Chapter 12: Merger of The Big 5 pt 1: Yugi Joey Ash and Lillie Team-up

Noah, Annie, and Oakley stared angrily at Gansley, Crump, Johnson, and Lector. All four were on different screens while Noah and the Rocket Agents sat at Noah's control panel.

"You four are absolutely pathetic," Noah said to the four businessmen in an agitated tone.

"Your four lost your duels, so you decided just to take what you wanted by force," Annie, just as upset as Noah was.

"Which is something we won't tolerate. Is that clear" Oakley said, just as annoyed as the other 2.

"I hired you fools to duel for me, so by losing and cheating, you make me look weak," Noah said, his anger rising.

"Let us explain, please, sir," Gansley began.

"We understand that you have laws, but we must escape from this place," Johnson continued his coworker's statement.

"And to do that, we need bodies which I would have had if that punk Ash had not stopped my Torpedo from striking Miss Aether," Crump said, still bitter at Ash's interference in his duel.

"You already have one, that Tristan kid," Oakley pointed out.

"One won't do, Mistress Oakley! We need five bodies so we can all escape," Lector stated.

Speaking of Tristan's body, with the body he had won, Nesbitt's face showed up on a fifth screen.

"Greetings. I just came to say farewell before I go. Now that I have a body of my own, I'm ready to escape to the real world," Nesbitt said, smirking at his coworkers. "Technically, my robots and I won a duel, so Tristan's body belongs to me now. Deals, a deal, right gentleman."

The other members of the Big 5 protested that since Serenity defeated him, Tristan's body should not belong to him and that Nesbitt should be forced to stay in the real world.

Noah tells them they must share Tristan's body and defeat Yugi in a duel. Defeating Seto's strongest rival will prove that Noah deserves to have Seto's empire once and for all. If they win, he'll let them each have bodies.

Meanwhile, with Ash and the others, who were now out of the streets and n in the desert areas, Seto was suspicious of Ash, who was having his Lucario use its aura sight ability to do a scan of the area to ensure that no one would try a sneak attack on the group.

"Hopefully, we won't have any more surprise attacks by the Big Five or those two from Team Rocket," Ash said. Lucario hadn't sensed anything so far as he was still getting over how those four got out of his aura sight range. However, he sensed Kaiba's aura going into anger mode toward Ash.

Before Lucario was going to warn Ash about this, Kaiba spoke up. "Okay, I had enough of you dodging me, so Ketchem?" Kaiba said to Ash, who stopped and sighed. "I said earlier that I need to know everything about what is going on and who you are and understand why Gladdion is here. But why are you here, and what's your connection with Team Rocket? Not to mention who you are?" Kaiba pressed Ash.

"Okay, I'll explain why I know about Team Rocket, why I am here, and who I am. But it's up to you if you want to believe me, given that I heard you don't believe in many things," Ash said to Kaiba, who glared at him.

"Try me. From what I am seeing, these aren't monster cards that I see because I have the entire Duel monster database in my complete knowledge, and these two aren't part of it?" Kaiba said, crossing his arms.

Ash kept calm and not letting Kaiba get to him, unlike Joey, as Kaiba could tell that Ash was someone that he might see as less of a nuisance.

"I'm here in the same situation Gladdion is here, Lillie, while Gladdion is here to replace another friend who left for another reason. I'm here because Lillie is more than just my friend," Ash said as Kaiba was curious. "She's me soon be Fiance," Ash said.

"Continue, Ash. You caught my attention there," Kaiba said as everyone was surprised, aside from Ash.

"As for why she is here is actually because of Team Rocket and my connections to them," Ash said. "I've had run-ins with their leaders and members of their group in the past and put an end to their schemes time after time, but this time they managed to kidnap Lillie and brought her here in this dimension," Ash said. "As for the two girls with Noah, I have a harsher history with them as they killed a fellow friend before their arrest."

"I see they aren't from this area or where we are. Is that what you want me to believe?" Kaiba said to Ash, who gulped and nodded. "I believe that for now, as it's not as farfetched as the Shadow Realm as I've seen them in my life and here in this world," Kaiba said, crossing his arms. "As for those two girls, I believe you given that Gladdion mentioned it earlier, and given that they were willing to work with Kaiba Corp back in the day, I can see why," Kaiba said after lowering his arms. "Now, about you, Ash?" Kaiba said to Ash.

Ash explained his dream of being a Pokemon master and gave Pikachu and Lucario here as examples of what Pokemon is and that he was the newest member of the top 8 best trainers in the world, which everyone was surprised by this.

"So this Master's eight is your version of the King of games in your world?" Kaiba asked, and Ash nodded.

"Yeah, and most of them are champions. When I say most, I mean 7 of the eight, myself included, as I was the one who won the Alola league's first-ever league with Gladdion as runner-up. Sadly though, I had to work my way from the bottom to where I am now as part of the eight best trainers in the world," Ash said.

"That explains how you were able to beat those four like they were nothing with those three Pokémon?" Joey said to Ash, who nodded. Kaiba was impressed by hearing this.

"I see. I'm surprised that someone new to me has been able to impress me and you aren't a duelist. That's a first," Kaiba said to Ash, who was surprised by this, as were Yugi and the others. "However, I would like to see your skills in combat to see why you are meant to be this great person that even Team Rocket is nervous with you around. Tell me what do you intend to do should you win this tournament?" Kaib asked Ash, who looked down.

"To be honest, I am planning on moving on to marry Lillie one day," Ash said to Kaiba who could see through Ash's eye's that Ash, while he is one of the best, could still be unsure. "But I know that no matter what happens, I gave it my all and did not let my wins or losses get to me. I learned that the hard way with my first league loss. Even with multiple loses, I still want to show the world that I made it to where I am today," Ash said.

Kaiba didn't laugh but walked to Ash. "Listen here, young man, what you just said is what it means to be a true champion learning from your mistakes and trying to move from your past while others, I won't say who, haven't done. I can say that you of everyone here is more mature, even Wheeler, and Yugi," Kaiba said to Ash, who was listening. "Don't let others tell you otherwise. Now that we are done here, we should move on and get out of this place," Kaiba said after placing his hand on Ash's shoulder and then moving past him.

Kaiba did not get far because Tea stepped in front of him. "Stop right there, Kaiba."

Get out of my way, Gardener," growled Kaiba in a low voice.

"Save your attitude!" she countered. "We know you're worried about Mokuba, but you're wrong if you think you're the only one worried about him! Mokuba is our friend, too, and we want to help! That's what friends do for each other! So forget that attitude!"

"Get. Out. Of. My. Way." growled Kaiba, furious. "This is a family business! So stay out of it!"

"Tea, let him go. He's not worth it," Joey called to his friend, but Tea stood firm.

"Because of your family business, we are all trapped here. We are all in this together. We all want to help you, Kaiba. We're all worried about him." Tea was determined to get Kaiba to listen to reason.

Suddenly Lucario growled. Kaiba immediately saw the issue. "Why don't you worry about him instead," Kaiba said, pointing to the cliff behind them. They all turned and saw Tristan's body looking down at them.

"Tristan," Serenity called.

"It's not Tristan, remember?" Joey reminded them. "It's that techno-geek, Nesbitt." Lucario was growling. Aura activated, ready for a fight.

"Even though Serenity and I were able to defeat him by destroying Perfect Machine King in our duel, he still got Tristan's body," Duke said.

Ash's eyes widened. "Guys, it's not just Nesbitt In Tristan's body." Lillie gasped in horror. "Oh No, don't tell me," Lillie thought, still nervous about hearing Crump's voice again. No one noticed Kaiba walk off as they were focused on the return of the Big 5.

A chorus of laughs emitted from Tristan's mouth, and several voices. "I'm not alone in here. Today's special is Five for one. And the verdict is in. Our combined force will destroy you," A flash of light occurred, and all 5 of the Deck Masters used by the Big 5 appeared around Tristan's Body.

Gladion smirked, "They could beat Ash 4 on 1. Do they think adding their final member will help?"

"Give Tristan's body back!" Yugi demanded.

"Listen, Yugi, There's only one way we'll return your friend's body," Gansley said.

Crump then took control. "But believe me, junior, the odds are in our favor."

Lillie shivered hearing Crump's voice. Ash pulled Lillie into a hug. "Don't worry, Lillie, and he won't touch you. I won't let him get close enough to try."

Lillie smiled, "Thanks, Ash. I needed to hear that."

Ash turned his focus on the Big 5. "I assume we must beat you in a duel to win Tristan's body back."

"Correct, Mr. Ketchum. Win and his body are yours," said Lector.

"Wait for a second," Nesbitt protested to the others. "I never agreed to give Tristan's body back."

"It's our body, too," Crump pointed out.

"Plus, it was a group decision, said Lector.

"And besides, whoever said we were going to keep our word?" Johnson pointed out.

Gansley took control of Tristan's body. "Now let's duel Yugi." A duel disk appeared on Tristan's right arm.

Yugi stepped forward. "You five are on. The Millennium Puzzle glowed. YU-GI-OH! Yami had taken control.

Ash and Lucario felt Yugi's aura change. So that's why Lucario and I felt two aura signatures from Yugi. The puzzle he's wearing contains a second person inside of it.

"Let's do this for Tristan." Yami activated his duel disk.

Joey suddenly ran forward."Hold it right there. Your math's a little off. Five-on-one is uneven. Count me in."

Lillie took a deep breath and rushed forward. "I want in as well" Everyone's eyes widened.

"LILLIE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING," Gladion shouted, stunned at his sister volunteering to be in this duel.

"I can't be afraid of Crump. I want to conquer my fear. Brother. STAY OUT OF THIS!"

Ash stepped up next to his fiancé. "Let's do what we did in that duel, sharing our life points."

Lillie nodded to Ash. "Yes, I'm ready to fight alongside you, Ash."

Yami turned to the three of them. "Are the three of you sure about this?"

Joey nodded. "No question, We're a team, Yugi!." He turned to the two Pokémon trainers. "You sure you wanna do this, you two?"

Lillie had a fire in her eyes. "Yes, I am!"

Ash nodded. "These guys are way too dangerous. We need to stop them HERE AND NOW."

Joey nodded in understanding. "Now, let's waste these five suits."

Yugi nodded as well. "Yes, and we will save Tristan as a team."

Very well, it will be four on 1 with Miss Aether and Mr. Ketchum sharing their life points."

"The plan was to duel Yugi alone," Gansley pointed out.

"Young Joseph is weak, and the other two are inexperienced to handle such an intense duel," Johnson argued.

"That's strange. I seem to recall that weakling defeating you in a duel," jabbed Lector.

"It doesn't matter," Johnson said with an evil smirk. "I'm about to hit them with a legal technicality."

"Seeing as this is four bodies against one, the only way for justice to be served is for us to start with 8,000 life points while you all start with 4,000," Johnson told the heroes. "Win, and you'll be reunited with your friend. Lose, and your bodies belong to us."

Ash nodded to the terms. "Lillie, are you 100% sure about this? I can do this with Yugi and Joey. You can still sit on the sidelines."

Lillie shook her head. "I'm sure, Ash. I need to do this. Plus, it's good practice for when we are married." Ash blushed and nodded. The couple turned to face the Big 5.

"Are you four ready to lose," Gansley asked.

"We're not losing to you perverts," Lillie said.

"That's right, you five are facing the da dream team. You five are going down." Joey activated his duel disk while a duel disk appeared on Lillie's arm.

"Let's get down to business," Gansley declared. Cards started scrolling in front of Yugi, Joey, and Lillie. "Choose your virtual decks. You'll need all the help you can get."

Ash and Lillie each chose 20 cards for their combined deck. Yami chooses his usual deck. On the other hand, Joey decided to honor Mai by putting Cyber Harpie and Harpie's Feather Duster into his deck.

"Now it's time to choose your Deck Master."

"I choose Dark Magician," Yami declared with his signature monster appearing by his side, ready to assist.

And I'll take Flame Swordsman," Joey declared. His Deck Master from his first duel appeared ready to assist Joey again.

"As for Ash and me, we choose Dark Magician Girl," Lillie declared. The female Dark Magician appeared ready to put the Big 5 in their place.

"Since there's five of us, we're going to rotate our Deck Master. So we'll start with this: My Deepsea Warrior! A strong investment." Gansley's Deck Master appeared next to him.

(Y: 4000)

(J: 4000)

(A&L: 4000)

(5: 8000)

"I'll start by playing the field magic card known as A Legendary Ocean."

Yami's eyes widened in shock. "Oh, No."

"Time to flood the Market, Gansley declared.

Tea, Duke, Gladion, and Serenity quickly ran for the nearest cliff as the field around the Duelists became engulfed with Water. Pikachu and Snowy remained with their trainers.

"Now, I summon The Legendary Fisherman, Gansley shouted. A burly man riding a shark and holding a spear appeared. (TLF 1850/1600)

"That's the monster Mako Tsunami nearly beat me with," Joey said, shocked to see it in this duel. "Wait a minute, that monster has five stars, and you need to sacrifice a monster to summon it," Joey protested.

"With their field magic card, he can," Yami explained.

"True, it lowers the level of all water monsters in each player's hand by one," said Lillie. "However, The Legendary Fisherman does NOT gain the 200 attack and defense point boost from the field spells the second effect due to it being immune to spell cards."

Joey's eyes widened. "Wow, you've been studying, Lillie."

"Yep, Mom was able to hack into the card database, and I have been studying all about Water attribute cards. I wanted to be prepared just in case Crump came after me again," Lillie responded. Ash smiled and kissed her. Lillie smiled at the kiss.

"Now, it's our turn," Ash declared, drawing a card.

Lillie smirked at Gansley. "Now Ash and I summon Aqua Madoor in defense mode." A water mage appeared in front of the couple, kneeling defensively. (1200/2000)

"Thanks to your field spell, our monster gains a boost, unlike your monster, so thanks, Gansley," Ash smirked. (Aqua Madoor 1400/2200)

"I'll go next," Joey said, drawing a card. "So far, I don't have any monsters that can beat it. I'll have to play defense for now, he thought. "I summon Alligator Sword in defense mode!" A humanoid alligator wearing armor appeared with its arms crossed. (1500/1200)

"It's my move," Yami declared. "I summon Gazelle, the King of Mythical Beasts, in defense mode." A lion-like creature appeared perched on its hind legs. (1500/1200).

"And now it's my turn again." Gansley was about to draw a card, but Crump spoke up.

"Hold on, Gansley. I've crunched the numbers, and the odds point out that I should take control of this body for this duel."Crump said.

"Crump, this isn't the time for revenge for your loss to those, too," said Gansley annoyed.

"My Nightmare Penguin would increase the attack points of all our water attribute cards."

Gansley sighed and let Crump take control.

"Okay, time for some penguin power."

Lillie glared at the man who nearly stole her body, "OH GREAT, the perverted penguin lover is back."

Ash placed a hand on her shoulder. "Lillie, stay calm, or he'll take advantage of your anger."

"Nice to see too, my dear. Ketchum, this time you won't stop me. Now the first order of business is to change Deck Masters." Deep Sea Warrior disappeared, and Nightmare Penguin appeared.

"Beat that flipper-footed freak," Tea called to the Duelists.

"Easier said than done, Miss Gardner," Crump said. "Because with Nightmare Penguin on the field, all water monsters get an additional 200-point boost."

(TLF: 1850-2050)

"Legendary Fisherman, attack Yugi's King of Mythical Beasts now!" The Legendary Fisherman threw his spear and skewered Gazelle. "Next, I summon Catapult Turtle in defense mode." Nightmare Penguin and A Legendary Ocean also increased Catapult Turtle. (CT: 1000-1200, 2000-2200)

"We've got to get rid of that magic card," Joey said. "Before we have to say bye-bye to our bodies."

Kaiba took the opportunity of everyone being distracted by the appearance of the Big 5 to sneak off to look for Mokuba. Kaiba was very disturbed about the things Noah was claiming. There was no way a kid like him could be Gozaburo's son. He last saw Gozaburo about six years ago, so Noah should be about his age, yet when Kaiba finally got a full glimpse of him during Joey's duel, he clearly looked only a little bit older than Mokuba.

Kaiba's first thought was that Noah was lying. It was a definite possibility and wouldn't be the first time someone lied to him to get what they wanted. But why go through such an elaborate setup to prove a lie?

Kaiba's next thought was that the Big 5 put him up to it, but he immediately dismissed that thought, believing that those fools didn't have a collective brain cell to devise something like this.

I still need to find a piece to this Virtual puzzle. Once I do, this nonsense will be cleared up. First, I must find Mokuba and rescue him from Noah's control. Also, why has Team Rocket appeared after six years of absence?

Ash drew a card. He looked to Lillie, who nodded, confirming she had put this trap card in their deck. "We place two cards face down and end our turn.

"It's now my turn," Joey said. He drew the trap card Kunai with Chain. "I set one card facedown and summon Cyber Harpie in attack mode!" (1800/1500)

"That's one of Mai's cards," Serenity realized.

"Poor Joey," Tea thought. "He must care about her if he chose to play her favorite card."

"This is for you, Mai." Joey thought and then said. "Finally, I switch my Alligator Sword to attack mode."

"Please tell me that was an accidental move," Lillie asked Ash, who shook his head.

"No, I think he meant to do that," Ash said, looking at Joey's facedown card.

"I end my turn," Joey announced.

"Fine, then it's my move," Yami said, drawing a card. I don't have anything I can use to destroy his Legendary Fisherman, and I'll have to rely on either Joey's or Ash and Lillie's facedown cards for now. "For my move, I'll summon Mystical Elf in defense mode. That ends my turn." (800/2000)

"You've dueled for long enough, Crump," Johnson said to his coworker.

"The odds are still in my favor," Crump insisted. So stay out of it until I say so." Johnson narrowed his eyes.

Crump drew a card. "Now say goodbye to Mystical Elf. Legendary Fisherman, attack Mystical Elf with Harpoon of Doom."

"Not so fast, Crump. I activate my trap card. Kunai With Chain." Joey's trap caught the Big 5's monster.

"Nice move Joey," Lillie cheered. "Now his Legendary Fisherman shifts into defense mode, plus one of your monsters gains 500 attacks." As Lillie finished speaking, Cyber Harpie's attack point rose (1800-2300).

"So much for your attack," Ash said. "Anything else you wanna try?"

Gansley was furious. "How could you let them do this, Crump?"

"Step aside. You are done," said Johnson.

"I still have a high percentage for victory." Crump protested to his coworkers, who were glaring at him.

"I place this monster face down and end my turn."

Lillie drew a card and smirked at her draw. "Too bad that effect monster is about to be wasted. Go Nobleman of Crossout. This targets one facedown monster on the field and destroys it, and it also banishes it." Crump's facedown card was flipped, revealing Magician of Faith. (300/400) "Since it was a flip effect monster, each player goes through their decks and banishes all cards from it with that monster's name. Also, its effect doesn't go off."

Every player checked their deck. Then shuffled the deck. "So much for insurance if we destroyed A Legendary Ocean," Ash smiled. "Nice move, sweetheart. We end our turn."

Yugi was impressed. "Lillie's come a long way from just trying to save herself," he thought to the Pharaoh, who nodded. "Yes, She's dueling with more confidence," Yami thought.

"Way to go, Lillie," cheered Tea.

"Wow, I'm impressed. Not bad for a couple of rookies. Ash and Lillie are really holding their own," Duke said.

Gladion was stunned. "Maybe I was wrong. Lillie has changed," Gladdion said while still impressed.

Tristan tried to cheer, but it came out as Monkey sounds, much to his horror. Serenity patted his head.

"Here we go again, Crump," Joey declared, drawing a card. "Time to dry out yer ocean. Go Harpie's Feather Duster." The ocean vanished, and Catapult Turtle's stats dropped. (1200/2000-1000/2000). "Now Cyber Harpie destroy his Legendary Fisherman." Joey's monster complied leaving only Catapult Turtle left. "I switch Aligator's Sword to defense mode and end my turn."

"Here I go," Yami declared. "I summon Kuriboh in defense mode." (300/200.) "Next, I activated Card Destruction. "Now we all discard our cards and draw a new hand." Everyone drew their cards. "I end my turn."

"All right, you brats," Crump declared, but Johnson stepped up.

"You've done enough, Crump. It's time to lay Judgement on these kids," Johnson declared. Crump scowled but let his coworker take control.

"Crump has been dismissed, kids."

"They switched again," Tea commented.

"So that's the plan," Gladion said. Everyone turned to him. "They keep switching control to keep themselves fresh. This way, they can try to catch our friends and my sister off guard."

"Exactly," said Duke, "The Big five get breaks while our guys don't. This isn't going to be easy."

"Time to bring you to justice. In case you don't remember, I'm Johnson, the legal expert of the Big 5. My first order of business is to clear the field of this Penguin." Nightmare Penguin vanished, and Judgment took its place.

Meanwhile, Kaiba continued his search for Mokuba. Eventually, he ran across something that caused his eyes to widen. "It can't be," he declared, seeing something only he thought he knew about. "That building, it can't be! It's my design. I've never shown those blueprints to anyone. How could Noah have recreated it? WHO IS THIS KID?"

Back at the duel, Johnson looked at his opponents. "It's only a matter of time before I deal justice on these kids. once I do, we will be free of this virtual prison forever, and they'll be trapped," Johnson chuckled to himself.

To Be continued.