DISCLAIMER: If you recognise it from somewhere else, it isn't mine.

Awakening of Evil Part I

Sharee thought it very amusing, the way the ref tried to hide his black eye under his shades. But, she'd made her position clear. Now they watched and waited as Kaiba's personalised lottery machine picked the next set of duellists to square off on the over-dramatic arena. Wouldn't you know it?

Joey versus Odion. Oh, I'm sorry. "Marik".

Sharee betted the duel would end when Odion attempted to use the Egyptian God Card. Until then, it was up to the top of the blimp. Keeping one eye on the real Marik, Sharee stood with her friends. She watched, in part boredom and part exasperation, as Joey approached the start of the duel in anger. When it came to the deck shuffle, she found herself having to call out.

'Try that again, calmly this time!'

Then she inspected her nails as Odion went on about having the power of the Millennium Rod. Is that even the real Millennium Rod?

Nope.

Didn't think so.

On the other side of the field, the Kaiba brothers were talking, but she couldn't hear what. She had a very good idea though: The Winged Dragon of Ra. Sharee rolled her eyes. In other circumstances, she'd really admire the man's focus. She only turned her attention to the duel when the first move was made.

'Let's do this, Marik!' Joey said.

'It's time to duel.' Odion made the obligatory statement as they slid their duelling decks onto their duel disks. 'And destroy you!'

The ref made the announcement. 'Gentlemen, let the duel begin!'

Sharee watched Joey's bungled attempt at a first move and facepalmed. 'Don't be so wound up!' she called to him.

Joey took a deep breath. 'Now, then, where was I?'

'Acting like a fool,' Odion supplied.

'That's enough outta you, Marik.' Joey took a card from his hand. 'So check this out.' He played his card. 'Now, I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight in attack mode!' The monster appeared on the field.

Tristan leaned forward eagerly. 'Ah, now this is looking like a duel.'

'And there's more where that came from,' Joey said. 'Now let's see what you've got tough guy.'

Odion drew.

'I'm waiting!'

The field slot slid out of Odion's duel disk. 'I play Temple of the Kings.' He activated the card. 'A card like none you've ever seen!' A massive temple, Egyptian in design, rose of the ground behind him.

'What's going on?' Joey demanded. 'What's the deal with that building, Marik?'

'The structure behind me is the ancient Temple of the Kings,' Odion said. 'Within this 5000 year old sanctuary lie the greatest treasure of the Kings of Egypt.'

'And what does that big shack do?' Joey asked.

'Protect the king's treasure. It limits the number of trap cards you can play in one turn.'

'Aw, man!'

Two cards appeared in front of him. 'And, in front of the temple, I'll lay two cards face-down as an extra boundary of protection. And with this move I end my turn. So try to attack me if you dare. You have no idea what danger lurks within these temple walls.'

'Marik hasn't even summoned one monster.' Téa said this like it made a difference.

'Attack his life points!' Tristan called.

'That's stupid.' Duke was, thankfully, more aware.

Tristan got defensive. 'Oh, and why's that?'

'Because Marik probably wants him to attack so he can activate his face-down cards and put a serious hurting on Joey,' Duke said. 'It's way too risky, dummy.'

'Good point.' And, with that, Tristan conceded.

YGO

All right. Joey coached himself. Stay calm. I can't let him smell my fear.

'Everything all right, Joey?' Serenity asked.

'You look pretty scared, dude!' Tristan called up.

Sharee turned her head and said something he didn't catch.

Joey was too busy tensing up. That's what I was afraid of! Okay, if I'm gonna beat this guy, I gotta pull myself together. Joey looked at his hand. What am I worried about? That two-bit temple's got nothing on my Giant Trunade. He looked across the field. This card will get rid of all his magic and trap cards, so I can totally dismantle his Temple of the Kings!

'What's the delay?' Marik asked. 'Don't you realise that no matter what you do, you're finished, Mr. Wheeler? So make your move!'

YGO

Yugi watched as Joey drew and muttered to himself. He played his first card. 'I summon Tiny Guardian in attack mode!' The monster appeared on the field. 'And that's all I'm gonna do for now, Chrome-Dome.'

Behind him, Tristan said, 'Joey's got to attack him sometime.'

'I'm sure that my big brother has some kind of plan,' Serenity was quick to say.

Odion – that was what Sharee had called him – drew and played two cards. 'Observe, fool. I place two more cards face down on the field.' The cards appeared in front of him. 'And now my move is complete.'

Yugi studied them. 'Now Marik's got four cards face down.'

Mai wasn't too happy either. 'That spineless snake is just gonna sit back and wait for Joey to attack him. When he does, Marik will spring one of his traps. It's the oldest and wimpiest trick in the book!'

Joey drew. 'All right, Cue Ball, take this.' He played his next card. 'I summon Hayabusa Knight.' The monster appeared on the field in attack mode. Joey took another card from his hand. 'It's time for me to demolish that ancient palace of yours.'

'Hm?' Odion's expression twitched.

'With this.' Joey played the card. 'I play Giant Trunade!' The card appeared on the field and flicked up. A hurricane-like wind picked up on the field and took solid form. It steadily travelled across the field, heading right for Odion's four face-down cards.

'Yes!' Mai pumped her fist. 'Marik will have nothing on the field to protect himself.'

'It looks like Joey's the winner!' Yugi said.

Then, suddenly, the Trunade began to disperse before it even got to the cards.

'What?' Sharee echoed Yugi's thoughts.

'What?' Joey demanded at the same time. 'Why did it stop? Your cards should have been history!'

Mai leaned forward. 'What's going on?'

'Your Giant Trunade is no more,' Odion said. 'And your troubles have only just begun.'

'That, we can see,' Sharee called up. 'Explain it.'

Odion glanced over at her, only for a second, before turning his attention to Joey.

'Yeah, explain it!' Joey insisted. 'I don't get what just happened to my magic card. It was supposed to get rid of every card you had on the field.'

'What's the deal?' Yugi demanded.

Odion finally explained it. 'When you made the very foolish decision to activate your Giant Trunade, Mr. Wheeler, you in turn triggered one of the most dangerous traps I've placed on the field to protect myself.'

'Is that so?'

'Yes, and now it's time for you to pay the price for your mistake. You see with all of my trap cards in play I knew you wouldn't attack me with a monster. You'd try to destroy my traps with a magic card.'

Joey made a sound of understanding. 'So you played a trap card that destroys magic cards?'

'But that's not all that it does. The trap you just triggered is about to devastate all of your monsters and an extremely large portion of your life points. So prepare to feel its wrath right now!' Odion lifted his arm and the card flipped up. 'Go! Judgement of Anubis!' The effect spiralled out of the card. The face of a wolf – Jackal, actually. – appeared in the centre of the spiral. 'Never before have you faced a trap with destructive power such as this! Judgement of Anubis will annihilate every monster you have on the field and deduct half of their attack points from your life points.

'What?' Joey demanded. 'No way!'

The spiral retracted into the head. 'Anubis, destroy!'

Purple tendrils shot out and struck Joey's monsters, skewering them all and then washing over Joey as his three monsters were destroyed.

'Building up your army of powerful monsters was a grave miscalculation because they're about to disappear with more than 2000 of your life points!'

The monsters shattered. 'Hey, you just wasted my best guys.' Joey's life points dropped to 1900.

The head evaporated. 'When you see the horrors that await you, those monsters will be the last thing on your mind.'

'By thinking he had the duel won, Joey fell right into Marik's trap!' Téa insisted.

'That's right, Téa,' Yugi said. He reminded himself of the façade. 'Joey thought by not attacking with monsters he was safe from Marik's traps. The trick is the most dangerous cards in Duel Monsters are trap cards, and now Marik's field is full of them.'

'Let's just hope Joey learned his lesson because one more mistake like that and he can kiss the finals goodbye,' Mai said. 'And he's come too far to lose it all to a creep with a bad attitude. Not to mention a bad hairdo.'

Serenity was opening worried. 'Marik is tough, but you still think Joey can win, right, guys?'

'Yeah, sure.' Téa didn't sound too confident.

'Think he can win?' Tristan, at least, sounded more confident. 'I know he can. Right, Yug?'

Yugi nodded and smiled. 'Don't worry, Serenity. Joey's been in tougher situations than this. He just needs a little support from us and he'll be crushing Marik in no time.'

Serenity smiled and called up to her brother. 'Come on, Joey! You can do it!'

'Yeah!' Tristan called. 'Hang in there, man!'

YGO

'Have you realised you can't win, or do you want more punishment, Mr. Wheeler?'

'Heh.' Joey smirked.

Marik growled.

It was time to get him nervous. 'I gotcha good. You may not realise this because your ponytail's tied too tight, but I fell into your little trap on purpose, Marik.' He lifted his head. 'Yeah, that's the ticket. I was just testing you to see if your duelling skills were any better than your sense of style. And it looks like you passed my exam. Now I'll kick my game up a notch, and open up a big tub of Duel-Whip all over you! All right, Marik. Enough standing around. Let's finish this duel!'

'You're in quite a rush to lose.' Marik drew. 'Now watch as I place two more cards face down.' He set the cards.

'Again?' Joey demanded as the cards appeared on the field.

'That ends my turn.'

'I'm getting really tired of this,' Joey said. 'You know they call this game Duel Monsters because you're supposed to fight your opponent with monster cards, not spend the whole game hiding behind your little trap cards like a coward!'

'If you can find me the rule that forbids me from playing trap cards I'll stop, Mr. Wheeler.'

Joey growled. 'That does it, Marik! I guess it's time for me to show you how this game is supposed to be played – with monsters.' He drew. 'So, now, I summon Alligator Sword in attack mode.' The monster appeared on the field. If I attack now, Marik's definitely gonna counteract my move with one of his face-down cards, and I can't afford to lose any more life points!

'I'm waiting,' Marik said. 'I thought that you were gonna show me how you're supposed to play this game. Go on.'

If I strike, he'll knock me outta the finals. What do I do? He glanced at his hand and it came to him. He took the card from his hand and set it. 'I'm gonna let you off easy, Marik, by holding off my attack. I'm playing this card face down. Back to you, Baldy.' He quickly became impatient with the Rare Hunter. 'Okay! Let's go!'

'Actually, I choose to end my turn without making any moves,' Marik said.

Aggravation tightened in Joey's gut and he ground his teeth. What? He's skipping his turn? He's trying to force me to attack him. Joey quickly drew. 'Two can play at that game, so I pass also.'

'Perhaps now I'll draw a card worth using.' He drew and looked at his card. 'No, this one won't do at all. I'll pass again.'

Joey growled louder and ground his teeth harder. 'You asked for it!' He heard Yugi and Mai but ignored what they said. 'All right, you're not gonna know what hit you!' He drew. 'Here it comes right now!' He slapped the card down and his monster appeared on the field. 'I summon Rocket Warrior. You asked for it!' He managed to calm himself just a little. 'I don't care how many trap cards you got on the field, cause I didn't come to the finals to watch. I fought my way here to duel like a man and to win this, Marik. Now, Rocket Warrior, attack his life points directly! Seek and destroy!'

The monster clicked into rocket form and blasted toward Marik.

'Joey, this is a big mistake!' Yugi yelled.

Not as big as he thought.

'Activate trap card!' One of the cards in front of Marik flicked up. 'Eye of Ujat!' The effect of the trap card activated and the Rocket Warrior's trajectory was interrupted. The eye on the card was suddenly on the Rocket Warrior.

'Now that the Eye of Ujat appears on your Rocket Warrior, it is under my control, and I shall redirect its attack toward one of your monsters!'

'No way!' Sounded very convincing if he did say so himself.

Marik gave the order. 'Rocket Warrior, attack his Alligator Sword!' The Rocket Warrior looped around and headed right back where it came from.

'I don't think that's gonna work! I got a face down card too.' He activated his card. 'Activate Fairy Box!' The card flipped up. Marik's eyes widened in disbelief. The box materialised on the field. His Alligator Sword disappeared into the Fairy Box. 'Thanks to Fairy Box, Rocket Warrior's plan of attack has been short-circuited.' The Alligator Sword peered out of one of the holes. 'Time to play peek-a-boo!'

'Rocket Warrior, attack at once!' Marik ordered.

The Rocket headed for the hole where the Alligator Sword was. It exploded in the hole.

'So much for that!' Marik snapped.

Rocket Warrior popped out of the hole and looked around. Alligator Sword popped out of another hole.

'What's this?' Marik demanded.

'Ha-hah!' Joey laughed. 'I guess you haven't hung out in the Arcade in a while, huh? I'm onto your little game, Marik, and I found out the weakness of your trap strategy. You don't even have one single monster card, just a deck overloaded with trap cards, Marik. Talk about putting all your eggs in one basket, you egg-head. So once I clear the field of your trap cards, there'll be nothing protecting your life points. That's why I'm Joey Wheeler, Future Battle City Champion, and you're just some ugly bald freak wearing a cape, right.'

'You can insult me all you want,' Marik said. 'But the truth is you've already fallen into another one of my traps.'

'What?' Joey demanded. 'What do you mean I've fallen into another trap?'

Marik chuckled. 'You're about to see what I mean first-hand. You see, while I maybe short on monsters I possess a trap card that is both a trap and a monster.'

'I think the barber clipped some of the brain when he was cutting your hair.'

'Prepare to experience the pain of an extremely rare breed of card that's known as a Trap Monster,' Marik said. 'Not only do I possess a rare Trap Monster card, but when you attacked you activated it!' Marik waved his hand. 'And now prepare for a card with a rage like none you've ever seen before!'

'It can't be!' Joey insisted.

'It is!' Purple tendrils started to waft over the field. 'There's no escaping from Embodiment of Apophis.' One of the cards in front of him flipped up. It looked like a serpent with arms, holding a sabre. 'My card activates like a trap but attacks like a monster!' It started to smoke purple. 'I'd say this card disproves your theory about my deck and its weakness, Mr. Wheeler.'

Joey stared in disbelief. So how strong was this thing?

'I'm afraid it only gets worse, Mr. Wheeler,' Marik said. 'You see you triggered not one but three of my Apophis cards.' Two more cards flipped up and started smoking too. 'And now it's time for you to meet your doom! Come forth, my beasts.' The three of them poured out of there cards in a smoky mess and took shape on the field. They each had an attack strength of 1600.

Joey drew back in alarm. 'What am I gonna do? He can attack me with three monsters.'

YGO

Mokuba stepped forward, staring at the three Trap Monsters. 'That's insane!'

'I must say,' Kaiba said. 'I'm impressed.'

YGO

Yugi stared up onto the field. Those monsters can wipe out his life points.

Yes,the Pharaoh said. But we don't know the rules of Trap Monsters just yet. With a bit of luck, which Joey has quite a lot of you must remember, they can't attack him on the same turn they're summoned.

They could only hope.

'You can do this, Joey!' Yugi called. 'Just be strong!'

'You're at the end of your rope, Mr. Wheeler,' Odion said. 'Now, for someone who was so vocal before you seem to be very silent. Perhaps you've realised that talk doesn't win duels. It takes skill and power. And as soon as my three creatures attack, you'll see exactly what I mean! You're finished!'

Sorry it took me forever and a day to update, guys. I've been bogged down with end-of-year schoolwork.