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Fanfic Chapter 123: Joey's Day in Court Pt 2: Decisive Gamble
Episode Basis: Courtroom Chaos Pt 2
Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh! Yugi and Tea stumbled upon Joey who was dueling against one of the Big-5, Johnson, a former Kaiba Corp. attorney who had taken the image of the Duel Monster Judge Man as his Deck Master. Joey got off to a big start but then Johnson turned the tables by activating his Deck Master's special ability: Clear the Courtroom, which can destroy all of Joey's monsters and take away 500 life points per monster. He then played a magic card called Sinister Justice which would increase his life points every time he attacks. The Kaiba Brothers weren't having a blast either, with Noah showing them the day Kaiba confronted Gozaburo with his idea for virtual technology. But not only did Gozaburo throw young Seto out of his office, but he took the virtual technology Seto designed and used it for his weapons dealership. The Kaiba Brothers are stuck down memory lane and Joey's locked up in a kangaroo court and he's about to be railroaded (for those of you unfamiliar with legal jargon, it means that Joey's locked into a battle he can't win and Judge Man's about to clench it).
"I find you guilty of poor dueling," Johnson cracked. "And the punishment for such a crime is a lifetime sentence in Noah's virtual world!"
"We'll see, Johnson," Joey said as he drew a card. Johnson's face-down card is probably another trap, but I can't worry about it now. I have to get a monster onto the field before he attacks me again. "I summon Panther Warrior (1) in attack mode!" With 2000 attack points, Panther Warrior should be able to hold off his Wizard, but just in case. "I also place a card face-down also. That ends my turn." Even I'll admit it, but it's not the best strategy I can come up with, but it should keep him off for a while.
"I play the magic card Leading Question," Judge Man announced. "Adding 800 attack points to my fusion monster!"
(CW: 1300-2100)
"Camion Wizard, begin your attack on his Panther Warrior!"
"Hold on there, genius, I activate the trap card Skull Dice!" A goblin holding a red die appeared. "Skull Dice lowers your monster's attack points by the number the die comes up with. The die was rolled. A six became visible on the top. "Oh yeah, a six!"
"Take a closer look," Judge Man corrected rapping on the table with his gavel.
At the very last second, the die flipped over to reveal a one.
"A ONE?" Camion Wizard's attack points were unchanged and Panther Warrior was destroyed.
"Don't forget, my life points go up every time my Camion Wizard attacks thanks to Sinister Justice."
(J: 1100)
(3: 1800)
Yugi and Tea shouted words of encouragement, "Come on, Joey, you can beat him!"
"It's not over yet," Tea added.
I don't see what else I can do, the only monster I have in my hand is Swordsman of Landstar (2), not exactly the king of monsters. Joey drew the magic card Graceful Dice. Maybe my luck will improve. "First I summon my Swordsman of Landstar in attack mode and next I'll add the magic card Graceful Dice to increase my monster's attack points depending on the roll of the die." Joey watched carefully as the die was thrown. He had to be absolutely sure it was a number he wanted.
Judge Man chuckled and banged his gavel again.
The die flipped over to a one.
"Gyah!" Joey cried. "What did I do to deserve this?"
"I've never seen Joey have such terrible luck before," Tea commented.
Yugi's only response was "Hmmm…"
"Don't worry, Joseph, I won't humiliate you severely just yet. I activate my Deck Master Ability, Clear the Courtroom!" A bang of his gavel destroyed Swordsman of Landstar.
(J: 600)
(3: 1800)
Joey now had only two cards left: a magic and a trap card. He placed them both face-down. "I end my turn."
"Behold exhibit B, the magic card Pot of Greed. I bet Joseph wishes he had this card in his deck, it lets me draw two cards, something you no doubt need very badly."
"That's right, and I'll get it too, with my trap card: Gamble!" Joey had to activate Gamble because the conditions were just right: Johnson had six cards and he had none.
"It's a risky move," Yugi commented.
"What does it do?" Tea asked.
"It allows Joey to flip a coin. If he calls it right, he gets to draw five cards. If he doesn't he skips his next turn. And that's something he can't afford."
A holographic coin appeared. It shot up into the air, twirling around as it started its descent. Come on, Lady Luck, don't fail me now.
Joseph doesn't get it, I control everything in this courtroom, the outcome is mine alone!
Kaiba and Mokuba came through one of Noah's virtual doors to a beach. Kaiba looked around, "At least it's a change of scenery."
"But I don't want to be on a virtual beach," Mokuba whined. "I don't want to be in a virtual forest or even a virtual amusement park, I want out of here!" Kaiba turned and started to walk down the beach. Mokuba quickly realized his attitude and composed himself. "Sorry, Seto, I didn't mean…"
"Relax, if you get upset, you're letting Noah win." He looked up and called out, "If you think you can break us by toying with our emotions, Noah, then you don't know who you're messing with!"
"Oh I know exactly who I'm messing with," Noah rebutted. "A no-good cheat.""Joey can do this, he's got a fifty-fifty chance!" Noah turned to watch Joey's duel.
"Its heads," Joey announced as the coin passed his eyes.
That's what he thinks, Johnson said as he banged his gavel.
The coin stopped three inches from Joey's hand, flipped over to reveal tails, and landed.
Joey screamed in frustration. "It's not the end of my turn just yet I reveal my last face-down card, Scapegoat!" Four sheep tokens (3) appeared in front of him.
"Joey's always had great luck before, why is he failing now?" Tea asked.
"I'm… not sure… he is," Yugi said slowly.
Noah's eyes narrowed. He knew what Johnson did.
"I play Reinforcements of the Army to add a warrior monster to my hand. Next I'll use Polymerization to fuse Armaill (4) with One-Eyed Shield Dragon (5) in my hand so I can form Dragoness the Wicked Knight (6)! And since Dragoness is a fusion monster, I can use Leading Question to increase its attack points by 800."
(DWK: 1200-2000)
Johnson's two fusion monsters destroyed two of Joey's Scapegoat tokens.
"It's my move," Joey said.
"No it's not," Johnson said back. "Since you lost the coin toss, you have to skip your turn." Johnson ordered Dragoness and Camion Wizard to attack again destroying the rest of Joey's sheep tokens. "Now you have no cards on the field or in your hand. Are you going to give yourself up willingly or does my 'interrogation' of you have to continue?"
"No way am I giving up," Joey said defiantly. "There's no way I'm going to let a back-talking slimeball lawyer get the best of me!" In frustration, Joey punched the railing around his podium.
Bad move.
"OW! Note to self: do not punch virtual railing."
"Come on, Joey, your luck has to get better," Yugi cheered.
"Yeah," Tea agreed. "It's not like it can get any worse."
"Not one of your best pep talks, Tea." I don't get it; I know that my luck can get crappy at times but to lose three games of chance when it was clear it was going to come up in my favor. How could my luck be so bad?
"Something's not right," Yugi whispered to Yami. "Even if it was Friday the 13th, there's no way Joey's luck could be this bad."
"I agree, I think Johnson is manipulating Joey's roles somehow."
"Are you sure?"
"I can sense it."
"Face it, Joseph; I have never lost in the courtroom, one way or another I will get your body."
"Johnson must be setting Joey up," Yugi concluded. "Looks like we'll just have to intervene."
"Wrong, Yugi," a disembodied voice said. "I'll be the one intervening." A beam of light descended upon the duel.
Kaiba and Mokuba were walking along the virtual beach when they came upon a television embedded in the sand. On it, they saw an image of Joey.
"That's Joey!" Mokuba realized. "He's in a duel!"
"The Big-5 must really be desperate if he's dueling," Kaiba cracked.
"But who's he dueling?"
Kaiba saw Joey's opponent and realized it was Judge Man. "Johnson," he muttered as a forgotten memory appeared in his mind, a memory without the aid of Noah's virtual technology.
I almost forgot, it's been such a long time. I remember one time I had to go into my father's private study. Outside the door, I could hear him talking to Johnson.
"You imbecile," my father was saying. "You were supposed to move suspicions away from Kaiba Corp in the trial. But because of your bumbling, they're performing an investigation into whether or not it was us who caused the doctor's death."
"I'm sorry, sir, I was unaware of the witness. It won't happen again."
"Oh it definitely won't, consider your salary docked for three months. Now get out of here and try to think of a way to move the spotlight away from Kaiba Corp." I was standing near the doorway as Johnson exited in a huff. He was complaining about Gozaburo's desire for perfection and vowed to get back his reputation.
As soon as he left, I entered the study. Gozaburo was at his desk looking over some papers, "Johnson is a fool," I said right out.
Gozaburo chuckled, "I won't disagree with you on that but he has the ability to spin lies into the truth and he charges a hefty sum so I expect to get my money's worth. Let that be a lesson, Seto, that I won't tolerate any failure, no matter how miniscule."
I grunted, "I don't fail."
"See that you don't."
Looks like once again Johnson's lying has gotten him in hot water. Kaiba turned his attention back towards the television in time to see Noah appear in a beam of light.. "Noah!"
Yugi and Kaiba were asking the same question: "What's Noah doing here?"
Ignoring Yugi and Tea, Noah said, "I'm putting a stop to this duel!"
Everyone was shocked, but nobody more so than Johnson. "But Master Noah, I'm only a few moves away from winning this fool's body!"
"Maybe, but I don't think you deserve the prize!"
"Come again?" Joey asked.
"I know you've been using my virtual technology to tamper with Joey's dice roll!"
"So Joey's bad rolls wasn't a result of luck, it was cheating," Yugi realized.
"That's right, Yugi," Noah confirmed. "I originally brought you Big-5 into my world in order to beat Seto and his friends. And I gave you the ability to manipulate my virtual world with the single rule that you would use it before a duel, not during it. But apparently my trust in you was misplaced. How can I prove that I'm better than Seto if all my employees do nothing but cheat?"
"What's he talking about?" Mokuba asked.
"I'm not really sure, Mokuba." If Noah wants to prove that he's better than me, why, and to whom is he proving this to?
"For years I lived in Seto's shadow, always trying to prove I'm the better one. I should be the president of Kaiba Corp., not him, and it's time that I prove to Gozaburo that he should've left the company to me, not him!"
Kaiba was shocked by this revelation (which Noah obviously wanted him to hear which was why he left the television right where he would find it). Gozaburo had been missing for five years! And even if he was still alive, why would Noah need to prove anything to him? Who was this kid?
So my faulty rolls weren't the result of bad luck, it was because of Johnson's cheating, Joey realized. And if Johnson's been cheating all this time, then if I forced him to play by the rules, there's still a chance I could win this!
"But Master Noah, I can't stand living in this virtual world any more," Johnson complained. "If I don't get out of here soon…"
"Save it, I'm pulling the plug on you once and for all!"
"Let him play," Joey requested. Everyone looked at him like he was off his rocker. "I've dealt with a lot of cheats over my dueling career…"
"Let's go, kid, it's your turn!" Mai's voice brought him back to reality. Joey opened his eyes and stared directly at Mai.
"I see through your card trick!" Joey announced catching everyone by surprise, especially Mai. "You sprayed each of your cards with different perfumes! And by smelling each card, you can tell which one it is even when they're faced-down! So you don't need to look to play your cards. That way, you can psyche the other player out!"
Mai gasped. "No way, how can an amateur like you see through my aroma strategy?"
"I have to admit, you had me buying into the whole psychic power shtick. I was too freaked out to think things through because of that. But you're not a psychic at all; you're just a big fake!"
"This match doesn't count!"
"What's Keith ranting about now?" Harold asked.
"He just doesn't know when to quit," Tea commented.
"The tournament entry card he showed is not his, so therefore he should be disqualified!"
"Oh give me a break," Harold moaned slapping his forehead.
Joey decided that since the duel was over, it was okay to tell them the truth. "It's true; my card was missing so Mai gave me hers. But tell me, Keith, how could you have possibly known this card wasn't mine?" For once, Keith was speechless. "Well, we're all ears, so why don't you explain yourself, Keith." Once again, Keith didn't have an answer.
But Pegasus did, "He doesn't need to, it's clear that Keith stole Joey's card, that's why he was so certain that you would never be able to find it."
"Stupid rat," Harold insulted.
"Then Keith ought to be disqualified!" Tea protested.
"Oh Keith ought to be disqualified all right," Pegasus agreed. "But not simply for misdeeds outside the dueling ring; there was quite a bit of improper conduct during the duel that I observed too."
"Is that so?" Joey asked.
"Quite so," Pegasus said, apparently now speaking for Keith. "Keith kept his set of 7 Complete magic cards beneath his wrist band. That way, he could power up his Slot Machine whenever he wanted."
"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.
"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."
"I think it's only fair to warn you," Weevil told Joey. "That you have a parasite in your deck."
"Huh? What are you talking about, I don't have any insect cards," Joey argued.
"You think so? I play the magic card Reckless Parasite which brings the Parasite Paracide in your deck to life." Joey gasped as a card with green tentacles coming out of it appeared. The tentacles latched onto Panther Warrior by going directly through its back.
"Joey, why did you include that card?" Tristan asked.
"I didn't," Joey protested. "I've never seen that card before, unless… that kid must've been working for Weevil! He probably snuck it into my deck when I wasn't looking."
"But no matter who I dueled or how they cheated, they all had one thing in common: they all got their cheating butts kicked by me! And Judge Nut-Job over there will be no different. So let me finish this duel to the end."
"As you wish," Noah said and with an evil glare at Johnson he disappeared in the same manner.
"Is Joey nuts?" Tea asked.
"Maybe," Yugi said. "But now that Noah's onto Johnson's cheating ways, I think Johnson would think twice before trying anything underhanded again."
"All right, it's my move," Joey said. He drew a card and smirked at Johnson. "Oh look at what I just drew." He turned the card around to show Johnson.
It was the Pot of Greed magic card.
"Now I get to draw two cards also," Joey said mockingly. "Now I have just the cards I need. First I move my Flame Swordsman to the field in attack mode!" The Flame Swordsman drew his sword and stepped forward. "And next I'll play the magic card Burning Soul Sword!" The Flame Swordsman's sword transformed into a cutlass. "Burning Soul Sword only works if I sacrifice a monster."
"But you have none!" Johnson protested.
"Not after I play this magic card: Arduous Risk!"
"What does that card do?" Tea asked.
"It's another gamble card," Yugi explained. "First Joey will draw two cards from his deck and then Johnson has to pick one. If he picks a monster card, Joey gets to summon it to the field. But if he picks a non-monster card like a magic or trap card, then Joey's turn automatically ends."
Joey looked at the two cards he chose. One was the monster card Goblin Attack Force (7) and the other was the magic card Shield and Sword. "All right, genius, one of these is a monster card, and the other is a magic card. You have to decide which is which. If you pick the monster card, I get to summon it and sacrifice it to power up my Swordsman. But if you pick the magic card, you're home free. And this time, with your boss watching, there's no way you can cheat." Johnson stuttered a lot. "Stumped? Here, I'll give you a hint, one of them is a magic card. Which one though? Well, your honor? You get only one chance."
"All right, Joey," Yugi cheered. "Now Johnson's losing his cool!"
"That Wheeler's a fool," Kaiba commented. "He's leaving this entire duel up to chance."
"I'll choose… the card in your left hand, the magic card!"
"Are you sure?" Joey asked.
"That's the oldest trick in the book! Of course it is!" Wait a second, Wheeler's too stupid, he wouldn't try to psyche me out… would he?
"Is that your final answer?" Joey asked with an amused glance.
"I've acquitted murderers and thieves! I've sent victims to jail instead of the criminals! I've spent years making people believe lies were the truth and the truth was lies, you have no chance of outwitting me."
"Well if you really want to pick the card in my left hand, then I'll show you." He slowly started to turn the card around.
Yugi and Tea held their breath. "The suspense is killing me," Tea complained.
"And the card is…" Joey began.
"Wait!" Johnson cried. "I changed my mind, the card in your right hand, I pick the card in your right hand!"
Joey chuckled, "Congratulations…" He showed Johnson the monster card. "It's a monster card!"
"No!" Johnson cried. "How could I have been beaten by a lower-class in-breed heathen!"
"Now I summon Goblin Attack Force!" Five goblins wearing armor and carrying clubs appeared. "And next I'll sacrifice it to power up my Burning Soul Sword." Burning Soul Sword raised the attack points of the monster equipped to it by the number of the attack points of the sacrificed monster. In short, Flame Swordsman's attack points were increased by 2300.
(FS: 1000-3300)
"Flame Swordsman, attack his Wicked Knight with Burning Soul Slash!" The Flame Swordsman's armor became golden as the fire warrior charged forward and sliced through Dragoness.
(J: 600)
(3: 0)
Johnson cried out in despair as a beam of light enclosed around him.
"Sorry, Johnson, but you've been dismissed," Noah's voice said as Judge Man disappeared.
"Way to go, Joey," Yugi cheered.
"Yeah, good job," Tea agreed.
"Thanks, guys, I'm just glad it's over for me."
"Yeah, but not the others," Tea pointed out. "The Big-5 are targeting non-Duelists too."
"WHAT?" Joey cried. "Serenity's never dueled before! I have to find her."
"Right, let's go."
"I just hope we don't have to go out into the cold again," Tea complained as the three left the courtroom.
The End
Duel Monster Database
(1)
Name: Panther Warrior
Level: 4
Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 2000
DEF: 1600
(2)
Name: Swordsman of Landstar
Level: 3
Type: Warrior
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 500
DEF: 1200
(3)
Name: Sheep Token
Level: 1
Type: Beast
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 0
DEF: 0
(4)
Name: Armaill
Level: 3
Type: Warrior
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 700
DEF: 1300
(5)
Name: One-Eyed Shield Dragon
Level: 3
Type: Dragon
Attribute: Wind
ATK: 700
DEF: 1300
(6)
Name: Dragoness the Wicked Knight
Level: 3
Type: Warrior/Fusion
Attribute: Wind
ATK: 1200
DEF: 900
(7)
Name: Goblin Attack Force
Level: 4
Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 2300
DEF: 0