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.

11. Chapter 9: Terror of the Psychic Deck

Chapter 9

"Terror of the Psychic Deck"

As Battle City just gotten started with all of its "all-out warfare", as Kaiba claimed it would be, Joey was looking around for his first opponent. That is, until he found it. "Alright, there's a duel going on." he said before running up to the sight of the duel, which was Rex Raptor vs Espa Roba. "Rex Raptor, you never had a chance. I knew that you were going to summon Serpent Night Dragon, that's why I had my Mesmeric Control card ready to send your dragon to dream land and make it 800 attack points weaker!" the young boy declared as Serpent Night Dragon's attack points were shown to be 1550. "Impossible! How'd you know what card I would play and how to weaken it?!" Rex asked, still shocked. "Why, that's simple. I'm psychic. Now finish him off, Jinzo! Attack with your Psychic Wave!" Espa responded as his monster, a level six, Dark attribute machine/effect monster with 2400 attack points and 1500 defense points, launched its attack and destroyed Serpent Night Dragon, dropping Rex's life points to 0.

"No! My dragon's demolished!" Rex shouted. "Your life points, too!" Espa added as Rex dropped to his knees. The crowd was amazed at Espa's supposed ESP dueling skills. 'Wow. I didn't believe the rumors, but he predicted all of my moves. Now I'm done.' Rex thought in disbelief. "I have another prediction; you'll hand over your locater card and your rarest card." Espa said upon walking up to his fallen opponent. "Fine. Promise you'll take good care of it." Rex said as he handed both cards over. "Your Serpent Night Dragon might not deserve a slot in my deck, though I guess it could make a fine trophy, or a coaster for a drink. Now, which of you commoners can I embarrass next?" Espa said after taking the cards. No one answered. 'They all seem to know my psychic reputation. Except for that guy, he seems clueless.' he thought before looking at Joey. "You there! The guy with the blonde hair! You want to duel?" he asked, thinking Joey would be an easy target.

"Take my advice and stay away from this freak! His name is Espa Roba, and his dueling skills include using ESP!" Rex warned. "You mean he's a psychic?" Joey asked. "That's right, he'll mindread the cards in your hand and know what move you plan to make before you even think of it!" Rex answered. "You've got to be kidding me." Joey simply said, not willing to believe Rex. "Trust me, Wheeler, he beat me just as I described!" Rex responded. "He beat you using mind control, you sure about this?" Joey asked, still not entirely believing. "He destroyed me!" Rex answered. "Then I'm more than ready to duel him!" Joey stated boldly. "Weren't you listening?!" Rex asked. "Sure, I heard you. But last time someone claimed they were psychic before I dueled them, which was at Duelist Kingdom, I proved that they were a fraud. And I have a few rules when it comes to dueling; and the first of them in the Joey Wheeler handbook is; never back down from a challenge! And second; seek out opponents with outlandish dueling techniques! So I'll take on this cosmic clown, even if he claims to be psychic!" Joey responded.

"Are you crazy?! He'll eat you alive!" Rex shouted. "Joey Wheeler, huh? Aha! You're the runner-up in the Duelist Kingdom tournament! It'd be an honor to test my dueling skills against Domino City's number one underdog." Espa stated, upon realizing who Joey was. "Number one underdog, huh? Well, no one really calls me that, per se, but I guess my reputation proceeds me. " Joey said upon hearing his "local nickname". "Don't say I didn't warn you, Wheeler." Rex stated. Meanwhile, at Yonezato Hospital, Serenity Wheeler was sitting silent, until a knock at her door was heard. "Who's there?" she asked before Tristan walked through the door. "Hey, it's me, Tristan." he said. "Hey, Tristan." Serenity responded. "I brought you a little entertainment." Tristan said. "Is it a yo-yo?" Serenity asked. "Better than that, KaibaCorp is streaming the duels from Battle City live. So I'm gonna give you the play-by-plays of every duel your brother is gonna be in from this laptop." Tristan responded.

"Thank you, Tristan! Joey's gonna be so happy when he learns I'm gonna be keeping tabs on his duels in the tournament." Serenity said, excited. "Alright, one Battle City simulcast, coming up!" Tristan said before turning on the laptop and typing in the name of the website for the KaibaCorp Battle City simulcast. Meanwhile, Yami was walking through the city. 'Who should I duel next? I have to choose my next opponent wisely.' Yugi thought. But then, he heard and saw some kids run through an alley shouting about Joey's duel with Espa Roba, one of them claiming it was a duel they had to see. "That makes two of us." Yami said upon hearing what one of the kids had to say. Meanwhile, the battlefield was set and ready for the duel to begin. "Let's get the stakes straight, I'm putting up my rarest and most powerful monster, Jinzo! And since I already foreseen your defeat, I'll be taking your Time Wizard when I win!" Espa declared. "We'll see! Now let's duel!" Joey responded as his Duel Disk activated, along with Espa's, before their life points set to 4000, beginning the game.

"I'll let you have first turn honors." he added before looking at his hand. 'Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.' he thought. Meanwhile, at Yonezato Hospital, Tristan was searching for Joey Wheeler. "Aha, there he is. And what perfect timing, the duel's about to start and Joey's opponent, Espa Roba, has the first move." he said upon finding Joey's duel. 'Okay, Joey. Good luck. I know you can do it.' Serenity thought. Meanwhile, Joey was refreshing himself with the rules of the tournament. 'Okay, so I can't fusion summon straight away, nor can I play cards that are at a high level right out of the gate. So letting Espa go first was a smart move.' he thought as Espa was tapping into his psychic powers. "I call upon the celestial forces! Make me one with the universe! Show me Joey's thought, and every card in his hand!" the ESP Duelist declared. "The extrasensory forces of the universe flow through me! Your strategies are useless against my all-knowing power!" he added. 'What's this new age nitwit babbling about?' Joey thought. "You're toast!" Espa simply stated. "We'll see, now take your turn!" Joey retorted.

"Ah, I see. The cosmic forces of the universe tell me that the top card in your deck that you can play is the Swordsman of Landstar!" Espa said, catching Joey off-guard as he looked at his hand. 'Wait, he's right. But there's no way he could have psychic powers. This is almost like with my duel against Mai!' the underdog thought. "Your powers are a scam!" he shouted. "You're just jealous, Joey. My ability to tap into the universe itself is far more complex than your peanut sized brain can comprehend!" Espa retorted. "Now you're ticking me off!" Joey shouted. "Too bad! I summon forth the Cyber Raider!" Espa retorted as his monster, a level four, Dark attribute machine/effect monster with 1400 attack points and 1000 defense points, appeared. "And since you have no monsters on the field, I can directly attack your life points!" he added before his monster landed a blow that dropped Joey's life points to 2600. "Looks like letting you have first turn honors was a mistake." he said upon getting up.

"What's the matter, Wheeler? Cyber Raider got you down? Or are you gonna get up and take some more?" Espa asked. At the Yonezato Hospital, Tristan continued to watch. 'Wow, guess Joey let this kid go first to see his dueling strategies, but it cost him.' he thought. "How's he doing?" Serenity asked. "Well, he let his opponent have the first move, just to see their strategy." Tristan answered. "I see. So, Joey's planning his next move?" Serenity asked. "Yeah, he's planning out what he should do next." Tristan answered. "Thanks, Tristan." Serenity said with a smile. 'Don't let us down, Joey.' Tristan thought. Back at the duel, the game continued. "I predict that you're going to be finished within a few turns!" Espa declared. "You wish, Roba!" Joey retorted. Up on a roof, Yami watched. 'Hang in there, Joey. I know you can beat this guy on your own!' Yugi thought. 'I have a feeling this "psychic Duelist" isn't all he claims to be.' he added before Yami spotted and heard something off to his immediate left, several boys, one of whom as a baby, that were watching the duel from another rooftop that looked like Espa. "Let's tell Espa what else this guy's got." said one. "I'm pretty sure that I see a card called Graceful Dice under his Swordsman of Landstar." he added. "Okay, big brother, he's got a Graceful Dice under his Swordsman of Landstar." said another. "It looks like he is a fake." Yami said, confirming Yugi's suspicions.

"I predict you're ready to quit!" Espa shouted. "Yeah? Well, guess again, Roba! This duel's not over! And I know you're up to something." Joey retorted upon drawing. "Hold on, he just drew another Graceful Dice." said one of Espa's brothers on the roof. "Okay, bro, listen up. Your opponent just drew another Graceful Dice." said another brother. "Allow me to see what you just drew by tapping into the universe." Espa said as he did so. "Not this stuff again!" Joey shrugged. "You just drew another Graceful Dice card, am I right, Wheeler?" Espa said at last, once again catching Joey off-guard. Up on the roof, the brothers watched on. "That guy's about to lose his mind." one of them chuckled as Yami kept a silent eye on them. 'This little scheme may have gotten them this far in the tournament, but I know Joey will defeat these cheats.' Yugi thought. "Don't feel bad. Nobody here expects you to keep up with my telepathic dueling powers. I foresee that your Battle City days are over, and that your Time Wizard will be sitting in my deck sooner than you think! It's all in the stars, Wheeler!" Espa stated. 'This kid's definitely up to something. He said he knows that I drew another Graceful Dice card from my deck, and he was almost right, but not quite. I think it's time I played some mind games of my own with this cheat.' Joey thought as he looked at his hand and came up with a plan to turn the duel around in his favor.

"It's my turn! I summon the Swordsman of Landstar!" he said aloud as his monster, a level three, Earth attribute warrior with 500 attack points and 1200 defense points, appeared. "Then I'll place two cards facedown and end my turn." he concluded as he set said cards. 'I guess he placed both his Graceful Dice cards facedown. How predictable. Graceful Dice will allow him to roll a die and increase the power of his monster, with its attack points being multiplied by the number he rolls.' Espa thought. "Let me guess, you're planning on activating both of your Graceful Dice cards as soon as I command my Cyber Raider to attack, and multiply your Swordsman's attack points! Am I warm?" he said aloud. "You're burning up." Joey responded. 'But you'll be even more steamed once I pull my own mind tricks on you.' he thought, knowing Espa was falling for his plan. "It's a great plan, but it won't work. After all, you can only play one Graceful Dice card at a time. So it looks like my powers psyched you out again! It's my move again." Espa stated. "I'll sacrifice my Cyber Raider, to summon The Fiend Megacyber!" he added as his first monster vanished to make room for his next, a level six Dark attribute warrior/effect monster with 2200 attack points and 1200 defense points.

"I'm ready for you, I reveal my magic card, Graceful Dice!" Joey responded as he activated his card, causing a sprite to appear and drop a blue die. 'His Fiend Megacyber's attack power is 2200, more than four times the strength of my Swordsman's, but if the die rolls a five or six, I'll be able to overpower it!' he thought. 'Talk about a long shot, he'll never get one of the higher numbers.' Espa thought before the die came to a stop, showing a three. "Aw, only a three. That means your monster's attack power is a measly 1500, so my Fiend Megacyber won't even break a sweat! Now, my monster, bring him down!" he declared as the Swordsman's attack power jumps up by 1000 while Fiend Megacyber closed in for an attack, just the move Joey was waiting for. "Hey, slow down, Roba. Did you forget my other facedown?" the underdog pointed out. "What did I just tell you, Wheeler?! You can only use one Graceful Dice card per turn!" Espa shouted. "Who said it was a Graceful Dice?" Joey asked, catching Espa off-guard as he activated his second facedown. "A Skull Dice trap card?! Is this some kind of trick?! Are you trying to cheat me?!" Espa asked, shocked that he, and his psychic powers, were wrong as another sprite appeared and dropped a red die.

"Skull Dice will reduce your monster's attack strength depending on the roll of the die. The higher the number, the more your monster's attack points are reduced!" Joey explained before the die rolled a five. "No! It rolled a five!" Espa shouted as his Fiend Megacyber's attack points plummeted to 440. "And now that your monster's been turned into a wimp, Swordsman, attack!" Joey stated before his Swordsman of Landstar cut down the Fiend Megacyber, dropping Espa's life points to 2940. "Looks like your psychic friends dropped the ball. I only set one Graceful Dice card! You've been getting some bum information, and I know why! Because of how I held my cards, your 'friends' told you I had two dice cards, but they couldn't tell which ones. Which means your ESP game is just a con! You couldn't see my cards at all, but I bet you have some friends in high places, like on the rooftops, that make sure you can, you snake in the grass!" he concluded, causing Espa to panic, knowing he was found out to not have ESP, but instead a cheater with friends in high places.

Even the crowd, including Rex Raptor, saw the truth. "You cheat! So THAT's how you beat me to get both my locater card and my Serpent Night Dragon!" Rex shouted. Upon the roof, Espa's brothers realized they were busted. "Uh, oh. Busted..." said one of them. "Nice work, Joey, now you're in control." Yami said before he heard a whistle. "Hold it right there, buckos!" shouted a familiar voice. Yami looked down and saw it was Rainbow Dash running at the brothers with Mokuba following behind. "Run!" shouted once of Espa's brothers as he tried to run. "I don't think so!" Rainbow shouted before grabbing the ankle of the running brother. "Gotcha now, you punk!" she added as she forced the Roba brother to the ground. "Nice work, Rainbow. Now we'll make sure their brother never duels in Domino City again!" Mokuba stated, complimenting Rainbow's fast reaction, reflexes and thinking.

"Please, I'm begging you. You gotta give our brother a chance to at least play out the duel he's in!" one of the brothers pleaded. "As the commissioner of Battle City, it's my duty to bust cheaters, same with Rainbow over here, since she's one of the enforcers." Mokuba pointed out. "Yeah, so why should we let the duel continue? Give us one good reason why we shouldn't boot your brother out of this tournament." Rainbow added. "Please, you gotta hear us out." pleaded one of the brothers. "Please, commish, officer, our brother isn't in this tournament for the dueling glory. He's in it for all four of us." explained another. "We're carnival folk, or at least, we used to be. Since we left the show, he's kept bullies off our backs." the first one added. "Your big brother's the bully shield?" Rainbow asked. 'That's exactly what my own brother was like when I was little.' Mokuba thought as he had a flashback to his childhood. "You see, every day after school, the bigger kids would gang up on us." the first brother explained. "Even they respected a strong Duelist like Espa. As long as he won, they left us alone. We're just trying to make sure he does." the other added.

Then, Rainbow looked to her left and saw Yami observing the duel. "Well, look who's watching the show on the street level." she said before Mokuba looked up and saw him. "It's Yugi." he said. "I think he likely saw more than just the duel." Rainbow pointed out as Yami peered over and looked at her and Mokuba from out of the corner of his eye. "Regardless, it's still cheating. If we let you guys go, what's to stop you from pulling this stunt again?" Mokuba stated, trying to stay true to his duty as Battle City commissioner. "I beg you, let my brother keep dueling or we'll be targeted after school again!" said one of the Roba brothers. "Just give him a chance to go legit. Espa may be a bogus psychic, but he's a great Duelist." said another, who was holding a lollipop. "They seem sincere about it, Mokuba. And I bet a certain someone I know would give them a second chance." Rainbow stated before looking up at Yami again. "What do you say, commish? Officer?" asked one of the brothers. "Please, have a heart." pleaded another. 'If Rarity were here, she'd be generous enough to let Espa continue. After all, she does possess the element of generosity.' Rainbow thought.

"Fine, but this is your last chance. If Espa cheats again, than it's no more Mr. Nice Guy, or Mrs. Nice Girl." Mokuba said with a shrug. "Thanks, commish. You too, Officer." said one of the brothers. "Well, looks like we're both softies, huh, Mokuba?" Rainbow asked. "Big brother stories get me every time." Mokuba admitted, sheepishly. Meanwhile, Tea was sitting in Domino Park, resting after searching around for hours. 'I haven't seen Yugi, Joey, Spike or any of the girls all day. I hope that they're all okay. Ishizu did say that Yugi, or rather, Yami, had to enter this tournament, to save the world from some ancient evil, but who knows who or what it is or even when or where it'll show up? But all I know is that when it does, we'll all be right there beside him.' she thought to herself. Back at the duel, Espa regained his composure. "Are you accusing me of faking all my psychic abilities?!" he asked before quietly telling his brothers to read the cards right. "Too bad, because I'm getting another telepathic vision and its guaranteed to come to pass!" he added. "You know that you're just a fraud!" Joey accused. "We'll see who the fraud is when I win! And you, you'll lose in disgrace!" Espa retorted. "Dream on, pal!" Joey stated. "I don't need to dream, even without my psychic abilities, I've never lost a duel! And I can tell that that's not gonna change anytime in the near future!" Espa retorted.

"Espa, I may not have psychic powers, but I do have a belief in both myself and in my deck that a chump like you would never understand. It's simply called, The Heart of the Cards!" Joey stated. "Heart of the Cards, very poetic. But you'll need more than your beliefs before I knock you right out of the tournament!" Espa responded. Up on the roof, Yami watched on. 'Come on, Joey.' Yugi thought. "I'm tired of talking about the future, so let's get back to the here and now and finish this duel!" Joey declared. "I predict a nasty end for you, Wheeler. I heard a rumor going around that you were taught by Yugi Muto, the guy who beat you at Duelist Kingdom. I bet before you met him, you couldn't duel your way out of a paper bag!" Espa taunted. "We'll see about that!" Joey retorted. "Prepare to feel the psychic power of my dueling deck, you second-rate underdog!" Espa shouted. "Bring it on, Mr. Psychic!" Joey shouted back. "Alright, then, I'll end my long overstayed turn with a facedown." Espa said before setting his card.

'He's got no monsters on the field to hide behind, so I can attack him head on just like he attacked me. I just need a good card. Okay, deck, what do you have for me?' Joey thought as he drew before seeing what he drew, the Alligator's Sword. 'Alright, time to see if he can wrestle this gator.' he thought with a smile. "I summon the Alligator's Sword!" he shouted before his gator appeared. 'My two monsters have a combined attack strength of 3000, which is 60 points higher than his life points!' he thought. "Oh, Espa? I have a vision of the future, and you're not in it! Alright, Alligator's Sword, show him who owns this concrete swamp!" he shouted before his Alligator's Sword attacked, dropping Espa's life points to 1440. At the Yonezato Hospital, Tristan watched the whole thing. "Alright! Serenity, Joey's just one move away from winning the duel!" he said with excitement. 'You can do it, Joey.' Serenity thought. Back in Domino, Espa's brother cheered him on from the roof. "Be careful, Joey! Keep up your defenses!" Yami called as the Swordsman of Landstar moved in for an attack.

"Your turn, Swordsman of Landstar! Let's finish off this fake!" Joey shouted. "If you think I'm letting you attack me twice, then you're crazy! So I activate the magic card, Mind Control!" Espa declared as his card activated. "Mind Control? This can't be good." Joey said as his Swordsman came to a halt. "Once a monster falls into Mind Control's unwavering magic, it instantly becomes my brainwashed servant." Espa explained. 'I don't get it. He must know that a monster under the power of Mind Control can't attack, and why didn't he use that card during my first direct attack?' Joey pondered. 'If Espa used that Mind Control magic card when Alligator's Sword attacked, it wouldn't do any good because Swordsman of Landstar would've destroyed both it and itself. But he waited to use it on Joey's Swordsman, but the same basic principal applies, because now that the Swordsman of Landstar can't attack. I think Joey knows what that means.' Yugi thought. 'There's only one reason he'd wait, he's waiting for a monster to sacrifice and he's using my Swordsman as a shield!' Joey thought, catching on to Espa's plan to stall before he drew a monster he would need. 'But when he does, I'll be ready for him.' he thought as he held up one of his cards, Trap Hole of Spikes.

"Did I catch you off-guard, Wheeler? Well, get used to it." Espa said before drawing. "I'll set a monster in defense mode and end my turn." he added before setting his creature and breaking the Mind Control spell he had over the Swordsman of Landstar. "My turn!" Joey said as he drew his next card. "I'll set one card face down and end my move." he concluded. "It's showtime!" Espa stated as he drew. "I'll sacrifice my facedown monster in order to summon Jinzo!" he declared as his rarest monster appeared. "The end is near, Wheeler." he concluded. 'Come on, chrome face, take your best shot! I got a trap card ready and waiting for you!' Joey thought, confident that he would catch Espa off-guard and destroy his best monster. "You better hope your facedown isn't a trap, because if it is, then what happens next may disappoint you! Show your stuff, Jinzo!" Espa declared before Jinzo promptly destroyed Joey's facedown. "No! My Trap Hole of Spike!" Joey shouted in shock!

"When Jinzo's on the field, all my opponent's trap cards become useless! I've just foreseen the finish of this game; with little defense against my most powerful monster, Jinzo will destroy you in no time at all and you'll be out of the tournament for good, Wheeler!" Espa declared. "I can't let him win!" Joey said, desperate to find a way to save himself.