Chapter 48: The Tiger's Cage

If you're in the tiger's cage, at least you know where the bars are.

Seto felt those bars pressing on every side, but he was not trapped with a predator—he was the tiger. The opponent in his cage was little more than scrap meat, and it was the deepest insult the game had dragged this long.

"Make your move," Seto snarled.

"I'll go when I'm good and ready!" Wheeler snapped back.

Seto clenched his jaw. The seconds scraped by like claws through skin. After too many, the referee gave an official time warning. The sweat was obvious on Wheeler's face.

"I'll play one card facedown," he said at last.

It was exactly what he'd done for his first turn after delaying a god. He had one turn left in his pointless dragging out of the inevitable.

"Wait, and—and!" Wheeler snatched another card from his hand as if it meant something. "I play . . . no, wait."

Seto would have preferred water torture. The unending drip of liquid on his face would have been less maddening than the continuous drip of Wheeler's presence.

"Play it!" he roared. "There isn't a card in your pathetic deck that can stand against a god, so play all of them or toss them all off the tower. The result will be the same!"

Wheeler's expression hardened, though it couldn't hide the shameful indecision still shaking his fingers. "I will beat that god!" he blustered. "And when I do, you'll look me in the eyes and finally admit I'm a duelist."

"Then you'd better blast me off this tower, because that'll happen over my dead body."

The referee began to lift a hand, eyes on his watch.

"Question!" Wheeler burst out. "Question, Question, I play Question."

True to form, he played the most annoying spell card in the most annoying way.

"Bonne carte, Joey!" called out one of the audience members. The pandering was echoed by others.

"Heh." Wheeler settled on his heels with a smirk. "This card means you gotta guess the first monster in my graveyard. If you're wrong—"

"Baby Dragon," Seto deadpanned. Like most of the cards in Wheeler's deck, Question was almost useless. There were only two scenarios in which it could give any merit—when the first monster in the graveyard had been a discard the opponent never saw or when up against an opponent that was both blind and stupid. It would have been a useful card against Wheeler, for that second reason, but the mutt wouldn't have known the proper usage if he read it directly out of a Card Games for Babies manual.

Wheeler's face fell.

"Was hopin' you weren't payin' attention," he mumbled.

"Do you have any idea what my IQ is? Can you even spell IQ?"

"It's got one of them silent U-Es, don't it?"

Water torture wasn't enough. Seto wished for death.

But the only relief he got was Wheeler's, "I end my turn."

At Seto's command, Obelisk destroyed the next Scapegoat. Only one remained. Had he been able to draw a low-star monster, Seto could have ended the duel already by taking out more than one goat at a time. But Seto possessed few lackluster monsters, and luck of the draw sentenced him to endure Wheeler's torture. It didn't matter. At most, on his next turn, he would wipe out the remaining goat, and the turn after that do the same to Wheeler. At most, he had two turns to endure the cage.

He announced the end of his turn, and he counted the seconds.


When Kaiba destroyed his final scapegoat, Joey still had no way to defeat his opponent's god card. It was only by a miracle he was still alive at all. He'd thought for sure Kaiba would have had a second monster on the field by now. Rich-boy had thought it too; his seething was visible even at a distance.

Joey had one last chance. The barest chance ever imagined.

Come on, he prayed.

He'd never prayed for anything so hard in his life. To the heart of the cards or any god willing to listen.

Come on.

He could beat Obelisk. He knew he could. He just needed to think.

Calm down, Joey. Kitto katsu. Come on.

How many times had Yuugi drilled him on thinking through his moves? Don't rush, Joey. Don't panic, Joey. Believe in yourself. Believe in your cards. In his pocket, Joey curled his hand around the lucky pig. He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath.

Then he drew a card.

When he dared to look, Red-Eyes Black Dragon stared back at him, those fierce red eyes cutting him right to the core.

Of course.

It had to be—there was no other way. The card he'd struggled and sacrificed for. The companion he'd lost and regained. The strongest card he'd ever owned and the one he'd chosen over a god when Yuugi surrendered. Against Obelisk, Red-Eyes looked like a lost puppy—2400 attack points up against 4000. But that made him an underdog.

Joey looked out at Krisalyn. She looked nervous, hands clutched to her heart. An Olympic star nervous all for him. When she caught his gaze, she gave him two thumbs-up, bouncing her knuckles together.

We're kindred spirits. We're the underdogs.

Serenity shouted his name. Tristan and Mai echoed the encouragement. Even the dirty ponytailed sewer rat was cheering Joey on. His friends believed in him.

And he believed in himself.

Joey blew out a breath.

"Alright, Rich-boy," he said. "It's on."

From his hand, he summoned Alligator's Sword [1500/1200] in attack mode. Then he played his Monster Reborn to bring Baby Dragon [1200/700] back to the field. Both of them vanished in a flash as he expended his tribute summon.

Just before he played Red-Eyes, Joey kissed the card and whispered, "Come on, baby. Let's kill a god."

Jagged red lightning split the field as Red-Eyes flared his black wings and roared.

Joey's dragon barely came up to Obelisk's knee. That was fine. Rich-boy underestimated small things. Let him. They'd leave him no leg to stand on.

Joey had two facedown cards on the field. The first one was a spell he hadn't known how to use until this moment. He pressed the button for it, and it cast the field in a glow.

"I activate Turn of the Tide," he shouted. "So long as I only have one monster on the field, this spell lets me pull two cards from my opponent's deck that directly support that monster type." He smirked. "Don't suppose you've got any dragon support cards in your deck, Kaiba."

Kaiba's scowl could have made children cry.

"It's neat, eh?" Joey jerked a thumb in the direction of the blimp parked on the beach far below. "I won it offa one of your employees. Just so you know, they all play cards better than you do—with manners."

He crossed the field, and Kaiba woodenly held up a stack of cards, the backs extended. Pulling one out was like trying to pry a bone from the jaws of an attack dog, but after a sharp grunt, Joey finally extracted two. Kaiba's murderous stare followed him all the way back to his side of the field.

Joey surveyed his loot.

The first card was a spell called Unity Attack that allowed two dragons to attack as one, adding their attack points together. A lucky steal! He could turn the whole duel on that card. The trouble was getting the second dragon. Joey had only three dragon cards in his deck—Baby Dragon, Thousand Dragon, and Red-Eyes Black Dragon. The first two were in his graveyard, and he'd already used his Monster Reborn.

He looked at the second card he'd taken from Kaiba—Sun Sacrifice. For half his lifepoints, he could summon a light-type dragon directly from his hand to the field. Kaiba probably had a dozen light-type dragons in his deck. Joey had none.

But what if they weren't all in Rich-boy's deck?

Joey looked at his own side of the field. His second facedown card hovered just above the ground, waiting to be activated.

It was a gamble. If he guessed wrong, he'd lose his chance, and Obelisk would crush him.

Was this where it all ended?

Joey looked down at the beach. There was a big black dome down there, identical to the one from when Marik had dueled Yori. Yuugi and the pharaoh were fighting their hardest.

For all his talk, Kaiba would also choose his dragon over a god. That was what Yami had said when Joey had chosen Red-Eyes. At the time, Joey had believed him without a thought because he believed everything the pharaoh said. He was the wisest guy Joey knew.

But now he looked across the field at his opponent, and he saw that storming blue force of Obelisk and the sea and the sky, all coming together with Kaiba's eyes, all pointed directly at him. Unbeatable. Unbreakable. And maybe it was wishful thinking, but Joey thought he saw cracks. Kaiba blended too much into Obelisk. Something was off.

If Joey had chosen Osiris over Red-Eyes, would that have been him? His field full of god and no player.

Yami had also said he believed Joey had everything it took to beat Kaiba. Rich-boy couldn't take a jab without sending it back—Joey knew that better than anyone. And Joey had declared to everyone how he was going to take down Obelisk, which meant Kaiba would do anything to prove him wrong.

Joey's gut told him Kaiba was trusting that god and nothing else. His gut told him to take the gamble. Take the leap of faith. Trust the luck.

With a calm certainty, Joey pressed the button on his Duel Disk, and his final facedown card raised to reveal Graverobber.

Duke gave a triumphant shout, overshadowed by Tristan's. Mai called out a taunt to Kaiba that this very card had been her undoing against Joey. Joey stood a little taller.

"I ain't done takin' cards from you," he said.

"Unsurprising," said Kaiba. "It's the only way you'll have any good ones."

Joey only had one shot to name a card in Kaiba's graveyard. Usually when he used Graverobber, it was in combination with Foolish Burial, so he knew exactly what card he was grabbing because he'd put it there himself. This time, he was blind.

But he knew two things: He knew Kaiba was betting everything on Obelisk. And he knew that when Rich-boy had played Forced Fate, he'd had to sacrifice a high-level monster from his hand.

It wasn't great odds. Half of Kaiba's deck was all high-level monsters. But even so, Joey had to hope for luck. It was who he was.

"Hey, Kaiba." He pointed across the field with all the certainty in his heart. "I'm takin' your Blue-Eyes."

It was Rich-boy's strongest light-type dragon. His signature. Even though he had three copies, Joey had never seen him use one carelessly in a duel. The odds there was one in his graveyard without ever touching the field should have been zero. It should have been the stupidest guess of Joey's life.

But all the same. He trusted his gut.

And the red fury in Kaiba's face told him he was right.

The audience broke out in chaotic cheers. Joey had thought prying the last two cards from his rival had been tough, but it was nothing compared to the death-vise Kaiba held his dragon in. He didn't say a word, but his eyes were the scariest things Joey had ever seen, like looking right into a tornado with nowhere to run.

"I ain't gonna hurt it," Joey finally said, which sort of ruined his whole triumphant moment. But he felt like if he didn't say it, he was gonna die before he could win.

Kaiba finally released the dragon. Joey didn't really think about it until he was back on his side of the field, but when he looked down at Blue-Eyes, he realized if the rumors were right, this was a card that had cost Rich-boy millions of dollars. It was literally the most expensive thing Joey had ever seen in his life much less held. He wished he could savor it a bit more.

But he had a duel to win.

First, he played Sun Sacrifice. Half his lifepoints was a steep price, and he felt the sting as he dropped to a measly 900 points left. But it was all worth it to say the craziest thing he'd ever said in his entire life:

"I summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon [3000/2500]."

A blinding flash of white overtook the field, and the air crackled with blue sparks. When Blue-Eyes gave her summoning roar, Red-Eyes answered with one of his own, and Joey's grin went so wide, it hurt his face and made his eyes sting. They were quite a pair, those two dragons. Both lined up to fight for him. He wished he could have taken a picture, but even without one, he was sure he'd see that moment every time he closed his eyes.

He played the final card—Unity Attack.

Everything ahead of him washed away beneath a flood of white and red fire. Obelisk gave a piercing bellow that echoed even after the god cracked and vanished.

Together, Blue-Eyes and Red-Eyes had a combined attack of 5400. When they destroyed Obelisk, Kaiba took 1400 points of battle damage. At the end of the fight, he still had 2100 lifepoints, more than double Joey's.

But he surrendered.

Joey Wheeler, King of Games and Battle City Champion.

It had a nice ring to it.


Note: Joooooey! He gets me every time. I love that boy. I'll have everyone know that my notes and outline said Seto was going to win. It's right here, written down in like three places. Seto was supposed to win Battle City. Joey had other plans, and now I have to re-do my outline. As usual. This is why I only ever make bare-bones notes for future plans and why I can't say for certain how the story is going to go until it's already gone there. That's just how writing goes for me.

Speaking of my writing-I'm incredibly grateful for everyone's patience as my updates have slowed down. I am finally ready to announce some BIG NEWS. I am getting a book published!

This has been a long time in the works. I submitted a manuscript to a publisher back in February 2021, and it wasn't until February of this year that I heard back. It wasn't a yes yet, but it was good news. Sort of a, "Don't count your chickens yet, but we really like what you have here." In May, I heard the official YES, and then it's been months of figuring out the contract, getting a cover, doing edits, etc. In a week or so, I'll be getting advance reader copies (ARCs), which means holding my book in a real physical form in my hands for the first time ever. I could cry (and I have). The official, final version will hit bookshelves on May 9th, 2023.

I realize this won't be relevant for everyone, and if you just want to enjoy my fanfiction, that's one-hundred-percent okay with me! IF you are interested in my other work and would like to know more about my book, feel free to send me a PM.

Once again, thank you for all of your patience. I hope the wait was worth it to see Joey's victory-and to see everything that's still to come!