Chapter 38 : New Game

It was midnight, and after Joey had put Leo and Luna to sleep, he walked downstairs to find Yuko, hard at work on his deck construction, stacks of cards piled all over the dinner table.

Joey smirked at the sight. "Shouldn't you be in bed sleeping?"

Yuko looked up and shook his head. "I've almost finished...just give me another two hours", he said enthusiastically, causing Joey to roll his eyes and sigh.

"You've been working on your deck for the whole day! I suggest you get some rest for tomorrow!" remarked Joey sleepily.

Yuko raised his eye brows in curiosity. "Why? What so special about tomorrow?"

Joey smirked and decided to lay down on the couch. "Tomorrow...your gonna be dueling me!"

Yuko gulped loudly as his eyes widened, causing Joey to chuckle lightly before falling asleep.

In the morning, Yuko was outside on the balcony of the twins apartment, attaching Luna's pink duel disk on to his arm (considering that he still didn't have his own), while Joey stood a few meters opposite him waiting impatiently. The sun was shining brightly over New Domino City and the temperature had risen to a near 33 degrees, therefore Leo and Luna preferred to watch the duel between Joey and Yuko from inside the house where there was the air conditioning.

"Are you ready to duel, Yuko!? Or would you prefer to wait until tomorrow?" asked Joey sympathetically, a slight mocking tone in his voice.

Yuko shook his head while his duel disk began to shuffle his new constructed deck. "No way! Tomorrow I'm going to go to the New Domino City Grand Prix! I want to be there so to encourage Yusei, Jack, Akiza and Crow!" he stated enthusiastically.

Joey smirked and nodded. "Alright, then it's time to duel!"

Joey: 4000

Yuko: 4000

"Go Yuko! You can do this!" shouted Leo from the inside couch (the twins had opened the balcony window in order to pay more attention the duel).

Good luck, Yuko!" yelled Luna excitedly.

Yuko gave the twins a thumbs up and winked while drawing 5 cards. He then drew a card to begin his turn. "I draw!"

Yuko looked at the 6 cards in his hand. He had finally created his master deck, and had based most of the cards from his friends, combining them into something new (of course, Yuko also put in he cards that would correspond to him as well).

"Alrighty then...I summon out the Tuner monster Shiba-Warrior Taro in Def mode!" declared Yuko, and watched as a small dog appeared before him with a tiny bone sword attached to his collar. From the appearance of the small dog, Leo tried his best to suppress a laugh, causing Luna to elbow his brother hard against his rib cage.

"A Tuner monster? On the first turn?" asked Joey oddly.

Yuko nodded. "Now I set a face down and end my turn!"

Joey sighed and reached for the top card of his deck. "Alright, it's my turn! I draw a card!" he yelled in his funny Brooklyn accent. "And I'm gonna start off with something small...like Little Winguard in Atk mode!" A small warrior in blue armor appeared before Joey. "Now go Little Winguard! Attack that Shiba!" he yelled as he pointed at the small dog Tuner monster.

All of a sudden, Joey watched as Little Winguard's came to a halt as Yuko's "Shiba-Warrior Taro" deflected the attack.

"Ha HA! My Shiba's effect is that it cannot be destroyed in battle! Therefore, your attack was all for nothing!" said Yuko gleefully, and began to hop happily on the spot.

Joey frowned. "Fine! I now use Winguard effect and put him in Def mode, and I'll place two cards face down and end my turn!"

Yuko's field: Shiba-Warrior Taro in Def + a face down trap card.

Yuko's hand: 4 cards

Joey's field: Little Winguard in Def + 2 face down trap cards.

Joey's hand: 3 cards

Yuko smiled. "It's my turn again! I draw...and I sacrifice my Shiba in order to summon out...Salvage Warrior in Atk mode!" A blue skinned ogre wearing a rescue suite appeared in front of Yuko.

"Now I use his effect! When he is tribute summoned, I can special summon a Tuner monster from my hand! Therefore, I choose to summon out...Phantom Lord Hide Ride in Atk mode!" said Yuko as a dark knight riding an armored horse appeared before him.

"YES! Now he can Synchro summon 8 stars!" whispered Leo to Luna.

"Now I Synchro summon 8 stars in order to summon out my most powerful, almighty beast!" yelled Yuko in an irregular voice, his heart beating faster, barely able to contain his excitement.

Leo's and Luna's eyes widened (while Joey kept a straight face). They had only ever seen Yuko summon out his Sea Dragon Lord Gishilnodon...which was a five star Synchro monster. However, Yuko was now summoning a 8 star Synchro, and even claimed it to be his most powerful beast.

"Come forth...Void Ogre Dragon!" bellowed Yuko, and just as he place the card on to his duel disk, a dark red flash of light beamed on the balcony in front of him. A gust of wind began to blow against Joey and the twin, as a huge scarlet and black Dragon emerged on to the field. It roared malevolently and with it's evil eyes, glared at Yuko's opponent.

"Not bad...not bad at all", complimented Joey, an prepared his stance in case he would get blown away from the attack the the dragon was about to declare. Leo and Luna looked at the creature speechlessly, until something invisible seemed to interrupt Luna's concentration.

"What's wrong, Kuribon?" she whispered to herself, as Yuko pointed at Joey. "I then place the remaining 3 cards in my hand face down. Now go Void Ogre Dragon! Attack with Inferno Shadow Blast!"

Joey sighed. "Not so fast, Yuko...but I activate the Trap Mirror Force! Sorry about this, but your monster is about to get extinguished!"

However, the attack did not stop and continued to explode on to Little Winguard, causing Joey to fly back into the wall behind him!

"What the...why did my Trap card not work?" yelled Joey angrily, after coughing up from the impact.

Yuko grinned, a dark aura developing around his body, his eyes beginning to darken with shades for purple and red. "It's my dragon's effect...when I have no cards in my hand, I can negate a spell of trap card per turn. Therefore, your Mirror Force had no effect!" he explained, his voice beginning to sound...strangely intimidating.

Joey grunted and got back up on to his now wobbly legs. "Whatever! It's my turn!"

Luna nudged Leo lightly. "Hey Leo...don't you think Yuko is acting a little...different?" she whispered nervously.

Leo hesitantly nodded. "Now that you mention it...he is acting a little...unkind"

Joey looked at his hand and frowned. He had a "Polymerization" in his hand, but knew that if he activated it, Void Ogre Dragon would just negate it. "Fine! I draw and I activate Monster Reborn!"

Yuko continued to smile. "Very well. I negate your Spell card with the effect of Void Ogre Dragon!"

Joey grinned lightly as he place the Spell card into the graveyard. "Good! Cause considering you've now used your Void Ogre's effect, it's now safe for me to activate Polymerization!" yelled Joey in an awkwardly prideful manner.

Yuko's smile vanished.

"Now I fuse in my hand, my Red Eyes Black Dragon with the card the my best friend gave me, the Summoned Skull!" stated Joey, the air around the field beginning to swirl, unleashing a new kind of dark power. "I summon out Black Skull Dragon!"

The dark violet and black smoke that had been surrounding Void Ogre Dragon began to absorb itself into a large malevolent portal, which opened up on the balcony floor. The air continued to swirl round and a large, undead-like dragon came rising out of the void. The beast roared with a sound more threatening than any fierce beast Yuko had ever heard and the twin both felt an aura of discomfort surrounding them.

However, the twins noticed that unlike Yuko, Joey kept a normal appearance, considering that his eyes did not change color with a shade of red or purple.

Joey: 4000

Yuko: 4000

Yuko's field: Void Ogre Dragon in Atk+ 4 face down trap card.

Yuko's hand: 0 cards

Joey's field: Dragon + 1 face down trap cards.

Joey's hand: 2 cards

"Nice card...too bad it won't be around for long! I activate my face-down, Torrential Tribute!" said Yuko, his voice beginning to growl.

Joey sighed. "That's what I was afraid of...I counter with the quick-play Spell card from my hand, My Body as a Shield!"

Luna gasped, and nudged her brother. "Leo! We need to stop the duel!"

Leo raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Why? What's wrong?"

"Kuribon's just told me that...if Yuko manages to win this duel...he will fall into darkness"

Leo's expression turned serious. "What!? How?"

Luna pointed at the Void Ogre Dragon. "That monster...it's trying to take control of Yuko!"

"How...how do you know that?" asked Leo stutteringly.

Joey turned to the twins, after having paid 1500 of his life points so to cancel out Yuko's Trap card. "That monster...was never in the box of cards that had been given to Yuko by Zane. He got that from someone else..."

The twin stood up off the couch. "Wait...you know about this?" asked Luna nervously.

Joey nodded. "That's why I can't lose today! I activate the final two cards in my hand! The spell cards Megamorph and Riryoku! Which leaves your monster with not only 1500 ATK, but increases my monsters ATK up to 7900!

Yuko's eyes widen. "Im...Impossible..."

Joey grinned. "You give up?"

Yuko's expression began to infuriate. "Never! I still have 3 face-downs! Go ahead and attack! See what happens!"

Joey wiped the sweat of his brows. "It's true...3 face-down trap cards would help you a lot...but considering that I have also got a face-down, there's nothing which you can do to stop my attack!"

Yuko gulped, his chestnut colored eyes beginning to turn back to normal.

"I activate my face-down, Heavy Storm! This card has the power destroy all Spell and Trap cards on the field, therefore it is safe for me to attack!" shouted Joey, almost out of breath. "Go Black Shull Dragon! Attack with Inferno Flame Breath!"

The twins watched with bewildered expressions as they saw a stream of hot red flame come bursting on to Void Ogre Dragon, consuming it's body after it had let out a shriek of pain and loss. Void Ogre Dragon was no more, and shortly after Yuko's life points came down to 0, and an explosion followed enabling smoke and dust the scatter over the battle field, leaving behind a huge crater in the balcony floor.

Joey, Luna and Leo stared at the cloud of smoke, the dust particles in the surrounding air causing Luna's eyes to shed a few tears.

"Yuko!" shouted Joey as he deactivated his duel disk before sprinting over to Yuko. "Hey Yuko! You Ok?" He then tripped over at the edge of the crater which he had created, and his eyes widened with worrying thoughts as he found the silhouette in the center.

"Yuko! Is that you? Are you ok?" said Joey in a panic, trying to see through the smoke.

There was a sudden coughing sound and Yuko's voice followed. "Yeah (cough, cough) I'm fine...ish", replied Yuko awkwardly.

As the smoke cleared, Joey found Yuko down on his back, looking up at the sky. "Yuko! Your alive!"

Yuko sat up slowly and looked up at Joey, while rubbing the back of his head. "Well of course I'm alive! We were using holograms in that duel! Holograms aren't meant to hurt!" Yuko expressed himself in a confusing manner.

Joey began to laugh awkwardly at the sight of Yuko. "Ah...well...you see...even if they were holograms...my Black Skull Dragon...kinda wasn't..."

Yuko blinked in surprise. "Really? Why?"

Joey scratched his head guiltily. "Well...it was the only way to destroy your Void Ogre Dragon! You see...some monsters...even if they are a hologram...can still cause pain according to their strengths...or in this case their origins. Sorry that I didn't mention that sooner...I just didn't know that you were gonna summon such an evil monster like Void Ogre Dragon!" explained Joey casually.

Yuko blinked again. "Void Ogre Dragon? What's that?"

Joey began to stare at Yuko's curious expression. "You summoned it during our duel!? How could you not remember?"

"I did? Really? I guess I must have started day dreaming or something. All I remember is the start of the duel and the end of the duel!" stated Yuko innocently. "You activated Heavy Storm during the end of the duel, didn't you?

"Yep! Pretty cool tactic, wasn't it?" said Joey cheerfully.

Yuko nodded. "Though...why would you put it face down to begin with...it's a Spell card?"

Joey tilted his head to one side. "Oh yeah...I guess I wasn't thinking straight. I must have put it face down by accident!" admitted Joey sheepishly, and turned to face the twins, the smoke now having cleared the balcony. "It's alright guys! Come on over!" he shouted as he then reached down to check Yuko's deck. After having searched through it a few times, Joey handed the deck back to Yuko with a disappointed expression. "That's strange. Void Ogre Dragon isn't in your deck...this doesn't make any sense..."

"Told ya so", said Yuko indifferently as he began scratching the back of his head, untangling his white, messy hair.

"Yuko! Your alright!" yelled Luna as she approached the scene, followed by Leo. "We thought you were..." Luna paused as she examined Yuko's appearance, before quickly turning to one side, her cheeks completely red with blush.

Leo looked at Yuko wide-eyed with shock, while Joey was thinking out loud to himself. "Yuko...why are you naked?" asked Leo innocently.

Joey then turned to point at Yuko. "Oh yeah...I forgot to mention. Your naked!"

"Wh...What?" asked Yuko in a confused tone, before looking downwards to study his figure. Taken completely by surprised, he immediately tried to cover up his general appearance. "You could have mentioned that a little sooner! Why the hell am I naked!?"

Joey quickly yanked off his jacket and through it over Yuko. "Sorry about that. You can blame Black Skull Dragon for incinerating your clothes..."

Yuko: Yes...it was a strange turn out of events.

Carly: (Laughs) That has to be the funniest ending to a chapter I have ever read! ^_^

Yuko: Ok Ok...I get it! Ha...ha...ha it's so funny...

Carly (Continues to laugh)) You must have been so embarrassed! XD

Yuko: I was... T_T

Carly: (Starts giggling) Anyway...Please don't forget to Review! Feel free to make fun of Yuko! ;D

Yuko: Your hopeless... -_-