Chapter 26
A Love Worth Fightning For: Part 2
"Full Armor Gravitation"
Deep in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, the group of Duelists stood surrounded by Orichalcos soldiers. "They're closing in. Think we can outrun them?" Twilight asked. "Some of us already tried that, but these things are fast." Tristan answered. Suddenly, Yami and Seto stepped forward, ready to do battle, despite protests from others. "I don't know if these things are holograms or if they're real, but whatever the case, we're shutting them down." Seto said. Both Duelists stood back to back before drawing their respective dragons.
"Well, Kaiba, still think we're hallucinating?" Yami asked as he and his rival saw their respective cards start glowing. "After seeing those monsters bleed at KaibaCorp US, I'm willing to believe you this time." Seto replied before both Duelists summoned their dragons, Timaeus and Critias, respectively. Meanwhile, the duel between Valon and Joey continued. "You're close to putting me to sleep, Wheeler. Hurry up and make a move so I can continue to torture you." Valon said. "You're the one who's gonna be in a world of hurt. Got that? And it all starts right now!" Joey replied before drawing.
"Meet my Marauding Captain!" he declared before the warrior appeared. "Next, if you remember Yami's duel against Gurimo, my captain's special ability activates, allowing me to summon another warrior to the field! And I choose to summon this, Battle Warrior!" he continued before his second warrior appeared. "Lead the charge, Marauding Captain, and attack his life points directly!" he commanded before one slash of the sword lowered Valon's life points to 2800. "Your turn, Battle Warrior, strike him with Ultimate Battle Fist!" he commanded before one powerful punch struck Valon, lowering his life points to 2100.
"That'll end my turn, for now. You starting to reconsider challenging me?" he concluded. "It'll take more than two direct attacks to keep me down. This ain't the minor leagues nor is this even a tournament qualifier." Valon replied. 'What's this guy talking about? He doesn't have a single monster on the field.' Joey thought. "You think you can do better? Care to take a shot and see?" he asked. "If you say so." Valon replied before drawing. Suddenly, Psychic Armor Head returned to the field.
"Hang on, I thought that helmet went to the graveyard with the rest of your armor." Joey said in surprise. "Guess you don't know all of the special abilities of Psychic Armor Head. Why its in my graveyard, I can automatically bring it back to the field. Too bad for you, but my Psychic Armor Head should be the least of your worries, if you know what I mean." Valon replied. "No, you don't mean...!" Joey said in alarm, knowing just what Valon was talking about.
"Well, looks like you're starting to catch on, mate. I play the Seal of Orichalcos field spell!" Valon declared before the seal appeared in the sky above, which caught Mai's attention. "Oh, no! Someone's calling forth the sacred seal, and I have a feeling I know who. That loser better leave a piece of Wheeler for me." she said before putting on her helmet and racing off to the duel site. Meanwhile, the seal encircled both players.
"It's showtime." Valon said. "Now my helmet gets a nice power boost, as will the rest of my armor cards!" he declared as Psychic Armor Head's attack points matched with its defense points. "Next I'll activate the magic card, Full Armor Gravitation." he added. "This little number allows me to draw 10 cards from my deck and summon any armor monsters from those cards." he explained. "You're making another suit of armor?" Joey asked as Valon drew his ten cards. "First I summon Burning Knuckle!" the cockney Duelist began before his first armor monster, a level three, Earth attribute machine/armor/effect monster with 0 attack points, now increased to 500, and 1000 defense points appeared to be the right arm of the suit.
"Then I'll summon Jet Blast Turret." he added before his next monster, a level four, Earth attribute machine/armor/effect monster with 0 attack points, now increased to 500, and 1500 defense points appeared to be the left arm of the suit. "After that I can summon another Over Boost." he continued before the legs of his armor appeared. "Another Active Guard..." he added before the chest plate appeared. "Buster Knuckle..." he continued before his next armor monster, a level three, Earth attribute machine/armor/effect monster with 0 attack and defense points, appeared, now with 500 attack points.
"And finally, Advanced Shield." he concluded before his final armor piece, a level four, Earth attribute machine/armor/effect monster with 1000 attack points, now increased to 1500, and 0 defense points, appeared. "I see, you're putting on another space suit, only this time with better defensive capabilities." Joey said. "You're smarter than you look." Valon replied before sending the other four cards he drew to the graveyard. 'Last time he strapped on some of those armor monster, be blew away almost half of my life points.' Joey thought as the armor attached itself to Valon before he declared he was invincible.
The onboard computer within Psychic Armor head analyzed Joey once again, along with his monsters. "Picking and choosing which monster to attack? Or do you know that my captain's special ability prevents any of the warriors fighting alongside it from being destroyed until he leaves the field?" the scrappy underdog asked. "You could say that I'm picking and choosing, but why are you in such a rush? Thanks to a couple of pieces, this suit of armor's even stronger than the last one!" Valon replied.
'He says that, but only his Advanced Shield has more than 500 attack points.' Joey thought. "Time for Psychic Armor Head's onboard computer to calculate your demise." Valon said as the computer analyzed both warriors and suggested using Buster Knuckle against Marauding Captain, with a 99% probability of success. Suddenly, Buster Knuckle's attack points jumped to 1900. "What are you doing with Buster Knuckle?" Joey asked. "Buster Knuckle gets 200 attack points for every armor monster I have on the field, giving it a grand total of 1900." Valon answered before nailing and destroying the Marauding Captain, lowering Joey's life points to 1800 and seemingly draining some of his energy.
"Too much for you, is it?" Valon asked. "Not even close! I've been through much worse. You must've heard how I was struck by lightning in the Battle City finals and then how I barely managed to survive a blast from The Winged Dragon of Ra in that same tournament." Joey answered. "I may not be attacking you with one of the Egyptian God Cards, but we're just getting started. Before this duel ends, you'll be begging for mercy. Then Mai will see what a pathetic chump you are and regret ever actually making you her boyfriend." Valon replied.
"Watch it." Joey warned. "Look, mate, all I'm watching out for is myself. And right now the best thing for me, is to get rid of you. As long as you're around, Mai's going to be obsessed with dueling you." Valon replied, catching Joey's attention. "See, ever since you both dueled at Industrial Illusions, all she ever talks about is a rematch against you. But I'm not gonna let Mai put herself in that kind of danger again. So I decided to go after you first." he explained before walking back to his position on the battlefield.
"You see, Wheeler? I'm not such a bad guy, we both want the same thing. We both want Mai to be happy." he added. "Get real. If you really wanted a girl to be happy, you wouldn't have convinced her to join Doma." Joey replied as he stood up. "I told you, she chose to join us, I didn't convince her to do anything." Valon replied. "No way! I've known Mai for the longest and she never would've walked out on me like that! Not unless someone got in her ear. And if you ask me, Dartz managed to get into the ear of every single person who joined him and Doma, whether they knew about it or thought they were getting a job at Paradius." Joey retorted.
"Don't you know that the Seal of Orichalcos field spell and the stone you wear on that ring of yours contains evil magic? It makes anyone who holds both go nuts, like Yami when he was forced into playing it by your buddy, Raf." he continued. "Are you finished? If you are, then allow me to tell you the truth. That field spell card did more for Mai and the rest of us who joined Doma than you ever could. She was weak and it made her strong, much like me and my fellow Swordsmen. She was lost the day I found her, and when she accepted a fragment of the Orichalcos Stone and the Seal of Orichalcos field spell, they showed her the way!" Valon replied as he remembered Mai's initiation into Doma, their conversation afterwards and the moment he saw her defeat Pegasus in his office at the Industrial Illusions card factory to take his soul.
"Mai can't stand the thought of you, let alone the sight. And neither can I, mate. So I plan to take you down for her. Once you're out of the picture, she can move on to bigger and better things, like teaming with me and leaving behind everything from her past." he added. "No way. Mai would never want to get rid of me after all we've been through. She helped me get up when I was on my knees, thinking I had failed my sister, by giving me one of her Duelist Kingdom tournament entry cards so I could compete for the three million dollar cash prize, I tried to rescue her from The Winged Dragon of Ra when Marik shackled her and commanded his Egyptian God Monster to take her out. She was there for me, and I was there for her!" Joey shouted as he remembered both of those times in his life.
"Mai has nothing in common with you. So what if she's rough around the edges and shows her no-nonsense attitude from time to time? She got to know me, she barely knows you and the rest of you Doma nut-jobs!" he continued. "We'll just see." Valon said. "Whatever you said to her, however she was initiated into your cult, I'm gonna talk some sense into her and make her see that wiping out humanity just for the sake of power and a paradise is a sure-fire way of getting yourself into a deeper hole than the one she's already in. Now let's keep this duel going!" Joey replied before drawing.
"Now I sacrifice Battle Warrior to summon Jinzo to the field!" he declared before one of his best monsters appeared. Psychic Armor Head quickly analyzed the creature. "Jinzo, attack now! Aim for his Psychic Armor Head!" he commanded. But as Jinzo readied his attack, the onboard computer within Psychic Armor Head initiated an attack deflection protocol, which meant that Buster Knuckle took the hit instead of Psychic Armor Head, lowering Valon's life points to 1600. "Wait, I attacked your helmet, not Buster Knuckle!" Joey protested.
"No kidding, but whenever a piece of my armor is under attack, I can redirect the blast to another piece." Valon explained. "Alright, but your tin can won't be able to scratch Jinzo." Joey replied. "I'll have to disagree, because my armor is full of surprises." Valon retorted. Meanwhile, Timaeus was laying waste to the Orichalcos Soldiers, including two that were targeting Fluttershy, Tea and Rebecca. "Are you three alright?" Yami asked. "We are now. Thanks, Yami." Fluttershy replied. Meanwhile, Seto and Critias were taking out Orichalcos Soldiers as well.
"Nice work, bro. That's the last of em." Mokuba complimented before the dragons returned to their wielders. "Alright, now that that's over with, we need to split up." Twilight suggested. "I agree. Me and Mokuba will head to Paradius." Seto concurred. "Only question is, if the streets are full of those things, how are you gonna get past them?" Rainbow asked. "Think fast, act fast and go faster. Something I'm sure you'd agree with." Seto answered. "Then the rest of us will look for Joey. But he's just one guy somewhere in this big city, so it might take a long time to find him." AJ figured.
"Now quite, there's an easy way to find an active Duel Disk." Seto replied as he and Mokuba walked away. "Wait, that's it! If Joey's Duel Disk is active, that means the KaibaCorp satellite can find him!" Rebecca said, remembering that the company's satellite was in use extensively during Battle City and kept track of every single card played in every active duel. "Smart kid, but good luck trying to get past the encryptions." Seto said. "See you at Paradius Incorporated headquarters, Yugi." he added.
Meanwhile, Rebecca was starting the process of hacking into the KaibaCorp Duel Disk satellite tracking system. 'I hacked into KaibaCorp once, I can do it again.' she thought. Outside, Spike brought up a good point. "What do we do if Rebecca can't hack into Kaiba's satellite? How are we gonna find Joey then?" he asked. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, Spikey. Just have a bit of faith in Rebecca's skills." Rarity answered. Meanwhile, the duel between Joey and Valon continued.
"My move, Wheeler. Now let the fun continue." Valon said before drawing. Then the computer inside Psychic Armor Head analyzed Jinzo and suggested that Burning Knuckle be used, that was when Burning Knuckle's attack points increased to 1700. "Hey, how'd your Burning Knuckle get stronger? Unless..." Joey began to say until he realized what was going on. "How right you are, just like Buster Knuckle, Burning Knuckle get 200 extra attack points for every armor monster I have on the field." Valon confirmed. "Well, its still 700 attack points weaker than Jinzo." Joey pointed out. "You've a lot to learn about armor monster, now watch this." Valon replied before preparing to attack.
'He's lost it!' Joey thought. "I'll attack your Jinzo with Burning Knuckle! Time to say cheerio to your trap-destroying buddy." Valon declared before his attack collided with a counterattack from Jinzo, but the resulting clash destroyed Buster Knuckle and lowered Valon's life points to 900. "Nice try, but that piece of your armor was no match for Jinzo." Joey said, but Valon just chuckled. "What's so funny?" the underdog asked. "You might want to take a closer look, mate. Your buddy Jinzo has seen better days." Valon answered as Jinzo was down to one knee with only 700 attack points. "How'd you drain him of 1700 attack points?!" Joey asked in shock.
"Burning Knuckle has a pretty nasty effect; when its destroyed, its attack points get subtracted from your monster's own total." Valon explained. "But there's one fatal flaw in your plan, you had to give up almost half your life points just to weaken my own monster." Joey pointed out. 'He's been taking risks with his own life points, but he must have a lot of faith in that armor of his to willingly let go of 700 points. Either that or he's really reckless.' the underdog thought.
"Looks like you're out of luck, tough guy!" he declared before drawing. "I summon Rocket Warrior in attack mode!" he added before his mechanical warrior appeared. "Rocket Warrior, attack his Over Boost!" he commanded before the little mechanical fighter switched to Rocket Mode and launched at Valon. Right at that moment, the computer inside of Psychic Armor Head initiated the attack deflection protocol, which redirected the attack at Advanced Shield, destroying it. "Not my target, but at least your shield's gone. And as you can see, I had my Rocket Warrior switch to Invincible Mode so that it could come away from the battle without a scratch." the underdog said, looking at the bright side of what just happened.
"On top of that, Jinzo may be down to 700 attack points, but he's still strong enough to attack your Jet Blast Turret!" he added before Jinzo closed in. "Here we go again." Valon said before launching Jet Blast Turret right at Jinzo before it exploded, taking Jinzo out. "Jinzo, no!" Joey shouted before the force of the explosion sent Joey and Valon flying into the barriers of the seal. "Don't tell me, that was your Jet Blast Turret's special ability, right? I'm getting a little tired of this robot boy!" Joey said, annoyed, as he stood up.
"Nice shot. I'll admit, I wasn't expecting that one. I've got to admit, you're not such a terrible Duelist, Wheeler." Valon said as he got up, clearly impressed. "Thanks, I think." Joey replied. "You may be good, but I'm better." Valon said, confidently. Meanwhile, Mai came to a stop in the middle of the street and removed her helmet. "I know they're around here somewhere, and I have to see about stopping that duel. I better not be too late, because I intend to make Wheeler my greatest victory yet." she said before remembering what Marik did to her.
"No way. I'll never go back to the Shadow Realm. Joey didn't prevent me from going there, so he's going to pay for not saving me in time." she continued as her Orichalcos stone glowed. "As soon as his soul is locked away, I can move on and forget about Battle City for good. That boy won't know what hit him until its too late!" she declared. Meanwhile, Rebecca was still trying to access the KaibaCorp satellite. "Any luck in there, Rebecca?" Tristan asked. "No offense, Tristan, but this is the fifth time you asked her. I'm sure she's doing all she can." AJ pointed out.
"Remember what Rarity said about having some faith in her skills?" Duke asked. "I know what she said, but Joey's soul may be in danger as long as he's dueling Valon because he might've played the Seal of Orichalcos." Tristan replied. "Just calm down, Tristan." Fluttershy said calmly. "How can I?! Don't you understand that this is my own fault?" Tristan responded. "What are you talking about?" Twilight asked. "When we got separated, Joey told Tristan, me, Rarity, Spike and Pinkie about his plan to get Mai out of Doma and how he felt that he was a terrible boyfriend to her at Battle City when she needed him." Rainbow answered. "Tristan, Rainbow, Joey has a mind of his own. It was his decision to make." Rarity pointed out. 'Let's just hope he's using his mind as we speak.' she thought. Meanwhile, the duel continued.
"Time for me to crush your last monster!" Valon declared before drawing. "I summon Buster Pyle!" he added before his next piece of armor, a level four, Earth attribute machine/armor/effect monster with 0 attack and defense points, but thanks to the Seal of Orichalcos, its attack points increased to 500 automatically. "Is that some kind of replacement arm?" Joey asked. "Exactly!" Valon declared as the monster attached itself to his right arm.
"Now to attack with Buster Pyle!" he declared before Psychic Armor Head targeted Rocket Warrior. "Projectile Blast!" he shouted before his attack launched and destroyed the mechanical warrior, causing Joey to drop to a knee while his energy was sapped. "Since your Buster Pyle only has 500 attack points, I'll assume it has a special ability." the underdog said. "You're pretty observant, Wheeler. My Buster Pyle automatically wipes out any monster it attacks regardless of points. Plus it takes away 500 of your life points." Valon explained as Joey's life points decreased to 1300.
"And I'll end my turn by playing this. It's called Data Brain." he continued before a new piece of armor appeared. "It links to my Psychic Armor Head." he explained before the device attached to his helmet, which made it into a visor. "Wait'll you see what my new visor can do." he concluded. 'His armor deck is taking me apart. Seems like no matter what monster I play, he manages to blow it sky high.' Joey thought. "My move, so look out!" he declared before drawing.
Joey soon found that he drew just the card he needed, The Claw of Hermos. "Now we're talking. Alright, Valon, time for you to try and stand up to this guy!" he declared as he showed his card to the swordsman, ready to play it at a moment's notice.