Now it was Gansley's turn. "Get ready to lose your minds!" He drew a card dramatically from the top of his deck and glanced at it. He was smirking, and Jessica didn't like what that might mean for them. She listened as he started talking about business again. "Listen closely. The first thing is to build a powerful workforce." He summoned Ipiria [500/500] in attack mode and the lizard hissed at them. "This lets me draw another card to increase my dueling options." Then he moved his previous monster to face-up attack position [500/500], and she braced herself. With all these low level monsters he was playing in attack mode, it could only mean he was building up to summon a more powerful monster.
"The second secret of success is quite simple. Know your own resources." The change of his monster's position on the field caused both Yami and Jessica to discard one card from their hand. She glanced at her hand briefly and sent Umbramirage to the graveyard. "Now for the last and most important secret of success in the business world. Always keep your competition guessing. And I assure you, you have no idea of the horrors I have in store for you both!"
After a small bicker about Yami's deck master and it's inability to speak, he drew a card to begin his turn. He played Polymerization and he now had his fusion monster Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast in attack position. And with the help of Quick Attack, he sent Chimera in to attack Ipiria. But Gansley's special deck master ability allowed him to sacrifice both his monsters in order to reflect the attack right back at Yami, sending Chimera to bite him directly.
"Yami!" Jessica called out, watching as he grunted in pain while his life points dropped to 1900. He skid backwards a bit and all she and Kuriboh could do was look on with worry. "Are you okay?"
With a nod, he walked back to his original spot as he growled. "I'm not out of business yet, Gansley!"
"It's only a matter of time, Yugi! Soon my colleagues and I will destroy you and your friends in the greatest corporate takeover in history." Gansley smirked as he stared at them from behind his visor. "Speaking of your friends, I wonder how they're holding up in their new environment. Think about it, those fools must be suffering even greater losses than you. And you can't save them!"
"We'll see about that!" Jessica exclaimed with a growl, not willing to give up. "We still have to the end of this duel to kick your ass and send you crying back to Noah, and we'll be on our way to find our friends!" She exchanged a glance with Yami and he gave her a grateful nod, smirking in response. That was the expression she wanted. She didn't like seeing Yami frowning about anything, especially about a duel he was part of. So if she can give him any sort of confidence, that's all she could hope for.
"You're right, Jess. This duel is far from over." Yami turned back to Gansley and spoke directly to him. "You have no monsters on your side of the field, leaving you open to a direct attack!" He sent his swordsman in to attack Gansley, dropping his life points to 2600. "You claim to be a successful man of business but you've allowed your competition to get the best of you!"
"Well, not quite," Gansley chuckled, causing Jessica to frown at him. "On the contrary, I let you do exactly what I wanted you to!" He summoned a monster card face-up and it allowed him to summon it each time he suffered a loss of a thousand or more life points. "Looks like I'm still ahead of you in competition, with plenty of monsters left!"
"It's not how many monsters you have, it's how skillfully you use them that counts," Yami told him, and Jessica listened intently this time. She needed all the help she could get in this duel if they were going to win. And when Gansley talked about sacrificing employees and relating it to his own monsters, Yami scowled. "That's just sad!"
Jessica had to agree. With the duels she watched Yami battle in the Battle City tournament, she could see just how real the monsters actually were. She was sure the holograms couldn't replicate the emotions of a monster like she had seen on Yami's Dark Magician during the duel with Arkana.
"You've lost over half your life points, Yugi. Soon I'll take over your body, leaving your mind trapped in this virtual abyss!" Gansley told him.
"We'll just see about that!" Jessica growled and she glanced at Yami. He nodded to her, giving her the go-ahead to start her turn. Nodding back, she drew a card. Battle Ox [1700/1000]. Perfect! A four star monster! "I summon Battle Ox in attack position. And I attack your monster!" She watched as her monster destroyed his only defense, dropping his life points to 1900. "And end my turn."
"My move!" Gansley drew a card and immediately placed it in attack position. "It forbids you from drawing a card your next turn, making him a valuable asset." He then played Premature Burial, allowing him to revive one of his monsters with a cost of 800 of his life points. With his life points now at 1100, he summoned Ipiria back to the field. Now he had two monsters on the field, but they all knew it was dangerous for him to have that many monsters.
Jessica glanced at Yami as he seemed to have an inner turmoil about what he should do next. She knew that if he used Chimera to attack Gansley, he would sacrifice his two monsters to reflect the attack back at him. She waited and listened as they bickered about strategies and monsters again, and Kuriboh became the source of verbal bullying. The fluffball grew sad and she felt her heart twist at its adorable face. "I believe in you both. We can beat this guy together," she said, giving Yami a reassuring smile. He and Kuriboh both returned it with nods, and she was glad to see a bit of confidence return to the both of them.
He was about to draw a card, but she saw the look of realization pass over his face as he remembered the effect of Gansley's monster. They both couldn't draw a new card until their next turn. She tuned out Gansley's speech about thievery and growing a large business from it, and Yami made the decision to attack with his swordsman.
But she decided to stop him in a surge of impulse. "Yami, don't!" He faltered and his monster paused in its attack as they both looked at her. "I won't let you take another hit. Let me do it this time."
Yami blinked in surprise. "But, Jess-"
"No buts! We're a team," she told him sternly, causing him to clamp his mouth shut. He then nodded. So she sent her monster to attack Gansley's monster, and prepared herself for what she was about to feel.
"You're both more foolish than I thought!" Gansley laughed as he sacrificed both his monsters in order to activate his special ability, and he sent her Battle Ox straight back at her.
She closed her eyes and grit her teeth in preparation. But there was no preparing for what she felt. She felt the blade of the axe slice through her shoulder and she cried out, feeling herself being knocked off her feet and landing on her backside in the grass. She was now down to 2300 life points. She heard the whimper of her Bujingi Wolf, the warbles of Kuriboh, and Yami's voice as he called out to her in concern. She hissed through her teeth as she opened her eyes and glanced at her wounded shoulder, but there was no physical damage. Just the lingering sensation of the axe slicing through her.
"Damn, that hurt!" She groaned as she pushed herself back to her feet, retaking her position next to her worried partners. She glanced at Yami and gave him a strained smile to reassure him. "I don't envy duelists." She could see him furrow his brows as he tried not to smirk, but she saw how his lip twitched slightly.
Are you alright?
I'll be fine once this duel is over with. She assured Malekos.
"It may be virtual but it takes more of a toll on you than the duels in the real world," Gansley explained, and she growled in response.
"At least you have no defense!" She shot at him, only to gasp when she saw another monster on the field. "What the heck is that thing?!"
"Explain yourself!" Yami exclaimed, clenching his fists.
"While your little girlfriend was recovering from the direct attack on her life points, I seized the opportunity to strengthen my team. I feel it's best to get ahead while your rival is down, so I summoned this creature."
"You had that move planned all along, didn't you?" Yami asked, glaring at Gansley.
"Of course I did! Now allow me to introduce you to my newest employee. Meet Wall of Illusion! What are its strengths, you ask? Well, any monster foolish enough to attack it is immediately returned to the duelist's hand. So you two may want to resign now while you still can." He began to laugh and Jessica growled to herself.
How are we supposed to destroy that thing if we can't attack it with our monsters?
Maybe not with a monster, but he hasn't said it can't be targeted by a trap or spell. Malekos told her, and she glanced at her hand. She only has an equip card that strengthens her own monsters, and a trap card on the field that she can only activate once Gansley attacks them. But so far, he has only been playing defensively.
She glared at Gansley as she bit her lip. Yes, but I don't have anything that can help us right now.
Well, you better fix that soon. She mentally rolled her eyes at him. If she could help it, she would.
"Well, you gave it your best shot, my young friends. But in the end, big business always wins. Besides, I've roamed this virtual ride for too long and you're my ticket out," Gansley told them smugly.
"It's not over, Gansley." Yami growled at him. "So don't make your travel plans yet."
Jessica could only listen as Gansley took another verbal stab at Kuriboh's usefulness. Even as she growled, she could hear her Bujingi Wolf growl at her side. She placed a gentle hand on its head and it quieted, a glance told her that it was still glaring at the businessman but did not mind her touch. In fact it seemed to lean ever so slightly into her hand, causing her to relax slightly.
"You can taunt me all you want," Yami said as he threw his hand out to the side. "I'll never give up hope! I trust my deck."
Jessica felt confidence surge through her at Yami's tone and stance, and she clenched her fist in front of her. "That goes for me too!" They shared a nod and a smirk before turning back to Gansley.
"I trust my skills," Gansley cut in, seeming to ignore their little talk of hope. He glanced at his cards and smirked. "I'll drop your life points soon and take your bodies, trapping your minds to wander through cyberspace!"
I forgot I put the duel in 3 parts lol. I'll be uploading it as well.