Chapter 29

Friends til the End Part 4

The Destined Last Turn

"The card I hold in my hand is the key to my victory. As soon as I play it, your world will crumble as you sink to your doom!" Marik declared. "Not if I can set Joey free from your control, Marik!" Yugi retorted. 'Set Joey free? Not as long as I hold the Millennium Rod in my hand. Now listen to me, Joey, play Meteor of Destruction and destroy little Yugi. Wipe out the rest of his life points and win me the power I deserve and do it now!' he declared. "The moment I've been waiting for is finally here, it's all over, Yugi!" he bellowed with wicked glee. "Joey! Don't!" Rainbow shouted.

"There's got to be a way to stop this duel!" Duke insisted. "But if we do, they'll kill Tea and Fluttershy." Mai pointed out. "So what CAN we do?" Serenity asked. "Seto, isn't there someway we can stop this without putting Tea and Fluttershy's lives at risk?" Mokuba asked. "Guys, hurry! Time is almost up! You have to stop this duel!" Tea shouted. "Forget about us! Just save Yugi and Joey! If you don't do something soon, they'll both drown! Just do it! We'll be fine." Fluttershy shouted.

"I wouldn't listen to her." said the Rare Hunter with the controls to the crane as he hopped out of the machine, revealing that Marik had taken over his mind, too. "We can't, Fluttershy, he'll push that button and you'll both be killed!" Mokuba pointed out. "Kaiba, I'm not one to beg, but I'm making an exception this time! Save my friends' lives! They save your brother's life, so please do the same for them!" Rainbow said as she got on her knees. 'Now that I think about it, there may be a way to stop these Rare Hunters and prevent any bloodshed.' Kaiba thought as he looked at his Duel Disk and turned on his jacket radio. "It's me, now listen up." he said quietly, trying to make sure Marik didn't hear him through Joey or his Rare Hunter.

"Joey, please! This is your last chance to free yourself!" Yugi pleaded. 'Ignore that fool, my servant and use your Meteor of Destruction to finish him off!' Marik commanded. 'As soon as you play that card, little Yugi will receive 1000 points worth of damage to his life points, destroying him! And his most prized possessions will be mine, he certainly won't need them where he's going. Now do as I command and deliver the final blow against him!' he continued.

"Joey! Try to remember who you are! Hurry!" Pinkie shouted. "I am, Joey." the poor teen said as he fought Marik's power. "It's feint, but I also remember my friends." he said as he had a flashback to their arrival at Pegasus' island, Duelist Kingdom. "I remember, going to Duelist Kingdom and dueling my heart out to get to the top!" he continued as he remembered his first duel in the tournament, against Mai Valentine, then his duel against Rex Raptor, which resulted in him winning the Red-Eyes Black Dragon and the Dragon Nails equip magic card, then his tag duel with Yami against the Paradox Brothers, then the night he tested Kaiab's Duel Disk prototypes, then the words of encouragement from Mai before his duel against Bandit Keith, then said duel against the former Intercontinental Champion and then his duel against Yami for the three million dollar prize, which led to Yugi giving him the money despite his loss.

Then he started remembering his first duel in Battle City against Espa Roba, then his duel against Weevil Underwood, then his duel against Mako Tsunami that won him qualification for the Battle City finals and lastly, the promise he made to Yami/Yugi at the start of the tournament after Seeker's defeat. "My past. It's real. It's coming back to me." he said. 'You HAVE no past! Now destroy him! Destroy Yugi Muto!' Marik bellowed, causing Joey to hold his head and scream in pain as he fought Marik's power. "Get out of my head!" Joey shouted as he dropped to his knees. 'Your feeble teenage brain is no match for me! So, play Meteor of Destruction now! You belong to me, understand?! I command you to vanquish Yugi!' Marik declared as Joey continued to fight.

"I CAN'T! HE'S MY BEST FRIEND! MY BROTHER! I WON'T DESTROY YUGI!" Joey shouted at the top of his lungs. "Fight it, Joey!" Yugi shouted. 'I wonder if my magic might be able to help.' Twilight pondered. "SILENCE! OBEY ME AT ONCE OR SUFFER SEVERE CONSEQUENCES!" Marik bellowed. "You've got more guts than that mad Egyptian fool!" Rarity called. "You're tougher than he is, so be stronger than him!" AJ shouted. "Got to, be strong." Joey said, weakly. 'I have a feeling Joey's going to do it. I know he will. Our friendship is strong and so is his willpower. Marik's Millennium Rod has nothing on that, he's just got to keep fighting and break free before that bomb goes off and sends that anchor into the sea, taking us with it.' Yugi thought before looking up at the bomb timer, which showed it was in the one minute range and then turning to look at Twilight using her magic. 'Twilight using her magic can help, but Joey needs to give it all he's got!' he thought as the girls and Spike noticed what Twilight was doing and did the same thing, though no one amongst them, save for Yugi on the field and Tea next to Fluttershy, managed to notice.

'Come on, Joey. We can beat Marik at his own twisted game as soon as you wake up!' he thought. "Marik! You're hiding like a coward, but wherever you are, I know you can hear me and I have some news for you! There will be a loser in this duel, but it's not going to be who you're thinking of. It's not me and it's not Joey, either! It's you, Marik! YOU will lose this duel!" Yugi shouted. "WHAT?!" Marik asked, clearly shocked and irked. "You may have thought you could use Joey to destroy me by taking over his mind, but you failed to take something into account, the strength of Joey's family-like bond with his friends!" Yugi explained as the timer ticked down into the final 60 seconds.

"Time may be running out, but I know that Joey's back and we're in control of this duel now! Your power of Joey has been removed and I'd say that mean, you lose!" he continued. "Yuge..." Joey said, weakly. "That timer may run out, but since Joey is free, you can't be considered the winner of this duel! Get it? Since you're not dueling anymore, how can you possibly win this game?" Yugi continued, infuriating Marik. "You'll pay for this!" the madman stated. "What does Yugi think he's doing? That fool, he's letting the timer on that bomb tick away!" Seto said. "Yugi! Time is almost up!" Fluttershy shouted.

"Come on, guys. End this." Mai said. "What are you gonna do now, Marik? Just wait in your little hideaway until you lose this duel?!" Yugi asked. "This is your last chance for victory, so come and get me! Joey can't be controlled, so it's down to you!" he taunted. 'EVERYONE CAN BE CONTROLLED! And once I force Joey to play Meteor of Destruction, you're done!' Marik bellowed, mentally, as he tried to make Joey play said card. "I can't." said the poor teen. "SILENCE! No one can resist my Millennium Rod! Now behold the full potential of its ancient powers! I'll see to it that Joey Wheeler no longer exists!" Marik declared before completely taking over Joey.

"It's all over, Yugi. I pay 500 life points to activate Meteor of Destruction!" he bellowed as his life points lowered to 600 and he activated said card and the meteor appeared. 'You dared to disrespect my power?! Looks like your friend is weaker than you thought! Whose losing now!?' he said with madness in his eyes as the meteor came rushing down. "Yu, gi." Joey said, weakly. Right then and there, with rainbow lights surrounding Joey within his mind, he regained control. "What now?! Where are these rainbow lights coming from?!" Marik pondered before he saw a mental projection of Spike and the girls. "YOU?!" he shouted in disbelief. "Looks like there's something else you overlooked, Marik. Our own kind of magic." Twilight said with a smile on her face.

"You're not welcome here, you psychopath!" Rarity stated. "Get out of our friend's mind and stay out!" AJ added. "Marik, begone!" Fluttershy shouted. "Don't come back!" Spike added. "And don't ever mess with our friends again!" Rainbow declared. "Party's over! Now get lost!" Pinkie shouted, angrily. "Girls! Help me, please!" Joey shouted as, with a bright swirl of rainbow light in his mind, he broke Marik's power completely and freed himself. "You did it!" Yugi shouted, having seen what happened.

"What?! No! Yugi and Twilight were right! Wheeler's will and the magic from her and her friends WERE too powerful to overcome! NOOOO!" Marik shouted as he was banished from Joey's mind. "Yugi!" Joey shouted. 'I knew Joey's will was too strong for Marik and I felt Twilight and her friends lending a hand, too. There's only one thing left to do.' Yugi thought with tears of joy in his eyes. "I activate my trap card! Mystical Refpanel will stop that meteor!" he said aloud as his trap sprung and the meteor was halted and captured.

"My trap card has absorbed Meteor of Destruction and now it can redirect the blast to anywhere I choose." he explained. 'What's he doing?!' Marik thought. "I'm not gonna put you in harm's way, Joey." Yugi said. "Yugi..." Joey said before his best friend nodded. 'Yugi's got quite a predicament on his hands. Thanks to Mystical Refpanel, he has the power to control the outcome of this duel, leaving him with a difficult decision; he can either direct the attack towards Wheeler...' Seto thought before he realized what else he could do. 'Or choose to destroy himself. And if either of them try to escape, the Fluttershy and Tea are both done for! Unless my plan works soon, but time is running out.' he continued, knowing he had a plan but little time for it to be executed properly.

On the field, Joey looked and saw the Millennium Puzzle around his neck. "Why am I wearing your Millennium Puzzle? Joey asked. "Because I gave it to you, Joey. When I was trying to help you remember who you are." Yugi answered. "I'm confused." Joey said. "Marik tried to turn you against me, but your will and our friendship turned out to be stronger than his brainwashing abilities. Giving you my puzzle helped you. Your like a brother to me, Joey and no one can take that away. Now I have to put an end to this duel. Just remember, we defeated Marik together, Joey, just like you promised." Yugi explained.

"You guys better do something soon, or..." AJ started to say. "Or what?" Joey asked. "Or you're both fish food!" Spike shouted as he pointed up to the bomb as it ticked down to 30 seconds. "Thirty seconds?! It's too late!" Seto shouted before he heard a helicopter behind him, one of his. "It's one of Kaiba's choppers!" Tristan shouted. "Yeah, but who's flying it?" Rainbow asked. "No one! It's remote-controlled." Mokuba answered. "So little risk for a pilot to be injured or killed. Smart." Twilight said as the RC helicopter headed towards the crane. "Where did THAT come from?" Marik asked when he saw it coming.

"I warned you! Time to drop the crate!" he stated. 'Not if I stop you first, Rare Hunter. Time to teach you not to mess with my employees!' Seto thought before he drew a card from his deck. "Take this!" he shouted as he threw it right at the Rare Hunter's hand, causing the guy to drop the remote. "Big mistake!" Marik shouted before he made the Rare Hunter run for the remote. "Not really!" Seto retorted before nailing the guy with a knee strike while the chopper took the crane and the crate it was holding down toward the sea.

"The chopper's taking out the crane and the crate!" Duke shouted as all three hit the water and sank. "Yes! Tea and Fluttershy are safe!" Spike shouted as she hugged Rarity. The bomb on the crane hook suddenly went off underwater and caused a massive blast of water to shoot up while the others went to get Tea and Fluttershy free from their restraints. "Hold on, I'll get you both loose." Mokuba said as he freed them. "Kaiba, that was a pretty nice knee strike. I bet that Shinsuke Nakamura guys I've seen on TV would like it." Rainbow complimented. "Comparing me to a rising star in New Japan Pro Wrestling? Flattering." Seto responded, seemingly sarcastically.

Soon, the girls were free. "Thank you, Mokuba." Fluttershy said. "That makes us even, girls." Mokuba responded. "Now to help Yugi and Joey out of their mess! Let's go!" Tea stated. "Hang on, guys!" Fluttershy shouted. "There's not much time left, if one of us doesn't win, we'll both be pulled under and there's no way I'm gonna let that happen, Joey!" Yugi said. "What are you saying, Yuge?" Joey asked, still confused. "I'm saying that I decided to save you, Joey, since you have more life points than me. There's no point in both of us going down and if I lose, your life will be spared along with the Millennium Puzzle and my Egyptian God Card." Yugi responded.

"But..." Joey said in shock. "I can't let you do this, Yuge." he continued. "It's my turn, so it's my decision. So now..." Yugi responded as he began to cry. "Yugi, no!" Joey shouted with tears swelling in his eyes. "Take care of my puzzle and Yami, Joey. And tell Fluttershy, I love her. It's time! Refpanel, direct the Meteor of Destruction towards me!" Yugi said before the attack followed through and wiped him out. "YUGI!" Joey shouted as the attack landed. "YUGI!" cried the others, knowing they were too late. Even Seto Kaiba himself was worried for Yugi, seeing as he wanted the chance to duel him to claim Slifer and the rank and title of Duel Monsters World Champion in the finals. Yugi soon fell.

When Yugi's life points hit 0, Joey's box opened up, revealing they key to save himself. 'The key! But I can't just save myself! I got to help Yugi, too!' the worried teen thought. Up above, the bomb's timer stopped at 1 second, having detected that Yugi lost his life points, and reset to 30 seconds. "Joey. Free yourself, now. You've only got thirty seconds to do it and then the bomb goes off and the anchor falls. You have to unlock your shackle, now. Please, Joey. Hurry. Before the bomb goes off and the anchor drops, pulling you under with me." Yugi said, weakly.

"Forget it! No way am I letting my best friend become shark bait! We're in this together, Yuge and there's no way I'm letting you take the fall! We're gonna make it out of this!" Joey retorted, clearly not looking to sacrifice his friend to Davy Jones. But Yugi just took off his Duel Disk and put it aside. "Don't give up, Yugi! I'll think of something!" he shouted before he realized something. 'That's it! Meteor of Destruction has a second effect! Since Yugi has two monsters still on the field, I can force one of them to attack me! This duel isn't over yet!' he thought. "Red-Eyes Black Dragon, attack! Wipe out my life points so that Yugi's key box will open!" he commanded.

In moments, with one Inferno Fire Blast, Joey's life points hit 0, causing Yugi's key box to open. 'Thanks, old pal.' Joey thought. "Yugi, you've saved my butt more times than I can count. But this time, Joey Wheeler's the one whose coming to the rescue! You taught me to have courage and never give up!" he called out as, unbeknownst to anyone, Serenity removed her bandages and attempted to open her eyes. "I... I can see." she said. Soon, the timer on the bomb was nearing 0. "Hang in there, Yuge!" Joey shouted as he took off and set down both the Millennium Puzzle and his Duel Disk. "You'll be out of that chain in no time!" he added before taking a running start and began swinging all the way over to his best friend.

Unbeknownst to him, Serenity saw the whole thing. "It's Joey." she said in surprise. But then, the timer on the bomb hit 2 seconds. "Almost there. Got to beat the clock!" Joey said as he reached for the key. "Got it!" he shouted just as the timer hit 0, causing the bomb to detonate, sending the anchor down. "That anchor's gonna drag BOTH of them down!" Pinkie shouted as Tristan rushed in to save his friend. "Joey!" he shouted. "Tristan!" Joey shouted, but it was too little too late as both boy were pulled into the sea. "NOOO!" Fluttershy shouted with tears in her eyes before dropping to her knees, devastated.

Underwater, Joey swam toward his friend. 'Yugi! I'll save you, buddy.' he thought as he unlocked Yugi's shackle. 'I told you I wouldn't let you down. You're the best friend that a guy could ever ask for. Thanks, Yugi.' he continued as he saw Yugi rise toward the surface. Suddenly, on the surface, the devastated group saw Yugi surface. "Yugi! You're alive!" Fluttershy shouted. "Hold on!" Tristan shouted as he dived in to get him out of the water. "Got you, buddy." he said as he swam back to the others. "Where's Joey?" Mai asked.

"His key! Joey never took it from the box!" Mokuba said. "Then hurry up and go get it. I'll dive down and free him." Tristan said, but just As Mokuba nodded in agreement, they all saw Serenity do the honors. "Serenity?!" Tristan said in shock. "She's got the key!" Tea pointed out. "And her bandages are off her eyes! She can see!" Twilight said in surprise as Serenity entered the water. Underwater, Joey was struggling to free himself with Yugi's key, but to no avail. 'Oh, no! This key won't work! But the other one is back on the surface!' he thought to himself.

Joey soon started to run out of air, but he soon saw a figure swimming down to save him. 'What's that? Is Yugi coming back down to get me?' he pondered. But then he realized it was his little sister coming to save his life. In moments, the pair surfaced. "She did it!" Tea shouted as Rarity and Spike shared a hug. "Serenity? But how?" Joey asked. "Tristan, Duke Devlin and Mai brought me here because they were trying to track you guys down." Serenity answered. "Joey! You're alive!" Yugi shouted, happy to see his friend again. "Yugi! What's up?" Joey responded.

'Well, that's that. Now that I've set things straight by saving those that helped Mokuba escape captivity, I can refocus on Battle City and prepare for my victory in the finals.' Seto thought. "Yugi? I'm sorry, man." Joey said. "It's okay. It's not your fault." Yugi responded. "But I almost destroyed our friendship and nearly got us both killed!" Joey retorted. "Yeah, but in the end, not only did you save our friendship, you saved me." Yugi pointed out. "And for that, I'm in your debt, Joey." Fluttershy said tenderly. "I had no choice. Once I realized what I was doing, I had to make it right or do myself in trying, Yugi." Joey stated.

"Ever since we became friends, we've always been looking out for each other. I wasn't going to let anyone change that. Even if...even if my brain was turned to mush!" he continued. "It's okay." Yugi said, trying to calm his friend down. "But that Marik made a fool out of me! How can I show my face at the finals now?!" Joey retorted, thinking his reputation as a Duelist was ruined. "Will you get a grip, please? You showed some real courage out there by rescuing Yugi from drowning so who cares about how you looked?" Mai asked. "Just like the courage you showed at Duelist Kingdom when you dueled for your sister, remember that?" she asked. "What she just did today, she did because of you. Your an idol to her, ding-dong." she stated.

"What kind of idol to his youngest family member gets turned into a zombie, no, a puppet and tries to kill his best friend? It's just setting a bad example." Joey responded. "Dude, snap out of it already! You're the one Serenity gets her strength from! I may not know her all that great, but I know that for a fact. That's why she waited until now to take off her bandages." Rainbow stated before Joey realized she was right. "Serenity! You can see?!" he asked in shock. "I was honestly afraid to after Tea told me not to do it while the duel was going on, but seeing you try to save Yugi inspired me. After I removed my bandages and opened my eyes for the first time since my operation, you showed me what bravery really is, Joey. So I just had to dive in and save your life." Serenity explained as tears formed in her eyes.

"Really?" Joey asked. "I made it through my operation because of you. You've always been there for me. So today it was my turn to be there for you, big brother." Serenity answered before hugging him. "Joey, I'd say we're a pretty good team." she added. "Well, I'm just glad that's over with." Fluttershy said. "You said, it, Fluttershy." Spike concurred. "Now, Mr. Kaiba, I believe I owe you a thank you." Twilight said as she turned toward Seto. "Thank you, for not just letting Mokuba have the chance to arrest the Rare Hunters, including the one that just got carted away right now, but for saving my friend's life." she said with a grateful smile.

"Never thought I'd say this to you, Twilight, but, you're welcome. Just don't let this mean that I'm in your debt." Seto responded. "Of course, Mr. Kaiba." Twilight said. Later that night, after Mokuba and Seto Kaiba had gone, the group was looking out over the ocean, thankful that the previous ordeal was over. "Hey, Yugi." Joey said before putting the Millennium Puzzle back around the neck of its rightful owner. "I believe that belongs to you." he said. "Thanks for the help back there." he added. "I should be thanking you for saving my life." Yugi pointed out.

'I got to be the luckiest guy in the world to have friends like this. Even when things seemed hopeless, they never gave up on me. If it weren't for them, who knows where I'd be?' Joey thought. "I'm glad the Millennium Puzzle is back where it belongs." Twilight said. 'Speaking of which, I owe a big thanks to you, too, Yami. You trusted me enough to let me deal with the situation on my own. I never would've pulled it off and gotten through to Joey if you didn't believe in me. You and I make a great team, but it's nice to know that I have the strength to hold my own if I have to and you helped me find that strength inside of me.' Yugi thought.

"Now, I believe we have some unfinished business, right, Yugi and Joey?" AJ asked. "Sure, but can't we get something to eat, first?" Joey asked. All the while, the Kaiba bros watched on. "Come on, let's go, Mokuba." Seto said. "Thanks again, Kaiba!" Twilight called, bringing the man behind Battle City to a stop. "We couldn't have gotten Fluttershy and Tea out of harm's way without you." she added. "I only did what had to be done, Princess, nothing more. Besides, your friend is one of my employees, though temporarily." Seto stated. "Furthermore, I want you and your friends to be special guest spectators for the finals of this tournament." he added. "Thank you. We will be there." Twilight responded.

And so, the Kaiba brothers started walking on with Mokuba next to him. "I'll see you all at the finals. And Twilight, you, your friends and Spike can turn in your Battle City Enforcer uniforms when you get to the location of the finals." he added. "I guess that's one way of saying 'You're welcome'." Tristan suggested. 'In all this insanity I forgot about the finals, that could be where Marik will strike next. This fight is far from over and if Marik decides to show up, I'll be ready for him.' Yugi thought as he let Yami take over once again. Next stop; Battle City Finals.