Face Your Fears
Chapter One
"Hey, want to play that Duel Monsters game?" a man with a dark beard asked a kid sitting on his skateboard at the curb of a street.
"Dude, of course!" exclaimed the kid, standing up immediately. "Let's get cracking!"
Both the boy and the man with the dark beard pulled out Duel Disks and stepped back so that they would be far enough apart for the holographic imagery to operate.
[4000/4000]
"You may no first," said the man.
"Gee, thanks mister. I summon Mechanicalchaser in attack mode, set two face-down cards, and end my turn."
"Well, kid, that's a very good move. First, you have a level four monster with high attack power. Second, you have two face-down cards, probably Traps, though they could be Spells. I have no idea what you're going to do next!" The man laughed heartily. "Well, guess I'll set this monster face-down and end my turn."
The kid didn't know what to think of his opponent analyzing his moves. However, that wasn't going to stop him from winning this duel.
"Well, I sacrifice my Mechanicalchaser in order to summon Granmarg!" the kid said. The rotund robot holding a spear that formerly sat on his field vanished and was replaced by a golden golem. "When successfully Tribute Summoned, Granmarg's ability kicks in! He destroys one face-down card on the Field, and I choose your monster!"
"Was he successfully Tribute Summoned?" the man asked.
"I think so," the boy said. "You have no Traps on your Field to negate his summoning."
"Oh yeah, I forgot!" the man said, laughing again. "Guess my monster's gone then." He put the card in the Graveyard slot on his Duel Disk. He also slipped a card from his Deck into the Remove From Play slot on the Duel Disk, though the kid didn't notice.
"Now, Granmarg attacks you directly! Take that!"
[4000/1600]
"End turn,"' the kid said.
"Seems I've got nothing on you," the man said, drawing his card. "All I can do is summon D.D. Field Mouse* in attack mode. And with his effect, I get a Field Spell that was removed from play, at a price of course"
[4000/0600]
"Wait," the kid began, confused. "When did you remove a Field Spell from play?"
"Actually, your Granmarg did it for me. See, during your previous turn you destroyed my face-down Bulldozeroid**. His effect permitted me to remove my Field Spell from play when he was destroyed. Aren't I clever?"
"To come up with a roundabout way of getting Field Spells to your hand? Couldn't you have just used Terraforming?"
"I do not know the card Terraforming. Be it a monster?"
"No, it is a Spell."
"Ah, I can't use it if it is a Spell."
"Why not?"
"You really don't want the answer to that question," said the man with the dark beard. "But I guess you'll find out before duel's end. And now, I activate the Field Spell I took such great lengths to get in my hand! Behold, Halloween Party Room!"
Thunder shot out of the sky as the Field Spell was activated, and wickedly grinning pumpkins seemed to dance around the man in merriment.
"W-what does that card do?" the kid asked.
"What does it do?" It accesses your fear, that's what it does."
"What is happening to your monster?"
The man turned his eyes to his D.D. Field Mouse. Though it had previously been only two feet tall, it had, since the Field Spell was activated, begun to grow and expand. Its pupils were dilating to four times their normal size and muscles bulged out of its arms and it looked to be about eight feet tall.
"Whoa-whee, what a big lickin' monster I have on my Field. Too bad your Granmarg is so puny. I will have my Field Mouse attack now/"
"But your monster only has seven hundred attack points!"
"Oh yeah, that's a bummer. Better activate the cards in my hand. First, the Quick-Play Spell, Type Equality. With this, I can remove from play one monster in my Graveyard and make all the the monsters on the Field have the type of the removed from play monster until the end of the turn. Then I activate Limiter Removal, doubling Granmarg's ATK."
"Doubling Granmarg's ATK?" the boy asked, incredulously. "But…Granmarg is my monster!"
"You're right. How foolish of me. Good thing I have another Quick-Play, though, or I'd be a goner. I activate Attack Switch. This switches the ATK of one monster on my side of the Field with the ATK of a monster on your side of the Field. My monster will still be destroyed at the end of the battle, though."
"You're bluffing. There's no such card with that kind of power." An observer could clearly see that the boy was shaking, despite his confident words.
"Oh, am I? Let's see what the Field says."
The Duel Disks showed that Granmarg now had 700 ATK and D.D. Field Mouse had 4800.
"No, I won't let this happen!" the boy exclaimed. "I activate Dark Bride!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," said the man with the dark beard. "Haven't you ever heard of missing the timing?"
A big question mark appeared on the Field and Dark Bribe was set out of the kid's Spell/Trap card zone slot. He had no choice but to put it in the Graveyard slot.
"Now, Field Mouse, destroy this wretch! Attack with Whisker Trappings!"
The Field Mouse advanced toward Granmarg, ready to crush him.
"No, I won't let this happen! I activate my other face-down, Enemy Controller! Now I can destroy my Granmarg to take control of your Field Mouse for a turn."
The man with the dark beard laughed as if he had never heard anything so funny in his life. "Kid, I hate to break it to you, but that won't work."
"What's going on?" the boy asked, as the Field Mouse bent down to wind its whiskers round Granmarg. "I'm supposed to be in control of the Field Mouse! Help!"
But it was too late. The Field Mouse had lifted Granmarg in his whiskers and flung him down hard. And so went the boy's Life Points.
[0000/0600]
Three of the pumpkins that had been dancing around the man hopped toward the boy and entered him. The boys' eyes were expanding hugely. But a moment later the pumpkins emerged from a lifeless body, which cluttered to the ground.
The holograms vanished. The man walked up to the soulless body, looking at it with glee. "A shell, another shell. I will have to create more of these. What an interesting thing to be afraid of. Quick-Play Spells. I hope my next opponent has a fear as intriguing as this one."
With that remark, he went on his way, not even pausing to pick up the skateboard, which the boy who owned it would never use again.
*[D.D. Field Mouse
EARTH Beast
ATK: 700 DEF: 900
When this monster is Summoned, you can add 1 Field Spell that is Removed From Play to your hand at the cost of 1000 Life Points.]
**[Bulldozeroid
EARTH Machine
ATK: 500 DEF: 1800
When this monster is destroyed, the owner of this card must remove a Field Spell in his/her Deck from play. If the owner of this card at the time of this card's destruction does not have a Field Spell in his/her Deck, he/she must remove all their Spell cards in their Deck from play.]