Best Of Rivals, Best Of Duelists

Chapter 4: Mimicry! Blue-Eyes White Dragon! (2/2)

"I don't believe it!" Tristan exclaimed. From above, two Blue-Eyes White Dragons stood across from either other, both with 2500 Defense Points, but Kaiba's only had 3000 Attack Points, while Joey's was at 3600. "I've never seen Joey with such a strong monster! Kaiba's dragon doesn't stand a chance!"

"Yeah, but don't count Kaiba out yet," warned Yugi. Joey's dragon roared down Kaiba's, its steel claws making all the difference in their respective strengths. "I'm sure he'll use everything he's got to save his Blue-Eyes."

"Wheeler," hissed Kaiba, lowering his cards down, flashing his eyes across the field. "You'll pay for taking my dragon. I'm gonna show you lack the skills to wield a Blue-Eyes!"

"Come again?" Joey humorously cupped a hand to his hear. "I lack the skills?" Joey put his hand to his chin, pretending to ponder deeply, which only served to infuriate Kaiba further. "Don't I have a stronger dragon and more Life Points?"

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that!" Growling, Kaiba swiped up his next card. He glanced at it for a moment, letting out a growl in return. "I'll put this face down!" Kaiba slapped the card down harshly in his middle zone. "Now make your move, so I can finish you off!"

'Man, Kaiba sure can't take this. He's getting more livid by the minute. Oh well.' Joey grinned to himself, plucking up his card.

"Last turn, Kaiba." Joey raised his head, ready to yell out his last command for the duel. "Now my Blue-Eyes will attack! White Lightning!" Joey's dragon responded accordingly, thrusting its neck out, and charging up an almighty attack to launch.

Kaiba scoffed to the side. "Predictable as ever, Wheeler. You've activated my face-down card." Kaiba shot his hand down, snatching the card he had laid and slamming it back down in a face up position, revealing a depiction of dark chains snaking around the canvas. "Shadow Spell!" Joey grunted in surprise, not knowing what this card was or what it might do.

Out of the floor around Joey's Blue-Eyes shot out numerous chains, uncoiling from nowhere. With a flash, Joey's dragon was pinned down, groups of chains coiled around each of it's limbs and many more around it's torso. It's attack neutralized, it roared, craning its head down at its trapped body apprehensively. At the same time, its Attack Points began recalculating downward, stopping at 2900.

"I don't want to immobilize my Blue-Eyes…" Kaiba paused, looking down at the display board. He gulped, and then looked back up, regaining himself. "But that's better then letting you control it, Wheeler!"

'It's still my turn, Kaiba!" Growling to himself, Joey plucked two cards out of his hand. "I'll set this face down," he began, placing one card down next to the Copycat card still using Kaiba's Defense Paralysis as his own, "and then I'll summon Garoozis in Defense Mode!" He placed a card depicting a scaly green dinosaur-lizard in battle armor carrying an axe above Dragon Nails. Out on the field, Garoozis rose out next to Joey's immobilized Blue-Eyes, his arms crossed in front of himself against any future attacks.

'That's it,' thought Joey, sparing a glance at the one card in his hand. 'I've just about exhausted all my options.' He looked down at his deck, and then across the field, where Kaiba's unaffected Blue-Eyes stood tall. 'It's all up to faith now.'

"Poor Joey," said Tea. "He had the duel won, and now…"

"He's in a really tough bind," added Tristan.

"Joey, believe in your cards!" cried out Yugi, craning his neck down to the crowded field. "If you keep your heart in the game, there's nothing you can't do!"

Feeling confident again now that his last turn had saved his dragon, Kaiba plucked up his next card. Upon seeing what it was, he lowered it marginally, and looked out to the field, right at Joey.

"Time to eliminate what's left of your Life Points," said Kaiba, with a smug look on his face.

"Huh?" Joey stared back in puzzlement. "With what?"

"With this, Wheeler." In one flash, Kaiba whipped his hand up, showing the card he had just drawn, which showed a key inserted into a magical padlock, with green smoke emanating from the keyhole in all directions. "De-Spell!" Across at Joey's tethered dragon, the sharp-clawed gloves on its claws began to glow white. "Say goodbye to your Dragon Nails boost!" The Blue-Eyes craned its neck downward, uttering a desperate strained roar as the silvery glow faded, leaving its claws firmly glove-less. It's blinked its eyes in desperation, as its Attack Points plummeted even further, down to 2300.

"Joey's Life Points are wide open to getting wiped out!" yelled out Tristan in desperation.

"Say your prayers, Wheeler," smirked Kaiba. He almost seemed to be towering over his own Blue-Eyes as he spoke. "Blue-Eyes, finish this!" On command, Kaiba's dragon reared back, ready to let a blast loose.

Joey scoffed to the side. "Predictable as ever, Kaiba. Now you've activated my face-down card." Joey picked up the card he had set, revealing it to show an anchor with a connecting chain leading off the card. Kaiba growled under his breath, getting a familiar sense of déjà vu. "Go ahead and let him have it, Garoozis." Out on the field, the chain anchor materialized, promptly grabbed by the sharp claws of Joey's monster. "Kunai With Chain!" Garoozis wheeled himself back, and then lunged his arm out, tossing the anchor forward while keeping a steady grip on the chain. Kaiba snarled in desperation, realizing his attack was about to get cut short.

Kaiba's Blue-Eyes roared a muffled roar in pain, the chain and anchor having wrapped itself around its mouth and muzzled it, cutting off its White Lightning attack. One by one, Yugi, Tea, Bakura and Tristan all gasped. The end result was Garoozis standing from his position with the chain keeping Kaiba's Blue-Eyes unable to move, while Joey's own Blue-Eyes was still immobilized and weakened by the Shadow Spell card.

'I can't believe it.' Kaiba thought to himself through gritted teeth. 'That was actually impressive. Now both of our Blue-Eyes' can't attack.'

Pegasus chuckled to himself at the same time, every thought of Kaiba's crystal clear inside his own mind. 'It would seem young Kaiba is beginning to gain some respect for Joey. I had a feeling he would see the light eventually. Now they much engage in a desperate tug of war to decide a winner!' Pegasus laughed deeply as he observed the field of two giant and restrained dragons and one lizard warrior.

Tristan breathed in relief, his heart almost having burst out of his chest. "I wish he'd stop scaring me like that!"

"That was a good play, true," mused Bakura. "But now they're at a stalemate. One of them is going to have to do something to tip things in their favor again."

While the others discussed the situation down below, Yugi was thinking hard to himself. 'Joey's used nearly all of his best cards. There's only one card that can save him now…' Yugi's thoughts briefly flashed back to himself plucking a card out of the Millennium Puzzle's case, and handing it out. 'If Joey believes… he can get it.'

Joey plucked up his next card, looking between the two he now had. 'Neither of these can help.' He looked down to the Garoozis card that was placed sideways. 'It's risky, but I have no choice.'

"I'll switch Garoozis to Attack Mode, and end my turn." Out on the field, Garoozis stood a little higher, readying his arms as though ready to charge, though he kept them firmly on the chain leading up to the muzzled Blue-Eyes.

"That's odd," wondered Tea up on the balcony. "Why would Joey do that?"

"I know," said Bakura. "That Kunai With Chain card increases the Attack Points of whatever monster holds it by five hundred points. That gives Garoozis an attack power of twenty-three hundred." Tea and Tristan looked down to the battlefield, where Garoozis stood, all his focus on the chain he had between his two hands. "But Kunai With Chain is also linked to the monster that wields it."

Yugi nodded in affirmation, confirming Bakura's statement. "Joey needs to keep Garoozis in play to keep Kaiba's Blue-Eyes from attacking. And since it only has a defense strength of fifteen hundred, it's safer in Attack Mode." Tea gasped softly looking down to the field again, understanding.

"That means Kaiba has a way to free his dragon," said Tristan, as they looked out over the field. "Joey needs to prevent that from happening."

Kaiba slowly reached for his next card. 'I need to make Wheeler attack me with Garoozis. But if I play a monster to lure it in, I'll lose the duel.' Kaiba pulled his card up. He started to himself upon seeing what it was. Slowly, he lowered it to the field, setting it down underneath his Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

"I'm gonna lay one card face-down." Kaiba then reached back up to his hand, and plucked out the second card from the front of the five he had. "And…" Kaiba pushed a monster card out above the Shadow Spell card, the same monster he had drawn six turns prior when facing down Joey's Flame Swordsman. "Throw Ryu-Kishin Powered, in Attack Mode!" Out in the middle space next to Kaiba's restrained dragon appeared a dark pink gargoyle covered in sharp talons. It hissed a low roar upon appearing, baring it's black claws.

"And that'll do it for me," finished Kaiba, staring straight ahead.

"All right, my move!" Joey reached down to his deck, hoping that he would make a good draw. Grinning in hope, he yanked it up with patience. His eyes' widened in surprise and ecstatic shock.

'Ah, yeah!' The card in question was a monster card showing a small yellow dragon cuddled up yet clearly ready to show his power. Joey looked up and across the field full of two large monsters and two somewhat smaller ones.

"Okay Kaiba, time to kiss the baby." The card Joey had just drawn was slapped down sideways above the space where Kunai With Chain was currently placed. "Go, Baby Dragon, in Defense Mode!" Out on the field, next to the restrained feet of Joey's Blue-Eyes, a stream of yellow light unveiled Baby Dragon, who unfurled himself into play, crossing his arms in front of his small but muscular body.

"That's all, folks." Joey looked back up across the field, where Kaiba was pondering his move. Above, the others were too.

"How come Joey didn't attack Ryu-Kishin with Garoozis?" Tristan asked with perplexed confusion in his voice. "Kaiba's monster only had sixteen hundred Attack Points."

"Don't forget, Tristan," said Yugi almost on autopilot, but still with passion in his voice, "in order to attack, Garoozis would have to release Kaiba's Blue-Eyes from Kunai With Chain. Kaiba wouldn't bait that unless he felt confident his monster would be safe." Yugi's eyes lowered to the flashing zone behind Kaiba's own Blue-Eyes. "I have a feeling I know what card he placed face-down last turn, and I'll bet Joey does too." The rest of the group gasped softly, looking back down over the field.

"Hey, Kaiba," said Joey suddenly, not speaking harshly, but with a surprising gentleness in his voice.

"Yes?" responded Kaiba, not as gently as Joey but not as roughly as normal either.

"Just to let you know, it's been a real honor dueling you." Joey was not talking to Kaiba as an enemy, but rather as a great player. "You're a great duelist, and you earned your title as World Champion."

Kaiba actually let loose a small smile, though he was careful not to let it be too big. "Thanks. I appreciate that." They smiled across from each other, both of their dragons still groaning from being restrained.

"I know neither of us want to lose this match… but if I do, I'm glad we got to have it Kaiba." Joey brought his hand close and clenched it into a fist. "Now let's do our best, Kaiba, and finish this duel!" Kaiba nodded in affirmation, lowering his eyes to his deck.

"Wow, guys," said Yugi, having watching the brief break in the action. "I think Kaiba may have finally gained just a little respect for Joey."

Kaiba clasped the card of his thinning deck between two fingers and pulled it up. His eyes widened upon seeing what it was. 'Perfect.'

Looking down, he lowered it to the field, slotting it down on the other side of Shadow Spell. "I play Mesmeric Control!" The card showed a human hand swinging a ball on a string, with a hypnotic quality to its rhythm and the waves behind it.

"Oh no!" cried out Yugi. "That can weaken a monster!"

From Garoozis' point of view, all he saw were entrancing waves that merged around each other. His eyes began spinning, and as they did, he wobbled from side to side, though he kept his grip on the chain. However, his Attack Points dropped down, stopping only at 1500. Joey groaned in anxiety, knowing that Garoozis was wide open now.

"Attack Garoozis now!" Kaiba yelled. Grunting, Ryu-Kishin Powered launched itself forward at Joey's mesmerized lizard. Garoozis could do nothing except stand there. The gargoyle readied a claw swipe, and then struck.

Yelling hard as the strike snapped it from its trance, Garoozis stumbled backward and broke. Right after he broke, the chain he had been holding began shattering link by link, until finally the part wrapped around Kaiba's Blue-Eyes broke. In response, the Blue-Eyes let out a bellowing roar, thrusting it's head around in a loop before sticking it out again, ready to do some serious damage. Joey shrunk back in fear, while his own Life Points trickled down to 50, the same as Kaiba's own counter, who was grinning.

"You played hard, Wheeler, but this is where it truly ends!" Kaiba threw his arm to the side as he spoke. "On my next turn, my Blue-Eyes will wipe you out!" Joey watched as both Kaiba's dragon and his gargoyle bore down his own two dragons, one chained up and the other too weak right now.

"I don't ever think I've seen such a lengthy duel," remarked Bakura. "They've truly used every trick they have."

Yugi nodded. "This next turn will decide the match."

'I'm all out of moves.' Joey looked down the two cards in his hand, Battle Warrior and Armored Lizard. 'Neither of these can help… and all I've got out there is Baby Dragon and my trussed Blue-Eyes. Neither of them can take out Kaiba's Ryu-Kishin, let alone his dragon!' Joey lowered his eyes to his deck. 'There's only one way to find out the outcome of this duel.' Joey slowly lowered his hand to his deck.

For a moment, he seemed unable to grasp the card, groaning. Finally, he snapped his eyes open, and pulled it up. Readying himself for the worst, he raised it up to take a good look. As he did, Kaiba narrowed his eyes, waiting.

Joey's mouth curled upwards. "Unreal!" He stretched his arm out, unbelieving at what had just happened. "I pulled the one card in my whole deck that really can finish this duel and decide a winner!"

Up on the balcony, the four watching people gasped. "Did he pull…" breathed Yugi.

"Here it comes!" Joey whipped the card down, and in a flash it was on the field, right below Baby Dragon. But not just any card. It depicted a clock magician with a purple cape and boots, and carrying a wand with a special timepiece at the end. "The Time Wizard!"

A streaming glow of yellow and white light hissed out on the field. Kaiba gasped in shock, for even he had heard about how this card had done wonders for Joey. "The Time Wizard?" echoed Joey's four friends up on the balcony.

The master of the past and future finished materializing onto the field, stretching his bendy limbs out as he did. All could hear the ticking of the Time Wizard as he floated behind Baby Dragon.

Joey smiled to himself, thinking of the irony behind the appearance of the Time Wizard there and then. 'Kinda strange that this long match is coming down to a card that Yugi gave me, huh?'

"Here, Joey," said Yugi. Pulling the lid off of the Millennium's Puzzle's case, he plucked a card out of it, handing it forward. "Add this to your deck." He was holding the Time Wizard card, a card with unlimited power in the right hands. "It can be helpful in a tight spot."

"Wow." Joey gently took the card, lifting it up to eye level and examining it. "Thanks, Yug. You're always being such a pal to me."

Back in the present, Joey fondly remembered each and every time the Time Wizard had pulled through for him. "Yugi was right," said Joey, not afraid of expressing this to Kaiba. "That card he gave me saved my keister quite a few times in this tournament. And now, with my Baby Dragon on the field, and both of us at just fifty Life Points… I'm gonna give it one last spin and hope it saves me again!" Kaiba watched with a focused expression, saying nothing.

"So cross your fingers, and get set to adjust your clocks." Joey held his clenched fist in front of himself, preparing for the move that would decide the match. "Because here it comes. Go, Time Roulette!" Joey threw his arm to the side, just as the Time Wizard floated a little higher, and held its wand out.

The arrow extending from the center of the timepiece began rotating around a clock with four segments showing a skull and two showing a positive red mark, picking up speed. Joey clenched his eyes as it sped past a red section. Kaiba did the same at it completed a lap yet again. Up on the balcony, Yugi, Tea, Bakura and Tristan all grunted a little.

After many laps, the arrow began to lose speed. 'It all comes down to this spin,' Kaiba thought, watching the whole process through clenched teeth.

'Come on, Time Warp,' thought Joey, as the arrow began it's last lap, moving through the top segment.

The arrow clanked to a halt right at the halfway point of the two right skulls. It clocked forward again, finishing right in the middle between the bottom positive segment and the skull to the left of it.

Finally, it creaked upwards, slowing down before the border between the skull and the top segment. Right near the border, it stopped. For a moment, it seemed as thought it was finished. However, it suddenly clocked forward another bit, stopping right at the top, the arrow's tip directly pointing through the checkmark. A positive ring echoed out, signifying that the Time Roulette was complete. It has succeeded.

"All right!" Joey had his fist in the air in triumph. "Jackpot!" Kaiba grated his teeth, knowing what was coming next.

"Go, Time Warp!" commanded Joey, as the Time Wizard began floating backwards, thrusting his wand down. The space behind him was rotating through the magic of dimensions and time.

"Time… Magic!" The magician floated up, leaving the space of the time warp empty. But not for long, as Baby Dragon, cooing, floated up towards the shifting rift. He raised his head, while his body glowed white, a glow so powerful that it blinded the whole area. He was not the only one. Over on the other side, both Ryu-Kishin Powered and Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon were glowing too.

When the glow faded, Baby Dragon was no more. In his place was a large brown dragon, with aging hair and wrinkly, scaly skin, none of which hindered him. Roaring, he craned his neck down, glaring across the field from in between his legs. Boasting Attack Points of 2400 and Defense Points of 2000, he was the equal to the Red-Eyes Black Dragon. He was Thousand Dragon.

The glow around Kaiba's monsters also faded, but it was not a pretty sight. Ryu-Kishin was crouched over his zone; his skin a pale pink and fleshy to the touch, for he had survived aging a thousand years. But the Blue-Eyes was far worse. Its skin was no longer blue or white, but instead a pale and sickly grey. It was slumped on the ground, unable to lift any part of his body. Its strength had deteriorated, sporting a mere 100 Attack Points, as did Ryu-Kishin Powered. They lacked the strength to even move, let alone attack.

'All right.' Joey leaned forward, observing how far both his dragon had come and how far Kaiba's monsters had fallen. 'I can hardly believe it.' Joey brushed his arm over his eyes, brushing tears out of them. He lowered it after a while. 'This is it.' Joey looked through the gap between Kaiba's two aged monsters, where Kaiba stood with his cards, observing the scene without motion. 'I'm really gonna do it.

'All I gotta do, is attack… and I'll have actually beat Kaiba.' Joey continued to stare in shock, shock that he had defeated all of Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragons.

"I'm gonna win!" Ecstatic beyond belief, Joey stuck his fist out, ready to deliver a command. "Attack, Noxious Nostril Gust!" Grunting as he did so, Thousand Dragon threw his head forward, spurting a powerful stream of fiery smoke. The attack bore straight at Kaiba's weakened Blue-Eyes, dead set on annihilating it.

"I counter with Negate Attack!" Right in front of the Blue-Eyes, the air rifted unmistakably into a dimensional portal. As soon as Thousand Dragon's attack hit, it phased through, the corresponding section of air swirling as it did so.

"Huh?" Joey leaned forward, unbelieving of what had just happened, while the last of the fiery smoke faded through the rift. "Where's my attack go?" Thousand Dragon growled at this, not otherwise moving in reaction.

Up on the balcony, Yugi gasped, at the same time finding proof to his earlier theory. "I knew that was the card he set earlier!"

"I had set this card to protect Ryu-Kishin Powered, Wheeler, but you didn't fall for that." Joey watched through the gap of Thousand Dragon and his own Blue-Eyes as Kaiba spoke. "But it can work here too!"

"That card only lasts one turn, Kaiba!" Joey was not yelling angrily, merely being informative. "Next turn, I'll attack again!" Kaiba let out a grimace, glancing down at his hand. "And I'll bet you don't have a single card that can help you!"

'He's right.' From left to right, Kaiba has Mystic Horseman, Crush Card Virus, Polymerization and Saggi The Dark Clown, none of which could help. Kaiba looked down at his deck, having little more faith in it. 'And I don't have another monster strong enough to destroy his dragon.' Kaiba slapped his hand onto the deck, knowing that for real, it would all be over. 'If you exist, Heart of the Cards…'

"I can't believe Joey's actually going to beat Kaiba," said Tristan slowly.

"Truly extraordinary," added Bakura. "This duel had more twists and turns then I thought was possible in a duel."

After what seemed an age, Kaiba finally lifted up the top card of his deck that was now only half as thick as it was at the start of the duel. He looked at the card for a moment. Lowering it, he then looked out to the field, straight at Joey.

"You fought a valiant duel, Joey… but this ends now!" Joey gasped in shock, not knowing what card Kaiba had drawn, but knowing only that it would spell doom for him.

"I play Monster Reborn, and revive the one Blue-Eyes White Dragon still in the Graveyard!" As Kaiba spoke intensely, the remaining Blue-Eyes rose out dramatically, roaring as it appeared beside the weakened Ryu-Kishin and counterpart of itself.

'It's over.' Joey had his hands pressed down on the display, as a tear fell from above onto them. Up above, his eyes were shielded, while his mouth was in the shape of a growl. Suddenly, it turned upwards, into a smile. Joey raised his head to look up, not afraid of defeat. He closed his eye briefly, and a single tear dropped out and away in slow motion, as he opened it again.

"Kaiba… go for it!" Joey clenched a fist in appreciation of the situation, smiling across at his rival. "It's cool!"

Kaiba nodded in agreement. "All right! Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Kaiba's unaffected dragon roared in response, rearing its head back. Joey grinned, bracing himself, while Kaiba looked straight on.

"White Lightning Attack!" The Blue-Eyes finished charging up it's burst stream, opening it's mouth as it prepared to let it loose. Pegasus watched with a stoic face as the glow of the attack danced over him.

The burst stream seemed to arc through the air in slow motion, turning as it made it's way towards its target. Yugi, Tea, Bakura and Tristan all gasped, the glow of the attack dancing over them too as they could only watch. Thousand Dragon stood still as the attack finally reached him, spreading blinding light everywhere as it hit its mark.

The radius of the attack spread further, engulfing the dragon's wings and tail as it spread out to the trussed Blue-Eyes still on Joey's field along with the weakened dragon and gargoyle on Kaiba's and his revived dragon. The attack's glow was so vast that it engulfed the vicinity in front of Kaiba's revived dragon, trails scattering everywhere, as the glow finally encompassed all.

When it faded away, Kaiba was standing there, looking straight ahead with nothing but a static face. Joey was doing the same, no disappointment in the lines of his face at having lost.

"I tell you," said Tristan, from up where he and the others were, "that was really tough to watch.

"Yeah," added Bakura, just as equally shocked. "Well, just imagine how Joey must be feeling."

A tear hit the balcony near where Tea's hands rested. "I'm just glad it's over. Tea was finding it hard to keep her eyes open. "I'm so proud of Joey." She reached up to her face, wiping water out of her eyes. "He dueled his hardest, but never once forgot to play with honor."

Down below, Pegasus eyed all this with a sly smile. He grunted, turning his head down. 'Well, touching as that may be, you really ought to save your tears, little girl.' He stood up from his chair, and began walking around and past it. 'After all, you'll be needing them once I face Yugi in the dueling arena… after Kaiba, of course.' Pegasus walked past Croquet and vanished from sight, ready to take down both of the duelists he had to face.

Above Duelist Kingdom, the storm clouds had parted; leaving a sky that was a clear blue, and far more hopeful for it.

"Well Yugi, we knew that one of us had to lose." The seas that lay a distance form the castle churned softly, moving past the lush growth of the island's forest's and fields. "But the good news is that one of us got to advance, too!"

"Congratulations, man. Here, this is yours now!" Joey held out his tournament identification card, which showcased a king's worth of jewels and gold.

Yugi grunted in confusion, while the other three watched Joey, who was resigning himself to what he had to do.

"Go ahead. It's all yours. You show Croquet this card," said Joey, which prompted more small gasps from Yugi and the others. Yugi looked from Joey down to the card he was holding out. "And he'll give you three million bucks in prize money!"

"No, Joey." Yugi pushed Joey's card back towards him gently. Joey grunted, bring it back up to himself. "You should keep it," smiled Yugi. "Your sister needs that money."

"Yug…"

"I didn't enter into this tournament to get rich, Joey," said Yugi calmly to his best friend. "I'm just here to save my Grandpa, and help Kaiba. Please, use this money for Serenity's operation."

Joey blinked, surprised at what was happening. "Yugi…"

"Joey…" Tea looked on affectingly.

"What do you say, Joey?" asked Yugi. Joey's shoulders were shaking by this point.

"Hey, it's what you've been wanting, buddy," said Tristan, smiling across beside Bakura.

"Look at him, always playing the tough guy," smiled Tea. She suddenly grunted in surprise upon looking back into Joey's face.

Joey's whole body was shaking as he looked at the card. A fountain of tears was streaming down out of both of his eyes. He raised the card up, briefly, shielding his face. "Yugi…

"When I lost the duel… I lost all hope of saving my sister." Joey continued to sob, hunched over and unbelieving that he was still going to get what he had come for. "Yugi… thank you." Yugi nodded in affirmation, happy at his friend's pleasure but also preparing himself for what was to come.

"Now go and take down Pegasus!" Outside, rays of sunlight shone over the castle and it's surroundings. They seemed to be a beacon of hope for the tough challenge ahead. But at the same time, they were a beacon of hope for friendship, respect and love, for those were things that, just one or all of them, had carried the people through that match and all the other before it, and would the same for the ones to come.

But before Yugi got to duel for his Grandpa's soul, Kaiba would get to duel for Mokuba.

And after this, the two episodes where Kaiba duelled Pegasus for Mokuba's soul would happen nearly exactly as they do in the show. After he fails, Yugi would duel Pegasus, and thereafter there would be no differences from the show.

Much like last chapter, this section of the duel was also trimmed by two turns, right after Kaiba's turn where he set Negate Attack and summoned Ryu-Kishin Powered, but before Joey's turn when he summoned Baby Dragon. In both of those turns, both Joey and Kaiba drew and passed, possessing no cards to alter the stalemate they were currently in. As a result, their hand cards towards the end had more originally, with Joey having Tiger Axe after Armored Lizard and Battle Warrior, and Kaiba having Hitotsu-Me Giant before Mystic Horseman (which he drew during the removed turns last chapter) and Trap Master on the other side, leaving him with a hand of six cards that couldn't help him. Like before, excising these two turns and the resulting hand cards didn't affect the duel at all. In fact, I feel both this edit and the previous one keep the pace better.

It feels so good to get to finally get this up and done. I love the original Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters anime despite all the flaws it has, both dub flaws and flaws common to both the original and the dub, so this was a love letter. But wait - there's more!
Ever felt annoyed that the duel between Joey and Yugi right after Battle City was never shown, and the only indication of the result was that Joey was seen using his Red-Eyes Black Dragon again afterwards? Well, be annoyed no more - I'll be doing that next! Like this duel, it will be a duel that uses as many of their cards in one duel as possible, but will still only take two episodes, with much less sideline commentary given they they duel without spectators. It's not fully finished yet, but I will still be able to publish it at one chapter a week, so hold on to your hats, folks!

Also, just as I finished up the fanfiction, I was struck by an idea for the duel structure - altering the duel so all three Blue-Eyes were on the field already when Kaiba played Monster Reborn, and he was forced to revive Joey's Red-Eyes Black Dragon and attack the Blue-Eyes Joey had that was weakened by Shadow Spell. Though this was greatly appealing to me for the irony in Kaiba having to use someone else's cards, something he would never do otherwise, I figured it wasn't worth the effort to rewrite the whole duel for that. The major change that would have resulted in is omitting Defense Paralysis from the duel fully, and instead have Copycat used to copy Shadow Spell so both Joey and Kaiba has a chained-down Blue-Eyes weakened by 700 ATK points, while the third Blue-Eyes would still be restrained by Kunai With Chain. Other changes would have followed logically, such as:
- La Jinn being the one destroyed by Joey's Shield & Sword trick, such that Giltia destroyed Battle Ox instead the following turn, leaving Kaiba 100 LP weaker.
- The first Blue-Eyes appearing a turn earlier while Giltia was in Attack Mode and wiping it out without the need for Defense Paralysis (and thereby leaving Joey with 50 more Life Points after the attack).
- Joey playing Red-Eyes in Defense mode when he set Chasm of Spikes, destroying the first Blue-Eyes in an identical manner. Kaiba responded by setting Rude Kaiser in Defense Mode, intending for it to be destroyed to power up Swordstalker like he did in the actual duel (though there he would have preferred Judge Man, as that would have increased Swordstalker's ATK to 2550, as opposed to 2450).
- After Joey destroyed Swordstalker with Flame Swordsman boosted via Salamandra, Kaiba had to defend with monsters for a few rounds. Naturally, he did not draw Crush Card Virus here, as since he could defend he could have used it with Saggi easily, and Joey would have had no way to stop it. Some of the monsters he defended with could include Hitotsu-Me Giant, Mystic Horseman, Saggi the Dark Clown, Grappler and Trap Master. This would have let us see all of Kaiba's known cards in the duel, whereas in the actual version we missed a few (Ancient Lamp, Grappler, Hitotsu-Me Giant and Trap Master). As Joey would have had a larger hand towards the end as a result, we would have also seen more of his cards that we did not in the duel (Masaki the Legendary Swordsman, Tiger Axe, Leogun, Glass Man, Battle Steer and a Rude Kaiser of his own).
- Kaiba plays Judge Man later in Attack Mode alongside the two Blue-Eyes to lure Joey into attacking so he could finish him off, and Joey later attacks Judge Man with the Dragon Nails-boosted Blue-Eyes he took via Graverobber (3600 - 2200 = 1400 LP loss), but Kaiba uses Gift of the Mystical Elf to raise his Life Points by 1200 prior to the attack (the four monsters being Judge Man, Kaiba's two Blue-Eyes and Joey's Blue-Eyes), such that he only lost 200 LP, going from 250 down to 50.
- Joey would have also set Kunai with Chain and played Garoozis in Defense Mode after that attack. When Kaiba drew and used Shadow Spell the following turn on Joey's Blue-Eyes, Joey would have used the same Kunai With Chain combo seen in the actual duel to immobolize it. Joey would have then drawn and set Copycat. When Kaiba drew and used De-Spell, Joey would have they used Copycat to copy Shadow Spell, tying down Kaiba's other Blue-Eyes.
- And as Time Wizard would have weakened both of Kaiba's Blue-Eyes, that would have left him with no choice but to take Joey's Red-Eyes, as nothing else in either player's Graveyard would have had more then 2300 ATK points to destroy Joey's trussed Blue-Eyes, winning the duel.

As a result, while Joey's Life Point decrease would have been almost identical:
2000 - 1900: Axe Raider (ATK 1700) destroyed by La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp (ATK 1800).
1900 - 750: Giltia the Knight (ATK 1850) destroyed by the first Blue-Eyes White Dragon (ATK 3000).
750 - 700: Red-Eyed Black Dragon (ATK 2400) destroyed by Swordstalker (ATK 2450, raised by 450 from Rude Kaiser being destroyed the previous turn and 1/4 of that being absorbed to Swordstalker's power).
700 - 200: Flame Swordsman (ATK 2500, raised by 700 via Salamandra) destroyed by Kaiba's second Blue-Eyes.
200 - 100: Garoozis (ATK 1500, lowered by 800 via Mesmeric Control, raised 500 by Kunai With Chain) destroyed by Ryu-Kishin Powered.
100 - 0: Joey's Blue-Eyes White Dragon (ATK 2300, lowered by 700 via Shadow Spell) destroyed by Red-Eyes Black Dragon.

Kaiba's would have been a bit different:
2000 - 1200: La Ginn (ATK 1000, swapped with DEF via Shield & Sword) destroyed by Lava Battleguard (ATK 1800, swapped with DEF via Shield & Sword).
1200 - 1050: Battle Ox (ATK 1700) destroyed by Giltia the Knight (ATK 1850).
1050 - 300: Blue-Eyes White Dragon (ATK 3000) destroyed via Chasm of Spikes and 1/4 of Blue-Eyes ATK being inflicted to Kaiba's Life Points.
300 - 250: Swordstalker (ATK 2450, 450 of that from Rude Kaiser being destroyed the previous turn and 1/4 of that being absorbed to Swordstalker's power), destroyed by Flame Swordsman (ATK 2500, raised by 700 via Salamandra).
250 - 1450: Raised by 300 for every monster on the field (Judge Man, Kaiba's two Blue-Eyes and Joey's Blue-Eyes).
1450 - 50: Judge Man (ATK 2200) destroyed by Joey's Blue-Eyes White Dragon (ATK 3600, raised by 600 via Dragon Nails).

Another idea I had was Joey destroying the first Blue-Eyes by using Dragon Nails and Shield & Sword with Red-Eyes, given that Chasm of Spikes is a overpowered anime-only card that only appears in Joey's duel against Keith, clearly designed to reduce Keith's LP by enough so Joey's final move later would inflict just enough damage to win. Instead, Joey would have set those two cards and summoned Red-Eyes, destroying Kaiba's Judge Man that Kaiba had played in Attack Mode as bait. Upon Kaiba attacking with Blue-Eyes the following turn, Joey would have first used Shield & Sword to flip their attack and defense points, making Blue-Eyes' ATK 2500 and Red-Eyes 2000. Joey would have then used Dragon Nails to raise Red-Eyes' ATK to 2600, winning the battle. The flip would have been reversed at the turn's end, allowing Red-Eyes to destroy Rude Kaiser and then be destroyed by Swordstalker as above. However, this used the two cards I used for most of the damage to Kaiba's Life Points in a combo that, while effective, only cost him 100 LP. I wanted Kaiba to win with just 50 Life Points left, and I could come up with little other way to reach that if this was done, except for him being so stubborn that he refused to place monsters in Defense Mode. And as stubborn as Kaiba is, he's way too smart to not do that when he has to. Still, it would have been a pretty cool combo. Maybe it can be used again in the future!