Yu-Gi-Oh! Avatar
Fanfic Chapter 157: The Long-Awaited Rematch Pt 5: Dueling is a State of Mind
Episode Basis: Clash in the Coliseum Pt 5
Yami-Yugi: Somehow, the clash between Obelisk and Slifer sent me and Kaiba back in time to Ancient Egypt and to where the Pharaoh and the Priest were locked in combat. Those two looked like Kaiba and me, and they were using our monsters too. What really threw me for a loop was that Harold's predecessor was a woman who protected the Pharaoh with her life. Back in reality, we both realized that this duel wouldn't be solved with Egyptian God Cards, but with our own trademark monsters: the Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Dark Magician. But Kaiba wasn't ready to give up his Obelisk just yet. Using a trap card that didn't directly affect Obelisk, he summoned it from the graveyard. I know I'm the only one who stands a chance at standing up to Marik's Millennium Rod and if the world is going to be safe, I have to make sure it's me facing Marik. But Kaiba only cares about his own pride. Which do you think is the better purpose for this duel?
"Guys, look," Kevin called from the window. "That blue monster is back."
The others came to see at the portholes. "It's Obelisk!" Harold realized.
"If Kaiba brought him back from the graveyard, how can Yugi beat him without his Egyptian God Card?" Tea asked.
"He can't," Duke pointed out. "I bet that was what Kaiba was counting on."
Tristan ran over to Joey and picked him up. "All right, Joey, you're waking up whether you like it or not."
"Tristan, stop!" Serenity pleaded.
"Trust me, Joey needs to see this." Tristan ripped the electrodes off of Joey's chest and lifted Joey's arm across his shoulders.
"Stop that," the Doctor requested. "You could be causing hi irreparable harm!"
"Shut up he needs to see this a lot more than he needs to be hooked up like a television." Tristan moved Joey over to the window. "Joey, open your eyes and look at that. Yugi is in trouble and needs your help."
Yami-Yugi's body was still smoking as Obelisk's massive defense. "Your God Card won't remain for long," Yami-Yugi said.
(Y: 1500)
(K: 2000)
"It doesn't matter," Kaiba said. "Obelisk served his purpose."
Yami-Yugi grunted, "I set two cards face-down and end my turn."
The effects of Monster Reborn expired and Obelisk returned to the graveyard. "It's time for you to start living for the moment and forget about the past. But there's nothing you can do anyway, as soon as I make my next move, you're history!"
It can't end like this, Yami-Yugi complained. I have to beat Kaiba to get to Marik so I can defeat he can enact his evil plan!
Joey walked along the streets of Domino looking for the others. "They must be around here somewhere." He finally saw Tea, Yugi, and his Grandfather. "There you guys are, where've you been?"
"Looking for you," Tea replied.
"Huh, but…"
"You have an important duel to fight," Solomon Moto reminded him. "You made it to the finals."
"Oh yeah, I'm going to duel all the way straight to the top," Joey bragged.
"You have everything you need in your deck," Yugi informed him. "All you need is to believe in your cards… and a little luck couldn't hurt."
"Luck, who needs luck when you have skills like mine?"
Joey's opponent was only a boy, most likely about six or seven years younger than him. The players were shuffling each other's decks as the referee explained the rules. "Each of you will start with 2000 life points. There are no required monster sacrifices and no direct attacks on the player are allowed. Do you understand these rules?"
The players returned the decks to their original owners. "Yes," they both said.
"Then take your places and let the duel begin."
The two ran to their dueling stations. "Let's duel!" They cried.
(J: 2000)
(K: 2000)
A/N: The 'K' stands for Kid.
"I'll start by summoning Nekogal #1 (1) in attack mode!" A woman with a long green tail and fly wings appeared.
"Then I'll summon…" Joey groaned at seeing the only monster he had was Magnet Warrior #1 (2) with only 1000 attack points. But then he remembered something Yugi's Grandpa taught him.
"The key to winning is the right combination of cards. You can't just use monster cards, but you need to combine them with your magic cards."
"I summon Magnet Warrior #1 in attack mode," Joey said. A blue-armored human appeared. "And I equip him with Legendary Sword raising his attack points by 300!"
(MW1: 1000-1300)
The warrior charged forward and sliced the cat girl. "That's it for me."
(J: 2000)
(K: 1700)
"It's my move now and you're going down, Wheeler," the kid said. "I summon Lesser Dragon (3) in attack mode. I'll also lay one card face-down and end my turn."
I got this duel in the bag, Joey thought as he drew a card. "Warrior, attack his Dragon!"
"I reveal my trap card Reinforcements which increases my monster's attack points by 500!"
(LD: 1200-1700)
Joey's warrior was destroyed.
(J: 1600)
(K: 1700)
"If that's the best you can do, Wheeler, I'll destroy you one-two-three."
Joey scowled, "I summon Tiger Axe (4) in attack mode. That ends my turn."
"Is that all you got?"
"You know for a little kid, you certainly have a big mouth."
Back at the Dueling Tower, Yami-Yugi told Kaiba that it was his turn. As Kaiba started his turn, he said, "If you want to believe we fought 3000 years ago, that's fine, but don't go trying to convince me of such nonsense. I only believe in one thing and that's my supreme dueling skill. Everything else is meaningless. I want to get on with this duel so I can reclaim the title you stole from me as the World's Greatest Duelist."
"This duel has grown tiresome," Yami-Marik complained. "It doesn't matter who wins this duel, I will be the victor in the end."
"You know, once someone starts thinking that way, they've already lost," Amara told him.
"I switch Lord of Dragons to defense mode," Kaiba said. The Lord of Dragons got down on one knee and folded its cape across its chest. "Next I play a magic card called Flute of Summoning Dragon. With this, I can now summon up to two dragons from my hand and I choose two more Blue-Eyes White Dragons!" Two more of the dragons rose on either side of the first.
"How can I fight three Blue-Eyes," Yami-Yugi wondered.
"I heard that the Blue-Eyes White Dragons are invincible," Amara said to Mokuba. "Is that true, Mokuba?"
"They can be destroyed if that's what you mean," Mokuba replied. "But since my brother's the one controlling them, they might as well be invincible."
"Ho boy," Amara groaned.
"Now I summon Steel Ogre Grotto #1 (5) in attack mode."
"Uh-oh, that monster has 1400 attack points, that isn't good," Joey commented.
"Well if you don't like that, then you're really not going to like what comes next. I play a magic card called Polymerization to combine my Steel Ogre with my Lesser Dragon to form Metal Dragon (6) in attack mode. Metal Dragon, attack his Tiger Axe with Metal Flame attack." The dragon blasted blue fire and destroyed the beast-warrior.
(J: 1050)
(K: 1700)
"Your situation looks pretty desperate, Wheeler," the kid commented.
"Tell me something I don't know," Joey muttered as he drew a card. It was Flame Swordsman but its attack points were 50 less than Metal Dragon's. So he decided to play it safe for now. "I summon Hero of the East (7) in defense mode." A samurai warrior in brown armor appeared. "That ends my turn."
"I have four monsters on the field," Kaiba pointed out. "While you only have your worthless Dark Magician and pathetic Magnet Warrior, I'm going to win."
Mokuba smiled.
He might be right, Yami-Yugi thought. I'm running out of options.
"What's going on up there," Harold wondered. "Obelisk disappeared but for some reason, I'm not feeling at ease."
"I just want Yugi to win so that this nightmare will be over," Tea said.
"But Kaiba's no push-over," Kevin commented. "I mean he even beat me and I've been trained by the best."
"And with the bad blood between those two," Harold added.
"What are the chances that Kaiba and Yugi would just play a normal friendly game of Duel Monsters?" Duke asked.
"Slim to none," Harold replied. "And Slim's packing a suitcase right now."
"Relax, guys," Tristan assured the others. "Everything's going to be all right." He turned to Joey. "Isn't that right, Joey?"
Joey had fought this duel before so he should've known what was coming next. But in the heat of the duel, he forgot that he was dreaming and was treating it like it was really happening.
It was now the kid's turn. "I play Stop Defense on your Hero changing him to attack mode." The samurai got up and drew its sword. "Metal Dragon, attack his Hero with Metal Blaze!" Joey's monster was destroyed and his life points took a serious hit.
(J: 300)
(K: 1700)
"I set one card face-down. My turn's done now but next turn, you're a goner, Wheeler."
"Yeah, well watch out because Joey has a plan," Joey said. Just wish I knew what it was. The card he drew at the start of his turn was the magic card Shield and Sword.
A/N: Okay, now who recognized this blooper? Fans of the Japanese series know that Joey actually went through this duel somewhere in the vicinity of episode 2 of the canon show. But he got the Shield and Sword card on the boat ride to Duelist Kingdom. It was one of the cards he showed off to Yugi along with Koon-Eye with Chain, Baby Dragon, and Salamandra. But here he is using it before he even got it. Then again, this is a dream so I guess something like that could be kosher but when I first realized this, I thought it was a mistake.
This card can't help me, Joey thought. Although Metal Dragon's defense points are lower than its attack points, it has 1700 defense points and none of the monsters in my hand have 1700 defense points. The only monster that comes remotely close is Flame Swordsman who falls short 100 defense points. Now, what would Yugi do…?
"Remember to consider all of your options."
Joey looked through his hand and spotted another magic card. He suddenly had a brainstorm. That's it! If I use this magic card in combination with my Shield and Sword card, I could make his monster weak enough for my Flame Swordsman to attack.
"Are you going to move or are you going to just stand there?" The kid asked.
"Oh, I'm going to move all right and it's a big one too. First I'll summon an old friend of mine, Flame Swordsman!" Joey's favorite warrior monster appeared. "By the way, your Metal Dragon's a wind attribute monster, right?"
"Uh… yeah," the kid confirmed surprised at Joey's question. "Why?"
"Then it's a perfect target for my Gust Fan! Gust Fan raises your monster's attack points by 400 but lowers your defense points by 200."
(MD: 1850-2250, 1700-1500)
"Why would you waste a magic card powering up my monster? The pressure must be getting to you."
"Maybe or maybe I have a strategy, which I just so happen TO have. I play the magic card Shield and Sword which switches our monster's attack points and defense points."
(MD: 2250-1500, 1500-2250)
(FS: 1800-1600, 1600-1800)
"Flame Swordsman, destroy his Metal Dragon!"
But to Joey's surprise, Flame Swordsman was destroyed. "No, how could my super combo fail?"
"I activated my trap card," the kid explained. "Before you activated Shield and Sword, I turned over my Castle Walls trap card which raises my monster's attack points by 500."
(MD: 1500-2000)
"So when you activated your Shield and Sword magic card, you transferred all of those defense points into attack points."
"And since Flame Swordsman was now weaker, it was destroyed. I lost."
(J: 0)
(K: 1700)
Joey and the kid exited their dueling stations and joined at the side of the ring.
"Nice job, shorty," Joey said congratulating the kid.
"You too," the kid agreed. "You played some sweet moves back there. I know I said some pretty mean stuff and I'm sorry."
"Nah, it's all good. Well, good luck in the Finals."
As Joey started to walk away, the kid said, "Hey Joey, next time could you teach me that Shield and Sword combo you did?"
Joey gave him a thumb up, "You bet, kid, smell you later." And he went to rejoin his friends.
On the Duel Tower, Kaiba was noting how Yugi couldn't withstand the terrible assault of his three Blue-Eyes. "I will hit you so hard you'll remember my superiority for the rest of your life. Blue-Eyes, get ready to attack!"
"Looks like Kaiba will be the next casualty of the Shadow Realm," Yami-Marik said earning him another evil glance from Amara.
This is it, Yami-Yugi thought. I'm going to lose the duel.
"Guess again."
"Joey?" Yami-Yugi cast a glance over his shoulder as a phantom of Joey appeared.
"Didn't you once tell me to consider all my options?"
All my options? Yami-Yugi looked from his hand to Kaiba's Lord of Dragons. That's it, there is a move I can do, a move I can do with some help from Kaiba that is.
"Blue-Eyes, atta…"
"I summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon (8)!" A black skeletal dragon with bony wings and beady red eyes appeared with a roar.
Everyone was astonished, Kaiba especially. "Where did that come from?"
"From my hand, which I summoned using your Flute of Summoning Dragon."
"But Flute of Summoning Dragon was my magic card."
"But I was able to use it too, thanks to this magic card, a card you should recognize since you went up against it before." The face-down card revealed itself. "The magic card Living Arrow!"
"Not Living Arrow, not that card!"
"Yes, that card. As you well know, with Living Arrow I can use your cards as if they were my own." Yami-Yugi thought back to the last time he used this card against Kaiba. With it, he was able to take control of the duel even if it was for a little while. I'm glad Joey and Harold gave me their cards, Yami-Yugi thought. I don't think I would've stood a chance without them.
"You dare taint my dueling field with that poor excuse for a dragon?"
"This card is a gift from a very close friend of mine. In fact, so is Living Arrow. You see, Kaiba, even when they're not here, my friends are always by my side and that's something that nothing can destroy!"
He could hear it he could hear the heartbeat of the dragon, the heartbeat of the card he cherished so much.
He could hear the Red-Eyes Black Dragon.
"Having that card won't change a thing," Kaiba said losing his temper. "I'll destroy you and that loathsome Red-Eyes."
"Don't be so sure of that, Kaiba," Yami-Marik commented. Though Kaiba didn't hear him, Amara did and for once she agreed.
"Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack his Dark Magician with White Lightning!"
I better make this fast, Yami-Yugi thought. "I activate a trap card, Magician Selection which protects my Dark Magician by deflecting the attack to the weakest monster on the field." The White Lightning blast bounced off a barrier that surrounded the Dark Magician and struck the Lord of Dragons destroying it.
"Your other monsters won't be so lucky." That was partly true as Beta the Magnet Warrior was struck. Fortunately it was in defense position so his life points were unaffected. "And your Red-Eyes is next."
"Activate trap card #2, Spellbinding Circle!" A circle blocked the attack and encompassed the Blue-Eyes. "Spellbinding Circle snares your monster in its magical grip and lowers its attack points by 700!"
(BEWD: 3000-2300)
"Which means Red-Eyes is now free to counterattack. Red-Eyes, attack with Inferno Fire Blast!" The black dragon launched a fireball and destroyed the Blue-Eyes that was inside the circle.
(Y: 1500)
(K: 1900)
"Joey, thanks for your help," Yami-Yugi told the Phantom-Joey.
"All I did was give you the same advice you gave me," Joey returned. "Now go on and win this fight." And he disappeared.
"This doesn't change anything," Kaiba protested. "I will still be in the winner."
Yami-Yugi looked up at Red-Eyes Black Dragon. As long as I believe in the heart of the cards and in the spirit of my friends, that will not happen.
On the blimp, Joey's eyes began to open.
To Be Continued
Duel Monster Database
(1)
Name: Nekogal #1
Level: 3
Type: Beast
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 1100
DEF: 900
(2)
Name: Magnet Warrior #1 (M-Warrior #1)
Level: 3
Type: Warrior
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 1000
DEF: 500
(3)
Name: Lesser Dragon
Level: 4
Type: Dragon
Attribute: Wind
ATK: 1200
DEF: 1000
(4)
Name: Tiger Axe
Level: 4
Type: Beast-Warrior
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 1300
DEF: 1100
(5)
Name: Steel Ogre Grotto #1
Level: 5
Type: Machine
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 1400
DEF: 1800
(6)
Name: Metal Dragon
Level: 6
Type: Machine/Fusion
Attribute: Wind
ATK: 1850
DEF: 1700
(7)
Name: Hero of the East
Level: 4
Type: Warrior
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 1100
DEF: 1000
(8)
Name: Red-Eyes Black Dragon
Level: 7
Type: Dragon
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 2400
DEF: 2000