Chapter 25 Return of the Darkness
Everyone was once more back on the dueling ring for Joey's duel.
"This shouldn't take long." Seto said.
"Don't be so sure. If theres one thing Joey's good at doing is surprising people." Sean said.
"Joey, this is going to be the most difficult and dangerous duel you've ever fought." Yami said.
"Nahh! Marik's got no chance! I'm gonna crush that creep. Just you wait and see. He'll be out of this tournament before you can say Freak show!" Joey said making Seto scoff.
"You couldn't beat Marik if he was blindfolded and handcuffed." Seto said.
"I don't remember asking you!" Joey said.
"Wake up, Wheeler! You're no match for his Egyptian God Card! Not to mention you were the only finalist here without a God Card in General!" Seto said.
"Kaiba! You may not remember this, But I went up against Ra and came out fine!" Joey said.
"That was a fake incase you're forgetting and knocked Odion out cold. Face it, Wheeler! You don't have what it takes to win. Since Yugi's out Sean and I are the only ones who can defeat Ra." Seto said making him growl.
"Kaiba, The Winged Dragon of Ra holds secrets that none of us understand yet." Yami said.
"Not true. I've uncovered the secrets of Ra!" Seto said shocking them.
"What!" Joey yelled.
"After that stunt Marik pulled on Bakura I had my computer scan the card and it revealed all the abilities it has." Seto said.
"Big deal, so your fancy computer figured it all out." Joey said while Yami narrowed his eyes guessing that was only partially true.
"We're the only ones who can defeat the Winged Dragon of Ra, And you're going to help me!" Seto said.
"Fat chance! You're the last person I'd ever help!" Joey said.
"You don't have a choice. I'll be watching your duel against Marik Closely so I can test my own strategy and take him down in the finals. So you'll be serving as a lab rat." Seto said.
"I'M NO LAB RAT!" Joey roared.
"Enough. Lets get the duel going." Sean said as they walked away. "You two seriously have issues. Which confuses me if you dislike him so much why let him in?" Sean asked.
"I didn't. Someone screwed up at Registration." Seto said.
"Please I met those people during the practice runs. They never screw up. My guess is Marik's goons most likely did this to get his rare card the Red Eyes." Sean said.
"When you put it that way I can agree." Seto said as the platform went up.
"Now comes the hard part. Seeing if Joey can survive a Shadow game. Whatever Marik's got planned will push him to his limits and beyond." Sean said.
"We'll see." Seto said.
"The Second Duel of the Semi Finals is about to begin." Roland said.
"I will start." Marik said drawing his cards and grins. "I play Gil Garth in Attack mode. And place this Face down." Marik said ending his turn.
Gil Garth
Atk 1800
Def 1200
"I'll take it from here, ya nut case!" Joey said drawing his cards. "I place one card face down and summon my Alligator sword in defense mode." Joey said playing his monster
Alligator sword
Atk 1500
Def 1200
Marik started laughing.
"Oh no. Not good." Korra said.
"The time has come to take this duel to the next level!" Marik said as a familiar shroud appeared.
"Not this again." Seto said annoyed.
"Shadow game. I'm getting really sick and tired of this crap." Sean said.
"Show some originality, Marik." Joey said.
"Ha! The Shadows hunger for your mind and your soul!" Marik said.
"You don't scare me!" Joey said.
"Then what's that I see in your eyes? I'd say it's the look of fear! Mai may have escaped her fate because of Kruger's ancient that lives within him. But will not be so fortunate." Marik said.
"Whatever. Just make your move." Joey said.
"You'll regret those words." Marik said as some line appeared connecting their monsters.
"What are those?" Mokuba asked.
"I don't like that at all. Marik last time tried erasing Mai's memories. This is new. Every game can have different rules depending on who's casted the Shadow Game. Thats the power of the Shadow Realm." Sean said.
"Wheeler doesn't stand a chance." Seto said.
"Lets hope thats not true." Sean said.
"Whats this line for?" Joey asked.
"You'll soon find out. I summon Drillago in Attack mode." Marik said as it appeared.
Drillago
Atk 1600
Def 1100
"Now attack his Alligator sword!" Marik said as his monster was destroyed before Joey yelled in pain.
"Joey!" Serenity yelled.
"What just happened?" Duke asked.
"HA! With every monster you lose in battle you lose a little more energy and feel the physical effects. And Kruger won't be able to interfere this time around. That I can assure you." Marik said making Sean glare.
"All right then, so this duel's got a little twist, But it goes both ways." Joey said making him laugh.
"My inner strength outmatches yours more than you can imagine. The Longer I remain in this body the stronger I get. Why do you think Odion kept me suppressed for all those years? Not just for the hell of it." Marik said making him frown. "Now Gil Garth attack his life points directly!" Marik ordered.
"Not so fast. Activate Scape goats." Joey said as four tokens appeared before one was destroyed.
"Whats this?" Marik asked.
"And since they are tokens your little magic trick won't work." Joey said grinning.
"Nice save. Because they don't actually work as monsters that effect won't harm him." Sean said impressed.
"Pure luck." Seto said.
"Perhaps I have underestimated you little Joey. But mark my words you don't know what my deck holds in store for you." Marik said.
"Whatever." Joey said drawing his next card. "I summon Panther Warrior in attack mode." Joey said summoning his new monster that roared.
Panther warrior
Atk 2000
Def 1600
"And since my monster needs a sacrifice to attack I can use one of my Scapegoats to attack you." Joey said as his monster absorbed one before attacking his Gil Garth making Marik groan as his energy was zapped and lost 200 life points.
"You'll pay for that. I play Tribute Burial card. This allows me to sacrifice one monster in each of our graves in order to summon my mighty Helpoemer." Marik said as his monster appeared.
"This is one of the higher level Ancients back home." Sean said.
Helpoemer
Atk 2000
Def 1400
"I place one card face down and end my turn." Marik said.
"What is he up to now? He didn't attack at all." Sean said.
"Time for me to put you in your place." Joey said drawing his next card which was Jinzo but decided not to play till later. "I summon Rocket Warrior in attack mode." Joey said as it appeared.
Rocket Warrior Atk 1500
Def 1300
"You worthless fool. You fell directly into my trap. Hidden soldier. This allowed me to summon any monster with four stars or less. I summon My Plasma Eel." Marik said as it appeared.
Plasma Eel
Atk 500
Def 1200
"Now I can activate its special ability which allows it to attach to your monster and weaken it with every passing turn." Marik said as it attached to Panther Warrior.
"Big deal." Joey said.
"You seem to be forgetting what happens if something happens to our monsters." Marik said making him widen his eyes before yelling as his monster was electrocuted and he felt it.
"Thats not fair." Mokuba said.
"Theres nothing we can do about it." Sean said as Joey stood up making Marik laugh.
"Yes continue to foolish dig your own grave Wheeler. Believe me it will make my victory all the better. And when I'm through with you Kruger or Kaiba will be next." Marik said making them glare.
"Keep dreaming. Go Rocket Warrior! Invincible mode. Attack Helpoemer!" Joey ordered as his monster went for the attack making Marik growl. "And now because of that it lost 500 attack points so my Panther Warrior can attack you." Joey said as his monster attacked after sacrificing another scapegoat and slashed Marik's monster making him groan.
Marik's life points 3300
Marik started laughing again.
"That laugh is getting real annoying." Sean said.
"By attacking my beast, you've caused your own demise! You see when my Helpoemer is sent to the Graveyard it's special ability activated. Forcing you to lose one random card every turn. In other words." Marik said as a Spectral hand took Joey's Jinzo to the Graveyard.
"NO! Thats not fair!" Joey yelled.
"He fell right into that. Then Again I'm not surprised." Seto said.
"He's managed to get himself out of situations like this before." Sean said.
"This duel is hopeless for you to win Little Joey. And I haven't even played my God Card yet." Marik taunted making Joey growl.
"Isn't there a way to remove that card?" Tea asked.
"If he had Soul Release he could have a better chance. But as long as its in the graveyard his chances went down dramatically." Turok said.
"Some of his best cards could be destroyed before he gets the chance to even use them." Duke said.
"Thats exactly the point. Marik planed this out before he even played that card." Mai said.
"Joey can still win though? Right?" Serenity asked.
"Have faith. He'll pull something out to turn things around." Turok said making her smile while Jinora glared.
"You know I'm beginning to see it too. That glare she's giving her." Seto said.
"Yeah I figured out why. She's got feelings for my little brother." Sean said making him scoff in amusement.
"I shoulda figured." Seto said.
"It's my move. I place two cards face down and end my turn." Marik said.
"What is he up to now? He had a chance to attack." Asami said.
"Knowing him he's got some trap on the field." Seto said.
Joey drew his next card and smirked seeing it was his Insect queen but decided not to play it because of the amount of face downs he had.
"I summon Baby dragon in Defense mode." Joey said playing his dragon.
Baby Dragon
Atk 1200
Def 700
"Is that all? Make your move Little Joey." Marik taunted making him glare. "And don't forget my Eel makes your Panther lose attack points!" Marik said as Joey yelled feeling this again.
"Joey don't even think about it. He's baiting you." Sean said.
"Maybe thats for the best." Asami said gaining their attention.
"Meaning?" Seto asked.
"The sooner he attacks and triggers those traps the better. Just waiting around isn't gonna help him." Asami said.
"True. Still it could also backfire and make him lose sooner. Not that it matters. He'll lose anyway." Seto said.
"Only time can tell." Sean said.
"Rocket Warrior! Activate Invincible mode!" Joey said as his monster went on the attack making Marik's monster lose 500 attack points.
"You arrogant fool! You have allowed me to activate my card of last will!" Marik said showing his face down.
"Great." Sean said annoyed as Marik drew his new cards and grinned seeing Ra was the last one he drew.
"Now Panther Warrior Attack." Joey said sacrificing his last Scapegoat and destroyed Marik's monster making him groan feeling this and lost 400 life points.
Marik's life points 2900
"Once again you've fallen into my trap! Coffin Seller!" Marik yelled as his trap was revealed. "Now whenever you lose a monster to the Graveyard you lose 300 life points. And don't forget my Helpoemer." Marik said as Joey lost his insect queen and lost 300 life points.
"Aw man!" Joey said.
"Your just as hopeless as your friend Mai. Only this time Kruger won't be interfering. And let's not forget my Eel again." Marik said as Joey yelled feeling what his Panther did. "Now then." Marik said drawing his next card. "I place another card face down and play premature burial. For 800 life points I can bring back any monster in the grave yard. I bring back Drillago only to sacrifice him to summon my Legendary Fiend." Marik said as his new Monster appeared and roared.
Legendary Fiend
Atk 1500
Def 1800
"What the hell is that?" Korra asked disturbed.
"And incase you think its gonna be easy think against. My beast gets stronger by 700 points every turn. Make your last pathetic Move." Marik said making Joey growl.
Drawing his next card he groaned seeing it was Little Wing guard.
'Man. I need something that will turn things around.' Joey said.
"You look disappointed." Marik said.
"I don't blame him. Joey's in a tight spot right now." Mako said.
"Yes, But he can still turn this around." Yami said.
"I summon Little..." Joey tried to say before his Rocket Warrior was in what they knew as nightmare wheel from Mai's duel. "Not this again!" Joey said annoyed.
"HA! Now he can't attack me nor defend you. It's over Little Joey. Surrender and I may spare your soul." Marik said.
"Fat chance. I summon Little Wing Guard in defense Mode." Joey said as he appeared.
Little Wing Guard
Atk 1400
Def 1800
"And then I switch my Panther to defense mode." Joey said.
"Drain him Plasma Eal!" Marik commanded and Joey screamed as he was drained again.
"And now my move." Marik said before the wheel turned making Joey groan. "Ah I knew I forgot something. You lose 500 life points each time my turn begins." Marik said laughing. "Now then where was I? Oh yes. My Legendary fiend gains 700 attack points. Now Attack his Wing Guard!" Marik ordered as it was destroyed and Joey groaned feeling all this and Joey lost 300 life points because of his Coffin Seller. "IT'S HOPELESS!" Marik yelled laughing.
"Come on Joey! You can still turn this around!" Serenity yelled.
"Hmm." Sean said.
"What is it?" Seto asked.
"I get the feeling his luck is about to change." Sean said.
"Here goes." Joey said drawing his next card and grinned like mad.
"Huh?" Marik asked.
"Ok Marik you're done." Joey said.
"What kind of fool do you take me for? No one card can save you." Marik said.
"Not even this? I play the Magic Card...Question!" Joey yelled playing it.
"Question?" Marik asked.
"This bad boy forces you too guess which card is at the bottom of my deck. Guess right and the monster is out for good. Guess wrong and It's summoned to the field." Joey said.
"Ha! I remember clearly. It was...Wait a minute. I was gonna say Alligator Sword but I removed that to summon Helpoemer." Marik said.
"Exactly. And theres no way you could know. Wanna know why? Because your little Helpoemer put it at the bottom." Joey said making him growl. "So since you don't know I can summon it. Reveal Jinzo!" Joey said as Jinzo appeared.
Jinzo
Atk 2400
Def 1500
"NO!" Marik yelled before every trap card he had was destroyed and his rocket warrior was set free.
"Now I'm free to attack you. I put all my monsters in attack mode." Joey said before his Jinzo attacked his fiend making Marik growl losing 200 life points. "And now all my monsters can attack you directly." Joey said as they went on the attack.
"Joey's about to win!" Tea said smiling.
"Not so fast! I activate the Magic Card. Dark wall of wind!" Marik said as a wall protected him.
"Figures." Sean said.
"And now you lose another card because of Helpoemer And last your panther loses the last of his strength." Marik said as Joey yelled.
"Big deal. You got nothing left." Joey said.
"Oh but I do. I plan to summon an extremely powerful beast known as Lava Golem." Marik said.
"But you don't have anything to sacrifice." Joey said.
"True. Thats why I plan to sacrifice your monsters in order to summon him." Marik said as his Jinzo and Baby dragon vanished and Joey was in some cage that was held by this new monster.
Lava Golem
Atk 3000
Def 2500
"Wait hold up! Why am I in this thing?" Joey asked.
"Isn't it obvious? Lava Golem is yours." Marik said.
"Why would Marik willingly give him something like that?" Tenzin asked.
"I don't think its without a price." Korra said.
"More than likely. Marik may have given him that but not without a plan." Yami said.
"Marik may have given him that card but clearly it comes with a price." Seto said.
"The Lava Golem back home is a high level one but it doesn't have that cage." Sean said.
"So whats he planning?" Asami asked.
"Attack now and end this!" Marik taunted making Joey growl.
"Wait a minute." Sean said narrowing his eyes.
"What is it?" Seto asked.
"Marik is far too calm for this. And I think his face down is the key to him winning this." Sean said making Seto narrow his eyes looking at the face down card.
'Whatever Marik has will be triggered instantly and Wheeler will fall right into his trap.' Seto said.
Joey drew his card and groaned seeing it wouldn't help.
"All right. Your gonna regret giving me this. I'm attacking." Joey said freaking most of the group out.
"He's taking one hell of a risk." Sean said.
"Wait! Are you sure about this?" Tea asked.
"Too late now!" Tristan yelled.
"I can't watch! Is it over yet!" Duke asked.
"Will you guys calm the hell down?" Korra asked with a sweat drop. "What else can he do? Just sit back and lose life points?" Korra asked.
Lava Golem prepared to attack.
"You worthless little fool. Did you really think I'd give you a card so powerful to use against me? Think again. I activate relieve monster. This lets me place one card of mind on the field with four stars and returns it to my hand." Marik said.
"Real swift move, Einstein, You don't have jack." Tristan said.
"Not exactly true." Turok said gaining their attention.
"The Eel." Tenzin said shocking them as it returned to his hand before being placed back in defense mode.
"And since it can't be destroyed in battle he's trapped." Sean said.
"All this and he hasn't summoned Ra at all yet. Marik's proven to be a far better duelist than I thought." Seto said.
"His darker half yeah. His real self probably would have held back." Asami said.
"True. And the question remains as to how we switch their position without Odion?" Seto asked.
"Hmm." Sean said.
"And now another card goes to the graveyard." Marik said as Joey lost the card he just drew.
"Are you done?" Joey asked.
"Not quite. You seem to be forgetting what happens each turn." Marik said as Lava Golem melted making him yell as he lost 700 life points.
Joey's life points 2200
Marik drew his card and grinned.
"Go Machine duplication. This turns my one Eel into three." Marik said as three of them appeared on his monsters and shocked him making Joey yell.
"Oh man. Joey's in a tough spot again." Tristan said as Marik placed one card face down and ended his turn.
"Hmm." Sean said as Joey drew his card.
Widening his eyes he saw it was Gilford the Lightning.
'With this I could destroy that Eel but I need three monsters to sacrifice and two of these Eels have them tied up at the moment.' Joey said before looking at his Graceful dice card and smirked.
"All right Marik. I play the Magic Card Graceful dice!" Joey said as a little winged monster holding a die appeared. "This card doubles the number of attack points based on how high the roll is." Joey said as it dropped and rolled around.
'What is he planning. Wait a minute. His Machine duplication card can only be used on cards that are weak. Wheeler must be trying to increase the attack points to destroy it.' Seto said as it rolled on a six.
"All right! Now your monster goes from 500 to 3000 which means your magic card is history." Joey said as it blew up making Marik growl. "Now I sacrifice all three of my monsters to summon the Legendary Gilford the lightning!" Joey yelled as he appeared and let out a war cry.
Gilford the Lightning
Atk 2800
Def 1400
"Now thats what I call a warrior." Turok said.
Thats when Marik started laughing.
"Perhaps you seem to be forgetting that you increased my monster's attack points which is greater than yours." Marik said making him smirk which unnerved him.
"You think I'd be dumb enough to do that? It doesn't matter. Watch." Joey said as Gilford destroyed his eel.
"WHAT! But he was 200 points stronger! And he was immune from being destroyed!" Marik yelled.
"Read the card Marik." Seto said getting his attention.
"As long as Joey sacrificed three monsters he could automatically destroy all monsters you had." Sean said.
"GRRRR!" Marik growled enraged by that.
"Now attack him directly!" Joey yelled as Joey went on the attack.
"This is it! He's gonna win the duel!" Tristan said.
"No he's not! I play my face down. Nightmare Mirror." Marik said as it appeared before Gilford's sword went right through it and Joey lost a thousand life points. "If you think I'm going to lose to the likes of you think again. Now all I need to do is discard one card." Marik said.
Sean looked before narrowing his eyes seeing him discard Ra.
"Ra?" Sean asked.
"What?" Seto asked.
"He just discarded Ra. The fuck is he up to now?" Sean asked.
"Now it's my turn." Marik said drawing his next card and started laughing.
"That laugh is getting on my nerves." Korra said.
"Enough!" Sean yelled shutting him up.
"This duel is now mine! I play monster Reborn to bring back Ra!" Marik yelled.
"But he wasn't in your Graveyard." Joey said.
"Don't you remember my nightmare Mirror?" Marik asked.
"Oh." Joey said before the card was played before the Winged Dragon of Ra appeared. "Big deal! It has no attack points. Not to mention it can only stay on the field for one turn." Joey said.
"True. But now you'll feel the wrath of my God's true form. Phoenix form!" Marik yelled as Ra turned into his ultimate form.
"So what? Joey's not gonna lose any life points since it has nothing." Asami said.
"Hold forgetting about those lines." Seto said shocking her seeing the line that connected Joey and Gilford.
"Oh fucking hell thats not good. When Ra attacks Joey is gonna feel it all." Sean said alarmed.
"KRUGER! KAIBA! Take heed! For soon one of you will face the wrath of my Winged Dragon of Ra!" Marik yelled as he gave up a thousand Life points to activate Ra's special ability to destroy all of Joey's monsters and feel what Gilford felt.
"AHHHHHH!" Joey yelled.
"Joey!" Serenity screamed about to rush in but Turok held her back.
"Don't be stupid. You'll get caught in that." Turok said.
"Serenity, theres nothing we can do!" Jinora said as the flames died down as Marik laughed in Victory.
"At last victory is mine! And that fool is in the Shadow Realm where he belongs!" Marik yelled as the smoke cleared before growling in surprise seeing Joey still standing. "IT CAN'T BE! NO ONE COULD SURVIVE THAT!" Marik roared.
"Joey still has a chance to win this." Mokuba said.
"How did he withstand Ra?" Seto asked in disbelief.
"I believe you'll find a man with a cause can be stronger than a god. Living proof right there." Sean said.
Joey groaned as he looked at Marik.
"Your...Going down." Joey said as Marik growled.
"If he succeeds in attacking my life points I'll lose the duel and my Egyptian God Card and never gain Kruger's powers." Marik yelled.
"Ok...I'm ending this." Joey said drawing his card.
"THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!" Marik yelled as Joey summoned Gearfried. "NO!" Marik roared.
Just as Joey was about to attack however he began to fall over.
"JOEY!" Yami yelled as he fell down on the ground.
"Fuck! Call it! Theres no way he can stand up after..." Sean tried to say before Joey actually stood back up shocking them all.
"No way!" Tristan yelled.
"Gearfried... Attack!" Joey yelled as Joey's monster slashed Marik.
"NOOOOOO!" Marik roared as he lost the duel.
"Winner of the second round is Joey Wheeler!" Roland said as Joey fell to his knees while everyone cheered.
Seto widened his eyes at that seeing Joey actually win.
"Hmm. Maybe you were right. Maybe he's not the second rate Duelist I thought he was." Seto said making Sean smirk.
"People can surprise you Seto. I learned that a long time ago." Sean said rushing up.
Marik was growling in complete rage that he lost the duel.
"THIS CAN'T BE!" Marik roared before Sean walked to him.
"Hand it over. You lost." Sean said making him seethe in rage before reluctantly handing his card to him. "We still got unsettled business when this is over." Sean said walking back to Joey as Marik growled.
Joey groaned as the others helped him up.
"Nice work bud." Sean said making him smirk.
"Hey...Can't keep me down that easy." Joey said.
"Lets get him to the Medical room on the blimp." Mokuba said.
"Right." Sean said as they took him away. "And that reminds me." Sean said flicking the Card to Yami. "He won that. Might not be able to use it but still won it." Sean said.
"Yes." Yami said walking away.
"Don't forget our duel is next." Seto said making him nod.
Authors Note: JOEY WON THE DUEL! Now for the next duel. Teacher vs Student. Who will win this time around? Find out Next Chapter. I bet everyone was shocked Joey won this time around. Now hows this gonna play out? You'll all find out soon. Read, Review, Vote, Fav and Follow. REVIEW AND VOTE FOR THIS EPIC CHAPTER! SEE YA!