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Fanfic Chapter 58: Psychic Show Down Pt 1: Fake-Out
Episode Basis: Espa Ropa, the ESP Duelist Pt 1
Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh! Yugi had finally figured out the Rare Hunter's strategy was to summon Exodia, the Forbidden One. However, the Rare Hunter was ready to draw the final piece of Exodia. Thanks to some well-placed trap cards, Yugi defeated the Rare Hunter and his fake Exodia. Suddenly the same force that was controlling Bandit Keith also overtook the Rare Hunter. The mind controller introduced himself as Marik and he controlled the Millennium Rod. Joey let Yugi keep his Red-Eyes Black Dragon, saying that he wasn't worthy of it and that Yugi needed it more than Joey himself needed it. Can Joey win without his beloved dragon card? Let's find out.
Joey was walking along the east side of town when he saw a large crowd gathered at the center of a street. There were also strange roars coming from the circle. Joey knew those sounds all too well, those were the sounds of a duel.
Joey pushed his way through the crowd until he got to the center of the duel. He immediately recognized one of the Duelists, the dinosaur-card user Rex Raptor using his only non-dino card Serpent Night Dragon (1). The other opponent he didn't recognize. He had teal green hair and was wearing purple shirt and white pants. The monster he was using was even stranger. It was dressed in black robes and had goggles for eyes. It was bald and wore a mask over its mouth. Rex's opponent also has a Mesmeric Control magic card out.
(R: 50)
(X: 3000)
"Stupid move, Rex Raptor, I knew you were going to summon Serpent Night Dragon so I had my Mesmeric Control card ready to go."
Rex looked down at his Duel Disk. "How could you have known what I was going to do before I played it?" Rex asked.
"Simple, you fool, I'm psychic! Now, Jinzo (2), attack his Serpent Night Dragon with Cyber Energy Shock!" The Jinzo monster let out energy waves which destroyed the Serpent Night Dragon.
(R: 0)
(X: 3000)
"You lose, Raptor, now hand over your rarest card and your locator card." Rex grumbled as he turned over his Serpent Night Dragon and his locator card.
"Now, who wants to be my next victim?" Immediately, two Duelists backed up and high-tailed it. "Just as I thought, none of you have what it takes to beat me… hey, what about you?"
Joey looked around before realizing that the teal-haired guy was talking to him. "Who, me?"
"Yeah, care to try your luck?" I bet this idiot doesn't even know how to read a Duel Monster card.
"Don't do it, Wheeler," Rex warned. "He'll read your mind and know your moves before you do."
"So I should be afraid of this plant?" Joey asked.
"He's Espa Roba, he duels using ESP?"
"ESP? So he's some sort of… psychic?"
"That's right, he even beat me!"
"You know, I beat you too."
"You had to bring that up, didn't you?"
"So what do you say, chump, care to try your luck?"
"You bet, when it comes to luck, Joey Wheeler's never lacking in that department!"
"I'll vouch for that," Rex grumbled, still upset about losing his Serpent Night Dragon.
"Joey Wheeler, huh, I've heard of you, you were the runner-up at Duelist Kingdom, I would be honored to duel you." And humiliate you.
"Hey there, Serenity," Tristan greeted as he walked into her room. "I was thinking that we could keep tabs on Joey's progress in Battle City through the Internet. All the duels are being broadcasted live and online."
"But Tristan, how can I see what's going on if I have these bandages on?"
"Don't worry, I'll give you a play-by-play." But instead, he stared at the laptop like it was a foreign object. Just as soon as I figure out how to use this darn thing.
Tea, meanwhile, was still looking for Yugi and Joey. "Why did Kaiba have to use the whole city for this tournament?" She complained. "I'll never be able to find Yugi or Joey."
Speaking of Yugi, he, or rather Yami-Yugi, was walking around looking for his next duel when he overheard two kids talking.
"That psychic Duelist is dueling again?"
"Yeah, he's up against the Duelist Kingdom runner-up. Come on, let's go check it out!"
I think I'll take a look too, Yami-Yugi decided and followed them.
"According to Battle City rules, each Duelist must ante up their rarest card. My rarest card will be my Jinzo."
"This is my rarest card," Joey said showing Espa his Time Wizard.
"Then let's get this game started. Eject holo emitters!"
"I hear 'ya, Duel Tray transform!"
"Scan deck!"
"Life points set."
"Let's duel!"
(J: 4000)
(E: 4000)
"There you go," the nurse said as she set up the laptop on a table.
"Thanks," Tristan said. "Hey, looks like Joey's about to duel!"
"Who's he dueling?"
"According to the Duelist profile, it's a kid named Espa Roba," Tristan said.
"Tristan, you know a lot about Duel Monsters, do you know who this Roba guy is?"
"Nope," Tristan replied and then gasped as he realized what he said made him sound like he wasn't the Duel Monster expert. "Uh… I mean… if I never heard of him, then he must be an amateur." Right, mental note, watch what I say.
"Let's get this party started," Joey said as he drew a card. He then noticed that Espa had his fingers to his temples and he was chanting.
"Oh spirits of the universe, release your power into me, let me be the channel for you to work so that together, we may bring this cheap skate down!"
"What the who-ha are you doing?"
"I'm channeling my mystic energies so I can read your mind."
"I won't let your mystic mumbo-jumbo scare me. I summon Giltia the Knight (1) in attack mode!"
But the monster failed to appear.
"You idiot," Rex said. "Giltia is a level 5 monster, you need to sacrifice a weaker monster before you can summon it!" Joey cringed.
That's weird, Tristan thought as he saw a red x appear on Joey's card. Joey must've broke one of Kaiba's Battle City rules.
"Has the duel started yet?" Serenity asked. Tristan jumped, he forgot that she was in the room too. "Uh… no, not yet."
"Oh psychic powers, reveal to me the card Joey has at the top of his hand," Espa called.
"This is exactly how he did me in," Rex said.
"The card at the top of your hand is Swordsman of Landstar (3)."
Joey gasped, that was the card he had. "Could he really be psychic? No, it can't be, I've encountered psychics before and they all turned out to be frauds!"
"You're just jealous of my power." Espa drew a card. "I summon Cyber Raider (4) in attack mode! With no monsters on the field, I can attack your life points directly!" Cyber Raider slugged Joey so hard that he fell flat on his back.
(J: 2600)
(E: 4000)
What's going on here? Tristan wondered. Joey's getting creamed. If he gets beaten in this round, that's it for him.
"How's my brother doing?" Serenity asked.
"Oh… fine, he's doing just fine."
"So what's happening?"
"Nothing interesting, just a lot of cards being put face-down."
Yami-Yugi had a great view of the duel from a rooftop. Come on, Joey, you can win this, you have the soul of the Duelist.
"Let's tell him what card that dog's drawing next."
Yami-Yugi looked over and saw several smaller versions of Espa Roba watching through a pair of binoculars. One of them had a radio with him. "Okay, Joey just drew another Graceful Dice card…"
"My psychic powers have just told me that you drew another Graceful Dice card," Espa informed Joey. Joey gasped again. "You can hide nothing from me."
"There's no way you could know that!"
Come on, Joey, you can beat this cheat, Yami-Yugi mentally encouraged.
Now I know something funny's going on, Joey thought. Roba thought I drew another Graceful Dice card, and he was partly right. But this gives me an idea. I think it's time Joey Wheeler plays a few mind games of his own. "Since you already know about my Swordsman of Landstar, why don't I have you meet him face-to-face." Swordsman of Landstar was summoned. "I also place two cards face-down and end my turn."
"You just placed your two Graceful Dice cards on the field," Espa accused. "Poor move, Wheeler, even novices know that you can only use one Graceful Dice card per turn."
"Just go," Joey said rolling his eyes.
"Fine, I will. I sacrifice my Cyber Raider so I can summon the Fiend Megacyber (5)!" A large armored creature appeared.
"Open face-down card," Joey commanded. "Graceful Dice! Graceful Dice multiplies my monster's attack points based on the roll of the die." A little cherub appeared holding a blue die. I need a five or a six for my Swordsman of Landstar to withstand his Fiend's attack. But Joey was grief stricken when the die landed on a 3.
(SL: 500-1500)
"So much for that luck you were talking about," Espa said. "Fiend Megacyber, attack Swordsman of Landstar now!"
"Not so fast, I reveal my other face-down card!"
"Hello, couldn't you hear me before? You can't play both Graceful Dice in the same turn!"
"I heard you, but whoever said it was a Graceful Dice? I'm activating my trap card: Skull Dice! Skull Dice decreases your monster's attack points depending on the roll of the die. While my Graceful Dice may have came up short, I'm betting Skull Dice will be more fortunate!" Joey was right, the demonic version of the cherub rolled a red die which produced a 5.
(FM: 2200-440)
The Swordsman of Landstar cut through the Fiend Megacyber's armor and destroyed it.
(J: 2600)
(E: 2940)
"I'm on to your little scheme," Joey announced. "And while I don't believe you have psychic powers, I do think you have friends in high places." Joey turned to look at the building that Yami-Yugi and Roba's little spies are on. "Friends who are looking down and seeing every card in my hand! And somehow, they're signaling the info to you. But they made one mistake. They couldn't really see what card I had because it was partly covered by my other cards, so they just read the picture and assumed it was a Graceful Dice."
Oh no, we've been found out, Espa thought horrified.
All right, Joey, I knew you could do it, Yami-Yugi thought. Now you're in control.
"Oh no, we've been found out," a younger Roba realized.
"Let's get out of here!" They all started to run for the roof door but came across a hazard in their way: Avatar. The Roba Brothers backed up but encountered another obstacle: Mokuba Kaiba.
"I'm taking you all in," Mokuba said harshly. "None of you will ever duel in this town again!"
"Wait, Commissioner," the oldest Roba Brother replied. "Please, you have to let our Big Brother finish this duel!"
"Why should I?"
"Yes, our brother does cheat, but he does it to protect us! Being small, we were always the target of bullies and gangs. But when our brother started to win Duel Monster tournaments, they stopped picking on us and even started to respect us. So we promised to do whatever it takes to help our brother win, so he can protect us."
Mokuba empathized with them. He used to be the target of bullies too. But Seto was always there to fend them off. Mokuba looked up at Yugi as if he was just realizing that his brother's arch-rival was there. Yugi, I wonder what you would do in my situation.
"Please, Commissioner, let our brother finish this duel," the oldest of the group said.
"Aww man," Mokuba muttered. "I'm just a sucker for Big Brother stories. All right, I'll let the duel play out. But if I see or hear any cheating from any of you, I'm calling an end to it immediately."
"Thank you, Commissioner," the Roba Brothers said.
Mokuba looked up at Yugi, sure that he did the right thing.
Exhausted, Tea collapsed on a park bench. "It's been almost an hour and I still can't find Yugi anywhere." She leaned forward, elbows on her knees. I promised him I would be right by his side as he helps Yami find out who he really is… but how can I do that if I can't even find him?
Tea closed her eyes in deep thought. During which she had another dream, one in which she saw Yugi locked in a duel with some dark shadows. Tea watched in horror as the shadows turned into flames and consumed Yugi.
"You may have found a way around my psychic power, but they still favor me with victory. Face it, without Yugi's help, you are nothing!"
That's what I'm here to find out, Joey thought.
"I place one card face-down and end my turn."
Joey drew Alligator Sword. Right now, psycho-boy has no monsters on the field. So if I attack him with Alligator Sword's 1500 attack points along with my supped-up Swordsman of Landstar, I'll deplete the rest of his life points and win the duel. "I summon Alligator Sword in attack mode! Now, both monsters attack his life points directly!" His monsters charged forward. "Alligator Sword, attack!" The reptile swung his sword which went right through Espa.
(J: 2600)
(E: 1440)
"Swordsman of Landstar, attack!"
"You won't get an attack like that in again, I activate my trap card Mind Control which I'll use to take control of your Swordsman of Landstar!"
Why didn't he use that card on my Alligator Sword, Joey wondered. He could've turned its attack on my Swordsman of Landstar and destroy both monsters unless…
There's only one reason why he would activate his trap card on the second attack and not the first, Yami-Yugi thought.
Joey was thinking the same thing: He must be trying to use it as a sacrifice so he can summon an even stronger monster! I better be ready for anything. "I place one card face-down and end my turn." Hopefully, my Chasm of Spikes card will be able to stop whatever monster he's planning on summoning.
"I predicted your flimsy attacks," Espa said. "Now I'll use your own monster against you! I sacrifice YOUR Swordsman of Landstar so I can summon Jinzo!" The monster that defeated Rex's Serpent Night Dragon appeared.
I'm ready for your Jinzo with my trap card.
"Oh, and in case that card you have face-down is a trap card…" Jinzo fired a red laser beam which destroyed Joey's trap card.
"How could you have destroyed my trap card?" Joey asked.
"With Jinzo's special ability, he can negate and destroy all trap cards."
"Oh no!"
"It only gets worse for you, Wheeler, as long as Jinzo's on the field, all trap cards are useless."
Hang in there, Yami-Yugi thought.
"I predict a humiliating defeat for you, Wheeler!"
"That's where you're wrong, I've only just begun to fight!"
To Be Continued
Duel Monster Database
(1)
Name: Serpent Night Dragon
Level: 7
Type: Dragon
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 2350
DEF: 2400
(2)
Name: Jinzo
Level: 6
Type: Machine/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 2400
DEF: 1500
(3)
Name: Swordsman of Landstar
Level: 3
Type: Warrior
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 500
DEF: 1200
(4)
Name: Cyber Raider
Level: 4
Type: Machine/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 1400
DEF: 1000
(5)
Name: Fiend Megacyber
Level: 6
Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 2200
DEF: 1200
