' Come on, I just need one card.' Joey thought as the card slipped free of his deck.
Joey looked at the card and grimaced, it wasn't the one he needed but it could help.
"I'll set one card and one monster in defense mode and end my turn." Joey called out with a noticeable shortness of breath.
Across the field Theinen growled and slapped its right fist into its left hand menacingly. Willem casually drew his card and smiled at Joey, that oily smirk of a smile sliding easily onto his face.
"You've fought very well Joseph, I hadn't anticipated this duel running so close so quickly but here we are, only three hundred life points apart and just barely over an eighth of our life points remain. Absolutely astounding that you've managed to bring me this low in only a few turns. Really, it's quite commendable." Willem slid his freshly drawn card into his Duel Disk.
"I'll set one card and then paying another five hundred points for Thienens effect attack your Red Eyes Black Dragon, now I know he's your favorite so I won't hold it against you if you avert your gaze as my monster opens it up like a fish." Willem commented, snickering softly.
Joey: 1500 Willem: 700
Joey did the opposite, his eyes locked sternly on his great dragon, even with such a massive creature as Thienen bearing down upon it the huge black dragon roared defiantly and flared it wings, its red eyes flashing fiercely, as if to say, bring it on, I'm waiting.
As Thienen was about to sink its claws into Joey's dragon the blond haired duelist shot hsi hand forward and activated his face down card.
"ACTIVATE TRAP! MIRROR FORCE!" Joey shouted triumphantly.
Willems great Sphinx froze in mid air as the field formed between it's claws and Joey's dragon.
"I knew it. Oh well, can't let that stop me. Here's a Chain to your Mirror Force, Trap Jammer!" Willem was grinning like a mad man as Joeys Mirror Force burned away in a flash of light and the two beasts met in combat.
The Red Eyes Black Dragon clawed and bit at the huge Sphinx, its wings flapping hard as it struggled to gain some sort of ground against the huge beast, Thienen would have none of it and batted the obsidian creature away then launched itself at the recovering dragon, claws out.
The Red Eyes Black Dragons death roar could be heard over the entire island, nearby flocks of birds took to panicked flight and a large portion of the audience gasped in shock.
Joey: 0000 Willem: 0700
Willem strode over to Joey's side of the field and bent to one knee eyeing the blond Duelist inquisitively.
"Still alive boy?" Willem asked feigning concern.
"Ugh, back off ya creep, isn't it enough that you won?" Joey shouted as he stumbled back to his feet, the wash over from Thienen's attack having knocked him onto his back several feet away.
"Oh come now, don't be like that. You gave me a fantastic Duel and for that I'm going to let you keep your body. Besides that my quarrel isn't with you boy, it's with the Pharaoh. Now stand up straight and get that Red Eyes Black Dragon card out, the announcement ceremony is about to be made and I want to get out of this blinding sun light as soon as possible." Willem stood and walked to his side of the field again, directly to the waiting Antony's left, facing the audience.
Joey wiped the sweat from his brow and joined the two waiting men at the center of the field.
"The Winner, after a short but all too ferocious Duel is, Willem Spring!" Antony, much to Willems chagrin, took hold of the winners wrist and thrust it into the air.
Turning to Joey Willem held out his hand and smiled again, that sickening smile of his.
"That's right Joey, as the loser you're to hand over one of your cards to the winner." Antony said, a sad tone in his voice.
Joey's hand was shaking as he handed over the Red Eyes Black Dragon Card Robert had given him, it's red lit image seemed to pulse angrily as Willems hand touched its surface.
Not quite sure if it was a trick of the wind or if he was just hearing things Joey looked up and around as he heard and angry roar.
Willem smiled as he returned to Antony's immediate left.
"There you have it ladies and gentlemen, The next match will take place in half an hour. The participants, Robert Marcus and Seto Kaiba. This is sure to be one of the Duels you'll be telling your grandchildren about." With that Antony and Joey began walking off the field.
"Hold on one minute boy. There's something you should see." Willem called out to Joey.
The blond Duelist turned just in time to see Willem rip the Red Eyes black Dragon in half and then again, rending the card into four pieces and tossing them to the wind.
The Audience immediately began to boo and hiss, both empty and full beverage and food containers began to rain down upon him. That sinister smile still upon his face.
"I can't believe he did that!" Sammantha called out angrily as Willem bowed tot he audience, blowing them kisses and walked out of the Stadium.
Joey stood in stunned silence as the four pieces of the card were caught on the wind and blew up out of the open Colosseum, his jaw agape he heard Willem speak softly as he passed.
"And I'll do the same to both the fool who gave you that card and the Pharaoh."
As Robert waited in the hallway leading to the main field he shuffled through his deck.
"These revisions are a bit of a leap rom what I'm used to but hopefully they'll give me an edge." He said to himself, sliding the stack of cards back into his Duel Disk.
Leaning back Robert closed his eyes and began to clear his mind, unfortunately every time he was almost there an image of the small envelope and Sammantha's words crept into his mind.
"You'll know when to open it..."
His eyes snapped open as a warm sensation spread over his chest, it felt like a beam of sunlight was shining down upon the breast pocket of his green t-shirt. Looking down Robert saw a faint golden glow coming from the pocket, radiating light up onto his face, Robert removed the envelope from his pocket and began opening it.
Ten minutes later, Center Field
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome back. In our previous duel Joey Wheeler and Willem Spring displayed some amazing Dueling skills and a bit of poor sportsmanship." Antony spoke into his microphone, the huge screen above him showing choice clips form the Duel earlier and the actions that had turned the audience against him, the destruction of Joey's Red Eyes Black Dragon.
"No doubt we'll get another fantastic duel from our next pair of Duelists, Robert Marcus..." Antony motioned to the green clad Duelist on his right.
Robert bowed slightly and waved to the audience.
"WOOO!! Go Robert!" Kelly and Sammantha cried out. Ryu, Yugi, Mai and, Joey all cheered loudly as well.
"And to my left, The Head of Kaiba Corp, Seto Kaiba!" Antony finished but Kaiba was nowhere to be seen, overhead a helicopter entered the Arena, from the left side of the descending craft a white coat could be seen whipping around in the downdraft, sharp blue eyes were easily visible as the helicopter touched down.
Seto Kaiba stepped down from the whirly bird and strode confidently towards the center of the field.
Waiting patiently for the Helicopter to ascend again Kaiba shot a look toward Robert and spoke.
"This Duel is for Two cards. No one else is going to have a Blue Eyes in his deck." Kaiba wasn't asking, he was telling.
"Fine, I can agree to that, I guess I can find another card in your deck to take along with that final promo Blue Eyes." Robert replied smiling.
Kaiba simply shot Robert a venomous look and walked to his side of the field. "Let's get this over with."
Robert and Kaiba both did as the others ahd before them, linking their Duel Disks to the Colosseum's systems.
The coin flip determined that Kaiba would be first to go.
"As expected. I'll activate the magic card White Dragon Ritual, sacrificing my Spear Dragon from my hand to special summon my Paladin of White Dragon!" Kaiba's hands were a blur as he completed the combo. The small white dragon and its rider appeared in a flash of light and smoke.
"But I'm not done yet, Now I'll activate my paladins effect to special Summon my Blue Eyes White Dragon!"
The huge white dragon appeared in a wash of light, wind and thunder. Its mighty roar deafening Robert.
"Your turn Robert." Kaiba smiled.