Wolfie: I do not own anything related to Yu-Gi-Oh. All I own is Yuki and all the changes I make to the anime story line to include her. I hope you all are staying safe out there with all the stuff that has been happening. Now to answer a question I got in the reviews yes I will be trying to diverge from cannon when it comes to Yuki. I also will be adding things in place of other things that did not happen in the anime as to make this a little less like its cannon based. After all I want this to be a fan fiction with some cannon stuff in it. I also will be doing all of the arcs in the Yu-Gi-Oh anime as well as some of the movies. Ok now please read and review and I hope you like the story so far!

Chapter 12: First Duel part 2

"He's losing it!" Tea said with her hands clasped together infront of her as she watched the duel.

"Guess that mop head wasn't ready for this duel." Tristan stated with a slightly raised clenched fist.

"Aw man, maybe we should've helped him practice a bit before we came down from the cliff." Yugi said as he watched his sister's friend as worry was shining in the bright amethyst pools that are his eyes.

"Yo, Joey! Take a second to think about what you're doing before you make another move!" Yuki advised worried that if her friend doesn't stop and think about his moves then he may lose.

'How can she read the cards when they're lying face down?' joey thought with gritted teeth as his brain was going a mile a minute to try and find some kind of answer.

'Ha! My little card trick has made this kid forget everything he ever knew about Duel Monsters. All I have to do is just keep pushing his buttons.' Mai thought with a smirk as she tapped her pointer finger against one of her cards slightly.

'What do I do?' Joey thought as he had to try and get rid of the Harpy's Lady and then maybe they'd be evenly matched. "Maybe this one, Tiger Axe!" He stated as tiger man in armor with an axe appears on the field with an attack of 1,300 and a defense of 1,100. "My field power bonus should raise its attack power!" Joey exclaimed as his monster let out a roar whilst his attack grew to 1,690 and his defense grew to 1,430. "So it can take on the Harpy's Lady head to head." He said as the two monsters seemed to be evenly matched due to them both having 1,690 attack points.

"Dammit Joey did you not hear a word of anything I just said?! Harpy's Lady is still resistant to those kinds of monsters!" Yuki yelled out in frustration since Joey wasn't learning from his previous mistake.

"Right. Tiger Axe is another handicapped earth-based monster." Mai said as her Harpy flew up into the air with another screech and sliced through Tiger Axe with her claws as he roared as he was destroyed.

"Ahh." Joey groaned as 390 points ere taken away from his life points by that attack.

Mai: 2,000 Joey: 1,020

"Hmph. It'll take stronger monsters than your land-based wimps to beat my Harpy's Lady." Mai said as her Harpy's Lady stood tall, unaffected,and without so much as a scratch infront of her. "Now I'll play this lovely card without even looking." She added as she slid yet another face down card onto the field. "I'll give you a hint. It's an equipment magic card that will help me defeat your next card in one turn." Mai explained which was weird to Yuki because normally most people don't give out their battle strategies.

"Again with all that psychic stuff?" Joey asked as his nervousness was morphing into paranoia. 'Can she see my cards, too? Since I can't see what she's playing, I gotta get defensive.' He thought as he pulled a card from his hand and placed it face down in defense mode.

"Running scared, huh? Well, let me show you my surprise- Cyber Shield, to juice up my Harpy's Lady." Mai said as she showed Joey a card depicting an armored corset with a collar, arm decorations, and knee decorations. Her Harpy let out a screech as the armor appeared on her body and her attack raised to 2,190 and her defense rose to 2,320 as she attacked the face down card.

"No!" Joey yelled as his defense monster was destroyed by the Harpy's Lady but his life points remained untouched. "How's she doin' that?" He asked in disbelief since there was no way someone could be a psychic duelist.

"Ha ha ha ha. This is so much fun. In case you were wondering, the next card you were thinking of won't work either." Mai said just to mess with Joey and throw him off his game even more.

"Mai has E.S.P. It has to be it. I'm gonna lose this duel match and the chance to save my sister." Joey said mostly to himself having been really shaken up by this as he was starting to lose confidence in himself.

"Ha ha ha. This game is mine. You can't win against me." Mai said as she knew that at this point she had worn down Joey's confidence to the point that he has none.

"She's right. She's too much for me." Joey said mostly to himself once again as he really was starting to lose hope as well as confidence.

"Calm down Joey, remember what Grandpa taught you about playing Duel Monsters." Yuki said because she knew that what her Grandpa taught him would be his saving grace.

"Don't let her rattle you. She's just trying to psych you out." Tea said as she honestly knew that something like this would happen.

"Remember to trust the heart of the cards." Yugi reminded because if Joey just trusted his deck it would give him what he needs to win.

"Hmm. Stay out of this!" Mai snapped as she pointed down at Tea, Yuki, Yugi, and Tristan.

"Huh?" Tea asked as she looked up at Mai confused as to what she was talking about.

"Your brainless cheerleading isn't going to help him against the superior power of my Harpy Ladies. 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." Mai said as she glanced over at Joey who looked like he didn't even know what to do anymore.

"Not true." Tea protested as she didn't want to believe someone as shrill as Mai could be telling the truth.

"No? I beg to differ. There can be only one champion. On this island, 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 asked but it really was just a rhetorical question that she really didn't expect any of them to answer.

"Huh?" Joey breathed out in confusion as he glanced up at Mai through the curtain of blonde hair that is his bangs.

"That's why the only person a duelist can trust is himself. I hope that your defeat today teaches you that lesson, kid." Mai said as she honestly saw friendship as a weakness that keeps someone from dueling at the best of their abilities.

"Grr." Joey growled slightly to himself at what Mai was saying as it made him feel so confused and conflicted.

"He's losin' it!" Tristan exclaimed as he saw the look that was on his friends face.

"He needs help. Yuki, help him!" Tea demanded as she looked down at the smaller girl that was next to her.

Almost instantly the Millennium Puzzle begins to pulsate and glow brightly bathing Yuki in a blinding white light. Just like back in her duel with Weevil she transforms as her appearance and clothes subtly changed as she grew a few inches in height to. When the light died down Yami Yuki stood where Yuki had been standing just a few minutes ago opening her eyes as she looked up to the field. There was a determined look to her face as she turned her heterochromic eyes to the distraught blonde who was close to loosing all hope. Yami Yuki knew her friend needed a pep talk of sorts and she was more than prepared to give him one. Sure it will most definitely be an unorthodox pep talk but it will be one nonetheless as she was confident it would help.

'Did big sis's appearance just change again?' Yugi thought as he looked up at Yami Yuki curiously.

"Don't you dare listen to her, Joey, or so help me I will climb up there and smack some sense into you. We're here to give you the help you need just like your always there for us when we need you." Yami Yuki said causing both Mai and Joey to turn their heads in order to look at her whilst letting out sounds of confusion. "Trust me on this my friend. She's just trying to do the oldest war tactic in the book, divide and conquer, a strategy which has been used for centuries. Believe me. I know." She said as the eye of Anubis briefly flashed across her forehead.

"When you get that look in your eye, I believe everything you say." Joey admitted as he looks down at Yami Yuki whilst no longer feeling all that hopeless.

"Ha ha ha ha. Do you really think Yuki wants you to be the grand prize winner? She's a duelist, too, you know. To win, you'll eventually have to take her on." Mai said reminding Joey of the fact that this is a competition and that he will have to fight Yami Yuki at some point in time.

"She's right. We will have to duel, but-" Joey said but he cut himself off as he started to have a flashback to when him and Yuki were talking on the roof.

Flashback beginning

"The truth of the matter is you're the best friend I've ever had. And while I'm feelin' bold enough, I gotta say, your like a sister ta me too. Don't worry. We'll rescue your grandfather. We'll do it together. We're a team." Joey said as him and Yuki sat side by side on the roof of the school as the sun sets.

Flashback ending

"We are a team, but I also have to win the contest for Serenity even if you did say you'd give me the prize money no matter which one of us won." Joey said as he remembered the video he got in the mail that had come from his sister.

Flashback beginning

"I'm sending you this video just so you don't forget your little sister's face." The video of Serenity said with a smile as it seemed like she was trying to stay positive for her brother's sake. "It seems like I'm running out of time. Take care Joey." She said still trying to stay positive despite how nervous she seemed to be.

Flashback ending

"What do I do? Maybe Yuki's right about this thing. I have to stop listening to Mai's nonsense and start using my head." Joey said to himself with his head hung low and tears welling up in his eyes. "Arrgh! I just gotta concentrate on how to win the game." He said as he had his eyes screwed shut tightly as he tried to figure things out. 'There's gotta be a way to beat Mai. If I can just figure out how she knows what our cards are- if she's not psychic. There must be somethin' else she's doin'.' Joey thought with his eyes closed but his train of thought came to a stop as he smelt something strange on the air. 'What's that strange smell? I never noticed that smell when my eyes were open. I'm smellin' a bunch of different perfumes comin' from... her cards! Huh?!' Joey realized as he was still standing there eyes closed as his nose is assaulted by many different perfumes.

"Let's go, kid. It's your turn." Mai said getting impatient with the fact that Joey was just standing there with his eyes closed.

"That's it. I see through your card trick." Joey stated as his eyes snapped open in order to let him look across the field to Mai.

"Huh?!" Mai asked in shock as he had to be bluffing since no one has ever been able to see through her card trick before.

"You sprayed all your cards with different perfumes, and by smellin' each different scent, you can tell which card is which even when they're face down." Joey revealed which shocked Mai even more since how could a newbie find all of this out just from a few minutes of having his eyes closed?

"Uh." Mai struggled to find some kind of answer that would make it seem like she hadn't just been caught cheating to know what her cards are.

"So you don't have to look in order to play your cards. That way you can psych the other player out." Joey said having come to the conclusion of him ratting Mai out for the fake that she is.

"No way! How could an amateur punk like you see through my aroma strategy? It's just impossible!" Mai exclaimed in utter shock as her aroma strategy had been fool proof until now.

"I gotta admit, Mai, you really had me buyin' into the whole psychic power shtick. I was too freaked out to think things through because of that, but you're not psychic at all! You're just a big fake." Joey said as Mai was standing there completely gobsmacked at what he was saying to her.

"Nice job Joey!" Yami Yuki praised as she had already figured out beforehand that Mai's so called psychic powers were a fake.

"Go get her, Joey!" Tea said glad that Joey had snapped out of the funk that he had been in.

"Kick her ass Joey!" Yugi exclaimed before expecting his sister to scold him about cursing but it never came. 'Ok, that's weird. Yuki always scolds me when I curse...' He thought as he looked up at Yami Yuki curiously as she hadn't even noticed that he cursed.

"You the man!" Tristan said with a grin also glad that Joey had snapped out of his funk and had exposed Mai in the process.

"Yuki, you were right!" Joey said whilst looking down at said girl with a grateful smile on his face.

"Just because you saw through my little psychic act doesn't mean you're going to be able to defeat me in a duel." Mai declared in frustration because seeing through her act doesn't mean Joey has won the duel.

"I think you're wrong. Before you were winnin' by confusing me and tryin' to pit me against my friends, but now my mind is clear. I know who I can trust. All you've got left is your cheap tricks, and I won't fall for 'em anymore." Joey said as he not only regained his confidence but also knew that Mai is a lying cheat who should not be trusted during a duel.

"Uh." Mai uttered as she was nearly speechless as to what was going on right at this moment.

"I'm gonna blast your Harpies out of the sky with this." Joey stated as he pulled a card from his hand and showed it to Mai as it depicted a cute orange dragon with 1,200 attack points and 700 defense points.

"Yes, great choice Joey." Yami Yuki praised as that card was a flying monster meaning Harpy's Lady won't be resistant to its attacks.

"Baby Dragon." Joey said as he puts his dragon face up in defense mode as the little dragon popped up on the field with a little sound that sounded like laughter.

"Ha. That wimpy card is your grand play? I only wish it was worth some more so when I devastate you, it would do more damage to your life points." Mai said finding Baby Dragon to be something hilarious rather than much of a threat to her and her Harpy's Lady. "My card will be Elegant Egotist." She said as she held up a card that appeared to be what one may see when looking through a kaleidoscope. "Its magic will make duplicates of my Harpy's Lady." Mai said as her Harpy Lady glows a bright white before splitting into three glowing figures that were green, red, and blue.

"Oh, no!" Joey exclaimed as one Harpy was tough but now he had to deal with three of them now?

"Harpy's Lady 1... 2... 3." Mai said as a Harpy with orange hair and a Harpy with blue hair appears alongside the first Harpy as their armor also becomes gold rather than black.

"It's three times the trouble." Joey said as he was now looking at three Harpy Lady's who seemed to be just as smug as the duelist controlling them.

"Now what? He was struggling when there was only one." Tea said as it would take a miracle or dumb luck to get Joey out of this one.

"Don't give in, Joey! You've still got all kinds of moves left." Tristan reassured though he really didn't believe that what he had just said was true.

"Really? What moves would those be?" Tea asked wondering if Tristan knew something that she didn't.

"How would I know? Ask an expert. Ask Yuki." Tristan said as he glanced from Tea to Yuki as said girl with star shaped hair was watching the duel with a serious unblinking look.

"It's Joey's duel, not mine. He's gotta figure it out himself." Yami Yuki stated simply since she was not here to make every decision for Joey.

"I don't have any cards strong enough to beat 3 Harpy Ladies." Joey said whilst looking down at the cards in his hand in frustration.

"Ha! And I'm going to keep using the magic of Elegant Egotist to double my Harpies again and again each turn. Ha ha. But while my Harpies multiply I can't attack you, so it's your move." Mai said as this meant that if more turns go by with her Harpy's still in play then she will have whole army of Harpy Ladies. "Of course, you'll soon be up against an army." She added giddily as she just loved it that it seemed like Joey still can't defeat her.

"An army of Harpies. How the hell do I fight an army?" Joey asked as he screwed his eyes shut once again getting nervous. "She's got a whole army. How am I supposed to beat that?" He asked since he was drawing a blank as to what he can do to win.

"It's not an army yet." Yugi reminded with a frown before glancing at Yami Yuki smiling at the fact that he saw she was getting ready to speak.

"Joey, don't give up." Yami Yuki said causing Joey to open his eyes and look at her curiously. "Think really hard about what her strategy has been thus-far. She's only been using the one monster card and has been using many magic cards to strengthen that one card, but there's one serious flaw in her strategy, Joey." She pointed out as she was now just waiting for him to put the puzzle pieces together.

"Using magic on one card? 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. I bet if I can just defeat her Harpies, she won't have any monsters left to play." Joey deduced as he thought back on every move that Mai has made since they had officially started the duel.

"Exactly, Joey. Now concentrate. What card do you have in your deck that'll help you win?" Yami Yuki asked with narrowed eyes as she was doing everything in her power to help Joey without giving him the real answers.

"Which of my cards? You tell me." Joey said as that cryptic advice wasn't really helping him but he then realized something as his eyes widened slightly. 'Wait! I think you maybe did.' He thought as he remembered what happened between him and Yuki back on the boat before Weevil showed up.

Flashback beginning

"Salamandra, and a Kunai with Chain, Baby Dragon, and Sword and Shield? Awesome, those cards will help give you a real strong deck." Yuki said giving her friend the praise he was hoping to get from her a she looks at the cards he traded for.

"All right! So now, I'm ready to win every duel I play." Joey said more than glad that Yuki thought that he did good when it came to these cards. That also gave him quite the confidence boost that he so desperately needed.

"Don't get ahead of yourself Joey, because I think your going to find that it's a bit harder than that. Here, put this card in your deck." Yuki said as she opened the sarcophagus and pulled out a card. She then held it out for Joey to take and put in his deck since she knew it would help. "It can be real helpful in a tight spot." Yuki said as the card was The Time Wizard and it was a big cartoon like clock with eyes, arms, legs, and a cape, top hat, and wand/scepter.

Flashback ending

"The Time Wizard. This is the kind of tight spot Yuki must've been talkin' about. Now, if I can just remember what Gramps taught me about the way to use a magic card. It's my only chance." Joey said now racking his brain for a moment trying to remember the limited amount of training that Solomon had given him. "But do I have it in my hand?" He asked as he glanced down at his hand in search of the Time Wizard.

"If I had known how long it was going to take you to make a move, I would have brought a magazine." Mai said with a mixture of boredom and annoyance as she had her arms crossed.

"Uh-oh. The Time Wizard's not in my hand. I'll have to draw for it." Joey said as he reached out for hiss deck but then he started to hesitate. "Ahh, but what if I don't get it? Ohh, what if-" He said as he closed only to cut himself off.

'Have faith and trust in your deck, Joey. Have faith in yourself!' Yami Yuki urged mentally as if Joey could actually hear her.

"Ahh! Here I go. It's all or nothin'. Uhh." Joey stated as he blindly drew a card with his eyes closed whilst Yami Yuki seemed to pulsate for a moment. "Huh?" He hummed in question whilst cracking his eyes open and giving his drawn card a side glance. "All right! It's the Time Wizard!" Joey exclaimed as he put the card in play and the Time Wizard appeared on the field next to Baby Dragon.

"Hmm? What good is that thing?" Mai asked curious about why Joey was so happy that he had drawn the Time Wizard.

"Don't you know? The Time Wizard can make time go faster, causing my Baby Dragon to grow into a Thousand Dragon." Joey explained since that would mean that his dragon would not only get older but stronger as well.

"Correct, Joey, but that's not the only affect Time Wizard will have." Yami Yuki said as there was a side affect to what the Time Wizard does but Mai would find that out the hard way.

"Time Magic." The Time Wizard called out as he raised his staff and began to make every monster on the field age by 1,000 years.

"Baby Dragon, transform into Thousand Dragon." Joey said as his cute Baby Dragon transformed into an old darker orange dragon with a goatee and side burns. His attack was now 2,400 and his defense was now 2,000 as he laid there on the field growling slightly.

"So now you have a bigger dragon. Big deal. My Harpy Ladies still have greater attack power. Attack it, my 3 Harpy sisters!" Mai ordered only to see that her Harpy Ladies were now frail and old as they let out raspy screeches. "What?! What happened to my Harpy Ladies? They've gotten so old." She said as her three Harpy's individual attack points of 2,190 dropped back down to 1,300.

"Ha ha. Poor Mai, I warned you. An entire millennium has gone by on the field, your Harpy Ladies have become old decrepit hags. Face the facts, Mai. Time has begun to run out for you and your Harpy's." Yami Yuk said with an amused smirk as Mai let out what sounded like a hybrid of a whine and a groan.

"I believed, and the cards came through for me. Awesome! Go, Thousand Dragon! Attack with Inferno Flame Breath!" Joey commanded as his dragon reared up and breathed fire through his nostrils effectively burning the old Harpy's to a crisp as they shriek.

"Euhhh!" Mai whined as she watched precious Harpy's get destroyed by the flames and Joey chuckled happily.

Mai: 0 Joey: 1,020

"He did it! Joey won!" Tea exclaimed happily whilst jumping around a bit.

"Yay Joey!" Yugi yelled with a grin happy to see that Joey won and maybe knocked Mai down a few pegs.

"I knew you could do it!" Tristan said with a closed-eye grin whilst Yami Yuki was silent with a smirk on her face.

"Thanks, guys." Joey said with a smile since he knew he had some moments where he had almost given up but in the end he pulled through with their help.

"Hmm!" Yami Yuki hummed as she winked and gave Joey a thumbs up whilst still continuing to smirk.

"Ohh. How? How could I ever lose to such an amateur?" Mai asked herself in shock and disbelief as she looked down at the cards scattered across her dueling dashboard.

"Hey, Mai." Joey called out trying to get the seemingly distraught girls attention.

"Huh?" Mai asked as she looked up from staring at the scattered cards that lay before her.

"I tried to tell ya, there's more to Duel Monsters than just kickin' the other guys ass. If you're ever gonna be a real champion, you gotta learn to car about someone other than yourself." Joey said as that was some pretty wise advice from someone who usually isn't known for being wise. "Isn't that right, Yuki?" He asked as he looked towards Yami Yuki for some confirmation to what he had said.

"Indeed." Yami Yuki said with a nod as she faded back into being regular Yuki as her smirk morphed into a proud smile. 'I'm really proud of you and your hard work Joey, it really is paying off. And I'm sure that Grandpa, if he was here right now, would be proud of you to. You've changed from a guy with nothing but eagerness and an attitude, to a duelist who wins his duels by battling with his head and his heart.' She thought whilst looking at Joey as he was giving them all a peace sign with a grin still ever present on his face.