That morning when Abasi joined the others in the hall they were all happy to see that she looked better and the black eye was pretty much gone. After collecting Yugi they headed to the dueling arena together. Eventually they had to spit ways. "We'll have to cheer you from the balcony Yugi. Only duellist are allowed on the arena floor." Tristan said. "Good luck to you and Joey."
"Well guys guess this is it. I'm so proud, kick some butt." Tea said as they left Joey and Yugi. Abasi really would have liked to ask Yugi if he had a chance to talk to Yami at all and patched things up. But she wasn't about to do it with their other friends present. Bakura would understand but the others were still in the dark about Yami. So reluctantly she left with the others to head up to the balcony to watch the finals.
They hadn't been there long when Yugi, Mai, Joey and Keith walked out. Soon after Pegasus arrived, Abasi glared at him remembering his visit the night before. He seemed to séance her glaze and looked up to meet her eyes with a smile. Yugi noticed this and was confused as to why Abasi was glaring so heated at Pegasus. He decided to ask her about it once his match with Mai was over. "Yugi, Joey, Mai and Bandit Keith. I welcome you to the playoff arena. Here is where the last great duel monsters duel shell be waged to determine the championship of the Duelist Kingdom. Only one of you shell emerge victorious, only one of you shell win the three million dollar prize. And of course the victor in the playoffs shell earn the right to challenge me in the final match."
"Challenge you, well isn't that special. "Tristan said gaining everyone's attention. "And what does the play off winner get if they defeat you?"
"The winner will get one request, whatever his or hers heat desires. And if it with in my vast power to do so their wish will be granted. The victor will also be declared the undisputed kingdom champion ranked number one in the world." Pegasus explained.
"The champion of the world." Tristan said awe in his voice.
"And boys that will be me." Mai said confidently.
"Surely and duelist that's come this far must realise that the title and not the money is the really prize is that not so?" Pegasus asked.
Of course there was some outburst for this comment but most of them didn't pay this any mind as the finals begin with Yugi and Mai facing off against each other. Before the duel began they showed their glory cards, showing that they qualified. Abasi and the others were just giving Yugi their support when Joey took a spot between Tea and Tristan. "Joey?!"
"What's with you Joey?" Bakura asked.
"Wha- I was just getting a bird's eye view of the action." Joey simply explained. "Go Yugi wipe her out man." And with that their duel began.
Mai went first paying her signature monster Harpy Lady in attack mode and a then she put a card face down before ending her turn. As Yugi drew Abasi wondered if he had patch things up with Yami and they were once again working together. She soon learned her answer as Yugi played Gaia the Fierce Knight and then out right attacked Mai, making Abasi cringe. As Mai's trap card Mirror Wall cut Gaia's and then Summon Skulls attack points in half Abasi knew that had they not patched things up. In fact it seemed that Yugi was trying to finish the duel fast to keep Yami out of it. Because of this he wasn't thinking his way through the duel as he usually would. Well the others all speculated Abasi grasped her amulet as a way to calm her nerves. Joey's antics of course didn't help as he snapped at Mai and fell off the balcony. As they caught him before he fell to his death Abasi heard Yami's voice in her mind as he spoke to Yugi. This caught her by surprise as she looked down at Yugi and for a moment she could see the spirit splitting away from him. She was so intrigued by this for a few turns Abasi nearly missed Mai's new monster Harpy's Pet Dragon which took out Yugi's Summon Skull. Thankfully it was in defence mode so he didn't take any hits to his life points. Mai tried to convince Yugi to up his game as she was dueling honorably but Joey didn't believe her. Abasi could see that Mai realised that something was up Yugi and was trying to help him, which made her smile a little.
Thankfully Yugi got his head back in the duel a bit as he played a card face down and put his Dark Magician in defence mode on the field. This proved fruitless as Mai played Shadow of Eyes which made Dark Magician switch to attack mode and made it attack. As before Mirror Wall cut Dark Magician's attack points in half and then Mai used Harpy's Feather Duster to remove Yugi's trap card from the field. Mai easily had her Pet Dragon take out Dark Magician knocking Yugi's life points down to 200. "You don't even have favorite Card Dark Magician left what are you going to do now?" Mai asked him.
"Ya what is he going to do now?" Joey asked.
"Yugi. You can still turn this around." Tea said hoping to motivate him.
Meanwhile Tristan and Bakura turned to Abasi. "Is there anything he can do?"
She didn't answer at first as she could see the frustration on Yugi's face well Yami's pleaded with him to let him help and Yugi once again refused. "I- I don't know. He's lost his trust and now he's Grandpa's soul might be gone forever because of it." Abasi said. Her friends were confused by her answer but they could see that she was very worried about Yugi so they let her be.
"Yugi let me help you. If you continue to hold me back everybody loses." Yami told Yugi as they struggled. Abasi wanted so much to yell at the two of them for being so stupide but she couldn't as she would give away information. As part of keeping her secret about Abasi's magic, Abasi kept Yami and the secrets of the Millennium Puzzle secret as well.
"What's the problem Yugi?" Tristan asked confused.
"Mai is. She's gone and put aside all of her silly cards tricks and played this duel flawlessly." Tea said.
"Who would have thought she was this good. Could it be that it was sheer dumb luck that I beat her before?" Joey asked in awe.
"It wasn't luck Joey. I lost that duel to you because you knew something I didn't." Mai said. This made all 5 of them go huh in response. Mai then explained. "I learned more from that duel than any other I've ever played. It's true Joey I learned a lesson that day that I never really wanted to learn. I didn't know it then that it would change me and the way I looked at dueling. I had to take a hard look at myself and admit the reason I relayed on tricks was because I was afraid. Afraid to trust in my own abilities, afraid to trust in myself. Like you trusted in yourself Joey and facing up to that wasn't easy believe me."
"You've really changed Mai." Yugi said.
"Joey do you know how you made it all the way to the final round of this tournament?" Mai suddenly asked.
"Heck ya I do. I made it this far because I got my friends Yugi, Tristan, Tea, Bakura and Abasi behind me. Cheering me on and telling me I can go all the way. Heck Abasi has given some of the best dueling advice I could get for tournament dueling." Joey said making her smile.
"That true. That's very true your friends were with you all the way but you also had the guts to look inside and face up to what you saw there. You looked your demon in the eye and dealt with them. And that's a lesson everyone should learn." Abasi was stared at Mai as she said this as she could feel it hitting home for Yugi and Yami.
"I did that?" Joey asked in surprise.
"That's right. In that game you taught me that a duelist can learn more from her defeat than from her victories. You taught me to face up to my fear and not just try to battle them up." Mai confirmed for him. "So Yugi have you faced up to your fears? Whatever freaked you out in your battle with Kaiba, have you come to grips with it?"
Yugi remembered his duel with Kaiba and reminded Yami that he would never hurt someone, even well trying to rescues his grandpa. "I meant no harm. I only wanted to help and I vowed to never go against your wishes ever again." Abasi heard Yami tell him. She still wondered how she was hearing the two of them talking in Yugi's mind even from where she was watching.
"How can I believe you?" Yugi asked him.
"Your Grandfather once urged you to trust in the power of the Millennium Puzzle. Even Abasi who we have only known for a short time has insisted that you trust in it. Remember?" Yami reminded him as he looked up at Abasi with a fond smile which she returned.
"Maybe your right."
After that Yugi and Yami were working together again, Abasi couldn't help but grin with excitement as she could séance the power of the Millennium Puzzle growing. Yugi played Brain Control and took control of Harpy's Pet Dragon. With the help of it and Catapult Turtle he took down Mai's Mirror Wall and knocked her life from 2000 to 850 in one attack. This left Mai with only her Harpy Lady on the field but Yugi only had his Catapult Turtle. Mai didn't attack as she wasn't sure about Yugi's face down card but instead summoned two other Harpies with Elegant Egasit before she ended her turn.
Yugi reviled that he bluffed his trap card as he played the Monster Recovery card, which allowed him to take all of his monsters, put them back into his deck, shuffle and draw 5 new cards. Unfortunately he didn't get anything substantial that could take Mai's Harpy Ladies down. So he put Mystical Elf in defence mode and since it was a female Mai's Shadow Eyes couldn't force her into attack mode. This only fazed her for a moment as Mai used Monster Reborn to bring back Harpy's Pet Dragon and had her three Harpies take out his elf. As Yugi/Yami went to draw Abasi could feel Yami's doubt but Yugi gave him the confidence boost this time. And it paid off as they drew Swords of Reviling light and froze all of Mai's monsters for three turns. Abasi felt that Yami had a plan but she wasn't sure what as he played Kuriboh on the field and Mai mocked it.
For the next three turns Mai simply drew cards well Yami used Monster Reborn to bring Gaia the Fierce Knight from the graveyard. Then just as Swords card came to an end Yami drew the right card and began the Black Luster Ritual. By sacrificing both monsters and opened the gates of Chaos and brought the legendary Back Luster Souldier on to the field. Mai was in shock and Abasi couldn't believe her eyes as she had never seen anyone able to pull off what Yugi and Yami had done. But she smiled in relief knowing that Yugi and Yami were an unstoppable team once more.
With once attack Yami took out Mai's Pet dragon and taking Mai's life point to 750. Abasi felt bad that Mai had come so close to winning to only have it taken from her as they watched her surrender. As Yugi thanked Mai before she left Abasi made a decision. She quickly took off down the hall surprising everyone.
"Abasi where are you going?" Joey shouted after her.
"I got to catch Mai before she leaves. Don't worry I'll be back to cheer you on Joey." she shouted before running out of sight. It didn't take her more than a few moments to find Mai as she was headed to her room to gather her bag.
Mai heard her coming and turned to look at her in surprise before the younger blond grabbed her in a tight hug. "A-Abasi what in the world?"
"Thank you Mai. Thank you so much for helping Yugi confront his fears." Abasi said as she hug Mai. "You have no idea how much this means to me and the others."
Mai smiled as she returned Abasi's hug grateful to know that even though she was out of the tournament Mai had gained something else more important. "I'm glad you came to tell me this. It lessened the sting a bit but aren't you missing the start of Joey's duel?" she asked.
Abasi gave her a sour look. "If my suspicion about Keith not having either of the glory cards is right Joey may not have to duel him at all. That is unless Keith stole his Glory of the King's Hand card last night and Joey doesn't know it yet."
-o0o-
After Abasi had run off after Mai Pegasus commended Yugi on his dueling skills making every one glare at him in distain. Then it was announced that Joey and Bandit Keith were next to duel but things became interesting. As Joey went to the arena terminal he found that Bandit Keith was waking up from a nap and completely at ease. It was only when they were to show their Glory cards that Joey discovered that his card wasn't in his pocket where he had left it last night. Joey now wished he had taken Abasi advice and hidden the card as he didn't know for sure that he hadn't just dropped it, or been taken.
Bandit Keith was over confident that Joey was about to be disqualified as he did have Joey's card and he would be going on. Joey ran off to look for it as his friends were no worried and glared at the ease Bandit Keith. What Keith didn't count on was that Mai and Abasi were about to put a damper on his plans. They found Joey not too far from the arena's door on his hands a knees crying. "Let me guess you didn't fallow my advice and you now can't find your Glory Card?" Abasi asked.
"Get up off the floor Joey and quit your crying already. you look like a big baby." Mai snapped at him getting his attention.
"Who's crying? I got something in my eye. Stupid thing won't come out" Joey said as he whipped his eyes.
Mai looked at him sadly as Abasi helped Joey to his feet and he suddenly found a handkerchief in his face. "Here. Just don't go blowing your nose in it." Mai told him. As he took it with a bit of confusion and Mai turned away. "You know every time I think I got you figured you surprise me Joey."
"Huh?"
"Tea and Abasi told me about your little sister. How you're dueling to win the tournaments prize money for her, so she can have that operation. Sounded like a bad soap to be honest but who doesn't like a bad soap opera. Anyway see you around hun." Mai said before she walked away without another word.
"I'll see you out there Joey." Abasi said with a wink and ran back towards the balcony. It was only after she was gone that Joey looked and saw the card Mai had tucked into her hanky. In no time he was back at the dueling arena and showing them all his new Glory of the Kings card. Keith almost couldn't believe it as Abasi returned out of breath but smiling. When Keith glared up at her she pulled down an eye lid and stuck her tough out at him. Bandit Keith was fuming at her as he and Joey faced off. Before the duel began Keith swore that he would get back at Abasi for what she had done to slow down his decent to take revenge on Pegasus.
As the duel progressed it was soon clear that out of the two of them Joey was the least experienced and lack of knowledge of different monster types. As Keith ran a machine type deck this meant that Joey's monsters couldn't do much for direct attacks as machines are magic prof. Eventually after losing a few life points he began to rely on his trap cards a bit more. Keith greatly underestimated Joey's skill a bit at first but once Joey pissed him off by gaining a bit of a lead. He did try bad mouthing Joey and Yugi by saying they were just speed bumps on his way to duel Pegasus but Joey was unfazed by his crap.
Things became interestingly difficult as Keith played his Triple Barrel Dragon and took out the two monsters Joey had on the field. Joey then pulled out a nice combo and played Time Wizard and Baby Dragon, which by using Time Wizards Time Warp. This caused Keith's machine to rust well Baby Dragon evolved into Thousand Year Dragon but it only slowed Keith of moment. He used his Time Machine trap card to bring back his Triple Barrel Dragon from one turn ago and took out Joey's dragon. Things looked badly for Joey as he didn't really have a monster strong enough to with stand Keith's Dragon. But he was able to use Copy Cat's ability to use Magic Metal Force to make his Red-Eyes Black Dragon metal. This meant that it was strong enough to with stand Keith's attack and as such take out his dragon.
With Keith's dragon gone Joey thought it was in the bag. That is till Keith played one of his 7 complete cards to increase Slot machines DFE points. Though no one saw it Keith had the rest of his 7 cards tucked in his bracelets. He played them both and brought Slot Machines attack point to the same level. Keith then used the Pilgrim spell card to see Joey's hand and take his Sword and Defence card, and switched attack and Defence points. With that done Keith attacked well Joey activated his trap card Graverobber to grab Time Machine to bring back his Metal Red-Eyes Back dragon at the same attack strength it was before Keith played Sword and Shield card. In one attack Joey beat Keith.
Yugi and the rest of their friends were happy for him and Tristan even acted as silly as his best friend by nearly falling off the balcony making Yugi and Abasi save him. Keith was a sore loser and tried to throw Joey under the bus by claiming that the duel didn't count as Joey had Mai's Glory card. By trying to do that he reviled that he not only stolen Joey's card but Pegasus mentioned that he had seen the cheating he had done. In the end after trying to threaten Pegasus into giving him the prize money Keith was evicted from the castle by way of trap door. With that over they were given a ten minute recues before Yugi and Joey's duel.
After the break Joey and Yugi faced off against each other. "This final playoff match between Yugi Muto and Joey Wheeler will not only determine who wins the tournament but who also wins a match with Maximillian Pegasus." Mr. Croquet said in the moments before the duel began. Everyone had their reservations about Yugi and Joey dueling in the final against each other but Joey wasn't. He wanted the chance to duel his friend and if it also meant that at least one of them would be facing Pegasus. For Abasi it was a welcome sight to see both of them facing off. It also meant that there would be no more funny business till one of them faced Pegasus. She planned to sit back and enjoy watching the duel.
Pegasus then stood up to say a few words. "Congratulations Duelists. You're the finest in the world and for that reason I look forward to a match that sure to coincide of your dueling best. After all should you give me anything less I will know." he finished this with a maniacal laugh that sent chills up Abasi's spine as she saw his left eye glow for a second. Before the duel began Joey both thanked Yugi for all his help and no matter what the outcome of the duel they would still be friends. Yugi assured that Joey had earned his place in the finals and with that the final duel of the tournament began.
Yugi started off with his Celtic Guardian in attack mode before ending his turn. Joey responded by playing his Guilta and easily took out Yugi's monster along with 40 of his life points. As the duel continued they chopped away at each other's life point which was the most even match they had seen the two to ever have. Abasi was happy to see the growth Joey had made since the start of the tournament and that he was dueling so well. Joey had just pulled of a brilliant combo of using Graverobber to fuse Yugi's Summon Skull and his Red-Eyes to make the Black Skull Dragon and taken out Yugi's own fusion monster the Dragon Champion. Abasi could see that even though Yugi was losing he was happy that his friend was doing so well.
Yugi's response to Joey's move was to play his Dark Magician and then he played Magical Hats to conceal his Magician. Joey then played Garushies in attack mode in an attempt to get Yami to attack and Joey could learn where Dark Magician and Yugi saw this too. He instead played a card under one of the hats and ended his turn. Abasi almost giggled at what she assumed was Joey thinking too much about what Yugi had played under one of the hats before he attacked one. This hat had nothing under it, which meant that the only two hats left, one with Yugi's Dark Magician, well the other could be a trap. Joey's next attack proved fatal as he hit Yugi's trap, Spell binding circle, cutting Joey's dragon's Attack in half. Now with their toughest monsters at the same attack strength. They all knew with that being the case one of them would have to tip the balance and it would then mean the end of the duel.
"Joey you dueled well but the tide of this battle is about to turn." Yami said as he smiled at his friend before he went to draw his next card. "Alright Joey prepare yourself, I'm going to obliterate your dragon."
Joey looked scared now. "You what?" then he smiled. "I'm really for you bring it on." He said regaining his confidence.
Yami drew his last card and smile. "This is it Joey. The card I drew will vanquish your Skull Dragon once and for all. The Book of Secret Arts and with its ancient magic my Dark Magician becomes 300 attack points stronger." Yami said as he played the spell card and took out Joey's dragon. This meant the Joey now had a supped up Dark Magician to deal with and his conferenced waned. But then he remembered his sister and remembered what he was fighting for. Joey drew his next card and played Baby Dragon in attack mode and he then played a card face down. Yami thought it was Time Wizard and went to attack Baby Dragon so Joey couldn't make it grow up. It turned out to be a trap, Kuni With Chain and equipping it to Garisues it stopped Dark Magician's attack.
"Well Yugi I say that last move brings us to the home stretch. Wouldn't you?" Joey asked with a smile.
"I would and now Joey lets finish this match and find out which one of us will duel Pegasus." Yami said also smiling.
"Hey Yug."
"Joey?"
"Just know it's been a real honor duelling ya." Joey said sincerely.
"Like wise."
"I know neither of us want to lose this match but if I do I'm glad it was to you buddy." Joey said. "Now let's do as you said Yugi and finish this duel." with that said Joey drew his next card. It seemed fate decided that it should be the very card that Yugi gave him, Time Wizard. Even with Joey's luck he landed on a time warp and everyone save three thought that as thousand year Dragon appeared on the field that Yugi was done for. Abasi, Yugi and Yami knew otherwise before the Dark Magician, turned Dark Sage easily disburse Thousand Year Dragon's attack. They could all see the tears that Joey and Yami had in their eyes as Yami brought Black Skull Dragon back from the graveyard and finished the duel.
-o0o-
"Well Yugi we knew one of us had to lose but the good news is that one of us got to win too. Congratulations man. Here this is your now." Joey said handing Yugi his Glory of the Kings Hand card. "Go ahead it's all yours, you show Croquet this card and he'll give you the prize money."
But Yugi pushed it back at him. "No Joey you should keep it your sister needs that money. I didn't enter this tournament to get rich Joey. I'm just here to save my Grandpa and the Kaiba brothers. Please use this money for Serenity's operation. What do you say Joey?"
Joey's was grateful as he cried happy tears and they were all happy for him as Yugi enjoyed a short break before he dueled Pegasus. He used this time to pull Abasi away from their friends to talk to her. "Yami told me that Pegasus was in your room last night and took your family's spell book." he was clearly worried. "I wasn't even aware that you had brought it with you."
Abasi quickly recounted Pegasus's visit to her room last night and her dream. "I'm sorry but if Pegasus tries anything funny I may not be of much help." she said feeling horrible again.
"Don't doubt your strength Abasi." Yugi said as he put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I know that if Yami and I need your magic to help that you will find away." Abasi nodded as they rejoined their friends in the calm before the storm.
A/N: Ok I know this chapter had three rushed duels in it and I hope that I didn't just lose a bunch of you for it but it had to be done. I feel that I am ready for the Duelist Kingdom Tournament to be done and it was quicker to sum up the finals. Now don't worry I won't do the same thing for Yugi's duel against Pegasus. Abasi plays too important a role in for me to. so until then please read and review.