Chapter 27
Friends til the End: Part 2
Dragon of Friendship
The duel didn't seem to be going in Yami's favor at all. "I've attacked your life points yet again, Yugi. You're finished. As soon as I wipe out the rest, that bomb will detonate and the anchor will drop, taking you with it, right into the Pacific Ocean!" Marik declared. "Marik, I can assure you that you'll never get away with your plan." Yami said, defiantly, but Marik just scoffed. "Is that so, Yugi? I'd say you're in no position to make threats." the madman said.
"I know that the real Joey is in there and I'm going to set him free, no matter what it takes." Yami stated. "Oh?" Marik asked. "There's no way you'll win my puzzle or my Egyptian God Card." Yami said, boldly. 'We'll just see about that, Yugi. Joey belongs to me, now.' Marik thought as he waited on the stem of his yacht. "Thanks to my Millennium Rod, I'll make sure things stay that way. So destroy your former best friend, my mind puppet and strip him of all that he has to that I may rule the world as pharaoh." he said. "Yugi, your friend is long gone." he added.
"I don't think so." Yami responded, defiantly. "Then make your move. Not that it matters. Neither one of your monsters is powerful enough to destroy my Alligator's Sword." Marik said. "Joey! Snap out of it! We're your friends, remember?!" Tea called. "It's no use, when someone is under the control of the Millennium Rod, only the power of another Millennium Item can possibly break it." Twilight stated. 'Wait, what if that's not the only way? I have an idea.' Yugi thought before he and Yami started to switch places. "What is it?" Yami asked.
"I think I've come up with a way to save Joey and get us out of this mess." Yugi answered. "And what's that?" Yami asked. "It just came to me when Tea tried to remind Joey of our friendship and when Twilight said only the power of another Millennium Item could possibly break Marik's control, just like what happened when Bandit Keith snapped out of Marik's control when I dueled him. There's a chance I can break through to the real Joey. You just have to let me duel in your place." Yugi explained.
"But why?" Yami asked, puzzled. "Because through thick and thin, Joey and I have always shared a really strong bond. A bond that I think might just break through to him now. We've been through so much together, like the time he helped rescue me from that fire. Joey, Tristan and Spike risked their lives to save us and now it's my turn." Yugi explained, remembering how the three boys rescued him and Yami from that warehouse fire.
"This is a very dangerous match, Yugi." Yami stated. "I know it is, but I can't let that stop me. I feel in my heart that if there's anyone in the whole world that can get through to Joey at this moment, it's me." Yugi said, bravely. "But Yugi, you could possibly be the one who drowns in Pacific Ocean. We may never see each other again." Yami pointed out. "I'm ready to go in there and do whatever I have to do. Joey's my best friend and I know he'd do the exact same thing for me. Please understand, Yami, this isn't just something I want to do, it's something I feel that I have to do." Yugi said.
"Well, Yugi, if you feel that strongly, then go. Go and rescue your best friend, but know that I'll be right here should you need me." Yami replied. Yugi nodded in agreement before he and his ancient partner switched. "Okay, Joey, it's just us now." the brave teenager said, catching Marik off-guard and frustrating him. "What? No! I want the nameless pharaoh, not this little runt! I want to defeat the ancient ruler! That spineless coward, he sent little Yugi to protect himself! You cheat! I want to destroy the pharaoh!" Marik shouted before he thought about it. 'But then again, this might be just what I needed.' he thought.
"I can win this duel with greater ease now that I'm up against little Yugi instead of the pharaoh. And it doesn't really matter which one of them I defeat, I'll still win the Millennium Puzzle and Slifer the Sky Dragon." he said, realizing that regardless of whether it was Yugi or Yami he faced, he'd still get what he wanted. On the sidelines, the girls and Spike were confused. 'Why did Yugi switch with Yami? Is he trying to use his appearance to get through to Joey?' Twilight pondered. 'Yugi? Oh, please, be careful. I can't bare to lose you.' Fluttershy thought, worried about seeing her lover instead of Yami dueling against Marik.
"It's my turn, Marik." Yugi said bravely. 'Yugi. Tea and Joey are counting on you and as long as you believe in The Heart of the Cards, I know you'll come through for them.' Yami said, mentally. "Right." Yugi concurred as he reached to draw his next card. 'Heart of the Cards, please guide me.' he thought before drawing the very card Joey gave him. 'It's Joey's Red-Eyes Black Dragon! This could be the key to getting him back!' he figured.
Meanwhile, Tristan and Serenity were still running for their lives from the Rare Hunters Marik sent after them, telling her to hang on while the Rare Hunters told them they couldn't run forever. However, they found themselves cornered under a bridge. "What are we gonna do, Tristan?" she asked. "You're going to take a little trip with us to the pier." one of the Rare Hunters answered. "I suggest you come quietly." said another. "Guess again, pal. We're not going anywhere!" Tristan said, defiantly before putting Serenity down. "You're even more foolish than you look." said one of the hunters.
"Please be careful, Tristan." Serenity said, worried. "Looks like we're doing this the hard way." said another of the hunters. "You want it that way, then bring it on!" Tristan responded. But before things could get nasty and right as one of them grabbed Serenity's left arm, a die zoomed in from out of nowhere and hit the Rare Hunter grabbing Serenity's arm. "There's more where that came from, tough guy." said a familiar voice. It was nonother than the master of the dice and inventor of Dungeon Dice Monsters himself, Duke Devlin.
"Whoa! Duke Devlin? Is that you?" Tristan asked. "The one and only!" Duke answered before throwing more dice at the Rare Hunters while Tristan let Serenity grab on to his back again. "Alright, Serenity, hang on." Tristan instructed, to which she agreed, before he started running again. "So, how've you been, Tristan?" Duke asked. "Talk later, run now." Tristan responded, clearly knowing that it was not the time for questions. Duke agreed and ran with them both. "They're getting away! After them!" said one of the hunters before the chase began again. Back at the duel, Yugi was considering his move.
'Alright, I have the card Joey gave me in my hand. Now, how should I use it?' he pondered. 'Yugi, you may be able to use that card to save Joey but you must play it wisely.' Yami pointed out. "You're right, this Red-Eyes has always been special to Joey. He's got to remember it." Yugi responded. 'Joey gave me this card so that I'd always have a piece of him in my deck. I bet once he sees it, he'll start the shake Marik loose.' he thought. "This better work. I know you're in there somewhere, pal. I just hope that you're paying close attention, because I'm about to jog you're memory..." he said aloud. 'With an old friend of yours that's not easy to forget, your Red-Eyes Black Dragon.' he thought.
"Remember, when an hour is up, the bomb goes off and that anchor falls, so make your move!" Marik said, impatiently. 'Okay, in order to summon Red-Eyes, I'll need to sacrifice two monsters. Luckily, I've got Kuriboh and Big Shield Gardna already on the field. All I need to do is do the sacrifice and I can summon Red-Eyes. Here goes.' Yugi thought. 'Yugi, wait! Are you sure you want to summon Red-Eyes now? Marik may have something that can destroy it and with only 1500 life points left, we must be careful. As soon as they reach zero, the thirty second timer on that bomb will go off and send that anchor into the ocean, pulling us with it and leaving the entire world at Marik's mercy.' Yami stated.
"What's taking so long?" Marik asked, impatiently. 'Yami's right! Summoning Red-Eyes now is too risky.' Yugi thought as he looked at his hand. 'Wait! Maybe there's a way to show Joey his Red-Eyes without actually summoning it to the field! But it might be an even riskier move. What should I do?' he continued. "Come on, Yugi. It's time to sink or swim." AJ said, hopeful her friend would succeed. 'Quite literally.' Seto thought. 'There's got to be a way to get through to Joey. He's our friend, we've already been through so much together. He always said that whenever he's down, his friends give him the strength to get back up again and I know that our bond can save him now.' Tea thought, remembering all the times that she and her friends cheered Joey on in his duels, both in Duelist Kingdom and in Battle City.
"Joey! Please wake up! You have to remember that friendship pact we made before Yugi went on to duel Kaiba for the first time! Nothing can break it, you know it as well as Tea, Yugi, Tristan and all of my own friends!" Fluttershy called out. 'Fluttershy's right. No matter what the risks are in this duel, Joey's my friend and I have to do whatever it takes to break Marik's control and save him. There's no other choice. After all, we did make a pact, that I'd always be there for him and he'd always be there for me and I never break a promise to a friend, no matter what. So now it's time to show Marik how powerful a bond of friendship can be!' Yugi thought with new determination before choosing a card to play.
"I play the magic card known as Exchange!" he shouted as he played said card, catching even Kaiba off-guard. "A foolish move." Marik said. 'What's Yugi thinking? The Exchange card allows Wheeler to take any card in Yugi's hand.' Seto thought. "This could be risky, that card allows both players to take one card from each other's hand." Spike stated. "Look at you! You must be desperate to play a card like that. But if you insist, I'd be glad to take a card from your hand, little Yugi. Not that I need any help." Marik said before walking up to his opponent.
"Show me your pathetic hand." he said before Yugi did so. "Now, which card shall I take?" he pondered before seeing the Red-Eyes Black Dragon. "My, Red-Eyes!" Joey said, trying to shake free of Marik's grip. 'Silence, Wheeler! You're under my control, now! You have no mind of your own! I OWN YOU!' Marik shouted mentally. "Playing that Exchange card was a huge mistake, little Yugi!" he said through Joey. "Well, pick your card, Marik. You can have any one of them, including the Red-Eyes Black Dragon. 'It's, the card, I gave Yuge! My, Red-Eyes!' Joey thought.
'Quite, you fool! I'm in control of your mind!' Marik stated. 'Yugi, I think it may be working!' Yami said in surprise. 'Yugi, needs that card. That's why I gave it to him!' Joey thought. "You will do as I say and take that Red-Eyes Black Dragon from Yugi, now! You have no mind of your own, Joey. Say it to me!" Marik demanded. 'I have no mind of my own.' Joey responded, mentally. 'Excellent, so take Yugi's Red-Eyes right now!' Marik ordered before Joey reached for it. 'That's right, my obedient mind puppet. Take it!' he encouraged. "Your friend is long gone, so I'll be taking your Red-Eyes Black Dragon." he said through Joey.
'It's not working. He's still under Marik's power!' Yugi thought as he heard what was being said. 'Hold on, Yugi, look again!' Yami mentally responded before Yugi did indeed take another look. What he saw was Joey fighting Marik's control. 'Can't, take, Red-Eyes. It's Yugi's card now! I, made a promise!' the poor boy thought as he struggled against Marik's power. 'No, you fool! Take that dragon! I command you! Take the Red-Eyes from Yugi!' Marik declared. "No! I just, can't! Not that card!" Joey responded. 'Obey me! Take that card so that we can finish Yugi off, now!' Marik commanded. "No! Yugi needs it!" Joey said. 'Take it now!' Marik demanded. But lo and behold, he took Card Destruction instead!
"Alright, Joey! You took Card Destruction instead!" Yugi said with a smile. 'What?! How dare you disobey me! You'll pay for this!' Marik said, unhappily, before regaining control. "Joey?" Yugi asked. "No. I told you, Joey has gone away and I have given him an arsenal of rare magic cards so I don't need your Red-Eyes." Marik responded. "That's what you think. Now I get to pick one of your cards." Yugi said, defiantly. "Fine, take one. I'll finish you regardless!" Marik responded before Yugi grabbed Magic Arm Shield from his opponent's hand.
"We'll see about that." Yugi said before Marik walked Joey back to his side of the field. "You can deny it all you want, but I know my best friend is in there and I'm going to set him free, Marik!" he added, causing Marik to stop. "You're fooling yourself." the madman responded. "I don't think so! That's why you didn't take my Red-Eyes, because the real Joey is in there fighting to push you out and he gave me that Red-Eyes when he promised to help me defeat you, Marik!" Yugi stated. "That's enough." Marik said, bluntly. "Admit it. As soon as he saw that card the real Joey started to come through." Yugi said boldly.
"What are you talking about? I'm controlling his mind." Marik said. "Not for much longer. I know that I can use this card to stop you and bring my best friend back. Just wait." Yugi responded. "Don't hold your breath. Now let's get on with this duel already, so I can claim what is mine and get rid of you once and for all." Marik said as he returned to his side of the field. "It's still my turn, so stand back." Yugi advised. "Go ahead and finish your pathetic move, little Yugi. There's no way you can stop me from wiping out the rest of your life points." Marik said confidently.
"I sacrifice my two monsters, so I can summon the monster you failed to take from me to the field! The Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" Yugi declared as the mighty dragon appeared, causing Joey to shake Marik loose a bit more. "It's my, Red-Eyes! Yugi!" Joey said in shock. "That's it, Joey! Fight it! Look at your dragon and break free from Marik's grip!" Yugi shouted. "This can't be happening! I'm losing control of my mind slave! My power over him is slipping away! I can't let that little rat, Yugi, stop the power of my Millennium Rod!" Marik bellowed as Odion arrived. "Sir. I'm afraid that someone interfered with the Rare Hunters we sent out to capture Joey's sister." he said. "Then why are you standing here, you fool?! Go see to it that she's captured! Now!" Marik responded. Back at the duel, Joey continued to struggle.
"Joey, I know you remember your Red-Eyes." Yugi said. "I, remember. My, dragon." Joey said. "That Red-Eyes Black Dragon seems to be having an effect on Wheeler's mind. Whatever brainwashing Marik did to him, it's wearing off just because he's looking right at the dragon that was once his!" Seto said in surprise. "Well, you heard what Yugi said, it used to belong to Joey. He even used it in Duelist Kingdom a few times, including against you." Pinkie pointed out. "Must be a hard spot to be in if you're a Duelist facing down a card you once had in your deck, now being used against you." Mokuba suggested. "It's about to get harder." Twilight pointed out.
"Joey! Marik has taken over your mind and he's using you to destroy me! So it's time I blast you back to your senses! If it doesn't work, then you, me and the whole world will be doomed! I'm only doing this because I'm your friend! Now prepare to be knocked back to your senses!" Yugi called with tears in his eyes. "Red-Eyes Black Dragon, attack his Alligator's Sword with Inferno Fire Blast!" he commanded before, in moments, the Alligator's Sword was blown away and Joey/Marik's life points lowered almost to half.
"Are you there, Joey?!" Yugi called. "Get up and fight back, mind slave!" Marik commanded. "Hey, Joey! Is that you?!" Rainbow called. "Sorry, but Yugi's trick didn't work. I'm still in control and now I'll wipe out the rest of your little friend's life points and take what belongs to me." Marik answered. 'Yes! We'll attack him with everything we have and soon the power of the pharaoh will be mine!' he thought. 'Yugi! This is getting too dangerous for you, I'm taking over.' Yami stated. "No! I can't let you, Yami. I have to do this myself and I have one last idea." Yugi retorted before taking off the Millennium Puzzle.
'But, Yugi...' Yami tried to say. "You have to trust me on this one because I know I can save him. Since the day I put together the Millennium Puzzle together, you've given me hope, courage and confidence. You've even helped me make new friends, but I can't go through my life depending on you. I need to know that even without the Millennium Puzzle around my neck, I can still help out my friends. I guess what I'm saying is, sometimes I need to prove to myself that I can be like you without you. You understand?" Yugi interrupted.
'Yes, I do.' Yami responded. "Then you need to understand I have to do this on my own." Yugi said. 'You do understand what will happen if you lose this duel, don't you?' Yami asked. "I sure do, that's why I need to do this so I can stop that from happening." Yugi answered. 'Alright. If you believe in yourself, then I believe in you, too, Yugi. Good luck. You have the skills to win, the fate of the world rests with you.' Yami said. "And I won't disappoint you, Yami." Yugi responded as he gripped the chain of his Millennium Item tightly.
'Alright, it's time to save my best friend and the world on my own.' he thought, bravely. "Well, now, have you given up or are you ready for more?" Marik asked. 'I don't have much time left. My life points are low and if I lose, Marik gets everything. My only hope is to free Joey's mind.' Yugi thought. "Alright, it's time for me to finish you off now and take the power I deserve. So say goodbye, as I attack your life points again, with my final Hinotama magic card!" Marik said as he drew and activated said card, lowering Yugi's life points to 1000 while Tea and Fluttershy worried.
Meanwhile, Tristan, Serenity and Duke continued to run and hide from the Rare Hunters, which they did in the back of a pickup truck. "Looks like they're the fools." Duke said, having overheard one of them calling him, his friend and Serenity fools. "Finally, a chance to catch our breath and catch up, while we're at it." Tristan said, relieved. "I mean, the last time I saw you, Duke, was when you were showing off that Dungeon Dice Monsters game you created." he added. "Yeah, well, I heard about this whole Battle City thing going on. It sounded like fun so I decided to stop by and check things out. I was actually hoping to run into Yugi or Twilight, but I guess you guys will do." Duke explained. "By the way, who's she?" he asked.
"That's Joey's sister, Serenity. I was supposed to take her to go see her brother, but unfortunately we ran into trouble." Tristan explained. "Oh, really? Well, why are those bandages around her eyes? Was she in an accident?" Duke asked. "No, she had an operation performed to save her eyesight just a few days ago. She's taking her bandages off tonight." Tristan answered. "Well, now that that's all cleared up, who were those three chasing us?" Duke asked. "No idea, but I definitely don't like the look of those punks. Who knows what they're after?" Tristan responded.
"Well, I know one thing, they definitely don't seem too fond of you guys." Duke stated. "Of course. But why us specifically?" Tristan pondered. "I doubt you two have anything valuable, so they're not trying to steal from you." Duke pointed out as Serenity approached the two boys. "Guys? If those creeps are after us, then doesn't that mean...?" Serenity pondered. "Mean what?" Duke asked. "That they're after the others, too." Tristan answered, realizing what Serenity was referring to. "Tea, Joey, Yugi, Spike and his friends may be in more trouble than we are." he hypothesized, unaware of how right he was.
"What's the matter, Yugi? My direct attack on your life points leave you speechless?" Marik asked as Yugi struggled to his feet. "Please, Joey, come to your senses!" Tea shouted. "It's no use trying to snap him out of it and there's no way to stop this duel, otherwise we're both going to be crushed." Fluttershy pointed out. "Seto, isn't there anyway to at least rescue Tea and Fluttershy?" Mokuba asked. "I don't know yet." Seto answered. "Surrender yet, Yugi?" Marik asked. "Listen. I'm not going to stop until my best friend is free and I have a plan to get through to him, so watch me!" Yugi responded as he started to walk towards the mind-controlled Joey. "Too late for that, because I'm about to send you into the sea! I'll start by summoning Rocket Warrior!" Marik retorted as he played his next card and said monster appeared on the field.
"Any monster struck by Rocket Warrior in its rocket form loses 500 attack points for the duration of the turn." he explained. "Joey. I know, you can hear me." Yugi said, weakly. "And now I play Attrition!" Marik continued as he played said card. "I know you're in there. Think, Joey." Yugi continued to say as he walked toward his opponent. "I said you're too late, you fool! Rocket Warrior attack now!" Marik declared before the monster turned into a rocket. "In its rocket mode, it can weaken your Red-Eyes and return to me unharmed!" he continued as the warrior struck and Red-Eyes' attack points dropped from 2400 to 1900.
"Joey, hold on. I just want to give you something of mine." Yugi said as he continued to walk towards him. 'What in tarnation is Yugi doing?' AJ thought. "And now my Attrition card activates. It takes my attack points from my Rocket Warrior and subtracts them from your Red-Eyes, making it even weaker!" Marik continued as the Red-Eyes Black Dragon collapsed. "How sad." he added before Joey tried to snap out of his trance. 'What's going on? I feel my control weakening again!' he thought. "You're my best friend and just like you gave me your Red-Eyes, I want to give you something that's meaningful to me." Yugi said.
'No! Forget about him!' Marik commanded before Joey started holding his head. "What's, happening to me?" the poor teenager asked as he dropped to his knees. "Joey, it's me. Please, take this. My most precious possession, the Millennium Puzzle. Now a piece of me, will always be with you." Yugi said weakly as he put the puzzle around Joey's neck, causing everyone to take notice. "Why did Yugi give Joey the Millennium Puzzle?" Fluttershy pondered. 'With Marik controlling Joey, it's almost like he's giving that madman what he wants!' Twilight thought.
"Take care of it, Joey. It's yours now." Yugi said with a weak smile as the Millennium Puzzle glistened in the sun.