Ah another chapter done! Honestly when I first started this I didn't think that it was going to be this hard.
I am so sorry that this is so late! I can't actually do it on my phone anymore so I'm resorting to the family computer and I don't get an extreme amount of time on it, I think that this maybe my longest chapter yet.
Anyway it's finally done so yay!
Anyway I don't own Yugioh only the idea of the Millennium Bracelet and My OC Claire.
Destiny is strange.
Inside the castle Pegasus was sitting at a large dark wood table looking at a silver pocket watch
"All over the island my unwitting pawns are in place, the Duels have begun and by now the slow process of elimination is well underway, only the strongest Duel Monster players will survive and those with insufficient skill will fall to the wayside." He murmured to himself as he picked up his wine glass that had deep red wine in.
Back with the gang they had just exited the forest and come to a cliff looking out onto the bright blue ocean surrounding them.
"Ok, bring them on, I'm itching to Duel and I'm challenging the next player we see." Joey said as he punched one fist into his other palm. After saying this he then ran to stand at the edge of the cliff.
"You know I'm not so sure Joey's up to this." Téa said a little worried about Joey.
"Yeah there's tournament level players here, but don't you think he's smart enough to realise" before Tristan could finish Joey let out a triumphant shout as he fist pumped the air.
"Here I stand the next Duel Monsters champion!" He exclaimed before looking back at the ocean, missing the embarrassed looks on his friends faces.
"He needs a reality check" Téa said resisting the urge to face palm. Joey continued to stare out at the ocean remembering a time he and Serenity hoped on a bus to go to the beach since that's what she wanted to do. He remembered her laughing at him as the tide washed over him right after he laid down he quickly scrambled up the beach and away from the rippling waves as he complained about the sudden coldness. Joey also remembered that they spent all day at that beach, playing and building sandcastles. A voice echoed in his mind as he continued to think about that day.
"What a great day! We gotta come back here!" His younger self told Serenity as they were making a sand castle.
"But how?" She asked him sounding a little worried.
"Don't worry even if mum and dad do get divorced and we have to live apart I'll still" he hesitated for a moment as he looked down at his bit of the sand castle he was doing before looking back at Serenity and continuing. "I'll still bring you back to this place." He said sincerely.
Serenity smiled and laughed asking if he promised and holding out her pinky finger for him to link his.
"Yeah, I promise" he said linking his pinky finger with hers.
Joey made a promise to himself that he was going to win this tournament and the prize money so Serenity doesn't lose her eye sight. And then he wants to show her that beautiful ocean once more. After all he was her big brother, and he is supposed to look out for her.
Loud cheers erupted from further down the cliff which made Téa turn before she spoke up.
"Look there" she said as she pointed to all the Duel boxes, causing her friends to all turn and look at where she was pointing.
"The Duel boxes" Tristan said as the gang stared in slight wonder at how many there where. "They seem to be everywhere!" He exclaimed.
"You said it, lots of Duelling going on" Yugi agreed it made him feel happy seeing so many Duels happening in one place.
"Surely we can find someone for you to Duel" Claire said as she also looked around slightly awestruck at how many there were.
"Right I'm going in" Joey said as he bawled his fists up gathering his courage to take on his first Duel.
"Are you sure you can do this?" Tristan asked "if you lose and give up your only star chip." He said.
"That's right" Téa agreed with a frown of worry on her face. This made Joey panic and his legs gave way causing him to fall to the floor.
"Don't panic, you can do this Joey" Yugi said as he looked down at his friend "you do know that don't you."
"Also you can't forget who you're fighting for, your sister" Claire chipped in as she crouched down to Joey's current height and put her hand on his shoulder. "You keep her in your mind and there's no way you can lose. Also if things feel to tough we're right here cheering you on." Joey looked at her and blinked him and Claire had grown a little closer after Pegasus stealing grandpa's soul. It started a few days after the incident.
Claire had skipped a few classes which was very unlike her and despite trying to find her during first break they came up with nothing. Joey then found her at the back of the school sobbing into her knees and her knuckles bruised and bleeding.
Joey comforted her as best as he could and told her that before becoming friends with Yugi he had a lot of anger issues to try and cope with, he always found beating up bullies was a good way to relieve some stress but quickly suggested Claire find a non human punching bag or at least someone willing to hold a pillow for her target. At this which Claire let out a small laugh and gave him a slight push. So Joey would help her get her anger out, he'd go to the game shop and after a lesson of Duelling with both Yugi and Claire he would grab a few pillows, take them outside to the back of the game shop and Joey would encourage her to hit the pillows as hard as she could, at first he had to rile her up which worked well.
He smiled at her and nodded before standing up straight once more.
"I hope you're right guys, this is my first official Duel and I can't afford to get knocked out at the start." He said as he looked to Yugi to which Yugi nodded and looked over at the Duels happening.
"True but not everyone here is a pro, I'm sure you can find someone on your level." Yugi explained.
"Go for someone easy Joey." Téa said as they watched him examine his deck real quick.
"I guess I should think about the field that my cards will be best suited for. They're mostly monsters and fighter types." After looking around he grinned slightly "I guess that makes this meadow region my kind of turf" he said smugly.
"That's right Joey, see you know what you're doing." Yugi said as he also smiled at his friend happy with how far he had come in the past few weeks.
"You lost cry baby now give me your star chips!" A woman's voice called out sounding fed up the group turned, both Téa and Claire had a pretty good guess on who it was.
"A voice that annoying can only belong to.." Téa began but Claire finished it for her with a sigh.
"Mai" Claire crossed her arms she was hoping no to see Mai this soon or again after Yugi's Duel with Weevil but it seemed fate had other ideas.
A younger boy with dark purple hair and wearing a black and yellow pin striped shirt was behind her looking very upset at the older woman.
"It's not fair! You cheated somehow!" He accused her. "How could you know what your cards were when they were still face down?" He asked, Mai stopped laughing before turning back to the boy she had just beat.
"I'm psychic, and you're done" she winked at the boy as she said that last word before turning away as he left, she laughed once more when he ran away before noticing Yugi and his friends. "Well look who's here" she said as she smiled slightly.
"Wow Mai's already won two more star chips" Joey said as he noticed her Dueling Gauntlet.
"Hey Yugi are your Duels going well?" she asked sweetly making Claire narrow her eyes a little. Too sweetly what was she up to?
"I'm making progress" Yugi said unsure of what else to say she saw his last Duel. Mai then grabbed his hand to check the star chips on his Dueling Gauntlet, one hand underneath his and the other one on top. This made both Claire and Téa see red.
"So, you have three star chips do you? I might be up for a Duel myself." Mai said casually.
"Take her" Claire hissed from behind Yugi making him look at her questionably.
"Yeah, knock her out of the tournament and off the island" Téa whispered from his other side Yugi glanced at her, what has gotten into these two? Mai ignoring the two behind Yugi stood back up with a satisfied hum.
"You know, I'm defiantly in the mode for a Duel right now" she said as she placed her hands on her hips. "So get ready because I choose to challenge…" Mai paused for a moment, closing her eyes and holding her finger up before pointing it at someone. "You Joey." This made the group confused, even Joey wasn't expecting that.
"Wah?! You challenging me?" He asked pointing to himself, was she serious? Claire got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach at this.
"Yes, I want to play against you kid, now do you have the guts to accept?" Mai asked as she crossed her arms once more. Joey gave a smug laugh trying to boost his own confidence.
"Guess you heard about my skill" he said casually, what was he thinking? Was he trying to scare her off?
"Don't flatter yourself" Mai said making Joey's eyes widen as he stared at her. "I overheard you and Yugi talking on the boat, and I know that he gave you the only Star Chip that you have. My moto is take out the weakest players first." Mai said with a wink. "And considering that you wouldn't even be here if Yugi hadn't given you one of his chips you've got to be the weakest Duellist on the island."
"Hey do you have to be so insulting?" Joey asked.
"There is some truth in her words, you're possibly the only Duellist here staring off with one star chip, aside from Yugi." Claire said which made Joey's jaw drop.
"Mai's ruthless Joey, don't Duel her first" Téa warned really worried that Joey wouldn't be able to stand a chance against her.
"Don't forget if you lose this match then you're out for good" Tristan reminded that put a lot of pressure on Joey as he had so much riding on this.
"Yugi stand up for Joey you have to fight her in his place" Téa whispered, she knew Yugi could take her easily. Yugi looked between both Joey and Mai, he didn't know a lot about her. However, he did know Joey and he knew Joey wasn't one to back down from any kind of challenge no matter how impossible it seemed to be. He also knew that if he stepped in now Joey wouldn't forgive him.
"This is his decision to make" Yugi finally said which made Joey glance at him. Yugi smiled brightly at Joey "show Mai what you're made of!" This made Joey smile back thankful for Yugi's support.
"Right she thinks I'm a push over but she'll see." He said confidently.
"Yugi!" Téa exclaimed in astonishment.
"You can't be serious Joey" Tristan said as he gaped at his friend, what was he thinking?
"I've never been more serious" Joey held firm on this he wasn't about to be pushed around just because she thinks that. "Don't you see, this is my chance to prove myself to show everybody. Don't forget Gramps trained me and I had lots of practice with Yugi and Claire." He then started to get a little negative as he spoke as he got nervous and thought back on the little bit of training he did have. "I mean sure Gramps didn't get a chance to finish my training and granted I wish that I had a chance to practice more before getting thrown into a tournament this huge with so many heavy hitters. But honest I think that I can take her." The last part sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than anything.
"Oh man, you better be right, for your sister's sake" Tristan sighed, he didn't sound so convinced by Joey's words, but there would be no changing his mind now.
"Yeah, just remember what you came her for in the first place." Téa said before she looked over at Mai.
"I accept your challenge, let's Duel" Joey said, surprisingly calm, it was rare for Claire to see Joey so calm.
"Get ready to lose" Mai announced before she directed Joey to the Duel bow that she had previously come out of. Sitting down Joey took a deep breath as he placed his cards on the table.
"Just keep your cool Joey, you can do this!" Claire shouted, hoping she sounded confident and convincing, she did agree with Yugi that it was up to Joey and she did believe he could do it, just taking on someone so experienced first time made her feel worried.
"Go get her Joey!" Téa cheered she wanted to see Joey beat Mai.
"Kick her butt" Tristan shouted this made Joey smile at his friends and gave them a thumbs up.
"Yeah!" He shouted happily back feeling slightly more confident.
"He'll do fine" Yugi murmured more to himself than anyone else.
"Since you only have one measly star chip, I only have to bet one of mine against you" Mai said calmly as she took out a single star chip, holding it up for Joey to see before placing it on the side of the table. Joey looked down at his Dueling Gauntlet taking off the one star chip he had, at least he'll get a field power bonus on this playing field. At least that's what he thought before looking down at the table to place his star chip and panicked.
"Hey! What the fuck is going on with all these mountains on my side of the field?!" He exclaimed seeing mostly massive mountains.
"The field that we're going to do battle on is 40% Forest, 40% Mountain and the last 20% is Meadow, so deal with it or surrender" Mai explained this Duel was going to be easy, this idiot has no idea what he's doing.
"Calm down Joey, you'll be ok" Yugi called out he could see the panic on his friends face and he knew if he panicked then he wouldn't concentrate. "Your monsters will still get a field power bonus from the Meadow part of the field."
"You got this Joey; you still get your advantage the same as Mai." Claire also joined in with trying to calm Joey. This made Joey look over at them realisation filling his brown eyes.
"Oh, yeah" he said before taking a breath and turning back to Mai. "Listen Mai not for nothing but I gotta ask one question before we Duel." This took Mai by surprise, what was he going to ask?
"What?" She asked her purple eyes wide as she was taken aback by this.
"Why did you decide to take part in this tournament?" Joey asked sounding generally curious on what motived her he knew about himself and Yugi, but everyone else? "So tell Mai, why is it you Duel?"
"Why do I Duel?" Mai asked a little amused, Dueling was all about winning, nothing more nothing less. "For all the comforts that I crave, designer clothes, travel perks, anything to avoid real work, hot cars turbo charged for living large" Mai listed all her reasons with a shine in her eyes thinking about all the things she can buy herself and enjoy.
"So that's why you want the prize money? How selfish" Joey snorted disapprovingly. This made Mai angry, this child knew nothing and yet he's acting all big and for what reason?
"How dare you try and judge me, who do you think you are? You pathetic little snot!" Mai shouted in anger, her fists balled, she really wanted to reach over the table and punch him.
"Hey, you're only Dueling for things, but for your information some of us fight for the people we love" Joey said as he glared back at her, not intimidated by how angry she had gotten.
"You'll show her Joey, show her what it's like to Duel from the heart" Yugi encouraged.
"Duel" both Mai and Joey said at the same time. Joey looked down at his deck as he drew his cards, he then looked over at Mai before pulling a card from his hand.
"So to start the game off I summon Masaki The Legendary Swordsman." He placed his card in attack mode on the Meadow part of the board. A man in in green armour that looked this a samurai's armour with blue clothes underneath and a Katana that he pulled out of the sheath and stood ready to attack. "The field power bonus will bring his power up over three hundred points." As Joey said this the swordsman's attack and defence points went from 1100 to 1430. "Hey I made my first move." Joey cheered to himself.
Mai pulled her cards from the deck but instead of looking at them she laid them face down on the table. Mai then closed her eyes and stated to hover her hand above the cards while humming.
"Wha?" He gasped before he shook his head, was he seeing things, opening his eyes he decided that he definitely wasn't seeing things. "What are you doing?!" He asked. Mai opened her eyes looking over at Joey confidence filling her amethyst eyes.
"Divining my card, I have to mystically choose which one of them is the best." She said putting on a mysterious quality to her voice as she spoke, seeing Joey getting nervous she closed her eyes once more.
"What are ya? A psychic?" Joey asked in disbelief.
"And the best card would be…." Her index finger slowly hovered of the cards before putting it on one and opened her eyes and picking up the card. "The Harpy Lady!" she announced as she placed it in attack mode in the mountain range.
A woman like creature appeared but she had pale blue skin and claws where her hands and feet should be she stretched her arms above her head letting out a loud screech and revealing massive wings attached to her arms. Her outfit was two long strips of fabric that attached to another bit of fabric around her neck and moved down her curvy body before coming together to cover the crouch area. Her attack points went from 1300 to 1690 and her defence went from 1400 1820.
"I'll still take it on!" Joey announced "attack!" The swordsman charged forward sword gripped tightly.
"No Joey your monster is weaker! What are you doing?" Claire asked in frustration, was he that frazzled by what Mai was doing?
"And land monsters are at a disadvantage to flying monsters!" Yugi exclaimed, but it was too late the swordsman swung his sword at The Harpy Lady but The Harpy was quicker, taking herself to the air effortlessly with one flap of her wings, "Monsters that can fly have a magical resistance against those that only walk on the earth."
"So, Joey blew it already?" Téa asked in concern, this didn't look good for Joey.
"No but he's not thinking straight and he rushed in without assessing the situation, even though he's got the field power bonus it's been cancelled out because Mai's monster can fly." Claire explained.
"He needs to think things through and know what his opponents' monsters are capable of." Yugi also said, come on Joey, Yugi was sure he could do this.
Harpy Lady circled the Swordsman for a moment before suddenly she dived down and swiped the swordsman.
"No my swordsman's sushi!" Joey said despairingly as his life points went down from 2000 to 1414.
"Oh cards! Speak to me!" Mai dramatically called out once again her eyes closed before choosing her card. After a moment of Mai lightly humming, she slid a card in front of her into the spell and trap zone "and I'll choose again, without looking."
"How's she doing that?" Joey murmured to himself confused on how Mai was pulling this off.
"He's loosing it!" Téa fretted, she could see that he was focusing more on how Mai was doing her trick instead of the Duel.
"I guess that mop-head wasn't ready for this Duel" Tristan sighed he didn't want to see his friend lose, not because he lost concentration.
"Hey Joey" Yugi called "think about what you're doing before you move again" even Yugi could tell that Joey was feeling the pressure of this Duel and that was not good for him.
Joey felt like he was starting to sweat, how could she know what her cards were when they're still face down? How could he even compete?
On the other side of the table Mai was keeping her cool as she stared at Joey, she knew her simple card trick has confused this weakling beginner and made him forget everything he knew about Duel Monsters, she had him right where she wanted him and he could do nothing about it, all she had to do was to was keep pushing his button.
Joey drew the top card from his deck before adding it to his hand. He had a little moment to study the cards before he played his next monster.
"Maybe this one" he muttered to himself before his chocolate brown eyes locked onto Mai's violet ones and announcing "Tiger Axe!" A large tiger standing on it's hind legs wearing heavy plated armour on his chest and shoulders appeared on the field wielding a massive axe. Its attack points went from 1300 to 1690 and its defence rose from 1100 to 1430. "The field power bonus should raise my attack power, so it can take on the Harpy's Lady head-to-head."
"Joey you're not thinking, it's still resistant!" Yugi exclaimed.
"God damn Joey!" Claire cursed in frustration she knotted her fingers into her long blonde locks "your monster can't fly!" She shouted at him her Millenium bracelet having a little heat to it but Claire didn't pay it any attention.
"Right Tiger Axe is just another handicapped earth-based monster" Mai said as her Harpy Lady launched into the air with a shriek and swiftly struck down the warrior bringing Joey's life points down from 1410 to 1020. "It'll take stronger monsters than your land-based wimps to beat my Harpy's Lady." Mai said her arms crossed as she leaned back on her chair slightly. "Now I'll play this lovely card with out even looking." She said as she slid one of her cards into the spell and trap zone "I'll give you a hint, it's an equipment magic card that will help me to defeat your next card in one turn."
"Again, with that damn psychic stuff?" Joey asked he was really starting to feel the pressure, how did Yugi stay so calm? He was now wondering if she could see his cards, what if she could? He decided that the best option for him would be to place a card in defence mode since he had no idea what she was playing.
"Running scared are we little boy?" Mai asked coolly which made Joey growl. Ignoring his comment that he wasn't a little boy she lifted her face down card. "Well let me show you my surprise, Cyber Sheild! To juice up my Harpy Lady" once activated Harpy's Lady was adorned with metal armour although it didn't cover much. The armour was a deep purple breast plate that went up and attached to a thick collar around the Harpy's neck long boots in the same metal and metal bracelets on her upper arms. The magic card made Harpy's Lady's attack power go from 1690 to 2190 and its defence points go from 1820 to 2320. Mai then declared an attack on Joe's face down card which the Harpy swooped down to wear the card was and dug her taloned feet into the card revealing the monster before it got destroyed.
"No!" Joey cried out "How's she doing that?" He asked himself as he stared at the field his eyes wide. Mai ignored him and let out a loud laugh.
"This is so much fun!" She exclaimed before she leaned forward to look Joey in the eye "In case you were wondering the next card that you were thinking of won't work either." She said.
"Mai has ESP, it has to be, there's no other way, I'm gonna lose this Duel and my only chance to help my sister." Joey murmured to himself he couldn't figure out how else she was doing it, he felt defeated how on earth was he going to win this? There's no way.
"Settle down, Joey you got to remember what my Grandpa taught you about how to play Duel monsters" Yugi said his hands balled into fists as he encouraged his friend to keep going.
"Yeah and all the times we Duelled getting better and better." Claire said as she now had her hands out of her hair and now clasped together.
"Don't let her rattle you, she's just trying to psych you out!" Téa called out, Joey needed to be calm, he never thinks clearly when he got stressed out or confused.
"Stay out of this!" Mai demanded finally had enough of these guys making noise. This made the group look over at her in slight surprise at the sudden outburst. "Your brainless cheerleading isn't going to help him against the superior power of my Harpy's Lady. Don't you guys get it yet? Friendship doesn't win Duels never will. It hasn't helped him; he's defeated and he knows it."
"Not true" Téa said, she refused to give up on her friend.
"No?" Mai asked but continued without waiting for an answer. "I beg to differ, there can be only one champion on this island and in this game someone can be your best friend today and your worst enemy tomorrow, once the competition forces you to face each other in a Duel. Where's your friendship then?" Mai once again asked making Joey look up at her. "That's why the only person a Duellist can trust is himself. I hope that your defeat today teaches you that lesson kid."
"He's losing it!" Tristan panicked.
"He needs help! Yugi help him!" Téa shouted closing her eyes she didn't want to see Joey lose he can't lose. With a sudden quick flash of light from Yugi's Millennium Puzzle and there stood Yugi tall and confident, slightly taller than Claire.
"Don't listen to her Joey! We're here to help you just like you're always there to help us" Yugi said making Mai and Joey look over at Yugi.
"Wha?" Joey asked as his gaze met Yuig's stern eyes, did they always look like that?
"Trust me on this she's just trying to divide and conquer, a strategy that has been used for centuries, believe me, I know." He said his eyes never leaving Joey's.
"When you get that look in your eye I believe everything you say" Joey said more to himself, this made Mai laugh loudly, this was very amusing.
"Do you really thing Yugi wants you to be the grand prize winner? He's a Duellist too you know, to win you'll eventually have to take him on" Mai said as she smiled seeing the realisation dawn on Joey's face at this information.
"She's right we will have to Duel….but" Joey then remembered his promise to Yugi that they were going to beat Pegasus together, no matter what, they were a team. But how could he help him with that goal if he has to face Yugi in a Duel? "We are a team but I also have to win the contest for Serenity" this made him remember the video his sister sent a few weeks ago. "What do I do? Maybe Yugi's right about this thing, I have to stop listening to Mai's nonsense and start using my head." Joey teared up thinking about his sister he closed his eyes to hold back the tears. "I gotta concentrate on how to win them game.
Taking a few minutes with his eyes closed he took a deep breath to calm down and think of a way to beat Mai. He then noticed something, there was a strange smell and then more smells hit his nose, fruity, flowery scents…..why hadn't he noticed it before? It was a bunch of different perfumes, but they were in a Duel box, he shouldn't be able to smell all these different perfumes. Where was it coming from? Joey took a big sniff and realised exactly where it was coming from.
"Lets go kid it's your turn" Mai called out snapping Joey out of his thought process.
"I see through your card trick!" Joey announced making Mai stop and look at Joey in surprise. "You sprayed all your cards with different kinds of perfumes" he said making Mai gasp. "And by smelling each different scent you can tell which card is which even when they're face down. So you don't have to look in order to play your cards that way you can psych the other player out."
"No way! How can an amateur punk like you figure out my aroma strategy?" Mai asked shocked that he figured it out, no one had ever figured it out before. "It's just impossible."
"I gotta admit Mai you really had me buying into the whole psychic powers shit." Joey said with his eyes closed before opening them and looking up at Mai "I was too freaked out to think things through because of that, but you're not a psychic at all! You're just a big fake!" Joey shouted the last part while pointing at Mai.
"Alright Joey!" Yugi cheered.
"Go get her Joey!" Téa exclaimed feeling happy that Joey figured out Mai's trick.
"You the man!" Tristan chimed in.
"Kick her butt Joey!" Claire cheered as she jumped up and down fist pumping the air.
"Yugi you were right" Joey said happily.
"Just because you saw through my little psychic act doesn't mean that you're going to defeat me in a Duel" Mai raged at him, how dare he think that he could beat her? She hadn't lost any life points while he had lost nearly half of his.
"I think you're wrong, before you were winning by confusing me and trying to pit me against my friends. But now my mind is clear, I know who I can trust" Joey said before pointing at her again. "All you've got is your cheap tricks and I won't fall for 'em anymore." Joey smiled confidently before speaking again "I'm gonna blast your Harpies out of the sky with this" pulling a card out of his hand he showed it to Mai, the picture was of an adorable light orange coloured dragon with large bright blue eyes.
"Good card Joey" Yugi approved with a nod of his head.
"But how?" Claire asked that card was weaker than The Harpy's Lady and she was sure Joey didn't have anything in his deck to make it more powerful…..or did he?
"Baby dragon, in Defence Mode!" Joey announced as he placed the card down, the small dragon appeared with a small high-pitched laugh. Mai stared for a moment before she burst out laughing.
"That wimpy card is your grand play?" She asked still trying to get over her fit of giggles. "I only wish it was worth some more so when I devastate you it would do more damage to your life points!" Finally getting over her laughter she turned serious once more. "My card will be Elegant Egotist" Mai said as she also showed her card, this one was a magic card with a kaleidoscope pattern of a Harpy Lady face. "It's magic duplicates my Harpy's Lady." With this the Harpy Lady glowed and two more Harpy shaped figures all glowing brightly.
"Oh no!" Joey exclaimed.
"Harpy's Lady one, two, three" Mai counted as they appeared the first one looked like the original Harpy Lady but instead of dark purple armour hers was gold to match the others. The second one had long blue spiky hair and purple wings and the third had short orange hair and green wings.
"It's three times the trouble" Joey started to sweat, on Harpy was enough and now he had three to deal with.
"Now what? He was struggling when there was only one" Téa said as she watched Joey.
"Don't give in Joey!" Tristan called out "you've still got all kinds of moves left!"
"Really? What moves would those be?" Téa asked as she pulled her eyes away from the Duel to look over at Tristan.
"How would I know?" Tristan countered "ask an expert, ask Yugi or Claire." They both turned to look at Yugi but before they could say anything Yugi spoke up.
"It's Joey's Duel, he has to figure it out" Yugi eyes didn't leave the Duel. So, knowing that they weren't getting anything out of him their eyes moved to Claire who shook her head.
"Yugi's right, Joey needs to figure this out himself" she said firmly.
"I don't have any cards strong enough to beat three Harpy Ladies" Joey said as he looked at the cards in his hand.
"Ha, and I'm going to keep using the magic of Elegant Egotist to double my Harpies again and again each turn." Mai laughed joyfully "and while my Harpies multiply, I can't attack you so it's you move" she said with a little smile on her face. "Of course, soon you'll be up against an army."
"An army of Harpies, how the fuck do I fight an army?" Joey asked himself feeling a little frustrated at his situation.
"Don't give up Joey!" Yugi called making Joey look over at him with a small questioning noise. "Think hard about her strategy, she's been using only one monster card and strengthening that one card with many magic cards." Yugi explained "but there's a serious flaw in her Duelling strategy Joey" he continued.
"Using magic on one card?" Joey asked now that he thought about it that didn't seem like the best strategy to be using. "That's true, she's just been juicing up the Harpy Ladies every turn but if she has mostly magic cards maybe the Harpy Ladies are her only monsters" Joey concluded getting quicker as he spoke as he realised how he might be able to win. "I bet if I can just defeat her Harpies, she won't have any monsters left to play."
"That's right Joey, now think what card in your deck will help you win?" Yugi asked him.
"Which of my cards?" Joey asked as he shrugged his shoulders "you tell me." He then remembered something, something that happened on the boat "wait! I think maybe you did." He remembered Yugi passing him a card, what was it called again? Oh yeah, the Time Wizard, Yugi said that it could be helpful in a tight spot, well he was certainly in a tight spot alright. Now he had to remember what Gramps taught him on how to use monster's effects He then looked down at his hand, did he have it?
"If I had known how long it was going to take fore you to make a move I would have brought a magazine" Mai said annoyed at how slow he was being.
"Shit" he cursed "it's not in my hand, I'm gonna have to draw for it" Joey's hand started to shake as he slowly reached for his deck, what if, what if it's not the one he draws?
Yugi stared Joey needed to trust in his cards and himself.
"Alright here I go, it's all or nothing" Joey mumbled as he picked up the card, his eyes were screwed shut, he couldn't look, Joey held the card up and opened one eye to peek at the card hopeful that it was the one he needed. He laughed triumphantly as he played the card. "Alright it's the Time Wizard!" He announced happily. Next to Baby Dragon appeared a small red clock with a face and holding a staff. Mai stared at the weird ticking clock in confusion.
"What good is that thing?" She asked.
"Don't you know? The Time Wizard can make time go faster, causing my Baby Dragon to grow into a Thousand Dragon" Joey declared this is it, this was going to win him the Duel he knew it.
"Right Joey, and that's not the only affect your Time Wizard Will have." Yugi said with a small smirk on his face.
"Come on Joey, time to show us what you got" Claire cheered as she smiled, so he really could win this.
Time Wizard raised the staff in his hand it spoke in a small robotic voice as it said time magic. The ticking got louder and an odd swirl formed around the field.
"Baby Dragon transform into Thousand Dragon!" Joey declared a second later a large much older dragon sat where Baby Dragon once was it's attck points were 2400 and its defence points were 2000.
"So now you have a bigger dragon, big deal" Mai shrugged it off, it still couldn't defeat her Harpies. "My Harpy Ladies still have greater attack power, attack it my three Harpy Sisters!" She ordered but when she finally looked at her Harpy Ladies she gasped. They had grown old and weak. "What? What happened to my Harpy Ladies? They've gotten so old" She asked she watched as they're attack points dropped from 2190 to 1300. Ygui gave a small chuckle at this.
"I warned you a millennium as passed on the playing field, and your Harpy Ladies have become old and decrepit, face it Mai time's running out for you and your ladies." Yugi explained.
"I believed and the cards came through for me!" Joey exclaimed his eyes were wide he still couldn't believe it "awesome! Now go Thousand Dragon!" Joey ordered fist pumping towards Mai. Thousand Dragon stepped forward and let out smoke from his nose. "Attack with Inferno Flame Breath!" Thousand Dragon blew out the flames from his nose, destroying all the Harpies in one go and bringing Mai's life points down from 2000 to 0.
"He did it! Joey won!" Both Claire and Téa jumped for joy.
"I knew you could do it!" Tristan cheered as well. Joey looked over with a massive smile saying thank you. Yugi gave him a thumbs up and a wink.
"How? How could I ever lose to such an amateur?" Mai asked herself despairingly as she stared down at her cards.
"Hey Mai" Joey called making Mai look up in surprise "I tried to tell ya, there's more to Duel monsters than just kicking the other guys butt. If you're ever gonna be a real champion you gotta learn to care about someone…other than yourself" Joey told her before turning to look at Yugi. "Isn't that right Yugi?" To which Yugi nodded his head and a quick flash normal Yugi was back.
Yugi felt really proud of Joey he Duelled his best and all his hard work and training has paid off. Yugi knew that he went from being nothing but eagerness and attitude to a winning Duellist who battles with his head, and his heart.
Claire was also proud of Joey, she then looked up at the castle with determination, now she knew that both Joey and Yugi would be alright she had something she needed to do.
Again I'm really sorry Claire didn't really get up to much, now we just have to get through Mako's Duel and then she will be doing something, not telling you what though!
I've got so many ideas for this it's unreal but I need to get through the first lot of episodes.
I hope you have enjoyed this one and I'll see you next time!
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