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Fanfic Chapter 74: Judgment Duel
Episode Basis: None

Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh! Harold was finally able to defeat Chris's Father Time. But it looked like it was too little, too late, since there were only a few turns left before Chris would be automatically declared the winner. Harold wasn't sure, but Katy told him that she believed in him even if nobody else did. Harold took comfort in that and used a trap card to deplete Chris's remaining life points and win the duel earning him a locator card and a Gold Chronos Warrior monster.


Yami-Yugi ran down a street, looking frantically for Joey and the others. I have to get to the others before Marik's Rare Hunters do. But Yami-Yugi had already run into his first obstacle: two men were blocking their way. One was tall with purple hair and the other was short and round and bald. They were both wearing purple.

"That's as far as you go, Yugi," the fat one said.

"Rare Hunters!"

"That's right, and if you want to save your friends, you'll have to duel us both."

Yami-Yugi knew that time was against him. "Fine, whatever."

"Okay, lets do this," the tall one said.

"Hey wait a second," the fat one said. "How do we decide who goes first."

"Um… good question, rock, paper, scissors always works."

"Okay." They broke into a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, which ended up getting them nowhere as they both were picking paper.

"Why don't you pick something else for a change?" The tall one snapped at his comrade.

"Why don't you?" The fat one retorted.

"Fine, I will."

"Okay." They started again, but this time they both ended up picking rock. They then broke into an argument about who was getting their choice out before the other one.

"Hurry it up, will you!" Yami-Yugi snapped. "I have to find my friends!"

"Keep your shirt on, we'll get to you soon enough," the tall one said.

"But we have to decide who gets to face you first because only one person can duel you at a time," the fat one pointed out.

"Not if both of us duel against you," Kaiba said walking up besides him. "You Rare Hunters have been doing what you want for long enough, I'll make sure you never duel again."

"This is perfect, we'll earn both of their God Cards," the fat one said.

"You're pretty pathetic if you think you can beat both our God Cards," Kaiba cracked. Aside to Yugi, he said, "as soon as these guys are out of the way, we'll get to our duel."

"Fine, but I have to make sure my friends are safe first."

"You'll have a hard enough time keeping yourself safe," the fat one said. "Once we win your Egyptian God Cards."

"I don't think so," Kaiba said. "Eject holo-emitters!"

"Duel Tray transform!" Yami-Yugi followed.

"Scan deck," the fat one said.

"Life points set."

"Let's duel!"

(Y: 4000)
(K: 4000)
(RH1: 4000)
(RH2: 4000)

"Tell you what, Kaiba, why don't you go first."

"Your funeral," Kaiba said drawing his sixth card. "I play the magic card Pot of Greed, this lets me draw two cards. And next I'll summon a monster known as the Lord of Dragons! Now I'll equip him with not one but two Flutes of Summoning Dragon!"

"Two at once," the fat one gasped.

"Every Duelist knows that one Flute of Summoning Dragon allows the player to play two dragons from his hand, so two of them lets me summon four dragons, now I summon three Blue-Eyes White Dragons and another dragon called Hyozanryu (1)!"

"My move," the fat one declared. "And I set a monster in defense mode! That ends my turn. Your move, Yugi."

"Fine," Yami-Yugi said and looked at his hand. I don't know what these Rare Hunters are capable of, so I better be ready for anything! "I place two cards face-down…"

"If that's the best you got, beating you's going to be child's play when we duel." Yami-Yugi sent him a 'zip it' look.

"To finish my turn, I summon Kuriboh in defense mode."

"My move," the tall one announced. He drew the trap card Mirror Force.

"I hope you have a plan," his partner said. "Kaiba's monsters alone can finish us off three times over."

"I do," the tall one confirmed. "I place one card face-down and set a monster in defense mode."

"If you're setting a trap, you're only wasting your time and ours," Kaiba cracked.

"Careful, Rare Hunters can be tricky," Yami-Yugi warned.

"You worry too much, I have just the card need to end this duel in our favor." Kaiba drew a card and laughed hysterically. "You fools are about to witness true power! Now, I sacrifice all three of my Blue-Eyes White Dragons!"

He just sacrificed his favorite monsters, Yami-Yugi gasped. Wait a second, could it be…?

"Go, my Great Beasts," Kaiba commanded as three of his four dragons disappeared. "Now I summon a creature of incredible power. I summon my Egyptian God Card… Obelisk the Tormentor!" The Egyptian God towered over the street. Kuriboh was nothing next to it. "Next, I sacrifice my two remaining monsters so that Obelisk can power up even further." Lord of Dragons and Hyozanryu were absorbed into Obelisk's body. "Now, Obelisk, attack them both!" With one tremendous blow, Obelisk destroyed both of their defense monsters.

"I've got this covered," the tall Rare Hunter said. "Reveal trap card: Mirror Force!"

"You fool, trap cards have no effect on an Egyptian God Card!" As proof, Obelisk clobbered both Rare Hunters.

(Y: 4000)
(K: 4000)
(RH1: 0)
(RH2: 0)

"Victory is ours!" Kaiba declared.

"Thanks," Yami-Yugi said and ran to the short Rare Hunter picking him up by his jacket. "Now tell me where my friends are!"

"Yugi, here," Kaiba said handing him a locator card. "This was a Battle City duel so as winners, we get their locator cards."

Yami-Yugi could see that getting information from these Rare Hunters was worthless so he ran off.

"Yugi, wait," Kaiba called.

"Kaiba, I already told you, I'll duel you once I'm sure my friends are all right."

"I heard you the first time, but there's an easier way than running around Battle City like chickens with our heads cut off." He turned to Mokuba who was struggling to keep up while holding his brother's briefcase. "Mokuba, contact headquarters and have them track down the Duel Disk belonging to that has-been, Joey Wheeler."

"Right."

"Kaiba… thank you."

"I'll help you look for your friends, but you better be ready to duel me the moment we find them!"

Yami-Yugi decided that dueling Kaiba was a small price to pay for protecting his friends from the Rare Hunters. "Agreed."


Harold and Katy walked through the streets of Battle City. Harold was still staring at his four locator cards.

"Wow, you're more than half-way there," Katy commented.

"Yeah, and I have a theory," Harold said. "If these Four Horsemen keep approaching me, then I'll have enough locator cards to enter the finals." Katy looked away at that comment. "With so many good Duelists dropping like flies, it seems to be the safest bet."

"I suppose you're right."

It was at that moment that Joey, Tristan, Tea, and Yugi's Grandpa was walking along a different street but they were approaching the same corner as Harold and Katy.

"Whoa, it's Harold," Joey realized.

Harold sensed someone was staring at him and turned to look at the others. "Joey, Tristan, Tea, um… hi..."

"Why that little…" Tristan ran up and slugged Harold throwing him to the ground. "You have a lot of nerve showing your face around here after what you did."

"Calm down, Tristan," Tea said. "Fighting solves nothing."

"But Tea, you saw what he almost did to Yugi. He betrayed him, he betrayed us."

"Look, I realize that trying to eliminate Yugi was probably not the way to solve the problem, but I only did it to protect him."

"Well you certainly have a funny way of showing it! Remind me not to call you when I need protection." Tristan then noticed the Duel Disk on Harold's arm. "And what are you doing still wearing a Duel Disk?"

"Kaiba let me participate in the tournament. I already have four locator cards."

"Wow, Harold's moving up faster than you are, Joey," Tea commented.

"Gee, thanks for pointing that out," Joey said sarcastically.

"If you think I'm going to stand by and let you try to boot Yugi out of the tournament that he worked so hard for, you have another thing coming," Tristan said dropping into a fight stance.

"Wait, Tristan," Joey said stepping forward. "If he's truly sorry, then he won't mind proving it… in a duel!"

"A duel?" Tea asked.

"Mister Moto, you taught me that a true Duelist expresses his true feelings through his cards the same way a fighter expresses his soul through his fist."

"That's true," Solomon confirmed.

"The only way Harold will be able to convince me is by dueling me; so what do you say, are you up to it?"

"You bet," Harold said. "I'll show you that despite all, I still consider Yugi my friend."

"Then let's do this!" Joey cried out. "Eject holo-emitters!"

"Duel Tray transform!"

"Deck scan!"

"Life points set!"

"Time to duel!"

(J: 4000)
(H: 4000)

"I'll start things out by summoning my Little-Winguard in attack mode!"

"Then I'll move by summoning Shining Angel in attack mode."

"Well look at that, looks like our monsters have the same attack points, so attacking won't be good enough." Joey drew a card. "I place one card face-down and end my turn."

I have to prove to Joey that my intentions were sincere. "I equip my Shining Angel with the Silver Bow and Arrow which increases his attack and defense points by 300!"

(SA: 1400-1700, 800-1100)

"Shining Angel, attack his Little-Winguard now!"

"Hold on a second, I'm going to activate this," Joey said flipping up his face-down card. "The trap card Skull Dice!" A little goblin appeared. "Your Angel's attack points will be divided by the number the die roles." The goblin threw the die and it came up a two halving Shining Angel's attack points.

(SA: 1700-850)

Little-Winguard swung his sword which sliced across Shining Angel's tunic destroying it.

(J: 4000)
(H: 3150)

"That does it for me."

"By destroying my Shining Angel, you let me special summon a light monster from my deck, and I choose Gradius (2)!" A high-tech fighter jet appeared.

"Aww man, all right I end my turn."

"My go," Harold said drawing a card. "I equip my Gradius with Cyclon Laser raising its attack points by 300!"

(G: 1200-1500)

"I also summon Gradius' Option (3) in attack mode!" A second Gradius fighter appeared. "Gradius' Option takes on the same number of attack points as the original Gradius."

(GO: 0-1500)

"Gradius, destroy his Little-Winguard!" The laser fired destroying the tiny monster.

(J: 3900)
(H: 3150)

"Gradius' Option, attack his life points directly!" Joey was pummeled with lasers.

(J: 2400)
(H: 3150)

"Hey, you're better than I thought," Joey said. "I can see that I need to kick it up a notch if I'm gonna beat 'ya."

"'If' being the key word here."

"Come on, Joey, kick his butt!" Tristan cheered. Tea and Solomon were both quiet.

Joey drew a card. "I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight in attack mode. Destroy his Gradius!" Gearfried leapt up and raked is arm blade across Gradius' top. The jet exploded and so did its double.

(J: 2400)
(H: 2850)

"Hey wait a second, how come they both exploded?" Tea asked.

"Gradius' Option is directly linked to Gradius," Solomon explained. "So if one's destroyed, so is the other." From the look on Harold's face, he was only coming to that realization now.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Harold drew a card. "I summon Thunder Nyan-Nyan in attack mode! Attack his Iron Knight!"

"I don't think so," Joey said revealing his face-down card. "Go, Graceful Dice! This will multiply Gearfried's attack points by the number that comes up on the die!" Any number will do, but I'd like a higher number so I can finish this duel quickly and move on to collecting more locator cards.

The die came up on a two.

"A two!" Joey cried incredulously.

"Relax, Joey, even a two is more than enough to finish his monster," Solomon said.

"Oh yeah, it is."

(GIK: 1800-3600)

Gearfried stabbed Thunder Nyan-Nyan destroying her.

(J: 2400)
(H: 1150)

"Shoot, I end my turn."

Joey drew a card. How did Harold get four locator cards already if he's doing worse than me? Joey wondered. He looked at the arm holding Harold's Duel Disk and saw that it was shaking. Man, what's he worried about? I guess I gave him an adult dosage too fast. "All I'll do is set a card face-down and end my turn."

He could've destroyed me, but he's holding back. Why? Harold drew a card. "I play Cure Master to raise my life points by 1000."

(J: 2400)
(H: 2150)

"I summon Mystical Shine Ball in defense mode and place one card face-down. I end my turn."

Joey drew a card. "Sorry, bud, but this is it. I summon Alligator Sword in attack mode! Now, Gearfried, attack his Mystical Shine Ball!"

"Reveal trap card: Waboku!"

"You're kidding me!"

"Nope, serious, Waboku neutralizes battle damage for this turn so my Mystical Shine Ball is safe."

"Fine, I end my turn."

I bought myself some time, but I know that Joey has better monsters than those two. I need to tip the odds in my favor somehow. Harold drew a card. It was Gold Chronos Warrior, the card he won from Chris. Gold Chronos Warrior, perfect, this can be my ticket. "I sacrifice my Mystical Shine Ball so I can summon Gold Chronos Warrior in attack mode! Gold Chronos Warrior, attack his Alligator Sword!" The Gold Chronos Warrior blitzed through Alligator Sword.

(J: 2000)
(H: 2150)

"I also place one card face-down and end my turn."

Harold's a better Duelist than I thought. Looks like I'm going to have to bring out the big guns. "I sacrifice Gearfried so I can summon Jinzo! Jinzo, attack his warrior with Cyber Energy Shock!" Jinzo fired a ball of energy which destroyed the Gold Chronos Warrior.

(J: 2000)
(H: 1650)

"I reveal my face-down card, Ray of Hope!" Harold announced. "Ray of Hope lets me take two light monsters from my graveyard, return them to my deck and reshuffle my deck." He showed Joey his two monsters: Thunder Nyan-Nyan and Shining Angel. He placed them on top of his deck then shuffled his deck. "Now it's my turn." Harold drew a card. "I place one card face-down and end my turn." My hand is empty and my trap card would probably not help me. It's over, it's all over.

As Joey started to draw his card, he saw Harold's eyes. The shadow of a tear appeared in them. I think I'm finally beginning to understand him, Joey thought.

"Come on, Joey, you're twice the Duelist he is!" Tristan called out.

"You know, you're sure showing more hostility towards Harold than the situation requires," Solomon commented.

"Yeah, what gives, Tristan?" Tea asked.

"Well… I... uh…"

"Harold, I feel for you," Joey said. "You really are a true Duelist and deserve to be in this tournament as much as anyone. But a true Duelist doesn't leave a duel half-done, he continues to fight to the bitter end. Yugi taught me that." Joey drew a card. "Jinzo, attack his life points directly!" Jinzo blasted Harold.

(J: 2000)
(H: 0)

"Oh yeah, you the man, Joey!" Tristan cheered. "You certainly showed him, yeah, that should take his ego down a few notches."

"I think it's your ego that needs to be brought down a few notches," Tea cracked.

Harold collapsed to his knees. "So once again I failed."

"Forget about it, man," Joey said walking up to him. "You didn't fail in nothing. And I finally understand your Dueling spirit." Joey got up. "Well, I gotta get me two more locator cards. I'll see 'ya when I see ya." Joey turned and walked away.

"Well, Joey, did you find out what Harold's true feelings were through your duel?" Solomon asked.

"Yeah," Joey said. "His cards… he only played cards that helped him and not any that would harm his opponent. He only wanted to help, but he was afraid, that's why he played defensive those last few turns." He looked at the looks the others were giving him and smiled embarrassingly. "Sorry, guys, didn't mean to sound serious."

"On the contrary, Joey, I believe you just took another step to becoming a true Duelist."

"Thanks, Mister Moto."

Harold sat on the curb near where he and Joey dueled. His legs were pulled up against his chest, his head resting on his knees.

Was I able to convince Joey through that duel? Or did I just make another enemy. It seems like the more I try to right things, the more they get messed up.

Katy came up and sat besides him. "It's okay, you know," she said. "You don't have to hold it in if you don't want to." Harold's body was trembling with sobs, trembling that not even Katy's embrace could stop.

The End


Duel Monster Database

(1)
Name: Hyozanryu
Level: 7
Type: Dragon
Attribute: Light
ATK: 2100
DEF: 2800

(2)
Name: Gradius
Level: 3
Type: Machine
Attribute: Light
ATK: 1200
DEF: 800

(3)
Name: Gradius' Option
Level: 1
Type: Machine/Effect
Attribute: Light
ATK?
DEF?