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Mai bends down and hugs Valon's body, crying and whispering his name. She remembers him telling her how he was like her, unable to live without winning. But then he found someone he could share his victories with - her. Her eyes clear up, and she regains her breath, setting him down as Joey calls her name.
She calls him stupid for talking about Duels like they can be shared, when they're really for oneself. But when she grins and adds that that's why Valon lost, Joey insists that Valon gave his best for that fight. Mai notes his emotion and turns to him, the Seal glowing briefly on her forehead as she asks, "Isn't Valon an enemy?" Joey confirms it, but says he respects people who fight with all they have. She only smirks at him, and he challenges her to a Duel. He realizes that's the only way to reach her feelings, and he encourages her to Duel with no holding back from either of them. With Valon's body set aside, the two prepare their Duel.
Yami and the others continue in Joey's direction, guided by Yami's intuition from "Timaeus". Kaiba and Mokuba remark that there's no one around them, and Kaiba's hunch that Doma is responsible is confirmed when ranks of Orichalcos Soldiers appear before them.
Mai begins the Duel, and Joey struggles in his response, still feeling the injuries from the previous Duel. His turn is a simple one, which Mai thinks about and realizes is unlike him. But he assures her he's not holding back. He now understands that, in his Duel with Valon, they talked a lot, and not just with words.
In doing so, Joey sensed Valon's heart, and that's why he also wants a serious Duel with her. He hopes that she'll understand him by the end of it, and he wants to understand her, too. Speechless for a moment, she laughs at the idea he could understand her, who keeps Dueling just to win. He answers that he doesn't understand that at first, but even so, he's doesn't want to give up.
Her response is to keep going, and their Duel becomes a fight to keep a monster in play. Joey gains the upper hand with a high-level monster "Cyber-Tech Alligator", but when Mai plays "The Seal of Orichalcos", it affirms the drive to win in her heart and puts her monsters back in the lead. As a final defense, Joey uses "Scapegoat", but Mai is fully prepared for this move with her "Nightmare Tri-Mirror" trap, flooding her field with high-powered "Harpies". Joey is still hardly closer to reaching through the feelings in her heart, and he has only one turn to prepare for the attack she is still eager to unleash.
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Mai continues to Duel Joey. Just as she's about to inflict the final blow and seal Joey's soul away forever, she suddenly hesitates and stops her attack. Mai can't understand at first why she is hesitating, as she thinks winning will mean she has finally stepped out of the shadow of Joey's success and keep him out of her way for good. Joey, exhausted by the previous Duel, collapses and declares Mai the winner. Mai rushes to him, memories of their friendship washing over her, and declares that she will not let his soul be taken. But Joey says it's too late and, still protecting her, pushes her out of the ever shrinking circle. In the process, his hand catches on Mai's Orichalcos fragment and it gets removed, crumbling as the seal passes over it on its way to claims Joey.
The scene changes to Dartz as Mai's fragment shatters, and he exclaims that Mai is now free. However, he senses a powerful soul has been captured for the Orichalcos, and is glad to have finally seized the soul of one of the "Chosen Duelists."
Meanwhile, "Timaeus" materializes from the Pharaoh's card and "Critias" leaves Kaiba's battle. The duo appear over the city, keening in lament and mourning the fall of their companion. Kaiba is surprised at Critias's behavior, brushing it off as a hologram malfunction and continuing to stubbornly ignore the truth he knows in his heart.
Joey's soul is claimed; Mai cradles Joey in her arms, and then starts crying. She truly regrets what she's done. She realizes that blaming Joey for the loneliness she felt was wrong; she acknowledges Joey as not just the only person who ever honestly cared about her, but also as the best friend that she ever had, and how did she repay him for all of his kindness? By leaving him for that madman who promised her power. Now free from Dartz's spell, Mai decides to go challenge him directly, determined to set things right and set Joey free, and make Dartz regret the day he met Mai Valentine. As she leaves, she picks up Joey's "Hermos" card from the ground where it fell before hopping on her motorcycle and racing toward Paradius Inc. Home Office. Once inside, she's confronted by a mysterious figure whom she seems to know.
An anxious Yami Yugi, Téa and Tristan finally stumble upon the site of Joey's duels, only to be stunned when they see Valon's and, especially, Joey's soulless bodies sitting propped against the chain-link fence.
Featured Duel: Mai Valentine vs. Joey Wheeler[]
Turn 1: Mai
Mai draws "Cyber Harpie" and subsequently Normal Summons it (1800/1300) in Attack Position.
Turn 2: Joey
Joey draws "Gilford the Lightning". Aside from "Gilford the Lightning", Joey's hand contains "Blue Flame Swordsman", "Scapegoat", "Swordsman of Landstar", "Vow of Tribe", and "Dark Dragon Ritual". Joey then Normal Summons "Blue Flame Swordsman" (1800/1600) in Attack Position.
Turn 3: Mai
Mai draws another "Cyber Harpie" and subsequently Normal Summons it (1800/1300) in Attack Position. Mai's hand contains "Cyber Harpie Lady", "Aero Nail", "Monster Reborn", "Amazoness Spellcaster", and "Nighmare Tri-Mirror". Mai then activates "Aero Nail", equipping it to one of her "Cyber Harpie Ladies" and increasing its ATK by 300 ("Cyber Harpie Lady": 1800 → 2100/1300).
The "Cyber Harpie" equipped with "Aero Nail" attacks & destroys Joey's "Blue Flame Swordsman" (Joey 4000 → 3700). Since "Blue Flame Swordsman" was destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, Joey activates its second effect to Special Summon "Flame Swordsman" (1800/1600) in Attack Position (NOTE: in the anime, "Flame Swordsman" is not a Fusion Monster). Mai Sets a Card.
Turn 4: Joey
Joey draws "Cyber-Tech Alligator". He then Tributes "Flame Swordsman" in order to Tribute Summon "Cyber-Tech Alligator" (2500/1600) in Attack Position. "Cyber-Tech Alligator" attacks & destroys the "Cyber Harpie" equipped with "Aero Nail" (Mai 4000 → 3600). Since "Aero Nail" is about to be sent from the field to the Graveyard, Mai activates the second effect of "Aero Nail" to equip the latter card to her other "Cyber Harpie" instead of sending it to the Graveyard ("Cyber Harpie": 1800 → 2100/1300). Joey then Sets a Card.
Turn 5: Mai
Mai draws "The Seal of Orichalcos" and subsequently activates it. From now on, all of Mai's Monsters will receive a 500 ATK boost and the loser of this Duel will lose his/her soul ("Cyber Harpie": 2100 → 2600/1300). Mai then Normal Summons another "Cyber Harpie" (1800 → 2300/1300) in Attack Position.
The "Cyber Harpie" equipped with "Aero Nail" attacks & destroys Joey's "Cyber-Tech Alligator" (Joey 3700 → 3600). The second "Cyber Harpie" attacks directly, but Joey activates his face-down "Scapegoat" to Special Summon four "Sheep Tokens" (0/0 for each) in Defense Position. Mai then activates her face-down "Nighmare Tri-Mirror" to select "Cyber Harpie" and Special Summon four "Copy Tokens" (as Joey Special Summoned four monsters) that have the same stats and effects as "Cyber Harpie" to her side of the Field (1800 → 2300/1300 for all) in Attack Position. These Tokens cannot attack this turn. A replay occurs and Mai uses her second "Cyber Harpie" to attack & destroy one of Joey's "Sheep Tokens".
Turn 6: Joey
Joey draws. He then Normal Summons "Swordsman of Landstar" (500/1200) in Defense Position and Sets two cards.
Turn 7: Mai
Mai draws. One "Cyber Harpie" attacks "Swordsman of Landstar", but Joey activates his face-down "Double Magical Arm Bind" to Tribute two "Sheep Tokens" and take control of two of Mai's "Cyber Harpies" (Two Cyber Harpie Ladies: 2300 → 1800/1300). Joey then activates his face-down "Vow of Tribe", which prevents any monsters that exist on both sides of the field from attacking this turn. Because of that, the attack of "Cyber Harpie" on "Swordsman of Landstar" is negated.
Turn 8: Joey
Joey draws. He then Tributes his two "Cyber Harpies" and "Swordsman of Landstar" in order to Tribute Summon "Gilford the Lightning" (2800/1400) in Attack Position. Since "Gilford the Lightning" was Tribute Summoned by Tributing three monsters, its effect activates, destroying all monsters on Mai's side of the Field. "Gilford the Lightning" attacks directly (Mai 3600 → 800).
Turn 9: Mai
Mai draws "Card of Sanctity" and subsequently activates it to make her and Joey Draw until both have six cards in their hand (Mai draws three cards, while Joey draws four cards). The cards Joey drew were "Gearfried the Iron Knight", "Magic Arm Shield", "Kunai with Chain", and "Knight of Dark Dragon". Mai then activates "Monster Reborn" to Special Summon "Cyber Harpie" (1800 → 2300/1300) from her Graveyard in Attack Position.
She then activates "Elegant Egotist" to transform "Cyber Harpie" into the "Harpie Lady Sisters" (1800 → 2300/1300) in Attack Position. Mai then activates "Harpie Lady Phoenix Formation" to destroy Joey's "Gilford the Lightning" and last remaining Sheep Token and inflict damage to Joey equal to the total ATK of his destroyed monsters (Joey 3600 → 800), however no Harpie monsters can attack this turn.
Turn 10: Joey
Joey draws "The Claw of Hermos". He then activates "The Warrior Returning Alive" to return "Blue Flame Swordsman" from his Graveyard to his Hand. Joey then Normal Summons "Blue Flame Swordsman" (1800/1600) in Attack Position. He then activates "Dark Dragon Ritual" to Tribute "Gearfried the Iron Knight" from his Hand and Ritual Summon "Knight of Dark Dragon" (1900/1200) in Attack Position.
Joey then activates the effect of "Knight of Dark Dragon" to Tribute the latter and Special Summon "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" (2400/2000) from his Deck in Attack Position. Due to the secondary effect of "Knight of Dark Dragon", "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" cannot attack in the same Turn that it was Summoned via the effect of "Knight of Dark Dragon".
Joey then activates "The Claw of Hermos" to fuse it with "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" and form "Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword". Joey then equips "Blue Flame Swordsman" with "Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword", which increases the ATK of "Blue Flame Swordsman" by 1000 ("Blue Flame Swordsman": 1800 → 2800/1600). "Blue Flame Swordsman" attacks and destroys Mai's first "Harpie Lady Sister" (Mai 800 → 300). Joey then Sets two cards ("Kunai with Chain" and "Magic Arm Shield").
Turn 11: Mai
Mai draws "Harpie's Feather Duster" and subsequently activates it to destroy all of Joey's Spell and Trap Cards ("Blue Flame Swordsman": 2800 → 1800/1600). Mai then activates "Spell Reproduction" to discard two Spell Cards and add "Harpie Lady Phoenix Formation" from her Graveyard to her Hand.
Mai then activates "Harpie Lady Phoenix Formation" to destroy all monsters Joey controls and inflict their total ATK to Joey as damage, but Joey activates the first effect of "Blue Flame Swordsman" to transfer all of its ATK ("Blue Flame Swordsman": 1800 → 0/1600) to one of Mai's "Harpie Lady Sisters" ("Harpie Lady Sister": 2300 → 4100/1300) before it's destroyed. "Blue Flame Swordsman" is destroyed.
Since "Blue Flame Swordsman" was destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, Joey activates its second effect to Special Summon the original "Flame Swordsman" (1800/1600) from his Graveyard in Attack Position (NOTE: in the anime, "Flame Swordsman" is not a Fusion Monster). Since Mai activated "Harpie Lady Phoenix Formation", none of her Harpies can attack this turn, so she ends her turn.
Turn 12: Joey
Joey draws a card and subsequently sets it.
Turn 13: Mai
Mai draws "Mirror Wall". The boosted "Harpie Lady Sister" attacks Joey's "Flame Swordsman", but Joey activates his face-down "Skull Dice" to roll a die and divide the ATK of the boosted "Harpie Lady Sister" by the result. Joey gets a two ("1st Harpie Lady Sister": 4100 → 2050/1300). "Harpie Lady Sister" destroys Joey's "Flame Swordsman" (Joey 800 → 550). Mai is about to order her second "Harpie Lady Sister" to attack directly, which would lead to her victory, but she decides not to after being reminded of all that she and Joey have been through. However, Joey is unable to continue the Duel as he is too exhausted to continue, so he surrenders.
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