8. Dueling in the Shadows
Telling Goradon that he was going to remain in the tournament after all did not exactly help improve Yugi's mood. The tournament commission president was so smug at having won their battle of wills that Yugi found himself momentarily wishing he had Joey's temperament and could just haul off and slug the guy in the face, but he swallowed his anger and went back to where Rebecca was standing with Téa, Tristan, Mokuba and Kaiba awaiting the beginning of her duel.
"You sure you wanna go through with this?" he asked her.
"You said it was my decision," she replied.
"Of course it is," he told her.
"Then let's stop talking about it and let me get my deck ready," she said simply.
"Good," Kaiba sniffed disdainfully. "I was bored with this conversation before it even started."
"Kaiba, just don't forget this is bigger than a Duel Monsters title and it's bigger than you getting revenge on Jacques for the way he dueled Mokuba. Whatever happens, we are all targets and we will all have to fight this together as a team," Yugi told him.
Kaiba merely rolled his eyes. "Yes, the old teamwork refrain. Save it, Yugi. I've heard it all before."
"And it's always been true," Yugi replied evenly.
Kaiba snorted then walked off to find a spot where he could watch the duel. Yugi turned to Téa and Tristan. "Go pick a spot on this side of the field. I want to stay with Rebecca until the duel starts."
Tristan nodded and turned to go, but Téa looked like she wanted to say something more.
"Téa?"
She shook her head as if shaking a thought away. "Just be careful, okay?" She turned to Rebecca. "All of you. These duels really have me worried."
"I'll be okay," Rebecca said, and Téa smiled.
"Then kick some butt out there, okay?"
"You got it," Rebecca replied, looking surprised and a little pleased that Téa would include her in her concern.
Téa turned from Rebecca and gave Yugi another look he couldn't quite interpret before leaving to find Tristan.
Yugi turned back to Rebecca as Mokuba stepped up to her. "Hey, Rebecca, I didn't mean to talk down to you or anything. It's just that Seto really bugs me sometimes. I know you'll be fine."
"Mokuba?" she asked. "What was it like… when you dueled?"
He shuffled his feet a bit and shrugged. "I don't know. I just got really angry and wanted to do anything I could to win, to have more power. I wanted to kill Jacques when he sicced that Tyrant Dragon on me. It was a lot tougher than usual, too. But after the duel it just kind of went away. You'll be okay," he reassured her.
Yugi was about to add his own encouragement when Duke made his way down the beach to join them.
"Hey Yugi, Becks, Mokuba," Duke greeted.
"Any luck finding Rex and Weevil?" Yugi asked him.
"Not a sign of them. After Becky's duel, I'm gonna go look again and if I still don't find them, I think we need to get together a search party or something."
"Yeah, they could be in trouble rather than causing trouble."
"How'd Mai's duel go?" Duke asked. When Yugi and Rebecca just exchanged dark looks, he asked "What? She didn't lose, did she?"
"No, she won, but something was making her act strange. She was very cruel and didn't seem to come out of it until the duel ended," Yugi summarized.
"She knocked the wind out of Joey with her duel disk then kind of woke up," Rebecca added.
"No way!" Duke cried.
"I'm pretty sure that somehow we're the ones being used in some kind of Shadow Game. That's why Mokuba and Kaiba acted so violent in their duels, too, I think. I just don't know who's doing it," Yugi said through gritted teeth.
"Not Jacques and Raul?"
"Maybe," Yugi said, but somehow he didn't feel like the problem. "Mai's opponent didn't seem to be affected or involved at all, so I don't think it has anything to do with our opponents. Someone somewhere else is doing this."
Duke narrowed his eyes. "I'm thinking I'd really better find Rex and Weevil then. But what about the tournament?"
"Goradon won't stop the tournament and most of the other competitors want to continue, so unless we just drop out, we continue dueling and see what happens."
Duke whistled. "Man." He turned to Rebecca. "You okay with this, Becky? You sure you wanna do this?"
Rebecca groaned and put her hands on her hips. "Would you all stop treating me like a little kid? I am a college graduate!"
Duke, having missed the previous discussion, was a little taken aback. "I don't think you're a little kid, Becks."
This surprised her. "You don't?"
"Are you kidding? You're like the toughest chick I know. Remember in California when we ran into that Valon jerk from the Orichalcos gang? You weren't afraid to fight him to stick up for your friends even though he could've played the Seal of Orichalcos on you."
"Good thing he didn't," Rebecca remembered ruefully, "since he beat us so miserably."
Duke waved it off as if he thought it a mere technicality. "He got lucky. You've been dueling circles around punks like him since you were in kindergarten. You probably woulda creamed him if I hadn't jumped in and gotten in your way."
She smiled, pleased at the compliment. "I thought we made a good team."
"Well this time I'll be backing you up from the sidelines," he assured her. "You are Rebecca Hawkins. Go kick some butt."
Duke's encouragement seemed to wipe away the last vestiges of disquiet she'd had from Mai's and Kaiba's duels. "Thanks," she said, giving him a hug. "Thanks to all of you," she added, grabbing Mokuba and Yugi simultaneously and hugging them as well. "You guys are really great friends."
"The Rebecca Hawkins cheerleading squad, that's us," Mokuba said, blushing a little. "We'll be right up front cheering you on, okay?"
Yugi saw Croquet walk out into the center of the circle of beach they were using for their field. "Speaking of, it looks like it's about to start." He looked around and spotted Téa and Tristan standing with Joey, Mai, and Serenity at the edge of the of the field area. "There's the rest of the gang." He gave Rebecca one more hug. "Good luck."
"I don't need it," she said, winking at Duke. "I'm Rebecca Hawkins."
"God help us all," Yugi groaned playfully, rolling his eyes.
"She okay?" Téa asked as Yugi joined her and the others as the referee announced the beginning of the Yellow Division Championship duel and introduced Rebecca and her opponent, Kenan Bagatui from Kenya.
"Yeah, she'll do great," Yugi replied, but Téa could not mistake the worry in his voice or his eyes.
"Are you okay?" she followed up.
He looked at her and sighed. "I'm supposed to watch out for her, but I can't help her now."
Téa took his hand and squeezed it comfortingly. "You're a good friend to her. That's all the help she needs."
"Thanks," he said, smiling, and Téa felt a little guilty for all the times she'd been jealous and spiteful toward Rebecca.
The duel began and Yugi's attention was immediately focused solely on Rebecca. Kenan was a sharp but quiet duelist who specialized in Earth monsters. Early on he played the Field Spell card Gaia Power, which gave all Earth monsters a five hundred-point increase in attack points. The disadvantage, however, was that it also decreased Earth monsters' defense points by four hundred, and Rebecca quickly turned things around so that Kenan was on the defensive.
As with all the other duels, this one seemed normal enough at the beginning. Rebecca had always been a somewhat caustic player, either playing the bratty child to lull opponents into underestimating her as she had in the first round against that pompous Russian, or intimidating them with her smug superiority in her own intellect. The first time Téa had ever seen Rebecca duel, she'd even been contemptuous of her own cards, sacrificing weaker monsters with an air of scorn in order to power up her favorites. She'd only seen Rebecca duel a few times since then, mostly at the Kaiba Corp Grand Championship a few years earlier and then in the earlier rounds of this tournament, but it was clear that she'd grown as a duelist and had developed what Yugi liked to call "trust in the heart of the cards."
As this duel progressed, however, like with Mai and Kaiba and Mokuba, Rebecca slipped into a more brutal style, with no regard for her opponent or either of their monsters. Duke both started pacing anxiously, shouting out encouragement to her, while Yugi brooded in stock-still silence.
"Come on Becky, you can control it!" Duke shouted.
Rebecca ignored him and sacrificed two monsters to summon Guardian Angel Joan, which not only had a twenty-eight hundred-point attack, but would increase her own Life Points by the amount of the attack points of any monster it destroyed. However, Kenan had Big Tusk Mammoth on his side of the field and its effect prevented Rebecca from attacking with any monster on the same turn it was summoned, so she ended her turn.
Kenan played Swords of Revealing Light to prevent Rebecca from attacking for her next three turns. She growled furiously, an almost animal sound, and Téa saw Yugi clench his jaw.
"It's almost over," she told him, putting her hand on his shoulder, but he didn't answer her.
For the next three turns, Rebecca bided her time, but she grew more and more hostile. Kenan, meanwhile, was able to chip away at her Life Points by repeatedly summoning Inaba White Rabbit, which could attack her Life Points directly, bypassing her Guardian Angel Joan, and then would return to his hand at the end of his turn, meaning even when she was free from Swords of Revealing Light, she wouldn't be able to destroy it. By the time her three turns were over, she was down to two hundred Life Points and had taken some physical punishment for all the direct attacks. She looked a little battered, but fiercer than ever. Kenan had switched Big Tusk Mammoth to defense position, but Rebecca played Stop Defense, forcing it into attack mode, and Guardian Angel Joan destroyed it, costing Kenan three hundred Life Points and bringing him down to twelve hundred, while also adding two thousand Life Points to Rebecca's score by Guardian Angel Joan's special ability. He then set a monster card in facedown defense position and played Ultimate Offering, which at the cost of five hundred Life Points allowed him an extra summons. He used it to bring back Inaba White Rabbit to attack her Life Points again, bringing her back down to one thousand to his seven hundred. Inaba returned to his hand once more.
Rebecca countered on her turn by playing Book of Taiyou, which flipped the facedown monster into attack position. The monster was Poison Mummy, whose special effect inflicted five hundred points of direct damage to her Life Points. Rebecca flew into a rage at this, which Téa knew was a drastic overreaction: she still had five hundred Life Points and as soon as her Guardian Angel Joan attacked Poison Mummy, Kenan would lose and she would still get an additional thousand point bonus from Joan's special effect. And yet, Rebecca was livid, practically spitting invectives at Kenan as if he'd just cost her the duel.
"Just end it, Rebecca, so you can come back," Yugi uttered under his breath.
Téa's heart twisted in her chest. Poor Rebecca. This duel is going to kill her if she doesn't end it soon.
Duke didn't waste time muttering to himself. "Who cares, Becky, just attack Poison Mummy and finish the duel!" he shouted.
Finally she called the attack. Kenan was thrown backwards as his Life Points hit zero and Rebecca's went back up to fifteen hundred. The referee declared Rebecca the winner and before the words were even out of his mouth, Yugi and Duke were both on the field. Yugi reached Rebecca first and took her by the shoulders.
"Rebecca? It's over! Are you okay? Rebecca!"
She shook her head as if trying to shake off cobwebs. Her eyes unfocussed for a moment, and then she looked at Yugi and at Duke who was right behind him.
"Yugi!" she cried, throwing herself into his arms, sobbing. He held her tightly as Duke put an arm around her shoulder. Téa couldn't hear what they were saying, but it was clear Yugi and Duke were trying to soothe her. Mokuba was there, too, but he hung back, unsure how to help.
Kenan Bagatui trotted across the field, a look of concern etched on his face. "I don't understand. She won the duel. What is wrong? Is she hurt?"
"It's like I tried explaining, something is controlling the emotions of some of the players during these duels," Yugi answered, still holding Rebecca. "She doesn't normally play that way." Téa saw Yugi look over his shoulder and give Pegasus an icy glare. Pegasus did not avert his gaze and stared stonily back.
Kenan shook his head. "I don't understand," he repeated, "but I am sorry." To Rebecca he said, "Do not cry. It was a good duel. You played well and were victorious."
Rebecca pulled back and wiped her face with her sleeve. "Thanks. I… I am sorry. I really don't play like that."
Kenan smiled and held out his hand to shake, which she took. "No harm done."
Yugi looked at him gratefully. "Thank you."
Kenan merely shrugged then walked away.
"Come on, Rebecca, let's get you something to drink," Duke said. She nodded and then saw Mokuba and gave him a tight hug as well. The three of them then headed off toward the campfire and the water jugs that were set up nearby, all three men surrounding Rebecca protectively.
"This is nuts," Joey growled, grinding his teeth. "We can't keep doing this!"
Téa looked at him, apprehensive. "You're next, aren't you?"
He looked back at her, his lips squeezed into a thin line. "Yeah, I guess I am."
Mai wasn't sure which was worse, experiencing the anger and loss of control that allowed her to hurt other people, or watching someone she cared about preparing to go through it.
"You're looking a little green around the gills there, hon," she told him, trying to keep her voice light and casual. "You sure you gonna be okay?"
"Yeah, can't wait," Joey replied with as much enthusiasm as a seasick sailor headed for the galley.
"You can do it, bro," Tristan encouraged. "You don't have to let it beat you."
"That's right, you can do it, Joey," Serenity put in, squeezing her brother's arm.
"And you'll feel better once it's over," Mai added.
"Well that's comforting," Joey snapped. "Like banging my head against the wall… it feels good when you stop."
"Listen, you pinhead, I'm trying to help," Mai said testily. "I've been feeling creepy since the duels started, but after going through it, I actually feel better."
As if to offer confirmation, Yugi, Duke, Rebecca, and Mokuba returned and Rebecca, too, looked much better, with some of the color returned to her face.
"Hey kiddo, you did great, really," Mai told her bracingly. "You feeling better now?"
She nodded. "It was so weird, like everything was fogged over and I was just so angry. But I do feel better now. That creepiness that I've been feeling since we got here isn't so bad."
Yugi looked at her thoughtfully. "Do you think maybe Pegasus and Kaiba were right after all? Could this just be part of the test and the only way out is through?"
"I sure hope so," Mai replied. "I'd like to be done with that, thank you very much."
"Hello, some of us are still getting ready to duel here!" Joey griped, clearly nervous.
"Hey, settle down!" Tristan warned.
Yugi put his hand on Joey's shoulder. "You're a great duelist and a strong person, Joey. It's going to be fine," he said tranquilly.
This seemed to help, and Joey took a deep breath to calm himself. "You're right. I've got all my friends behind me, how can I miss?"
"That's right, the cheerleading squad of yours never fails, right?" Mai agreed, although inside she was as nervous as he was.
Duke wished Joey luck, then left to see if he could find out where Rex and Weevil had gotten off to. The rest of them stood around Joey, trying to keep him distracted so he wouldn't get nervous again. Soon it was time to begin and Nelson called Joey and Mako Tsunami to the field. They met in the middle and exchanged decks. While Joey shuffled Mako's deck, he looked at the odd fisherman duelist.
"Hey Mako. Whatever happens out there, I really respect you as a duelist. If I… I don't know, if I start acting weird or whatever, it's nothing personal, okay?"
Mako eyed him curiously. "What exactly is going on here, Joey? What is making everyone act so strange?"
Joey just shrugged. "I wish I knew. But anyway," he finished, handing Mako back his deck and taking his own from him, "I just want you to know that I think you're a good guy and a good duelist and I'm sorry in advance for anything I might do out there."
Mai shuddered as the duel began. It didn't take long for her to see the change in Joey. A hardness came to his eyes, something she'd never seen there before. She'd seen him fierce and determined, she'd seen him angry in a temper-tantrum sort of way, but never so cold and dead, except for the time he'd been controlled by Marik while dueling against Yugi. The longer the duel wore on, the colder his eyes got.
Come on Joey, fight it, fight it…
Joey sacrificed Rocket Warrior and Gearfried the Iron Knight to summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon with twenty-four hundred attack points. Mako's only monster at the moment was Sea Serpent, which Joey had trapped in Spellbinding Circle, but he also had Legendary Ocean on the field, which increased the attack and defense of all Water monsters by two hundred and downgraded them all one level, which meant some monsters that normally required a tribute no longer did. Red-Eyes destroyed Sea Serpent and Mako lost four hundred Life Points, bringing him to twelve hundred. Mako countered by summoning Giga Gagagigo without a tribute, thanks to his Legendary Ocean, and attacked Red-Eyes, but Joey activated his trap card Vow of Tribe, which did not allow Mako to attack that turn since he and Joey had the same number of monsters on the field. On his turn, Joey set two facedown cards and one facedown monster in defense and ended his turn.
Mako also set a facedown defense monster, and then attacked Red-Eyes with Giga Gagagigo. Joey activated the trap card Metalmorph.
"Awesome move, Joey!" Tristan shouted, and Mai agreed. Now maybe this duel could end soon…
Metalmorph gave Red-Eyes an additional three hundred attack and defense points, putting it fifty points over Giga Gagagigo and destroying it along with fifty of Mako's Life Points. Normally the loss of only fifty Life Points would barely be felt by a duelist, but once again the monsters seemed more powerful than usual and Mako was knocked back a step when Giga Gagagigo was destroyed. Also, Metalmorph was a continuous trap card that would stay equipped to Red-Eyes. When Joey used his Red-Eyes to attack one of Mako's monsters, not only would it get the extra three hundred attack points, but half again the amount of attack points of the monster it was attacking. This would make Red-Eyes nearly invincible.
It was Joey's turn again. He played another facedown card, and then attacked Mako's facedown monster with Red-Eyes. It was Jowls of Dark Demise, with only one hundred defense points, but the attack activated its effect, which allowed Mako to take control of one Joey's monsters and use it to attack Joey's Life Points directly.
"Oh no! Joey only has two thousand Life Points!" Mai groaned.
Crowing in triumph, Mako took control of Red-Eyes and attacked Joey's Life Points.
Joey roared in almost feral rage. "Nobody uses my Red-Eyes against me, do you understand me? You'll pay for that!"
With a wave of his hand, Joey activated Skull Dice. The cackling bat-like creature appeared on the field and rolled its giant red die. Red Eye's attack would be divided by whatever he rolled.
"Come on six!" Téa shouted.
Joey only got a two, but it was enough. Red Eye's attack was halved and Joey's Life Points went down to six hundred fifty.
It was Mako's turn again. He drew, and gave Joey a broad smile. "And now it's time to end this duel!" he cried triumphantly while Joey continued to stare at him, eyes cold and dead. Mako played Monster Reborn to bring Sea Serpent back from the grave. He then sacrificed it to summon Levia-Dragon-Daedalus.
"What's that?" Tristan asked.
"I've heard of it," Yugi replied soberly. "If Mako sends Legendary Ocean to the Graveyard, every card on the field except Levia-Dragon-Daedalus will go to the Graveyard. Mako will then be able to attack Joey's Life Points directly—"
"And the duel is over," Tristan finished, then whistled.
"The right trap card can stop him, though," Yugi added.
And indeed, Joey did have a trap card to play and Mai gasped when he activated it. Last Turn. It was a very risky card for a desperate situation. Mako also gasped when he saw it.
"My Last Turn card will send every card on the field and in our hands to the Graveyard except my Red-Eyes. Then you get to summon one monster from your deck to the field. Your monster and Red-Eyes will battle, winner takes all. Whoever's monster is left standing wins the duel."
Mako and Joey both sent all of their cards, including Joey's Metalmorph, to the Graveyard, leaving only Red-Eyes with its original twenty-four hundred attack points. Mako then went through his deck to find a monster to summon.
"If he has something more powerful than Red-Eyes, Joey loses," Mai breathed.
With a sigh, Mako summoned Fairy King Truesdale, the most powerful card he had left in his deck. With only twenty-two hundred attack points, it was two hundred short. It attacked Red-Eyes and lost, leaving Red-Eyes alone on the field.
Mai sighed in relief. The duel was over. Joey would be back to normal now.
Her relief was premature, however. Before the referee cold call the duel, Joey growled, "And now, for using my Red-Eyes against me, Red-Eyes Black Dragon, attack—"
"Joey, no!" Yugi called out.
Mai's breath caught in her throat. It was Mokuba and Jacques all over again, and with the amped up power, Red-Eyes could do some real damage if it attacked Mako directly, and for no reason…
Tristan was on the field in an instant. He flew at Joey, tackling him and knocking him to the ground before he could finish calling out the attack.
"Joey, man, snap out of it!" Tristan shouted at his friend.
"Huh?" Joey replied, shaking his head, dazed. Recognizing that Joey was himself again, Tristan immediately let him go.
"The duel is over! Both duelists will turn off their duel disks immediately!" Nelson called for what seemed like the hundredth time that day.
Joey and Mako both complied immediately. The ref glared at Joey, but then announced him the winner.
"Thanks, Tristan," Joey said earnestly, getting up. He looked across the field. "Mako—"
"It was a fine duel," Mako cut him off, walking toward him across the field. "You are victorious and I am none the worse for wear." He reached Joey and Tristan and held out his hand. Joey took it and shook with him, a grateful look on his face.
"Thanks, Mako. You dueled great. I… I don't know why I got so mad. Using Jowls of Dark Demise to take control of my Red-Eyes was brilliant."
Mako nodded, accepting the compliment and it was clear there were no hard feelings.
Joey and Tristan rejoined the rest of the gang at the edge of the field and Mai and Serenity both threw their arms around Joey. He hugged them both together, murmuring, "It's over."
"You made it through, kiddo," Mai agreed, "and with some gutsy moves, too."
When Mai and Serenity finally let him go, Yugi put a hand on his shoulder. "Great duel. Metalmorph and Last Turn were both really inspired."
"Thanks Yuge," Joey replied, putting his hand on his friend's shoulder in return. "Seven down, and one to go," he said, soberly.
"Yes," Yugi replied. "My turn."