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Fanfic Chapter 81: Tag Team Pt 1: The Skyscraper Duel

Episode Basis: Double Duel Pt 1

Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh! To Harold's shock, Katy was devastating him with only low level monsters aided by cards like Law of the Normal and Gravity Bind. But despite all of this, he still considered Katy his friend. Harold began duplicating Katy's strategy by summoning low level monsters. And he won. They parted on good terms, but when you got right down to it, Harold is now alone again, but stronger and wiser.

"I have great news, Serenity," Joey Wheeler told his sister. "I finally have enough locator cards to get into the Battle City finals!"

"That's fantastic, Joey," Serenity said. "I always knew you would be a finalist. I have some great news too: the doctor's said I could take my bandages off tonight! And I want the first thing I see is my brother dueling in the finals. The problem is Mom has to work and can't bring me down to Battle City."

"Well I have to head for the finals, but I'll send someone to pick you up."

"Thanks, Big Brother."

Joey clicked off Tea's cell phone and whooped in excitement. In fact, he was so excited that he threw it into the air. With an audible gasp, Tea grabbed the cell phone before it struck the ground (with one hand).

"So what's up?" Tristan asked.

"My sister's getting her bandages off tonight and she wants the first thing she sees to be me kicking butt in the finals!"

"No surprise there," Tea said putting away her cell phone.

"The only problem is I need someone to pick her up."

"Hey, how about me," Tristan suggested.

Joey ignored him. "I'd like to pick her up myself, but I need to get to the finals place in time."

"I can do it!" Tristan volunteered.

"But who can I find on such short notice?"

"Yoo-hoo, over here!" Tristan called.

"It needs to be someone she recognizes, someone she feels comfortable with."

"Hey, right here," Tristan said pointing to him self.

"Yugi, Harold, and Mai are all busy with the tournament so that's out, who can…"

"HELLO! ARE YOU BRAIN DEAD, I'LL DO IT!" Tristan shouted strangling Joey Homer Simpson-like. He then took off.

"Hey, wait…" Joey shrugged. "Oh well, he is kind of like family."

Tea and Solomon laughed. Tea then saw something behind Joey and gasped. "Oh no!" Joey and Solomon turned and saw Bakura being held up by a boy about their own age with tanned skin and blonde hair dressed in a pink sleeveless hoodie and black pants wearing a Duel Disk. Bakura had a bandage around his arm, a bandage that was seeping blood.

"Please, help me, I think he's hurt," the strange boy called.

"Bakura!" Tea, Joey, and Solomon cried as they ran over to him. "What happened?" Solomon asked.

"I don't know," the boy replied. "I just found him lying on the ground. I tended to his injuries the best I could. Do you know him?"

"Yeah, we're buddies," Joey said. "Bakura, pal, what happened?"

"I… don't know," Bakura stammered. "These guys… jumped me in the street and beat me up for no reason."

Solomon called for a taxi. "I'll take Bakura to the hospital," he said.

"Thanks, Mister Moto," Tea said as the taxi drove away.

Yami-Yugi, Kaiba, and Mokuba walked on the street to the Aquarium. "I hope you're leading me to the right place," Yami-Yugi said.

"Relax, your friends are here," Kaiba assured him. Yami-Yugi pulled ahead and ran towards the entrance. Kaiba scratched his head and thought, I'll never be able to figure out why he's so devoted to that third-rate Duelist. I'm the only one he needs to worry about.

"By the way, my name's Namu," the boy introduced.

"Namu, huh, well I'm Joey and this is Tea."

"Thank you so much for helping Bakura," Tea said.

"It was the least I could do," 'Namu' said.

Joey then noticed the Duel Disk. "Hey, are you a Battle City contestant?"

"Oh, this, yeah, but I'm not really that good. I hope you're not thinking of challenging me."

"Relax," Joey said slapping Namu on the back a bit too hard. "I already have six locator cards so I don't need to duel any more, at least not until I get to the finals."

"You have six locator cards already? Wow, you must be strong."

"Well I don't mean to brag, but I was the Duelist Kingdom Runner-Up."

"So you must be very strong. Hey, I only have a few more locator cards to go, but the opponents are probably strong and hard to beat, can you give me some tips sometime?"

"Hey, no prob," Joey said. As Joey went into Duel Monsters 101, Marik spoke telepathically to his Rare Hunters. "Now's the time, my Rare Hunters, bring me what I seek, namely the two remaining Egyptian God Cards and the Millennium Puzzle, and make sure Little Yugi stays out of my way permanently. And just in case you fail, I have a backup plan, involving those who are closest to him." Joey was so busy showing off his vast knowledge of Duel Monsters, that he didn't notice the Rare Hunters slowly surrounding them.

Yami-Yugi ran into the Aquarium only to find it empty. He went up to a man who was mopping up water. "Excuse me, was there a duel here?"

"Why yes there was," the man replied. "But it ended about ten minutes ago."

"No," Yami-Yugi moaned as Kaiba and Mokuba came up to them.

"Doesn't one of them have a cell phone you can call?" Mokuba asked.

Yami-Yugi gasped, he was so distraught that he was blind to the obvious. "You're right, Mokuba. Where's a phone?"

"There's one outside," the man said. Yami-Yugi turned and ran out.

"Joey, look out!" Marik cried. Joey turned just in time to get slugged by a Rare Hunter. "Joey!" 'Namu' was caught in a strangle hold by a Rare Hunter while another moved in to punch him within an inch of his life.

"Joey!" Tea started to run to him but she was caught by another Rare Hunter. "Let me go!"

"Tea, Joey, run!" Namu pleaded.

"No way," Joey said. "There's no way I'm going to let someone be beat up!" He charged forward and slugged a Rare Hunter. Without missing a beat, he turned and delivered a powerful elbow to another. "Get out of here before I really get upset," Joey threatened. But just then, he was bashed in the back of a head by a tall dark-skinned man wearing a purple cloak. A bit of a tattoo could be seen on the side of his face.

Tea's cell phone rang. The Rare Hunter that was holding her picked it up and pressed the answer button. Yami-Yugi's voice could be heard at the other end. "Tea, are you all right? Tea… Tea, answer me!"

"Yugi!" She cried before Odion deliver a quick chop to her neck knocking her out. The last thing Tea saw was Namu laying on the ground and the Rare Hunter stepping on her cell phone.

Yami-Yugi slammed the receiver back on the cradle. "We're too late," he told the Kaiba Brothers. "The Rare Hunters have already got to them."

"Relax," Kaiba said like it was no big deal. "We can track them down again. Even if that wimp isn't using his Duel Disk, Kaiba Corp.'s satellites should be able to pick it up. Just be ready to duel the moment we set eyes on him."

"Yes, yes, yes, I already agreed to it, there's no need to keep reminding me."

"Seto, we have a problem," Mokuba called from the laptop. "Our tracking screen just lost track of Joey's Duel Disk."

"What, how can that be?"

"I don't know, but I'm going back to base to find out. I'll radio once we pick up the signal again."

"Go to it," Kaiba instructed. Mokuba packed up the laptop and took off.

"Kaiba, could it be possible that the Rare Hunters have infiltrated your computer system somehow?" Yami-Yugi asked.

"It's a possibility, but highly unlikely," Kaiba replied. "Kaiba Corp. has some of the best anti-virus and firewall software in the world. The only way that could happen is if they had someone on the inside. And if that is the case…" Kaiba slammed his fist against his palm. "Then they better be far away from me because I'm merciless with dealing with traitors even more so than I am when I'm dueling."

As Mokuba ran down the street towards Kaiba Corp, he had the distinct feeling that he was being followed. He turned around and spotted some Rare Hunters. Uh-oh, this doesn't look good, Mokuba thought. He turned to go down a side street but the Rare Hunters cornered him.

A loud cackle came from above him as a Rare Hunter wearing a purple cloak with gold stripe running along the sleeves jumped down.

"What do you want?" Mokuba asked.

"You, and once a Rare Hunter sets his sights on his prey, he doesn't give up until the prey is caught. And you, my delicious little morsel, are caught!"

As a nurse gave Serenity a check up, she said, "I heard the Doctor saying you can take your bandages off tonight."

Serenity nodded. "That's right, and I want the first thing I see to be my brother dueling in the Battle City finals!"

"Joey's very lucky to have a sister like you."

Serenity shook her head, "I'm the lucky one, to have a Big Brother like him."

As Yugi and Kaiba walked down the street, they were unaware that they were being watched by two Rare Hunters from a rooftop.

"There they are," one said.

"Cirrus reports that they have the boy."

"Good, now it's our turn." With moves that did not match someone of his small size and shape, one of the Rare Hunters acrobatically leapt from rooftop to rooftop, twirled around a lamppost and landed with gymnast grace in front of them.

"Rare Hunter!" Yami-Yugi gasped. "Where are my friends?" The Rare Hunter pointed behind them. The two Battle City Duelists turned to see Mokuba being dangling from a flying helicopter.

"Seto, help me!" Mokuba pleaded.

"Mokuba!" Kaiba turned to the Rare Hunter. "Now you've made me mad. If you hurt my brother in any way, I'll crush you with the entire weight of Kaiba Corporation!"

"You're hardly in a position to be making threats, Kaiba," the Rare Hunter said. "But if you want to see your brother again, you'll meet me and my partner up on that skyscraper." The Rare Hunter pointed to a tall building in the distance. "Oh, and Yugi, you would be wise to come too, if you ever want to see your friends again." With a laugh, the Rare Hunter took off in the same fashion as he arrived.

"Yugi," Kaiba addressed. "Looks like your enemies are now my enemies as well. But remember this, I'm only in this to save Mokuba."

"Fine, but if we don't hurry, we won't see any of them ever again!"

"Right."

Yugi and Kaiba arrived at the roof of the skyscraper. The roof was divided into four glass squares. Two Rare Hunters, one tall and one short, stood on the far end of the glass squares. Yami-Yugi and Kaiba took up position on the other two.

"All right, we're here," Kaiba announced. "Now release your hostages!"

"You two will have to duel us first," the short Rare Hunter said.

"Who are you?" Yami-Yugi demanded to know.

The Rare Hunters laughed then revealed their faces under their hoods. They were each wearing a mask, one white and one black one.

"I am Lumis, the Mask of Light," the short Rare Hunter wearing the white mask introduced.

"And I am Umbra, the Mask of Darkness," his partner introduced.

"These are the same two Rare Hunters from the alleyway," Yami-Yugi realized.

"Seems like you two haven't gotten enough punishment," Kaiba said.

"But this time, it will be different, before we wanted you to beat us, now we'll crush you!"

"You wish!"

"Just get on with the rules," Yami-Yugi said.

"Very well," Umbra said. "This shall be a Double Duel. The two of you against the two of us, we all get 4000 life points and both players must be defeated for the opposing team to win."

"Now look below you," Lumis instructed. Yugi and Kaiba looked down. "The roof we're standing on is above a fifty-story office building and extends all the way to the bottom. In the corners of each glass square is an explosive within a counter that keeps track of our life points. The moment the counter reaches zero, the glass will break and whoever is unfortunate to be standing over it at the time will fall to their doom!"

Umbra took over again, "And according to Battle City rules, once you lose, we get your Egyptian God Cards."

"First things first, let me see my brother to see if he's all right."

"Don't worry, your brother's fine, but where you're going, they don't allow visitors."

"Not if we have anything to say about it," Yami-Yugi said. "Eject holo-emitters!"

"Right, duel tray transform!"

"Scan deck!" Lumis shouted.

"Life points set," Umbra reported.

"Let's duel!" They all shouted.

(L: 4000)

(Y: 4000)

(U: 4000)

(K: 4000)

"To make this fair, we each take a turn before attacking," Umbra offered.

"Agreed," Yami-Yugi said.

"Then I'll go first," Lumis volunteered. "I place two cards face-down and end my turn. Your move, Yugi."

"Fine, I summon Beta the Magnet Warrior in defense mode." Nobody can attack until all the Duelists have gone through a turn. Hopefully by then, we can pick up on their dueling strategy.

"I summon Shining Abyss (1) in defense mode."

"Now it's time for you to see how we duel together!" Lumis announced. "I play a magic card called Mask of Brutality. I'll equip it to Umbra's monster raising its attack points by 1000!"

(SA: 1600-2600)

"You mean you already have a monster with over 2600 attack points?" Kaiba asked bewildered.

"Relax, Kaiba, Mask of Brutality has a cost," Yami-Yugi said. "They have to pay 1000 life points to keep it in play."

"Not after I activate this magic card," Umbra rebutted. "Masked Doll negates all cost effects. Our dueling strategy will crush you!"

"If you can work as a team, then so can we," Yami-Yugi said.

"No thanks," Kaiba denied. "Teamwork is for boy scouts. I can win this duel and save my brother on my own." Kaiba looked at his hand. "I place two cards face-down and summon Vorse Raider (2) in attack mode."

Kaiba must know that Vorse Raider is weaker than Lumis's monster, Yami-Yugi thought. He's either planning on sacrificing it next turn to summon a stronger monster or he's going to use his two face-down cards.

In fact, sacrificing Vorse Raider was precisely what Kaiba had in mind. And Lumis knew it. If Kaiba thinks he's going to summon a stronger monster, he has another thing coming.

"Now we each went through a turn," Kaiba said. "Time to see whose strategy is better."

"Don't forget, our decks are designed to work in harmony with each other," Lumis told them.

Unless Kaiba and I work together, we'll never win this duel, Yami-Yugi thought. The fate of our friends… and the world… depends on it.

To Be Continued

Duel Monster Database

(1)

Name: Shining Abyss

Level: 4

Type: Fairy

Attribute: Light

ATK: 1600

DEF: 1800

(2)

Name: Vorse Raider

Level: 4

Type: Beast-Warrior

Attribute: Dark

ATK: 1900

DEF: 800