Chapter 25: Kidnapped by the Rare Hunters

Yuya felt good as he left the Strong Dojo. He had qualified for the tournament with plenty of time to spare, and he had a great duel to cap it off.

"Nothing can stop me now! Not with my new monsters, at least. The next time Declan challenges me to a duel, he'll be sorry!"

"Step on up to see the future! One minute is all you need to know your destiny!"

Curious, Yuya stepped up to see a robed figure waving his hands over a crystal ball.

"You can really see the future?"

"Of course! All I need is a personal item. Perhaps your pendulum?"

Yuya grabbed the pendant around his neck, uncertain.

"Come on, don't you want to know what the future has in store for you? I promise I'll give it right back."

Feeling better, but still suspicious, Yuya cautiously handed it over, the fortuneteller snatching it before waving his hands over it.

"Ah yes, I can see your future quite clearly…You have none!"

"What-Mmmmmpph!"

Before Yuya could react, a cloth soaked in chloroform was draped over his mouth, knocking him out before he could take back his possessions.

"Too easy. Come on, we need to get him back to the boss before he wakes up!"

"Right!"

When Yuya came too, he found himself in a dimly lit room with a throbbing headache. Clutching his head, he stood up, quickly finding himself chained by the duel disk to the floor.

"Huh? Where am I? Wait a minute, this is the place where Zuzu dueled that Panik guy!"

"Damn it, he's awake. And here I thought this would be easy."

Yuya turned to see a Rare Hunter approaching the duel field, duel disk at the ready.

"Not you purple robed freaks again! What do you want with me?"

"Your cards, fool! What else could I possibly want from a pipsqueak like you!"

"Well, you can't have them! Pegasus gave them to me…"

"Grr, don't say that name! That man ruined my life!"

Throwing the hood off, Yuya gasped to see who it was underneath.

"Wait a minute, you're Bandit Keith! You were the former American Duel Monsters Champion."

"That's right, I was, until Pegasus humiliated me in front of the entire world! I was laughed out of every dueling league I could find, all because he decided to play those toon freaks!"

"I thought you were disqualified because of cheating…"

"THAT'S BEYOND THE POINT! I thought my life was over, until the Rare Hunters found me. Now I'm top of the food chain, and your Pendulum Monsters will help me stay there! Now, we can do things the easy way, or the hard way…"

Realizing just what he meant by that, Yuya raised his duel disk, much to Keith's pleasure.

"Good. It's been a while since I had some entertainment."

DUEL!

Yuya: 4000

Keith: 4000

"Since I'm being held against my will, I'll go first. And since the field is empty, I can normal summon Performapal Drummerilla by reducing his level 1 by. Next, I'll set two cards face down and end my turn."

"Don't get too comfy kid because I'm gonna bring the pain down on ya! First, I'll activate Dark Designator! Now if the card I'm about to call is in your deck, it gets added to your hand. And I choose Timegazer Magician!"

Yuya added the card to his hand, confused why he would add a card he knew would help him to his hand.

"Next, I activate Pillager! Now I get to look at your hand and take a card from it, and I think we both already know which one I'm taking."

Yuya sighed, showing Bandit Keith his hand before Keith ripped Timegazer Magician from it. Before Yuya returned to his side of the field, however, Keith couldn't help but notice he also had Stargazer Magician in it. He'd have to take it later…

"Alright, next I set one monster face down, and another card face down right behind it. That ends my turn."

Yuya growled, this card wouldn't help him right now. He'd just have to make do with what he had.

"Drummerilla, attack his face down monster (1600-2200)!"

"Not so fast, I activate my trap card Lucky Punch! Now I toss a coin three times, and if it lands on heads three times, I get to draw three cards. But if I get three tails, I take 6000 points of damage."

"What? Why would you risk the duel for three extra cards."

Keith grinned wickedly. What Yuya didn't know was that the coin he was using only had a heads side. And because of the distance between them, he'd find out.

"Let's see what Lady Luck has in store for me!"

Tossing the coin, he got three heads, not that he was surprised as he gleefully drew his three cards.

"Looks like it's my lucky day!"

"Maybe so, but my attack will still go through!"

The musical gorilla pounced revealing it to be a small, mechanical spider which repelled his attacks, neither one worse for wear (1400/2200).

"That was my BM-4 Blast Spider. Thanks to his high defense, he'll be sticking around for a little bit longer."

Yuya groaned, out of options.

"I end my turn."

"Too bad, better luck next time. Oh wait, there won't be a next time, because this duel ends here! First, I activate the spell card Heavy Metal Raiders, but more on that in a minute. Next, I activate Blast Spider's effect. By destroying one Dark Machine I control, I can destroy a monster you control. Say goodbye to Blast Spider and your Gorilla!"

The mechanical arachnid latched onto the ape before exploding, taking them both out in a brilliant explosion.

"What'd you do that for?"

"So that I could activate the effect of Desperado Barrel Dragon from my hand! Since a Face Up Dark Machine on my field was destroyed, I can special summon him for free (2800/2200)! But that's not all, because now the effect of Heavy Metal Raiders kicks in. Since Blast Spider took your Gorilla down with it, I can special summon Cannon Soldier MK-2 (1900/1200) from my hand in attack mode! Now my monsters, finish him off!"

"Not so fast, I activate Performapal Pinch Helper! Not only is Desperado Barrel Dragon's attack negated, but I can special summon Performapal Elephammer in attack mode!"

"Humph, lucky shot. I end my turn with one card face down."

"Then its my move. And to start, I activate Card of Demise! Next, I activate Polymerization, fusing Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon with Stargazer Magician in order to summon Rune Eyes Pendulum Dragon! Now Elpehammer, attack his Cannon Soldier! And I'll use his effect to bounce all of your backrow back to your hand!""

"Go, Lucky Punch!"

As he predicted, Keith got three heads, filling up his hand once more, not that it saved his monster.

Keith: 3300

"Now Rune Eyes, take out his Barrel Dragon!"

The mystical dragon blaster the dragon apart, leaving nothing but twisted scrap metal in its wake.

Keith: 3100

"Since Desperado Barrel Dragon was sent to the graveyard, I get to add a level 7 or lower monster that has a coin tossing effect from my deck to my hand, and I choose the original Barrel Dragon!"

"I end my turn with one card face down. Your move."

Keith grinned; it was time to put his plan into action. Sneakily placing his hand over his deck, a card ejected itself from his cuff onto it, which he then drew.

"This duel is over, Yuya! I activate the spell card Soul Thief! This lets me take one monster in your graveyard and add it to my hand, and I choose your Stargazer Magician! "

Yuya grunted as he tossed the card to Bandit Keith who chuckled darkly.

"Don't worry, he goes back to your graveyard at the end of the turn…if you survive that long! With the scale 1 Stargazer Magician and the Scale 8 Timegazer Magician, I set the pendulum Scale! But before I summon anything, I'll activate Cost Down, discarding one card to lower the level of every monster I have in my hand by two. Now, come forth Perfect Machine king (2700/1500), Launcher Spider (2200/2500), and Barrel Dragon (2600/2200)!"

Yuya gulped nervously as the massive machines glared him down.

"Now for their effects. For every machine on the field besides him, Perfect Machine King gains 500 attack points (2700- 3700). Next, my Barrel Dragon's effect activates. If I can get at least two heads, your Dragon goes bye bye!"

Naturally, he got just that, and Rune Eyes was taken out by two shots from two of the Dragon's cannons.

"Now then, Perfect Machine King will attack your elephant!"

The strongest machine shot a fist out, pummeling the elephant into dust as Yuya raised his hands in defense.

Yuya: 2900

Yuya had barely any time to react before a massive jolt of electricity ran through his body, causing him to holler in pain.

"Now Barrel Dragon, attack him directly!"

"Not so fast, I activate the effect of Performapal Kuribohle from my hand. Since I'm about to take a direct attack, I can special summon him (300/200) and have him take the attack instead."

Barrel Dragon had to readjust its aim, instead blasting the furball away. However, Bandit Keith noticed that Yuya's life points hadn't gone down, but up.

Yuya: 5200

"Hey, what gives?"

"Due to Kuribohle's effect, any battle damage I would take instead increases my life points by that amount."

"Grr, well I'm not done yet. Launcher Spider, blow him to smithereens!"

The massive spider robot launched a rain of missiles onto Yuya, causing him untold pain as he struggled to stand.

Yuya: 3000

"I guess I've dealt enough damage to you for now. I end my turn."

Yuya grunted, drawing his last card.

"I activate Pot of Avarice! By returning five monsters from my graveyard to my deck, I can draw two cards. Next, I activate Card of Sanctity to refill my hand."

When Yuya saw what he had drawn, he smirked. This duel was over.

"With the Scale 4 Performapal Trump Witch and the Scale 8 Performapal Card Cardna, I set the Pendulum Scale! Come on out, Performapal Dag Daggerman (2000/600) and Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon! Next, using my Trump Witch's effect, I fuse the two of them to fusion summon Brave Eyes Pendulum Dragon (3000/2000)!"

"Yeah, so what? Even if you destroy one of my machines, Perfect Machine King will still have enough to destroy it, and the rest of my monsters will finish you off!"

"Actually, they won't. When Brave Eye is Fusion Summoned, all of your monsters lose their attack points and have their effects negated (3700-0) (2200-0) (2600-0)!"

"What? But that means-"

"This duel is over! Brave Eyes, dethrone his king!"

Bandit Keith could only watch as his monster crumpled into scrap, the electricity running right through his body as he screamed in agony.

Keith: 0000

Yuya wins!

Keith's body collapsed to the floor, smoke rising off it as Yuya's chain unlocked.

"Ah man, I've got to get out of here!"

"Where do you think you're going, little man?"

Before Yuya could make a run for it, a bunch of rare hunters cornered him, ready to take his deck by force when…

"This is the police! You're under arrest!"

Before anyone could move, the place was swarmed by officers, handcuffing every rare hunter they could and getting a very confused Yuya to safety.

"What's going on?"

"Perhaps I can be of some help."

Yuya turned to see Declan standing there, face stoic as ever.

"Declan?"

"Hello again, Yuya. It seems we have a lot to talk about."