Hellowe!
Forget what we said about last chapter... THIS is LONG!
And now we don't have exactly 11 000 words anymore! That's quite a shame, but we can't wait forever to post the next chapter, can we?
So we hope with all our heart and soul, that you will enjoy the fourth chapter of Heart to Beat!
Chapter 4
All the duelists had gathered before Pegasus' impressive castle and were waiting for his speech to come. Everyone was very excited and all eyes went to famous duelists like Yugi Mutou, Seto Kaiba and Joey Wheeler. Those three were the guys to beat in this tournament. Finally, Pegasus showed up and came up with a speech that was quite similar to the one he had done a few years ago. "Once again, we will use the usual gloves to collect starchips, but as some of you might have noticed already, there's a different design for the women. They won't wear any gloves, they will wear golden bracelets on their left arm. This is not because I want to create any differences between the two genders, but because I got complaints from former female participants."
Maya and Rose were carefully listening to Pegasus' speech. "Who would have the guts to complain about something insignificant as to wear gloves or bracelets?", Rose asked Maya in a tone as if she already knew the answer.
"You!", Maya replied, joking.
"Oh yeah? Am I a former participant or what?"
"No, but Mai Valentine is.", Maya said.
"Correct!"
"Yeah, it's obvious she's behind this discrimination.", Maya said, with an indignant expression on her face.
"Why does she want to be discriminated?", Rose said laughing.
"Because it makes her feel sexy.", Maya replied. They both laughed crazily as they watched her stand a little farther away.
"But she is right.", Rose said when she was able to talk again. "Our bracelets are a lot more beautiful than those stupid gloves the boys have to wear. Like they're going to box or something."
"Yeah, just look at those hard yellow things on the knuckles.", Maya giggled, "that way it will hurt even more. I bet Pegasus did that on purpose."
"Of course, it's all part of his master plan! This is not going to be a duel monsters tournament! This is going to be a boxing tournament! And we, the girls, will be showing the scores in the ring and for that we need decoration such as bracelets!", Rose said, giving her imagination unlimited liberty now.
"And Seto will be the strongest boxer with the most muscles!", Maya yelled, causing some people to turn round and look at them. Luckily they were talking in Dutch.
"No! Rex will be the sexiest boxer with an unbeatable dinopunch and dinokick!", Rose replied.
All the people could understand was: "Rex… sexy… dino… dino!" Conclusions were made.
"Nonsense! Rex doesn't stand a chance against the almighty Blue-eyes Seto Dragon!", Maya yelled again forgetting there were people standing around them. All they heard this time was: "Rex… Blue-Eyes Seto Dragon!" People were getting confused now.
"Caféjoenk! The almighty Tyrannosaurus Rex is the most feared creature in all history! Kaiba will be shaking in fear!", Rose replied, lowering her voice for she was aware they were not alone. People weren't able to overhear her anymore.
"No he won't!"
"Yes he will!"
"No he won't!"
"Yes he will!"
Rose and Maya were distracted from their conversation by Pegasus who was holding his arms in the air while wishing everybody good luck.
"Is he going to bless us?", Rose wondered out loud.
"I didn't know he was the Pope.", Maya said astonished.
"A Pope who's secretly organising boxing tournaments?", Rose was wondering again.
"Of course, the church doesn't allow any violent boxing tournaments.", Maya said.
"Poor guy…", Rose replied, and the two girls started giggling once again.
The crowd began to move across the island as only the fireworks still had to come, indicating the start of the tournament.
"Maya! We lost sight of Mai!", Rose suddenly realized.
"Shit! We have to find her before the fireworks begin."
"And don't forget the plan!", Rose reminded Maya, "We will both risk one starchip. If she loses twice, she'll be out of the tournament and if we both lose, we'll still be in the tournament!"
"Of course! My short-term memory is not that terrible."
Rose didn't answer that.
"And I will go first!", Maya suddenly said.
"Not that discussion again! I am going first!", Rose replied.
"No, I am!"
"No, I am!"
Their conversation was interrupted by the fireworks.
"Oh no! Where is she now?", Rose was worrying.
"There she is!", Maya yelled.
"Great! The one who reaches her first, will be the first to duel her! Ready?... GO!"
The two girls began running as fast as they could, but Maya was quickly getting behind. "That's not fair! You're faster than me!"
"I know!", Rose yelled back. She quickly got to Mai and said with full confidence: "Mai Valentine, my name is Rose Lieben and I challenge you to a duel." Mai however, didn't react. No-one reacted actually, for Mai was standing with her friends so they should have heard Rose as well. "Why are people always ignoring me?", Rose thought, remembering similar incidents. Maya came standing next to Rose. "Are they ignoring us? Why am I not surprised. But wait, I'll show them…", but Maya was cut short by Rose who knew her friend was going to yell for the whole island to hear. "No no, I'll fix this. They probably just didn't hear us.", Rose said. So she walked over to stand right in front of Mai, who raised an eyebrow when she saw Rose. "Mai Valentine, I challenge you to a duel.", Rose repeated.
"Really.", Mai said laughing a bit. "Aren't you that little moron I was supposed to share my room with?"
"Little moron?", Maya said defending her friend, "If you wouldn't be wearing your high heels, she would be taller than you."
Mai wasn't pleased with such a rudeness. "Even then, you would stay a dwarf compared to me."
"And with the heart on a better place compared to you.", Rose replied. Not giving Mai the chance to say something back, she continued: "Are we still going to duel or what? We both have two starchips, so let's both risk one."
"Ha! Typical loser's behaviour! Afraid I'll kick you out of the tournament of course. No huge moron, we'll both risk all our starchips."
"But I only want to risk one.", Rose insisted.
"Then there will be no duel, loser.", Mai replied. These two novices were getting on her nerves.
Rose was getting a bit angry and against one's better judgement, she accepted Mai's condition. Maya tried to stop Rose, but is was no use. She had already made up her mind. Suddenly the ground began to shake.
"An earthquake!", Maya and Rose shouted. "Everybody to the ground!" And so the two girls did, but they were the only ones. As they were wondering why, a huge dueling arena rose up from under the ground.
"Wow, that thing is huge.", Maya said in astonishment as she stood upright again.
"Do I have to duel on that? What an honour! Just like on TV.", Rose said, astonished as well.
"I knew they've never played a game before. This won't take very long.", Mai thought, a bit annoyed.
The two girls… no, the two women… no, the woman and the girl went to their side of the platform.
"Oh no…", Rose thought feeling embarrassed already, "I'm standing so high here, I'm the centre of attention. Everybody can see me do stupid things…"
"Ready, huge moron?", Mai asked, interrupting Rose's mental struggling.
"Yes, let's duel!"
In the meantime, somewhere on the island, Rex and Weevil both easily won a starchip. They already came farther in the tournament than last time, which gave them a feeling of confidence. As they moved on, searching for duelists, they spotted a dueling platform so the duel was probably still going on. They decided to go and take a look. Perhaps they could find a potential opponent. When they approached the platform, they saw it were Mai and Rose who were dueling. This didn't surprise Rex and Weevil. Just as they were about to ask Maya how things were going, Rose delivered the final attack of the duel. "I attack Harpie Lady 2 with Jurrac Velo." The violent velociraptor with a red head, green body and blue arms and legs attacked and made Harpie Lady 2 disappear causing Mai's life points to drop to zero.
"Wow! Maya! I won my first duel in a big tournament!", Rose screamed out, jumping up and down.
"Yay!", Maya screamed out as well, shaking her arms wildly in the air.
Rex and Weevil did their evil laugh for they really liked to see Mai lose. Mai on the other hand, just stood there in astonishment, not being able to believe her loss.
While Rose came off the platform, she looked down at Maya and spotted Rex and Weevil. "What? Did Rex see me win the duel? Waaaaahhhhh! This is the best day of my life!", Rose thought, but she managed to control herself and gave a calm expression. She went to Mai who had left the platform as well now.
"Can I have my starchips, please?", Rose asked while trying to stay polite. Without saying anything, but with a disrespectful look on her face, Mai handed over her starchips. This didn't go by unnoticed by Rose who wanted some revenge for all the insults she had heard during the duel. "Looks like you've underestimated this huge moron."
Suddenly, Joey stepped in. "No! That's impossible! Mai is a skilled duelist, she can't lose to a newcomer unless the newcomer cheats!" This caused some people to cough.
"I don't think the girl cheated, Joey.", Yugi said in a soft tone.
"Yeah, me neither. She looks quite honest to me.", Tea agreed.
Joey, however, didn't listen to his friends. "I challenge you to a duel and when I win, you will give Mai her starchips back!" Mai felt very touched because of this gesture.
"Hmm, this a good chance to earn another two starchips and if I lose, I'll still have two, so why not." "Okay, I accept your challenge." The two duelists went to their side of the dueling platform and said: "Duel!"
"Make sure you don't forget to draw any cards this time!", Maya warned Rose.
"No, no. I won't.", Rose replied, waving Maya's warning away.
"Yeah yeah, you always say that. You forgot to draw a card FIVE times against Mai!"
"Maya… shut up… I won't forget it…", Rose sang in a low voice for Maya was making her look like a fool in front of Rex and Weevil.
"Forgot to draw a card? Huh?", Weevil wondered, confused.
"Yes! I tried to tell you last night, but you wouldn't listen.", Rex said, a bit pissed off because of that fact.
"Rex, idiot! It was the middle of the night and then you wake me up to talk to me about some girl you dueled against? You freaky dino! Did you actually win or lose?"
"I won.", Rex replied.
"Good for you, now shut up."
"But there was more. She actually…" "I said shut up, Dino Breath!", Weevil interrupted his friend.
"Annoying, little bug…", Rex mumbled.
"You may begin if you like.", Rose said to Joey as usual. Maya sighed because she didn't share her friend's opinion about giving your opponent the opportunity to start off.
"From your last duel I have concluded that your deck isn't prepared for the field we're dueling on. Unfortunately for you, my deck is full of beasts and warriors.", Joey said as he drew his sixth' card. "I'll immediately notice if you cheat. I summon Panther Warrior (ATK 2000/DEF 1600) in attack mode!" A purple panther who stood on its two behind legs and holding a sword in one paw appeared to the field. "And with the field power bonus, it's attack becomes 2300! Next, I play two cards face-down and end my move, little cheater."
"Joey has got a strong monster on the field from his first turn. There's not a lot that girl can do now… actually, what's her name?" Yugi suddenly wondered.
"I have no idea.", Tea and Tristan said in unison.
"Her name is Huge Moron.", Mai said, who was still embittered.
"And her second name is Little Cheater." Joey continued.
"Aren't you overdoing it a little bit now?", Tea said to Joey, but he didn't seem to listen to her.
"You know how Joey can be when it's about Mai.", Tristan whispered to Tea and Yugi.
Mai and Joey hadn't bothered lowering their voices so Rose had overheard them, which made her grit her teeth.
"Just don't listen to them and concentrate on the duel!", Maya supported her friend.
"Maya is right. The best way to take revenge is to send him away from the island on the first boat. But for that, I'll have to stay cool.", Rose thought, trying to stay cool.
"I just hate those two…", Rex said so that only Weevil could hear him. Weevil only gritted his teeth for he had suffered similar humiliations himself.
Rose drew her sixth card and looked at it. "Well, if my monsters don't match with the field, then I'll have to adapt the field to my monsters." Rose went on. This caused everyone, except for Maya because she knew Rose's deck from the inside out, to wonder how she could do that.
"I activate the magical field card Jurassic World.", Rose said, hiding her pride. "This will give all dinosaurs a 300 attack- and defence boost. As a matter of fact, your Pandawarrior gets 2000 attack points again and…" but she was cut short by Joey, who angrily yelled it was a panther and not a panda, and Maya, Rex and Weevil who burst out into crazed laughter. Once Rose realised her mistake, she had difficulty staying serious. "I'm sorry, Pantherwarrior.", she chuckled. "Next, I'll summon Jurrac Dino (ATK 1700/DEF800) in attack mode." A colourful, little dinosaur appeared to the field. Yet it didn't look too happy and had enormous yellow feet who were on fire. "With Jurassic World, its attack becomes 2000 and I'll also special summon Gilasaurus (ATK1400/DEF400 → ATK1700/DEF700)." A fast-looking raptor took form. "Whenever I treat Gilasaurus as a special summon, you can special summon a monster from your graveyard, but of course you can't, for you still don't have any."
"Good move!", Maya shouted.
"This doesn't look too good for Joey, guys.", Tristan said.
"Please, the duel only just started. Nothing to worry about.", Mai answered.
"It all depends on his face-down cards.", Yugi said.
"Now I attack Pandawarrior with Jurrac Dino so that they destroy each other." As the two monsters battled and destroyed each other, Joey once again yelled it was a panther and not a panda. This caused Maya, Rex and Weevil to almost choke in their laughter and Rose herself wasn't quite doing better. "My excuses once again… I tend to be a little confused from time to time."
"Now don't be so shy, Rose.", Maya chuckled on "You tend to be a little very confused most of the time." This caused Rose to blush because she didn't want Rex to hear that… however he probably knew that already.
Rose looked from her Gilasaurus, who seemed ready for the attack, to Joey's open side of the field, excluding his two face-down cards. Should she attack or not?
"What are you waiting for, Caféjoenk? Just attack.", Maya advised her friend.
"Caféj… what kind of language is that?", Weevil asked half to Rex and half to himself.
"It's Dutch!", Rex replied, seeming proud that he knew that.
"… I see you've had quite a conversation, Rex.", Weevil said getting a bit suspicious.
"I tried to tell you, but you wouldn't listen."
"So tell me now. What more have you two 'talked' about?", Weevil asked, laying the stress on the word 'talked'.
"About why she's always so reluctant to attack.", Rex replied, looking up at Rose.
"What are you talking about?"
"About what she's saying at this very moment." Weevil returned his attention to Rose who was arguing with Maya.
"But he has two face-down cards, it's too risky."
"Caféjoenk! How many times have I defeated you, just because you didn't attack?", Maya yelled back at Rose, being annoyed because of that fact. "Now just attack! It's not that difficult!"
"Okay…", Rose mumbled. "I'll try to attack your life points directly with Gilasaurus." Gilasaurus moved quickly over the field to Joey. Just as he jumped high in the air to deliver the attack, four coloured sheep appeared.
"I activate Scapegoat!", Joey yelled, while Gilasaurus was forced to attack the pink one. It disappeared and three other sheep remained.
"… I usually like that card…", Rose said astonished.
"Ha! Now you know how it feels like to have it turned against you!", Maya said.
"I still love my adorable sheep!", Rose stated. "… but not his."
"Again those stupid hairballs!", Rex said gritting his teeth.
"Well, at least she's still in the advance, I guess.", Weevil replied, staying optimistic.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that…", Rex mumbled, remembering a certain duel.
"Okay, then I will place one card face-down and end my turn.", Rose said.
"Finally, my move!" Joey drew another card and looked at his possibilities. "I activate Star Blaster!"
"What does that do?", Rose said, frowning.
"You'll see, just wait.", Joey said as a little vampire-looking creature threw a die.
"Oh no…", Rex thought, knowing what Joey was up to.
Everyone looked in suspense at the die who landed on a five. Rose and Maya however, had no idea whether that was a good thing or not.
"Yes! A five! Now I sacrifice one of my scapegoats so I can summon a monster with six stars!", Joey explained.
"Huh? Hey, that's cheating! Tokens aren't allowed for a tribute summon!", Rose said, a bit pissed off because of the so-called cheating.
"Oh, but mine are. See for yourself!" A red sheep disappeared and made place for a bald and pink man who was dressed in a metallic looking jacket reaching to the ground. He wore something that could be called sunglasses, had needles around his long neck and his head was covered in veins. Although he had the shape of a human, he didn't look very human.
"Yuk!", Maya couldn't help but uttering her abhorrence.
"But that's impossible!", Rose continued, "Scapegoat can't be used for tributing, I'm positive! It never worked with me… Maya?", Rose looked down at her friend for help.
"There must be more than one version of the card. Just like there are two versions of Waboku. I can't come up with another explanation."
"The explanation just is that Scapegoat indeed cannot be used for a tribute summon, but is still treated as a monster anyway and Star Blaster excepts any monster. So in this case, Scapegoat can be tributed.", Joey explained.
Rose looked at Jinzo in fear, who she thought was extremely ugly and evil looking. Joey chuckled at the sight. "Now for Jinzo's special ability. He can destroy all trap cards you control! Do it Jinzo!"
…
Nothing happened.
"Hey, why is your card still there?", Joey asked disappointed and not understanding.
"Because it's not a trap card.", Rose simply stated.
"Oh… okay then, Jinzo attack her Gilasaurus!" Jinzo made an electrical ball in his hands and fired it off at Gilasaurus who gave a painful roar. While Gilasaurus disappeared from the field, Rose's life points dropped to 3300. Joyful cheers came from the gang.
"The man of the game is ending his turn.", Joey proudly said.
"The woman of the game is drawing her winner's card.", Rose fired back, although she wasn't so sure of it. "Okay, I still have my face-down card. There's not yet a lot to worry about." "I set a monster and end my turn."
"Is that all you're going to do?", Maya yelled from the side lines.
"Yes." "I can't help it, I can't do any better."
"This won't take very long now.", Joey said as he drew another card. "I summon Abare Ushioni (ATK1200/DEF1200) in attack mode!" A furious bull came to the field. Its skin was fire red and had a white pattern in it. "And I will immediately activate its special ability."
"And what's that?", Rose asked, being suspicious.
"Once per turn, I can toss a coin. If I call it right, you take 1000 points of damage, but if I call it wrong, I receive 1000 points of damage."
"What the heck? Do you actually realise what a risk you're taking?", Rose said, completely astonished.
"Yugi, isn't it a bit too risky for Joey to do that?", Tea asked Yugi. "I mean, he's in the advance, he doesn't need to."
"I don't know, Tea. Let's just hope Joey knows what he's doing.", Yugi answered.
"I doubt that…", Tristan said, giving his opinion as well.
"Let's do it!", Joey looked at his coin with full confidence. "I call heads!" He tossed the coin and… it was indeed heads. "YESSSSSSSSSSSS!"
Rose closed her eyes and let out a groan. Her life points dropped to 2300.
"Don't give up, Rose!", Maya tried to support her friend.
"That was just dumb luck!", Weevil said. Rex only gritted his teeth.
"Ouf… man this guy shortens my life with every single duel.", Tristan sighed.
"Let's go back to the game!", Joey went on. "I place one card face-down and attack your set monster with Jinzo!" Jinzo made another electrical ball and fired it off. As it hit its goal, a chicken-looking dinosaur with a hole in its stomach from which fire was coming out of, emerged shortly before disappearing again.
"That was Jurrac Gallim (DEF0/ATK1200)→(DEF300/ATK1500). He has a special effect.", Rose explained. "Whenever it is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, the monster who destroyed it, is being destroyed too."
"What?", Joey exclaimed.
"However, you can negate this effect if you discard one card from your hand."
Joey looked at the two cards in his hands. "There's no way I'm sending one of these cards to my graveyard. That would be betrayal." Joey looked at Jinzo. "But can I allow it to have my Jinzo destroyed?" Joey looked back at his Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Time Wizard. "No, I can't do it." "You win, I won't discard anything from my hand." Jinzo sank into the ground, while Joey mentally apologised. "But it's still my turn! And I attack your life points directly with Abare Ushioni!" The whole dueling arena shaked as the bull moved across the field towards Rose. Maya yelled as the bull pushed off to deliver the attack, but all of a sudden, there was a pink sheep skewered on one of its horns.
"I activate Scapegoat!", Rose proudly said.
"I knew you would do that!", Maya said. She had said that a lot of times before, but this time she was relieved.
"… Well that's what I call a taste of your own medicine.", Weevil said, surprised.
"That's the least you can say…", Rex answered surprised as well.
"Pfff, you were lucky this time, but it won't last. I end my turn.", Joey said, disappointed.
Rose looked at her cards. She only had three sheep on the field. Priority now, was to get rid of that Abare Ushioni in case that careless snummeltje activates its effect again. Rose reached out for a card to play.
"ONE!"
Rose looked at Maya, not understanding why she was calling the number 'one' at her.
"ONE! It's the first time this duel, you forget to draw a card.", Maya said, a bit annoyed and amused at the same time.
Rose started to blush and drew her card. This was too embarrassing.
Rex glanced over at Weevil who stood with his mouth opened. "You get it now?"
"Yeah… I get it."
"Ignore your own stupidity…", Rose 'comforted' herself. "I summon Jurrac Monoloph (ATK1500/DEF1200 → ATK1800/DEF1500) in attack mode." A friendly-looking little dinosaur came to the field. Its neck and a part of the tail were on fire. "He is allowed to attack all monsters you control once each."
"That's not good guys…", Tea commented.
"Okay Jurrac Monoloph, try to attack his Abare Ushioni first and then his two Scapegoats." Jurrac Monoloph did what he was told to do and destroyed Abare Ushioni first and then the two sheep. Joey's life points dropped to 3400.
"Good move, Rose! You're back in the game!", Maya cheered for her friend.
"I place a face-down card and…", but Rose was cut short by Joey.
"I activate Needle Wall!"
"What does that do?"
"During each of my standby phases I am allowed to roll a die. Your monster card zones get a number from one to five, and if there is a monster on the zone with the same number as the number I roll, the monster is destroyed."
"Oh no…", Rose mumbled.
"And if I roll a six, I can roll the die again for you only have five monster card zones. Now, what were you saying about putting a face-down card?"
"I was just ending my turn.", Rose mumbled a bit louder.
"Splendid!" Joey drew a card and went to his standby phase. "Time for a dice roll!"
Rose almost didn't dare to look at the die, but did it anyway. The die landed on a two. Suddenly, the yellow Scapegoat was surrounded by two walls with needles who moved towards each other until they crushed it and made it disappear.
"What a horrible death…", Rose couldn't help but feel sad for her cute Scapegoat. Joey didn't listen to her and looked at the card he had drawn. "There's not really anything I can do right now." "I lay one card face-down and end my turn."
"What? But Joey has no monsters on the field!", Tea exclaimed.
"Perhaps he has a good face-down card, again.", Tristan said, trying to stay optimistic.
"Of course he has… I'm sure of it.", Mai said hopefully.
"Let's just hope so. You can do it Joey!", Yugi thought.
"Draw a card!", Rose mentally reminded herself. "I set a monster…", she looked at Joey's face-down card, but decided to attack nevertheless. Otherwise, Maya would start complaining again. "I will try to attack your life points directly with Jurrac Monoloph." The dinosaur once again ran over the field and bit Joey who instinctively protected his head with his arms. His life points dropped to 1600.
"Finally, that worked…", Rose thought. "I end my turn."
"Cool! You're in the lead now, Rose!", Maya yelled.
Joey thought of activating his face-down card, but it was so risky. He could lose the duel if he had bad luck. He looked at the card he had drawn. Perhaps this could turn things round for him. He just needed some luck. "I almost forgot, I'm in my standby phase so I have to roll a die."
Once again, everyone unintentionally hold his breath while the die was rolling. It landed on a one. The pink sheep was crushed between two needle-walls and disappeared. Only a blue sheep remained.
"Now I activate Cup of Ace!", Joey went on. "Now I have to toss a coin and if it's heads, I can draw two cards. If it's tails, you get to draw two cards."
"How desperate are you to do something like that?", Rose said frowning. Joey however ignored her and tossed the coin.
"YEEAAAHHH!"
Rose just sighed. Did she expect anything else?
Joey looked at the two cards he got to draw. "Exactly what I need!" "I activate Second Coin Toss! If I toss a coin and the result is not in my advantage, I am allowed another toss."
"What? So you're saying that you are going to do another coin toss?", Rose said disbelievingly.
"Indeed! I activate The Paths of Destiny!"
"And what's that again?", Rose asked, losing her confidence.
"We both get to toss a coin. If the result is heads, the one who tossed the coin will receive 2000 life points. If not, he loses 2000 points."
"You're totally insane! How desperate are you?", Rose exclaimed, shuffling backwards.
"Don't forget Second Coin Toss is on the field, so my chances of luck rise.", Joey smirked.
"And he already is so lucky all the time…", Rex sighed.
"Let's do it! Coin toss!" It looked as if the coin was moving in slow motion, before it landed on tails.
"… It wasn't heads.", Joey said, getting a bit frightened. If the coin wouldn't be heads next time, he would lose the duel.
"Believe in yourself, Joey! Just like you believe in the heart of the cards, you have to believe in the coins now!", Yugi yelled wisely.
"Yugi is right. I have to trust the coin." "All right, here we go again, coin toss!"
All eyes were fixed on the coin who seemed to move even more slowly this time before it landed… heads!
"YYEEEAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Joey's life points rose to 3600. A wave of happiness came from the gang, while Rose, Maya, Rex and Weevil just stood there, with their jaws almost hanging to the ground.
"Of course, now you have to toss the coin, little cheater!", Joey said, bursting with confidence.
Rose trembled while she took a coin. If it wasn't heads, she would only have 300 life points left…
"Don't be afraid, Rose! Just toss the coin!", Maya tried to make her friend feel more confident, however she was scared herself too. Eventually, Rose made a clumsy coin toss, due to her trembling hands and the coin landed on tails, which caused Rose's life points to drop to a poor 300. She lowered her head. "Come on… this is not a gambling game…"
For the first time, Maya had no idea what to say to cheer Rose up and just stood gazing. Weevil's jaw had now touched the ground and he was unable to lift it up again. Rex on the other hand had managed to get his jaw again where it belonged, but he was feeling very depressed as he got some flashbacks from the past where similar things had happened. That Joey Wheeler just won his duels with dumb luck and he made everyone unhappy doing so.
"Now, the fun isn't over. It's still my turn and I summon Gearfread the Iron Knight (ATK1800/DEF1600) in attack mode!" A man covered in a shining, metallic armour-plating came to the field. "Gearfread, attack her set monster!" The metallic man moved his large sword and slashed some pudding with eyes. Joey's life points dropped to 2600.
"Hihihi, that's Marshmallon (DEF500/ATK300). Whenever it's being attacked while lying face-down, the attacker receives 1000 points of damage. Plus, he cannot be destroyed by battle."
"Marshmallon? That's Yuug's card!", Joey said, astonished. "What's a fairy doing in a dinodeck?"
"Marshmallon fits in any deck, doesn't it. And it's a nice, little surprise, don't you think?", Rose answered.
"Good! That's the spirit!", Maya said, believing in Rose's chances again.
Rex' jaw had now joined Weevil's on the ground. Luckily no-one was paying them attention for it was a distracting sight.
"Fine, then I'll end my turn.", Joey finished off.
Rose started to think and to think, but couldn't come up with a good move."If I would only have…" But her thoughts were being interrupted by a voice who said loudly: "TWO!"
Rose immediately knew what that meant and drew a card. This was exactly what she needed. "First, I'll lay a face-down card and then I'll tribute my Jurrac Monoloph so I can activate the spell card Big Evolution Pill. This card allows me to start summoning dinosaur-type monsters without having to tribute for three of your turns."
"That card would be perfect for my deck!", Rex exclaimed as Jurrac Monoloph disappeared from the field.
Rose looked at a card in her hand and closed her eyes as if she were disappointed. "I set a monster and end my turn."
"What? You're not going to summon something big?", Joey said not able to understand. He wasn't the only one. Rex was positive she was about to summon that supreme monster she was talking about the night before. Was she just desperate to do something? During all the confusion, Maya had stayed very silent.
"Be careful Joey! That set monster could have really high defence points!", Yugi warned Joey.
"I know, I'll fix it, Yuug." Joey drew a card and the following moment the die was rolled again and landed on a two. Despite it being pudding, Marshmallon couldn't resist the walls that were crushing him and disappeared from the field.
"Heah! Unfortunately for you, Marshmallon can be destroyed by a trap card!", Joey said victoriously.
"That's not good… her best defence is gone.", Weevil said.
"Wheeler won't get to her life points this turn…, perhaps she'll be able to summon something strong the next turn.", Rex said, trying to stay optimistic.
"First I set a monster and then I activate Blustering Winds on Gearfread, so his attack and defence rise with 1000 points (ATK2800/DEF2600)! Now, attack her set monster!" The armoured man, jumped into the air, but before he was able to slash its goal, a huge dinosaur came to the field and Gearfread was forced to return to his place.
Everyone looked in awe at the gigantic dinosaur who was way too big for the field. Its tail reached far behind Rose, the long neck bent over the entire field and there was drool coming from its mouth down on Joey's head. Luckily for him, it was just a hologram, so he wouldn't be all wet.
"Amazing…", Rex was able to mumble as his eyes were shining from great amazement.
"That's Sauropod Brachion (DEF3000/ATK1500 → DEF3300/ATK1800).", Rose said very proudly. "And he's even bigger than I expected. Anyway, whenever Sauropod Brachion is flip summoned, all other monsters switch into face-down defence mode." Gearfried the Iron Knight changed into a card. "The best part is, that when you attack Sauropod Brachion, any battle damage you take becomes doubled. So that means 3300 min 2800 is 500. Double that, and you lose 1000 life points." Joey's life points indeed dropped to 1600. "Then I'll also activate my trap card Ceasefire."
"And what does that do?", Joey asked, getting a bit worried.
"It flips all face-down defence position monsters face-up." Gearfried returned to his former position on the field. "Now, you receive 500 points of damage for every effect monster on the field, so that's Gearfried the Iron Knight and Sauropod Brachion, which makes a loss of 1000 points again."
Joey watched in horror at the counter on the platform who changed his current amount of life points into 600.
"That's it! You're going to win!", Maya yelled, getting over-enthusiastic.
"Yes! She might actually beat that arrogant clown.", Rex softly said, while doing his evil laugh in unison with Weevil.
"… Fine, your move.", Joey mumbled.
"Okay." Rose drew a card. "Damn it… I really have to get rid of that Gearfread the Iron Knight. Otherwise, he'll activate that coin toss again." "I play a face-down card and end my turn."
"Good… I was afraid she would summon a really strong monster, but apparently she doesn't have one in her hand.", Yugi commented. "This is Joey's chance."
"My move!" Joey drew a card and chuckled. Then the dice roll was activated once again.
"Not a four, not a four, not a four, not a four!", Rose mentally screamed, for that was the zone her Sauropod Brachion was standing on… actually, it was standing everywhere, but she had played the card on zone four, so officially it was standing on zone four.
"YEEEEAAAAHHH!"
"NOOOOOOOOO!"
The die had landed on a four. The mighty sauropod let out a terrible roar and disappeared from the field. After Rose couldn't see her dinosaur anymore, she closed her eyes and lowered her head. "How's this possible…" Tears were forming in her eyes, but she refused to let them go. There was no way that snummeltje would be able to humiliate her even more.
While the gang began doing their dance of joy, Maya, Rex and Weevil just stood, frozen to the spot and unable to come up with anything to cheer Rose up. Not that Rex and Weevil wanted to try that, of course. They were just a bit sad.
"I knew this would happen…", Rex thought. He looked at Joey who was behaving like a real idiot while doing silly dance poses, having forgotten all about his opponent's feelings as usual. Rex' hatred suddenly reached a new level, but he managed to control himself. "It's still your turn, pal! Get on with it!"
"Easy going, Dino Breath!", Joey chuckled. "I thought I had won already… euhm…", Joey chuckled even more when he remembered the card he had drawn. Suddenly however, the counter changed Gearfread's attack and defence points back to usual.
"Oh… I forgot… anyway, I activate the magical card Double Summon!"
"Oh no…", Rose mumbled.
"Now I am allowed an extra normal summon and I'll start by summoning Darkfire Soldier #2!" A man with long fire-red hair, long, sharp swords and totally covered in flames emerged on the field. "Now, I'll sacrifice Darkfire Soldier #2 and my set monster in order to summon the almighty Red-Eyes Black Dragon (ATK2400/DEF2000)!" The fireman and the set card disappeared and out of nowhere a ferocious black dragon with red eyes appeared on the field, letting out its impressive roar. It looked down at Rose with a deadly look in its eyes.
"A Red-Eyes Black Dragon…", Maya said, taken aback. "I never thought I would get to see one in my life…"
"This is a symbol of friendship!", Joey proudly announced.
Rex felt a sharp pain in his chest.
"Way to go, Joey!", the gang cheered for him.
While Rose was looking Red-Eyes into the eyes, her mental struggling progressed. "How? How can someone be so lucky… no matter what I do, he always stops me. It's hopeless…"
Maya somehow came back to reality and started to support Rose. "Don't give up, Rose! You've come back more than once in the past and you can do it again!"
"But this is different. I played some of my best combo's, but no matter what I do, he keeps saving himself. I don't think I still stand a chance." Rose looked away when she said that last sentence.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Rex stepped in. "Just don't think about giving up!"
"… Rex?", Rose looked down at Rex, surprised and shocked.
Ignoring everything around him, Rex went on. "This is exactly what he does to everyone he faces. This is just… what he has done to me…"
"Rex, stop playing the drama queen…", Weevil mumbled under his breath.
"What do you mean?", Rose asked, not understanding.
"You asked me yesterday what happened to me back in Duelist Kingdom a few years ago. Well, he was it! He's the one who beat me. The Red-Eyes Black Dragon you see there right before you, was originally mine!"
"What?", Rose and Maya exclaimed.
"Everything went so smoothly. It was obvious I would win the duel in no time. Then I proposed to bet our best cards for it. My Red-Eyes Black Dragon for his Time Wizard… he didn't even have a monster on the field, all I had to do, was to attack and I would win the duel plus a Time Wizard. But suddenly, he played that Time Wizard. The whole duel was depending on a silly game of roulette and he won it! Even when the chance was bigger that the result would be in my favour. It was just dumb luck… I lost the duel and my Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Since then, I've hardly won any duels. I lost all of my fans and it didn't matter how much I tried in any tournament, I always lost in the first round… You mustn't let that arrogant idiot win! He took my favourite card away from me and called it a symbol of friendship!"
"Hey, calm down, Raptor. I won that card fair and square.", Joey suddenly intervened Rex' speech.
Having heard all of this, something inside Rose snapped. "Fair and square? You call that fair and square? You practically stole the card. What kind of an idiot lets the outcome of a duel depend on a game of luck? Duel monsters isn't a gambling game! And the worst of all is that you, from the thousands of cards you get to choose from, picked the one you took from someone else as a sign of friendship! You like hurting people, don't you?"
"You have no idea what has happened with this card and what makes it so special. Dino dork has nothing to do with that.", Joey defended himself.
"You know what? Let's make a deal then. If I win, you give Red-Eyes back to Rex and if you win, you get my Frostosaurus. The card, of course, isn't as rare as the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, but it is stronger for it has 2600 attack points and he requires only one offer. Seems like a fair deal to me."
Maya thought her friend had gone crazy and knew she had to prevent her from doing stupid things. "Don't do that, Rose! You're not in the lead! You'll lose it and Frostosaurus is even a better card than the Red-Eyes! Don't do it!"
Rex and Weevil were bewildered. Rex because no-one had ever done something like that for him before, and Weevil because he couldn't understand why anyone would do something like that for someone else.
"I'm sorry little cheater, but I'll never risk my Red-Eyes Black Dragon.", Joey said, convinced of that.
"What?", Rose was kind of surprised by Joey's decline. "Very well, if you're really that stubborn, than I'm willing to bet my best monster for it: Jurrac Titano!"
"NO! You're completely out of your mind!", Maya said, desperate to stop Rose.
"Jurrac Titano is as strong as a Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and he's even better for he has some nice special effects."
"Wow, you've got a monster as strong as the Blue-Eyes?" Joey and the gang were stunned. Even Mai couldn't believe her ears.
"Indeed! And he can be yours if you defeat me. All I ask from you, is that you return Red-Eyes to Rex if I win. Come on, I'm risking a lot more than you are."
Unwillingly, Rex was flattered by Rose's actions, but he didn't want her to risk a far better monster than the Red-Eyes Black Dragon just for him. "Rose! Don't do it! This is exactly how I lost Red-Eyes Black Dragon. He'll do the same thing to you. Don't risk your monster for a hopeless case!"
"It's the real deal, Joey." Rose didn't seem to listen to Rex or anyone else. "You don't get the chance to get a Jurrac Titano every day. Perhaps this will be the only chance you ever get. So, will you do it?"
"NO!", Maya and Rex yelled in unison.
During all this confusion, Weevil had stood open-mouthed, eyes wide-opened and incapable of thinking clearly. This surely was the weirdest thing he had ever seen in his life and he was unable to understand it.
"It's very touching how you stand up for someone else. Perhaps, you're not the way I thought you were, but I have to disappoint you. No matter how good I'm dueling, I will never risk Red-Eyes Black Dragon. That would be betrayal to my friendship with Yuug. I'm not even exchanging it for the god cards."
"You said it Joey!", Tea yelled.
"That's the spirit!", Tristan yelled as well.
"Thanks Joey.", Yugi softly said, smiling. Joey really was the best friend he could ever get. Mai on the other hand had thought that Joey was missing a great opportunity, however she was flattered by his loyalty.
"What?", Rose once again exclaimed. "You're completely out of your mind!"
"Stop it now, Rose!", Maya was getting angry at Rose's careless behaviour. "He's not doing it anyway. Put that ridiculous thought out of your head!"
Rose was really disappointed when she realised that she would never be able to convince Joey. This made her feel really bad. "I'm sorry Rex… I really did the best I can, but the guy is so stubborn."
"Now don't let it influence your duel.", Rex said, comforting someone for the second time in his life already. "If you really want to make me happy, then send him home on the next boat!"
Rose took those words to her heart. "… I will!"
"Shall we continue the duel then?", Joey asked.
"Yes! Do your pathetic last move!"
Maya was surprised by Rose's unusual behaviour. She had never seen her that determined before.
"Good! Gearfread the Iron Knight, attack her last Scapegoat!" The man in the armour-plating jumped up and slashed the helpless sheep who let out a shrill cry before disappearing. "And now, Red-Eyes, wipe out the rest of her life points!" The mighty black dragon created a powerful ball in its mouth and fired it off at Rose. Maya, Rex and Weevil watched in horror as the energy ball approached Rose.
"I activate Defence Draw!"
"What?", Joey asked disappointed.
"Defence Draw makes all battle damage I receive this turn zero. Plus, I get to draw a card." Without hesitating, Rose drew a card.
Maya let out a loud sigh, almost getting a heart attack out of suspense.
"Don't worry, Joey! You'll finish her off next turn!", Mai supported Joey.
"I guess I end my turn then…", Joey trailed off.
"Good!" Rose's face showed no emotion when she drew a card and looked at it. Unknowingly, everyone held his breath, waiting for her to speak.
"This is the last turn I am allowed a tribute summon without tributing and I'll grasp my chance, for I summon Jurrac Tyrannus (ATK2500/DEF1400) → (ATK2800/DEF1700) in attack mode!" A big raptor, once again colourful, with huge claws and fire ready for the attack in its mouth, took place on the field. It looked down at Joey merciless. "Now, I'll activate Monster Reborn and get back Jurrac Dino from my graveyard." The dinosaur with the huge, yellow firefeet came back onto the field.
"Why would you do that?", Joey asked not understanding.
"So I can activate Jurrac Tyrannus' special ability. I will immediately send Jurrac Dino to my graveyard again, so Jurrac Tyrannus receives an extra 500 attack points!" Jurrac Dino once again disappeared from the field, causing Jurrac Tyrannus' attack points to rise to 3300.
"Yes! Attack! Attack! Attack!", Maya shouted as loud as she could.
"Jurrac Tyrannus! Attack the Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" The mighty dinosaur immediately started powering up, before sending a huge fireball at Red-Eyes' direction. The dragon roared in pain as the ball hit him with great force and made him sink into the field. The next moment, Joey's life points were down to 0.
"YES!", Rose yelled, balding her fists and looking up to the sky.
"Yes! You won!", Maya began shaking her arms in the air again, even more violently than the time before.
Rex and Weevil took each other's arms and started to scream at the top of their lungs as to see which one of them was louder.
On the other side of the field, a depressing silence ruled. "Oh no…", Tea whispered.
"You did a great duel, Joey.", Yugi tried to support his best friend. Joey however just walked off the dueling platform without saying a word. As they all stood together, Rose approached Joey to ask for her starchips.
"Can I have my starchips, please?", Rose asked, while once again trying to stay polite.
"Yeah.", Joey handed over the starchips. "Congratulations."
"Thank you.", Rose wasn't sure whether Joey respected her now or not.
"That was a good duel you did there.", Yugi politely said to Rose. "Especially because it's your first time in a tournament."
"Thank you, Yugi." "Yugi's not at all bad.", Rose thought very silent in her head. In the meantime, Maya, Rex and Weevil had walked over to join the group.
"Hey Joey, how does it feel to lose in the first round?", Rex asked sarcastically. Rose looked over at Rex in disbelief. Sure, Joey had done a lot to him, but was that a reason to hurt someone with hard words like that?
"Watch it, Dino dork!", Joey rushed over at Rex, but was just in time stopped by Tristan. "It's not because you've become almost as tall as I am, that you can belittle me!"
"Now you know how it feels when people laugh at you when you lose a duel.", Rex snapped back.
"Yeah! We're just treating you the way you treated us.", Weevil continued.
"Perhaps more has happened than I know about. If Joey really laughed at them, I can understand their reaction I guess. But still…", Rose thought, getting confused.
"Joey, you can have one of my starchips, so you can stay in the tournament.", Yugi proposed.
Everyone was taken aback by this offer.
"No Yuug. I'm no beginner anymore and don't need the prize money. I lost the duel because I was weak and for that, I don't deserve a second chance.", Joey sadly replied.
"You're not weak, Joey. You're one of the best duelists I know."
"Thanks Mai.", Joey suddenly felt better at hearing those words.
"Perhaps you should gamble a little less.", Rose said, trying to give a tip, but she was interpreted wrong.
"I know what you think! But in order to use gamble cards correctly, you need a lot of talent! You would never be able to use them properly!", Joey was defending himself, not knowing that Rose had no intentions of humiliating him.
"Very well, then gamble on!"
"Don't worry, it's the only thing he can do.", Rex once again stung.
Out of nowhere, Maya intervened the conversation. "Let's go Rose! I still only have two starchips, and you got six! It's not fair!"
"Okay, then we'll move on."
"I guess it's time to say goodbye then." Everyone looked at Mai, some of them more shocked than others.
"What do you mean, Mai? You can stay with us.", Joey hopefully proposed.
"Joey's right. As long as one of us is in the tournament, everyone is allowed in the castle.", Yugi said.
"I'm sorry guys, but it's not like me to just walk around and watch duels. I'm going back home on the boat and I'll become a better duelist.", Mai stated.
"Well, it's your choice Mai. Good luck."
Maya was getting impatient from the waiting. "Come on Rose! I want to duel!"
"I'm coming!" Before walking off with Maya, Rose turned round at Rex and looked in his eyes for a brief second, wishing him and Weevil good luck.
"Good luck…", Rex almost whispered. Little chance Rose had even heard it.
Weevil looked between Rex and Rose, getting suspicious once again. "Let's move on too."
"Yeah…", Rex answered a bit absent-minded, but he went to walk next to Weevil, leaving the gang behind them. Glancing over at Rex from the corner of his eyes, Weevil decided to do a little test. "She likes you."
"Shut up, Weevil."
…
"She likes you a lot."
"I said, SHUT UP, Weevil!"
And so Weevil shut up.
Rose: Oh dear, Weevil doesn't know why I'm betting my Frostosaurus...
Maya: I'll tell you, Weevil. It's LOVE, baby!
Weevil: What?
Rose: She said: It's love!
Weevil: What?
Maya: I think he's stuck.
Rose: I think he doesn't know what love is.
Rex: I know what love is!
Rose: Very good, Rex. Then you tell him what love is.
Rex: Love is jumping from a boat!
Maya + Rose + Weevil: What?
Rex: Yes! Love is what happened to Rose when she jumped from the boat into the ship!
Maya: When did you do that?
Weevil: HOW did you do that?
Rose: With the power of love! Besides, Rex is mentioning Titanic, right?
Rex: Indeed!
Weevil: What?
Rose + Maya: ...
Rex: I'll explain differently!
Rose + Maya: Oh no...
Many explanations about love followed, which were all answered with 'What?' by Weevil.