Episode 18: Arena of Lost Souls - Part II (Shield in the Right Hand, Sword in the Left Hand)
Bonz's three monsters are lined up against Joey's Flame Swordsman. Bonz laughs, telling Joey he's had it. All the monsters Joey thought he'd killed have returned as unkillable zombies! And, as zombies, they all get a field power bonus from the graveyard. Bonz tells a worried Joey to play his next card.
Joey draws, and summons Garoozis (1800 ATK). He destroys Clown Zombie—but it promptly comes back to life, thanks to Bonz's magic card, Call of the Haunted. (Again, it's a magic card in the Japanese, but in the US it's been changed to a trap card, which is what the real "Call of the Haunted" is. It's also flipped right-side-up in the US version.)
Not only is it revived, but each time a zombie monster is killed, it will come back stronger than before. Clown Zombie's attack was originally 1350, raised 30% to 1755 by the field power bonus. Now its attack is raised another 10%, to 1890 points, more powerful than Garoozis. Bonz orders it to attack. (Clown Zombie's throwing knives are turned into shiny glowy things in the US version.)
(Also, the knives in Garoozis' chest are turned glowy.)
Garoozis is destroyed, and Joey's down to 1530 life points.
Tristan, Yugi, and Téa are running through the cave tunnels, searching for Joey. But when they stop to catch their breath, they realize Bakura isn't with them. Téa says they didn't take any turns, so where could he have gone? Then they hear a scream! It sounds like Bakura, and they call out to him.
Bakura comes running towards them, with a skeleton hanging onto his back, screaming for help. Everyone freaks and runs madly down the tunnels, while Bakura chases after them, begging them to get the thing off of him. The skull falls to the ground, and Tristan stomps on it, while the rest of the gang collapse on the ground. Yugi sits up, telling Bakura he gave them all quite a scare. Bakura says he's sorry, but Tristan says they've got a bigger problem now. (Japanese Yugi says all that running brought them quite a ways down the tunnel. Bakura says he's sorry, and Honda asks which way they should go now.)
They've reached a fork in the tunnels, and don't know which way to go. Looking at the row of skulls acting as candle holders at the junction, Téa says that both ways look so inviting. Tristan's in no mood for sarcasm, saying that they have to figure out which way Joey went right now, and Yugi agrees. (Japanese Anzu says things are getting more horrible. Honda says that Jounouchi "doesn't have any resistance to this kind of thing," referring to Jounouchi's fear of ghosts, something that comes up quite a bit in the manga, but doesn't get much mention in the anime. Yugi says they have to find Jounouchi quickly.)
Then Bakura accidentally steps on some sort of switch, and they hear something coming from one of the tunnels. Tristan says it's getting louder, and Téa thinks it's coming their way. But what is it? Bakura shivers in fear.
Then they see it—a huge boulder, rolling down the tunnel towards them. They run like mad, but Bakura trips and falls, and the boulder rolls over him. The others are horrified, but can only keep running. But then the tunnel dead ends, and they're trapped.
With nowhere to run, Tristan decides to stand and fight. Yugi and Téa protest that you can't punch a boulder, but Tristan says he's going to try, and he throws his fist at it with all his might—and it pops like a balloon. As the pieces float around them, Yugi points out a speaker that was inside it. He bets it was set up by Pegasus. Bakura is lying on the ground on the other side, whimpering in terror, but safe.
Yugi says that Pegasus spared no expense to scare them half to death. (Honda turns quite fearsome in the Japanese episode, furious with Pegasus for toying with them. The veins in his forehead are removed from the US version.)
(And this full-face shot of Honda with fangs and veins is cut out of the US version.)
Meanwhile, Joey faces Bonz's zombies, thinking that this is a catastrophe. He kills those zombies, and they just come back nastier than before. He doesn't know how to win. Bandit Keith chuckles under his breath, and asks Joey if he's had enough. Sid and Zigor agree that Joey can just leave his Star Chips at the door.
Joey stares at the Star Chips he's wagered. If he loses them, he'll be out of the tournament. He remembers his crushing defeat at Kaiba's hands, and wonders if he should just give up. But the vision of himself as a scared little puppy makes him pull himself together and vow to keep fighting. For Serenity's sake, he's got to stay in the game and trust in his cards.
Joey draws, and he's in luck—it's Time Wizard! The card Yugi gave him has saved him before. Maybe it will help him again. What does he have to lose? Joey plays Time Wizard, and Bandit Keith is surprised—maybe "the dweeb" is smarter than he thought. Time Wizard's magic could age Bonz's zombies right into the dust. Joey activates Time Roulette, and the spinner begins to twirl. Bonz begs Keith for help, but Bandit Keith tells him not to worry. Time Roulette is a game of chance, so it's all a matter of luck. If Bonz's is better, he won't lose. The spinner continues to go around, with Joey urging it to win, while Bonz prays for Joey to lose.
The Time Wizard's spinner slows, stopping briefly on a skull—then a time machine—and finally, it lands on a skull. Joey has lost the spin. Time Wizard and Flame Swordsman disappear into a time warp in the sky, and half their attack points get deducted from Joey's life points, taking him down to 630. Joey weeps while Bonz laughs triumphantly. Joey didn't know he'd take this big a hit if he lost at time roulette. Bonz says he'll give Joey a free turn to play another monster.
Joey knows he can't win an attack, so he plays a monster in defense. Bonz is about to send Dragon Zombie in to attack, when Bandit Keith suggests he should beef up his attack so he can really humiliate Joey. Bonz thinks that's a pretty good idea, so he summons Pumpking the King of Ghosts (1500 ATK, increased to 1950 by the field power bonus; the real card's ATK is 1800), with special ability of Ectoplasmic Fortification! It sends out squishy green tentacles that pierce each of Bonz's other monsters, pumping them full of ectoplasmic energy that will increase their power by an additional 10% every turn. Now the Clown Zombie is up to 2025 attack points, Dragon Zombie is 2240, and Armored Zombie is 2100. Dragon Zombie destroys Joey's defense monster, Kojikocy (1200 DEF). Bonz tells Joey to give him something stronger to destroy.
Next, Joey plays Armored Lizard (1200 DEF) in defense, and Bonz's zombie army destroys it, too. Bonz celebrates, saying Bandit Keith is giving him great advice! Bandit Keith thinks, it's only good advice, but Bonz has one card that will demolish the dweeb. (Japanese Kotsuzuka exclaims that he's won, but Bandit Keith thinks, not yet. When Kotsuzuka draws that one card, he'll be ready for the final combo.) Joey plays another monster in defense, and it, too is destroyed. (The monster is called Glass Man in the manga. It's not a real card.) Bonz laughs, saying he's wiping out Joey's monsters, one by one. And Joey agrees—he's done for.
Next of Joey's monsters to go is Masaki the Legendary Swordsman (1100 DEF). Joey's getting desperate. He's losing all his monsters, while Bonz's zombie army only gets stronger. There has to be some way to beat him! Yugi would know....
Just then, Yugi and the others finally arrive. They want to know what Joey's doing dueling in a graveyard, and he tells them that those three creeps ganged up on him and forced him into it. Tristan says the duel is over, but Zigor and Sid block him. Tristan starts to attack, but Sid flicks a stone at him that hits him in the forehead, and then Zigor punches him in the stomach. Joey's about to rush to Tristan's defense, but Bandit Keith tells him if he leaves the arena, he forfeits the game and his Star Chips. Téa says the duel is illegal anyway, but Bandit Keith says that when Joey threw down his Star Chips, he accepted the duel. Tristan pulls himself up, saying that in that case, Joey's just going to have to beat these punks, and for a little added motivation, he tosses Joey his wallet, with its picture of Serenity.
Bandit Keith asks Joey, what's it going to be? Is he going to cut and run, or part with his Star Chips the hard way? Joey's tired of Bandit Keith's smart remarks, and asks him who he is. He tells them his name, and Yugi realizes that this is the Intercontinental Champion that Kaiba told them about. Bandit Keith has only lost one challenge, and that's to Pegasus. (Japanese Yugi says that Bandit Keith was a professional card player prior to his loss to Pegasus.) Now Joey understands why Bonz has outsmarted him at every turn. Bandit Keith tells Joey he ought to just pack up and go home—Bonz has the perfect strategy. Zigor says that nobody's getting into Pegasus' castle but them. Bonz says Joey's fought his last duel.
Joey looks at the picture of Serenity, and says that for her sake, he's got to win. He plays another defense monster, planning to keep up his defenses until he can find a way to attack. Bandit Keith tells him he shouldn't broadcast his strategy—especially when it's a losing one. Bonz has a special card that will render Joey's defenses useless. Joey says Bonz can't possibly do that with one card! But Bonz draws Stop Defense (calling it a trap card, although it's got the green background of a magic card, in both versions), setting it face-down. When activated, Stop Defense will force all of Joey's monsters into attack mode. Bonz's zombies' attack points increase again, and Dragon Zombie destroys Joey's last defense monster, Tiger Axe. Bandit Keith laughs, telling Joey it's the end of the road for him.
Joey thinks he let Serenity down, but Téa and the others encourage him not to give up. Joey says he won't quit, and summons his Red-Eyes Black Dragon, using it to destroy Pumpking, and take Bonz's life points down to 855. Yugi congratulates Joey, saying that now Bonz's zombies won't get any stronger. And since it was already a ghost to begin with, it won't be revived by Call of the Haunted. But Bandit Keith tells Bonz it was just a minor setback. His remaining monsters still have plenty of attack power. Bonz's Dragon Zombie takes out Joey's Red-Eyes, and Joey's down to 150 life points.
It looks pretty desperate. The only monster Joey has left is Battle Warrior, a weak monster with an attack of only 700. Téa asks Yugi if there's any way Joey can win, and Yugi tells her Joey's in a big jam. Then he suddenly realizes that there is a way, and calls out to Joey that he has a magic card that can turn the whole duel around!
Bandit Keith says Yugi has to be kidding. The strategy he gave Bonz is perfect. Joey's a goner. But Yugi says he's wrong. He gives Joey an encouraging look, and Joey smiles, then draws his next card.
And Joey draws Shield and Sword (Shield in the Right Hand, Sword in the Left Hand), a magic card that can switch the attack and defense points of all the monsters on the field. He plays Battle Warrior (700 ATK/1000 DEF) in attack mode, then plays Shield and Sword. All the zombies had zero defense points, so their attacks become zero, making them easy prey for Joey's Battle Warrior. They're all destroyed, and since they have zero attack points, they can't be revived. Joey wins!
Bandit Keith calls Bonz a loser, and says he'll see him around. He starts to walk off, his flunkies calling to him to wait. Joey tells him next time to duel him face-to-face. Bandit Keith says the game of Duel Monsters is all about keeping your opponent off balance. Winning is all that matters, not how you go about it. Joey says they'll see about that, and Bandit Keith walks away down the tunnels, laughing and tossing off insults, his flunkies following.
Joey apologizes for dragging the gang into this mess, and Tristan tells him next time, not to be so quick to run off on his own. (Japanese Honda tells Jounouchi the worry nearly killed Bakura!) Yugi says it's okay—they know it wasn't Joey's fault. And Tristan agrees with a wink, saying as long as Joey won his duel, they can forgive him. Téa and Bakura say Joey really came through. He says he got lucky, but Yugi says it wasn't luck, it was Joey's determination and trust in the cards, and his promise to his sister, that helped him to win. Joey grins, looking at his dueling glove. He only needs two more Star Chips to get into the finals.
They head out of the tunnels. Just ahead, they see daylight, and start to run for it. But before they can get out, Bandit Keith's gang block the tunnel's opening with a huge boulder.
Bandit Keith laughs, telling them tough luck—they're trapped in the cave forever. Then he turns to his lackeys, demanding their Star Chips. Zigor (who's called Zigel this time) is knocked to the ground, and Bandit Keith steps over him, asking who's next. Bonz protests that he did exactly what Bandit Keith told him, but Keith tells him he lost, and to hand over the Star Chips. (In the Japanese, you can hear the sound of Bandit Keith's beating up the others.) Bonz and Sid give up their Star Chips, and now Bandit Keith has ten. Leaving his flunkies lying on the ground, he heads off towards Pegasus's castle, saying they've got a score to settle.
Yugi and the others push as hard as they can on the boulder, but they can't budge it. Are they really trapped in there?