Clearly intimidated by Marik's Opopis Snakes, Joey refuses to give in even though things look hopeless for him. Setting Scapegoat face-down he changes his Alligator's Sword to Defence Mode, hoping that together they will be enough to block Marik's attack, at least until he can think of a way to win. As Marik orders his three snakes to attack, Joey activates Scapegoat however Marik counters it with Magic Jammer. As both of his monsters are destroyed, Joey takes the full impact of the third snake's attack (J's LP: 200) and begins to wonder whether he has any chance of surviving another turn.

Unable to see his friend struggle alone any longer, Yugi calls out to Joey, telling his friend that he has to defeat Marik for everybody's sake. While this comment amuses Namu, the real Marik, Kaiba is furious that Marik will win without summoning Ra to the field. As Marik tells Joey that he may as well give up now, Mai calls out to tell Joey not to give up and to stay strong until the very end. Not one to back out no matter how bad things look, Joey's spirits are raised by the support of Mai and the others, especially as Serenity tells him that she is sure that he can win, reminding him that he inspired her to not give up when things got tough. With all his friends behind him, Joey gets back up and informs Marik that his friends are what will keep him going.

As Joey remarks that Marik probably doesn't know what friendship is, his opponent remembers a time when he did feel such warmth, when he was rescued by the real Marik's mother after being deserted by his own parents. With both duellists as determined as ever to win, Joey remembers his Battle City duels against Mako, Espa and Weevil and as Yami reminds him of the promise he made to help defeat Marik, Joey begins to weave the plan which could help him win the duel. Setting two cards, Joey summons Swordsman of Landstar (500/1500) in defence mode and ends his turn. However as Marik orders his trio of serpent swordsmen to attack, Joey reveals the first of his two set cards to be Foolish Burial. As he uses his Magic card to send one card from his hand to Marik's graveyard, Joey activates his other set card, Graverobber

Summoning his own Jinzo (2400/1500) from Marik's graveyard, Joey uses his monster's special ability to destroy all three of Marik's Trap Monsters. As Joey remembers how Espa Roba used Jinzo against him back in his first duel of Battle City, Joey is pleased that the monster is now coming in useful although Marik still seems worryingly confident that victory will be his. Pleased that Joey may now survive long enough for Marik to have to summon The Winged Dragon of Ra, Kaiba begins to take interest in the duel once again as Joey summons Battle Warrior (700/1000) in attack mode. Switching his Swordsman of Landstar into Attack Mode as well, Joey's trio of monsters attack Marik directly (M's LP: 400) taking a big chunk out of his Life Points.

With the scores almost level, Joey and the others are confident that he might be able to win after all, however Marik's Temple of the Kings still poses a possible problem. As Namu contacts Marik mentally and orders him to destroy Joey, Marik is confident that he can render Joey's monsters useless as he plays Swords of Revealing Light. As Joey hopes that Marik won't be able to recover during the three turns he has bought himself he tributes his Battle Warrior to summon The Legendary Fisherman (1850/1600). Determined to use it well, as he promised Mako he would, Joey switches his monsters to Defence Mode as he ends his turn.

Hoping to draw a card which could help him win, Marik is shocked as he draws The Winged Dragon of Ra. As Namu explains that he slipped the card into his deck in case it was necessary to reinforce the fact that Odion is the real Marik, Odion is worried that he won't be able to control the powerful God. As Marik sets one card, Namu orders him to seal Ra within the Ancient Ark of the Temple of the Kings, however as Marik considers whether he should use the card or not Téa notices that he has been acting weird since he drew that last card.

Yugi has also noticed this and suggests that it might have something to do with the Temple's Ark and as Joey calls for Marik to make his next move he confirms this as he seals a card within the Ark. While Yugi is worried that the card Marik sealed might have been The Winged Dragon of Ra, Joey takes the opportunity to strengthen his defences as he uses Monster Reborn to revive his Alligatro's Sword before tributing both it and his Swordsman of Landstar to summon Insect Queen (2200/2400) in Defence Mode.

With all three of his Battle City prize cards on the field, it is apparent that Joey's deck has grown more powerful since he entered the tournament, however as Marik's Swords of Revealing Light fade away Marik explains that Joey will soon be defeated. Playing Cup of Sealed Soul from his hand, Marik activates his face-down card Seal or Serket along with the special ability of Temple of the Kings to summon the Mystical Beast of Serket. As the huge beast appears on the field, the gang are all freaked out by it's grotesque appearance, however Marik informs them that although this beast is powerful there are more powerful monsters in his posession, namely The Winged Dragon of Ra.