Chapter 4

Jeck's Mechs

"Katria, I don't think you need all those supplies."

"Of course I do! We never know what we need out there."

"But you don't need that make-up set."

"Oh, shush! I know what I'm doing here!"

"Okay, just leave the attitude behind."

Kyte sighed. He was leaning on the outside walls of the church, looking up at the clouds. These guys are worse than my parents, he thought, smiling to himself. He leans over to the entrance, looking inside. "Keep it up guys, maybe Sinnar will die of old age."

"Shut up! I bet you'll end up taking booze with you!" Katria yells out to him.

Kyte quickly covers his mouth, keeping himself from yelling out something rude. He lets go after a few minutes with a big sigh. Jeck walks out of the church first, only with a small black backpack over his shoulder. Then, Katria follows out with a small white purse. "So, figured out which mascara to take?" Kyte asks. Katria gives him a glare and keeps walking foward. "Don't expect me to save your butt when a big monster shows up." Kyte smiles and says sarcasticly, "Oh, no! What shall I ever do?" Katria quickly turns around with her fist clenched in the air and says, "Maybe cry when I tug those ears?" Kyte quickly cups his hands over his ears, shaking his head. Katria gives herself a satisfied smile and kept walking. Jeck looks over his shoulder at them. "Knock it off, you two. We better be prepared for anything that comes in our way." Katria smiled like a small child. "You know I always listen to you, Jeck," she says innocently. Kyte rolled his eyes.

They walked along a trail, passing through a town Kyte once knew. The buildings and homes were not standing tall anymore. Most were rather destroyed or withered away in time. But despite the glooming sites, most people were rebuliding homes with smiles. The group decided to stop and look around. Stores were in business, with people browsing though. Kyte smiles to himself and looked to his friends but notices someone is missing. "Hey, where's Jeck?" Katria looked at him and said, "He went to some local market. I guess he got hungry after those hot cakes I made for you guys." Kyte gulped and suddenly got a bad flavor in his mouth. Those cakes were burned, he thought. They decided to sit down at a small bench behind him. Kyte looked down at his hands with an uneasy feelings. In his head, thoughts were overclouding his mind. Katria looks at him and lowered her eyebrows slightly. "Kyte, I'm really sorry about your friends," she said with sympathy in her tone. "What were they like?" Kyte kept his head down and says, "They were the best people you'll ever know. Jasin was my very best friend. He was like my big brother to me and we always dueled. I never got the chance to beat him yet. Another friend, who's also Jasin's girlfriend, is a very supportive girl. She's mostly the whacky one and I never could understand how a guy like Jasin has a girl like Rena." Katria smiles softly at him and kept listening. "My girlfriend," he says in a low tone, "was an amazing girl. Alyss is very sassy, unlike any girl I ever knew. She can turn dark to light for anybody."

"At least they're in a better place."

The two looked up and saw Jeck with a brown paper bag. "Sorry, couldn't help but listen," he says as he searched the bag. An aroma came to Kyte, his eyes widening, and says, "Hey, I smell cream cheese." Jeck smirked and took out a bagel with cream cheese spread on the sides. Kyte's eyes sparkled and grabbed the bagel, eating it. "It tastes so good," he moaned in delight. Katria dropped her jaw and crossed her arms. "What about my hotcakes?" Jeck shrugged and said, "They were a bit burnt so we gave 'em to some pigeons."

"Poor souls," Kyte muttered with his mouth full.

Katria glares at both of them and sighed, "Men." She stands up and begins to walk away. "C'mon we should go now," she said as she walked on. Kyte swallowed the last chunk and followed her, along with Jeck. "Hey, Jeck, gotta ask." Jeck looked at Kyte and said, "What?" Kyte smiled at him. "You do duel, right? Because I never saw your Duel Disk." Jeck closed his eyes and says in a calm tone, "It's in my backpack." Kyte looked at his own disk. "Think we could handle Sinnar ourselves?" Kyte asked. Jeck simply replied with a shrug. "Miracles happen." He looks at a small bar and stops walking. Kyte blinked and asked, "Jeck?" Katria turns around. "What is it?" she asked. He puts the bag of food down on the cement. Jeck's eyes were filled with determination and walks inside, saying, "I have something to finish" Katria placed her hand on her cheek. "Oh boy, he wants to settle the score." Kyte looks at her, confused. "He has a rival in this town named Darnis Cutter," she explained to him. "They were rivals since childhood, always at each others' throats. But, Darnis went too far and made Jeck angry." Kyte tilts his head slightly and asks, "What did he do?" Katria lowered her head and shakes her head. "Rather not say," she said in a low tone. As she looked back up, Kyte was gone. She clenched her teeth and mutters, "That boy is getting on my nerves." She marched inside the bar. Men were either sitting on stools or leaning against the walls of the bar. Some looked over at her and some smirked with lust but she paid no attention. Where did those dorks go? she thought. Then at the corner of her eye, she sees Kyte run thru a backdoor and she runs after him. As she opened the door, the sunlight blinds her for a moment or two as she adjusted her eyes to the light.

At the back of the bar, there used to be a baseball field. Anybody could understand that the field was abandoned since there were cans of beer on the dirt and grass. By the homeplate, where it resides infront of a small fence, stood Jeck with his dueldisk ready in hand. Katria turned slightly and saw his opponent. He had a white jacket and very light blue jeans. His golden hair shined the sunlight. His age seemed about Jeck's age. It didn't took too long for Katria to realize that her friend's opponent is Darnis Ryu. "I think it's time to settle things before you go to meet the devil," the man said as his green eyes shined. Jeck replies with a slight nod. Kyte was sitting in a bench, keeping his eyes on them. Suddenly, a sensation of pain overwhelms his ear. Katria held his ear tightly in her grasp with her teeth clenched and growls, "Never run off like that ever again!" Kyte squirmed and yelps, "What am I, five-years-old?" Katria tugs harder at his ear. "In the head, you are!" The helpess boy yelped and yelped until his friend let's go of him. He glared at her but then turned to the duel. "So, that's Darnis?" Kyte asked her. She nodded with her eyes on Jeck. C'mon Jeck, don't let the past hold you back.

"Duel!" the two players shouted as they drew their hands.

Jeck 8000LP

Darnis 8000LP

"I'll go first," Darnis said as he drew a card, "you wimp." Jeck's eyes narrowed, clenching his teeth slightly. "I'll lay two cards facedown. I summon Power Crystal!" At his swords, a platform appeared on the field, holding a glowing white crystal. ATK/400 DEF/1800 Darnis smirked proudly at his monster, even if it's Attack Points are very low. Kyte began to wonder why would he play such a weak card on his first turn. "I'm sure Jeck knows what this card does," Darnis said as he glanced towards Katria and Kyte, "but it seems like they don't know. I summoned this card because of its effect: when this card is Normal Summoned in Attack Mode, I can offer it as a Tribute to Special Summon a Machine-Type monster from my hand with six stars or less." The crystal started to glow with a bright light. The energy began to morph into a shape of some sort of dragon. It was a long, mechanical snake-like monster with yellow eyes that seemed so cold. Kyte's eyes widen and shouts out, "That's Cyber Dragon!" ATK/2100 DEF/1600 Katria nods and explains, "Yeah, he uses a Cyber Dragon. But, it doesn't mean his deck is only of those dragons. His deck is pure power. He believes that weak masses should be at the mercy of the strong." Kyte blinks and looks back at the duelists. "A new generation of Seto Kaiba, huh?" The girl smiled with a light giggle. Jeck's opponent crossed his arms. "Your move," he said in a cool, calm tone. "Draw," Jeck said as he drew a card from his deck. "I summon MechanicalChaser in Attack Mode." A mechanical monster appeared infront of Jeck, carrying a spear with one claw as the rest of it's "arms" were blades. ATK/1850 DEF/800 Then, Jeck played a card on the Spell/Trap Card Zone. "Next, I use the Spell Card, Forced Trap. This allows me to activate a Trap Card from my hand, as long as I have a Dark-Attribute monster on my field. And incase if you haven't noticed, my chaser matches the terms of my Spell." He chooses a card from his hand, saying, "I'll activate Metalmorph." The Mechanicalchaser was covered in a silver armor. The sensor on its head glew red, scanning the Cyber Dragon. "Not only it gains three-hundred Attack points, but it also gains half of its target when it launches an attack. And that time is now!" The mechanized monster throws its spear to the dragon. ATK/3200 Instead of worrying, Darnis remainded calm. "Seems like the weak never pays much attention to their surroundings," he said as his facedown card revealed itself, "and you'll suffer for that mistake. Trap Card, Dimension Wall!" The spear penatrates the dragon's armor with ease, flying towards Darnis. A portal appears at the last second, swallowing the spear. Katria turns to Jeck. At that moment, another portal appears behind him. "Jeck, look out!" she yelled to him. Jeck looks over his shoulder, but it was too late. The spear goes right thru his back. He lets out a loud growl, shutting his eyes tightly. He winces but doesn't fall to his knees. "Now you lost the damage I would've taken." Darnis explained with a satisfied smirk.

Jeck 6900LP

Jeck stood straight once again, wiping some sweat on his forehead. I'm rushing..if I keep this up, I'll lose he thought. He sets a face-down card into his Spell/Trap slot. "End turn," he said between his clenched teeth. Darnis lets out a chuckle and draws a card. "Now, I activate the Spell Card, Treasure of Destiny," he exclaimed as a blue, black-dotted die appears on the field. "Depending on the roll of the die, I can draw as many cards equal to the result, but I'll have to remove the same number of cards from my deck." The die was launched high into the air, spinning, as everyone held their breath. The die landed onto the ground, showing three dots for everyone to see. Darnis smiled in a cold way and drew three cards from his deck. He takes out his deck and searches for three to remove. Jeck's eyes twitched slightly, for Darnis get's a hand advantage. Darnis placed his Deck back to his Duel Disk as he holds a total of five cards. "I summon SIlver Mech Getku!" A Machine-Type monster, looking as if it were some kind of a beast-warrior covered with nothing but silver armor appears with red piercing eyes. ATK/1400 DEF/1800 "This isn't good at all!" exclaimed Katria. Kyte looks at her, worried. "What do you mean? What is that thing?" he asked the blue-eyed girl. She glares at the mechanical beast and explains, "He's using a Silver Mech deck. Those cards are very rare to find, they're mostly used by the military as weapons to fight the war. Those cards are elite and I don't even think that Jeck would win." Kyte looked back to the duel and simply says, "There's gotta be a way for him to win." Darnis chooses one of his cards from his hand and says, "When there's a monster with 'Silver Mech' in its card name on the field, I can Special Summon this card: Silver Mech Gun 12K." A large gun appears on the field, resting on a platform. ATK/1700 DEF/500 A small sweatdrop ran down Jeck's chin. I know that card...He can blast away almost anything! Darnis slowly raised his hand to the air, saying, "If the Silver Mech I have on the field, besides my gun, I can use its effect: If the Mech's Attack Points are higher than one-thousand, I can destroy one monster on the field with points higher than a thousand. Good thing you used Metalmorph so quickly, Jeck." The gun suddenly blasts a bombard of missles, blasting away Jeck's Mechanicalchaser to junk. "Not good!" yelled Kyte. But, for an odd reason, Jeck's worried face became an expression of relaxation. Kyte and Katria are dumbfounded by this. "Attack him directly, Getku!" Jeck thrusts his hand foward and commands, "Reverse card, open! Call of the Haunted!" His once-killed machine reappears on the field in perfect condition. The opponent growls under his breath and Sets a facedown Spell/Trap. "Your move, you loser."

Jeck draws a card from his deck and declares, "We'll see who's the loser. I play the Spell, Cost Down! I discard one card from my hand to downgrade all Monster Cards in my hand by two stars." He slips a card into the Graveyard and, then, places a monster on the field. "I summon Big Core." Suddenly, everyone began to hear what sounds like roars of an engine. As Jeck's friends looked up, they were left in awe. A gigantic ship was over Jeck's head with guns on each side of it. ATK/2300 DEF/1100 Jeck raised his hand in the air with a clenched fist and says, "Now I attack Silver Mech Getku with 'Laser Shot'!" An array of lasers were sent flying to Getku, obliterating it instantly. Darnis hisses through his clenched teeth, anger in his eyes. "Next, on my second Main Phase, I activate Boss Battle. I can no longer Normal Summon monsters as long as the card remains on the field." Darnis turns his head slightly with a smirk, his eyes focused on his opponent. "Risking it all on one monster, eh? The weak are so pathetic." Jeck crosses his arms with a smirk of his own, replying, "Yeah, I agree, no wonder you're losing." Darnis growled as his eyes twitched. Katria and Kyte were cheering him on in the background. Darnis draws a card from his deck, shouting, "This fight isn't over yet, not by a long shot!"

Darnis 7100LP

He looks at his newly drawn card and smiles deviously. "I activate Pot of Greed, which lets me draw two cards." He draws two cards from the top of his deck, his hand now at six again. As he looked upon his hand of cards, his eyes shined brightly under the sun's ray. An expression of worry appeared on Jeck's face, knowing that he might have drawn his trump card. "Time to summon a card that's beyond any mechanical monster's attack force," Darnis says in a low tone. "I activate the Spell Card, Swords of Revealing Light!" Out of nowhere, swords of light fell from the heavens, surrounding Jeck and his field. A small drip of sweat gleams on Jeck's chin as the light surrounds him. His opponent slowly picks a card in his hand, explaining, "Now that you're in the swords' trap, I can strengthen my army as you cower. I activate another spell: Tribute Doll." A small doll appears next to the Gun, glowing with a purple aura. Kyte's fist tightened. "Now that doll became a second Tribute for a seven-star monster. But, what monster?" Darnis sneered at Kyte, saying, "A monster that'll end your friend's dueling life!" Kyte couldn't understand his words but as he looked onto the playing field, it all makes sense. The doll and the gun meld together in a silver glop of goo. Katria made a face and said with disgust, "This is totally sick." The goo formed a ball and rose high into the air, parts of the thing stretching out, forming into something. Wings began to appear; a tail grew out with spikes. A head slowly emerged with a hideous face. It had a big snout with sharp 'teeth' as its eyes glew with a color of blood. Darnis stretches his arms out, laughing outloud and declaring, "Meet my ultimate weapon! Silver Mech Ultima Kurtdos!" ATK/2950 DEF/2700 Kyte gasped, "His ultimate weapon?" Katria's eyes were filled with disbelief. "He summoned the army's best chance of winning the war!" She quickly stands up and yells at Darnis, "You ass! You took our only chance of victory against Sinnar only because of the burning hatred in your black heart!" His eyes shined brightly and growled at Katria, yelling back, "Shut your mouth!" A sudden rush of anger overpowers Jeck. How dare you say that to her? he thought. I won't forgive you for doing that to her!

Darnis looked back at Jeck with a simple smirk. "As I was saying, this is the ultimate weapon! And I'll tell you why," he said proudly. "This monster gains one-hundred Attack Points for each Machine-Type monster on the field times the first digit in your Life Points when it's summoned out. In other words, it gains six-hundred points for each machine!" ATK/3550 "And that's not all," he said, "whenever it attacks a monster the controller of the target loses Life Points equal to the defending points of the monster right before the Damage Step!" Jeck was striken with doubt and fear, realizing that no matter what he plays, he'll lose Life Points. "Now, my beast! Show him hell! Cyber Energy Burst!" The mechanic nightmare's body started to glow with a bright aura as energy began to form in its jaws. In a bright flash, Big Core was hit, but not destroyed. Jeck shield his eyes with his left arm from the immense light and shouts out, "Whenever it goes into battle, it loses one counter. It had three when it was summoned, so now it has one left!" Darnis closed his eyes, crossing his arms. "As if it makes a difference, you'll still lose points."

Jeck 5800LP

Stress was hovering above Katria and Kyte, worried that their friend will fall. Jeck griddled his teeth, trying to think of a way to win. His concentration broke when he heard a faint beep. He squinted his eyes as he looked at his opponent's Duel Disk. He read the numbers: 6100. He must've payed one-thousand Life in order to attack with Kurtdos...he failed to mention that, Jeck thought as he made a plan. I need to pull out my Spell Card, he thought, so I can defeat him. My Boss Rush will stall time 'til then. Darnis smiled deviously, satisfied he was able to drop his Life Points down. "I end my turn, and soon, I'll end you." Jeck pulls a card from his deck, saying, "We'll see who'll win this fight." He looks at his newly drawn card and adds it to his hand. All I have to do is wait for the right moment. "I switch Big Core to Defense Position. That's all." A smirk appears on the face that belongs to Darnis, saying to himself, "It's all you can do. Draw!" He draws a card from his deck. This card will come in handy soon. "One card facedown. Now, I attack and this time, I'll destroy it! Energy Burst!" The mechanical monster flung its head back and blasted Big Core away. Jeck griddled his teeth and raises his hand up high. "Now my Boss Rush comes into effect! I can Special Summon a monster with 'B.E.S.' in its name or is named Big Core. This time, I special summon B.E.S. Crystal Core in Defense Position." Suddenly, long mechanical tentacles raises from the ground, along with a crystal-like ship. ATK/2100 DEF/1000 Darnis sneers and spits at the ground. "All garbage for me to get rid of. Besides, when they're Special Summoned, they don't get any counters. So either way, with one attack, they're dead. Oh, and don't forget that you lose a thousand life. " A sense of annoyance overcomes Darnis for Jeck was acting very calm and relaxed. At the corner of Jeck's eye, the Life Point counter on his opponent's Duel Disk lowers to 5100. I was right..he has to pay one-thousand points in order to attack. I'll make sure that his downfall will be his own card. "End turn," Darnis delcared. Jeck draws a card from his deck as Katria looked on. "He's in a tough situation. And I can't believe that he's doing this for me." Kyte looks at her curiously and asks, "What happened? What made Jeck so vengeful?" A soft sigh escapes from Katria's lips. "Ten years ago, when I barely moved to California, I was a shy girl, very scared that I'd be an outcast. But then, my neighbor came over to my house with a kid of their own." "Jeck, right?" he asked her. She nodded and continued, "He was my first friend in California. He tought me courage through the years. Then, when we were twelve, Darnis showed up. He always taunted us in school. After a while, Jeck stood up to him and he embarassed him in a duel. He was a laughing stalk since he always talked a big game. One day, when we were walking home together," at this point, a tear rolled down Katria's cheek, "our homes were burned down. Our parents didn't survive." Kyte's eyes widen in disbelief. "You mean, he killed your parents?" Katria wipes the tear from her cheek. "Yeah, he did. But we have no proof to get him convicted. But, we know he did it..he bragged about it to us. Jutsice couldn't be delievered. Jeck held me in my arms and told me that one day he'll get back at Darnis." Kyte looked at Darnis and says through his clenched teeth, "He's a demon."

Jeck 4800LP

Darnis 5100LP

Jeck looked through his hand of cards. I haven't got my Spell yet, but I won't give in to him. I'll make sure that you get what's coming to you, Darnis. He looks back at Darnis and says, "Tell me, are you the one who burned our homes? Are you really the bastard who ruined our lives?" A horrible laugh fills the air as Jeck growled even more. Darnis slowly stopped laughing and says, "Yeah, I'm the one. And you're the won who also ruined my life! I was known as the best in school. Yet, you got lucky. And in just one lost, evevrybody called me weak! So I decided to burn your dump-of-a-home to the ground!" Tension was in the air, for everyone, except Darnis, was angered by his words. Jeck reached into his pocket and it catches Darnis' attention. In his hand, Jeck held a tape recorder. Darnis screams out, "You had that taping the conversation?" Jeck smiled and replys, "I did. And this will go to the police station if I win this duel. Got it? The winner will keep the recorded tape." A devious smile appeared on the man's face once again. "What a fool! You couldv'e given the tape to the cops after the duel!" Yes, but I rather see the fear in your eyes, Jeck thought. "I pass my turn." Darnis draws a card from his deck. "Open facedown card! Blood-Spill Carnival! This Trap Card gets equiped to Kurtdos and enhances his abilities. You see, any Effect Damage he causes will be doubled!" Jeck's left eye twitches, realizing he has about three turns to survive. Jeck's B.E.S. Crystal Core is suddenly obliterated by an attack. "I Special Summon B.E.S. Covered Core." Another battleship appeared on the field, its entire body covered in armor. ATK/2500 DEF/800

Jeck 2800LP

Darnis 4100LP

Jeck pulls a card from his deck, wishing for the best. His eyes widen a bit in hope and chuckles softly. He looks at Darnis and says, "Justice will be served." He placed a card facedown onto the field. Darnis glares at the facedown card, worried. What if its some Trap Card that'll do my Kurtdos in? No, he has to be bluffing, he has to be! He draws a card from his deck and shouts, "Send his last B.E.S. to the junkyard!" The earth shook as Covered Core was destroyed. "Heh, I knew your facedown wouldn't negate my attack."

Jeck 1200LP

Darnis 3100LP

Jeck begins to chuckle again, smiling. Katria rises up from the stands and Kyte looks up at her. "What is it?" He then sees that another tear falls down her cheek but she doesn't have a sad expression. Instead, she was smiling happily. "He won." Darnis looks over at her and yells, "You're blind! I'm the one who's about to win!" Jeck looks at Katria and nods at her. Katria smiles and nods back. "You're wrong, Darnis. He activated a Spell card." darnis rasied his eye brows and looked at Jeck. "What?" She was correct. Jeck's facedown card has revealed itself. " I activated the Spell, Rebellion! And just like its card name, it causes your monster to attack you as long as I have no monsters of my own on the field!" Kurtdos slowly turned its gigantic head towards its master and opens its jaws, preparing for an attack. Darnis falls down and crawls back, yelping, "No way! I was winning!" Jeck thrusts his fist foward and commands, "Attack him directly!" A huge energy beam blasts onto Darnis as his screams echoed in the air. Both Kyte and Katria were cheering for Jeck, the victor of the duel. Jeck looks at them and gives them a thumbs up as a smile stretched across his face.