Chapter 28
Friends til the End Part 3
Countdown to Despair
"I want you to keep my Millennium Puzzle, Joey. It belongs to you now." Yugi said as he walked toward his side of the field. 'Hopefully that puzzle will free Joey from Marik's mind control before its too late, because that bomb will go off and send that anchor into the ocean in about 20 minutes, taking me and Joey with it. But if Joey comes to his senses soon, we may be able to escape. I gave him that puzzle as a symbol of our friendship, just like he gave me his Red-Eyes and I know our bond is stronger than Marik's magic. I've already seen signs of Marik's power weakening. When Joey saw his Red-Eyes Black Dragon, it triggered something inside him. Marik may be able to control Joey's mind, but he can't control Joey's heart.' he thought.
"Yugi's, puzzle." Joey said. "Joey? Are you in there?" Yugi asked. 'Ignore him. He's trying to bribe you with that puzzle. Yugi is your enemy and I am your master, so you listen to me now!' Marik declared as Joey gripped the puzzle's chain. 'The puzzle must be won in a duel in order for its magic to be used. So until we win this duel, its useless to me. Now destroy Yugi!' he stated further. "Destroy, Yugi." Joey said. 'That's right. He wants to hurt, not help. So get rid of his Millennium Puzzle. Hurl it into the ocean so Yugi can't weaken us!' Marik commanded as Joey removed the puzzle from around his neck.
'And once we win this duel, I'll send my Rare Hunters into the sea to retrieve the puzzle. Its destiny and I will not be denied my fate! Now, just to make sure that Yugi can no longer have any mental conversations with the pharaoh, dispose of the centerpiece first.' he continued as Joey did as he was told. "Say goodbye to both the puzzle and the pharaoh, Yugi." the mind-controlled teen said. "Fight it, Joey." Yugi said, weakly. "The only thing I'm fighting is you." Joey responded as he removed the puzzle's centerpiece. 'That's right! Show Yugi you don't need and throw that piece into the ocean, my mind slave!' Marik declared. "Farewell, pharaoh." Joey said before he prepared to toss it out into the ocean.
"Wait, Joey! Don't do it!" Fluttershy shouted. "He wouldn't!" AJ said in shock. 'Do it!' Marik commanded. "Please, stop!" Yugi shouted. But those words suddenly struck a chord with Joey and brought back the memories of when they were in tenth grade. Specifically the memories of when he did what he was about to do before, along with the memory of when Yugi stood up for him and Tristan when they were being attacked by Tetsu Trudge, later prompting him to retrieve the puzzle's centerpiece. 'Throw it now!' Marik commanded while everyone watched on. "I shouldn't, toss his puzzle piece. I can't!" Joey said before collapsing to his knees.
'What are you doing, you fool? Get up and dispose of that puzzle piece!' Marik commanded. "No! Yugi's, my friend." Joey retorted before putting the centerpiece back into the puzzle while Marik was in shock that he lost his grip on Joey's mind, again. 'Fine! Keep the puzzle if you want!' Marik said, annoyed. "Yes, sir. I'll give it to you, when we win." Joey responded. 'Considerate of you, but puzzle or no puzzle, you'll destroy Yugi for me!' Marik stated as Joey picked up his cards. "Your little friendship plan won't work, Yugi. Your friend's mind belongs to me. Hear me?! Prepare for defeat, Yugi! Now get on with the duel! The sooner you make your move, the sooner I can eliminate your life points! And you'd better act quickly, because you only have 14 minutes before that bomb goes off and makes that anchor drop into the sea, dragging you and your friend with it! You'll be out of my way once and for all! Now move!" he declared through Joey.
"Oh, I'll move. And now that your turn is over, Red-Eyes regains 500 of the attack points it lost last turn, Marik!" Yugi responded as his dragon's attack power increased from 400 to 900. "Get ready." he added as he drew. 'Beta the Magnet Warrior could help. I need to free Joey's mind from Marik's control. Last turn, when Marik made him attack the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, his favorite monster, the real Joey broke through. So I have to make that happen again if I'm going to save him and get us out of this mess. But Red-Eyes is weak and if it gets attacked, I could lose this duel to Marik and the whole world will be at his mercy.' he thought as he remembered what happened last turn. "I set two cards face down and summon Beta the Magnet Warrior in attack mode!" he declared as his cards and monster appeared. "That will end my turn." he concluded. "Hey! I have that card!" Pinkie said with a goofy grin.
"How foolish." Joey said. 'He could've attacked us, but instead, he left himself wide open to attack him! So don't disappoint me now.' Marik stated. "It's time to end this." Joey said as he drew. 'Excellent. Panther Warrior is strong enough to destroy that Red-Eyes and Yugi with it.' Marik said. "Destroy, Yugi." Joey said. 'That's right, my obedient servant. So do it!' Marik commanded. "Alright, little Yugi. Time to wipe out your Red-Eyes and your life points!" Joey declared. 'Yugi, you're losing him! Marik's control on Joey is getting stronger!' Yami said, mentally, as Marik ordered Joey to destroy his opponent. "You're finished now. I summon Panther Warrior!" the mind-controlled teen declared as his monster appeared.
"But first, before I strike, I'll transform Rocket Warrior into its rocket mode!" he added. "It all ends here. His Red-Eyes Black Dragon is barely alive, that pathetic creature won't stand a chance against Panther Warrior's ferocious onslaught." Marik said as he filled a glass with ice from a bucket. "And when that Red-Eyes goes, so does Yugi Muto. That little runt has only 1000 life points left. This duel is over. It's the moment I've been waiting for! Now, Wheeler, prepare to weaken that Red-Eyes with Rocket Warrior!" he declared. "I'll attack with Rocket Warrior and the target shall be, your magnet warrior!" Joey declared, shocking Marik.
"But I commanded you to take out his Red-Eyes, Wheeler!" the madman shouted before throwing both the glass and the bucket of ice on the floor. "This can't be! He's not responding to the power of my Millennium Rod at all!" he bellowed while Rocket Warrior zoomed towards Beta. "Not so fast! I activate my facedown trap! It's the card I took from you through Exchange, Magic Arm Shield!" Yugi declared before the trap sprung and snagged the Rocket Warrior in mid-air. "It allows me to intercept your Rocket Warrior and redirect it at your Panther Warrior!" he explained as the attack nailed the feline warrior.
"Thanks to your Attrition magic card, Panther Warrior loses the same amount of attack points as Rocket Warrior, bringing its strength all the way down to 500!" he continued as Panther Warrior's power hit that number. "On top of that, since Rocket Warrior attacked in its rocket form, your monster loses 500 extra attack points, leaving it with 0!" he concluded as the ferocious predator's attack power hit rock bottom. 'I think my plan worked! Marik would've attacked my Red-Eyes to win the duel, but Joey must've stopped him.' he thought.
"Very well, mind slave. It appears you have a tendency to disobey my orders and disrespect if not ignore my power, but I assure you, my Millennium Rod is not a force to be taken lightly. All I need to do is keep you under my control long enough to destroy little Yugi forever!" Marik stated before laughing wickedly. Back in the city, Tristan, Serenity and Duke were walking along, seemingly in the clear. "I'm really worried about Joey. Do you guys think he's okay?" Serenity asked. "I'm sure he's fine, Serenity. He's probably looking for Yugi as we speak." Tristan responded. "I only hope those thugs that are after us don't get any funny ideas about him and Yugi." Duke said. "Me, too. I know Joey can handle himself, but still." Serenity concurred.
"Well, let's try to think positive and think about where the finals even are." Duke suggested. "Good idea, the quickest way would be to ask a Duelist and see if they have six locator cards." Tristan said before spotting two kids walking along, one of them having a Duel Disk on his arm. "Well, just our luck. Excuse me, I've got a question." he said as he flagged the two down. Back at the pier, the duel continued on. "Make your pathetic move, little Yugi." Marik said, impatient. "Fine, Marik." Yugi responded. "And since the effect of Rocket Warrior expires at the end of my turn, my Panther Warrior regains the 500 attack points it lost." Marik pointed out as his creature's attack power increased to 500. "Big deal." Yugi said, unimpressed. "Now watch this move!" he said as he drew his next card. "I'll save you yet, Joey! I sacrifice Beta the Magnet Warrior so that I can summon the Archfiend of Gilfer!" he declared as his new monster appeared.
"Now, my mighty beast, attack his Rocket Warrior!" he commanded before, with one fiery blast, Rocket Warrior was blasted away and Joey/Marik's life points lowered to 1700. "You there, Joey?" he asked. "No. Joey's gone. You see, unlike your dragon, I've got plenty of strength left." Marik responded. 'He's right. Thanks to that Attrition card, Red-Eyes is down to a measly 900 attack points and I can't let it be destroyed. It may be my only hope to save Joey and the entire world from Marik.' Yugi thought. "I'm afraid it's only a matter of time before you and your pathetic friend are out of my way for good." Marik said as the timer on the bomb was in the 10 minute range.
Back in the city, Tristan, Duke and Serenity were still searching around for a Duelist with six locator cards. "Only one locator card? Well, thanks anyway." Tristan said as he let another Duelist go. "You guys find anything?" he asked. "We couldn't find any Duelists anywhere." Duke responded. 'I'm glad Duke's helping, but if he makes any moves on Serenity, Joey's gonna blow a gasket.' Tristan thought before he saw something up ahead on the overpass bridge. "It's those caped creeps!" he said before the Rare Hunters spotted them. "Oh, great, they saw us!" he said, slightly worried. "Run for it!" Duke shouted before they did so.
"Wait a second." Tristan said before they stopped at a crosswalk. "What do you mean wait? They're on our tail!" Duke pointed out. "Look, take Serenity and run." Tristan instructed. "And you?" Duke asked. "I've got some unfinished business to attend to! Now move it, you two!" Tristan responded before running towards the alley they just ran through. "Right!" Duke concurred before turning his attention toward Serenity. "Alright, stay close Serenity." he said as he led her in a direction. As for Tristan, he came to a stop in the alley right before the Rare Hunters arrived. "Well, at least we'll have one of them." said one of the hunters.
"Yeah? Well, we'll see who has who when this is over. So who's first?" Tristan said as he and the Rare Hunters got ready to rumble. Meanwhile, Duke and Serenity were about to rush across a crosswalk down the street before a car honked at them before coming to a stop. The driver was nonother than Mai Valentine. "Watch it! Cross on the green, not in between!" she shouted. "Please, help us." Serenity pleaded. "We're being chased by some robed weirdos!" Duke added. Mai gasped, as she knew just what they were talking about.
Back at the duel, things still seemed uncertain. "I hope you and Tea are comfortable, Fluttershy, in the front row seat to your beloved's last duel. As long as no one interferes, you'll both be fine, but I can't say the same for Yugi." Marik taunted. "You won't get away with this, Marik!" Yugi said, boldly. "That's where you're wrong, little Yugi. In less than 10 minutes, that bomb will go off and cause the anchor hanging above you to drop into the ocean, taking you and your friend, Joey, with it." Marik rebutted as the timer ticked through the 9 minute range.
Back in the city, Tristan had managed to knock out two of the three Rare Hunters. "No questions? Good. Now if you three hadn't had enough, there's more where that came from." he said before grabbing the third hunter by his cloak. "Alright, where are my friends, you freak?! Spill it, now!" he demanded. "Domino pier." said the Rare Hunter. "They better be there." Tristan warned. "It's true. We were told by our master to take you there." the Rare Hunter said before Mai, Duke and Serenity rode up behind Tristan. "Hey, Tristan. Need a lift?" Mai asked.
"Hey, Mai. How'd you three end up together?" Tristan asked. "We told her that I'm friends of you, Joey and Yugi and that Serenity is Joey's little sister so she said to hop in." Duke explained. A bit later, the four were on the road. "Alright, Tristan, based on your description of those creeps, they sound like these Rare Hunters I've been hearing about lately." Mai said. "What's a Rare Hunter?" Tristan asked. "They're underground Duelists that lie, cheat and steal. Their goal is collecting rare cards and that's probably why they kidnapped your friends." Mai explained. "But this isn't the way to them." Tristan stated.
"Sure it is, see?" Mai responded as she showed him her six locator cards. "I've won six locator cards, that means I know where they are." she continued. "They're not at the location of the finals, Mai. They're at the pier on the other side of town." Tristan explained. "The pier? Are you sure, Tristan?" Mai asked, puzzled. "Yeah, I got the location from one of those cloaked creeps. So let's turn around and go!" Tristan answered. "Right! Hang on tight!" Mai responded before making a sharp U-turn to get in the other lane.
(Remember drivers, do NOT try that on the road or at home)
"Hold on, guys! We're coming to get you!" Mai shouted as she sped toward the direction of the pier. Meanwhile, at said location, the duel continued. "I can barely contain my excitement, little Yugi. Prepare to say goodbye to the rest of your life points." Marik said before drawing. 'Skull Dice. They may help. Either way, I can't lose. I'll win if little Yugi's life points are reduced to 0, but that's not the only way. When the timer runs out, I'll automatically win, while Yugi and his best friend are reunited again in the Pacific ocean!' he thought as the timer on the bomb ticked away through the 8 minute range. 'And, of course, when Yugi is defeated, I'll possess his Millennium Puzzle and regain his Egyptian God Card, Slifer the Sky Dragon!' he continued before turning back to the duel.
"Ready to lose everything?" he asked. "Come on, Joseph! You've got to break free!" Rarity called. 'Listen to me. No matter what we do, he'll lose. So we can destroy him with what we have in our hand, or just keep waiting. When time's up, well, let's just say I'll be ultimate victor.' Marik mentally said to Joey. "Snap out of it, Joey! Time's running out for both you and Yugi!" Rainbow called out. 'Maybe if I bring up some old stories, he might remember something.' Yugi thought. "Hey, Joey, don't you remember Duelist Kingdom? I know you do. Think back, you said you wanted to win the three million dollar prize so that you could pay for your sister's operation. Serenity was and likely still is your inspiration. And now, thanks to you, she'll be able to see again." he said.
"Se...re...ni...ty." Joey said weakly as he remembered the day his sister was being rushed into the surgery room. "You kept your promise to her, Joey, even if it cost you your Red-Eyes Black Dragon when Seeker first took it. And don't forget, the pledge you made to me on the first day of the tournament." Yugi continued as he remembered the events of that day. "I, promised." Joey said. "That's right and you've never broken a promise!" Yugi said, thinking Joey was breaking free. "Then I promise to annihilate you, little Yugi! So I set two cards face down on the field and end my turn. Now try and attack my Panther Warrior, if you dare." Marik stated as he made his move, proving he still had a grip on Joey's mind while he stepped on and crushed an ice cube.
'Once he does, I'll crush him! Little Yugi can try and reason with his friend, Joey, all he wants. He'll never break the power of my Millennium Rod and soon, victory will be mine!' he thought. 'Excellent dueling, my mind slave. It's almost over.' he said to Joey. "Please, wake up!" Yugi pleaded. "Haven't you realized that your friend isn't coming back? You're dealing with me now and I'm about to take everything away from you!" Marik retorted as the bomb timer ticked away through the five minute range.
"You've got to snap out of this, Joey! Time's running out!" Yugi pleaded as he drew his next card. 'This trap card may help.' he thought. "You're right about time almost running out. Nothing can save you!" Marik declared. "Well, I'll place one card face down." Yugi said before doing so. "Now, Archfiend of Gilfer, attack his Panther Warrior!" he commanded as his creature moved in to attack. "This is for your own good, Joey!" he said. But Marik chuckled. "You've fallen into my trap, little Yugi and your foolish mistake will cost you dearly. Forcing your beast to attack will cost you!" he stated. "Don't be so sure! Archfiend of Gilfer's fire will roast your Panther Warrior!" Yugi retorted as the attack launched.
"Wrong! I reveal my Skull Dice! And just to make sure my move works, I also activate Graceful Dice! This'll stop your attack!" Marik declared as his two cards activated and the two sprites appeared holding the two dies. "Graceful Dice will increase my monster's attack points according to the roll of the die, while Skull Dice reduces YOUR monster's strength! And I'm feeling very lucky today." he explained. "Guess again." Yugi retorted. "What?" Marik asked. "I reveal and activate my own magic card, De-Spell! I'll use it to destroy your Graceful Dice!" Yugi explained as his card activated and the sprite carrying the die was destroyed.
"Sorry to disappoint you, Marik, but now you can't raise the attack points of your Panther Warrior!" he continued. "But I can still weaken your monster! Go, Skull Dice!" Marik retorted before the sprite holding the red die dropped it. However, it landed on a two. "A two?!" he said in shock. "Sorry, but that only cuts my monster's attack strength in half! Your Panther is doomed!" Yugi stated as his monster's attack power cut in half, lowering down to 1100, before the attacked landed and lowered Joey/Marik's life points to the same number as Archfiend of Gilfer's attack points.
Soon enough, Mai, Serenity, Tristan and Duke arrived at the pier. "This is the place, so they're somewhere around here!" Tristan said, urgently. "Then it's time to crash this party!" Mai stated before drifting around a corner. "I'm really scared, guys." Serenity said. "Everything's gonna be fine, Serenity." Tristan said, reassuringly. "He's right. With me on your side, you can't lose, Serenity. We'll get Joey out of here and pretty soon, you'll be watching him duel in the finals." Mai added. "Thanks, Mai." Serenity said before they arrived at the scene of the duel. "Hey! Something's going on over there!" Duke said upon spotting the duel in progress.
"Looks like a duel." Tristan added. "You may have destroyed my Panther Warrior, but you're going to lose this duel, little Yugi. In just over 5 minutes, you'll sink to the bottom of the sea while I acquire your Egyptian God Card and your Millennium Puzzle!" Marik stated. 'This is my last chance to get through to Joey and save us both.' Yugi thought, desperately. "Yugi's just 100 life points behind Joey, but he's in a pretty desperate situation. One more major attack from Joey and that anchor's gonna take him into the Pacific ocean!" Spike said, worried.
"But if that timer run out first, the bomb goes off and Yugi and Wheeler will BOTH be fish food." Seto pointed out. Soon enough, Mai, Serenity and the boys showed up. "Joey!" Tristan shouted. "Yugi!" Duke called. "It's Tristan! And he's got Serenity!" Fluttershy shouted upon spotting them. "And it looks like they found Duke Devlin and Mai Valentine!" she added. "Thank goodness they found us!" Tea said. "Get us out of here!" she called. "Tea? Fluttershy? What's going on?!" Tristan asked, completely confused before Mokuba and AJ both blocked their path.
"Don't get any closer, yawl!" AJ advised. "What are you talking about?" Tristan asked. "See for yourselves." AJ answered before pointing to what was hanging over the two girls' heads. "If we try to save Tea and Fluttershy, that Rare Hunter will release the shipping crate hanging above their heads, it's too dangerous to risk a rescue, because if we do, they're going to be crushed to death!" Mokuba explained. "Why would they want to put those two in this kind of situation?" Tristan asked. "So we don't stop Yugi and Joey's duel." AJ answered.
"That's just sick!" Tristan stated. "If you think that's sick, just look at the setup on the dueling field!" Spike said as he pointed towards the field. "These guys don't mess around." Mai said. "What's the deal with the anchor and chains?" Duke asked. "And why are Yugi and Joey dueling in the first place?" Tristan added. "It seems that your friend, Wheeler, has somehow been brainwashed." Seto explained. But this confused the four new arrivals. "Wait, brainwashed?" Mai asked. "Somehow, Joey lost his mind and now he's dueling for the Rare Hunters." Twilight explained. "Worse yet, whoever loses the duel gets dragged to the bottom of the sea." Mokuba added. "That's INSANE!" Tristan said in shock.
"Someone's got to stop this!" Duke stated. "But that's just it, we can't." Mai pointed out. "My brother!" Serenity said in worry before reaching to undo her bandages. 'I can't let Serenity see her big brother like this! She'll be devastated!' Tea thought. "Serenity, don't take off your bandages yet! Just trust me on this one!" she called. 'Good call, Tea. Serenity practically lives for her big brother, if her first sight turns out to be Joey being possessed by some evil lunatic, she'd never get over it.' Fluttershy thought. "Poor Joey." Serenity said before Mai put her right hand on her shoulder. "Don't you worry. If there's anyone that can save Joey, it's Yugi." Mai said, reassuringly.
"The end is near, Yugi. I could just let the timer run out and eliminate both you and Joey, but out-dueling you will be so much more fun. And now, all of your friends are here to witness the demise of the King of Games! So, here goes!" he declared before drawing. 'Meteor of Destruction! Excellent draw, my mind slave. That's just the card we need to win! Now, play it and win me the puzzle Yugi put around your neck. Destroy your best friend!' he commanded mentally. "One more move and the King of Games will be gone while I rule the world as a REAL KING!" he declared as Yugi braced for what was to be the final turn of the duel.