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Episode
GuideEpisode 77: Friends 'Til the End - Part III (Countdown to Desperation)
Joey stares in shock at the Millennium Puzzle that Yugi has put around his neck. Yugi tells him it's his now, and begins to walk back to his side of the dock, hoping the Puzzle will free Joey from Marik's mind control before it's too late. The countdown has reached twenty minutes before the anchor falls, dragging them both into the sea. If Joey comes to his senses soon, they might be able to escape. Yugi knows the bond of friendship between them is stronger than Marik's magic. When Joey saw the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, it triggered something inside him. Marik might be able to control Joey's mind, but he can't control Joey's heart. (Japanese Yugi thinks, "Only twenty minutes until the end of the duel. If there's no result, we'll both sink to the bottom of the sea. But I won't give up until the last moment. Within that limited time, I'll awaken Jounouchi's heart. There must be a way to save both of us. Red-Eyes, if you have the strength, please fight with me until the end.")
Yugi reaches his dueling spot. Joey has stood up, still staring at the Puzzle, while Marik tries to reassert control, telling Joey that Yugi is his enemy. Marik says the Puzzle's magic can only be used if it's won in a duel, so it's useless to him as it is. He orders Joey to destroy Yugi, and Joey repeats, "Destroy Yugi." Marik orders Joey to throw the Puzzle into the ocean, saying that his Rare Hunters can retrieve it later, and Joey takes it off and holds it up, while Yugi watches in horror. (Japanese Malik isn't interested in having the Puzzle for himself. He orders Jounouchi to throw it into the sea and destroy the place where the Pharaoh's spirit lives. He says that Yugi giving up his Puzzle means he's admitted that he's lost. Jounouchi looks up, saying, "I won." Malik says he wanted to destroy the hated Pharaoh in a duel, but it doesn't matter. If he won't come out, shatter him.)
Joey pulls a piece out of the Puzzle, telling Yugi to say goodbye to his Puzzle. Yugi tells Joey to fight it, but Joey says the only thing he's fighting is Yugi. Grinning, Joey prepares to hurl the Puzzle piece into the sea, as Yugi begs him to stop.
Then Joey remembers back to when he and Yugi became friends. He'd taken a piece of Yugi's Puzzle and thrown it into the swimming pool, until Yugi defended him and Tristan against a bully who was beating them up. Ashamed, Joey went into the pool to get the Puzzle piece back for Yugi, beginning their friendship. While everyone watches in horror, Joey stands frozen, clutching the Puzzle piece in his upraised fist, fighting the command to throw it away. Finally, he falls to his knees, gripping his arm. Then, defying Marik's orders, he puts the Puzzle piece back in the Puzzle, and hangs it around his neck.
Furious, Marik tells him to keep the Puzzle if he wants, but destroy Yugi! Joey tells Yugi to get on with the duel, so he can beat him. Only fourteen minutes remain before the anchor falls. (Japanese Malik demands to know why Jounouchi didn't obey him. Jounouchi says, "I'm a duelist." Then he tells Yugi, "This has nothing to do with revenge for three thousand years ago. Let's fight for victory." Yugi thinks that Malik's brainwashing is losing its influence.)
It's Yugi's turn. The Red-Eyes regains 500 of the attack points it lost during Joey's turn, bringing its attack up to 900. Yugi draws Beta the Magnet Warrior, thinking that this card could help. Last turn, when Joey attacked the Red-Eyes, the real Joey broke through for a moment. He has to make that happen again. But if Joey attacks the weakened Red-Eyes, Yugi could lose the duel. He has to be careful. (Japanese Yugi thinks that he can destroy Rocket Warrior with Beta the Magnet Warrior, but he can't awaken Jounouchi's heart that way. There's only one card that can free Jounouchi, and that's the Red-Eyes.) He plays two cards face down, then summons Beta the Magnet Warrior and ends his turn.
Marik says Yugi could have attacked, but instead he left himself wide open! Joey draws Panther Warrior, which is strong enough to destroy the Red-Eyes and the rest of Yugi's life points. Marik orders Joey to attack the Red-Eyes. (Japanese Malik tells Jounouchi if he destroys the Red-Eyes he'll win, and Jounouchi says, "I'll win...Yugi.")
Yami warns Yugi that he's losing Joey—Marik's hold on him is growing stronger. Marik repeats, "Destroy! Destroy! Destroy!" (In the Japanese, it's "Korose!" which means, "Kill!") Joey summons Panther Warrior, then switches Rocket Warrior into its invincible mode. Marik relaxes on his ship, grabbing a handul of ice cubes from an ice bucket and dropping them into a tall glass, thinking that the Red-Eyes won't stand a chance against Panther Warrior. And as soon as the Red-Eyes goes, so does Yugi, who only has 1000 life points left. He orders Joey to attack the Red-Eyes with Panther Warrior.
But instead, Joey attacks Beta the Magnet Warrior with Rocket Warrior. Marik jumps up, furious, knocking over the ice bucket and breaking the glass.
Yugi activates his trap card, Magic Arm Shield—the card he took from Joey when he played Exchange. He redirects Rocket Warrior's attack to Panther Warrior. Because of Joey's Attrition card, Panther Warrior loses 1500 attack points. And, since Rocket Warrior is in its invincible mode, Panther Warrior loses another 500 attack points, bringing its attack down to zero. Yugi thinks his plan has worked—he knows Marik would have wanted Joey to attack the Red-Eyes. Marik is angry that Joey keeps disobeying his orders, but he says it doesn't matter. All he needs to do is keep Joey under control long enough to destroy Yugi. (Japanese Malik says after he destroys Yugi, Jounouchi is next.)
Meanwhile, Tristan, Serenity, and Duke are walking down the street. Serenity is worried about Joey. Tristan reassures her he's fine, but then Duke points out that those same thugs that attacked them might be after her brother. Tristan yells at Duke, who quickly changes his tune, saying that he's sure Joey's dueling in the finals right now. But they don't know where the finals are. Tristan grabs the nearest duelest, hoping he's got six locator cards and can tell them where the finals are.
Back at the docks, Joey's turn is over, and Panther Warrior regains 500 attack points. Yugi sacrifices Beta the Magnet Warrior to summon Beast of Gilford (Gilfor Demon) and attacks Rocket Warrior, reducing Joey's life points to 1700. Yugi asks Joey if he's there, but mind-controlled Joey says Joey's gone. Yugi knows that he can't let the Red-Eyes be destroyed—it might be his only hope to save Joey. (Japanese Yugi thinks Gilfor Demon can't awaken Jounouchi's heart. Only the Red-Eyes can do that.) The countdown approaches ten minutes.
The duelist Tristan grabbed only had one locator card, and Tristan disdainfully tells him to take a hike. Tristan turns to ask if Duke and Serenity had any luck, and is horrified to see them holding hands! Tristan hurries between them to split them up, as Duke says he couldn't find any duelists at all. Tristan walks away with his hand on Serenity's shoulder, thinking that Duke Devlin has a lot of nerve.
Then he spots the Rare Hunters, just as they spot him. They turn to run, but then Tristan stops, telling Duke to take Serenity and run, while he goes back to face the Rare Hunters. Duke and Serenity rush out into the street, nearly getting hit by a little blue convertible—driven by Mai Valentine! She tells them to watch it, and Duke tells her they're being chased by a gang of robed weirdos.
Joey tells Téa he hopes she's comfortable in a front-row seat to her friend's last duel. Yugi tells Marik he won't get away with this! But mind-controlled Joey says that in less than ten minutes, the anchor will drop, taking Yugi and his friend along with it! (There's no dialog in this scene in the Japanese, except for Yugi wondering what he should do.)
Tristan has flattened all three of the Rare Hunters. He grabs one of them, demanding to know where his friends are. The Rare Hunter tells him that they're at Domino Pier. Just then, Mai drives up, with Duke and Serenity in tow. Tristan hops in as well, and they drive off. Mai says that the creeps who attacked Tristan sound like the Rare Hunters she's been hearing about—underground duelists who steal Rare Cards, which is probably why they kidnapped Joey and the others. Tristan tells Mai she's going the wrong way. She's got six locator cards and is headed for the finals, but Tristan says they have to go to the pier. Mai does a quick one-eighty in the middle of the street, and they're off to the rescue!
It's Joey's turn, and he draws Skull Dice. (In the Japanese, it's a magic card. In the US, it's been changed to a trap card, which is what the real card is.)
Marik thinks this might be useful—but it doesn't really matter. He'll win either way. Either Joey will win and Yugi's life points will be reduced to zero, or the timer will run out and both Yugi and Joey will be reunited at the bottom of the sea. And then Marik will possess the Millennium Puzzle and Yugi's God card, Slifer the Sky Dragon. (Japanese Malik says that there's no time left. If Jounouchi doesn't do anything this turn, they'll both go to hell. It's a happy ending. In eight minutes, he'll have revenge for his tribe. He'll send them the irreparable bonds of friendship.)
Yugi looks on with big, sad eyes, urging Joey to break free. Marik tells Joey he can either destroy Yugi with his magic cards or just keep waiting. (Japanese Malik tells Jounouchi he doesn't have to think of strategies, or fight any more. All he has to do is wait until the time is over.) Yugi thinks if he tells Joey old stories, he might remember something. He reminds Joey of Duelist Kingdom, and Joey's desire to win to pay for his sister's operation. Thanks to Joey, she'll see again, and Joey remembers being with Serenity at the hospital. Joey kept his promise to her, Yugi says, and reminds him of the pledge Joey made to him when he gave Yugi his Red-Eyes Black Dragon, promising to stand by Yugi and help him in his fight. (In the Japanese, Yugi reminds Jounouchi of their promise to duel again when Jounouchi has become a True Duelist.)
Mind-controlled Joey says he promises to annihilate Yugi. He plays two cards face down and ends his turn.
Marik stands up, crushing one of the ice cubes under his foot, saying that he'll crush Yugi! Excellent dueling, he tells Joey. (Japanese Malik is enraged that Jounouchi didn't follow his orders, but continued to duel. He couldn't have undone the brainwashing, he thinks. Is Jounouchi dueling with his own ability?)
Yugi begs Joey to wake up. Joey says Yugi's friend isn't coming back. (Japanese Yugi says it's his turn. He thinks to Jounouchi that they should keep fighting. It's the only way he'll awaken Jounouchi's heart.) The countdown approaches five minutes. Yugi draws a trap card, then plays one card face down, and attacks Panther Warrior with Beast of Gilford. (Japanese Jounouchi says he wanted Yugi to attack—that's why he left Panther Warrior in attack mode. Yugi says he knows.) Joey activates his face-down cards, Skull Dice and Graceful Dice. Graceful Dice will power up his monster, while Skull Dice will reduce Beast of Gilford's attack. But Yugi activates his face-down card, De-Spell, destroying Graceful Dice, leaving only Skull Dice to weaken Yugi's monster. He rolls a two, and Beast of Gilford's attack is cut in half, but it still has 1100 attack points, more than Panther Warrior's 500. Panther Warrior is destroyed, and Joey's life points are down to 1100.
Mai's nearly at the pier, and she reassures Serenity that soon she'll be watching her brother duel in the finals. (Japanese Mai tells Shizuka that her brother is a wonderful man, and she must use her eyes to see his handsome gestures.)
Joey says he might have lost his Panther Warrior, but Yugi's about to lose the duel. Yugi thinks this is his last chance to get through to Joey. (Japanese Yugi thinks that his and Jounouchi's life points are nearly the same. If they can both reach zero at the same time, maybe they can both escape.)
Mokuba says that Yugi's only got 1000 life points left—one more major attack will wipe him out. Watching the counter click off the seconds, Kaiba thinks that if that timer runs down first, Yugi and Wheeler will both be fish food.
They hear a car honking, and Mai's convertible pulls up on the pier. Tristan and Duke start to run to Téa, but Mokuba warns them to stop, pointing out the crate hanging over her head. Kaiba and Mokuba explain about the duel (Japanese Kaiba says it's a death duel). Serenity is about to take her bandages off, but Téa thinks she can't let Serenity see her brother like this, and calls out to Serenity not to do it. Mai puts her arm around Serenity's shoulder, telling her that if anyone can save Joey, Yugi can. (Japanese Mai tells Shizuka to trust her brother.)
Joey says he could just let the timer run out, but outdueling Yugi is much more fun. And now all of Yugi's friends are there to watch his destruction. Joey draws the magic card, Meteor of Destruction (Death Meteor). Marik says this is just the card they need to win! He tells Joey to play it and destroy his best friend. One more move, and Yugi will be gone for good.
To Be Continued
