Finals - Joey Wheeler.

So, this is a random thing that came to mind listening to Technicolor by Madeon. It's short.

This was it. The moment he had been waiting for. The moment he had been preparing himself for. Everything he had worked for had come down to this one duel. If he succeeded in winning the duel he advanced to the final round of the tournament but winning some prize was not the objective. He had to win this duel at all costs in order to save the woman he admired most, Mai Valentine. His fists clenched almost as if they had a mind of their own. The thought of what Marik had done to Mai was despicable. He took a deep breath as the elevator progressed up the massive duel tower toward the top floor. The determination in his eyes unwavering, he let out a heavy sigh. The doors slid open effortlessly as he stepped out of the elevator fists still clenched. His teeth were grinding as he approached the field that they were to duel on. 'This is it.' He thought to himself as he looked up at the sun shining brightly overhead. "Soon." He whispered hoping that somehow the word would reach the soul of Mai. Staring straight ahead, he stood in his appointed spot on the field trying to come off as confidently as possible. It must had been working because his friends who were chatting noisily suddenly became quiet when he took his stand. He glanced to his right and came into eye contact with his best friend, Yugu Motou. He gave him a slight nod before giving his left a sideways glance where Marik's sister Ishizu stood. He questioned whether there really was any good left in Marik as Ishizu had pleaded earlier or if he was truly a spirit of evil. He sighed softly. He knew Marik was evil and he wanted to hate him for what trapping Mai's soul in the Shadow Realm but what would that make him? If he destroyed Marik for destroying Mai that would not make him any better. He needed to beat Marik in this duel but he also needed to save him. Would defeating him really save his soul? He stood frozen in time for a few moments trying to reason with himself. He made a promise to himself a long time ago that he would never live a life hurting others like he used to in the past.
"Hello little Joey." '!' Joey's head shot up from the ground he was previously focused on as the voice taunted him from across the dueling field. 'Marik.' As he looked at his opponent everything became clear. He needed to do this. He needed to win. No matter what. He nodded to himself, ignoring the taunting comments coming from Marik. It wasn't a time to fool around. He had to be serious. Not even the slightest smirk or smile came across his lips. The determination and ferocity in his eyes were unstoppable.
"You may shuffle each other's decks. Please step into the center of the playing field." Roland, Seto Kaiba's number one personal assistant and long-time Kaiba Corporation employee, yelled out so his voice could be heard by everyone in and off of the platform. Marik and Joey stepped into the center of the field, eyeing each other cautiously. Joey could see the veins protruding from Marik's face almost popping out of the skin. The smirk on his face and malicious gaze in his eyes was enough to send a chill down Joey's spine. Noticing the goosebumps on Joey's arms when he handed him his dueling deck made Marik chuckle to himself.
"What's so funny?!" Joey gritted his teeth angrily while clumsily shuffling Marik's deck.
"Oh, you will see." Marik snickered in a mocking tone. He was enjoying getting underneath Joey's skin as he watched him shuffle his deck for what seemed like ten minutes.
"That's enough. The deck is shuffled. Please exchange the decks and return to your sides of the playing field at once." Roland put a hand out flabbergasted. Joey had lost himself in his anger and had forgotten his surroundings. He grunted in frustration as Roland snapped him back into reality. He snatched his dueling deck out of Marik's hand trying to be careful not to touch him and returned to his side of the field. The strict determination he had felt just a few minutes ago was now replaced with anger and frustration. He felt his hands start to tremble as he drew the first card of the duel. He could barely contain all the fierce emotions that were surging through his body.
"I will win this." He spoke to himself so quietly no one else could hear him. His friends all stared in shock as they witnessed the most serious version of their friend they had ever seen. They were used to happy go lucky Joey. They had never seen such a determined, bold and fierce side of him.
"He's really serious about this..." Téa mumbled, biting down on her bottom lip hard. She felt her chest tighten as she held her breath without realizing it. The resolve in Joey's eyes was unmistakable. "I hope he'll be okay." He sighed heavily, letting out all the air that had built up in her lungs and remembered the last duel Joey participated in against Odion. He was left unconscious on the dueling platform after being struck by lightning. She cared too much about her friends to see them in any kind of pain and wished he would not duel but she understood that it was something Joey felt he absolutely needed to do.