Chapter 6: Wealthy Lives, Poverty Dies

"...still watching the tournament, eh?...yeah, no worries, I've got things wrapped up on my end...so far, things are going well...is that so?...well, I'll keep an eye on them at least..."


"Are you ready to lose?"

"Heh, don't be in such a rush!"

Joey shuffled his opponent's deck while she did the same with his. The two stared each other down and taunted each other continuously.

"Your cards are hardly worth the dirt on your shoes," she mocked.

"Watch it," Joey sneered, "cause dese cards are about to wipe da floor with ya!"

Meanwhile, in the observer's booth, Yugi and friends were discussing Joey's opponent.

"So she's just some rich girl?" Tristan asked.

"She's not 'just some rich girl!'" Tea retorted. "Vicky Queens is a marvelous supermodel and is one of the greatest independently wealthy people on the planet!"

"Why, does she donate to orphanages?" Tristan snickered.

"As a matter of fact, she does," Tea answered. "I wonder what she's doing in a dueling tournament though."

"I haven't heard much about Vicky in dueling," Yugi confessed. "This could be an interesting match-up."

"Yeah," Tristan agreed, "she could have a ton of rare cards on her if she's so wealthy."

Meanwhile, on the dueling field, Joey and Vicky prepared their Duel Disks and drew their first few cards.

"Are you ready to submit to my will?" Vicky taunted.

"Bring it on!" Joey called back.

"DUEL!"

Vicky: 8000
Joey: 8000

"I know you'll be kind enough to let me start," Vicky started, drawing a card. "And I will start with the lovely Fire Princess (4/1300/1500) in Attack mode!"

A fiery woman dressed in red and carrying a staff appeared on Vicky's field.

"I'm sure you're aware of her ability to burn away 500 of your Life Points every time I gain Life Points," Vicky continued, "so now I'll use my Dian Keto the Cure Master to give me 1000 Life Points!"

Vicky: 9000
Joey: 8000

"Aw man!" Joey exclaimed.

"That's right," Vicky said, "and now Fire Princess, do your thing!"

Fire Princess aims her staff at Joey and fires off a fearsome fireball!

"Nyeh!" Joey screamed as the fire consumed his body!

Vicky: 9000
Joey: 7500

"Oh, I'm sorry," Vicky mocked, "are things too hot for you? Perhaps I should give some Red Medicine to you! Oh wait, no, I can only use the 500 Life Points for me!"

Vicky activates the Red Medicine card, giving her 500 Life Points while using Fire Princess's effect to burn Joey's by another 500!

Vicky: 9500
Joey: 7000

"Alright, that's enough torture for now," Vicky said, "so I'll just Set one card on the field to end my turn."

"Heh, you think dat's bad?" Joey said. "Watch dis!"

After drawing a card, Joey glances over his hand, smiles, and calls out, "I summon Alligator's Sword (4/1500/1200) in Attack mode!"

The great lizard man brandished his sword at the ready!

"Now, Alligator's Sword, attack!" Joey declared.

Alligator's Sword lunges at Fire Princess!

"You didn't think I'd let you hurt my princess so easily, did you?" Vicky smirked. "Activate trap card! Draining Shield!"

A barrier appeared, blocking Alligator's Sword's attack!

"Oh no!" Joey yelped.

"With Draining Shield," Vicky continued, "I can negate your attack and gain Life Points equal to your monster's Attack! And you remember what happens every time I gain Life Points, right?"

As Vicky's Life Points got a boost, Joey took another fireball from the Fire Princess!

Vicky: 11000
Joey: 6500

"She's really widening the gap between their Life Points," Yugi noted.

"Yeah," Tristan agreed, "Joey's gonna have a tough time if he can't get her Life Points down."

"Come on, Joey," Tea cheered from the sidelines. "You can do it! Put that rich snob in her place!"

"I thought you liked this girl," Tristan remarked with confusion.

"That was before she started acting like a real jerk to Joey."

Meanwhile, Joey managed to recover on the dueling field after having endured yet another fireball. Vicky merely chuckled as she watched him struggle.

"Alright," he said, Setting a card, "I think I'll end my turn with dis card."

"I hope that's not all you've got," Vicky sneered, drawing her next card. "I'll play this card face-down and summon Cure Mermaid (4/1500/800) in Attack Mode!"

A blonde-haired mermaid appears on Vicky's field, a flourish of bubbles surrounding her.

"And then, with a little switch-up on my Fire Princess," Vicky continued, "I can end my turn here!"

Fire Princess (4/1300/1500 - 4/1300/1500)

Man, I can't catch a break! As long as dat Fire Princess is on da field, I'm gonna lose even more Life Points! Time ta break out the ol' Wheeler luck!

"Alright then, my move!" Joey announced, drawing his next card. He looked at it, smiling. Alright! With this, victory is in the bag!

"I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight (4/1800/1600) in Attack Mode!" Joey said, summoning out a black and silver ironclad warrior to his field. "And now, Gearfried, attack dat Fire Princess!"

Gearfried lunges towards the Fire Princess!

"Not so fast, Mr. Wheeler," Vicky laughed. "I activate the Wall of Revealing Light!"

Suddenly a magical barrier of light cuts off Gearfried's attack!

Vicky: 1000
Joey: 6500

"What in the world is that?!" Joey yelped.

"Very simply put," Vicky explained, "my Wall of Revealing Light is a card that can block any attack, given the right amount of Life Points. And I just paid 10,000!"

"Nyeh, what's dat supposed to mean?!"

"It means that as long as my Wall remains on the field, none of your monsters with less than 10,000 Atk points can lay a finger on my monsters!"

"WHAT?!"

"But Joey doesn't have a monster with Atk even close to that!" Tristan called out.

"No one does!" Tea added.

"That's not good!" Yugi noted.

Vicky laughed heartily. "What's wrong? Guess you're off your game today, hm?"

"Nyeh, I end my turn!"

"Good, because that means it's my turn again," Vicky said, drawing her next card. "And I'm going to let you guess what's about to happen. Let me give you a hint: it involves my Cure Mermaid and my Fire Princess!"

"Oh no!"

"Oh yes! With my Cure Mermaid on the field, I gain 800 Life Points during my Standby Phase, and of course you're intimately aware of what my Fire Princess can do by now!"

While a myriad of bubbles swirl and surround Vicky, an inferno burns away at Joey!

Vicky: 1800
Joey: 6000

"Heh, but I'm in the lead after all that you gave up for that Wall," Joey smirked.

"Not for long, I assure you," Vicky countered. "I activate Soul of the Pure, bringing me 800 more Life Points and draining you of another 500!"

Vicky: 2600
Joey: 5500

"And now I'll also play Goblin Thief," Vicky continued, "which not only allows me to take away 500 of your Life Points but also gives me that same 500! And that's before my Fire Princess's ability even activates!"

"Say what?!"

Joey was abruptly bonked on the head by a rogue goblin, who swiftly moved back to Vicky's side of the field, dropping a bag of coins in front of her before kneeling down. The bag disappeared into sparkles, illuminating Vicky's Life Points!

Vicky: 3100
Joey: 5000

"And now for Fire Princess to burn away at you!"

Vicky: 3100
Joey: 4500

"Gah!" Joey grunted.

"I hope you're still up after all of that," Vicky taunted. "Luckily I'm done for now."

"Well, it's gonna take more dan dat ta put ol' Joey Wheeler down!" Joey called back. "My move!"

Joey draws a card and peruses his hand in the hopes of finding the card to turn things around. Man, at dis rate, she's gonna come back and beat me! I can't let dat happen, but dere ain't a monster in my deck dat can beat 10,000! What am I gonna do?!

Suddenly, Joey sees just the card he needs and smiles.

"Alright," he announced, "I play da Arduous Decision magic card! With dis, I can draw two cards, and den you pick one, and if it's a Monster card, I can summon it right away!"

"Is that really the best you can do?" Vicky taunted as Joey drew the top two cards, holding one in each hand. "I can't believe you're going to rely on luck to bring you out of the jaws of defeat."

"Dat's cause I trust my deck to come through for me," Joey replied, "and as it turns out, I do have a card to take care of dat Wall!"

"You're bluffing."

"Wanna bet? I'm holding it right here in one of my hands!"

Joey smiled as Vicky was taken by surprise. "So what's it gonna be?" he taunted her now.

Vicky grimaced, visibly concentrating on the two cards that Joey held. In the spectator's booth, Yugi and the others watched closely.

"Looks like Joey's messing with her head," Tristan said.

"It may all come down to this move here," Yugi pointed out.

"Are Joey's matches always so thrilling?"

At that moment, the others turned to see that they had a visitor in their midst!

"Andrew!" Yugi said.

"Hey! Thought I'd check in on you guys," Andrew replied, "although it doesn't seem like you're having a difficult time."

He turned and looked through the window to the duel. "Well this is interesting," he noted. "Wall of Revealing Light on the field and an Arduous Decision activated."

"It's all up to whichever card Vicky picks," Yugi added.

Meanwhile, on the dueling field, Joey and Vicky continue staring each other down. "I'm waiting," Joey taunted. "Come on, pick a card already!"

Vicky glowered at him before finally deciding. "I pick the card in your right hand!" she declared.

Joey waves the indicated card asking, "You sure?"

"Yes I'm sure!" Vicky shouted back, a bit tense.

Joey smiled and placed the card on his Duel Disk. "Alright," he said while doing this, "here's your card!"

A tall android wearing a mask over its scarred face appeared on Joey's field, and with its appearance, a red laser pierced through the Wall of Revealing Light, electrifying the active card and removing the Wall!

"Jinzo (6/2400/1500), time ta shine!" Joey said.

In the spectator booth, Andrew gave a good whistle. "Well well," he said, "looks like Joey may have this one all wrapped up."

"Next," Joey continued, "I'm playing Polymerization and fusing da Alligator's Sword on my field with da Baby Dragon in my hand to summon out Alligator's Sword Dragon (5/1700/1500)!"

A great vortex absorbed Alligator's Sword and a small orange dragon, combining the two such that the monster that came out of the vortex was Alligator's Sword riding upon the dragon!

"And with Jinzo keeping dat Wall down, I can use my Alligator's Sword Dragon's special ability," Joey continued. "Since da only face-up monsters you control are WATER and FIRE monsters, I can have him launch a direct attack on your Life Points!"

"Oh no!" Vicky cried as the mighty lizard with its dragon steed flew over her monsters and brought down its fearsome blade!

Vicky: 1400
Joey: 4500

"And now," Joey continued, "Gearfried, time to take care of dat Fire Princess!"

The iron knight slashed through the flaming sorceress, destroying her in a shower of sparkles. At that moment, Vicky began to chuckle.

"It's no use," she said. "Even with your Jinzo's next attack, you won't beat me! I'll have the chance to bring out a new defense or be able to destroy that Jinzo on my next turn! And then my Wall will be back, and you'll be powerless to stop me!"

"Dat may be," Joey said, "but I'm gonna go for it anyway! Jinzo, attack!"

The android held up its gloved hands and began charging a small orb of dark energy!

"And now for my face-down!" Joey declared, activating the card he had placed on the field at the beginning of the duel. "Go, Graceful Dice!"

A small fairy carrying a blue die appeared on Joey's field and tossed it into the air. "Maybe you're familiar with Graceful Dice's ability," Joey explained. "With it, my monster's Atk goes up by da number on da die times 100!"

The fairy dropped the die, letting it roll onto the ground!

Come on, baby, Joey needs a 5!

The die continued to roll on the ground until it finally stopped: the number revealed is a 5! Joey cheered at the result, "Yeah! Just what I needed! Jinzo, attack that Cure Mermaid!

Jinzo (6/2400/1500 - 6/2900/1700)

Jinzo releases its Cyber Energy Shock at the innocent mermaid, obliterating her and wiping out Vicky's Life Points simultaneously!

Vicky: 0
Joey: 4500

"Alright! Joey won!" the gang cheered. Andrew nodded his own approval. "He's some duelist," he said.

Vicky fell to her knees in shock. "How could I lose?" she murmured to herself. Joey walked up to her and held out his hand.

"Don't sweat it," he said. "Ya nearly had me dere for a bit!"

Vicky made a pouting face but still took Joey's hand and rose to her feet. "Well then, Mr. Wheeler," she said formally, "Perhaps I had you all wrong. I shall hope to see you another time."

"Same here!" Joey replied.

And with that, Vicky departed the premises, her chin raised high and her dress flowing with the luxury she could afford. Joey then joined the others in the spectator booth.

"Hey, congrats Joey!" Andrew greeted as Joey entered the room.

"Whoa! Andrew! When did you get here?!"

"About a minute or two ago. Figured I'd stop by since I-"

DING DING DING DING

Andrew stopped for a moment with a nervous smile as he checked his alarming PDA. Then his face transfigured into shock as he quickly tucked it back. "Welp, looks like I gotta run, hope you guys keep at it, okay BYE!"

And with that, Andrew rushed out the door. The group looked after him as he bolted out of the room.

"What's with him?" Joey wondered aloud.

"Sounds like he had the notification for a duel turned on," Yugi noted.

"Maybe he's running late for his own duel then," Tristan concluded.

"Well it doesn't matter now!" Joey continued. "It's time for us to get ready for the next one!"

"YEAH!"


"...you think something might be up?...yeah, I took a peek myself...well, she did seem rather familiar, in an odd sort of way, ya know?...maybe run by some faces or something? She might not be the only one..."


AUTHOR'S NOTES

Something's up in the tournament? So soon? Why can't we ever have a regular tournament? Well, time to look at the cards!

Fire Princess (Effect Monster)
Level 4, 1300 Atk, 1500 Def, Pyro, FIRE
Effect: Each time you gain Life Points, inflict 500 damage to your opponent.

Wall of Revealing Light (Continuous Trap)
Effect: Activate by paying any multiple of 1000 Life Points. Monsters your opponent controls cannot attack if their ATK is less than or equal to the amount you paid.

Arduous Decision (Normal Spell)
Effect: Pick up the top 2 cards of your Deck and have your opponent select 1 of them at random. If it is a Monster card, you can Special Summon it and add the other card to your hand. If not, send both cards to the Graveyard.

Jinzo (Effect Monster)
Level 6, 2400 Atk, 1500 Def, Machine, DARK
Effect: Trap cards and their effects cannot be activated. The effects of all face-up Trap cards on the field are negated.

Well a slight hiccup along the way, but Joey managed to trounce his opponent! Can Yugi get past his next opponent? And what's going on behind the scenes? What trouble lurks in the background? Keep up with the reading to find out!