Chapter 14: A Puzzling Situation
After an hour of searching, the 7 met up where they came in to discuss their findings.
"Hassleberry and I had no luck, unless you count a Dinosaur with a cold."
"Alexis and I found Atticus, but that's all."
"Hi."
Chazz and Bastion exchanged a look before giving their report.
"Well...we found something..."
Motioning for the others to follow them, they brought them farther into the desert, where they found...
"Is that...a pyramid?"
Sure enough, a large pyramid pointed out towards the sky, by far the most notable landmark in the place. In front of it was a large Sphynx.
"Sweet! Let's go check it out!"
"Jaden, wait! Remember what happened last time we poked around stuff like this?"
But Jaden was too far ahead to hear Syrus's warning. Sighing, Syrus took off after his friend, followed by the others. Chazz and Bastion shared a glance.
"Last time..."
"Why do I have the feeling that's one adventure I'll be glad I wasn't a part of?"
Shrugging, the two followed their friends. By the time they had caught up, the rest of the group had already reached the entrance.
"So, should we knock, or..."
"WHO DARES TRESPASS ON THIS SACRED LAND?
Jaden leapt back, staring up to see the massive Sphinx glaring down at all of them.
"Uh, we're not trespassing, we're...tourists?"
"IF YOU WISH TO CONTINUE, YOU MUST PASS MY TEST!"
A low rumbled forced Jaden back. From the sands rose an old school dueling arena, like the ones used during Duelist Kingdom. The only difference was that this one appeared to be made out of stone. Jaden's eyes went wide.
"Ah sweet, I always wanted to duel on one of these!"
And before anyone could say anything else, Jaden leapt onto the platform, which raised itself until he was at eye level with his opponent.
"Get your game on, Sphinx Man!"
"BEGINNING DUEL PUZZLE!"
"Duel what?
The arena flashed, and the field transformed into a duel in progress. Jaden had a Tragoedia on his side of the field (?-3600/?-3600) and no other monsters. In his hand he had Axe of Despair, Remove Trap, Cost Down, Tribute to the Doomed, Shooting Star Bow- Ceal,and Bird King Alector. His life points were set at 1000.
On his opponent's side of the field, they had a Green Gadget (1400/600), Red Gadget (1300/1500), Yellow Gadget (1200/1200) Stronghold the Moving Fortress (0-3000/2000), and Ancient Gear Soldier all in attack mode. They had no cards in their hand, but a single card face down and The Dark Door active. Their life points were 2300.
"Oh, its a duel puzzle," Bastion commented. "Professor Sartyr uses them in his class from time to time. In order to pass, you need to win the duel in one turn."
"Wait, who?" Syrus asked.
"The guy who dueled with a bag on his head."
"Oooooooooh."
"Alright Sphix, its my move. First, I activate Shooting Star Bow- Ceal and give it to Green Gadget, reducing his attack points by 1000 (1400-400) (3600-3000). Now Tragoedia, attack his Gadget!"
The demon opened its maw and let loose a massive breath blast. However...
"I ACTIVATE MIRROR FORCE! YOUR MONSTER IS DESTROYED!"
Jaden moaned as his one hope of winning went up in its own flames.
"Ah man."
"PUZZLE FAILED, PREPARE FOR EJECTION!
"Huh?"
Before Jaden could move, his platform buckled before flinging him back, much to his horror. With a hard thump, he landed in the sand.
"Jaden, are you alright?"
"I'll live, but I don't want to go on that ride again."
Chazz scoffed, hopping onto the platform next.
"Figures a slifer slacker would screw this up. Alright, cat man, its you and me!"
Once more, the field was set up. Chazz grinned, knowing exactly what to do.
"Alright, I activate the Axe of Despair and give it to Tragoedia (3600-3000-4000). And he's going to use those points to take out your Green Gadget!"
"Chazz, no!"
"I ACTIVATE MIRROR FORCE! YOUR MONSTER IS DESTROYED!"
"Ah crap."
Once more, Tragoedia was destroyed by its own attack.
"PUZZLE FAILED, PREPARE FOR EJECTION!"
Chazz screamed as he was thrown backwards. Unlike Jaden, he landed headfirst, and Bastion and Hassleberry had to lift him out.
"What were you thinking? You already knew his set card was Mirror Force."
"I thought he might have changed it!"
Sighing, Bastion decided to take a turn.
"Watch and learn, folks. Now that we know that his face down is and always will be Mirror Force, winning is merely a matter of making sure he can't use it. First, I activate Cost Down, discarding Remove Trap to reduce the level of all monsters on my field and hand by 2. Next, I activate Tragoedia's second effect, discarding the now level 4 Bird King Alector to take control of one monster I control who has an equal level, and I choose Ancient Gear Soldier."
"Awesome! Now if that card attacks, Mirror Force can't activate!"
"True, but it won't have enough attack points to win the duel no matter who it attacks."
"Oh, I've got that covered. Next, I equip Ancient Gear Soldier with Axe of Despair (1300-2300). Now for my end game. I activate Tribute to the Doomed, discarding Shooting Star Bow- Ceal to destroy Green Gadget. Since Guardian Sphinx no longer has all three gadgets on his field, his Stronghold looses all of its attack points (3000-0). Now my Soldier, attack his Fortress and end this duel!"
The now much weaker Stronghold tried to run, only to be quite literally cut down to size by the giant axe, taking Guardian Sphinx's life points with it.
Guardian Sphinx: 0000
Bastion Wins!
"Way to go, Bastion!"
"WELL DONE, TRAVELER. YOU MAY PASS."
The Sphinx closed its eyes as the doorway into the pyramid opened. Jaden looked back at his friends.
"You guys ready?"
With a nod, the group of seven entered into the unknown.
A/N: Yes, I know I took the Duel Puzzle out of Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds instead of the game, but I found the Duel Puzzles in this game to be rather boring, not helped by the fact that these are the only 5 you'll get.
