23. The Worst Moment
When Joey finally grabbed hold of the top card in his deck, he looked at it and placed it immediately on the field. "I summon my Little Winguard in attack mode."
Mai shook her head. "What for? It can't protect you from three monsters, the weakest of which has 1800 attack points."
"No, but this can," he said, slotting one of the two remaining cards in his hand into the spell/trap opening on his Duel Disk. "Swords of Revealing Light!"
Several swords of glowing white light descended on them from the sky, forming a sort of cage around Mai, Yugi, Red-Eyes, and Fire Princess, preventing them from attacking for three turns.
"You bought yourself a little time, but that's all. Now it's my turn." Mai drew, then called out her plays. "First I'll switch Fire Princess to defense mode." She turned the Fire Princess card sideways on her Duel Disk, causing "Rebecca" to kneel down on the field. "And next, I think I'll bring another one of my friends out into the lineup. You remember your best friend, don't you, 'Joey?'" She played another monster card sideways, and Command Knight materialized beside Fire Princess. He was covered in a strange serrated armor and had Tristan's face. He, too, was kneeling in defense posture.
While Mai made her moves, Yugi studied the field. "Joey" had the relatively weak Little Winguard and one card in his hand. It was something that had been in his hand for some time, even before drawing Card of Sanctity, since the last few turns he'd played all the cards he drew. He could just be biding his time with a useless card in his hand, holding her off with Sword of Revealing Light until he drew a card that would help him, but what could help him overcome monsters with 3000 and 2900 attack points respectively? Yugi thought about Joey's deck and strategies as they were nearly four years ago when he'd actually played this duel against Mai. What did he have in his deck that could defeat such powerful monsters?
And then he knew.
"Mai," he said quietly, turning to face her. "Do you see his strategy? Do you know what he has in his hand?"
Mai looked at the field and considered it. After a moment, her eyes widened in recognition. "Gilford the Lightning. I remember now. He played it early in our real duel, so he's gotta have it in his hand. This duel started out as a card-for-card replay of the original. So if that's true and he gets two more monsters before Swords of Revealing Light expires, he can sacrifice all three to summon Gilford—"
"Which will destroy every monster on your side of the field and you'll be open to his attack."
She nodded, contemplating her cards. "Okay, I have a card that will get us around Swords of Revealing Light, but it's gonna take some tricky timing and some real luck of the draw. I know, I know, 'trust in the Heart of the Cards,'" she said when Yugi opened his mouth to say something. He closed his mouth again and grinned at her.
The fake was quickly losing patience with them, however. "You gonna sit there and talk to your cards all day or are you gonna duel?"
"You in such a big hurry to lose? Well, then, I'll be happy to oblige. Last but never ever least, it's time to bring back my oldest friend, Cyber Harpie Lady." She played Monster Reborn, which brought her pink-haired Cyber Harpie back from the graveyard. The glowing Orichalcos seal on her forehead boosted her attack to 2300. "And I think that's enough for now."
Joey drew, hand still shaking, and played the card directly onto the field, summoning The Fiend Megacyber. "My Fiend Megacyber's a level-six monster, but his special effect allows me to special-summon him from my hand without a sacrifice if my opponent has at least two more monsters on the field than I do. So thanks for helping me out there, Mai."
"Anytime, especially since you just did me a favor in return." Mai smiled in triumph. "By special-summoning a monster to the field, you've allowed me to activate my Nightmare Tri-Mirror card, which gives me one copy of one of my monsters for every monster you have on the field. I'll take two more Cyber Harpies, thank you very much."
"Wait! You can't have seven monsters on the field!"
"Oh, but this Orichalcos seal on my forehead says I can," she said, pointing to herself. "Or have you forgotten that the Seal of Orichalcos doubles the number of monsters I'm allowed on the field?"
"Fine, but with The Fiend Megacyber's 2200 attack points, you can say good-bye to your Fire Princess." The Fiend Megacyber slashed at Fire Princess and she disintegrated without so much as a murmur of protest from "Rebecca."
"So long, Munchkin. Thanks for being here for me." Mai gave a nod of gratitude in the direction of the departed Fire Princess, then drew, setting the card she had just drawn facedown into a spell/trap slot. She lowered her voice and leaned toward Yugi. "This will protect my Life Points if he does successfully summon Gilford. But what about you? What happens if you go to the graveyard? If I win with you in the graveyard, will you still come back with me?"
Yugi met her gaze unwavering. "I've been in one other Shadow Game where real souls replaced monsters on the field. The graveyard was a dangerous place. No, I don't think I will come back with you if you win while I'm in the graveyard."
Her eyes widened in alarm. "But Rebecca and Serenity? They're okay, right, since they aren't really here?"
He offered her a reassuring smile. "They're safe."
"But you are really here. You came just to help me." Mai set her jaw. "All right then, protecting my Life Points isn't good enough. We have to destroy those monsters before he can sacrifice three to summon Gilford. If he doesn't draw a monster on the next turn, we're good to go because Swords of Revealing Light will expire before he can get enough monsters to tribute and we can just attack."
Yugi stroked his chin. "On the other hand, if he gets Monster Reborn or some other card that will allow him to special summon the third monster, he can summon Gilford on the same turn."
Mai put her right hand on her hip and tilted her head. "I don't suppose Heart of the Cards works for us in reverse on the other guy's deck?"
"Well, seeing as he's got Joey's deck but it isn't really Joey, then I think we have the definite advantage in terms of connection." He had the feeling he knew what her strategy was and what she needed. "You, on the other hand, are deeply bonded to all your Harpie cards."
"You're talking to your cards again, Mai," Joey said. "That Orichalcos is making you nuttier than I thought. You done or what?"
She tossed her hair over her shoulder. "It's your move."
Yugi watched carefully, hoping "Joey" would draw a trap or spell that would not allow him to special summon a monster. It took him about four tries to steady his hand enough to grab onto the top card of his deck. Mai looked away again and Yugi tapped his foot impatiently, wanting the charade to be over. Finally, "Joey" pulled the card out and after looking at it, played it, summoning Panther Warrior. Yugi wasn't sure whether to feel anxious or relieved—"Joey" now had three monsters, which was enough to sacrifice for Gilford, but because Panther Warrior was normal summoned, he would have to wait one more turn. With Swords of Revealing Light still in effect, it all came down to Mai's last draw.
Yugi turned to watch Mai as she drew, and knew instantly she'd gotten exactly what she needed. He smiled at her. "I told you. Always trust the Heart of the Cards."
She looked up at "Joey." "Time to end this duel so I can finally move on with my life—"
She stopped suddenly, her hand, still holding the card she'd just drawn, popping up to cover her mouth as a horrified look came to her eyes.
"Mai?" Yugi's brow furrowed in concern. "What is it?"
"That's exactly what I said the last time, when I—" She stopped again with a gasp. "Oh, God, Joey…"
Yugi followed her gaze across the lot where "Joey" was barely able to stay on his feet. He smiled at her, teetering dangerously. "Come on, Mai, play your card and win. I know you have something powerful in your hand. How you use it is up to you. But you're one of the greatest duelists I know, and I'm sure you're gonna make the right decision. Underneath all that anger and frustration is a good person."
"No—" Her face was pale. "Not again, I can't do this again…."
"Mai!" Yugi snapped at her, trying to get her attention. "You know this isn't real. That that isn't Joey. You're not letting the Orichalcos get him again—he's safe back in our penthouse, waiting for you."
"I know, but—" She looked past Yugi to where Joey was swaying on his feet. "I can't go through it again, I can't. Joey…."
Yugi tried to go to her, but he was still locked in his place on the field. "Mai, I know you love him and you don't want to relive seeing him get hurt—"
"Not just getting hurt. Not like it's something I just stood by and watched. I did it to him. It was the worst thing I ever did. How can you of all people ask me to do it again?"
"I'm not asking you to do it again." He sighed. "Listen, Mai, you're right. I know better than anyone how much you don't want to relive the worst moment of your life, when you hurt the one person who meant everything to you. But do you know what the worst moment of Joey's life was? It was when he lost you. When Marik sent you to the Shadow Realm and we couldn't wake you up, that was the worst moment of Joey's life. Are you willing to put him through that again just so you can try to rewrite your own memories? You can choose not to play that card and you can lose this duel, but that won't change the past, will it? It won't change the fact that four years ago, you did win, and Joey did lose his soul. But you know how the story ends. You know what comes next. You don't have to be stuck here."
On the other side of the field, "Joey" called out to her. "Congratulations, Mai. You win." He managed a wan smile before collapsing to his knees.
She cried out, almost dropping her cards. "No!"
"MAI!" For a moment, Yugi thought she would forfeit, but she stayed rooted to her spot as if by sheer force of will.
"I can't stop what the Orichalcos did to you," she said, grief etched in every word, and Yugi realized she wasn't addressing the Joey on his knees across the field, but rather the one riding high astride Red-Eyes Black Dragon. "But I'll be damned if I'm gonna be responsible for your best friend going to the Shadow Realm."
As if the card in her hand was nearly too heavy to lift, she heaved her arm up and jammed the card face up into one of the spell/trap slots on her Duel Disk. Immediately, the three Harpies on the field clustered together in front of Yugi, settling into a formation he knew even before they'd moved—Harpie Lady Phoenix Formation. For each Harpie in the Phoenix Formation, one monster on the opposing side of the field was destroyed, its attack points counted as damage against the owner's Life Points, and because it was the effect of a spell card and not a monster attack, Swords of Revealing Light couldn't stop it. Electric blue light emanated from the three Harpies, producing a ghostly image of a giant flaming bird, which attacked Joey's Little Winguard, Fiend Megacyber, and Panther Warrior, eradicating all three of them. Joey, already on his knees, was blown backwards as 5600 hundred points of damage were hurtled at him and his Life Points dropped to zero.
Bathed in the blue light of the plasma-like phoenix, Joey shimmered and then, to Yugi's horror, it looked like he was melting. Mai made a gurgling sound as blue denim, blond hair, and pale flesh all dripped off him like wax off a candle, then split open, cracking off of him as if it were some giant Joey-shaped cocoon. Underneath was a monster with dark bronze armor that spiked out from its shoulders, bronze claws, and a chain mail skirt also made of bronze. The three energy bands connecting its arms and lower torso to its chest glowed greenish-white, with blue, yellow, and orange balls of fluorescent light in the middle of each band.
"Reshef!" Mai called the monster's name at the same moment that Yugi recognized it—Reshef the Dark Being, Ramesses' signature monster. Then Reshef, in turn, evaporated in the glow of the phoenix's light just before Yugi was swallowed by nothingness.
Monarch's eyes flew open and he gasped for air. No longer in a vision of a vacant lot in San Francisco, he was in his own study in Luxor, sitting in front of the fireplace.
He lost. He'd had her, she would've forfeited, but she beat him. Thank the gods it was not a full-out war like the last time. Playing by proxy through Reshef had protected him from any lasting damage from losing a Dark Game, and no one had thought to call a Penalty Game on him before it was over, but still, he lost.
It wasn't his fault—he could hardly be expected to win with Wheeler's pathetic deck—but he would've won anyway, if not for the boy.
Damn Yugi Mutou! How had he gotten into the Dark Game? How had he gotten past the locks and barriers Monarch had so careful to put into place? He gripped his fists on the arms of his chair, furious. Well, next time he would be ready for him. Valentine was merely a stepping-stone to the others, and when he invited his next opponent into a Dark Game, if Yugi Mutou chose to interfere again, he'd be ready.