Here's my next chapter. There is a duel in this one so bare with it, but I think you'll enjoy my little surprise.
Chapter 9:
The Castle Maze Part 1: Rise of Dark World
Pearl's dreams had gotten no better from the night before. Faceless men in white clothing surrounded her as machines buzzed and beeped in her ears. Pearl struggled to get away but she couldn't move.
"He can't be trusted," said a voice.
"You will be betrayed," said another.
"You don't have to live with the scars…memories."
"Beware the one you trust."
"He cannot be trusted."
"Go away!" Pearl screamed. Suddenly she sat up and found Jaden sitting beside her. Pearl gasped for breath as she watched paper begin to settle around the room. Her powers had taken over her while she slept and the room was now a mess.
"Easy," Jaden said. "Deep breaths and try to slow your heart rate." Pearl did as she was told, which only took a minute, and finally relaxed.
"I…I'm sorry Jaden," she said. "You didn't get hurt, did you?"
"No, your powers weren't more than a breeze that ruffled some papers," Jaden assured. "That's all. Now, since we're up, what do you say we start on our decks. Or would you rather take a shower first?" Pearl was slightly confused. He wasn't even asking any questions about why she'd lost control of her powers.
"You're not going to ask questions?" Pearl asked.
"Questions are pointless when you already have the answers," Jaden said. "Obviously, you were having nightmares about your time in the facility." Pearl bent her head, realizing she must've not hidden it well. "Don't worry," Jaden continued. "You can talk to me about it when you're ready. Until then, is it shower or deck first?"
"I'll work on my deck first," Pearl said. Jaden grinned.
"Alright then," he said. "I'll be out in a jiffy." Pearl chuckled. No one said "jiffy" anymore. But Pearl just shook her head and took out her deck as Jaden locked himself in the bathroom for the next ten minutes.
After Pearl got out of the shower, they were both ready to embark on their final adventure in the Casper City Annual Duel Carnival…or was it a fair? Either way, the two of them ate a slow breakfast, as check in that day wouldn't be until eleven thirty. As they ate, Jaden started telling stories of his friends back when he was in Duel Academy. Pearl laughed at his jokes and asked questions as he switched from one friend to the next. Pearl felt like she could relate to him in some way. True, her friends included Jaden, her family and Justin, but a lot of the stories sounded almost familiar. By the time they left in the cab to the fair, Pearl felt as though his friends were her friends.
The two of them reached the park grounds as they had the past two days and checked in before they noticed something incredible; a giant castle sat directly in the center of the park. It was quite a sight and both duellists guessed this was to be their final journey in the tournament. Before they reached it, however, Jaden pulled Pearl aside and looked at her very seriously.
"Something wrong?" Pearl asked.
"No, but we should probably skip town when this tournament is over," Jaden said.
"Why?" Pearl asked. "Is there something wrong here?"
"I'm sure," Jaden said. "Oberon has to be closing in soon. He'll reveal himself soon enough, but we want to keep one step ahead of him, alright?"
"Okay," Pearl agreed.
"Good, now we've got a tournament to win," Jaden said.
"Agreed, let's do it!" Pearl said. The two of them hurried in the direction of the castle. The other duellists were already there. A red headed boy Pearl recognized as Arlen was the first to notice them.
"Hey, here they are," he said. Ophir, a dark haired boy looked up and waved while Lux, a sandy haired girl grinned.
"Did someone sleep in?" she asked.
"No, just taking our time," Jaden said.
"Guess you'll need all the time you can get to prepare," Nazar said. This boy was also dark haired, like Ophir, but not quite as shaggy. Samael, a dark blonde boy, just sat completely still as though he were a statue and not actually alive. Fay, a blonde haired girl just grinned and placed a hand on both their shoulders.
"Come on," she said. "This is a tournament, so let's have some fun."
"Now you're speaking my language," Jaden said. Pearl just shook her head as Mr. Phool approached them to count heads.
"Good, everyone is here," he said. "Now, you will each be shown the gate where you will enter the castle maze and try to find your way through to the top. Whoever you meet first will be your opponent. Do you understand?" Everyone nodded before Mr. Phool assigned some of the assistants to lead them to their separate starting points. Just barely a minute later, Mr. Phool's face could be seen on every screen around the theme park.
"Good day ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the finales of our Duelling Carnival," Mr. Phool greeted. "Today, our eight remaining competitors will face the Castle Maze; a dangerous place full of traps and surprises. Each duellist will have to face off against each other as they try and make their way to the throne room at the top. Now, to reintroduce you to our eight finalists. Entering from the castle draw bridge, Pearl Lite. Ready to scale Rapunzel's hair up the climbing wall, I give you Ophir Frost. Preparing himself for the deep dark of the dungeon, Samael Barrett. In the back with the garden maze, starting at opposite ends, Fay Robbins and Lux Dalton. Starting at the stables, Jaden Yuki. Ready to slide in from the barracks, Arlen Palmer. And finally, entering from the castle graveyard, Nazar Haight." Each duellist waved as their name was called, except for Samael, and prepared to enter the castle.
"Duellists ready," Mr. Phool called. "And go!" Pearl and Jaden plunged into the castle, unaware of what they would find and a single man in the crowd watching them with a malicious grin and greedy eyes. He could wait, he decided. After all, what was a mere four hours of duelling to the great Oberon when he had a life time of success ahead of him? Yes, he would wait and give them a few hours of enjoyment; after all, it would be their last.
Jaden had no idea of where to go inside the castle. Everything was so big that it made him feel like he was five years old again. Suits of armor lined the red carpet corridor along with doors that led to nowhere. When Mr. Phool had called it a castle maze, he wasn't kidding. Yubel's spirit appeared beside him and gazed around the hallway.
"They certainly went all out on this fair, didn't they?" she asked.
"I wish they'd at least given us a map," Jaden agreed. "I don't even know which direction the throne room is in."
"It's up," Yubel said. "He said it was at the top."
"Not helping Yubel," Jaden said. He knew that Yubel was trying to help and he was happy about that, but stating the obvious was something he normally did, but at the moment he didn't need the obvious, he needed help finding his way around the castle. First of all, he needed to find the stairs to go up, but the hallway went on forever it seemed like. Of course, there were a few things that stood out; like the suits of armor that seemed to watch his every move – they probably had cameras so the audience could watch, but it was still unnerving – and certain sections of the rug that were cut off, as though there was a trap door underneath it.
Now, technically a trap door goes down and Jaden knew that the throne room was not going to be down there, but it could help him find a stairway so he could get up. Besides, it might be fun. So Jaden stepped on one and sure enough fell onto a slide and slid into the dark.
"Oh and it looks like Jaden has found our dungeon trap door," Mr. Phool's voice said.
"Dungeon?" Jaden thought. "Not exactly what I was hoping for." It was a long way down that ended suddenly causing Jaden to flip head over heels and rolled across a stone floor. When he stopped he laid still and tried to catch his breath.
"Are you alright?" Yubel asked. Now that was the dumbest question in the world that anyone could ask. Who on earth would be alright after that?
"Ya, I only landed on my head," Jaden said, slightly annoyed.
"At least it wasn't something important," Yubel teased.
"Oh, shut up, Yubel," Jaden said. "I use my head…when I find the need." Yubel chuckled but soon realized that they weren't the only ones in the dungeon.
"We're not alone down here," she said. "Be careful, Jaden." Jaden looked around the dungeon; a dimly lit room of stone complete with bars and chains and even a skeleton hanging on the far wall. It took him a moment to get his eyes to adjust to the light, but they finally did and he could see another contestant standing against the wall. Jaden recognized it to be Samael, the blonde kid who didn't seem to speak.
"Hey Samael," Jaden greeted. "Guess we have to duel now, don't we?" Samael didn't say anything. His eyes appeared to be quite dim and lifeless. Something wasn't right.
"Well, let's get our game on, Samael," Jaden encouraged. Samael's response was to activate his duel disk. Now Jaden was concerned. No threat, not voice, no reaction, who was this kid? Still, Jaden activated his duel disk and drew five cards.
"Let's duel," he said. Samael drew his card, indicating that he wanted to go first, and Jaden watched as he placed it in his hand and summoned a monster he had hoped never to see again. Brron, Mad King of Dark World – ATK: 1800.
"Greetings Jaden," Brron greeted with a malicious chuckle in his voice. "Did you find your friend?"
"Brron?!" Jaden said. He remembered the last time he'd seen the Mad King of Dark World, it was just before he became the Supreme King, when he had used his friends as sacrifices to try and complete the Super Polymerization card that Jaden still had.
"But I sent you to the stars myself," Jaden said. "How…?"
"How am I able to be here?" Brron asked. "You forget that the duel monster's cards are linked to the duel monster spirit realm. While I might have been banished to another dimension, my card remains in this one and thus allows my spirit to be summoned for a short time during a duel. Luckily for those of us in Dark World, this boy Samael came to possess all of our cards in one deck. Unfortunately for him, the dark powers caused his spirit to go into slumber making him the perfect vessel."
"So, Samael is actually comatose?" Jaden asked. The boy seemed completely unaware of everything going on around him, as though he were sleep-walking. "What do you need him for?" Jaden asked.
"Like I said, our spirits were banished to another dimension," Brron explained. "We might be able to escape if we can defeat the person who put us there. That'd be you." Jaden grimaced and prepared for the onslaught that was sure to come next. He had hoped this tournament would be fun; instead he would be fighting for his life against the person who'd sent four of his friends to the stars and awakened the Supreme King's spirit. At the moment though, Jaden was just glad that he had Yubel, because if he didn't, he might just lose control again. No one really knew this, but Yubel often helped to keep Jaden grounded when he wanted to break lose, so to speak.
"Bring it on Brron," Jaden challenged. "I'm ready for you."
"It wouldn't matter if you weren't, you're not getting out of this," Brron said. "Since Samael is a little out of it at the moment, I'll be making the calls."
"It's not going to help you," Jaden said. Brron just grinned, a truly terrible sight to say the least.
"I'll activate The Gates of Dark World field spell," Brron said. "With this all fiend-type monsters gain three hundred attack and defense points." Brron – ATK: 2100. "I'll end with two cards face down," he finished. "Your turn, Haou."
"Don't call me that," Jaden said as he drew his card.
"Think this through Jaden," Yubel warned. "Our main objective should be to wake up Samael's spirit."
"You don't have to tell me, Yubel," Jaden said. "The last thing I want is to get Samael involved in something that he doesn't even know is happening. It's the how that worries me. I don't have any monsters in my hand and no cards that can help me with Brron. I've got to get rid of this field spell, it's the only choice I have. Until I can do that, however…"
"I set three cards and end my turn," Jaden said out loud.
"That's all?" Brron asked. He looked at Jaden carefully. "Seems like you were dealt a bad hand, weren't you? Let's see what we can do about that. I draw." Samael drew a card like an obedient zombie and Brron considered his options.
"I'll activate a trap card called Dark Scheme," he decided. "If you want, you can discard a card to negate its effect; otherwise we both discard two cards and draw two cards. Your choice." Jaden gazed at this trap card. While he didn't want Brron to gain the upper hand by drawing a winning card, he needed a card that could help him. Brron was taking a big chance by activating this card, but Jaden would be taking just as big a chance if he allowed it to continue. Then again, where's the fun if you don't take a chance?
"I'll allow it," Jaden decided. Both of them discarded two cards and drew two cards.
"Now then, I'll summon Zure, Knight of Dark World in attack mode," Brron said. Zure, Knight of Dark World – ATK: 1800 + 300 = 2100. Jaden remembered Zure as well. He was the first real challenge he'd faced after entering Dark World, not counting Harpie's Brother that he'd faced in a parallel world or Scarr, who'd just been a dumb lump of red armor. Jaden grinned slightly. Maybe he could still have fun, after all Brron had just given Jaden the advantage, whether he knew it or not.
"Zure, attack Jaden directly," Brron ordered. Zure charged, sword ready with twenty-one hundred attack points to take out a chunk of Jaden's life points. All it would take was two attacks and Jaden would lose, but where was the fun of going down without a fight.
"I activate my trap card; Draining Shield," Jaden declared.
"WHAT?" Brron asked. Jaden grinned and rubbed his nose as he often did when his opponent fell into his trap.
"With this, I now gain life points equal to Zure's attack points," Jaden said with a smirk. His life points rose to sixty-one hundred and Brron was left absolutely enraged.
"Fine then I'll attack you!" the Mad King declared.
"Afraid that won't work either," Jaden said. "I activate a Hero Emerges. Now you have to pick a card from my hand and if it's a monster I can summon it. Make your pick."
"He must've had a monster in his hand that needed sacrifices to be summoned," Brron thought. "Too bad he doesn't realize that my final facedown card is Trap Hole. If it had more than a thousand attack points, it can be destroyed and if it's not a monster, Jaden is still left with no monsters and I can get in a clean attack. He's got three cards in his hand, so…"
"The middle one," Brron said. Jaden checked.
"Alright, you picked Dandylion!" he said. Dandylion appeared on the field in defense mode. Dandylion – ATK: 300, DEF: 300. Brron cursed himself silently, but wasn't willing to give up.
"I'm still going to attack it," Brron said. He did and Dandylion was easily destroyed.
"Fine, but I get to summon two Fluff Tokens in defense mode," Jaden pointed out. "Plus because you attacked, I get to activate my final trap Hero Signal. Now I can add one level four or lower Elemental Hero from my deck to my hand."
"I end my turn," Brron grunted.
"My turn, I draw," Jaden said. He viewed his options before eyeing the facedown card Brron had. "I'll start by activating Mystical Space Typhoon," the red-coated boy declared. Brron let out a cry of dismay when his facedown card Trap Hole disappeared.
"You little brat," Brron cursed. Jaden just smirked.
"Now I can sacrifice my two tokens to summon Elemental Hero Neos in attack mode," Jaden explained. Elemental Hero Neos – ATK: 2500. "Neos, attack Zure!" Jaden ordered. Neos did what he was told, easily destroying Zure and dealing four hundred points of damage to Samael, who didn't even flinch.
"You'll pay for that," Brron promised.
"Fine, make me," Jaden countered with a grin. "I set a card to end my turn." Brron growled as Jaden looked at him with his happy demeanor. Someone had to put this Slifer boy in his place and Brron was going to make sure that it was him.
"Samael, draw our card," Brron ordered. Like a good little puppet, Samael did as he was told. "I'll activate the second effect of The Gates of Dark World. By banishing one fiend-type monster from my graveyard and discarding one from my hand, I can draw an extra card. Now, I summon Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World in attack mode," Brron said. Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World – ATK: 1600 + 300 = 1900.
"What good does that do?" Jaden asked, smartly. "He can't beat Neos."
"That's right, but now I can activate the effect of Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World that I just discarded to the graveyard," Brron stated. Jaden knew he was in trouble now. "With his effect," Brron continued. "By returning one Dark World monster to my hand I can special summon Grapha from my graveyard. So Beiige returns and Grapha comes out." Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World – ATK: 2700 + 300 = 3000. This dragon was terrifyingly huge and clearly angry.
"Oh no," Jaden said, quietly.
"For you maybe," Brron taunted. "Grapha, attack Haou!"
"Stop calling me that!" Jaden demanded. Neos did his best, but couldn't stand up to three thousand attack points. Jaden's life points dove to fifty-six hundred and he still had an attack coming his way. Brron – ATK: 2100.
"Here I come," Brron said. Jaden eyed his facedown card but let out a cry as he took even more damage. Brron laughed manically as Jaden picked himself up off the stone floor.
"Not so high and mighty now, are you?" Brron asked. "I'm not finished yet. I activate the Spell Card Ante."
"What?" Jaden asked. "I've never heard of that card before."
"Well this is how it works," Brron said. "We both reveal a card from our hand, a monster with the higher level wins, none monster cards are treated as level zero and the loser sends the card to the grave and takes one thousand points of damage."
"Seriously?" Jaden asked. He looked at his hand. The only monster he had in his hand was Grand Mole, a level three monster.
"So, reveal your card," Brron said. Jaden revealed Grand Mole. "Only a level three, huh? Well, I'll reveal Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark world, level five." Jaden sent Grand Mole to the graveyard and let out a scream as he lost yet another thousand life points. He was left with twenty-five hundred. If he didn't make it through his next turn, he'd be toast. He had to end it this turn.
"I draw," Jaden said. "I'll activate Pot of Greed to draw two more cards." Jaden glanced at the cards. "I'll also activate Convert Contact. By discarding one Neo-spacian from my hand and one from my deck, I can draw two more cards. Next, with the effect of Cocoon Party that I just drew, I can summon one chrysalis monster for each Neo-spacian in my graveyard, so say hello to Chrysalis Dolphin, Chrysalis Pantail, and Chrysalis Chicky."
"Those weaklings will be unable to cause me any damage," Brron laughed. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking it's time for a change of scenery," Jaden said. He held up a card and Brron gasped. "I activate the field spell Neo-Space." Brron's card broke and became a field of multicolored light. "Now, by sacrificing my chrysalises while Neo-Space is active, I can summon their Neo-Spacian counter parts." Air Hummingbird – ATK: 800. Dark Panther – ATK: 1000. Aqua Dolphin – ATK: 600. Brron – ATK: 1800. Grapha – ATK: 2700. Brron growled at his new attack points.
"You'll pay for that!" threatened the Mad King.
"No, you'll pay for using Samael as a tool," Jaden said. "I sacrifice Panther and Dolphin to summon Yubel!" Brron went silent – a first for him – as Yubel appeared on the field, gracefully. Yubel – ATK: 0.
"Jaden, I'll make sure he pays," she promised. Jaden nodded.
"Next I'll activate my trap card Call of the Haunted to bring back Neos," Jaden declared. Neos – ATK: 2500.
"Neos, Air Hummingbird, contact fusion," Jaden ordered. The two monsters rose into the air and came back down as Elemental Hero Air Neos. Air Neos – ATK: 2500.
"Now, because my life points are lower than yours, Air Neos gets the difference as attack points and that mean that he's more than strong enough to destroy your Grapha," Jaden said. "Do it Neos." Neos did and Brron was left with nine hundred life points.
"Yubel, time to attack Brron," Jaden said.
"Gladly," she said. "It's been a while since you let me have fun."
"Just attack already," Jaden said, slightly annoyed. Yubel did and Brron didn't need to be told that her effect dealt all damage to him. Brron was out of life points and Samael was free from his comatose. Yubel faded, returning to Jaden's soul as the red clad boy hurried to Samael before the blonde kid fell to the ground. He opened his eyes and groggily sat up.
"What happened?" he asked.
"You were dueling in your sleep man," Jaden said. Samael looked at Jaden and placed a hand to his head.
"Awe man, not again," he said. Jaden had to restrain himself from laughing. That certainly wasn't the reply he'd been expecting.
"Did I win?" he asked.
"No, but it was close," Jaden admitted. "That's game. I'm sure you can find your way out."
"Ya, thanks," Samael said. Jaden quickly located the stairs up and out of the dungeon and began to continue his search for the throne room.
"And it looks like Samael is out of the competition and Jaden is moving on. Stay tuned to see how our six other finalists play their cards and who will win!" Mr. Phool said. Jaden listened to this as he found another set of stairs leading up. Who knew what other kind of surprises awaited him and Pearl at the top.
Woah right? Did you expect that? Are you anxious to see how Pearl will do in her duel? Well, to bad you have to wait. Hopefully, it won't take me as long writing that one as it did with this one. Comment, follow, favorite, criticize, and go catch a squirrel. Or maybe you should have a bagel and cream cheese! Ya, I like that. Bye for now.
