Awesome / Being Dead Ain't Easy

• At the beginning of the story Joey saves Seto Kaiba and Mokuba's lives by freeing them from the burning limo. He tries to save the driver, too, and ends up taking a bullet for Kaiba by complete accident.
• Yugi offers to play Duel Monsters with Kaiba in an effort to cheer him up. When that doesn't work, Yami Yugi goads him into dueling by mocking his skills.
• Yami Yugi destroys Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon using Kuribohs, Multiply, and a Catapult Turtle. Joey admits he has no idea how that worked.
• Kaiba takes a phone call and becomes so enraged at the news he completely destroys the phone with one hand.
• Joey gets into a fistfight with Yami Bakura. He almost wins before a dizzy spell gives Bakura the advantage.
• Yami Bakura promises to help Joey if he helps him steal the Millennium Puzzle. Joey instantly refuses, even though refusing help would mean he'd cease to exist.
  "Foolish boy! This is the preservation of your soul we are negotiating for! Is it truly worth so little to you?"
  "No. Yugi's just worth that much more to me."
• When under attack by a crazed ex-Kaiba Corp employee, Joey watches as Kaiba saves his briefcase first and wonders why he even carries it around. His question is answered when Kaiba uses it to block bullets.
• Joey saves Kaiba from Morrison several times despite being dead and with neither of them in good shape. Kaiba finishes things off by pushing Morrison off of KaibaCorp's roof.
  • The really awesome (and terrifying) thing? Morrison could see Joey. He knew his victim was getting his vengeance.
• The real reason Joey was barred from the afterlife was Seto Kaiba willed it so. As Yami Bakura puts it, even in an age where shadow powers are at a minimum, Kaiba's willpower is so strong he bound Joey's soul to his own without being aware of it.
  "Hmmm... Are you quite sure you said nothing? Nothing at all?"
  "No, I said..." Kaiba's eyes widen. "I told him to... stay... with... me..."
  No way, Yami Bakura can't mean...!
  The spirit smirks. "And what the High Priest wants, the High Priest gets."
• Upon learning that his imminent cessation of existence is Kaiba's fault, Joey forces him to apologize for wrecking his life and death.
• When Yami Bakura demands the Millennium Puzzle in exchange for helping Joey, Kaiba agrees with Joey's refusal and tells Bakura to leave.
  "I don't like repeating myself, Bakura. Are you going to walk or do you want someone to drive you?"
  "Surely a man's soul is worth a small thing like a Millennium Item!"
  "The soul in question apparently doesn't think so. No Millennium Items. This is not negotiable."
• The ending to chapter 29 has Joey and Kaiba setting out to fight Yami Bakura in the most epic way possible.
  It's the view from the inside of a dome, like if you were lyin' on your back. You can see the rain through it. We can hear Yami Bakura laughing his head off. I'm guessing everybody's in some serious trouble. Whadda ya know, Kaiba was right about the doors being the way out.
  This is it. "Kaiba."
  He nods. "Let's go."
  We're gonna kick some Bakura ass.
• After the ritual to save him is completed, Joey can turn into the Red-Eyes Black Dragon in real life. He proceeds to curb-stomp Yami Bakura, single-handedly saving everyone from death.
• Seto Kaiba takes an insane amount of punishment in the story and comes out okay. While running on a lack of sleep and food and slowly dying due to synchronization with the dying Joey, he gets shot at, gassed, beaten up, chased by a Man-Eater Bug and torn into by a Spellbinding Circle all on the same day and lives.
• Joey's speech to save Kaiba from being trapped in the Soul Room. Insulting him doesn't work, and when he tries to fight him he gets beat up. Joey realizes he has to be ruthless, so he slams him into a wall and tells Kaiba point-blank that even though he sucks, Mokuba thinks he's going to wake up, so Joey's going to make him wake up and there's nothing he can do to stop him.
• When Kaiba tries to scare Joey off by kissing him, Joey stares at him until he blinks and does the same thing right back. Both are very freaked out at it, but it's enough to make Seto agree to leave when Joey asks him if he has what it takes to come with him and find out what it means.
• When Kaiba finally agrees to leave the Soul Room, he concentrates on opening a way out and nothing happens. He and Joey are immediately swarmed and will be trapped there forever. Joey screams in his mind that this can't be happening... and his willpower is so strong he turns into the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, frees Kaiba, and flies them back to the real world.

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