My Little Duelist Volume 2

by Baldwin17

After the grand tournament that was Duelist Kingdom, the meeting of Rebecca Hawkins, the defeat of the Big Five and the meeting of Duke Devlin, it seemed like life was back to normal for Twilight and her friends in Domino City. But not all peace can last forever, as a new darkness approaches the city of games.

12. Chapter 10: Roulette Spider

Chapter 10

"Roulette Spider"

The score of Joey's duel against Espa Roba stood in Joey's favor, for the moment, with a 1160 life point lead. But Espa was confident he'd win with Jinzo on the field. "I can read your mind and I see you're losing hope, Wheeler!" Espa taunted. 'As long as Espa has Jinzo on the field, I can't play my trap cards. And that means by Swordsman of Landstar and Alligator's Sword will be easy pickings for this psychic fraud! And if he destroys both of them, I'll kiss my remaining life points and the entire Battle City tournament goodbye!' Joey thought. "It's time to end this duel." Espa said with a chuckle before choosing a card. "So I'll play this, a magic card known as Amplifier! Watch, I hardwire it to Jinzo, completely rendering every trap in your hand and deck useless! Next, I play Mage Power, which allows me to instantly increase Jinzo's attack power by 500 points for every magic card and trap card that I control, even when they're face down!" he added as Jinzo's attack points jumped to 2900. "And every time I set a magic or trap card, Jinzo's power will jump up by 500 so I won't even need to activate anything to stop your monsters from attacking Jinzo, if they could even get to him!" he continued.

"Oh, no!" Joey shouted. "And now, my metal monster, send his Alligator's Sword back to the swamp!" Espa commanded before the bipedal gator was destroyed, dropping Joey's life points to 1200. "I foresee the end for you!" he concluded. "If you think I'm giving up just because of baldy and his tin can helmet, you definitely got another thing coming, you blue-haired freak!" Joey shouted, bravely. 'What does it matter? I'll crush you even without my brothers' help.' Espa thought while his brothers cheered him on from the roof. "Wow. Even without us giving him the info on his opponent's hand, Espa's winning, and he's still keeping up with the ESP bit just to psyche him out." said one of the brothers. All the while, Yami watched on. 'Espa Roba's a strong duelist, but I know Joey can beat him.' Yugi thought.

Down on the street level, the duel continued. "This duel, is no way over yet!" Joey declared. "But I predict that it will be once I make my next move! Why not just give me your locator card and your rarest card now?" Espa responded. "Fat chance, Roba! You and your psychic fraud network are going down! It's my turn!" Joey retorted. 'Alright, then. Deck, don't fail me now.' he thought before drawing. 'Yes! It's my old friend, Baby Dragon! I'm so back in business!' he thought with glee. "Give it up, Wheeler! Jinzo already has 2900 attack points, and the cosmic forces of the universe tell me he's stronger than any card in your deck! And Jinzo's only going to get more powerful!" Espa shouted. "I'll keep that in mind, as I switch my Swordsman into defense mode, and summon Baby Dragon!" Joey responded as his Swordsman switched positions and the Baby Dragon came forth. Rex quickly knew what Joey was going to attempt to do. "I know what you're up to!" he shouted. 'It's the same trick Wheeler used to defeat Mai.' the Dino Duelist thought after realizing Joey's next move.

But Espa just laughed. "I don't know whether I should attack your monster or give it a baby bottle! But if that's the best monster you can summon to face Jinzo, then you're finished!" the ESP Duelist taunted. "Oh, he may be just a baby now, but that little guy's about to grow up, because I'm using Polymerization to fuse him with the Time Wizard!" Joey stated as he showed his next two cards in his planned combo. "The Time Wizard?! I see. You're gonna fuse the Time Wizard with the Baby Dragon to create a bigger, stronger and older dragon." Espa said, catching on to Joey's plan. "Maybe." Joey responded. "Well, my telepathic powers tell me that that still won't be enough." Espa retorted. 'It's gonna be a risk, but if the Time Wizard's magic works like I hope it will, not only will my dragon get bigger and stronger as he ages 1000 years, but Jinzo is gonna rust until it becomes human scrap metal!' Joey thought. "Alright, time to see if Lady Luck is on my side! I activate Polymerization to fuse my monsters together, automatically activating the Time Roulette!" he shouted. As the two monsters fused, time began to advance forward by a full millennium.

And within seconds, a thousand years had past on the battlefield and the Baby Dragon was gone, and in its place, was the Thousand Dragon. "Alright! And now that the fusion is complete, your monster's rusted into a heap of scrap..." he declared before realizing something shocking. "What the heck?! Why didn't it rust?" he asked. "That can't be!" Rex shouted, equally as shocked as he knew the Time Wizard's magic is how he lost the Red-Eyes Black Dragon back at Duelist Kingdom. "Let me guess, did Jinzo's magic armor take you by surprise? My monster's armor is similar to titanium, and according to the lore of Jinzo, it can't rust, age or decay for 10,000 years! You only made your dragon age by 1000 years, so therefore, Jinzo is safe!" Espa explained with a laugh. "That armor's made of titanium?!" Joey asked in shock. "At least it's not diamond, that's the hardest substance in the world." Rex stated. Up on the roof, Yami watched on. 'Come on, Joey. Stay focused. You can beat this guy. We both know it!' Yugi thought. Down on the street level, Espa draws.

"You're mine, Wheeler! Jinzo, attack his Thousand Dragon with Cyber Energy Shock!" he declared before Joey's dragon was obliterated. "Great, my dragon's gone and my Swordsman is next!" the underdog said in distress as his life points dropped to 700. Meanwhile, at Yonezato Hospital, Tristan continued to watch. 'Oh, great. With his Time Wizard gone, he's just barely holding on.' he thought. "Tristan, you've been pretty quiet. My brother is still winning the duel, right?" Serenity asked. "Oh, well, to be honest, it's almost neck and neck." Tristan answered. "You mean they're trading the lead back and forth?" Serenity asked. "Exactly. The guy he's dueling is no joke, but Joey ain't giving up yet." Tristan answered. "Thank you, Tristan, after all, since I can't see, I have to rely on someone else to tell me what's going on." Serenity responded. 'I can't tell her that Joey's just a couple moves away from losing the duel, it'd break her heart.' Tristan thought. Soon, there was a knock. One of the nurses came in. "Excuse me, but it's time for me to check Serenity's vitals and refill her antibiotics." she said. "Okay, I'll just step out, head to the bathroom and get some air." Tristan said. "Okay." Serenity said before Tristan stepped out of the room.

'Come on, Joey. If you lose this, you're out of the tournament. We're all behind you, especially Serenity. Wait, that gives me an idea.' he thought as he walked to the bathroom. Inside Serenity's room, the nurse was doing her usual checks. "Well, so far, you're recovering nicely, Serenity." she said. "Nurse, could you help me with something?" Serenity asked. "Sure." the nurse answered. "The duel, could you take a look at the screen and tell me who's currently in the lead?" Serenity asked. "Okay, you said your brother is named Joey, right?" the nurse responded. Meanwhile, at Domino Park, Tea was still thinking about everything that had been going on lately. 'All of Ishizu's talk about an ancient evil force returning is creeping me out, big time!' she thought before a familiar face came up behind and startled her with a sudden "Guess who?", only for Tea to rear her head back right into their nose. It was Sol. "Mr. Muto?! You scared me half to death!" she shouted. "I'm sorry, but that noggin of yours nearly broke my schnozz!" Sol responded. "Well, next time, don't sneak up on me." Tea advised before her phone rang. "Hello, this is Tea Gardner. Hey, Tristan!" she said upon hearing who was calling her.

"Are you watching Joey's duel right now?" Tristan asked. "No, I'm not. I'm in the park. Why do you ask? What's going on?" Tea responded. "I need you to find him and give him a message." Tristan explained. Back at the duel, Joey was hanging tough, but just barely. "Your Battle City days are almost over, Wheeler! And to ensure it, I activate this! Butterfly Dagger Elma! This weapon will increase Jinzo's attack power by 300 points, and then Mage Power will activate and boost him up even more!" Espa declared as Jinzo's attack power increased to 3700. "Your dragon's been destroyed, and according to what the celestial forces of the universe tell me, you have nothing in your hand that can defeat Jinzo! Your future is looking dim!" he added. "As long as I have my deck and faith in the Heart of the Cards, I have hope. It didn't let me down at Duelist Kingdom, and it won't start now! I activate my magic card, Scapegoat!" Joey responded as his four sheep tokens appeared to further shield him from Espa's attacks.

"If that's your best defensive move, your luck's running out. Those little fur balls and your Swordsman combined can't protect your life points forever! Jinzo will take them all out one by one! Then he'll destroy you! Why don't you make it easier on yourself and just hand me your locator card and your Time Wizard? Or you could continue to play and prepare for the ultimate embarrassment!" Espa stated with a laugh. "I'd hate to say it, but the little creep may be right. This duel's as good as over. I mean, come on! Even I couldn't defeat Jinzo!" Rex pointed out. "I'm not gonna quit! It's your move, Roba!" Joey said, bravely. "Guess you don't take warnings to heart." Rex simply said. Meanwhile, at Yonezato Hospital, Tristan was on his way back to Serenity's room when the nurse came out. "We're all finished now." she said. "Then I'll head back in." Tristan responded before opening the door. "Tristan?" Serenity asked. "That's me. I bet you're wanting an update on the duel, aren't you?" he responded.

But as he sat down, his nervousness lingered. "It's okay. Thank you, Tristan, really, but you don't have to keep making me think the duel's going okay." Serenity said calmly. "I asked the nurse to tell me what's been going on. I know Joey's been trying to make a comeback this whole time, and that he's down to his last 700 life points." she explained. "Sorry, Serenity. I just didn't want you to be worried about Joey." Tristan said. "That's sweet of you, but I only want to know the truth about things, including my brother. If he's in some kind of trouble, I want to be told about it, he was there for me the day of my operation, and now I have to be there for him, even if its in spirit. You wouldn't believe how scared I was on the day of my surgery, but when Joey came, he stood by me." Serenity responded as she remembered the day of her surgery, specifically the moment her big brother came to support her.

"My big brother has never let me down, so I think it's my turn to help him out just as he does for me." she continued. "I guess you're right." Tristan said, realizing how much she cared about her brother. "Like I said, I want to be there for him in spirit. And knowing you, you'd do the same thing." Serenity said. "You know I would. So I say we keep the faith and cheer on your brother until he wins!" Tristan said with a chuckle. Serenity agreed with a smile and a nod. Back at the duel, Joey wasn't backing down. "Alright, tough guy, let's see what you got!" he stated boldly. "You're just prolonging your defeat, Wheeler. I can annihilate you within six turns. But if that's what you want, who am I to deny you? Now it's my move!" Espa said upon drawing. "I summon Reflect Bounder to the field in attack mode!" he added as his new monster, a level four, Light attribute machine/effect monster with 1700 attack points and 1000 defense points, appeared right next to Jinzo.

"My new monster is practically attack-proof. It can reflect any attack thrown at it right back to where it came from! So even if you did manage to summon a decent monster, any attack you throw will be completely pointless!" he explained. "Bring it on." Joey simply and defiantly said. "So you want to face the power of my two unbeatable monster, Wheeler? You'll regret those words! Jinzo, attack one of his Scapegoats!" Espa responded before the pink Scapegoat was destroyed. "Reflect Bounder, its your turn to attack!" he added before the light blue Scapegoat was destroyed. "Your future is looking more pathetic by the second! Two Scapegoats are down, and if my extrasensory perception is right, the other two and your Swordsman are going to meet the same fate!" he added before laughing. "Sorry, I don't mean to laugh at you, Wheeler. Losing like this must be painful, but I know it's only gonna get worse. By my next turn, I'll have another monster on the field, bringing my forces to three. And I predict that your defenses will be gone, followed by your life points! What a pathetic way for your Battle City experience to come to an end. You couldn't even make it past the first round!" he concluded. 'I can't lose like this, but what else can I do?' Joey pondered.

"Come on, Wheeler! Face the facts, with those measly defenses, your future is bleak, and getting bleaker." Espa taunted before laughing. "I'm not listening!" Joey shouted, defiant as ever. Up on the roof, Yami watched on. 'Hang in there, Joey. You can beat him!' Yugi thought. "I suggest handing your Time Wizard over now! Your finished." Espa taunted. 'Maybe Espa's right. I already played by two best cards and they weren't enough. If I lose, he gets my only locator card and my Time Wizard, knocking me out of the tournament! I guess it's over.' Joey thought, considering the option of surrender, until a familiar voice was heard. "Joey! Hang in there!" shouted the voice before Joey looked over to his right and saw both Tea and Sol in the crowd. "Tea? Gramps?" Joey asked, surprised that they showed up. "Tristan just called from Yonezato Hospital, he said that he's watching the duel and telling Serenity everything that's going on! And your sister has a message for you, Joey." Tea explained. "What is it? What did she say?" Joey asked. "She says that you're both a team, forever and a day. And she believes in you. So don't even think about giving up!" Tea answered, prompting Joey to remember the moment his sister was taken into recovery after her operation.

'After hearing that, there's no way I'm gonna quit. Serenity would never give up on me, and I'm not about to give up on myself after hearing her message. I know you're right here with me in spirit, little sis, so I'm gonna win this duel with your support. This so-called "psychic" clown is about to go down!' Joey thought, his strength and courage renewed. "Enough stalling! Are you gonna quit or what, Wheeler?!" Espa shouted impatiently. "I don't think so!" Joey responded. "Really? Suit yourself." Espa simply said. "Ataboy, Joey! You can still win this duel! Just remember what me and Yugi taught you about believing in both yourself and in the Heart of the Cards!" Sol shouted. 'Gramps is right. I can do this. The odds are against me, but my friends and mentor are with me. I got to keep faith! I know there's a card in my deck that can help me, one that can turn this game around! All I have to do is draw it and finish Espa Roba for good!' Joey thought. On the roof, Yami watched on. 'Come on. Trust your deck, Joey.' Yugi thought, knowing that, like him, Joey had a firm belief in the Heart of the Cards.

"Alright, Roba, check out my next move!" Joey shouted as he drew what could be his final card, the last draw of destiny. "Alright! I play the magic card, Roulette Spider! And I attach it to Jinzo!" he added as the Roulette Spider itself appeared and clamped onto Jinzo's face. "What is that?!" Espa asked before Jinzo started walking into the middle of the field. "What's the meaning of this?!" he asked. "Playing Roulette Spider is one of the riskiest moves in Duel Monsters. It could either destroy me, or win the duel for me. You see, once activated, Roulette Spider blindfolds the strongest monster on the field and walks it to the center, and that's when the roulette web wheel comes into play. And it's where the duel gets interesting." Joey explained as the roulette web wheel appeared, with each of both players' monsters on each side of the web while Joey and Espa were on directly opposite sides.

"You mean this is like the roulette wheel in a casino?" Espa asked. "For a guy with ESP, you sure ask a lot of questions. Yes, it's a lot like a roulette wheel in a casino. The Spider will spin Jinzo round and round and when you tell it to stop, it'll automatically attack whatever target the arrow points him towards!" Joey explained. "ANY target?" Espa asked, worried. "Open your ears, psychonaut! Any target on the field! It could be me, or you, directly, or any of the monsters on the field. And since you were so generous about piling up attack points for Jinzo, whatever he's pointed to will be destroyed instantly. You have any predictions, Mr. ESP?" Joey responded.

"But, I..." Espa started to say. 'What's Wheeler thinking? Sure, he hit the jackpot with Time Roulette against me, but now he's about to risk losing at another game of roulette and getting kicked out of the tournament! It's a one in six shot for this move and only two of those odds will win it for him!' Rex pondered. "Alright, go, Roulette Spider! Spin, now!" Joey shouted before the arrow pointed forward and Jinzo started to spin. "Remember, whatever Jinzo points to gets destroyed! So what's the matter, fraud? To scared to tell it to stop?" he continued. 'Easy for him to say. With such a lackluster deck, he's got nothing to lose! But if Jinzo points to me or Reflect Bounder, I lose everything!' Espa thought, nervously, while he watched Jinzo spin faster and faster. Everyone watched with anticipation, from Tea and Sol, to Rex, to Rainbow, Mokuba and Espa's brothers, to Yami and, by extension, Yugi, to even Tristan and Serenity, anxious as to when Espa would tell Jinzo to stop. 'I believe in you, Joey.' Serenity thought. "What are you waiting for?" Joey asked as Jinzo continued to spin, amping up the suspense until it became terrible, though some hoped that it would last. Finally, Espa had had enough.

"JINZO! STOP!" he shouted at last, everyone around the duel field, both on the streets and on the roof, and even at Yonezato Hospital, held their breath as Jinzo slowed down until finally stopping, right in front of Reflect Bounder. "Jinzo's pointing to my Reflect Bounder! But that means...they're BOTH doomed!" the ESP Duelist shouted as the Roulette Spider vanished and Jinzo fired its attack. "No! Don't reflect! You'll send its attack right back!" he ordered, but to no avail as the attack was absorbed. "No! This can't be! If Jinzo's attack gets blasted back to him by Reflect Bounder, they're both gone!" he shouted, absolutely terrified at the forthcoming outcome. But it was too little, too late, as Jinzo's attack was reflected, destroying Reflect Bounder in the process. While the reflected attack itself, obliterated Jinzo, dropping Espa's life points to 0. "Too late, Roba. Both of your monsters are destroyed, and you're history!" Joey declared, victorious.

"No! I had this duel won! You...you couldn't beat me!" Espa said in shock. "What do you think just happened? Let me do the math for you, you psychic sneak. Jinzo's attack points were at 3700, subtract Reflect Bounder's 1700, and you lose 2000 life points!" Joey responded, causing Espa to falter a bit. "You're finished, and this duel is over!" he concluded as Tea celebrated while Sol nodded approvingly. "Wow. I never thought it could be done. Wheeler must be a better Duelist than I gave him credit for." Rex said, clearly impressed with the outcome of the game. At Yonezato Hospital, Tristan saw the whole thing. "He did it! What an amazing comeback, Joey!" he shouted. "I just knew it! I knew he'd win!" Serenity said with pride. Up on the roof, Rainbow and Yami smiled, knowing that their friend did good. 'Nice work.' Yugi thought. 'Not bad. Not bad at all for Domino City's most famous underdog.' Rainbow thought. On the leftmost rooftop, Espa's brothers were both proud and stunned.

"Espa put up an awesome fight, but that guy still beat him." said one. "And he was so close!" said another as Espa dropped to his knees. "He beat me." he said as he let his defeat sink in. All the while, the other spectators were starting to get the hint that he wasn't psychic at all. Then, Joey approached to claim his prize. "It was a tough duel, I'll give you that. Now hand over your Jinzo and your locator card." he said. "No. I can't! Don't make me! You just don't understand what I have at stake in this tournament!" Espa shouted before looking around in a slight panic. "What are you freaking out about? Just stand up and face defeat like I did when Yugi beat me at Duelist Kingdom. Besides, you know the Battle City rules. I get to keep your rarest card. Everyone loses once in a while, even I blew a few duels in my early days of playing Duel Monsters, not just at Duelist Kingdom, either." Joey said calmly.

"But it's not that simple! People count on me to win, Wheeler!" Espa snapped. "I know we all have our own reasons for playing Duel Monsters." Joey responded. "Stop! You just don't get it, do you?! Losing is never an option for me, I have to win at all costs! I must! I'm not dueling in this tournament just for myself, I'm dueling for my brothers!" Espa snapped again. "Brothers?" Joey asked. "My four little brothers, one of them just a baby, all look up to me. I'm like a hero to them! If my reputation goes from being a winner to a loser and then spreads out, they'll all get picked on by schoolyard bullies again!" Espa explained. "That's crazy talk, Roba. Trust me, I know a few things about being a big brother. I don't have little brothers like you, but I do have a little sister, one who's counting on me as we speak." Joey responded before extending his hand to help him up. "Come on. Need a hand to help you get back on your feet?" he asked, only for Espa to smack it away. "I don't need your pity!" he snapped as his earpiece came out. "Fine. Be that way." Joey said, disgusted with his opponent's lack of grace in defeat and lack of sportsmanship.

But just as he started to walk away... "Come on, big bro, get up." said a voice, spooking Joey. "Hey! Where's that voice coming from?!" he asked before spotting the earpiece, and the voice on the other side of it was one of Espa's brothers. "You fought an awesome duel. You didn't disappoint us and you did it without cheating." said the brother. "We're proud of you, bro." said another before Espa saw all four of them standing nearby. "But I lost." Espa pointed out. "So?" asked one of the brothers. "So, you're not worried about people thinking that, I'm a loser?" Espa asked back. "No, because in our book, you're a winner." one of the brothers responded. Espa soon got back on his feet. "Well, come here, you four, and give your bro a hug." he said before his brothers did so, to the adoration of the crowd. "Thank you, guys. I guess I have a lot to learn, about winning." he added. "You dueled great." said one of the brothers. "And the totally best part of it is, you did it on your own." added another. "Yeah, and without falling back on that phony ESP stuff." another pointed out. 'So I guess these guys were the "cosmic forces" he was talking to early on in the duel. Guess all I need now is to accept his Jinzo and locator card to finish this happy ending.' Joey thought.

Up on the roof, Yami was still watching. "Good work, Joey. I knew you'd find your strength." he said approvingly before walking towards the door. Down on street level, Espa handed over his locator card and Jinzo. "Here. My Jinzo and my locator card. You deserve them." he said proudly. "Thanks." Joey said before taking them. "Look. I'm sorry about that whole fake ESP thing I used to cheat during the duel." Espa said. "No worries." Joey responded. "You beat me fair and square, and next time we duel, I'm playing totally legit. No more cheating." Espa stated, proving that he had turned over a new leaf. "I'll hold you to it. Until the, see you later, Roba brothers." Joey said before walking away. However, he stopped. "You know, we're a lot alike, Espa." he said, to the confusion of Espa and his brothers. "You got your brothers, and I got my sister, my mentor and my pals. And we're all there to support each other when we need it. As long as we got that, nobody loses." he explained. Espa nodded in agreement.

"See you later." he concluded before walking away once more with Tea and Sol by his side. "Excellent dueling, Joey." said Sol. "Yeah, way to go." Tea added. "Thanks." Joey responded. Elsewhere in Battle City, Yami walked down a street. 'Joey did great today. He gets better with every duel.' Yugi thought. 'Well, my first duel of the tournament. And not a bad start, if I do say so myself. There will be tough times ahead, but I know I'm not in this alone!' Joey thought as he walked along.