Chapter 9- Re-Familiarization

Drake looked out toward the front doors. Sure enough, an intelligent fiend was making his way in. He was smiling rather nastily.

"You! Fool! Sticking your head out of the doorway! You are not alone, hm?" it said.

"And I should tell you this… why?" Drake asked.

"Because you have about eight snipers trained on your head and you will die if you do not comply!"

"Right." A bullet hit the wall above his head and sent plaster from the wall falling onto his head. "See? They missed." Drake pulled his head back as another bullet hit about an inch lower. "Oh dear. We seem to be pinned down."

"Yes, quite." Flynn said. "Hey! Stupid fiend!"

"I am not stupid! I'm smarter than you, apparently, since you are all holed up in an indefensible position, and I am the one who has pinned you in there!" The fiend responded.

"Well, you're the idiot who wants to duel."

"I do! And I'm not foolish for doing it, because I know you cannot beat me!"

"Do I have to prove a point?" Flynn turned to MacArthur. "Look's like you get to duel."

"What? This soon?" He asked.

"Yeah. The cocky fiends are always the worst at actual dueling. It shouldn't be too hard for you."

"I sure hope you're right, Flynn." Drake said.

"Get out here!" shouted the fiend. "I want to tear you apart."

"You know, we're not stupid enough to go out there when there are rifles trained on the doorway." Keith said. "You would just shoot us and be done with it. No, you've got to move so you can see us, not the other way around."

"HAHAHAHA!!! As if I'd listen to you." The fiend said.

"Well, you're going to have to, because we're not moving." Flynn said. "If you don't come to us, then we're at a stalemate."

"Ha! You forget that us fiends have control of all the weaponry in the world! If you try and hold out, we shall simply hit you with a missile and you will die! You fools! You cannot win this!"

"Only one problem with that." Keith said. "This complex is protected by a complex array of secure lasers, particles beams, and missiles that prevent any kind of aerial attack from ever succeeding. This place was built to guard secrets, and they made sure that no one would ever get in if they didn't want them in. The system cannot be deactivated by any means except for by a lengthy security code. The code is guarded by a code that is not in any database, but is only known to the chancellor of the school. And because you killed him, you don't have it.

"How do you find out all this stuff?" Helen asked. "Even I didn't know that!"

"It's quite secret." Keith said. "I just do my research." For some reason, Keith looked really nervous.

"Curses…" The fiend said. "Outsmarted by a kid…" He walked around the corner. "I'll take out the old guy." He pointed at MacArthur.

"I was going to force you to face me anyway." MacArthur said.

"You probably can't even string together two cards!" said the fiend. "You old hack!"

MacArthur: 4000

Fiend: 4000

"Let's find out." MacArthur said. He drew a card. "I'll dig in with this- The Creator Incarnate (Light/Warrior/Effect, 1600/1500) in defense mode! Then I'll place three facedown cards…I think I'll end there."

"Ha! Is that all? That's an obvious move." The fiend drew a card. "I summon Marauding Captain (Earth/Warrior/Effect, 1200/400) in attack mode! And when he's summoned, I get to summon any other level 4 or lower monster! So I'll call out Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (Earth/Warrior/Effect, 1400/1200) in attack mode as well! Then, I'll give the Guardian a new blade- Divine Sword Phoenix Blade that is! It gives him three hundred extra attack points. (1700) Now, Guardian, attack the Creator Incarnate!"

"Since you just destroyed him, I'll activate my trap card, Hero Signal!" MacArthur said. "Because you just destroyed a monster as a result of battle, I can special summon an E-hero from my deck. I'll bring out E-Hero Sparkman (Light/Warrior, 1600/1400) to replace the Creator on the front lines. And before this conflict resolves, I'll activate battle plans B and C: Poison of the Old Man and Emergency Provisions! First, the poison gives me an extra 1200 life points, and then, I'll send the defunct Hero Signal and Poison to my graveyard to gain 2000 more points."

MacArthur: 7200

Fiend: 4000

"Not too bad for someone who hasn't dueled in years." Yugi said. "He still remembers how to effectively use Emergency Provisions. Granted, that's an expensive combo, card control wise, but it gives him a substantial boost in life points."

"Because I cannot destroy your new monster, I'll end my turn." The fiend said.

"Good. Now I can begin my raid on your army." MacArthur drew a card. "I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight (Earth/Warrior/Effect, 1800/1600) in attack mode, and equip the spell card Nitro Unit to your Guardian. Now, when he's destroyed in combat, your life drops by his strength. Gearfried, engage the Guardian!"

"You can't, you old fool!" the fiend said. "My Marauding Captain prevents you from ever attacking another warrior as long as he is around!"

"Well, excuse this old warrior, I'll just take out your front line fortifications then!" MacArthur said. "Sparkman, defeat the Captain!"

MacArthur: 7200

Fiend: 3600

"And now, Gearfried, enter combat with the Guardian!"

MacArthur: 7200

Fiend: 3500

"And now the Nitro Unit will cause extra damage."

MacArthur: 7200

Fiend: 1800

"He's not doing too badly." Drake said. "Apart from missing on the Captain's second effect, he hasn't missed beat."

"Apart from draining his hand of cards." Keith said.

"Yeah, that could be bad." Flynn said. "The fiend still has a lot of cards left; if he does something, MacArthur won't have much to counter it with."

"With that, I'll end." MacArthur said.

"Fine then." The fiend said. He looked quite angry that the old coot was beating him. "I'll set two cards facedown, then summon Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight! (Dark/Warrior/Effect, 2300/2100)"

"Isn't he level 7? Don't you need to sacrifice for him?" MacArthur asked.

"Normally that is true. But since he is the only card in my hand, I can normal summon him as if he was level 4! Now, Swift Gaia, take a chunk out of his life points and destroy his Sparkman!"

MacArthur: 6500

Fiend: 1800

MacArthur frowned. "That hurt."

"It's supposed to!" The fiend said. "I'll end my turn."

"Hmm…" MacArthur drew a card. "I'll put my Iron Knight into defense mode, summon E-Hero Clayman (Earth/Warrior, 800/2000) in defense mode. That's all."

"Ha! Weak." The fiend drew a card. "I summon Command Knight (Fire/Warrior/Effect, 1200/1900) in attack mode! While there is another warrior on the field, it cannot be attacked! It also grants all other warriors 400 extra attack points! (1600) (2700) Now, I activate my facedown card, Fairy of the Spring! This returns an equip card to my hand, but I cannot use it this turn. Divine Sword is back! Now, Swift Gaia, destroy his Clayman!"

"Urg… this is strangely painful." MacArthur muttered.

"Oh, yes, we didn't explain Shadow Games to him, did we?" Flynn said.

"Nope." Drake said.

"He'll be okay. He's earned his share of Purple Hearts." Keith said.

"I'm amazed that you can remember all this stuff." Flynn said.

"My turn." MacArthur said. "Still nothing… I'll set a card and end my turn."

"Ha! You haven't got anything on me." The fiend drew a card. "I activate Wicked Breaking Flamberge- Baou by discarding the Divine Sword! This gives Swift Gaia effect negation powers and also gives him 500 more attack points! (3200) But I'm almost afraid of your trap card. An amateur like you couldn't bluff something that obvious. I'll end."

"Phew." MacArthur said, and drew. "I didn't know if you would go for that or not. But you should learn to read your opponent better… in battle, if you fail to do that, you lose. And you just lost. I'm great at bluffing, I play poker all the time with my army friends and I've never lost to any of them. Most attribute it to good luck, but it takes more than luck to bluff someone with four aces out of a pot when you have three-high."

"Wow." Yugi said. "That's quite a bluff."

"Got that right." Brooklyn said. "That's why I hated playing Matt in poker, I could never bluff him…" Everyone laughed except the fiend.

"So what are you going to do, you old buzzard? Are you going to destroy me?" the fiend said.

"Yes, I am." MacArthur said. "I activate Release Restraint! I sacrifice the Iron Knight to summon Gearfried the Swordmaster (Light/Warrior/Effect, 2600/2200) in attack mode! His effect is about to kill you. While the Iron Knight cannot be equipped, The Swordmaster loves equipment. In fact, he loves it so much that he gets a kill for every piece I give him. And I have two- the facedown card, and the last hand card."

"No!"

"I equip Gearfried the Swordmaster with Sword of Deep-Seated! This gives him 500 extra attack points, and now his effect destroys your Swift Knight! (3100) Then, I'll give him the Lightning Blade, which gives him 800 more points and lets him destroy the Command Knight! (3900)"

"It can't be! I can't lose to him…"

"Gearfried the Swordmaster, direct assault on the enemy!"

MacArthur: 6500

Fiend: 0

The fiend gave one last cry of disbelief and blew up. "Phew." MacArthur fell down onto his rear. "That was not as much fun as I remember it being."

"Maybe because we're dueling with the fate of the world at stake." Brooklyn said.

"Yeah, that's probably it." MacArthur looked at Keith. "You were bluffing about those lasers and stuff, right?"

"Yeah." Keith said. "How'd you guess?"

"First off, we came in on a plane without contacting anyone. Second, where would they put it all?"

Keith smiled a nervous smile. "Yeah. But I figured that he wouldn't see through it."

"And you were right. He fell for that hook, line and sinker."

"Let's stop the small talk." Flynn said. "If you haven't noticed, we're still stuck here with an entire fiend army staring us down."

"I was afraid you were going to bring us back to reality like that." Drake said.