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Fanfic Chapter 148: Final Prelude Pt 3: And the Match-Ups Are…
Episode Basis: Back to Battle City Pt 3

Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh! Tempers flared as Yugi, Kaiba, Joey, and Marik battled each other to see who would face-up in the Semi-Finals. Kaiba wanted to duel Yugi to get his God Card but at the same time he wanted to run Joey into the ground and show him how low-level Duelists have no place in a Duel Monsters Tournament (if you ask me, Kaiba has issues). Yugi wanted to duel Marik so that he wouldn't hurt anyone else like he did Mai and Bakura. Joey also wanted to duel Marik to bring Mai back from the Shadow Realm. No matter what happens, someone is going to get their wish and someone is going to get heartbroken.

Tea was getting dizzy watching this four-way duel. Joey was in the lead followed by Yami-Yugi and then Kaiba. Yami-Marik was in dead last.

(K: 2200)
(M: 1700)
(Y: 3000)
(J: 3300)

"It's my move," Yami-Marik announced. "And I summon Dark Jeroid (1) in attack mode!"

"That's got to be the weakest monsters I've ever seen," Joey commented.

"Then it's a good thing Dark Jeroid has a special ability. It can lower a monster's attack points by 800!"

If Marik even thinks about attacking me, he'll fall victim to my Ring of Destruction trap card, Kaiba thought.

Apparently Kaiba thinks that I plan on attacking him, but I'm not interested in small fish, I want a shot at the main prize, the Pharaoh. The problem is his Beast of Gilfor is too strong to beat even with Dark Jeroid's effect. So that leaves only one choice. "Dark Jeroid, attack Gearfried now! And I also trigger its special effect."

(GIK: 1800-1000)

"I activate my trap card," Joey announced. "Skull Dice which lowers your attack points by the number the die roles!" The gremlin threw the red die which came up on a two. Dark Jeroid's attack points were halved.

(DJ: 1200-600)

But as Gearfried got ready to attack, he suddenly shrunk. "Huh, it's a Mini-Gearfried. What happened?"

"What happened was I activated my face-down magic card Shrink," Kaiba said. "Shrink halves your monster's attack points making it precisely what it is: a pitiful waste of time like you."

(GIK: 1000-500)

Dark Jeroid attacked and destroyed Gearfried.

(K: 2200)
(M: 1700)
(Y: 3000)
(J: 3200)

"I won't forget this, Kaiba, you hear me, Rich Boy?" Joey snapped as his station rose closer to Yami-Yugi's. "I'll get you back!"

"Joey, stay focused," Yami-Yugi instructed.

"I can't believe Kaiba just helped Marik," Tristan said disdainfully.

"Like I said, we certainly can't trust Kaiba to help save the world from eternal darkness."

"You guys are making a mountain out of a mole hill," Amara commented. "Don't forget, this duel doesn't matter, it's just to decide the match-ups."

"Which is precisely why it's important, Amara," Harold argued. "You saw what Marik is capable of, what he's willing to do to get what he wants. I believe that only Yugi stands a chance against Marik's Winged Dragon. But what's more, Yugi's Millennium Puzzle can withstand Marik's Millennium Rod. If anyone but Yugi goes up against Marik, well… you guys saw his duel with Mai, expect more of that."

Yami-Yugi was finally able to break free from the Rod's hold. He too leapt onto the field and touched his puzzle to Harold's Armlet. The symbols became gold-colored and successfully shielded them from Ra's blast.

"We did it," Harold said gasping for breath. He dropped to one knee. "We saved them."

"Maybe not," Yami-Yugi said also on one knee. Yami-Marik was standing over them.

"You've interfered with my plans for the last time, Pharaoh, now you and your little playmates will be punished!" Using the Millennium Rod, he held the two in the air. Yami-Yugi and Harold felt like they were choking, like they were being smothered.

"Yugi!"

"Harold!"

"I think that's enough punishment for one night," Yami-Marik said as he their bodies were thrown unceremoniously from the platform and landed on the ground near Kaiba. He turned to Joey and Mai.

"Stay away," Joey commanded standing between the evil Marik and Mai.

"I think you need some punishment too," Yami-Marik said as he used the ball end of the Rod to bat Joey off the platform.

"Joey!"

"Now for you, my dear, I'll be taking my card back. Penalty Game: Darkness Consumption!" Mai collapsed.

Harold doesn't know what he's talking about, Mokuba thought. My brother stands just as much of a chance of facing Marik as Yugi does, I mean look at that move he just pulled now, it was perfect, the timing, the delivery, all perfect. If my Big Brother says he can win this tournament, then I know he can.

"One thing's for sure," Duke said staring up at Kaiba. "Kaiba definitely has a plan."

"When does he not have a plan?" Tea cracked.

It was now Yami-Yugi's move and he looked around at the field. Kaiba had Blade Knight but two face-down cards, a real danger if Yami-Yugi decided to attack him. Yami-Marik on the other hand had Dark Jeroid and even with Dark Jeroid's ability, it wouldn't stop Beast of Gilfer's attack. But if he did choose to attack Marik, Kaiba might protect him again. Joey only has a face-down card but attacking Joey will bring him closer to Yami-Marik's level and Yami-Yugi could never forgive himself if he caused Joey and Yami-Marik to be paired up in the Semi-Finals.

"Beast of Gilfer, attack Dark Jeroid…" Yami-Yugi began.

"Yugi, stop!" Joey shouted. "You're making a mistake and I can't let you go through with it."

"What the heck is he talking about?" Amara asked. The others just shrugged.

"Yugi, you're attacking the wrong Duelist. You should be attacking me!"

"What is Joey thinking?" Tea asked.

"That's just it, he's not," Tristan commented and called up to Joey, "The pressure's getting to you, man, just relax and let Yugi make his move."

"Stay out of this, Tristan," Joey snapped catching Tristan by surprise. "This is something I have to do." He turned back to Yami-Yugi. "I know you're just looking out for me and I appreciate it, but you can't keep protecting me forever. I'll never grow as a Duelist if I don't take the bad along with the good. The reason I even got this far was because I faced some pretty hard opponents during Battle City and I've defeated them all on my own."

"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."

"Since you left your monsters in attack mode, any of them are fair game, but I think I'll attack the parasite card. That way, your life points will be all gone and I'll be the winner! Now, my Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth, attack Parasite Paracide now!"

"Precisely what I wanted you to do," Joey said surprising everyone except Solomon. "Reveal trap card: Skull Dice!" A gremlin carrying a red die appeared. "This card reduces your monsters' attack points depending on the role of the die." Come on, I need a high number otherwise I'm out of this tournament! The gremlin threw the die.

It landed on a two.

"A two? Oh well, that still cuts your monster's attack points in half!"

"It's still not enough; you'll still lose a majority of your life points!"

"Maybe, maybe not, I activate my other face-down card, Graceful Dice!" A cherub carrying a large green die appeared. "This card multiplies my monster's attack points depending on the role of the die." If this doesn't work, I'm done for!

The die landed on a four, multiplying Parasite Paracide's attack points by that number.

"So, any last words?" Joey asked.

"As a matter of fact, I have six: this duel is not over yet," Mako replied. "I play Return of the Doomed which brings back a monster from my graveyard and hides it under water."

Oh man, if Mako chose to bring back that Fortress Whale of his, I could be in serious trouble. Joey drew a card. It was the magic card Giant Trunade. This magic card returns all magic and trap cards back to the owner's hand. I could use it to dry up Mako's ocean and expose his hidden monster. But would it be a monster that Panther Warrior could beat?

"What are you waiting for, Joey, attack me!"

Wait a second, Umi also increases the monster's attack power. So if I take away that ocean, their attack points will return to normal! "You want me to attack, Mako? So attack I will, but first I play Giant Trunade which returns all magic and trap cards to our hands!" Mako's ocean dried up and his Legendary Fisherman was revealed.

"You revealed my Legendary Fisherman," Mako said solemnly. "The duel is yours, finish it."

Joey felt bad, but a duel was a duel. "I play the magic card Scapegoat!" Four Sheep Tokens appeared. "Next I'll sacrifice one of them to have my Panther Warrior attack!" The Panther Warrior destroyed the Legendary Fisherman.

"Embodiment of Apophis, attack!" Odion commanded. The three snakes lunged at Joey.

"Reveal face-down card: Scapegoat!" Four sheep tokens appeared in front of Alligator Sword.

"I discard one card so I can activate my trap card Magic Jammer!" The tokens disappeared just as they appeared. Joey was assaulted by the third Embodiment of Apophis as his other two monsters were destroyed.

Joey collapsed to his knees. One more attack and it's over!

"Hang in there, Joey!" Yugi called.

"You might as well stay down, Mister Wheeler," Odion said. "Because I'm about to take away what little life points you have left!"

"Don't give up," Tristan encouraged.

"Is Joey going to lose?" Serenity asked.

"Of course not," Tristan replied.

"It doesn't look good," Mai admitted. "The odds are against him, but unless Joey hasn't given up on himself, there's still a small chance for hope. But only if we encourage him."

But Joey had given up on himself, Odion was only reinforcing it. "Just give up, Mister Wheeler, you don't have what it takes."

Maybe he's right, Joey thought. Maybe I'm in over my head. His hand hovered over his Duel Disk, a sign that he was about to surrender.

"Don't even think about it!" Mai snapped. Joey looked over at her. "Did you get here by giving up when the odds were against you?"

She has a point, Joey thought. I've faced some tough duels to get into the finals.

"If you give up now, you'll always be a runner-up instead of a champion and you're sister will always remember how you wimped out."

"You can do it, Big Brother!" Serenity called. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have gotten my sight back, not just because you paid for the operation, but because you gave me the courage to go through with it, you've never given up before, and I know you're not going to give up now!"

"You're right, sis," Joey said getting up. "I won't give up!" He turned towards Odion and chuckled. "How about that, I bet you've never had anyone to care for you like that."

"I know you can win!"

"Just give up, Mister Wheeler!"

"I know I can't, if I did, I'd be letting down everyone who believed in me! And I'd be letting down my opponents too." He thought back to his three victories.

"It's over, Mister Wheeler," Odion said again.

"No way! I reveal my face-down magic card, Foolish Burial! This allows me to take one card from my hand and place it in my opponent's graveyard. Next I'll activate my other face-down card, Graverobber which allows me to take the card that's in your graveyard and play it right away. Now, ladies and gents, let's give a big warm welcome to… Jinzo!" The monster appeared. "Looks like I found that rule you were talking about. Jinzo's special ability destroys all trap cards!" Odion's three Embodiment of Apophis cards were destroyed.

"I've come a long way since Battle City began and if you want to help me, you're going to have to start treating me like any other opponent!"

Kaiba chuckled and Yami-Marik just tapped his foot impatiently.

"If you really believe in me, you would stop baby sitting me and treat me like an equal. I have no monsters on the field, so your smartest move would be to attack me."

"Joey still has the most life points," Duke pointed out.

"But an attack like that would send him half-way up the tower," Mokuba said.

"If you hold back, I know you don't think I can take it."

"But… what if you lose?" Yami-Yugi asked.

"Would that be a bad thing? Don't forget, this duel is just to decide the match-ups. And there's one person I have to face for both you and Mai."

He wants to duel Marik, Amara realized.

Yami-Yugi's eye widened as he realized. He nodded, his look showing that, more than ever, he believed in Joey. "Beast of Gilfer, attack Joey's life points directly!" The Beast of Gilfer launched its tornado strike which plowed into Joey. His dueling platform shot to the top.

(K: 2200)
(M: 1700)
(Y: 3000)
(J: 1000)

"Thanks, Yug," Joey said with a smile. He shot Yami-Marik a dirty glance. "Marik, I may be in last place but if I lose, I'm taking you down with me." Yami-Marik grumbled. "Now it's my turn." Joey drew a card and thought back to Duelist Kingdom and how Mai gave him her entry card. When I entered the Duelist Kingdom Semi-Finals, I was fighting for my sister, now as I enter the Battle City Semi-Finals, I'm fighting for someone again… I'm fighting for you, Mai. "I summon Axe Raider (2) in attack mode!"

"Now Joey has the strongest monster on the field," Harold announced.

"That means he can attack Marik's life points," Tristan said optimistically.

"Axe Raider, attack Rich Boy's Blade Knight!"

Everyone gasped, "Why did Joey attack Kaiba?" Tea asked.

"He must've chickened out," Tristan figured.

"A bad mistake," Mokuba figured. "My brother will just activate one of his face-down cards."

Amara's glance went from Axe Raider to Blade Knight. A small smile curled her lips.

"You're just a glutton for traps, Wheeler," Kaiba said. "Reveal trap card: Ring of Destruction!" A ring with fireballs was attached to Axe Raider's neck. "Ring of Destruction destroys a monster and deducts the destroyed monster's attack points from both players' life points. Or should I say your life points. I activate my remaining face-down card, the magic card Ring of Defense. Now I won't lose any life points."

Axe Raider exploded.

"He lost," Tea said mournfully.

(K: 2200)
(M: 0)
(Y: 3000)
(J: 1000)

Yami-Marik was surprised to see his life points go down. "What happened, Little-Joey should've lost those life points, not me!"

"It's a little something called Spell of Pain," Joey said with a smirk.

"But you never played that card!"

"True, but you did. While Kaiba was spouting his mouth off, I played my Graverobber trap card. He snuck into your graveyard and grabbed Spell of Pain. So now you took the damage instead of me."

"I'll deal with you later, Wheeler," Yami-Marik said as his station came to a rest at the 0 mark..

"Joey attacked Kaiba on purpose just so he could use Marik's magic card against him," Amara realized.

"You mean Joey actually had a strategy?" Tristan asked wide-eyed.

I certainly did, Joey thought. And now I need to follow through. To make sure that I duel Marik, I'm going to have to lose this next turn. That's where Kaiba comes in.

"You'll always be a second-rate Duelist, Wheeler," Kaiba cracked. "Blade Knight, attack Wheeler directly!" The attack by Blade Knight was so fierce that Joey literally hit the wall from the recoil from that attack.

(K: 2200)
(M: 0)
(Y: 3000)
(J: 0)

"Thanks, Kaiba, you really helped me out there," Joey said with a smile. Kaiba almost looked insulted.

"I should've known," Amara said. "Joey allowed himself to take all those hits knowing that if he could lose just after Marik, they would face each other in the finals. Joey wanted to duel Marik in the finals!"

"Joey actually had a strategy?" Tristan asked again.

"I think there's more to Joey than meets the eye," Harold said.

There's no way Wheeler could've been smart enough to think of that on his own, Kaiba thought. Maybe I can use this little mutt to my advantage.

The End

Duel Monster Database

(1)
Name: Dark Jeroid
Level: 4
Type: Fiend/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 1200
DEF: 1500

(2)
Name: Axe Warrior
Level: 4
Type: Warrior
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 1700
DEF: 1150