21. What's Real
When the world swam into focus again, it took Yugi a moment to get his bearings. It was dark, and he was no longer in Mai's bedroom, but seemed to be in a vacant lot of some sort, one that looked very familiar. His heart then jumped to his throat when he saw that he was standing in the middle of a glowing green Orichalcos Seal. Beside him stood two Harpie Ladies, one with pink hair and one with red hair, claws sharpened and waiting for the order to attack. Each had glowing green Orichalcos seals burned onto their foreheads.
The next thing he saw was Joey standing across from him behind a holographic Swordsman of Landstar in defense mode. Joey looked beaten and worn, but there was something off about him. He was staring at Yugi with a look of pure venom. "Where did you get that card?" It took a second for Yugi to realize Joey wasn't talking to him, but to someone standing behind him. "You don't have a Dark Magician card! Mai, don't you see what the darkness of the Orichalcos is doing to you? You're playing cards you don't even have! This isn't right! You know this isn't right!"
It was then that Yugi realized he wasn't wearing his regular clothes, but instead long purple robes. In his hand was a long staff with an emerald-green gem at its head, and then everything clicked.
I'm… Dark Magician?
Not exactly what he'd expected when he'd entered into Mai's Shadow Game, but it wasn't the first time he'd become Dark Magician in someone else's game, either. At least the robes fit me better now. Except… he wasn't remembering that last duel from within the robes, but rather from above, as the duelist. He gritted his teeth, pushing that thought away. He'd come here to help Mai. She must have brought him into the game by playing the Dark Magician card he'd stuck into her deck.
Whirling around to face her, he saw that she looked conflicted. She was dressed in black, and her Duel Disk wasn't her usual one, but was the curved, gray, feral-looking Duel Disk Dartz's gang used. Obviously, this Dark Game was a re-creation of her Orichalcos duel against Joey. As he pieced it together, he saw her look down at her Duel Disk, her hand hovering over her deck—
She was going to forfeit! In a Shadow Game…
"Mai! Don't listen to him! That isn't Joey! You have to fight him and win this duel!"
She looked up, startled. It took a moment before her eyes focused on him, and then her jaw dropped in surprise. "Yugi? What the…?"
"Mai, think. This isn't the duel you think it is." He tried stepping towards her, but found he couldn't. He was Dark Magician, and he was stuck to the spot on the field where she had played him. "You've already fought this duel, remember? It's only a dream. Except, it's a dream turned into a Shadow Game. You can't lose!"
From the other side of the field, the false Joey tried to influence her. "Listen, Mai, don't you see what the darkness is doing to you? It's completely whacking out your mind. You can beat it! Just play."
Mai wrenched her eyes from Yugi to Joey. "Joey, I… I can't lose you…"
"You won't, not if you follow your heart instead of the darkness."
Yugi shot "Joey" a hard glare, then turned back to Mai. "Don't listen to him, Mai. That's not Joey. I know you don't want to go through your Orichalcos duel all over again, that you don't want to watch Joey lose his soul again, but that's not what's happening here. Joey—the real Joey—is safe in our penthouse. He's with Serenity. He's—" Yugi paused, as he remembered the last thing he'd done before propelling himself into her Dark Game. "He's in your deck, Mai."
"Come on, Mai, make your move!"
Yugi could hear the pleading in the imposter's voice as he tried to manipulate her emotions. Furious, he turned to confront him. "Who are you?"
"Joey's" gaze never left Mai's. "Are you ending your turn?"
"I…"
Yugi threw a look back over his shoulder. "Mai, send me to attack Swordsman of Landstar!"
But she looked from Yugi to "Joey" and back, then sagged. "I end my turn."
Yugi growled in frustration, but at least she hadn't forfeited. He watched the fake as he drew and gave Mai a maudlin look. "I know deep down you still value our friendship, Mai. I just have to remind you." He looked at his new card. "I play Warrior Returning Alive, which allows me to bring one warrior card from my graveyard back into my hand. I choose Blue Flame Swordsman, which I'll then summon in defense mode. And that'll be it for this turn. Your move."
Yugi looked over his shoulder at Mai. Still fighting her own internal battle, she drew, and as she looked at the card, her eyes widened and she froze.
Yugi knew what card it was. "It's Red-Eyes Black Dragon, isn't it, Mai?"
Her eyes flicked from the card to Yugi and back. "How…? I… I don't understand."
"You have Joey's card in your deck to remind you that he's behind you. The real Joey, not this ghost from your nightmares." He waved his staff dismissively toward her opponent. "We're all in your deck, Mai. Me, Joey, Serenity, Téa, Tristan, Duke, Rebecca. All your friends, we're all behind you."
"I… I don't have any friends." There was bitterness there, the self-loathing kind. "I gave them all up in trade for power."
"Yes, you did, but that was almost four years ago. You eventually came back to your friends, and we're all with you now. You've already fought this fight, Mai; don't let him make you fight it again. Play Red-Eyes and let the real Joey stand with you. Let all your friends stand with you."
The fake Joey tried again. "Mai! I don't know what that Seal is doing to your head, but you know what's real. You and me, we're real. And whatever this Orichalcos thingy is doing to mess with your mind, you know that's not real. You know the power of real friendship. Trust in that and save yourself."
The power of friendship… Yugi narrowed his eyes as a slow smile spread across his lips. "He's right, Mai, trust in the power of real friendship. Something the Orichalcos and Dartz never even claimed they could give you. If all of this was the darkness trying to suck you in, it wouldn't be giving you your friends! Play Red-Eyes and see for yourself."
Mai frowned, considering this, then a determined look came to her face. "I sacrifice my two remaining Harpies to summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
She slapped the Red-Eyes card onto her Duel Disk, and two of her Harpie dissolved. A huge black dragon emerged, towering over Yugi. Looking up at it, he blinked. On its back was a rider clad in black armor. And he had Joey's face.
Joey and Tristan were helping Serenity from her living room to her bedroom when Joey stopped suddenly. "Did you guys feel that?"
"Feel what?" Serenity asked, sounding drowsy.
Joey shook his head. "I'm not sure." He looked across Serenity to Tristan. "Like Duelist Kingdom? It's almost like all of a sudden I can almost feel Mai."
Tristan narrowed his eyes. "I've been feeling something weird all night, but nothing as defined as that."
Joey looked at his right hand, the one that wasn't around Serenity's back. He could almost feel the mark, the one Téa had drawn seven months ago across the backs of all of their hands.
Serenity leaned on Joey. "Is she okay?"
"I don't know." Joey closed his eyes, trying to reach out to Mai. "She's… confused."
"Well, confused beats unconscious or hurt or afraid," Tristan said.
Joey opened his eyes and gave Tristan a dark look. "Yeah, but it doesn't win Shadow Games."
Mai stared at the Red-Eyes Black Dragon towering over her side of the field. Since when does Red-Eyes have a rider? It reminded her of Paladin of Dark Dragon, the card that could be used to special-summon Red-Eyes, except for one thing: Paladin of Dark Dragon didn't have Joey's face.
From his perch atop Red-Eyes, the black armor-clad Paladin-of-Dark-Dragon-that-looked-like-Joey gazed down at her. Unlike the Joey standing across the field from her, who looked like he'd been dragged behind a pickup for a few miles, this Joey looked steady and alert. His eyes were sharp and intense, but not angry or hateful, despite the Orichalcos seal on his forehead, which seemed to give all the other monsters a more bloodthirsty expression. Come to think of it, Dark-Magician-who-looked-like-Yugi didn't look all that affected by the seal on his forehead either. Joey-the-knight gave her a half smile and a nod of encouragement, but didn't say a word.
"What the hell is going on here?" She glared up at him, demanding an answer, but he remained silent. Okay, now I know that can't be the real Joey. He can't keep his big, fat mouth shut.
The other Joey, her opponent, was more characteristically chatty. "I don't know how you got a Red-Eyes, Mai, but don't think using my favorite monster against me changes anything. Whether it's you or me that walks out of this seal with their soul still in their body is up to you, but either way, I'm getting you out of this darkness, do you understand? I'm not giving you up to the darkness! Not even with Red-Eyes on your side!"
His little speech seemed to infuriate Dark-Magician-Yugi. "You know good and well how she got that card in her deck. Joey—the real Joey—wanted her to have it. All her friends are with her. She won't lose!"
Joey seemed completely oblivious to the fact that Dark Magician had addressed him and that he somehow mysteriously had Yugi's face. "So what's it gonna be, Mai? It's still your move."
"I—" She looked to Yugi, who had turned to her.
"Mai, you know this is a dream. Your days with Dartz's gang are over. You're with us now. Remember. I gave you these cards before you went to sleep. Seven of them, one for each of your friends. That's why we're in your deck. This duel, this fight with Joey? It isn't real. You don't have to fight Joey any more. He loves you, Mai. You know this."
"He…?" She started at Dark-Magician-Yugi, taken aback. What on earth was he talking about? Joey couldn't love her! He was just a kid, all of seventeen! And in the year since Battle City, he hadn't spoken with her or contacted her or anything. He didn't give a damn about her!
But she looked up at the figure sitting astride Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Joey's eyes looked back at her, warm and intense, and there was a flash of something else, an image or a memory of a cliff top, high above the ocean. Joey was holding her, the two of them swaying gently to music that wasn't there.
This is real, Mai. Not the dream. Not the sand. When you hear the ocean in your dream, I want you to remember this. I want you to reach for me and squeeze my hand and feel me squeeze back. You aren't alone, Mai. Whenever you reach for me, I will always reach back.
She shook her head. What the hell was that? She'd never danced with Joey on a cliff top! The only place remotely like that they'd ever been together was Duelist Kingdom, but they'd only just met and he had only been fifteen! And then there was Battle City, and that was the sum total of their relationship. He didn't give a damn about her and she didn't give a damn about him.
But that was a lie and she knew it. Another flash hit her, like a buried memory resurfacing, this one of darkness, and water. Joey was half submerged, and she was holding him, trying to keep his head above the water as he shivered, his teeth chattering. So cold….
No you don't, stay with me here, Wheeler! You know lifeboats nowadays are covered and heated. As soon as we get out of here, we'll get you wrapped in a blanket and on one of those heated lifeboats. Just stay with me, okay? I'm not leaving without you.
She put her hands to her head. "What's happening?"
"The Orichalcos is just a bunch of lies!" That was the Joey across the field, not the one on Red-Eyes. "Keep fighting it, Mai!"
"He's the one lying!" Dark Magician-Yugi pointed his staff at Joey again. "It's not the darkness you have to fight this time, Mai, it's the past! Remember what's real, what's now. Joey loves you. We all love you!"
A hallway in some swanky hotel. Don't you get it, Mai? I'm in love with you.
Another hallway, this one in a convention center at some tournament. I'm sorry we won't be together on New Year's Eve.
Guess I'll have to find some other guy to kiss when the clock strikes twelve.
Better make sure it's someone you hate, then, 'cause I'm gonna have to kill him. Then, Joey was kissing her. Joey. Kissing her. And it was so real she could taste him on her lips. When he stopped kissing her, he looked troubled.
Mai? I… I dunno. I just… I got a bad feeling about leaving you.
"Mai, talk to me!"
She wrenched herself back to the vacant lot, to the Joey across the field shouting at her, then looked up at the silent Joey on top of the Red-Eyes. He gave her another intense look that made a shiver run through her. It was as if he could see through her, like he knew her. Like she knew him.
The other Joey was still shouting at her. "What's your move?"
"STOP IT!" she screamed, grabbing her ears, trying to shut him out, but even looking away, she couldn't shut out the Joey on the Red-Eyes. She looked up suddenly, narrowing her eyes as she regarded her opponent across the field. "You're not my future; you're my past."
"I can be both." But the truth wasn't in his eyes. It was in the other Joey's eyes.
"Red-Eyes Black Dragon, attack Blue Flame Swordsman!"
"YES!" Dark Magician—no, it was Yugi—pumped his magician's staff into the air in victory, startling Mai. She'd forgotten he was there.
Across the field, Joey's eyes became sharp slivers and his whole face hardened in a way she'd never seen before. "I activate my Double Magical Arm Bind, which allows me to sacrifice two of my monsters to gain control of two of yours. I think I'll be taking my Red-Eyes back from you, along with that Dark Magician."
Yugi let out a strangled cry of protest as long mechanical arms that ended in suction cups extended from Joey's side of the field and grabbed him, dragging him back with them. A second set of arms similarly captured Red-Eyes and pulled it—and its rider—to the opposite side of the field. The Orichalcos seals in their forehead disappeared, but they were still formidable, with 2500 and 2400 hundred attack points respectively.
And she had nothing.
"Joey" smirked at her. "And, of course, since my Blue Flame Swordsman went to the graveyard, the original Flame Swordsman is summoned in his place."
Mai cursed inwardly; if she'd only been left one monster, she could activate her Nightmare Tri-Mirror now that he'd special-summoned Flame Swordsman, but with nothing on her side of the field to copy, it did her no good.
"Still wanna dance, baby, or are we done here?"
She shot him a hard look. "I'm not your baby. And no, we're far from done here. I play Card of Sanctity, which allows us each to draw until we have six cards in our hand.
"Fine by me." He shrugged, drawing four more cards. She drew six and looked at them, her eyes widening in surprise yet again. Gift of the Mystical Elf. Dark Magician Girl. Command Knight. Orgoth the Relentless. Fire Princess. Mirror Wall. Of those six cards, only Mirror Wall had ever been in her deck before. But these cards…
Serenity. Téa. Tristan. Duke. Rebecca. Her friends. She looked over to the Dark Magician-Yugi, who nodded at her.
"Now do you understand, Mai? Do you remember?"
"I understand. But… are you really here?" She looked up at the Joey atop Red-Eyes. "Are you? You haven't said a word to me."
"What are you talking about?" the opponent Joey said. "Of course I'm here, and I've been talking to you all night! Where the hell have you been?"
She ignored him, listening only to Yugi as he answered her question. "The cards represent all of us, but only I'm really here."
"How?"
He shrugged, but it was an imperious kind of shrug, like he couldn't be bothered with such trivialities. "I was the bearer of the Millennium Puzzle. Do you honestly think he can lock me out of a Shadow Game?"
A ghost of a smirk crossed her lips, then was gone. "What if I lose?"
Not-Joey shook his head. "You know what happens if you lose. The Seal of Orichalcos takes your soul."
"You go to the Shadow Realm," Yugi said.
"And you?"
"I keep fighting until I get you back," Not-Joey said.
Yugi met her eyes. "I go with you."
She cocked her head, feeling the weight of that responsibility on her shoulders. "Then why did you come here?"
"To get you back!"
"Because you're my friend."
She caught her breath and let it out slowly. "Then let's win this thing. Together."
Yugi smiled. "Now you're talking."