Yu-Gi-Oh!:

Guardian of Death

DUEL 12: Down to the Wire

(Are you okay?) Anubis asked his partner.

::Yes:: Patrick thought::I'll be okay. I just need this to be over. But before I get to Pegasus I have to get past Jonouchi.::

"Will our remaining duelists please report to the arena for the Duelist Paradise finals?" Krocketts announced over the P.A. system. Patrick stood, adjusting his vest, and walked out. His verbal scuffle with Jonouchi would probably fuel Jonouchi's side of play, but Patrick wanted only one thing...another shot at Pegasus.

Patrick opened up the stadium double-doors to a roaring crowd. Patrick was humbled by the show of support, but he had no need to be famous. He walked to the dueling arena and stood waiting as Jonouchi walked to the field. They stared at each other, trying to get into the each others mind.

"You ready, amateur?" Jonouchi mocked.

"I'm gonna love crushing you, you know," Patrick responded with a chuckle. Jonouchi growled. The fans up roared all of a sudden and Jonouchi and Patrick looked around for the cause. Patrick's eyes finally fell on Pegasus entering a special viewing booth. He growled and turned back to his opponent, ready and with fervor.

"DUEL!!" the boys said together. Patrick drew his first card and set two cards and a monster face-down in defense. "Alright," Patrick started, "show me the difference between us, Jonouchi."

"You got it!" Jonouchi drew, "I'll set two cards as well and then summon Swordsman of Landstar!" A cartoonish beast took form on the field. Its goofy face was printed on the tiny shield it held, "It might not look like much, but it'll take out any monster you summon, I guarantee it!"

"We'll see," Patrick muttered, "I'll summon the Servant of Catabolism! Attack directly with Tide of the Catabolism!" Patrick's raggedy monster blasted into Jonouchi directly. His LP counter was whittled down to 1300.

"Huh? You actually got me? But I was the runner-up at the last tournament! Well, things've changed since Pegasus's last tournament! Including my deck! Check out these new cards!" Jonouchi flipped over a spell, "Graceful Dice!" A chibi being with a top hat and tiny angel wigs emerged on the field holding a blue die. He dropped it and rolled a four, "And the trap card Skull Dice!" Jonouchi flipped his other card and a chibi demon appeared holding a red die which was rolled for a five.

"So what is all this?" Patrick asked.

"Graceful Dice ups Swordsman of Lasndstar's attack by four hundred because it rolled a four and Skull Dice rolled a five, reducing your monster's attack by five hundred and now attack!" Swordsman of Landstar lunged at the Servant of Catabolism but instead stood still on Patrick's side of the field.

"What the?" Jonouchi muttered.

"I activated my Change of Heart spell! It put your Swordsman on my side of the field for the rest of your turn," Patrick explained, "When you get control of him again your dice cards will have worn off!"

"Grrr...I'll set one monster face-down in defense and end my turn." Jonouchi mumbled angrily. Swordsman of Landstar returned to Jonouchi's side of the field.

Patrick drew a card, "You'll love this," he teased summoning a cybernetic monster to the field, "Jinzo # 7 in attack mode! It can attack your LP directly too! With Jinzo #7 and Servant of Catabolism attacking together you're down to only 100 remaining Life Points!"

Jonouchi reeled from the onslaught of Patrick's barrage of direct attacks, "Well, I'll just have to-"Jonouchi began reaching for his face-down monster and drew a card. His eyes focused on the card he drew," Hee hee hee! I'll summon this! My rarest card, the Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" A demonic black dragon with glowing, pulsing scarlet eyed arose on the field with a roar, "With this I can even up the score! Red-Eyes Black Dragon, use your Dark Fireball on Jinzo #7!" A bright sphere of energy was released from the dragon's mouth striking Jinzo #7 and incinerating it. Patrick's LP went straight to 100, even with Jonouchi.

"Not bad," Patrick said switching Servant of Catabolism to defense, "I'll set two cards and end my turn."

"Crap!" Jonouchi exclaimed, "I could've finished you! Oh well, I flip up my Panther Warrior," Jonouchi flipped his monster into attack. A purple-ish black cat with green armor emerged, "I'll sacrifice Swordsman of Landstar to attack with Panther Warrior and destroy Servant of Catabolism!" Panther Warrior's sword diced the servant.

"Next, Red-Eyes Black Dragon, incinerated his face-down monster!" Red-Eyes launched a blast that did just that.

Patrick drew a card. His demeanor was bleak. "I end my turn," he mumbled.

"Ha!" Jonouchi laughed, "Now that you can't do anything, there's nothing I can do either! Just forfeit! I don't wanna have to wait for your deck to run out of cads."

Patrick knew the duel rode on the next card. The crowd grew silent. His eyes gazed on the card that "Bandit" Keith had lost to him. "I activate Graceful Charity. I draw three cards and discard two. Ha! Now I'll activate the Black Illusion Ritual! I discard from my hand the Sonic Bird and summon Relinquished!" The great beast of Patrick's deck arose on the field. It loomed over the arena, silencing the crowd.

"Now suck the Red-Eyes Black Dragon into yourself and take its power!" Relinquished opened its massive wings and inhaled Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Its wings closed and the Red-Eyes appeared wedged into its wings. Its power now matched that of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon.

"It's over Jonouchi. Relinquished, Dark Fireball attack on Panther Warrior!" Relinquished mimicked Red-Eyes Black Dragon's attack and blasted it at Panther Warrior. It was destroyed in a dazzling array of light. Jonouchi's LP counter went to 0.

"Guess you weren't an amateur after all, eh?" Jonouchi admitted, "Here, my Red-Eyes. You've earned it. I'll be back for it one day, so don't get comfy!" Jonouchi waved his finger at Patrick making him chuckle.

"No, I'll take Salamandra. I have no need for Red-Eyes Black Dragon, y'know?" Patrick taunted

"Heh, you're good guy," Jonouchi said.

"Let's have a round of applause for the Duelist Paradise Champion. Patrick Kingston!" Krocketts blared and the crowd cheered with vigor. Patrick grabbed the mic.

"Let's hear it for Katsuya Jonouchi!" The fans applauded the sportsmanship. Krocketts took back the mic.

"As champion, you have the choice to challenge Master Pegasus for the grand prize of a super-rare prize card along with Pegasus's rarest card. Will you accept the challenge?" Krocketts asked moving the mic to Patrick's mouth.

"I accept."