As Joey and Bandit Keith readied their cards for battle, Yugi thought, "Come on, Joey. You have to win this match. For your sister." Croquet announced, "Joey Wheeler, Bandit Keith, your peers, and gracious host. Let the duel begin!"
Bandit Keith chuckled and said, "So, tell me: how does it feel to be an amateur going up against the Intercontinental Champion?" Joey smirked and said, "Ooh, the Intercontinental Champion? Please, I could win a better prize than that in a box of cereal." Keith growled, "Punk. I'll teach you to respect my title." He threw down one card face-down. Joey drew a card and mimicked Keith's face-down monster. Keith snickered, flipping his face-down monster up and destroying Joey's face-down card. Joey grimaced, thinking, "Dang. I knew he would use his machines on me just like he did Emiko." He looked down at his hand and thought, "They're strong, but not as strong as my Giltia the Knight!" As he played his card, calling an attack, Emiko called, "Joey, wait! It's no good!" Keith's machine monster deflected the attack and he chuckled, "Didn't you learn anything from my duel with Emiko? All of my machine monsters are protected by magic-resistant armour, making all of your magic attacks worth squat." Joey growled, ending his turn and allowing Keith to destroy his knight.
"To be fair, I didn't use any of my spellcasters to attack in my duel with Keith," Emiko thought, biting her thumbnail nervously. Yugi said, "I'll bet Keith's deck is just full of machines." Bakura said, "Just great. We all saw how powerful his machines were in his last duel, but this adds a whole new problem." Téa turned to Emiko and said, "Emiko, you knew about their defense against magic. How can Joey beat them?" Emiko sighed, "It'll be tough, but they do have a weakness." Bakura nodded and said, "True. No machine is without its glitch." Emiko opened her mouth to speak, but Yugi said, "Machine monsters are some of the most powerful in the duelling world. Not only are they impervious to magic, but they also have a very strong offense." Emiko added, "Yes, but they can only use that offense against head-on attacks. Joey will have to play his cards right."
Joey drew a card, thinking, "Attacking those metal freaks will just get me clobbered. I have to play smart." He played two cards face-down, ignoring Keith's taunting as he also plays two cards face-down. As he was about to place the second, the card slipped from his hand, revealing the silhouette of a small creature before he picked it up and placed it face-down. Joey grinned, realizing that the card was not metal and, therefore, was vulnerable to magic. He hurriedly played Flame Swordsman in combination with Salamandra. As the swordsman's attack was called, Keith flipped up a trap card, Magic Metal Force, not only strengthening his creature, but also giving it a metal coat of armour that reflected Joey's magic attack back at his swordsman. He cackled, "You should have seen the look on your face when your swordsman's own attack toasted him! It was priceless!" Joey growled as he launched an attack towards his defense monster, switching it into attack mode with a Stop Defense magic card, but just as it ran towards Joey's defenseless Axe Raider, it dropped into a pit opened up by Joey's trap card. Keith's monster was destroyed.
"How's that for a turn," Joey said confidently, "I only wish you could've seen the look on your face when that Metal Zoa of yours got skewered! It was priceless!" He laughed while Keith snarled angrily.
Up on the balcony, Emiko and Téa cheered, sharing a high-five. Yugi, Bakura, and Tristan cheered along. Yugi said, "Of course! I think Joey might have found the glitch in those machine monsters! Rather than take them on in a head-on assault, he's letting his traps do all the work!" Bakura said, "Yes! And now, Keith's only ahead by 100 life points!" Tristan shouted, "Alright! You the man, Joey! Go!"
Joey said, his confidence rising, "My turn. I'm gonna place this card face down. Oh, yeah. It's a trap card, so don't bother attacking." He grinned and attacked Keith with a brand-new monster, destroying one of the monsters Keith had on the field, taking him down to only 1200 life points. Keith hastily sent an attack on Joey's monster, but fell into his trap, losing his last defense monster and even more life points. Keith could only fume at his downfall.
Bakura said, "Alright! It's still close, but Joey's just won himself a slight lead." Yugi nodded and said, "Yeah, he's trusting in himself and in his deck! He's duelling like a real champion!" Emiko smiled. She said, "He might just win this." Joey looked up at them triumphantly, then back to his opponent as he drew a card, ending his turn. Keith threw down Barrel Dragon, destroying both of Joey's monsters, and Joey retaliates with his trusted Baby Dragon and Time Wizard combination, landing a successful time roulette and transforming his Baby Dragon into Thousand Dragon. Barrel Dragon rusted over and was easily destroyed. Joey cheered, but Keith was quick to activate a trap, bringing back his Barrel Dragon in the state it was in one turn prior and destroying Joey's Thousand Dragon. Joey grimaced. He looked down at his hand and growled, wondering how he should counter. He set a monster in face-down defense mode and ended his turn, unable to do anything to counter.
"You're history, dweeb," Keith taunted, throwing down a monster, "Go, Slot Machine!" He destroyed Joey's defense monster and ended his turn. Joey drew a card and looked through his hand again, his brows furrowed in concentration. He thought, "I could throw a monster out and destroy his slot machine, but then whatever I play is just gonna get destroyed by that dragon. I gotta come up with something."
Emiko said under her breath, "Come on, Joey. You can do it."
Joey placed one card face down and summoned his most powerful monster, the Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Keith sent an attack, but Joey used Copycat to mimic Keith's Magic Metal Force, making it strong enough to counter attack and destroy Barrel Dragon. Keith turned his Slot Machine to defense mode and set a card face-down before activating a magic card, 7 Completed, boosting his Slot Machine's defense mode just as Joey sent his attack, sending his life points down to only 450. Keith laughed, "You wanna know what else? I got two more of them 7 Completed cards just waiting in my deck, ready to be added to my Slot Machine, each one able to raise its attack or defense by 700 points." Joey said, "Yeah, well, just because you have 'em doesn't mean you'll draw 'em." Keith drew his next card, took a look at it, and then smirked.
"Well," he jeered, "would you look at what I just drew?" He held up and placed his 7 Completed card on the field, followed by another monster, Blast Sphere. The sphere attached itself to Joey's dragon, ready to self-destruct at the end of Keith's turn.
Emiko gasped. Yugi and Bakura said simultaneously, "That's not good." Yugi said, "One more of those 7 Completed cards and Keith's Slot Machine will be strong enough to destroy Joey's dragon." Tristan said, "Yeah, and any other monsters he puts out there, too."
Keith sneered and ended his turn, setting off an explosion that covered the field in a black smoke. As the smoke cleared, Red-Eyes-Black Dragon was still standing, only now, it had been equipped with Dragon Nails, making it stronger than Blast Sphere and taking Keith's life points down to a mere 400. Joey passed his next turn, allowing Keith to draw and play his final 7 Completed card, boosting his Slot Machine's attack power again. Joey's next turn is uneventful with him just setting a card face-down. Keith draws and plays The Pillager, allowing him to pick a card from Joey's hand. He takes Shield and Sword, activating it and destroying Joey's dragon. Joey quickly activates a trap card, allowing him to take Keith's Time Machine card from the graveyard and use it to bring back Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon from one turn prior. Joey finishes the duel with one final attack from his dragon and a sigh of relief.
"There's no way," Keith said, "The kid actually beat me! He...he actually won!" Joey cheered, as did the spectators above. Joey pulled the simple, white handkerchief out of his coat pocket, smiled, and thought, "Thanks, Mai. I won't forget what you did for me today." Keith roared from across the arena, "This duel doesn't count!" He pointed at Joey and said, "The entry card Joey used to qualify for the duel wasn't even his, so this duel shouldn't count and he ought to be disqualified right here!" Joey held up the entry card and said, "He's right. My card was missing, so Mai gave me hers." He smirked and asked, "Tell me, though, Keith: how could you possibly have known this wasn't my card?" Keith reacted hesitantly, trying to think of a comeback. Joey said, "I'm all ears. Explain yourself." Pegasus cut in, "He doesn't need to. It's clear that Keith stole Joey's card." Joey snapped, "You snake! I knew it!"
"That big cheat," Téa said. Emiko stood in shock, her hands covering her mouth. Tristan yelled, "Then, Keith ought to be the one disqualified." Pegasus confirmed, "Oh, Keith ought to be disqualified, alright, but not only for misconduct outside of the duelling arena." He looked up and said, "Not only in his duel against Joey, but also in his duel with young Emiko." Joey sneered, "Is that so?" Pegasus explained, "Oh, yes. In his duels, he kept his set of 7 Completed cards beneath his wristband, along with a few other particularly useful ones in his duel against Kaiba-girl. This guaranteed that he would always have the cards he needed most ready and waiting for him." Emiko gasped. Joey shouted, "That's low, Keith!" Pegasus said calmly, "Take the scoundrel away. Far away." He snapped his fingers and two men, dressed in suits, ran in behind Keith, grabbing him and dragging him out kicking and screaming.
"Well done, Joseph," Pegasus said, smiling, "You should be quite proud. You duelled admirably." Just as the air seemed to fall silent, Keith sprinted back into the room, leaping from the platform onto Pegasus' viewing area. As he held a gun up to Pegasus' head, Pegasus said, "My, my, you certainly are a stubborn one, aren't you?" Keith growled, "Enough! I've had it with you and your game! Now, hand over the prize money or I'll shoot!" Everyone else was too afraid to do or say a word. Pegasus said, smirking, "Oh, certainly, Keith, I'll do whatever you say. Just give me a moment. I'm afraid my body hasn't quite recovered from the absolutely terrifying demands that you've made." Keith said, "Okay, wise-guy, you've got until the count of three." Pegasus said, "Fine. One, two," he moved his foot slightly, "three." As he said the final word, a trap-door opened below Keith, sending him falling down into an abyss. Where would he end up? Who knows? Emiko sighed.
"He's gone, now," she thought. She grimaced and wondered what could have happened if Keith hadn't played unfairly, but shook her head. She thought, "It wouldn't matter. Really." Croquet said, "Now, the finalists in the next match, Yugi Muto and Joey Wheeler will receive a ten-minute recess. Rest well. Our host wants you in top shape for your duel." Yugi and Joey locked eyes, silently vowing to do their best.