Compared to Youmi's one-sided beating driven by anger, Joey's duel was much more peaceful.
"My turn, draw!" In this world, turn order was still decided by whoever finished drawing their opening hand first, so Joey, using the hand speed honed by more than ten years of single life (even though his opponent was older), quickly drew his hand and first card, declaring confidently, "Right now I feel unbeatable! There's no way you can defeat me!"
With a flick of his right thumb, he spread out his six cards and grinned brightly. "Starting off with such a great hand—how lucky! I activate [Pot of Greed] to draw two more cards, then Normal Summon [Marauding Captain]!"
A seasoned warrior holding dual blades charged onto the field, raising the longsword in his right hand.
"[Marauding Captain]'s effect! A captain who leads the charge must always have comrades who respond to his courage. When this card is successfully summoned, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower monster from my hand! I Special Summon another [Marauding Captain] from my hand!" Joey revealed another identical monster and placed it beside the first. "Since [Marauding Captain]'s effect can only be activated 'when successfully summoned,' the second one can't use its effect."
The Rare Hunter, not realizing his attacks had already been sealed, sneered. "So what if you've got two monsters with only 1200 Attack? We Rare Hunters can easily crush such weaklings with our copy cards!"
"[Marauding Captain] protects his comrades! As long as one is on the field, you can't target any other Warrior monsters for attacks. And since I've got two [Marauding Captains], neither of them can be targeted!" Joey proudly gestured toward his two Captains, then awkwardly retracted one of the three fingers he had held up under the Rare Hunter's confused stare.
"Next, I activate the Spell Card [Fusion Sage]! Its effect lets me add one [Polymerization] from my Deck to my hand, then shuffle. Lend me your power, Youmi!"
After searching his Deck for [Polymerization] and shuffling, Joey immediately activated it in his Spell & Trap Zone. "I fuse [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] from my hand with [Versago the Destroyer], treated as [Meteor Dragon]!
"O pitch-black dragon, merge with the meteor dragon that fell from the edge of the universe to become a new form—Fusion Summon! [Meteor Black Dragon]!"
"Next, I activate the Field Spell [Savage Colosseum]!" Though [Savage Colosseum] originally appeared during the 5D's era, one copy existed in the pool provided by [Ten Thousand Dragon], which Youmi had given Joey as a gift—only for him to use it in this way. "While this card is on the field, whenever a monster attacks, its controller gains 300 Life Points after damage calculation. But—"
As the Rare Hunter scoffed at a card seemingly beneficial to both sides, Joey continued, "As long as this card remains, every monster that can attack must attack! There's no running from battle in an arena! And even if you try to skip the Battle Phase, it's useless! Why, you ask—?"
Mimicking Youmi's tone, Joey declared, "[Savage Colosseum]'s final effect! During the End Phase, all face-up Attack Position monsters that didn't declare an attack are destroyed! My monsters will be destroyed this turn too, but I activate [Earthquake] to change all monsters on the field to Defense Position! That means if you Summon in Attack Position, you'll have to crash straight into my [Meteor Black Dragon]!
"And if you only Summon in Defense, my [Meteor Black Dragon] will wipe your field every turn while my two [Marauding Captains] chip away 2400 of your LP!
"You're finished—I end my turn!"
"What—? A forced-attack lockdown with a monster that has 3500 Attack and 2000 Defense... my hand can't break through that!"
Watching his opponent's face twist in frustration, Joey's grin turned mischievous.
He turned, wanting to show off his success to Youmi—but she had already finished her own duel, standing with arms crossed and watching him.
Still, that didn't dampen his pride. He flashed a V-sign in triumph.
Youmi blinked, as if in conversation with someone. Startled by Joey's sudden glance, she paused, then returned a thumbs-up.
"You gave the cards I prepared for you to Joey?" The eyes of [Sphere Kuriboh] glimmered as [Ten Thousand Dragon]'s voice echoed in Youmi's mind.
"To think you turned a so-called 'common duelist' into someone who can play a lockdown deck. Seems you and Yugi have both influenced him quite a bit. What's this, you into training sims now?"
"That's right—yeah, right." Youmi smiled at Joey, who was once again fully absorbed in his duel. "I just gave him a new way to think, that's all. In this era, one kind of deck that should exist is simply a pile of high-quality single cards. If every card in the Deck outclasses the opponent's, then you'll always win the resource trade. I just helped him move in that direction."
Watching the sweating Rare Hunter fiddle desperately with his hand, Youmi thought aloud. "My ultimate goal is to become the Duel King of this world, isn't it? If the potential challengers' decks are too weak, then even if I become king, it's just an empty title.
"I won't deny that luck is part of skill, but I don't want Joey—a duelist with real talent and ability—to have luck dominate his play. I want him to rely on skill, not spectacle."
Even in the future, there would always be decks relying heavily on dice rolls or luck-based mechanics. Youmi didn't deny their existence—but she couldn't truly enjoy such duels.
"I see. So that's why you helped Joey Wheeler improve his deck?" [Sphere Kuriboh] spun around, bobbing a little. Youmi took that as a nod.
"If possible, not just Joey—any duelist with the potential to reach the top in Duel City, I might help out. After all, lowering deck power too much only leads to boring, lopsided duels." With a magician's flourish, Youmi snapped her fingers, producing several cards. "But there's always a way, right? If your opponents grow stronger, then you can duel them on equal ground."
Joey's two [Marauding Captains] each slashed at his opponent. Youmi nodded approvingly and said to [Sphere Kuriboh], "Still, I should apologize for giving your cards away. I thought they'd shine better in Joey's hands than in mine."
"It's fine. Cards should always be used by duelists who can make them shine. And this world, where Duel Spirits exist, is a mysterious one. Strong duelists naturally attract the cards suited to them. If you show enough strength here, perhaps cards will come to you on their own."
"I'll take your word for it. Ah—look, he's got [Vorse Raider] in his deck!
"And it's not even a counterfeit." As a being similar to a Duel Spirit, Youmi could tell real from fake cards and sense spirits within them. Seeing a grunt with such a rare card meant the Rare Hunters had deeper resources than she thought.
Invisible to ordinary eyes, [Sphere Kuriboh] circled the two duelists, then shook its head and floated back beside Youmi. "I seek fiercer duels too. Keep this up. I won't mind whoever you pass my cards to next. We'll meet again."
The light in [Sphere Kuriboh]'s eyes changed—[Ten Thousand Dragon] had released its hold.
A few turns later, the Rare Hunter, whose Life Points had been worn to zero by the two [Marauding Captains], muttered, "I'll definitely have my revenge," before tossing away a [Vorse Raider] and a Puzzle Card, disappearing into the night.
"Calling himself a Rare Hunter, yet after losing, he still hands over the wager. By the way, Duel City hasn't even officially begun, and he's already given me a Puzzle Card—doesn't that make us the first to get one?" Joey picked up the two cards, thought for a moment, then grinned excitedly. "That's an amazing start, Youmi!"
"Yeah, quite a nice haul." Removing and destroying all the fake cards from the Rare Hunter decks, Youmi stacked the genuine ones and handed them to Joey. "These are the spoils. Take what you need."
To her surprise, Joey shook his head. "I've already gotten too much help from you and Yugi today. If I keep taking, it'd feel like I'm just leeching off you guys. I'm a duelist too. From here on out, I need to walk my own path.
"And I'll definitely repay your kindness one day." He thumped his chest proudly.
"Joey…" Seeing his earnest face, Youmi nodded slightly. "If I remember right, you were going to see your sister tonight, right? If you stay here showing off your duelist pride instead of heading there now, I might have to make sure you don't get home tonight~
"Just kidding. But really, if you don't go soon, Serenity will start worrying."
Joey's face turned red. Youmi, satisfied, stopped teasing him, left the alley, and waved him along.
After a brief pause, Joey called out in reply and ran after her.
...
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