Chapter 43: Let the Light Shine Down

The great city of Babylon.

Once the sprawling capital of the Mesopotamian Empire, now its ruins stood alone and empty. They had been rebuilt in recent years to reflect their once proud origins, and tourists from all over were guided by locals around the historic site. Even if those tourists were working their best to keep themselves disguised from the various uniformed people wandering around the city nearby.

As they finally approached the ruins proper, a small group divided from the main tourist group and walked across the ruins. Checking to make sure everything was okay, Matt unveiled his hood along with Willaby, Yugi, and the others.

"We should be safe from Montalban's goons here," he said, leaning up against the wall.

"Geez, you'd think he'd have something better to do than send his people across the globe," Tristan commented as he looked stealthily around the corner at a few of the Corporation's henchmen talking some distance away.

"Considering he's got a global empire, it'd be more surprising if we didn't see them here," Willaby pointed out.

"It would make things much easier," Shannon admitted.

"Dat's true," Joey agreed. "I'm getting tired of hiding from those freaks, and dese cloaks aren't doing anything against da heat!"

"Tell me about it," Tea moaned. "My hair's gotten frazzled just from being here."

"Shh!" Matt shushed them as he turned back to his compass medallion. "We'll worry about that later. The sooner we find out where the chest is, the better."

"I've been meaning to ask, where is dis next chest?" Joey asked.

"Hopefully it's here in the city-"

"Wait! Someone's coming!" Tristan warned, shushing the group as they scrambled to hide. They waited as a rushed group of footsteps ran over towards them, and quickly enough another group of people hopped over another part of the wall nearby as this new group ducked down.

"Where'd they go?!" called out a man pursuing them.

"I don't know, I lost them when they dove through the crowd!" another man called back to him. The duo met up just on the other side of the wall, looking around.

"Crap…" the first man swore. "The boss won't like this."

"That's only if we tell him about it," the second man pointed out.

"...fair enough...what do we tell him then?"

"...we were...pursuing a lead that ended up...being nothing!"

"Yeah, yeah! Good, let's do that!"

With that, the two wandered off elsewhere as one of the people who jumped the wall breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well that was close."

"It wouldn't have been so close if you'd have gone with the disguise like I suggested."

"Well there's no need for that."

"I think there was a need for it!"

"Chill, Creighton, we're safe now, and that's what ma…"

"What? What're you looking at?"

The rest of the small group looked over at Matt and the others, taking a moment for everyone to collect themselves. A moment of processing later, and everyone breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

"Well aren't we glad to see you guys!" Creighton laughed.

"No kidding! It would've been awful if Montalban's soldiers had caught us," Yugi said.

"So what's got you coming into Babylon?" Andrew asked.

"Apparently, there's a chest in the area," Matt answered, pulling out his compass medallion. "I thought it might be in the ruins."

"Funny, we were told there'd be an advisor here, and I thought they might be in the ruins!" Andrew remarked, pulling out his own medallion.

The two brothers compared their compasses together, each showing a very different direction. Andrew's medallion indicated that his goal was closer to the ruins while Matt's medallion showed he might need to look in a somewhat different direction.

"That almost looks like it's pointed towards the desert," Andrew observed.

"The desert?! Uh uh, I ain't going that way!" Joey yelped as he stood up from the floor. "I'm drawing da line at hot sandy desert!"

"SHHHH!" Tristan wrestled Joey back down behind the wall. "Keep it down! Those goons are still everywhere!"

Matt looked around. "We're definitely too large a group to make things work," he said, turning to Willaby. "It's too dangerous to move around like this - we'll be caught easily."

"Aye, sir," Willaby nodded.

"We should lower our numbers for both groups then," Andrew concurred. "The less there are, the better."

"I'll be sure to take Creighton back to the ship," Izzy said.

"Hey, why do I have to go back to the ship?" Creighton asked.

"Because you're about as much of a risk to the group as Joey is," Izzy replied, pointing to the struggling teenager in Tristan's hands. Creighton looked like he was going to object, but then he put his hand back down in defeat, mumbling about his misfortune.

"You shouldn't go in alone though," Kari noted. "If either of you are caught alone, and none of the others know about it, it won't do any of us any good."

Matt nodded. "In that case, Kari, you'll go with Andrew to find the advisor," he said. "I'll stick with Willaby in the meantime."

"That, um...might be a bit of a problem, sir," Willaby objected. "Seeing as I'll need to be escorting them back and then having to come back to you again."

"That's alright, I'll stay with Matt," Shannon said, looking over at him as he nodded in approval.

"Alright then, you guys take care on the way back," Matt told the others. "And don't get caught! The last thing we need is for Montalban to get his hands on our ships and crews."


Once Andrew and Kari had snuck into the ruins, they began to look down the various halls within the monument. They worked to check in every little crevice for their prize, but each time they tried something new, it ended up being nothing more than dust and sand.

Down one such hallway, Kari asked, "You know, I've never gotten to really know you two. You and your brother Matt? Were you guys always like this before I met you?"

Andrew hummed thoughtfully as he continued trekking down the hall. "It wasn't always this crazy, I know that much," he said, giving a little chuckle as they rounded the corner. "But it was certainly adventurous."

"Adventurous? You guys were adventurers?" Kari asked.

"Yep. We loved exploring the world, and whenever we got the chance to go places, we went all the way," Andrew explained. "We didn't want to just go to tourist-y spots, we wanted to explore caverns and caves, hike up tall mountains, explore jungles, and sail the seas. Matt always loved the ways we could get to places, and I was pretty big on what we saw there. It would inspire us to go to the next location, and the next, and the next…"

Then he fell quiet. "But after a while, it started to become less about adventure...and more about what we gained from each trip. Once he found out about the Spirit Dragons, Matt's goals became about finding out about what they were, what they did, where to find the pieces...it became his obsession. It no longer became an adventure but a chore to go to places and dig deep to find everything…"

Kari watched as Andrew stopped for a moment to reach up and examine the wall. "Things weren't the same...part of me wishes it would go back to that innocent time where we would just have fun together. There wouldn't be this fate of the world stuff or someone like Montalban or Rommel waiting around the corner to take us down. It'd just be us again…"

"...Andrew…"

Andrew thumbed a piece of the wall before pushing against it. The tile his hand rested against pushed inward, and a secret passage opened up. Kari looked up to the tile; there was a small triangular emblem on it composed of smaller triangles - the definitive symbol of the Trinity. As she looked back, she was caught within the blinding light of the passageway. Andrew had shielded his eyes as he started down into the depths of the ruins.

"This is it then," he said before venturing further, Kari right behind him.

The two descended the stairs, the doorway sealing itself behind them as they arrived in a large chamber. The chamber was wide and spacious and incredibly bright, something that would be hard to believe given where it was buried. The area was lit with various torches, but the light seemed to emanate from a glowing sphere near the other end of the room, as though the sun itself were present here.

And beneath the glowing sphere stood a stoic figure, her hands raised up to it.

Andrew raised an eyebrow as Kari followed him down the pathway. As they approached, the figure's long flowing robes brightened up as she lowered her hands. The sounds of her chanting became apparent to the two as they slowed their progression until they were at the bottom of the stairs, working to look up at the figure as she continued muttering phrases in an ancient language. Eventually, the figure turned to the two of them, her blonde hair shining magnificently in the radiance of the orb above her, her piercing gaze upon them both.

"You must be the one I've heard so much about," she addressed them. "Mr. Andrew."

"That'd be me," Andrew replied back. "And you must be Kiara Prospero."

The figure nodded as the orb began to dim behind her and shrink in size. "I know why you have come here," she continued. "There is very little time. The tendrils of darkness have grasped themselves upon the world, and our hope may yet reside in those who can stand against it. But to do so requires the Spirit Dragons, and as advisors, we must make certain our power is given to those who are worthy."

Andrew raised an eyebrow. "Wait, you lost me for a second," he said. "Hope? Darkness? I know Montalban seems like a bad guy, but I don't think-"

Kiara shook her head. "You misunderstand. There is far more at stake than what one man's selfish desires can encompass."

Before Andrew could respond, a drop of light came down from the orb above Kiara, dropping onto her arm and transfiguring itself into the shape of a Duel Disk. She then drew out several cards of light from the deck within, preparing herself. "We must not waste this opportunity," she said. "Please, show me you have the courage to continue forward. The fate of the world rests on our shoulders."

Andrew sighed. "I suppose there's not much more to say about it right now," he said, triggering his duel disk. "But it sounds like I don't have the whole story yet."


Shannon looked over her shoulder back towards the town. It had felt like they had been away from it for far longer than they had. But that was perhaps what being out in the middle of the desert would do for them. There was hardly an escape from the trial of the sun, its burning presence above them all the more apparent without any cover to help ease their aching bodies.

She turned back to look at Matt, his head hunched over to look down at the medallion. "Please tell me you at least know where you're going," she called out to him over the winds that had picked up around them, kicking sand into their faces and the crevices of their clothing.

"That's really what I'm hoping for at this rate," Matt called back. The truth was the medallion's signal wasn't so strong at the moment, something about this chest had to be different. Normally the signal was quite strong, especially upon approaching the chest, but this time the chest wasn't getting picked up as well as it should have been. That was at least what he was gathering, giving the fluctuating signal from his medallion.

"I read something about this once…"

Matt looked up and around the area. "I could've sworn I read something about these chests," he muttered to himself as he surveyed the landscape.

"What? What did you say?" Shannon could hardly hear him from the small distance away she was from him.

Matt didn't pay much mind to her. He continued to look around, the thoughts in his head turning. He remembered reading about them once - that pair of chests hidden near Babylon. Unlike many of the other elements, the two weren't so far away from each other, and their connection reached far back into the ancient history of the Trinity. Back to ancient times...against the forces of darkness…

...darkness...light…

"Matt?"

His attention was drawn back to Shannon as she pointed out to something behind them. He squinted his eyes, working to make out the silhouette of a figure in the distance, riding towards them. It was apparent now - they were being followed.

"No doubt that's one of Montalban's goons," he said. "We have to find the chest soon."

"How are we going to do that?" Shannon asked.

Matt paused for a moment. "If I remember right...the chest was tied to the light somehow," he thought aloud. "I think we aim to take the chest, we have to do so while it's still light out."

"Really?" Shannon looked around. "Well at least the light's not the issue. But what are we going to do about-"

"Let him come."

"Eh?!"

"We've been getting tracked by Montalban since the start of this, I'm pretty sure it's going to be Keith himself this time."

"And you want him to find us?"

"He tends to find us rather quickly anyway." Matt looked down at the medallion once again, the glowing arrow pointing in a particular direction. "And if we head this way, we should be able to…"

He looked behind him once more before turning to run in the direction of the arrow, with Shannon right beside him! The figure moved faster in the distance, apparently riding on four more legs than usual - a horse? The two dashed across the sands, their footsteps slowed only by the grip of the dunes around them until-

*THUNK*

One quick step landed on something dull and metal. Matt and Shannon stopped and looked back at the spot. Sure enough, something transparent seemed to flicker in and out of existence, but it was there - the parting sand gave it away. It was a small box, no doubt the one they were looking for. Double-checking the compass only confirmed it.

"Alright, now before they get to us, dig it out!"

The duo then dove towards the chest and began unearthing it as the sounds of the rider charging in got closer and closer to them. Just as they managed to bring it out from beneath the sands, the rider was right upon them, pulling the reigns on his horse as he looked down upon them before dismounting it with ease.

"Well well, guess we know what you've been up to."

The familiar activation of a Duel Disk caught both Matt and Shannon's attention, with Matt triggering his own quickly. "We really should stop meeting like this," he said. "It's not good for one's reputation, Keith."

"Like you're surprised I'm here?" Keith scoffed. Then he reached around and tore off his cloak, showing he was dressed much more like his old self. His wrists now had bracelets, his body covered in a red shirt with a leather vest, and a pair of khakis stretched down into his boots. Then he pointed at Matt and declared, "Alright punk, listen up! You get to have the honor and privilege of dueling a world-class champion now! All my best Neo Ghouls have been beaten because of you, so now it's time I stepped in to take you on myself!"

"No need to be so dramatic," Matt replied with a sigh. "I knew this was coming a mile away."

Keith stumbled but shook his head, pulling out a pair of sunglasses and flashing them across his face. "Trust me, compared to those guys, I'm no pushover," he continued, pulling out a deck. "Remember, I've been able to watch your every move, and I've been preparing a special deck just to crush you with. Now you get to see what's it gonna be!"

Matt pulled out his own deck and placed it into his Disk. "You know, I've been told you used to be a cheat back in the day," he said. "I hope for your own sake you don't plan on trying to cheat against me."

"Heh, I ain't gonna need to cheat against you!"

"LET'S DUEL!"

Bandit Keith: 4000
Matt: 4000

"I'll go first!" Keith started with a draw. "And I'm summoning Overdrive (4/1600/1500) in Attack mode!"

An all-terrain vehicle sprung up from the dunes, its machine gun aimed directly at Matt. The engine roared to life as it set itself up in front of Keith.

"I'll also play a card face-down," Keith added. "That'll end my turn!"

"...that's it?" Matt tilted his head in confusion. "And here I thought you were going to do something worse."

"Talk all you want," Keith retorted, "but my deck's a lot more powerful now than it's ever been! You're not gonna last very long against me!"

Matt shook his head and drew his card. "I summon Vanguard of the Dragon (4/1700/1300) in Attack mode."

A dragon armed with a spear and shield appeared on his field, whipping its long tail about and roaring out into the desert sands!

"My Vanguard lets me send a Dragon-type monster from my hand to the Graveyard to give it a permanent boost of 300 Atk," Matt explained. "So I send Totem Dragon (2/400/200) to the Graveyard to bring out the power of my Vanguard!"

The dragon roared as the spirit of its comrade infused itself into its body, powering itself up!

Vanguard of the Dragon (4/1700/1300 - 4/2000/1300)

"Now Vanguard, attack Keith's monster!" Matt declared, sending his dragon charging into battle. It thrusted its spear through the vehicle, destroying it instantly!

Bandit Keith: 3600
Matt: 4000

"Tch, getting an early lead, huh?" Keith scoffed. "But it's not gonna do ya any good, punk! I've got this duel in the bag!"

Matt shook his head. "I Set one card face-down and end my turn," he declared. Then he looked up at Keith and said, "The card I just played here is the card I'll be using to defeat you. I won't need much else beyond that."

"What'd you say?!" Keith growled. "That card ain't gonna do squat to me! If you think you're gonna rattle me with some kind of bluff like that, you've got another thing coming! My draw!"

Keith added the top card of his deck to his hand and perused it thoughtfully. "Now I'll play Robotic Knight (4/1600/1800) in Attack mode!" he declared, bringing forth a sleek robot designed with an old-fashioned style of military garb in mind.

The move caused Matt to raise an eyebrow. Even without the power boost, my Vanguard is still stronger than his Robotic Knight- why bother playing it in Attack mode? It must be some kind of trap. Either that...or maybe Keith's just that bad.

"And then I'll play another card face-down," Keith continued. "Now let's see what you've got against this monster!"

Matt simply drew into his next card. "I'll send another Dragon to the Graveyard for Vanguard's effect, boosting his Atk by 300," he continued, proceeding to discard Dragonic Knight to power up his monster once again.

Vanguard of the Dragon (4/2000/1300 - 4/2300/1300)

"Now destroy the knight!" Matt declared, sending his dragon once again to thrust its spear through Keith's monster!

Bandit Keith: 2900
Matt: 4000

"If this is your idea of how to beat me, it's not working," Matt remarked. "Maybe your new deck isn't as prepared for mine as you thought."

Keith just merely laughed at that. "Is that what you think? Trust me, my deck's got a lot more going for it than just a few monsters - I activate my Trap card, Time Machine!"

Suddenly out of the ground, a large mechanical chamber popped out, surrounded by sand and smoke! The doors to the machine soon opened up, and the militant robot stepped out once again, refreshed and renewed. Matt and Shannon both reacted to the knight's reappearance.

"My Time Machine card lets me bring back a monster that's destroyed by battle right back to the field," Keith explained, a cocky smirk on his face. "I figured you couldn't resist attacking if I kept my monster around, so why not give you an edge? Besides, you're gonna need the handicap!"

He drew his next card and continued, "Cause now I'm sacrificing my Robotic Knight for the real powerhouse of my deck! Meet the Machine King (6/2200/2000)!"

The robotic knight was soon replaced with a towering mechanical robot. Its simplistic design did nothing to weaken its intimidating presence, its shadow looming over the field.

"My Machine King is the supreme power over all Machines," Keith explained, "and he starts out by gaining 100 Atk for every Machine on the field! And since he's a Machine monster himself, he's gonna get a little stronger!"

Machine King (6/2200/2000 - 6/2300/2000)

Matt snorted at the monster. "It may be a little more powerful, but that only puts it on-par with my Vanguard," he pointed out. "Any attack would just destroy them both."

"Heh, true, but that's where I've got this card to come in handy," Keith countered, triggering his face-down card. "I activate DNA Surgery, and with it I can change the Type of all monsters on the field to whatever I want - like Machines!"

The Vanguard soon had its scales harden into metallic shards, taking on a more mechanical appearance as the King's eyes glowed red, absorbing the power felt from the presence of more of its mechanical servants in play.

Machine King (6/2300/2000 - 6/2400/2000)

"Now Machine King! Attack his Vanguard!" Keith declared. "Jet Punch!"

The monolithic machine extended one of its arms outward, firing off one of its rocket-powered fists into the mecha-dragon! The impact of the attack destroyed the Vanguard, from which the debris fell on Matt and damaged his Life Points.

Bandit Keith: 2900
Matt: 3900

"Hahahahahahahaha! How do you like that?" Keith gloated triumphantly. "Now I've turned your entire deck against you! Your monsters now get to become Machines and fuel my Machine King!"

"...is that really all your strategy is?"

Keith flinched as Matt continued, "Your deck's strength isn't even the strength it carries on its own, but the strength it takes from your opponent. You've never really been strong, that's why you had to cheat in your duels to win."

"Shut your mouth! You think I won the National Championships cause I lacked skill?" Keith retorted, cutting across his neck with his thumb. "I crushed hundreds of duelists, thousands! I've built tens of hundreds of decks, each one specifically with a strategy in mind! I've collected thousands of cards to defeat anyone who stands in my way! I'm the greatest duelist on the face of the planet!"

"And yet your strategy is so basic."

Keith flinched again as Matt once again countered, "You play strong monsters in an effort to beat down the opponent, preferring to overwhelm them with the path of least resistance." He placed his hand on top of his deck. "But let's see what happens when you're pushed into a corner.

"MY DRAW!"


"DUEL!"

Kiara: 4000
Andrew: 4000

"I will begin quickly," Kiara announced, drawing a card. "By discarding my Hecatrice (4/1500/1100), I can add this Spell card to my hand from my deck. And I activate it now: Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen!"

The Spell transformed the underground chamber into a shining hall of radiance, the ancient pillars of stone now transformed into shimmering Greek pillars of white! Behind Kiara appeared a throne of stone, and beyond that red curtains draped down from the sky above!

"While I control no monsters, Valhalla allows me to play any Fairy-type monster from my hand," Kiara explained. "So now I summon Athena (7/2600/800) to the field with the power of Valhalla!"

The orb rose up into the air to illuminate the hall, shining a powerful beam of light in front of Kiara. Within the beam arose a woman clad in battle armor and white robes, an intricate spear in one hand and a silver shield in the other. Andrew faltered a little bit, taking a step back amidst the radiant spectacle.

"Well now, going all in at once," he said.

"I apologize that I must be so forceful to start," Kiara said, "but I trust you will respond with your own feelings in kind."

Andrew smirked at that. "Don't worry, I won't hold back either," he said, drawing his next card. He looked over his head with a worried thought though.

...not that I can exactly go through with attacking. 2600 Atk is a lot to face down at the start like this...but for now…

"I'll Set a monster and a card and end my turn," he declared.

Not that he can do much else, Kari thought. Against a monster like Athena, there's not much he can do.

"My turn then," Kiara began, drawing her next card. "Now I summon Gellenduo (4/1700/0) to the field!"

A cutesy pair of creatures - one pink, the other green - then appeared on the field. Each was surrounded by a halo, and they both had blue hairs coming out of the tips of their horns - the one horn in the green's case, and the two in the pink's case. Their image became reflected in the markings of Athena's shield, and she directed its gaze now back at Andrew.

"Whenever a Fairy-type monster is Summoned to the field, Athena grants me the power to inflict 600 points of damage to you," Kiara explained. "Go, Radiant Gaze!"

The shield then glowed and blasted a blinding beam of light towards Andrew, burning away at his Life Points!

Kiara: 4000
Andrew: 3400

"Great, so now I have to deal with that for the time being," Andrew muttered.

"Next, because I control two or more LIGHT monsters on my field," Kiara continued, "I can Special Summon Guardian of Order (8/2500/1200) from my hand!"

An armored warrior of light then descended from the orb of light hanging from above, flashing an electrical spark between its hands. It landed alongside Athena and Gellenduo, its white armor glistening in the midst of the hall. Andrew couldn't help but crack a smile - this was going to be much more challenging than he thought.

"Now attack, my Guardian of Order!" Kiara declared. "Destroy his monster!"

The light warrior charged up another electrical spark between its hands before firing off a lightning bolt towards Andrew's monster. The card revealed itself as a strong mason jar which ended up deflecting the lightning bolt as a group of pebbles poked out from the top.

"Looks like your Guardian has run into a guardian of my own," Andrew retorted. "My Ancient Hero Guardian (4/800/2000), like all my Ancient Heroes, can't be destroyed by battle."

Kiara nodded. "I'm familiar with your monsters," she said. "Your battles with the other advisors have not gone unnoticed."

"Then you know it won't do to just fight my monsters head-on," Andrew responded in kind.

"True, but I may not need to deal with your monsters," Kiara remarked. "For now though, I will end my turn."

"Then it's my turn," Andrew declared, drawing his next card. "And I'll Set another monster on the field before ending my turn."

"Then with my turn," Kiara declared with a draw of her card, "I'll sacrifice Gellenduo as two tributes to summon Guardian Angel Joan (8/2800/2000) to the field!"

The double-duo of monsters turned into two shimmering orbs of light that rose up into the main orb of light in the room. From there, a heavenly beam descended, the light fading back to reveal the divine angelic figure of a woman with short red hair dressed in long white robes, a long white sash embroidered with golden designs wrapped around her arms and shoulders and flowing past her.

"Now my monsters are set to strike down whatever your monster may be," Kiara continued. "But first, Athena shall decimate your Life Points with her ability!"

As she spoke, Athena guided her spear towards Andrew and fired off another beam of light that struck him down!

Kiara: 4000
Andrew: 2800

"But that's not all I can do with her," Kiara exclaimed. "Now I use Athena's other ability to send Guardian Angel Joan to the Graveyard!"

Athena guided her spear now towards Joan, causing the angel to vanish in an array of light and descend into Kiara's Graveyard.

"By doing this, I'm able to Special Summon any Fairy-type monster from the Graveyard - including the Guardian Angel Joan I just sent there!" Kiara explained. "So now I bring her back to the field, and use her Summoning to trigger Athena's first effect again!"

She then repeated the process of bringing out Joan, this time from her Graveyard, and having Athena slash down more of Andrew's Life Points with her spear.

Kiara: 4000
Andrew: 2200

"This is bad," Kari noted from the side. "If she wanted to, she could repeat that combination over and over again each turn until he's out of Life Points."

Kiara smiled almost triumphantly over at Andrew as he got up again. "I trust that this will not dampen your enthusiasm, lest you suffer the true power of the Trinity."

Andrew laughed as he stood up, ready to face Kiara again. "Trust me, I don't need to know more about the power of the Trinity," he retorted. "I've got enough of that from the rest. But I am gonna need to push past that if I'm gonna be good on my word."

Kiara scoffed mildly before ordering, "Joan! Attack his face-down monster!"

The angel graced the monster with her power, unleashing a powerful solar wave down, only to reveal it as the mighty gambler who stood defiantly in her way. The gambler smirked as did Andrew, with Kiara's face flashing with realization.

"Now I wouldn't be too hasty to get this over with," Andrew countered. "My Ancient Hero Gamble-Lee (3/200/1400) is pretty dangerous in his own way, and it seems to me that unless you've got a means of stopping him right now, I'm about to turn this whole duel on its head."

Kiara scowled. "I end my turn."

"Alright then, my go!" Andrew announced with his next draw. "And now I use the effect of Ancient Hero Gamble-Lee to roll a die and destroy all monsters with Level less than or equal to twice the number rolled!"

The gambler lunged forward and threw the die into the air, casting it straight and true before having it land and spin about on the floor to reveal-

"Yes!"

"No!"

-a 5!

"Now all monsters that are Level 10 or lower on your field get destroyed!" Andrew declared, unleashing the devastating power of the die onto the field of angels that Kiara had summoned out!

"Looks like it's your turn to defend against me!"


"Now, during my Standby Phase, when I have no monsters on my field, I can Special Summon Totem Dragon from my Graveyard."

Matt began his move by bringing out the long-necked dragon back from the Graveyard to his field.

"Hmph, if you think I don't know what's coming, you've got another thing coming," Keith retorted. "I activate my face-down card, Machine King - 3000 B.C.!"

"A Trap monster?" Shannon gasped, as a large metal throne of scrap and ancient artifacts rose up behind Keith, resting with a massive mechanical behemoth seated upon it.

"My Machine King - 3000 B.C. represents one of the earliest and most powerful of all the Machine monsters," Keith explained. "When I activate it, it becomes a monster card and prevents me from Summoning any other monsters this turn, but all things considered, I'm willing to give up that luxury since it's your turn!"

Machine King - 3000 B.C. (EARTH/Machine/Level 4/1000 Atk/1000 Def)

Machine King (6/2300/2000 - 6/2500/2000)

"Your giant junk man won't be able to stand up for much longer," Matt retorted. "I sacrifice Totem Dragon and treat it as 2 Tributes to summon out the Blue-Eyes White Dragon (8/3000/2500) from my hand!"

The long-necked dragon was quickly replaced with the most powerful white dragon, which soared onto the field and declared its supremacy immediately by screeching out its signature roar! Its wings beat down a fierce wind on the ground, blowing sand past Keith and his machines before the dragon finally settled down by Matt's side.

"Neither of your monsters can stop my Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and so I attack your Machine King - 3000 B.C. with it!" Matt declared. "Go, White Lightning Attack!"

The dragon charged up a blue bolt of electricity in its mouth before opening wide and firing it off towards the ancient automaton.

Keith smirked. "You calling me basic, and this was your plan?" he asked. "I activate my face-down Trap card, Covering Fire!"

The giant Machine King raised its hand up as the smaller more modern Machine King leaped towards its palm and fired off a powerful laser beam back towards the lightning breath!

"My Trap card lets me use the power of one of my other monsters to add on to another one, raising its Atk by the same amount," Keith went on to explain. "In other words, my Machine King's about to give 3000 B.C. a huge boost!"

Machine King - 3000 B.C. (4/1000/1000 - 4/3500/1000)

"Now go! Counter attack!"

The older king then began to glow and fuel the smaller Machine King, boosting its power and making its laser much stronger! The attack soon overpowered the Blue-Eyes's own attack and consumed it in pure energy, tearing apart Matt's Life Points in the process!

Bandit Keith: 2900
Matt: 3400

Ergh, sorry Kaiba, Matt thought to himself as he pulled another card from his hand. "I'll Set this card face-down and end my turn."

"Heh, so much for your big talk," Keith mocked as he drew his next card. "And now I think it's time for a little Cannon Soldier (4/1400/1300) action!"

A purple robot appeared with a giant green cannon mounted on its shoulder, its presence strengthening the power of the Machine King!

Machine King (6/2400/2000 - 6/2500/2000)

"And now I'm gonna wipe you out in one blow," Keith declared. "I use the power of Machine King - 3000 B.C., allowing me to Tribute a Machine-type monster and give its Atk points over towards him! Now go! Take the power of the Machine King for your own!"

The ancient rusted king knelt down, grasping onto the smaller more modern king and crushing it in its hand. The wires strewn throughout its body began to glow green, and the green light from its face brightened as it absorbed the power of the machine!

Machine King - 3000 B.C. (4/1000/1000 - 4/3500/1000)

"Now it's got more Atk points than Matt's Life Points!" Shannon gasped.

"Let's end this!" Keith declared. "Go, Machine King - 3000 B.C.! Colossal Crusher!"

The king rose up from his chair and threw down a powerful punch, aimed straight at Matt! The fist landed with a powerful explosion of dust, and Keith laughed wildly as he set his hands on his hips.

"Wahahahahahaha! Looks like that's the end of you!" he taunted. "So much for your cocky attiti-"

*BANG!*

Suddenly from the cloud of dust, a bullet fired out and hit Keith directly in his chest!

"Gah! What the?!" Keith looked towards where Matt was standing as the dust settled, a stern gaze set back at Keith - with the Machine King's fist right in front of him!

"Wha...I missed?!"

"Not exactly," Matt explained. "Your Machine King did hit something - my Dragon Desperado (4/1500/1300), to be exact. When you attack me directly, I can Special Summon my Desperado from my hand, and when I do, he hits you with 1000 Life Points worth of damage."

Bandit Keith: 1900
Matt: 3400

"You've gotta be kidding me! So then I hit the monster you summoned instead of you!"

"That's about right, and that protected me from your attack."

"Grrr, well it won't protect you from this! Cannon Soldier, fire!"

The robotic soldier aimed its cannon towards Matt and fired off a powerful blast, tearing through more of his Life Points.

Bandit Keith: 1900
Matt: 2000

"And I'll end my turn with a face-down card," Keith continued as his monster lost the Attack it gained.

Machine King - 3000 B.C. (4/3500/1000 - 4/1000/1000)

Then he looked over at Matt and smirked. "You may have thrown me off-guard for a bit there with that surprise monster, but that ain't gonna save you twice. You've got nothing on the field to defend yourself with, and there's no way you're gonna pull out another miracle."

Matt rested his hand on top of his deck. "Little do you realize that it's in those moments of desperation, in those times of hardship, that's when a miracle can occur," he responded.

"Hah! Don't make me laugh! You used your luck up on your last turn to get those cards you needed, and there's no way you're going to pull something out of nothing! Face it, kid. I've got you beat."

"Really?"

Keith faltered a bit as Matt retorted, "With the two cards in my hand, you don't think I can run over your monsters? Wipe out your field? And with no cards in your hand, you're not any more likely to make a counterattack afterwards. You talk a big game, Keith, but compared to anyone else, you're just a novice."

"Why you-!"

"You can counter any one strategy I've got, but I built this deck to implement several different strategies. Your deck is a rudimentary beatdown deck, designed to overwhelm the opponent through massive power."

Matt then proceeded to draw his next card, looking at it. "I activate the Card of Sanctity, letting us both draw until we have six cards in hand."

"Feh, you're gonna talk a big game on those two cards and then use neither of them? Figures you'd be bluffing," Keith remarked as he and Matt both drew several new cards.

Matt smiled at his new hand. "But you've forgotten one thing about the deck you're facing."

"Oh yeah? And what's that?"

Matt then revealed two cards in his hand: the Spirit Dragons of Water and Wind. "Here, there be dragons."


AUTHOR'S NOTE

And where they be dragons, there be cards tied to those dragons, bringing them great power!

Matt vs. Bandit Keith

Overdrive (Normal Monster)
Level 4, 1600 Atk, 1500 Def, Machine, EARTH

Vanguard of the Dragon (Effect Monster)
Level 4, 1700 Atk, 1300 Def, Dragon, EARTH
Effect: You can send 1 Dragon-Type monster from your hand to the GY; this card gains 300 Atk. When this card you control is sent to the GY by your opponent's card effect: You can target 1 Dragon-Type Normal Monster in either player's GY; Special Summon that target.

Totem Dragon (Effect Monster)
Level 2, 400 Atk, 200 Def, Dragon, EARTH
Effect: This card can be treated as 2 Tributes for the Tribute Summon of a Dragon monster. During your Standby Phase, if this card is in your GY, you control no monsters, and you have no monsters in your GY that are not Dragon: you can Special Summon this card in Attack Position, also banish it when it leaves the field.

Robotic Knight (Normal Monster)
Level 4, 1600 Atk, 1500 Def, Machine, EARTH

Time Machine (Normal Trap)
Effect: When a monster is destroyed by battle and sent to the GY: Special Summon that monster to the same field it was on, in the same battle position it was in when destroyed.

Machine King (Effect Monster)
Level 6, 2200 Atk, 2000 Def, Machine, EARTH
Effect: Gains 100 Atk for each Machine monster on the field.

DNA Surgery (Continuous Trap)
Effect: Activate this card by declaring 1 Monster Type. All face-up monsters on the field become that Type.

Machine King - 3000 B.C. (Continuous Trap)
Effect: Special Summon this card as an Effect Monster (Machine-Type/EARTH/Level 4/1000 ATK/1000 DEF). (This card is also still a Trap Card.) If Summoned this way, once per turn, during your Main Phase: You can Tribute 1 Machine monster; this card gains ATK equal to the ATK the Tributed monster had on the field, until the end of this turn. You cannot Normal or Special Summon other monsters the turn you activate this card.

Blue-Eyes White Dragon (Normal Monster)
Level 8, 3000 Atk, 2500 Def, Dragon, LIGHT

Covering Fire (Normal Trap)
Effect: During the Damage Step, while an opponent's monster is attacking a monster you control: Target 1 other face-up monster you control; your attacked monster gains ATK equal to that target's ATK during the Damage Step only.

Cannon Soldier (Effect Monster)
Level 4, 1400 Atk, 1300 Def, Machine, DARK
Effect: Tribute 1 monster you control; inflict 500 damage to your opponent.

Dragon Desperado (Effect Monster)
Level 4, 1500 Atk, 1300 Def, Dragon, FIRE
Effect: When your opponent's monster declares a direct attack: you can Special Summon this card from your hand, and if you do, inflict 1000 damage to your opponent.

Card of Sanctity (Normal Spell)
Effect: Each player draws until they have 6 cards in their hands.
NOTE: This is, as always, the anime effect of the card, not the real-life TCG variant.

Andrew vs. Kiara

Hecatrice (Effect Monster)
Level 4, 1500 Atk, 1100 Def, Fairy, LIGHT
Effect: You can discard this card to the GY; add 1 "Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen" from your Deck to your hand.

Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen (Continuous Spell)
Effect: Once per turn: you can Special Summon 1 Fairy monster from your hand. You must control no monsters to activate and resolve this effect.

Athena (Effect Monster)
Level 7, 2600 Atk, 800 Def, Fairy, LIGHT
Effect: If another Fairy monster(s) is Summoned: inflict 600 damage to your opponent. Once per turn: You can send 1 face-up Fairy monster you control to the GY, except "Athena", then target 1 Fairy monster in your GY, except "Athena"; Special Summon that target.

Gellenduo (Effect Monster)
Level 4, 1700 Atk, 0 Def, Fairy, LIGHT
Effect: Cannot be destroyed by battle. If you take any damage: Destroy this face-up card. This card can be treated as 2 Tributes for the Tribute Summon of a LIGHT Fairy monster.

Guardian of Order (Effect Monster)
Level 8, 2500 Atk, 1200 Def, Warrior, LIGHT
Effect: If you control 2 or more LIGHT monsters: You can Special Summon this card from your hand. You can only control 1 "Guardian of Order".

Ancient Hero Guardian (Effect Monster)
Level 4, 800 Atk, 2000 Def, Rock, EARTH
Effect: Cannot be destroyed by battle. Double any Battle Damage your opponent takes from battles involving this card.

Guardian Angel Joan (Effect Monster)
Level 7, 2800 Atk, 2000 Def, Fairy, LIGHT
Effect: When this card destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the GY: Gain Life Points equal to that monster's original ATK in the GY.

Ancient Hero Gamble-Lee (Effect Monster)
Level 3, 200 Atk, 1400 Def, Spellcaster, EARTH
Effect: Cannot be destroyed by battle. Once per turn: you can roll 1 six-sided die; destroy all monsters your opponent controls with a Level less than or equal to double the result of that roll, also you cannot perform your Battle Phase this turn.

A climactic showdown between Keith and Matt continues as he gathers the Spirit Dragons in his hand! What powerful new dragon will he summon to use against Keith? And will Andrew be able to carry the momentum against Kiara after the destruction of all of her monsters? Find out in the next chapter!