your Greatness."

"I'm growing tired of your constant interruptions, Croquet."

"But… I thought you might want to know that Seto Kaiba has been spotted on the island."

"I already know that, Croquet, why are you, the head of my security, always the last to learn these things? Don't worry; Kaiba will come to us. After all… we have the bait."


I'm coming, Mokuba, I'm coming to rescue you. And if Pegasus tries to get in my way, he's going to be sorry.

To Be Continued


Monster Glossary

(1)
Name: Labyrinth Wall
Level: 5
Type: Rock
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 0
DEF: 3000

(2)
Name: Shadow Ghoul
Level: 5
Type: Zombie/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 1600
DEF: 1300

(3)
Name: Wall Shadow
Level: 7
Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 1600
DEF: 3000

(4)
Name: Labyrinth Tank
Level: 7
Type: Machine/Fusion
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 2400
DEF: 2400