Courtroom Chaos Part II

'So far all of the evidence points to your defeat!' Johnson brought his hammer down again. 'I find you guilty of poor duelling!'

'Aw, yeah? We'll just see!' Joey drew. 'My move!' He looked at the cards in his hand. All right. What to do. His face-down card is probably a trap, but I can't worry about that right now. I have to get a monster on the field or else he'll be able to attack my life points again. And I got just the guy for the job. So look out, Johnson! He took the card from his hand. 'Now I play this card, Panther Warrior in attack mode!' He set the card and the monster appeared on the field. 'And then, I'll place one card face-down.'

The card appeared on the field as he set it.

His Kamionwizard has only 1300 attack points. So my Panther Warrior should be able to wipe it out with no problem. But just in case he tries anything funny, I've got my face-down card as a backup. 'That's it for me, Judge.'

'Hm. You're up to something.' Johnson drew. 'Oh, well. I'm not too worried.' He added the card to his hand. 'Because I have this card! Ready, Joseph? Reveal the magic card, Leading Question.' His face-down card flipped up.

Joey started.

'This magic card adds 800 attack points to any monster that's made up of two other monsters fused together. So my Kamionwizard is now stronger than your Panther Warrior.' The Kamionwizard's attack points shot up to 2100. 'Wizard, attack now!'

'Not so fast, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Gruesome! You triggered my trap! Go, Skull Dice!' His card flipped up. The sprite emerged from the card with the red die, and rolled it. 'The higher I roll, the more attack points your monster loses!'

The die rolled.

It landed on six. 'Yeah!' Joey cheered. Suddenly the dice spun around again and landed on a one. 'What?' He jumped back. 'A one? No way!' But Joey knew how the dice was supposed to fall, so…obviously cheating was something they weren't above doing. 'All right. I don't know how you did that, but I got my eye on you.'

Kamionwizard struck and Panther Warrior was destroyed.

Joey's life points dropped down to 1100. No! My Panther Warrior!

'Once again, you have no monsters on the field,' Johnson said. 'And as for me? You remember my Sinister Justice card, don't you? It gives me another 800 life points.' His life points shot up to 1800.

Joey growled in irritation. 'Not again!'

'That will happen every time my Kamionwizard attacks your life points,' Johnson said.

Behind him, Yugi jumped to his feet. 'Stop this guy!'

'You almost had him beat once!' Téa jumped up too. 'Until he turned things around and whooped you!'

Annoyed, Joey twisted around. 'Gee, thanks!'

'Order in the court,' Johnson said. 'Make your move.'

Joey turned back to the duel. Johnson's got me right where he wants me. Thanks to his Leading Question magic card, his Kamionwizard gets a power boost of 800 points. That gives it a grand total of 2100 attack points! He looked down. And all I have in my hand is…the Swordsman of Lanstar, who's not exactly what I call a "King of Monsters".

'What's the matter?' Johnson cut into his thoughts. 'Did little Joseph use up all of his best monsters during the first five minutes of the duel?'

'No!' Joey snapped. The truth is I did, and now I'm paying the price.

'Well, make your move.'

Joey drew. 'All right, fine, Johnson.' He looked at the card he'd just drawn. Hey! Graceful Dice! He added it to his hand for the time being. If my luck improves, I may be able to raise my Swordsman of Lanstar's attack points. He played the monster card. 'I summon Swordsman of Lanstar!' The card appeared on the field and the monster emerged from within. 'And then,' he took the magic card from his hand, and set it, 'I'll play this, my Graceful Dice!' The card appeared on the field and flipped up. The sprite emerged and rolled the blue die. 'Yeah! Raise my Swordsman's attack points with a high roll!'

The dice landed on a six.

'All right! It worked!' Joey cheered. But then, like the Skull Dice, if flipped around to a one. 'Guh?!' He cried out and recoiled. 'Ah! What did I do to deserve all this?' He slumped over the railing in depression.

'Oh, Joseph,' Johnson hit the hammer down again. 'Time to clear the courtroom of your monster.' His life points dropped down to 800.

'His Deck Master special ability!' Joey cried out as his single monster disappeared from the field. Joey cried out in alarm. His life points dropped to 600.

'Yes,' Johnson said. 'Yes, for the mere price of 1000 life points, I've left you defenceless. The verdict is in: you're finished!'

'It's not over yet, Johnson!' Joey set his cards. 'I place two cards face-down!'

'So you do.' Johnson drew. 'Now…' He looked at the card.

'Hang in there!' Téa called.

Johnson chuckled and turned his card around. 'I play my Pot of Greed card. Ha! I bet you wish you'd drawn this card, don't you, Joseph?'

Joey ground his teeth.

Johnson played it. 'Now, I'm able to draw two new cards, which is something that you need to do quite desperately.' He drew the cards.

Joey smirked. 'Thanks to you I can draw five cards now.'

'Huh?' Johnson looked up at him.

'Cause I activate Gamble!' One of his down cards flipped up. Joey laughed as a coin dropped down by his side. 'You see, I have no cards and you have six which is exactly the combination I needed in order to activate this trap card.'

He heard Téa and Yugi talking behind him. He guessed Yug was explaining it to Tea.

Joey picked up the coin. He looked down at the silver coin in his hand. He tightened his grip on the coin. If he didn't get this, it could cost him the entire duel. 'Okay.' He flicked the coin. This could make or break the game for me.

The coin flew into the air.

YGO

The next door they stepped through brought them onto a beach at sunset.

Mokuba looked around in annoyance.

Kaiba's sigh was somewhere between irritation and tiredness. 'Oh, well. At least it's a change of scenery.'

'Are you crazy?' Mokuba ran over to the water's edge and started ranting. 'I don't wanna be on a virtual beach, in a virtual forest, or even in a virtual amusement park! I want outta here!'

Kaiba smiled indulgently and just started walking down the beach.

Mokuba calmed down. 'Sorry, Seto. I just had to get that off my chest. This place is really getting to me.'

Kaiba stopped and turned. 'Just relax. If you get upset, then you're letting Noah win.'

'Huh?'

Kaiba lifted his head and called out again. 'Noah, show yourself! We're onto your little game and it won't work! You think you can wear us down by toying with our emotions, but you obviously don't know who you're dealing with!'

YGO

'Come on, Joey!' Yugi called out. 'You can do this! You have a fifty-fifty chance!'

The coin came down and Joey caught it. He slammed it onto the back of his other hand. 'It's heads! Come on…' He pulled his hand away. 'Aw, man, it's tails!' He groaned and leaned over the pulpit. 'No fair!'

Yugi frowned. Not good.

'No!' Téa cried. 'Not again!'

'This is bad.' And there was a feeling of suspicion tugging at Yugi over what he'd just seen. For a moment, he wondered if that had something to do with the Pharaoh or if Sharee's more cynical outlook had rubbed off on him. It might have been a combination of both.

Joey growled. 'It's still my turn! So I'll reveal my face-down card!' The card in question flipped up. Scapegoat!' The Scapegoats emerged from within.

'Are those furballs supposed to frighten me?' Johnson asked before drawing. 'I'll have them dismissed from this trial in no time! This ought to do for starters.' He set a card and took his deck out from the slot. 'I'll play my Reinforcement of the Army Magic Card first, allowing me to add a warrior to my hand.' He got his warrior and put the deck back. Then I'll use Polymerisation.' He lifted the card so Joey could see it. 'Know why, Joseph?' He slid two cards out from behind the magic card. 'To fuse together my Armill Warrior and my One-Eyed Shield Dragon.' A new card appeared on the field. 'Meet Dragoness the Wicked Knight.'

'Wow,' Joey said, faking indifference. Yugi had seen it before. 'Big deal, Johnson. Your monster looks weak to me.'

'Time for my Leading Question magic card to kick in,' Johnson said. 'And power up my Kamionwizard as it tears down your first Scapegoat.' The Kamionwizard's attack points shot up to 2100. He then shot forward and destroyed the first Scapegoat, as Johnson had said. 'Now it will increase the strength of my Wicked Knight as it eliminates your second Scapegoat!' The Wicked Knight's strength went up to 2000. The Knight shot forward and destroyed the second of Joey's Scapegoats.

Joey was only left with two.

'Two down,' Johnson said. 'And two more Scapegoats left.'

'Not if I stop you first!' Joey insisted, reaching for his deck.

'Objection!' Johnson hit his gavel down. 'Your turn is skipped. You called heads but you got tails, Joseph.'

'All right,' Joey said. 'Then go.'

'As you wish.' Johnson drew. 'Now, time to destroy one more Scapegoat.' Kamionwizard's attack points went up for the duration of the turn again. He shot forward and destroyed the third Scapegoat. 'And last, but not least, I'll enhance the strength of my Wicked Knight once more and dismiss your last Scapegoat!' The Wicked Knight's power went up and he shot forward. With one slash of his sword, Joey was left without any defences.

'No!' Joey cried. 'I'm done for!'

Johnson banged his gavel again. 'Case closed. Do you admit defeat?'

'No!' Joey clenched a fist. 'This duel won't be over until your life points reach 0, Johnson! No way am I giving up!' He punched the banister of the pulpit. 'Ow.' That one was low enough that Johnson wouldn't hear it.

'That's right!' Téa was quick to agree. 'Don't give up, Joey! This bad luck of yours is bound to change, because it can't get any worse.'

If it is bad luck.

Joey shook his head. 'Listen, Téa, as far as pep talks go, this is not your best work. I'm running out of options here.'

'Don't give up!' Téa told him.

There's something fishy about this Johnson guy, Yugi thought. It seems like more than just bad luck that's holding Joey down.

Yes, Yugi, the Pharaoh said. I agree. Much more. Johnson is controlling the outcome of Joey's moves. I've been sensing it since the beginning of this duel. This judge is cheating.

Yugi started. I knew it. We've got to step in! Or Joey's mind will be trapped here!

Turned out there was no need though. A beam of light came down at the halfway point but outside the boundaries of the duel. Everyone cried out in surprise. Yugi barely even heard Téa remark on it, cause he had a good feeling he should be more focused on that. When it cleared Noah, of all people, was standing there.

'Master,' Johnson said, 'what brings you here?'

'Silence!' Noah snapped.

'Yes, sir.'

This should be interesting.

YGO

'This is even worse than that never-ending virtual forest,' Mokuba remarked.

At that moment, Kaiba spotted something really bizarre in the sand. 'Hold on, Mokuba.' A TV was sticking out of the sand with Noah on the screen. Kaiba crouched down as his brother made a sound of confusion behind him. 'It's Noah.' He pulled the TV out of the sand. Yup, it was running…without a power source.

'Do you think Shauna…?' Mokuba asked.

Kaiba shook his head. 'Too soon.'

YGO

'Time out!' Noah ordered. 'Stop the duel.'

'Heh?' Joey voiced the confusion Yugi himself was feeling.

'What's the deal?' Téa asked.

'Noah, you can't, sir!' Johnson begged. 'Please! I'm only a few moves away from taking over this fool's body!'

Noah glared at him. 'You don't deserve that prize, Johnson. Not after what you just pulled.'

'Huh?' Johnson drew back.

'So,' Joey said, 'he is a cheater.'

Noah looked over at him. 'Sad to say it's true. The honourable Judge Man is nothing but a fraud who's been cheating you from the very beginning. He's been using my virtual technology to tamper with your dice rolls.'

Joey made a sound and then twisted to face Johnson. 'How about I tamper with your face, Mr. So-Called Man-of-Justice?! You big, fat fake!'

Yugi watched Noah suspiciously. Why would he care if Johnson was cheating? Enough to stop it anyway.

Johnson ignored him in favour of appealing to his boss. 'But, Noah, I couldn't risk losing this! Please, you must understand me. I can't take living in this virtual prison for one moment longer! It's torture!'

'Your excuses bore me!' Noah snapped.

Johnson gasped.

'I brought you five into my world with the understanding that under my leadership you would defeat Seto Kaiba and his little friends. But if you cheat, I can't prove that I'm truly more deserving than him.'

YGO

That remark…had a lot of implications.

Kaiba turned the possibilities over in his head. 'Than me? More deserving of what?'

Apparently, he was feeling a little bit loose-lipped, which suggested he had no idea that Kaiba could see this. Suggesting, of course, that Noah wasn't really in control here. As he thought. 'For years I've lived in Seto's shadow, always trying to prove that I'm the better one. I should have been the President of KaibaCorp, not him! And it's about time I prove to Gozaboro Kaiba that he should have left the company to me!'

'Ugh!' Kaiba's eyes widened. 'What?' But my stepfather, Gozaboro, has been dead for over five years.

He was not, however, surprised to know that someone else might've been in the running for it. Gozaboro didn't even suggest the idea of him taking over one day until he and his brother had been living in that house for over two years. Obviously, this kid was his option before, but he failed in some way.

Still, it made one thing clear.

This kid is not who he seems to be…but who is he?

YGO

Joey spoke up. 'Excuse me, boys, if I may interrupt this little quarrel for just a second? The defendant would like to speak.' Okay, so clearly this kid was in competition with Kaiba for taking over KaibaCorp at some point and but lost out, so he had a case of sour grapes.

Odd that Kaiba didn't recognise him then.

If Johnson plays by the rules, I may still be able to win this!

'Sorry, but this doesn't concern you.' Noah spoke with far more hauntiness than Kaiba had even before Yugi and the Pharaoh had cast out his evil side. That might've played a part in why he lost out. Noah turned back to Johnson. 'Johnson, it's time for me to do something that I should have done the day I met you!'

'Noah, please!' Johnson begged. 'Don't!'

Joey smirked. 'Yoo hoo.'

'What?' Noah demanded.

'Look,' Joey said. 'I'm willing to forgive Judge Gruesome, as long as he agrees to duel fair and square. Noah, if he wins you still get to prove your strength. And if I win I get to prove that Joey Wheeler doesn't let freaky-looking frauds get the best of him!' Joey pumped a fist.

'Fine,' Noah said. He smirked and turned his head away, the same way Kaiba sometimes did. 'Well, good luck. And I hope you understand what you just did. The stakes of this duel still stand.' He teleported out.

'Wow, sure beats the subway,' Joey remarked. 'All right. Let's do this thing.'

'You did hear Noah, right?' Johnson asked. 'You'll lose, and I still get to escape – by taking control of you!'

'Yeah, I get it,' Joey said.

'Hmph. Then I guess you are as foolish as you look because you're about to lose everything, Joseph.' Johnson certainly could brag. 'And with your body under my jurisdiction, your mind will be sentenced to wander this cyber universe for all eternity without bail!'

Joey chuckled and lifted his duel disk. 'You got me shaking in my boots, Your Honour. You're real tough. But it's too bad you can't cheat anymore, Johnson!'

'Touché.'

'Now let's finish this duel!' Joey drew. 'Well! Look-ee here!' He turned the card he'd just drawn so Johnson could see it. Pot of Greed. 'I think my luck is beginning to change now.'

Behind him, Yugi and Téa cheered.

Joey played it. 'Pot of Greed lets me draw two cards.' He quickly drew the cards in question. 'Sweet! These two bad boys right here are just what I need.' Joey looked across the field again. 'And now it's time to move my Deck Master. Flame Swordsman, go to the centre of the playing field, so I can use you to attack this creepazoid!' His monster moved forwards. Joey set one card. 'But first I'll boost your power with Burning Soul Sword!' The Sword appeared in his hand.

'Not so fast!' Johnson interrupted him. 'You need to sacrifice a monster for Burning Soul Sword to work.'

'Hey,' Joey said. 'What makes you think I don't know how my own magic card works? First I have to sacrifice a monster, and then whichever creature's holding the Soul Sword gets more attack points. In this case, that's my Flame Swordsman!'

'I stand corrected,' Johnson said. 'However, you seem to have forgotten one major fact about your strategy that will prove to be most unfortunate, Joseph. Look at the field. You have no monsters left to sacrifice, you fool! So your plan won't work!' He prematurely laughed.

Joey smirked. 'I'm not through yet. I still got this little number left.' He lifted the other card he'd drawn.

Johnson's laughter cut off and he gasped.

'My Arduous Decision magic card!'

'Talk about risk!' Yugi remarked behind him. 'If this doesn't work, he could lose the entire duel to Johnson right now, Téa!'

'But how, Yugi?' she asked.

'Playing that magic card allows Joey to draw two more cards from his deck,' Yugi explained. 'And that's where things get tough. Cause then Johnson has to pick one of those two cards. If he chooses a monster, Joey can summon it. But if he chooses a magic or trap card, it goes to the graveyard and Joey's turn is over.'

Joey took the cards from his deck. He took in which they were and then held them out. 'Well, your choice! If you haven't figured it out yet, the outcome of this entire duel depends on this one move! And with Noah watching, you can't cheat. Which means our fate will be decided by chance.'

'Your fate was sealed the moment we met!' Johnson boasted.

'Just pick a card, Johnson, and quit your stalling already!' Joey's voice turned mocking. 'It's not a tough choice! There's only two cards. Of course, if you choose a monster, I can sacrifice it to power up my Flame Swordsman and blast away the rest of your life points.'

'Yes, but if I choose a magic or trap card then your Swordsman remains weak and I'll destroy it, thus winning the duel.'

'Come on, buddy!' Joey exclaimed. 'What are you gonna do here? Choose! Right or left hand. The time is now!'

Johnson made a nervous noise.

'Yeah!' Yugi cheered. 'Joey, stay tough! Johnson is losing his cool! He'll never be able to cheat his way out of this!'

YGO

Kaiba scoffed. 'That fool Wheeler is risking the entire duel on a game of chance!'

Then again, that always seemed to work out pretty well for him.

YGO

'Come on!' Téa said. 'Pick a card already! All this suspense is driving me crazy!'

Yugi answered, 'Well, if you can't take it just imagine how Joey feels right now!'

Téa hummed in agreement.

'Let's do this!' And, yes, the suspense was killing him. 'The more you put it off, the harder it's gonna be! Just pick a card, Johnson!'

'All right! All right!' Even if the Judge Man's face gave nothing away, that tone certainly did. He was freaking out.

'Yeah? I'm waiting.'

He managed to calm his voice as he pointed. 'I pick your left hand.'

Not good. Had to bluff him into changing it. Joey raised the hand a little. 'Are you sure?'

'Uh…' he hesitated.

'I mean, really sure?' Must've laid it on a bit thick, though.

Johnson bowed his head and probably smirked. 'I'm sure. That's an old trick, but a good one. However, I won't be fooled by your childish antics. You asked me twice if I was sure. Your hesitation proves I've made the right choice.'

Note to self: that trick works best if you only ask once. 'If you say so.'

'I've spent years and years convincing people that lies were truth, so you have little chance of outwitting me, Joseph,' Johnson said. 'I'm positive I haven't picked your monster card, so this case is closed.' He banged his hammer again. 'Judgement in favour of me! Now please show me the card in your left hand.'

Joey chuckled.

Johnson suddenly backtracked. 'Oh, wait!'

'Yeah?' Joey drawled.

Johnson jumped to his feet. 'I changed my mind!'

'The right hand then?' Joey asked, lowering his left hand to his side. He flipped it over to reveal the monster card. 'That's gotta hurt.'

Johnson cried out in alarm.

Yugi and Téa cheered behind him.

Joey played the card. 'You chose my monster card known as Goblin Attack Force!' The card appeared on the field and the three Goblins emerged from within. 'So now I'm able to sacrifice my Goblins and add their attack points to my Deck Master, Flame Swordsman, thanks to the powers of my Burning Soul Sword!'

The Goblins dissolved into golden light and moved into the Sword. The Flame Swordsman glowed golden. His attack points sailed up to 3300.

Johnson made wordless distressed sounds.

'All Right!' Joey called the attack. 'It's time for Flame Swordsman to attack Dragoness the Wicked Knight!' Flame Swordsman charged and slashed the Wicked Knight clear in half. The other monster was instantly destroyed. Johnson, apparently, went into denial as his life points dropped right down to 0.

'No! This can't be! I never lose in a courtroom! I once convinced a jury that a man who was terrified of water stole a boat! How can I be fooled by some kid?'

Johnson screamed as he fell to pieces – literally.

The duelling field cleared.

Joey pumped a fist in the air. 'Aw, yeah! Look out! Who's the man!' Behind him, his friends cheered.

'Way to go, Joey!'

'That was awesome!'

Joey ran over and high-fived both of them. A thought pulled him out of his post-win high though. 'Wait! We still have to go find everyone else!'

'Yeah,' Yugi said. 'The other members of the Big 5 might be duelling them right now.'

The implications quickly sunk into Joey's brain. 'Did you say duelling them? Who's duelling?'

Yugi looked like he hated what he was about to say, but he said it. 'They want to duel us all, Joey. Everyone who's trapped here. We are all in this.'

'All of us?' Joey demanded, grabbing Yugi's collar in terrified rage.

'Stop, Joey!'

But he didn't really hear Téa. 'That's not fair! Serenity's never duelled before! No!' He didn't hear Téa, but his duel disk vibrating definitely got his attention. It made him jump and drop Yugi. When he looked down, he was startled to see words sliding across the screen.

SHAREE IS WITH HER.

'That must've come from Shauna,' Yugi said quietly. 'She's the only one that could and would.'

Joey had to agree. 'Then come on. Let's go find them!' He turned on his heel and ran out of the courtroom. 'Serenity!'