CHAPTER 10

"You love those long shots, eh? Pay up, 'ole chap!" The sound of money rustled as the radio died down.

"Figured it was worth a bet. I hoped the margin would be a tad closer though."

"2000-0? Got crushed, didn't she?"

"At least she's not in this hell pit, though."

"Can we get some more brandy over here?"

"Can't wait to see this. I heard that box down there's from KaibaCorp?"

"Must've cost a fortune to smuggle that here. Where the hell is that brandy?"

The seats around Tana had filled with chatty spectators while Rebecca had her duel with Keith. Was "refined" a word befitting for this crowd? Were it not for the fact they were all dressed well in clothing she could never hope to afford, they differed little from an uncouth mob.

Tana leaned into Carl's ear. "I'm scared."

"Yeah," he muttered back. "I wouldn't want to meet these guys in a dark alley…or at a business conference."

Andrews said nothing, his arms still folded.

Tana heard something, so she strained to hear the voices from behind the curtains.

"Braiden! We've been expecting you."

"How'd you get 'that' in here, man?"

"Connections, connections!" said Braiden. The voices indulged some laughter. "How is security tonight?"

"Word has it that Seto's kid brother Mokuba is running around, maybe on a tip."

"Wait, really? I thought he was with Seto; they should have seats reserved at the ANDMT, right?"

"I don't know. So do you think attending the tournament was a pretense?"

"He ought to have a meeting with Pegasus. Besides, they'd both be hunting instead of watching some foreign tournament if they knew one of their top-secret prototypes was here. Maybe it was only Mokuba who got wind of something?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure it's a good idea to linger for long around here. If Mokuba finds out and Seto gets here, it'll be a huge mess for all of us."

"Well, it's not like we'll even be here long anyways, hour-and-a-half tops" said Braiden. "With the new technological spectacle, three duels and the…punishments…that ought to be enough for the crowd's money. But keep me posted."

Punishments? Tana gulped.

The curtains opened, and Braiden stepped in and walked down towards the stage without a word to the doomed trio. If someone had told Tana that the laid-back Braiden ever dressed this well before today, she would have laughed in their faces. Yet here was, dressed like a ringmaster in the circus: a red coat, black dress clothes, white tie, and a cane.

The lights dimmed as the spotlights turned on to follow Braiden. He gave little waves in all directions as the chatter became clapping, and then silence once he held up a hand.

After making a cough, Braiden spoke, his voice booming throughout the room. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are honored that all of you have gathered here tonight. As many of you may or may not know, Duel Monsters is quickly becoming an international phenomenon. No doubt many of you by now have invested significant sums into Industrial Illusions, but an insider has told us that KaibaCorp will soon team up with I2 and open the door for a new world of Duel Monsters. I present to you all, the BATTLE BOX!"

Several spotlights shone on the Battle Box as the silence broke into whispers.

"I have to apologize if it looks a bit cumbersome with all these wires, but it's a special prototype taken straight from the KaibaCorp labs. Rest assured, even you guys here couldn't pay enough to own one of these."

The crowd laughed.

"But you peasants mustn't fear! Today, thanks to certain contacts, we'd like to show off the Battle Box and its features with a few high-level duels! Several of you probably know the rules for the game, but even if you don't, that won't spoil the fun tonight."

Tana shielded her eyes as a spotlight shone on her, Carl, and Andrews.

"These aren't going to be meaningless games, of course," said Braiden. "Because that trio up there? Each of them, up to their neck in debt, will soon bet their lives on a game of Duel Monsters to clear it or die trying! Yes, in exchange for running the risks of fighting in the Battle Box, then should they win, I'll personally shoulder their debts! Aren't I generous?"

So that was why he kept them alive, even her! No doubt Braiden has been recovering the money he lost betting on her by charging these spectators; maybe he even turned a profit today.

"Can I ask one of them to step down here?"

Tana and Andrews leaned huddled with Carl and whispered among themselves.

"Does this mean we're dueling now or what?" said Tana.

"If it's the same opponent, I better go first," said Andrews. "I'm the strongest out of the three of us, so I'll stand the best chance going up against an unknown opponent. You two can use the data you get watching for your duels. Does that sound good?"

"I think it's for the best," said Carl. "If you're going first, I wish you the best of luck."

"Please come back safe," said Tana.

Andrews stood up, and trudged his way down the stairs, the spotlight on the trio now following him. His steps echoed throughout the room as the crowd sized him up. Watching him go alone induced some guilt into Tana. Was this fair? She never even objected, like she was glad that someone else volunteered to take one for the team.

However, she made no motion to change the first player, rationalizing that this was for the best, this was what everyone wanted. After all, maybe Andrews went first out of pride. Who was she to take that away from him?

Half a minute later, Andrews stood in front of Braiden.

"I know that some of you can't care less about how the game's played or the tournament scene. But for those of you who do, you might know this guy as Andrews Lake, a man known for his zombie decks. To put him down for good, we've taken the liberty of preparing a special executioner to fight him!"

PaniK walked down the steps into the pit, the crowd a bit more cowed.

He walked into the Battle Box as Braiden continued to speak "I won't say much about the guy we picked, but I can assure that in addition to his normal…duties, he's among the best duelists of the underworld!"

He continued to speak after shoving Andrews towards the Battle Box. "Ladies and gentlemen, our first match: Andrews versus the executioner!"

DUEL 8: vs. PaniK

The crowd cheered as Andrews stepped into the Battle Box, the glass door behind him auto-closing. Inside the box, the cheering was less audible. Breathing heavy, he took his deck out of his pocket and sat down across the executioner. Neither exchanged pleasantries, but the executioner's face was full of glee.

"Have you ever wondered what it's like to sit in the electric chair?" asked the executioner as they each shuffled decks.

"No, and I hope I never have to."

"If you two are ready," shouted Braiden, "let's show this crowd the BATTLE BOX!"

The crowd cheered as the executioner and Andrews drew their cards.

"I guess I should go first so you can follow my lead," said the executioner. "I'll just play one card this turn. And that card is…Castle of Dark Illusions, defense mode!"

The next couple of moments stunned Andrews and elicited excitement from the crowd.

At the place he summoned his card on the table, a yellow-brownish rock castle materialized out of the light and glitter before floating like a balloon over the table. Soon after materializing, clouds of darkness came out of the castle and blanketed the executioner's side of the field in darkness, save for his evil grin.

"So it's true!" exclaimed the executioner. "Solid Vision!"

"What?"

Braiden shouted to the crowd. "The future of Duel Monsters! KaibaCorp's holographic Solid Vision, the new way to play!"

"This is much less cumbersome than how I had to use the Castle in the past!" said the executioner. "It truly enhances my strategy!"

Andrews's face paled before slapping his forehead. "Give me a break!" After noticing the stat display revealed the Castle's ATK/DEF points and concealing the opponent's life points, Andrews drew a card.

"Battle Ox, attack mode." With the same glow as when the executioner summoned the Castle, a red-armored ox with an axe materialized. "I pass."

He heard the sound of cards moving, but the executioner did not say anything at first. Instead, a pair of red eyes materialized in the darkness, followed by a claw from the extending from the darkness to make a huge swipe. The Ox stumbled backwards before breaking like glass pieces and vanishing. The claw retracted, and Andrews noticed that he had lost 100LP.

"What…what just happened!?"

"The Castle of Dark Illusions allows me to conceal the number of cards in my hand and what's on the field. If this was a normal game, you could at least learn how many cards I have on the field along with the strength of the card I struck you with, but here, it always remains a complete mystery for you until I lash out."

Andrews's head throbbed.

"That's right, your famed skills at reading the opponent are useless here! Now hurry up and draw a card!"

"Tch." Andrews drew a card. "Gremlin, attack mode. I'll see if I can hit whatever it is in the dark; Gremlin should be stronger."

A red Gremlin materialized and charged into dark, but after a few moments, returned.

"You fool," said the executioner. "You can't hit what you can't see! My turn. I'll show you a real counterattack!"

A new pair of red eyes now gleamed in the blackness. Clouds of darkness billowed forth as the eyes advanced until they were overwhelmed the Gremlin. The Gremlin shrieked, and then made what sounded like a choking noise, and then silence.

"You've lost another 600LP. If this keeps up, that shriek will soon be coming from you. I end my turn."

Andrews drew a card and realized the opposition must have had 2600ATK. Unsure of whether it was a temporary enhancement or a monster, "Golden Pegasus, defense mode. I pass."

A golden Pegasus materialized with its head bowed and knees bent.

Soon, like with the Gremlin, clouds of darkness billowed forth. The Pegasus tried to escape, but the thing hiding in the darkness shot a black energy bolt. The Pegasus neighed as the bolt struck, staggering before falling and succumbing.

"Urgh…" Andrews drew a card. "I activate Call of the Haunted to revive Zombie Ox, Zombie Pegasus, and Zombie Pegasus in attack mode. Then I'll set another card and pass."

Cracks appeared on the table as the three zombies climbed out of the crevices.

"Is that all?" asked the executioner. "Pathetic."

A grim reaper shot out of the darkness and sliced off the zombies' heads.

"Huh? Wait, no!"

The grim reaper ignored his plea and sank its scythe into the magic card. A flash of light exploded on the card's face before returning to the shadows.

The executioner laughed. "That ends my turn."

Andrews tried to compose himself until he realized that the Reaper of the Cards defeated his most powerful magic card in one turn. A valuable resource, like life-sustaining water in a desert, lost to a thief. There was nothing to do but press onward, so he drew a card.

"Meteor Dragon, defense mode. I pass."

At almost the same time his red-shelled blue dragon had materialized crouching, the Reaper shot out again.

"You know," said the executioner, "I'm sure you prepared some sort of counter in case I tried to blow your magic card away with one of my own. I bet your other card was De-Spell!"

Andrews cringed and groaned as the Reaper shattered the exact card mentioned.

The executioner laughed again. "I end my turn."

"Kuh…" Andrews drew a card. "I pass again."

"I can't have you playing defense mode all day. So I'll use Stop Defense on your Dragon. And of course, I'll kill it!"

His Dragon started resisting the magic forcing it to stand, but to no avail. The next moment, a claw dragged the Dragon into the darkness, squirming, flapping its wings, and roaring until a horrid cracking sound silenced it. Andrews found that he had lost another 800LP, no doubt due to the 2600ATK monster. The attack pinned Andrews to 500LP.

Color finally returned to Andrews after drawing his card.

"Finally! I can finally take down that stupid Castle! Night Soldier, attack mode. And I'll equip him with Sword of Dark Destruction."

"How can a monster on the ground destroy my FLOATING Castle?"

"Not only can he use swords, he's also a black magic user. With his original 2400ATK plus the Sword's 400ATK he'll fire a dark cutter into the sky."

As Night Soldier grabbed the new Sword and prepared to cut, chains raced out of the darkness and stopped his movements.

"It was a good try," said the executioner. "But it looks like you've lost. Shadow Spell blocks your attack and cuts its strength by 700ATK."

"NO!"

"Since you're not doing anything to save yourself, you must be passing." The executioner laughed. "Perhaps you'll have better luck in Hell."

The chains dragged Night Soldier into the darkness. His screams turned into gurgles before falling silent, zeroing the remaining life points. The holograms dissipated.

Andrews stood up and looked around, but there were a dozen men guarding the lone exit.

The executioner stood up and headed for the door with an awful grin on his face. The men opened the door for him. Was the plan to keep Andrews in like this? Did this place double as a crazy execution chamber?

Having a bad feeling about what might happen next, Andrews tried to make a break for it. However, the executioner punched him back into the table as the men then shut the door. Groaning, Andrews tried throwing himself against the wall with no success.

What did they plan on doing?

Something roared. Then more things roared. Had the execution started?

Andrews gasped as Duel Monsters appeared. But these were just holograms, right? If he stuck his hand through this scary, scaly, big-fanged dragon, it would just be a fuzzy 3D image!

Instead, he managed to touch its fangs. The dragon used them to chomp off his arm.

Andrews screamed. The pain was an illusion. It had to be. IT HAD TO BE!

Blood was squirting everywhere, and he Andrews was now short one arm and short of breath. The dragon now aimed to bite off his head. Andrews sank to floor, holding up his good arm as if it would do any good.