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Fanfic Chapter 59: Psychic Showdown Pt 2: Desperate Gambit
Episode Basis: Espa Roba, the ESP Duelist
Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh! Joey's first Battle City duel was against Espa Roba, who apparently duels using ESP, meaning psychic powers. Joey didn't believe it and jumped into a duel with him. As it turned out, Espa really wasn't psychic, but cheating, by having his brothers hide on a building behind Joey and use binoculars to look at Joey's cards and then relaying it to Espa through radio. Joey exposed Espa, but then Espa summoned Jinzo, a powerful machine that can neglect all trap cards. How can Joey win without trap cards?
Let's see, Joey thought as he studied the scenario. I have no monsters by over 2600 life points left. Psycho-Boy on the other hand has less than 1500 life points and that wacky machine of his. Plus as long as it remains on the field, I can't use any trap cards. In conclusion… I'm in deep.
"If you thought it was bad before, Wheeler, it's about to get worse, because I'm equipping Jinzo with Amplifier which increases his attack points by 500!"
(J: 2400-2900)
"Plus it gains 300 extra attack points with every turn. Jinzo, attack his Alligator Sword with Cyber Energy Shock!" Jinzo fired energy waves from his hand and destroyed the reptile.
(J: 1200)
(E: 1440)
"What are you waiting for, Wheeler?" Rex asked tauntingly. "Why don't you bring out the Red-Eyes Black Dragon?"
Out of sight of Rex, Joey cringed. Oh man, if Rex found out that I gave my Red-Eyes to Yugi, he'll really have a cow. "Oh please, I don't want to give this kid a bigger head than he already has. A true Duelist relies on all the cards in his deck, not just one, I'll prove that I can that I can win a duel without using my powerful monsters like the Red-Eyes."
"Your funeral," Rex said.
Joey drew a card. "All right, Espa, no more kid's stuff… well, maybe one more. I play Baby Dragon (1) in attack mode!" A little orange dragon appeared.
What's Wheeler thinking, Rex thought. Baby Dragon is useless. Wait a second… I see what he's trying to do, he's going to try to rust up that machine the same way he fossilized my Red-Eyes during Duelist Kingdom.
Espa was laughing hysterically. "If that's the best you can come up with, Wheeler, this'll be over before we even know it."
"And then I'll play Time Wizard!"
Espa took a step back.
"Confused, let me show you how it works. Time Wizard's special ability is called Time Roulette, if the arrow lands on a time machine symbol, time will go forward causing my Baby Dragon to evolve to an adult form and your Jinzo to rust into a heap of scrap metal. Spin Time Roulette!" The arrow started to spin rapidly. Everyone watched as the arrow landed perfectly on a time machine symbol. "Yes, go time warp!" Baby Dragon was aged a thousand years to become a Thousand Dragon (2).
But to Joey's surprise, Jinzo remained untouched by the time warp. "Huh, what happened?"
Espa laughed, "Your plan backfired, Wheeler! Jinzo's armor is made of a dititanium alloy!"
"Di-wha-whose-its?"
"Dititanium is a special alloy that doesn't rust or corrode for ten thousand years!"
"I can't believe you made that idiotic mistake, Wheeler."
"Keep talking, tough guy, don't forget, both of us managed to beat you." That shut Rex up.
"This is great," one of the little Roba Brothers said. "Our brother's winning even without us helping him." Mokuba just stared at the duel neutrally.
This Espa Roba's a strong Duelist, Yami-Yugi thought. But I know Joey will be the victor.
"Jinzo, attack Thousand Dragon with Cyber Energy Shock!" Joey's dragon was destroyed.
(J: 700)
(E: 1440)
This runt's making Joey look like a novice, Tristan thought. Joey just has to win.
"How's the duel going?" Serenity asked.
"Oh, great, Joey's just toying with his opponent."
The door to her room knocked and a nurse entered. "Excuse me, Serenity, but it's time for your sponge bath."
"Oh, well in that case, I'll just make myself scarce," Tristan said getting up to leave.
A/N: Because honestly, who leaves the room if all that's going to happen is a temperature being taken?
As Tristan left, he thought, hang in there, Joey, we're all behind you, your friends, your family… especially your sister. That gave Tristan an idea. He quickly ran to the elevator.
As Serenity was getting ready, she said, "Hey nurse, would you please check on the duel and tell me the score."
"Oh, sure…"
Tea was still sitting on the park bench. Yugi has been acting very strange lately, she mused. First it seems like he distanced himself from everyone since that fire, and then he sets me up on that weird date with the spirit of the puzzle. And then there's that dream I've been having. I can't believe that Yugi's going to leave me, it's just not possible. We've been friends for a long time, we've done almost everything together. We laughed, cried, and were even afraid together. But why is it I'm feeling that Yugi will leave soon? Why…
"Guess who," a voice said as a pair of hands reached out and covered her eyes. Tea instinctively lashed out and elbowed whoever was behind her.
As it turned out, it was only Yugi's Grandpa.
"You shouldn't scare me like that," Tea said.
"Well you shouldn't have hit my schnozz like that," Solomon retorted. "So what's up?"
"I'm trying to find Yugi or Joey, but I…" Tea's cell phone rang. "Hello?"
"Tea, it's me," Tristan said. "Listen, Joey's failing in his duel, you need to get a message to him. Tell him that Serenity and I are keeping tabs on that she's behind him one hundred percent…"
"Right, thanks, Tristan." Tea clicked off her phone. "Joey needs us."
"But how do we find him?"
Avatar leapt down in front of them. "Follow me."
"He must know where Joey is," Tea figured.
"Do you think we can trust him?"
"Yeah, I'm sure." The two took off following Avatar.
"Nothing you have in your deck can save you now!"
"My deck didn't let me down at Duelist Kingdom, and I know it won't let me down now! My move!" He drew a card. "I play the magic card Scapegoats!" Four sheep of different colors appeared.
"Don't tell me you're now relying on those little trinkets! Jinzo will pick them off one by one! Why not just save yourself the embarrassment and turn over your locator card now."
"He's right, Wheeler," Rex agreed. "It's time to throw in the towel!"
"Are you done yet?" Joey asked Espa. "Because it's your move."
Up on the rooftop, Yami-Yugi thought, that's right, Joey, don't give up until the very end!
"I'm all set," the nurse said.
"Okay, thanks," Tristan said. He went into the room. "So, did I miss anything interesting with the duel?" He noticed that Serenity was eerily silent. "Hey, is something wrong?"
"Tristan, the nurse told me what was really going on."
"Oh… well… I'm sorry, Serenity, I just didn't want you to worry."
"But I want to worry," Serenity said surprising Tristan. "Joey's always looked out for me when I was in trouble. There was one time when I was younger, a bunch of kids were harassing me. Joey came to protect me. True, I wish he didn't have to beat them up for me but he still protected me. And just recently, he came to see me just before my operation even though he was beaten. You see, Tristan? He was there for me, now it's my turn to be there for him."
"You're right, let's both cheer him on."
Serenity's face lit up. "You bet!"
"Bring it on," Joey dared. "I can take whatever you can dish out!"
"You're soon going to wish you hadn't said that, Wheeler! I summon Reflect Bounder (3) in attack mode!" A strange creature made up of mirrors appeared. "And don't even think about attacking him, because Reflect Bounder can bounce any attack you throw at it right back at you! And since it's my turn, Jinzo gains a 300 point boost!"
(J: 2900-3200)
"Jinzo, attack his Scapegoat now with Cyber Energy Shock!" Jinzo destroyed one of the sheep. "Your turn, Reflect Bounder, attack with Solar Reflector!" Reflect Bounder also destroyed a sheep. "On my next turn, I'll summon another monster and destroy your last bit of hope, Wheeler! Face it, without Yugi to guide you you're nothing but a two-bit has-been! I'm predicting your descent starting right now!"
Maybe he's right, Joey thought. All I have in my hand are magic and trap cards, and they alone aren't enough to knock out the rest of his life points. Even if I draw a new card, it probably won't be strong enough to take out his Jinzo. It's over. I'm sorry, Yugi, I tried my…
"Don't you even think about quitting!" Joey opened his eyes. Tea and Yugi's Grandpa were pushing to the front of the crowd. "Joey, Tristan just called us. He's watching this very duel on the Internet with Serenity! And he wants you to know that she hasn't given up on you. You were her inspiration, so now let her be your inspiration!"
"Look at him," Roba argued. "He's just one move away from losing! What could he possibly have that would…"
"I'll tell you what I've got," Joey said. "I've got my heart and the heart of someone I love, and as Yugi always told me, once you put your heart into your deck, nothing is impossible! So watch out, you fake, because I'm putting all my heart into this last card!" Joey pulled out the top card from his deck. "Okay, here we go, I play the magic card known as Roulette Spider!" A spider with an arrow on its butt appeared. "Now, Roulette Spider, attach to Jinzo!" The spider shot forward and gripped Jinzo's face. Jinzo began moving to the center.
"Wh… what are you doing?"
"Playing Roulette Spider is one of the riskiest plays in Duel Monsters. It could clench the duel for me or snuff me out in one attack. First, I give up one half of my life points."
(J: 350)
(E: 1440)
"But… what's the point?" Espa asked meekly.
"You're the one with the psychic powers so you should already know. But for the rest of our audience, I'll explain. Roulette Spider blinds the strongest monster and leads him to the center of the field. Then he spins the monster around and around. And whatever the spinner lands on, that's what the monster attacks."
"Anywhere?"
"Clean out your ears, psycho-boy, it can be you, me, or any of the monsters on the field. Since most of my monsters are mere tokens, my life points won't be affected if Jinzo attacks them. But there's a better chance of your life points being affected. So, psycho-boy, any predictions?"
"I'm… psychic," Espa claimed but now even he didn't sound convinced of his claim.
"Actually that time I meant to say psycho," Joey cracked causing some of the crowd to chuckle. "Now, let's get this spider spinning. Go, Roulette Spider!" Jinzo started spinning around rapidly. "Oh, and one more thing, it'll only stop when you say it to."
"This is crazy!" Rex protested. "You're risking everything on a single spin?"
"You should be the last person asking that," Avatar said.
Espa was clearly afraid to ask Jinzo to stop.
"What are you waiting for, Roba? If you're really psychic, you should already know how to stop it so that it lands directly on me."
"Jinzo, stop!" Espa cried. Slowly, Jinzo came to a stop.
The arrow was pointing squarely at Reflect Bounder.
"No, they both will be destroyed!"
The Roulette Spider disappeared and Jinzo attacked Reflect Bounder. The attack destroyed Reflect Bounder but not before bouncing back and destroying Jinzo as well.
(J: 350)
(E: 0)
Tea cheered and hugged Solomon (who was clearly delighted).
At the hospital, Tristan and Serenity also cheered. "He won!" Tristan cried.
"I knew he would," Serenity said.
Rex was astonished. I guess sometimes, it all depends on luck.
Roba dropped to his knees. "No, how could I have lost?"
Joey went up to Roba. "I have to admit, that was a tough duel, but a deal's a deal, so now I'll take your rarest card and your locator card."
"No, you can't," Roba pleaded.
The crowd was now turning their noses at Espa, calling him a fraud and failure.
"Come on, stand up," Joey urged. "I've lost duels too, but you don't see me crying about it."
"I don't need your pity," Roba snapped slapping away Joey's proffered hand. As he did, his radio receiver fell out of his ear.
"Idiot," Joey rumbled and turned to leave.
"Stand up, brother!"
Joey skidded to a halt. "It's a ghost!" He cried.
"Brother, please stand!" Espa and Joey saw Espa's brothers standing before him with Mokuba some ways behind him.
"You guys… aren't mad at me?"
"No, we're not," one of the brothers said. "You played a great duel!"
"And you did it without cheating," a second said.
"It was a great game," the youngest said. "You'll always be a winner in our book!"
"You guys really mean it?" The nod was unanimous. "Come here." The Roba brothers joined in a group hug.
"Good work, Joey," Yami-Yugi congratulated. "I knew you would win."
"Joey, I apologize for cheating," Espa said handing over Jinzo and a locator card.
"Don't worry about it, I'm used to it," Joey said. "You know, Espa, you and I both have a lot in common. I also had to duel for a sibling, and we both have people we love behind us. Don't forget that. Well, smell 'ya later, Roba Brothers."
"I'm proud of you, Joey," Tea said as she, Solomon, and Joey walked down the street.
"Yes, you're definitely on your way to becoming a great Duelist."
"Thanks, you guys," Joey said. "But… I know I still have a lot to learn. At least now… I know that I don't have to go through it alone."
The End
Duel Monster Database
(1)
Name: Baby Dragon
Level: 3
Type: Dragon
Attribute: Wind
ATK: 1200
DEF: 700
(2)
Name: Thousand Dragon
Level: 7
Type: Dragon/Fusion
Attribute: Wind
ATK: 2400
DEF: 2000
(3)
Name: Reflect Bounder
Level: 4
Type: Machine
Attribute: Light
ATK: 1700
DEF: 1000
