Chapter 41: Heavy Artillery

"What? where'd you get this?"

"A gift from Declan Akaba, that's where. Now lets try this again, what does Leo Akaba want from this campaign? What does he have to gain from attacking our dimension?"

"I don't know, but I do know its none of your business. Now why don't you-"

But before he could finish his threat, a large blast destroyed the building behind them, nearly crushing them if they hadn't jumped out of the way. The trio turned to see a group of Obelisk Force Duelists using Ancient Gear Cannons to attack them.

"Well well well, what do we have here boys? Looks like a weak Standard duelist, and a weak Fusion duelist."

"Looks like Sora got himself captured. Better take him out before he spills the beans."

Sora groaned in disgust.

"Not these guys."

"Who are your friends?"

"Not that you need to know, but they're the heavy artillery division, specializing in mass destruction and maximum damage. Look guys, just help me escape and we can all get back to hunting."

"Forget it, Sora! As far as Duel Academy's concerned, you're nothing more than a failure as a soldier, a spy, and a duelist. Carding you will just make it easier for all of us."

"Yeah, so you better get ready for a pummeling!"

Sora grunted, but realizing he didn't have a choice he activated his duel disk. While his dimension transport was disabled, he could still use it to duel.

"Fine, I'll take all three of you on."

"Sounds good to us. And while we're here, we might as well get rid of this standard duelist as well."

Julia huffed in annoyance, but activated her duel disk as well.

"Just don't get in my way."

"Funny, I was going to say the same thing to you."

DUEL!

Sora: 4000

Julia: 4000

Obelisk Force 1: 4000

Obelisk Force 2: 4000

Obelisk Force 3: 4000

"I'll go first! And I'll start by activating Polymerization, fusing my two Ancient Gear Cannons to summon Ancient Gear Howitzer (1000/1800) in defense mode. And his special ability will really pack a punch, cause once per turn I can deal you 1000 points of damage! Let the failure have it!"

A barrage of missiles flew out and struck Sora, sending him flying before Julia pulled him back.

"Stay on your feet! You're stuck with me, so you might as well pull your weight."

Sora: 3000

"Jealous, Standard Scum? Don't worry, you'll get your turn to suffer, but for now I turn it over to my Partner."

"Right. I draw! And I summon Ancient Gear Hunting Hound, and using its effect to burn the standard scum for 600 points of damage."

Julia stood firm as the small fireball singed her.

Julia: 3400

"And if you think that's bad, just wait, because I use Hunting Hound's effect to fuse him with Ancient Gear Soldier to fusion summon Ancient Gear Howitzer! Blast the failure into oblivion, Howitzer!"

Once more Sora was hit by a wave of explosives, though he better managed to hold his ground.

Sora: 2000

"But I'm not done yet, because I summon Ancient Gear Cannon (500/500) and equip him with Ancient Gear Tank (500-1100/500-1100)! But they won't be staying for long, because by sacrificing Cannon, I can burn you for 500 points of damage, failure!"

The cannon collapsed, its barrel sending a small fireball at Sora, you could barely stand now.

Sora: 1500

"And don't forget Ancient Gear Tank! When it goes to the graveyard, you lose 600 points."

Sora had just enough time to look up before the scrapped remains of the ancient tank sent him onto the ground once more.

Sora: 900

"If I were you, Sora, I'd stay where you are. I end my turn."

"Its my turn. I draw! I activate Polymerization, fusing Ancient Gear Engineer and Ancient Gear Beast to Fusion Summon Ancient Gear Howitzer! Finish the failure off!"

Sora could only look on in despair as the barrage of weaponry came again, closing his eyes and preparing for the worse...

"I activate the action card Acceleration, reducing the damage to zero."

Sora gasped as Julia yanked him away, the missiles reducing the wall where he once stood to rubble.

"You...saved me?"

"You can thank me later."

Grinding his teeth in annoyance, the obelisk force duelist ended his turn.

"You may have survived this turn, but next turn will be different."

"Whatever. I draw! And to start, I play Gem Knight Fusion, sending Gem Knights Garnett and Crystal to Fusion Summon Gem Knight Ruby (2500/1300) in attack mode!"

A knight in cherry red armor emerged, swinging its pole arm around before pointing it at his mechanical foes.

"Next, I activate Silent Doom to return Gem Knight Crystal to the field in a defense mode. Next, Gem Knight Ruby's effect activates, allowing me to sacrifice Crystal to give him all of Crystal's attack points."

Gem Knight Crystal disappeared into a ball of energy, which became absorbed by Ruby's Polearm, making it grow (2500-4950).

"What? 4950 attack points?"

"And they'll be going to good use, because my Knight can inflict Piercing Knight Ruby, take out Howitzer #1."

Ruby ran forward, impaling the mechanical creature with ease while sending its owner back.

Obelisk Force 1: 850

Despite the loss of his monster, the duel soldier smirked.

"Thanks for that, because when Howitzer is destroyed by battle, I can special summon an Ancient Gear monster right from the deck, so come out Ancient Gear Golem (3000/3000)!"

The mechanical behemoth rose from the ground with a loud mechanical groan, its gears clanking as it moved. Julia simply placed another card into her duel disk.

"I activate the spell card known as Power Collapse. By reducing Ruby's attack points by Howitzer's attack, he can attack again (4950-3950)."

"What?"

"Ruby, destroy his Golem."

Once more, Ruby impaled the mechanical monster through the head, shattering it and burying its master in a pile of scrap.

Obelisk Force 1: 0000

"Commander!"

"I'll end my turn. Hurry up and finish this, Sora."

"Oh, I will. I draw! I play Polymerization, fusing Edge Imp Frightfuloid with Fluffal Bear to fusion summon Frightfur Bear! And I'll equip him with Fairy Meteor Crush! And for good measure, let's throw in Megamorph (3000-6000). Finish off Howitzer #2."

The devil toy smashed the machine to bits with its pitchfork, finishing off the duel soldier.

Obelisk Force 2: 0000

The third soldier shook in fear, but tried to stand firm.

"So what? I'm still in this, and I won't go down that easily."

"Want to bet? I activate my own Power Collapse, allowing Daredevil to attack again for a mere 1000 attack points (6000-5000). Finish them off, Daredevil!"

Once more, the fiendish toy attacked, the machine crumbling like paper as its owner grunted in pain.

Obelisk Force 3: 200

"And don't forget, when Daredevil destroys a monster, you lose 1000 life points."

The duel soldier could only gasp in shock before he was electrocuted in unconciousness.

Obelisk Force 3: 0000

Julia and Sora win!

Sora grinned like a madman, raising his duel disk to card them...

Only to be violently yanked away by Julia.

"Hey, what gives! They'll just come back for us!"

"Then I'll finish them off, but right now I could care less."

"Well, not like it'll matter anyway. Once we take over this dimension, you'll be in real trouble."

Julia stopped walking, took a deep breath, then turned around and slapped him.

"Don't you get it? No one's going to rescue you. in their eyes, you're a failure, and will never be anything more than that. When are you going to get it through your thick skull? So unless you want me to leave you to your fate out here, I suggest you work with me towards getting revenge."

Realizing his options were limited, Sora complied.

"Good. Now, I think Declan would like to have some words with you."