Chapter 27: Dueling Machine
"Sweet, huh? We found it just sitting here in this pile of junk."
"Um, its neat and all, but...how does it work?"
Atticus rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"Well, the thing is..."
"You have no idea, do you?"
"Nope! But I figure if we can figure it out, we might be able to find a way out of here!"
Just then, the robot shot to life, standing up to their amazement.
"Hey, it was easier than I thought!"
The robot scanned each of them, analyzing the unknown subjects before making a statement:
"Possible hostile lifeforms detected. Entering duel mode."
"Duel Mode?"
From its eye, a single beam of light hit Hassleberry's duel disk, activating it.
"So, its a duel you want? Fine then, you're on!"
DUEL!
Stronghold: 8000
Hassleberry: 8000
"Duel analytics, engaged. Summon Green Gadget, add Red Gadget to hand. Set three cards face down. Turn end."
"Is that all? I summon Sabersaurus!"
"Activate trap card, Stronghold the Moving Fortress. Summons self as monster in defense mode. Proceed."
"Right, well, Sabersaurus, attack his Green Gadget!"
"Activate Dimensional Prison. Sabersaurus now removed from play."
Hassleberry growled as his monster vanished into the rift.
"I set two cards face down and end my turn."
"Draw card, enter standby Phase. Now entering Main Phase, activate Ultimate Offering. Summon Red Gadget, add Yellow Gadget to hand. Pay 500 life points, summon Yellow Gadget, do not activate effect. Switch Stronghold to attack mode. Enter Battle Phase, attack directly with all monsters."
Hassleberry shielded himself from the barrage, almost getting knocked off his feet.
Hassleberry: 1100
"Set one face down. Turn end."
"Come on Hassleberry, you can do it!"
Hassleberry smiled. With his sarge believing in him, there was no way he could lose.
"Alright tin can, time for you to get stomped! First, I summon Balloon Lizard (500/500)! But he won't be around for long, because I activate my face down Ultra Evolution Pill to tribute him for Ultimate Tyranno! Next, I actiavte Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your new face down!"
The small cyclone ripped apart the card, another Dimensional Prison.
"Alright Ultimate Tyranno, dismiss the enemy soldiers and end this duel! Ten Hut!"
All at once, the dinosaur stomped on all of the gadgets, ending the duel as Stronghold began sparking.
"Error. Error. Systems shutting dooooooown."
Stronghold: 0000
Hassleberry wins!
"Oh yeah, that's game!"
"What's going on out- MY BABY!"
From the building behind them, a horned demon rushed out, frantically examining its creation for any damage.
"Oh, good! Nothing a little elbow grease won't fix."
His fears put to rest, he spun around towards our heroes.
"Just who do you think you are? That's private property, and don't think I'll let you just-"
"Sorry mister, we didn't mean any harm. You see, we're a little lost, and when we happened upon this machine. You see. we're a little lost, and-"
The demon's eyes lit up at this.
"Ah, so you're humans, yes? Then perhaps you could help me with a little side project of mine. Tell me, do you see that volcano in the distance? The blacksmith there has a very important piece for my next project, but refuses to cooperate with me. If you can convince him to hand over the part, I shall happily guide you to where you need to go."
"That all? Sweet!"
"Excellent! My name is Kozaky, by the way. I look forward to your success."
Syrus, however, wasn't so sure about all this.
"I don't know, Jay. Something seems off about this-"
"Come on, Sy! The sooner we get that part, the sooner we can go home!"
Reluctantly, Syrus followed them. Kozaky watched them leave, a malicious glint in his eyes.
"Good luck, mortals. You'll need it."
