As Yugi began his turn, he drew and tried to decide what to do next. He looked at Seto's two face down cards and knew that it would be suicidal to attack him. He saw that Yami Marik had one monster in attack mode and no cards protecting him. He then looked at Joey and saw no monsters on the field, but one card face down. He still didn't know who to attack.
Down on the ground, Tristin told the others that Yugi would either target Seto or Yami Marik since he wanted to keep his promise to Joey. Duke pointed out that Joey was angry at Yami Marik so he may not want to duel Yugi anymore. Tea agreed with Duke, reminding them iof her conversation back on the blimp with Joey. Joey had told her that he was angry at Yami Marik for sending Mai to the shadow realm and not to tell Yugi this. Joey had then told tea that if he couldn't save Mai, he wasn't qualified to duel Yugi. Even though Joey thought Tea was the only in the area, Serenity had also overheard the conversation.
As the duel continued, Yugi decided to attack Yami Marik. As he announced his attack, Joey told him to stop. Yugi wondered what Joey was doing. Joey then asked Yugi what the definition of a real duellist was. Everyone wondered what Joey was talking about. Joey explained that all throughout Battle City, he had been searching for an answer, but he hadn't found one yet. Seto laughed, wondering why Joey want to know this. Joey then told Yugi that Yugi had taught him how to fight bravely in all his duels. Joey then told Tristin that Tristin had done the same, which confused Tristin.
Joey then began to remember hid duels in Battle City against Espa Roba, Weevil, Mako, and Odion. He then said that he had found his weak point because of them. He then remembered Mai's duel against Marik then she told them not to come and cheer for her. Joey then told Yugi that in Battle City, the only person you could trust was yourself and that everyone was an enemy. Kaiba smirked. Marik had been growing impatient and told everyone to continue. Joey then told Yugi that if he was a real duellist, he would attack Joey and stop protecting him because of their promise. Everyone wondered what Joey was doing. Mokuba then pointed out that if Yugi's Beast of Gilfer attacked Joey directly, Joey's platform would raise higher than everybody else. Joey told Yugi that he was the weakest duellist since he had no monsters on the field and that a real duellist would defeat the weak duellist so they could duel the stronger duellist later. Joey then told Yugi that even if he lost this duel, he would duel Yugi in the finals. Yugi then agreed and ordered his Beast of Gilfer to attack Joey directly. The attack hit Joey, reducing his life points to 1000. As the smoke cleared, Joey just smiled. His platform then raised to the 1000 mark. Joey then told Marik to come up with him so they could duel. Marik just laughed.
Now that it was Joey's turn, he drew and remembered back to Duellist Kingdom when Mai gave her Glory of the King's Hand to him. He silently made a vow to himself that he would repay her for everything she had done. Joey then summoned Axe Raider and ordered an attack on Kaiba's Blade Knight. As Axe Raider attacked, Seto activated Bell of Destruction to destroy Axe Raider. As Axe Raider exploded, Seto activated Defence Wheel protecting himself. As the smoke cleared, everyone was suprised to see that Yami Marik was losing life points. Joey then revealed his Graverobber card, telling everyone that he had copied Marik's Spell of Hate. Yami Marik now had zero life points left. He then rose to the top of the tower. Yami Marik told Joey that he would regret this. Joey was happy that his strategy worked. Mokuba the pointed out that Joey didn't have anymore monsters on the field, so his life pints were wide open. Joey told everyone that he knew this and he had planned for it to happen.
Seto then told Joey that he was stupid for knowingly making himself lose. Seto then ordered Blade Knight to attack. As Joey's life points reached zero he smiled since he could now duel Yami Marik. Marik then informed him that their duel would take place in the shadow realm, but Joey didn't care. He promised Marik that he would win the duel and take Ra. Marik then laughed. The referee the announced that the duel was over. The first duel of the second round would be Yami Marik vs. Joey and the second duel would be Yugi vs. Kaiba. All four duellists then shot up to the top of the tower.