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Fanfic Chapter 51: Dueling Alone Pt 2: Strange Rescue
Episode Basis: The Mystery Duelist Pt 2

Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh! A phony fortune teller stole Yugi's Millennium Puzzle then forced into a duel for it. As it turned out, the phony fortune teller was really Bandit Keith! Or so Yugi thought. But in reality, Bandit Keith was being controlled by someone else. As this mind controller systematically destroyed Yugi's monsters, his friends searched frantically for him. How can Yugi get out of this when his only hope for a rescue is… Yami Bakura!


Yugi looked grimly as his Summoned Skull was destroyed. He's destroyed another of my monsters. I wished I could call on Yami's help, I could use someone on my side. Yugi fought hard to hold back the tears, silently calling for his friends.


Tea and Harold ran down the alleyway calling for Yugi.

"Yugi, where are you?"

"Yugi! Yugi, please, call out if you're here!"

"It's no use," Harold said stopping to catch his breath. "They could be anywhere in this labyrinth!"

"We can't give up," Tea said. "Yugi needs our help!"

"Tell me something I don't know!" Harold said more harshly than he intended. He then lowered his voice. "Sorry. Look, maybe we should split up again. You check out the north side, I'll check out the south side."

"Right." The two parted.


"Draw a card, Little Yugi! I want to win your puzzle."

Yugi grunted and drew a card. It was the Kumori Dragon (1). The Kumori Dragon is much too weak. He would obliterate it and the rest of my life points. I'll just put it in defense mode. "I set one monster in defense mode and one card face-down. I end my turn."

Little Yugi's deck is weak, the mind controller thought. I can beat him with magic and trap cards, he's so weak. "I summon Seiyaryu (2) in attack mode!" A large purple dragon appeared. A hidden claw slipped a card into Keith's hand. "I also lay one card face-down and use Stop Defense on your monster."

"No, my Kumori Dragon!" Yugi cried as his monster was revealed.

"Zera, eliminate the Koumori Dragon!" Zera stabbed his hand into the Koumori Dragon. The Koumori Dragon actually yelled in pain as it was deleted.

(Y: 400)
(K: 1600)

"Soon your end will come, Little Yugi, and then I shall own your Millennium Puzzle!"

Yugi cast a side glance at the puzzle which was chained to an eye bolt embedded in the side of the podium. I'll never let this freak get his hands on the Millennium Puzzle. "This duel's not over yet! I set another monster in defense mode!"

"Seiyaryu, attack with sun burst!" A blast of energy destroyed Yugi's face-down card, the Mystical Elf (3). "I also place two cards face-down and switch Zera the Mant into defense mode!"

Why's he switching his monster to defense mode, Yugi wondered. His monster's more powerful than some of my ritual monsters? He must want to lure me into a false sense of security then spring those face-down cards on me. Well I'm not going to fall for it. Yugi drew a card. All right, now we're in business! "I'll also place two cards face-down. And next, I summon the Dark Magician (4) in defense mode and I'll use Magical Hats to conceal him!" The Dark Magician appeared briefly genuflecting before disappearing underneath the hats.

"No you won't," Keith said. "I'm activating one of my face-down cards, Magic Jammer! Now by discarding one card, I can destroy any magic card on your field!" Yugi's Magical Hats were destroyed exposing the Dark Magician. "And next I'll turn over my other face-down card, Curse of Fiend!"

"Curse of Fiend? I've never seen that card before."

"Let me explain, Curse of Fiend takes all the monsters in attack mode and shift them to defense mode, and vice versa. Since I've switched Zera to defense mode last turn, he now gets switched to attack mode, the same goes for your Dark Magician!" Both monsters stood, poised for attack. "Zera, attack the Dark Magician!"

"Hold on," Yugi called. "I activate my trap card: Mirror Force, repelling your attack right back at you!"

"You can activate it, but it won't do you any good," Keith said. "I'll get rid of your trap card with a little Solemn Judgment!" A robe of priests destroyed the wall that appeared in front of the Dark Magician. Yugi couldn't even watch as his favorite monster was destroyed. "It may have cost me half my life points but it was well worth it."

(Y: 100)
(K: 800)


Yami Bakura studied the factory. Strange, I'm sensing the puzzle's energy from this building, but I'm also sensing something else, a more intense power. Getting the Millennium Puzzle might take a bit more work than I thought. He walked up to the front door and tried to open it but it was locked. Yami Bakura went around to the back and climbed up a ladder to the roof. On the roof was a skylight. Yami-Bakura looked in on the duel. Interesting, they're dueling for the Millennium Puzzle. They must be in the middle of a Shadow Duel. This I have to investigate. Quietly, Yami Bakura opened up the skylight and snuck in.


Yugi drew a card. "I place one card face-down and a monster face-down in defense mode. My turn ends."

"Yes, it's the end… for you, Little Yugi! It's time to claim what is rightfully mine!" The hidden claw placed another card into Keith's hand. This time, Keith didn't even bother with pretending to draw it. "I play Tribute to the Doomed!"

"No way, that's one of the rarest cards there is."

"Correct, this allows me to destroy any monster on the field by discarding one card from my hand." The claw slipped another card into Keith's hand and Keith discarded that.

"I don't think so! I activate my face-down card Living Arrow! Living Arrow let's me take a magic card my opponent uses and let's me use it as my own! So I'll use Living Arrow to fuse with your Tribute to the Doomed and turn it right back at Zera!" Zera was engulfed in bandages and dragged underneath the dueling field.

"No!" Keith cried. "You destroyed my best monster!"

Yugi breathed a sigh of relief. He had even the playing field, at least for a little bit.

I see, Yami-Bakura said. So, Bandit Keith is merely a puppet. Well, it's time for this puppet show to come to an end. "I call upon the Millennium Ring," Bakura mumbled. "Sever the control to this victim and return the shadow power to whence it came."

Yugi jumped as Bandit Keith let out a howl of pain and clutched his head. "No, this can't be!"

I'm losing my control over Keith, but how is this possible? Only another Millennium Item can do it? Is it… I knew it; it is him inside the puzzle.

Keith groaned, "What happened to me? And what the heck am I wearing?"

"Now that Zera's gone, it's time for me to win this duel and take back my puzzle!"

"Yugi Moto? What's going on here?"

Yugi quickly realized that this wasn't the person controlling Keith, but it was actually Bandit Keith. "Bandit Keith, who's controlling you?"

"Get him out of my mind!" Keith cried.

"Silence, Keith, you belong to me, now and forever!" Keith's eyes glazed over again. "I'm back in control, but I have to act quickly before I lose him again!" Keith jumped off his podium and ran across the field to where the puzzle was. "If I can't have the puzzle, then nobody can!" And he shattered it against the wall of the podium. The parts spilled along the floor.

"NOOOOO!"


Avatar rushed along the rooftops of the south side. His arm band suddenly glowed.

Something's happened, he thought and quickly headed back the way he came.


Keith staggered around the dueling field clutching his head. "Stop it, stop controlling me!" He pleaded.

I think it's time I join the party. Bakura swung down on a rope and knocked Keith off the dueling ring.

Yugi jumped off his platform. "Bakura, what are you doing here?"

"Tea sent me," Bakura said. "She said you might need help."

"So Tea's all right?" Yugi asked. He mentally kicked himself for not making sure she was completely all right before taking off.

"When I saw her, she was, distressed, but fine. Oh my." He started to pick up the shattered pieces of the puzzle and handed them to Yugi. "Here, Yugi, you're the one who put it together, maybe you can do it again."

"Yeah, I'll do it even if it takes me another eight years."

Unknown to Yugi, Yami Bakura held back a piece of the puzzle. I almost feel sorry for Yugi, he's so naïve that he let the puzzle out of his grasp so quickly. Well, I'll make sure that it doesn't happen again. According to legend, when all seven Millennium Items are brought together, the veil of blindness that covers the truth shall be lifted and the Pharaoh shall see who he truly is. The Pharaoh is needed to release the full power of the Shadow Realm, considering that it was he who sealed the dark power away. I need the Pharaoh to release the full power of the Shadow Realm. And the only way I'll get to the Pharaoh, wherever he is, is by sticking close to the Millennium Puzzle, like so… Yami Bakura muttered, "Ring, transfer a piece of my spirit into this piece of the puzzle." Yami Bakura enchanted a piece of the puzzle. There, now no one else will get to the puzzle until my mission is complete. "Yugi," Bakura said. "You forgot a piece." He handed the piece back to Yugi.

"Oh, thanks."

"Well, I better get back to school," Bakura said as he jumped off the dueling ring (landing with a not so gracious thud). With a goofy grin to Yugi, he left.

"I'll be along as soon as I unhook the puzzle."

"Get out of my head!" Yugi looked over and saw Keith staggering around.

"Get up, Keith, and finish the duel!"

"Stop bossing me and show yourself!" Keith grabbed a metal pipe and started swinging it around.

"Keith, stop!" Yugi called.

"Get out of my head!" Keith said again swinging the pipe around. As the pipe struck some wires, it split and the live half struck some gasoline cans.

A/N: What the gas cans were doing there in the first place, I have no idea.

The cans exploded causing the entire warehouse to become engulfed in flames!

Unaware of this, Keith continued to swing the metal pipe, eventually hitting himself on the head and falling unconscious.


"Any sign of Yugi?" Joey asked Tristan and Tea as the three met back at their meeting spot. The other two shook their heads.

"Where's Harold?" Tristan asked looking around.

"We split up," Tea said. "Guys, I'm really beginning to get worried.

"This is driving me nuts!" Tristan cried. "I wished we had some sort of sign."

A loud bang came from the distance.

"Let's go check it out," Joey said.

"This wasn't the sign I was hoping for," Tristan said as he followed Joey.

I have a bad feeling, Tea thought.


Avatar also saw the plume of smoke. And he too had a bad feeling. He quickly ran towards it.


Yugi pulled on the chain with all his might, but the thing just wouldn't come off. "No good," he said. "The only thing I can do now… is try to put the puzzle together again. At least that way… Yami will be able to survive." Yugi's vision blurred.


Joey, Tristan, and Tea finally arrived at the warehouse.

"Whoa, I can feel the heat from here," Joey said.

As the three pondered what to do next, Avatar leapt off from the building next door. Holding his hand towards the ground, a ring of archaic symbols appeared on the ground. The symbols actually cushioned Avatar's descent easing him to the ground.

The three teens stared wide-eyed at the newcomer. He was dressed in a red cloak with the hood pulled up over his face.

"Who's that?" Tea asked.

"Don't know, never seen him before," Joey said.

"I have," Tristan said solemnly. "He saved Bakura and me from Pegasus's guards back on Duelist Kingdom."

Joey turned to Tea. "Tea, you go call 911, Tristan and I will stay here and try to see if there's anything we can do to stop the fire."

"Okay, be careful," Tea said as she ran off.


"Come on," Yugi muttered. His vision was blurring more so than ever now. "Just a few more pieces."


"So, any ideas, bud?" Joey asked.

"First thing we need to do is get inside," Tristan said. He gripped the door handle but yelped in pain and jumped back. "Well, scratch that." He turned to Avatar. "Hey Zorro, you have any idea?"

Avatar just pointed to the door. "There's someone inside," he said in a whisper so that Joey and Tristan didn't really recognize the voice.

"Now we really have to get in there," Tristan said as he tried kicking the door down.

Avatar held out his arm, the arm that had the strange gold-colored wrist band with strange archaic symbols on it. The archaic symbols literally came off the wrist band and started to rotate around it facing the door. Avatar thrust out his hand and the circle of symbols rammed into the door shattering it into pieces. Avatar ran inside with Joey and Tristan following behind.

"Whoa!" Tristan gasped upon seeing Keith's prone form. "Is that Bandit Keith?"

"Forget him, look at that!" Joey pointed to Yugi who was just putting the last piece of the puzzle in place. "Yugi!"

Yugi could hold it no longer, he gave in to the heat just as Joey and Tristan got to him. "Come on, Yugi, we're getting out of here."

"No… not without… my puzzle…"

"Oh brother, come on, Tristan, let's get it off of that thing, but if we get through this, I'm teaching Yugi a lesson in priorities!" Joey and Tristan grabbed a piece of the chain and tugged. But it wouldn't give. "Man, why'd Yugi put such a tough chain on it?"

Avatar leapt on to the duel ring. The archaic symbols appeared and began rotating in front of the flames.

"Call me crazy, but I think that overgrown chicken scratch is actually pushing back the flames," Tristan realized.

"This is our chance," Joey said. "Go get Yugi's deck, I'll try to free the puzzle." Joey grabbed the chain and braced his legs against the wall of the platform. He pulled with all his might but the puzzle wouldn't budge. "Yugi, come on!" But Yugi didn't reply, he had lost consciousness from the exposure to heat.

"I got Yugi's deck," Tristan reported. "Still no luck with the puzzle?"

"None, and it looks like that guy's not doing so well either." Joey saw Avatar drop to one knee but still keeping the invisible shield between them and the flames.

Tristan took a turn at trying to pull the chain out but also had no luck. They then each took a metal pipe and began knocking on the eye bolt trying to loosen it.

"Yugi, please, forget the puzzle," Joey said as he gripped the puzzle trying to separate it from Yugi's hands.

The puzzle activated.

Joey gasped, "Tristan, listen, I have an idea. Put the pipe through the hole and we'll both pull!"

"It's worth a shot." Joey poked the pipe through the hole of the eye bolt and they each took an end. "Okay, on the count of three…"

"Three!" They both shouted and pulled with all their might. Slowly, the bolt started to come out.

"Hurry," Avatar said.

Finally, the eye bolt came out. "It's out," Tristan called to Avatar. "Let's go!"

Joey was able to separate Yugi from the puzzle. He passed the puzzle on to Tristan as he picked up the unconscious Yugi. The boys started to run for the door.

Avatar lowered the shield and quickly grabbed Keith's body and followed just as the flames engulfed the dueling arena.


On the outside, the fire department arrived and was now quickly trying to put the flames out.

"Please, hurry," Tea begged. "My friends are inside there." She gasped as the three shot out of the door. Then she gasped even more, and briefly felt her heart stop as she saw who Joey had in his arms. "Yugi!"

"Get back, it's gonna blow!" A firefighter announced. Everyone backed up as the outer wall burst out and the people were hit with a blast of hot air. The warehouse collapsed.

"Oh yeah, in the nick of time," Tristan cheered as the firefighters resumed their work.

"Joey… Tristan… is… is he…?" Tea slowly approached Yugi. Touching his cheek, Tea felt overwhelming heat coming from Yugi. For a moment, she feared the worse.

But it was only for a moment, because then Yugi took a gasp of air and started to pant heavily. "He's all right," Tea said relieved.

"Yup, and so is his Millennium Puzzle," Joey said. "Hey Tristan, can you believe it, we're heroes!"

"Yeah," Tristan agreed and then looked around. "Hey, where'd he go?"

"Where'd who go?" Tea asked.

"That red caped guy who held the flames back, he's gone! I wanted to thank him."

"How can one guy hold the flames back?" Tea questioned.

"It's a long story, Tea," Joey said. "A really long story."


In another alleyway, Bandit Keith's body was unceremoniously dropped to the ground. The person who dropped him then faded away into the alley like he wasn't there to begin with.


Yugi was rushed to a hospital. He suffered from smoke inhalation but other than that, no injuries were sustained.

"Well, at least the Millennium Puzzle's safe," Yugi said.

"Yeah, and by the way, so are you," Harold pointed out. "Man, Yugi, you almost gave me a heart attack there, and all this for just a fancy neck charm."

"This 'fancy neck charm' is so important that someone was willing to brainwash another, steal my puzzle, and then shatter it."

"You'd be ashes if I hadn't spotted the smoke," Tristan said proudly.

"Hey, what about my idea to pull the bolt out," Joey asked. "We all would've been ashes if I hadn't thought of that brilliant move in time."

"Oh yeah, brilliant, Mr. Put-the-pole-through-and-pull," Tristan mocked.

"You two would've been ashes if that red caped mystery man didn't hold back the flames with that weird wrist thing," Harold pointed out.

"You want a piece of me too?"

"Knock it off, you guys, or I won't share my hospital food with you," Yugi warned.

"Sorry," the guys said.

"The most important thing is that we're all safe and sound," Yugi said. "Thank you all for coming to my rescue. I'm honored to have friends like you."

"Hey, what are friends for?" Joey returned.

Yugi nodded. He looked over at Tea who looked apprehensive about something. "Is everything all right, Tea?"

"Yeah, it's just been a tiring day," she said. "I need to get something to drink."

"Okay."

Tea went out into the hallway and collapsed in a chair. Those guys may be back to normal, but I'm not. Someone's after Yugi's Millennium Puzzle and because of that, I almost lost my best friend today. Ever since Yugi first solved the puzzle and bonded with the spirit inside, it seems like everyone wants to get their hands on it. And we don't even know who it was who was controlling Bandit Keith. I have a feeling that we haven't seen the last of this brain washer. I have a feeling… no, I KNOW that Yugi's in more danger than ever!

The End


Duel Monster Database

(1)
Name: Koumori Dragon
Level: 4
Type: Dragon
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 1500
DEF: 1200

(2)
Name: Seiyaryu
Level: 7
Type: Dragon
Attribute: Light
ATK: 2500
DEF: 2300

(3)
Name: Mystical Elf
Level: 4
Type: Spellcaster
Attribute: Light
ATK: 800
DEF: 2000

(4)
Name: Dark Magician
Level: 7
Type: Spellcaster
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 2500
DEF: 2100