Chapter 29
A Love Worth Fighting For: Part 5: Finale
"Bitter Victory"
The rescue team raced onward toward where they saw the seal. "We have to get to where that seal landed." Tea said, urgently. They searched and searched, calling out his name just in case he had won and managed to walk away. Meanwhile, Seto and Mokuba Kaiba found themselves outnumbered and surrounded by Orichalcos Soldiers.
"Seto, what do we do?" Mokuba asked after he got out of the car. "Simple, we exterminate these oversized cockroaches." Seto answered. "Blue-Eyes, come forth!" he commanded before one of his ace monsters appeared and caused the soldiers to step back a bit. "Eliminate this pest problem with a White Lightning strike!" he commanded before the dragon unleashed its power and destroyed several of the soldiers.
But for every one that was destroyed, another one appeared in its place. "New ones come up every time you knock some down." Mokuba said, worried. "Mokuba, I've always told you that if at first you don't succeed, try again. So that's what me and my Blue-Eyes are gonna do!" Seto replied before his dragon attacked again. But more soldiers came up, one of which grabbed Mokuba. "Hey! Let go!" he shouted. "Leave him alone!" Seto shouted. "I summon forth Critias!" he declared before his legendary dragon appeared and took out more soldiers, including the one who grabbed Mokuba.
"Thanks, bro, but those goons aren't gone yet and they refuse to give up!" the youngest Kaiba said. "Then I won't either." Seto replied. "Dragons, attack!" he commanded before both flew in to do some damage. Meanwhile, at the duel, Joey was trembling. "What's wrong, Wheeler? Are my Harpies too much for you to handle?" Mai asked. "Why don't you try fighting two duels in a row, one after another?" Joey asked back.
"Blah, blah. Quit making excuses and duel, or you'll end up like Valon." Mai retorted. "Man, I'm starting to miss the Mai I met at Duelist Kingdom." Joey said before drawing. "I summon my Swordsman of Landstar in defense mode." he declared before his small warrior appeared. "Forgive me if I'm not shaking." Mai joked. "You will be, but for now I set two cards and end my turn." Joey replied, still feeling the effects from his rough and tumble duel with Valon.
'I'm in worse shape than I thought. That last dueled wiped me out. Heck, it wasn't a duel, it was a slugfest.' he thought as he remembered his duel against Valon and how it involved punch after punch from both players at both players. 'But its not over yet.' he added. "So you summon a weak defense monster and end your turn? How lame." Mai mocked. "I'm just waiting for the right moment." Joey replied. "Typical of you to do that, Wheeler. You put on this tough-guy exterior for everyone, but deep down you're just a scared little kid." Mai taunted. "Do you honestly think you can win this duel?" she asked.
"That depends." Joey replied. "Depends on what?" Mai asked. "It depends on what you mean when you say the word win. Because to me, winning is about more than cards and life points." Joey answered. "Please, spare me." Mai said, almost disgusted. "When you first dueled against me at Duelist Kingdom, you told me you dueled for comforts that you craved. And you said because of that, you had no friends. But then we had that dinner together that night on the island. And after you dueled against Yugi and lost by surrendering, I thought you found something more important than winning." Joey said as he remembered all the times that Mai was involved at Duelist Kingdom.
"It was a little something called friendship. But I guess I was wrong, or maybe you just forgot." he added. "Oh, just save it. I've come way to far to turn back now!" Mai shouted. "This ain't no tournament." Joey pointed out. "I know it's not a tournament and I've had enough of your lectures. Time to destroy you." Mai replied as the seal on her forehead glowed brighter. "Just know one thing, Mai. I'll always stand by you no matter what. I love you, and I'll never forget that. Now make your move!" Joey stated.
"I will! And you're done!" Mai replied before drawing. "Now one of my Cyber Harpies will attack your Swordsman of Landstar!" she declared. "Hold on! I activate my trap, Double Magical Arm Bind!" Joey revealed as his trap sprung. "This card allows me to sacrifice two of my own monsters, in this case, two of my Sheep Tokens, in order to gain control of two of yours!" he explained as the two Sheep Tokens became two grabbers that grabbed two Cyber Harpies and moved them to Joey's side of the field.
"I still have more Harpies. So do your thing, girls!" Mai shouted. "Hold on, I reveal my second trap, Vow of Tribe!" Joey revealed as his second trap sprung. "As long as this is in play, if both sides of the field have the same monster, those creatures can't attack. And since two of your Cyber Harpies belong to me at the moment, that means all six of them are useless." he explained. "What have you got to say to that?" he asked.
"Well, nice move." Mai answered. "You really mean that, Mai? Then again, I wouldn't be as good a Duelist as I am without you. You've always pushed me to be my best." Joey replied. 'How can he still feel that way about me, let alone love me? After everything I put him through? Why doesn't he give in to his anger like everyone else? I could never be like that. Maybe Wheeler really is different. What if he's, incorruptible?' Mai wondered as he remembered what Valon said before his soul was snatched away.
'So, maybe Valon was right. But that just gives me all the more reason to crush Wheeler. And if he really duels with all his heart and soul, then I'll just have to take one or both of them.' she figured. "It's all over for you on my next turn." she said aloud. Meanwhile, on Doma's temple island, Dartz kept watch on the duel. "It won't be long now, Great Leviathan. Soon, the Chosen Duelists will be ours." he said.
Back at the duel, Mai had ended her turn. "Your move, Wheeler. Your last one at that." she said. 'She may not admit it, but Mai can't fool me. I know deep down she values our friendship, and our love for each other. I just have to remind her. We've been through way too much together and I won't let her throw it all away.' Joey thought. "I'm not done yet." he said aloud before drawing. "I'll sacrifice the two Harpies I got from you along with my Swordsman of Landstar." he added. "What are you up to, Wheeler?" Mai asked as the monsters disappeared.
"Now, meet Gilford the Lightning!" Joey declared before one of his best warriors appeared. "Whenever Gilford the Lightning is summoned to the field by sacrificing three monsters, he destroys every monster on my opponent's side of the field." he explained as Gilford drew his sword. "Gilford, attack!" Joey commanded before all the remaining Harpies were electrocuted. "Now Gilford, attack her directly!" he commanded before one slash GREATLY DROPPED Mai's life points straight to 800 while sending her right into the border of the seal.
"See that? Domino City's number one underdog still has plenty of fight left!" he said as Mai got up. "That may be, but do you have enough to finish this?" she asked before laughing. "I doubt it. And so, Wheeler, it's my turn now!" she added before drawing. "For starters, I'll play this, the Card of Sanctity. Now we both have to draw until we each have six cards." she continued before drawing three cards while Joey drew four.
"Draw anything worth using?" Mai asked, mockingly. "You'll have to wait and see." Joey answered. 'I didn't draw Hermos, but these should definitely help.' he thought. 'Alright, time to make my move whether he drew his Legendary Dragon or not.' Mai thought as she readied her next card. "I activate Monster Reborn to bring back one of my Cyber Harpies!" she declared before her armored creature returned.
"But one is never enough, so I'll activate an old favorite known as Elegant Egotist!" she added. "If you remember from when we first dueled, this card can turn my one Cyber Harpie into the three Harpie Lady Sisters!" she declared before her single Harpie became a trio, now with 2450 attack points. "May be a silly question, but just how many kinds of Harpies do you have in that deck?" Joey asked. "You might want to pay attention to this next move. I activate Harpie Lady Phoenix Formation!" Mai declared.
"Since my three Harpie Lady Sisters count as three separate monsters, this card allows me to destroy that same number of monsters on your side of the field! And once your pathetic Sheep Token and Gilford are history, the total number of their attack points gets subtracted from your life points!" she explained. Right then and there, both creatures were destroyed, causing Joey's life points to DROP down to 800, matching Mai's. "Now its just like when you dueled Valon. One more attack and this duel will be decided." Mai said with a chuckle.
"I never got to tell you this at Industrial Illusions, but that was an awesome move." Joey said as he barely kept himself standing. "You may be working with an evil cult, but you haven't lost your touch since Battle City, Mai. You're still one of the greatest Duelists I know. Sure I'm about to pass out, but this is fun." he admitted. "You think this is fun? Just knock it off! I'm not falling for your little memory scheme. So skip the speech and make your move." Mai replied.
Joey shook his hand, trying to get some feeling back into it, before drawing. 'The Claw of Hermos. Man, are you a sight for sore eyes.' he thought. "First I activate my magic card, The Warrior Returning Alive, which allows me to take a warrior monster from my graveyard and put it in my hand, and I choose my Blue Flame Swordsman!" he declared before his warrior returned. "Then I'll activate a little surprise, the Dark Dragon Ritual!" he continued, catching Mai off-guard.
"Ladies and gentlemen, sit back and watch as I make Gearfried the Iron Knight disappear, in order to make way for my Paladin of Dark Dragon!" he declared before his new ritual monster, a level four, Dark attribute dragon/ritual/effect monster with 1900 attack points and 1200 defense points, appeared. "But my magic act ain't over yet. Now I activate my Paladin's special ability to sacrifice him to summon a more powerful creature, specifically my number one Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" he continued before his best dragon appeared.
"You think you're so bad, don't you? Well, too bad your Red-Eyes can't attack this turn. And even if it could, my Harpie Sisters are still 50 points stronger." Mai said, defiantly. "Yeah, so? I got something else in mind to attack you with. Because I play The Claw of Hermos!" Joey retorted before his legendary dragon appeared. "But before I attack, I'll combine Hermos with my Red-Eyes to form the Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword!" he continued before his new weapon was forged.
"It's the perfect weapon for my Swordsman, because it makes him stronger!" he declared as his Blue Flame Swordsman's attack points increased to 2800. "Blue Flame Swordsman, attack her Harpie Lady Sisters with your Dragon Sword!" he commanded before his warrior charged and cut down one of them, lowering Mai's life points to 300. "I'll end my turn by setting two cards face down. Back to you." he concluded. Then he started to buckle, his vision got blurry again. 'I got to pull through this. I'm almost there.' he thought.
"Not bad." Mai admitted before drawing. "But your Flame Swordsman is only as strong as his weapon, right?" she asked. "So what?" Joey asked back. "So this card is going to destroy it! I play Harpie's Feather Duster!" Mai responded before, with a great gust, the Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword was destroyed, bringing Blue Flame Swordsman's attack points down to their original value, along with destroying Joey's two set cards.
'Now his Flame Swordsman is weaker than my two remaining Harpie Sisters and his life points are wide open to an attack. Time to blast my so-called boyfriend out of my life forever.' Mai thought. "I activate Spell Reproduction!" she said aloud. "Now I just need to discard the two magic cards in my hand to bring back one from my graveyard." she explained as she did so. "You're about to play Harpie Lady Phoenix Formation, right? So what are you waiting for?" Joey asked. "Nothing, and you're absolutely right, I'm going to finish you off with the namesake of this city!" Mai answered before her two Harpies joined and destroyed Blue Flame Swordsman, but to her surprise, the swordsman's attack points were 0.
"What? Why didn't you lose any points?" she asked. "I already told you about Blue Flame Swordsman's special ability, didn't I? I can automatically transfer his attack points to any monster on the field." Joey answered. "So you chose to gave them to one of my Harpie's?" Mai asked in surprise. "Specifically, your original Cyber Harpie, but yeah. All his points became hers." Joey answered as Mai noticed her creature's attack points had increased to 4100.
"And since I reduced my swordsman's strength to nothing, I didn't lose any life points when you attacked. And as you remember, when the Blue Flame Swordsman is destroyed, the original one is summoned in his place." he added before the original Flame Swordsman was special summoned. "Just remember, you have the strongest monster on the field now and how you use it is up to you. But like I said before, you're one of the greatest Duelists I know. In fact, if you dueled against Yugi and won, you'd be worthy of the title Queen of Games. At any rate, I'm sure you'll make the right choice. Because I know, Mai, underneath all that anger and frustration, is the woman I love." he continued, remembering when Mai helped him at Duelist Kingdom when he couldn't find his Glory of the King's Hand card.
"Duelist Kingdom was a long time ago, so was Battle City, and I'm sick of taking backseat to you and Yugi!" Mai replied. "I'm sorry you feel that way. But are you any better off now?! You're STILL taking backseat, only now its to some looney cult leader who promised you power!" Joey stated. 'Without power, I'm nothing.' Mai thought as she remembered her time in the Shadow Realm. "Please, Mai." Joey said. "Sorry, Wheeler, but it's too late now. My fate's already been sealed, and so has yours! I refuse to go back to the Shadow Realm." Mai replied.
"Marik's long gone. Yugi beat him and sent him back to Egypt in defeat. At any rate, my move. Here goes." Joey said before drawing. "I'll set one card on the field." he added before doing so. "I'm done, so give me your best shot!" he concluded. "Let's end this, right now!" Mai declared as she drew. "Cyber Harpie, destroy his Flame Swordsman with your Virtual Slash attack and wipe out his remaining life points!" she commanded before her Harpie flew in.
"Now, I reveal my set card, Skull Dice." Joey said before his trap sprung. "Time to lower your Harpie's attack points." he added before his imp threw the die. It clattered, it rolled, then it landed on a two. "Looks like your Cyber Harpie's strength just got cut in half." he added before Cyber Harpie's strength was slashed right down to 2050. "She's still stronger than your Swordsman." Mai pointed out before the Flame Swordsman was destroyed, lowering Joey's life points to 550.
"And now to wipe out the rest of your life points! Go, Harpie, attack his..." she began to say, before she halted. 'I can't do it. What's my problem? This is a no-brainer, Mai, just attack him and win, then he'll be gone forever and those nightmares about Marik will finally end. One attack and I can finally move on with my life.' she thought before she remembered all the times she had with Joey, including their first kiss.
"Congratulations. You win." Joey said. At that moment, the exhausted Joey started to collapse, causing Mai to run to him. "Joey, no!" she shouted, finally remembering the bond she and Joey shared and catching him before the Seal of Orichalcos started to close in. "You're wrong. I didn't attack, so you didn't lose the duel." she said. "But I'm too exhausted to finish, so I surrendered." Joey replied. "I won't let the Seal of Orichalcos take you away, Joey. I love you." Mai said with tears in her eyes. "I love you too, but it's too late. I already surrendered the duel, so there's no turning back. I'm just glad that if one of us lost their soul, it wouldn't be you." Joey replied.
"Don't say that!" Mai said, her heart sinking. "Mai, that was the greatest duel I ever fought. Thank you." Joey replied before kissing her and then pushing her out of the enclosing seal, tearing her fragment of the Orichalcos Stone from her neck. "Joey! NO!" Mai shouted as the stone landed on the ground, and once the seal passed over it, the fragment shattered, which Dartz quickly felt as he sensed Mai was no longer under the control of the Orichalcos Stone, or him. "She's been set free!" he said in alarm before realizing Joey's soul had arrived.
"But what's this? It seems that Miss Valentine served her purpose before breaking our control over her." he added. Meanwhile, Yami came to a stop, as did everyone else. "What's wrong, Yami?" Twilight asked. "Is it Joey?" Spike asked as Yami looked at Timaeus before looking up to see the dragon itself perched atop a building. "I'm afraid so." Yami replied.
Timaeus let out a mourning cry before disappearing again. Critias also let out a mourning cry before taking flight. "What's with Critias?" Mokuba asked. "Considering all the weird things going on like when I saw holograms that bleed at the Phoenix KaibaCorp headquarters, I'm not sure if there's a glitch in the holographic image or not." Seto answered. Meanwhile, Joey's body had collapsed, now soulless. "Joey, wait!" Mai shouted before kneeling in tears.
"Please, don't leave me!" she said as tears fell on to Joey's face. "This is all my fault. I was angry and confused and I blamed all my loneliness and nightmares on you, that's what led me to get rid of you. How can I be so selfish?" she said. "You're the only one who ever cared about me, and loved me." she continued. "You were the closest friend I ever had and the only man I ever thought about spending the rest of my life with and I repaid you by leaving you for a madman who promised me power." she added before picking up his Claw of Hermos card.
"I'll make Dartz regret he ever met Mai Valentine." she said before starting up her bike and riding off to Paradius after putting Joey's soulless body up against the fence, next to Valon's. 'The only way to fix this is to meet Dartz face to face.' she thought. Later, she arrived at the place. "Here goes nothing." she said before heading inside. Later, she got off the elevator and heard footsteps coming her way down a hallway.
"Hey, Dartz, is that you?" she asked. "Guess again, Mai." replied a familiar voice. It was Rafael. "What do you want, Raf?" Mai asked, irked. Meanwhile, the rescue team found the soulless bodies of both Joey and Valon. "No way..." Tristan said in shock. "What happened?" Fluttershy asked. "Based on what I see, he beat Valon. But then someone else challenged him, and lost." Twilight answered, still devastated. "Wait, does that mean...?" Tea began to ask.
"Yes, both his soul and Valon's belong to Dartz, now." Yami replied as they all looked on in horror at their fallen friend, realizing that was why Timaeus appeared and let out a mourning cry from the top of a building. It was in mourning of one of the Chosen Duelists falling.
