Please accept all that happens in this chapter.
-x-
Chumley was walking back to work after handing Jaden the cards he created for him. He had worked really hard on them and he hoped that they would come in handy for when Jaden took on the Wicked Gods. It was the least he could do to repay his friend for always being there for him. It was Jaden who had given him his best card when he had to duel his father and it was that same friend who helped him train for that match against Crowler. If it hadn't been for Jaden, he never would have gotten his dream job. Most likely he would have been sent back home to work at his father's hot sauce factory.
Then, as he turned a corner, he was grabbed and forcefully taken into a building. Everything was happening so fast! Before he knew it, he was on an elevator.
This incident didn't go unnoticed. It just so happened that Dr. Crowler, who had finally escaped from the crowd of angry mothers, arrived just in time to witness one of his former students being assaulted.
"Wasn't that Chumley?" asked Crowler out loud. "How dare someone try and kidnap one of my former students! I will make sure they pay for this!" With that, Crowler raced over to the building and arrived just in time to see Chumley being taken into the elevator. Crowler let out a growl and then looked around for another elevator. Finding none, he decided to use the stairs. "Here I come, Chumley!" shouted Crowler as he began to race up the stairs at full speed.
The elevator opened up on the twentieth floor and Chumley was pushed out of it. The large koala lover stumbled on the roof of the building and then did his best to straighten up. He turned and faced his opponent, who was much stronger than he looked. His assaulter had spiky blue hair and brown eyes. He wore a black sleeveless shirt, black shorts, and had chains hanging from one of his sides. The teen also had a spare Duel Disk which he tossed to Chumley who barely caught it.
"Who are you and what do you want?" demanded Chumley. The blue haired teen was about to speak when the stairway door opened and in walked a panting professor. "Dr. Crowler?"
"Don't worry my dear boy," panted Crowler as he rested his hands on his knees. "I'm here to save you. Just…as soon as I take a short break."
"Looks like I will be needed after all," said a voice from the shadows near the stairway door. Everyone turned to see a small boy of about eleven with square shaped glasses, parted grey hair, and bucked teeth. He had on a green sweater and purple shorts. The boy activated his Duel Disk and the black circle appeared around him and Crowler. "If you want to save your friend then you have to defeat me first!"
"There was no need for you to do that Milton," said the blue haired teen. "I could have taken them both with little effort." With that, he activated his Duel Disk and entrapped him and Chumley in the same black circle. "I'll go first. I draw. I end my turn."
Chumley blinked. He didn't understand it. His opponent ended his turn without summoning any monsters or setting down any cards. Chumley put on his Duel Disk, activated it, and then drew his five cards.
"I draw," said Chumley. He drew his card and his eyes widened. "Lischus! I'll start by playing the spell card: Polymerization! And I'll use it to fuse my Des Kangaroo and my Big Koala in order to create the Master of Oz!" As he said this, a boxing kangaroo and a large koala appeared above him and then were sucked into a vortex. Then, something very large and green fell from the sky and landed behind Chumley. It was the Master of OZ, a large koala with red boxing gloves, a mustache, and a scar on its left eye. It had 4200 attack points and 3700 defense points. "Next I'll be using another lischus card called Wild Nature's Release which will add the defense points to my monsters attack points!" As soon as Chumley played his card, the Master of Oz's attack points became 7900. "Sure, my monster will be destroyed at the end of this turn, but it'll be worth it. Now attack with Take Down From Down Under!" The Master of Oz began his wind up and then punched the blue haired teen with all its might. When the smoke cleared, Chumley's opponent had only 100 life points left.
"Great job Chumley!" cheered Crowler. "Just one more attack and you win!"
"Pointless," said the blue haired teen. "Since my field was empty and I took damage from my opponent, I am now able to special summon Gorz the Emissary of Darkness!" A dark portal opened up on the floor and up rose a fiend with 2700 attack points and 2500 defense points. It looked like a human in dark, bladed armor. On both his arms were blades and on his back was a massive sword. His face was covered and he had long red hair. His red cape blew in the wind. "Now watch closely because he has a special ability that is determined by what kind of damage I took. And since it was battle damage I get an Emissary of Darkness token that has attack points equal to the damage I just took." Another monster appeared on the field like Gorz, but only a fifth of his size and wearing white armor. Its attack points stared at 0 but quickly rose to 7900!
"I'm not done yet," said Chumley. He knew that he was close to winning this duel. Closer than he had ever been in his life. Now all he needed to do was to set a trap that would take away the rest of his opponent's life points. And just because he was setting a trap didn't mean that he needed a trap card. "I place a monster face down and end my turn." With that, a face down card appeared in front of Chumley in a defense position and the Master of Oz exploded into thousands of golden lights.
If I know Chumley, thought Crowler, that face down card is Des Koala. Once it is flipped over his opponent will take 400 points of damage of each card in his hand. And with only 100 life points left, the moment he attacks is the moment he loses regardless of how powerful a monster he has. I'm proud of you Chumley; you've come a long way.
"I'm tired of waiting," said Milton as he drew a card. "Time to make you feel like a kid again. I summon Protector of the Sanctuary in defense mode!" Blue lines began to appear right in back of Milton. Some seemed to outline a figure while others drew within it until a faceless giant with 1900 defense points appeared. "Next I'll play Card Destruction! Now we both discard all that cards in our hands and then draw the same number from our decks." Both duelists discarded their hands. Milton was able to draw four new cards but when Crowler tried to he found himself unable to do so.
"Hey, what gives?" he demanded.
"My monsters affect," said Milton. "As long as my monsters on the field, you are not allowed to draw any cards outside of your draw phase. That is the power of my deck. I'll make you feel as powerless as a child. Every promise that a spell card will give you, it'll be a lie. Every option that you think you have, I'll take it away! Just like my parents always did to me."
"Are you done yet?" growled Crowler. He was starting to really dislike this child.
"Not yet," said Milton. "I'll play my Fusion Recovery spell card which allows me to get back my Polymerization card and one monster that can be used in a fusion. And I choose my Nightmare Horse." The two cards were added from his Graveyard to his hand. "Next I'll use Polymerization to fuse my Spirit Reaper and my Nightmare Horse to summon Reaper on the Nightmare!" What appeared on the field was one of the most dangerous cards in the game. It was a purple clothed figure holding a scythe in one hand while riding a bandaged horse made of ghostly blue energy. It was a level 5 monster with 800 attack points. While it was weak, its special ability allowed it to attack its opponent directly and each time it did so a card would be discarded from Crowler's hand. "I'll place one card face down and end my turn."
"Good," said Crowler as he drew a card. It was a level four monster. "You've had it your way for too long young man. It's to send you to the corner and I have just the monster to do it. I summon Ancient Gear Knight in attack mode." An Ancient Gear monster appeared on Crowler's side of the field. It looked a lot like Ancient Gear Soldier except one hand was a spear and the other was a shield that looked like a gear. Its attack points were 1800. "Now attack Reaper on the Nightmare with Ancient Gear Jousting!" Crowler knew as his monster charged at its opponent that the Reaper on the Nightmare would survive. But Milton's life points were another matter.
"Fool," said Milton. "I activate my face down: Spirit Barrier. As long as I have at least one monster on the field my life points are safe from battle damage. Also, this is a continuous trap card so it'll be sticking around."
"Fine then," said Crowler. "I end my turn." Crowler knew what he had to do. He needed to get rid of either that trap card or the Protector of the Sanctuary. Once the Protector of the Sanctuary was gone he could draw cards outside of his draw phase. And once Spirit Barrier was done he could get to the brats life points.
-x-
"So who are we meeting up with this time?" asked Adam. The two of them were waiting in a parking lot. A few minutes after Adam had dueled Crowler, Jaden had gotten a phone call. It was short and after it was done Jaden had insisted that they come to this location.
"Well, I called up a friend after you told me what was going on," explained Jaden. "And he says that he found something." Before Adam could say anything, a silver van came into the parking lot. It parked close to where the two were and the door opened revealing Axel Brodie. To Jaden, he hadn't changed a bit. The same clothing, same Duel Disk, and same intense look on his face. "Hey Axel."
"Jaden," said Axel with a nod as he gestured the two into his van. Inside were computers and other electronic devices that looked like something from a modern day war movie.
"Alex," said Jaden as he gestured to Adam. "This is…"
"No time," said Axel as he went to a monitor and pulled up a file. "I think I figured out who the leader of the Rare Hunters is." A picture came up of a man with long blond hair that ended in a dozen spikes and teal colored eyes. "His name is Constant Lutte. From everything I've been able to find, he's the leader of a worldwide political party called Burning Freedom. Lutte has been trying to get all governments around the world to take away freedoms like speech, press, and other things because he believes that they are causing the world's problems. He is also trying to install a one punishment for all crimes: death."
"Well he seems a bit harsh," said Adam. Axel nodded.
"That's what almost all the world leaders believe as well," said Axel.
"So how do you know he's the one?" Jaden asked.
"It was Shinji," said Axel as he pulled up Shinji's file. "A week before the Wicked God cards were stole; he along with several others joined Burning Freedom. Before that, he had no ties to any group and never showed any interest in politics.
"Also, this dude was spotted outside of Industrial Illusions right before the break in." A new file popped up of a blue haired teen. "Meet the number two man in Burning Freedom, James Legion. He used to be a pro duelist who worked his way up from the bottom. However, his poor sportsmanship and violent behavior got him kicked out before he could make it to the big leagues. A couple of days later he joined Burning Freedom."
"So they're going to use the Wicked God cards to force their beliefs on the world?" asked Jaden.
"That's what it seems like," said Adam with a sigh. "And with those cards, they could do it."
"But there is one thing that doesn't make sense," said Axel. "Those cards were under tight lock and key. There were 31 surveillance cameras in that room alone that sent feeds to several building all over the city and some of them were dummies. If even one went offline, the police are instantly notified. Finally the safe, which was designed to withstand a nuclear blast, which they were in, can only be opened by using Toon World and the only person who has that card is Pegasus."
"So what are you saying?" asked Jaden.
"They had inside help," answered Adam. "A card designer or someone who could create another Toon World. Someone who could tell them about the level of security and how to get around it. Needless to say that it's a short list."
"Don't worry," said Axel. "I'll find out who the inside leak is."
-x-
"My move," said Legion as he drew his card. "I'll play the spell card: Dark World Lightning! This card destroys one face down card on the field and then I discard one card from my hand."
"But that means…," said Chumley right before lightning struck his face down Des Koala and destroyed it. Now his field was bare and his life points were wide open.
"Now I attack," said Legion as he discarded a card. "Gorz, show this swine what true terror is with Black Lightning!" Gorz nodded and then drew its sword. He then pointed the massive weapon at Chumley, smiled a wicked smile, and then sent bolts of black lightning at Chumley who screamed in utter pain as they hit. When it was over, Chumley was on his hands and knees.
"Hang on Chumley," cried Crowler. Milton chuckled which caused Crowler to give him his attention.
"It's over for tubby," he said. Crowler growled and turned to look at Legion.
"Leave my former student alone!" he yelled. "I'll take you both on if I have to, just let him go!" Legion looked at Crowler with an uncaring look and then looked at Chumley once again.
"Finish the job my token," he said. The token nodded, jumped into the air, and slashed away the rest of Chumley's life points. Once they were all gone, Chumley's mouth opened up and his soul rose out from it. Then the dark circle rose into the air as well.
"Why?" asked Crowler quietly. Then, anger rose inside of him. He glared at Legion with a furry like nothing he had ever felt before in his life. "WHY DID YOU DO THAT? WHY DID YOU TARGET CHUMLEY OF ALL PEOPLE?"
"Because he was disposable," said Legion as he walked toward the elevator. "He was a useless sack of flesh. He gave us poor duel energy and I doubt his soul is worth that much. However, since he can see duel spirits he can be used as a trade in to summon forth a being from the shadows." The elevator doors opened and Legion stepped inside. He then turned around and looked at Crowler. "If you manage to walk away from this duel, and you still hold on to any foolish belief that you can beat me, then seek me out." And with that, the elevator door closed.
"Back to our duel," said Milton as he drew a card. This brought the total number of cards in his hand to 3. "I'll just attack you directly with my Reaper on the Nightmare. So attack with Ghostly Scythe!" The Reaper obeyed his master's command and went right at Crowler who stood there with his head down. Then phantom rider went right through Ancient Gear Knight and then slashed at Crowler which lowered his life points to 7200. "With that I'll end my turn."
"You just made a big mistake," said Crowler as he looked up at Milton. His eyes were fierce and narrow. His teeth were grit. "I'll end this soon. I draw. I summon to the field my Heavy Mech Support Platform." A new machine appeared on the field. Unlike most of Crowler's monsters, this one looked more like a space ship the size of a backpack. "Don't let its size fool you because it has a special ability. I can equip it to one of my machines in order to increase its attack and defense points by 500." As Crowler said this, his union monster flew around to Ancient Gear Knight's back and then attached itself onto it. Once it was secured the Knight's attack points became 2300. "Now slay Protector of the Sanctuary!" Ancient Gear Knight didn't waste a second as it charged right at the glowing fiend. Protector of the Sanctuary held out a hand to try and stop the attack, but Ancient Gear Knight pierced right through it and destroyed the monster. "I end my turn."
"My draw," said Milton as he drew a card. "Now I'll play the field spell: Fusion Gate." Once the card was played dark swirling clouds filled the sky above them. "With this in play, we can summon fusion monsters without Polymerization. However the material monsters are then removed from play. But it's worth it to fuse my Spirit Reaper and my Nightmare Horse to create another Reaper on the Nightmare." The two monsters in Milton's hand flew into the clouds and then Reaper on the Nightmare came out from the vortex. "Now I'll attack with both my monsters!" Now the double Reaper's charged at Crowler. They seemed to circle him for a while before they brought out their scythes. The first one attacked him from the front and then the second one attacked from behind. When it was over Crowler had 5600 life points. "I'll finish my turn by playing Goblin Thief which takes 500 life points away from you and gives them to me." As Crowler's life points went down to 5100, Milton's rose to 8500.
"My draw," said Crowler as he drew his next card. "Well, well it looks like I drew Pot of Greed. Now I get two new cards." Crowler, thankful for this turn of luck, drew two more cards and hoped that they would be good enough. "I'll play my Future Fusion spell card. I can now send fusion material cards in my deck to my grave and in return I get that fusion monster on my second standby phase." Crowler then sent all three of his Ancient Gear Golems to his graveyard. "Next I'll separate my Heavy Mech Support Platform and then sacrifice it in order to summon my Ancient Gear Engineer!" Heavy Mech Support Platform vanished from the field and in its place was an Ancient Gear monster with a power drill for a hand and a single glowing green eye. "Now, Ancient Gear Engineer, attack the first Reaper on the Nightmare." Ancient Gear Engineer raised his drill and then drilled right into Reaper on the Nightmare. However, the attack passed right through it like the Reaper's body was made of mist.
"Ha-ha," laughed Milton. "That was pointless. My monsters can't be destroyed and I can't take any damage thanks to my trap."
"Which is why I'm getting rid of it!" declared Crowler. "You see, after Ancient Gear Engineer battles a monster it can destroy one spell or trap card on the field. And I choose your Spirit Barrier!" With that, Spirit Barrier exploded. "And don't forget I still have another attack. Go Ancient Gear Knight with Ancient Gear Jousting!" The knight did as it was told and charged at the other Reaper on the Nightmare. While it wasn't destroyed, Milton's life points went down to 7500. "I end my turn."
"About time old man," said Milton as he drew a card. "I'll activate my Pot of Greed." Milton drew two more cards. "Now I'll play my Heavy Storm card which destroys all spell and trap cards on the field." Both watched as Fusion Gate and Future Fusion were destroyed in a powerful burst of wind. "Next I summon my Vampire Lady to the field." Crowler watched as a monster that looked a lot like Camula the Vampire Shadow Rider appeared on the field. This deadly beauty had 1550 attack points. "Now my Vampire Lady attacks your Ancient Gear Engineer with Swarm of the Mistress!" Vampire Lady raised her arms and seemed to summon hundreds of bats from the sky. The bats flew down at Ancient Gear Engineer and began to bite, claw, and get into the machines gears. Moments later all that was left was a pile of rubble and Crowler's life points dropped to 5050. "Now, since my vampire inflicted battle damage, I can name a card type and then you must discard that card to your grave. I choose a monster." Crowler gritted his teeth again and then began to go through his deck to select a monster. Then, he noticed a card that he had recently added. Zane had given him this card and a few others after he got out of the hospital. Crowler passed over that card and selected an Ancient Gear and sent it to the grave. "Now I attack with my two Reaper on the Nightmare!" Once more the Reaper's attacked Crowler directly and sent his life points down to 4250 and then again to 3450. "I'll end my turn."
"My draw," said Crowler as he drew. He looked at the card and, while it wasn't what he was hoping for, it was something he could still use. "I'll play my Ancient Gear Drill. This card lets me go through my deck and pick one spell card from my deck and then place it face down on my field. I then end my turn."
"Looks like age has made you stupid old man," said Milton as he drew. "You could have destroyed my Vampire Lady. Maybe you need another double dose of direct attacks!" Taking that as the command to attack, the twin Reapers attack Crowler once more and brought his life points down to 1850. "I'll end my turn with that, but next time it'll be over for you."
"I draw," said Crowler as he put all his hope in this draw. And he was not disappointed. "Young man, you are greatly confused. Parents sometimes have to break promises, like all people. And when they see the hurt in their children's eyes it hurts them most of all. And when they deny their children something, they have their reasons. You might not be able to understand it, but it is true."
"What are you talking about?" demanded Milton.
"I have been an educator for a long time," said Crowler as he looked at Chumley for a moment. "In all my years, I have gotten close to many of my students. Some of them I needed to go harder on because I cared. I had to deny them what they felt they deserved and made promises I wasn't able to keep. And each and every one of them grew up to be fine duelists and even better human beings."
"Just make your move!" yelled Milton.
"Very well," said Crowler. "I summon Proto-Cyber Dragon!" A mechanical dragon with 1100 attack points appeared on Crowler's side of the field. "Next I activate my face down card: Overload Fusion. I'll now remove from game fusion material monster that are on my field or graveyard in order to summon a dark machine type monster. Now rise up: Chimeratech Overdragon!"
"W-what is that?" demanded Milton as a snake like machine appeared on the field. Then, from the main body, heads began to sprout. One by one they appeared until there were 10 total. "So what if you have some big monster. I will be the winner of this match during my next turn."
"My poor boy," said Crowler as he shook his head. "There will be no next turn for you. You see, since I used 10 machines in order to summon it, Chimeratech Overdragon has 8000 attack points and can attack 10 times."
"N-No way," stammered Milton as he dropped his card and wet his pants. "I-I don't want to lose my soul!"
"YOU BROUGHT THIS UPON YOURSELF!" yelled Crowler as all of the dragons heads fired at once. In a blinding light, Milton's monsters were destroyed and his life points hit 0. And when the light faded both Milton's soul and the black circle were gone. Crowler dropped his Duel Disk and rushed over to Chumley's body.
-x-
Meanwhile, at the Rare Hunter's hideout, Chumley's soul was being used as part of a ritual. Constant Lutte held the soul in a small glass sphere while he chanted in an unknown tongue. After awhile, a dark portal opened up. From it there was the sound of screaming and wailing. Latte moved toward the portal and placed his hands, along with the sphere, into the darkness. And when he pulled them out, his hand held not a sphere but an arm. He held on and continued to pull until the figure was all the way out.
"Welcome back, Adrian."