Chapter 55: Order in the Duel Court

Making their way out of the pit, the pack of heroes made their way to a large courthouse. Standing outside was an AIrknight Parshath, looking rather concerned.

"Where are those two? They were supposed to meet me here an hour ago?"

"Excuse me, are you the one called Parshath?"

"Who's asking?"

"Well, we met Gellenduo, and they said you were looking for this card, and-"

"So you're the reason those two haven't shown up! What have you done to them?"
"No, you've got it all wrong! They asked us to deliver your package to you, and-"

"Tell it to the judge! You're all under arrest."

Their pleas fell on deaf ears as they were dragged into the courthouse. Before long, they stood before a judge, with Airknight Parshath serving as the baliff.

"All rise before the honorable Voltanis the Adjudicator!"

"Thank you. You nine stand accused of theft, assault, and lying to an official of the law! How do you plead?"

"Well obviously not guilty."

"Ha! Nice try, but we all know you're guilty. If you want to get out of this place alive, then you must defeat me in a duel. Who's foolish enough to challenge me?"
Aster stepped forward, duel disk raised.

"Fine, if it'll get us out of here quicker."

GAME ON!

Voltanis: 8000

Aster: 8000

"Winners first, and I'll begin with Bountiful Artemis in attack mode. I'll set two cards face down and end my turn."

"Alright then, let me show you some real justice. And I'll begin with the spell card D-Spirit! Since I don't control any monsters, this bad boy lets me special summon a level 4 or lower Destiny Hero from my hand."
"Not so fast, I activate Dark Bribe!"

Aster groaned as his spell card disappeared, drawing a card as compensation.

"And since a Counter trap was activated, I'm allowed to draw a card."

"Yeah, well counter this! I summon Destiny Hero Dunker (1200/1es700) in defense mode! And his effect lets me discard a Destiny Hero to deal you 500 points of damage!"

The dreadlocked hero created a sphere of light in his palm and launchd it, slamming into the judge.

Voltanis: 7500

"Now I summon Destiny Hero Diamond Dude in defense mode! Let's see what fate has in store for me next turn."

Aster checked the next card from his deck, a Destiny Draw.

"And since it's a normal spell, I can send it to the graveyard and use it next turn. I'll end my turn with one card face down."

"Pathetic. I'll tribute my Artemis to summon Majestic Mech-Ohka. Attack his Dunker!"

Aster raised his arm to shield himself from stray particles.

"I activate my Destiny Signal! Come on out, Destiny Hero Captain Tenacious (800/800)!"

"Humph. I'll end my turn there."

"Alright, this is going to get complicated, so try and keep up. First, Destiny Draw's effect activates to let me draw 2 cards. Next, Captain Tenacious's effect lets me bring back Dunker from my Graveyard. Lastly, by banishing the Malicious I discarded last turn, I can special summon another one from my deck (800/800). Not that he'll be around for long, because I tribute him to summon Destiny Hero Dasher (2100/1000)! Lastly, I activate the field spell Dark City and switch my other monsters to attack mode! Now Dasher, attack his Ohka (2100-3100)!"

"I activate Negate Attack! Not only that, but there's more. Since I activated a Counter Trap, I can sacrifice all of my monsters to summon myself: Voltanis, the Adjudicator (2800/1400)! And since I was summoned this way, I can destroy one of your monsters, so say goodbye to your Dasher!"

The judge's doppelganger swung its staff, slicing Dasher in half as it exploded.

"Fine then, I'll use Dunker's effect to deal you some more damage!"

Voltanis: 7000

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

"Pathetic. I'll attack your Captain!"

"Not so fast, I activate my trap card D-Shield! Now my Captain is switched to defense mode and can't be destroyed by battle!"

Voltanis snarled as his monster's staff bounced off a wall of rocks.

"Grr, I'll end my turn."

"Alright then, I'll go! First, I activate Card of Sanctity to refill our hands. Next, I banish the Malicious from my graveyard to special summon the last copy from my deck. Now I'll tribute all three of them to summon Destiny Hero Plasma (1900/600) in attack mode!"

"Mildly impressive, but I'm still stronger."

"Not for long. Plasma's effect activates, letting him absorb your Judge and half of his attack points!"

"What?!"

The bat-winged hero opened his wings, creating a massive windstorm that sucked the monster in. The doppelganger tried to escape, but soon was fully absorbed (1900-3300).

"Next, I'll activate Monster Reborn to special summon Destiny Hero Dasher, and I'll equip him with Megamorph. Attack him directly!"

Voltanis tried to defend himself, but it was no use. The judge slumped over in his chair as his life points hit zero.

Voltanis: 0000

"Alright!"

"Way to go, Aster!"

"SILENCE! Regardless of your friend's victory, the court still finds all of you guilty!"

"Hey, no fair! You said we won, we could leave."

"I recall no such deal. Henceforth, I sentence all of you to-"

Just then, Gellenduo broke through the doors.

"Stop! They didn't hurt us, we asked them for help!"

Voltanis stared at the duo for a moment before retracting his gavel.

"I see. Sorry folks, you're free to go."
"Finally! Let's blow this popsicle stand!"

With that, the nine of them left the courthouse to find a way home. They hadn't gone far before they heard a voice calling them.

"Wait!"

The Parshath was galloping towards them, out of breath.

"Oh great, what did we do now?"

"Look, I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. The card was very important to the judge, and I was worried something bad had happened. But look, I know how to make it up to you, I might know of a way for you to get home."

He pointed his sword to a large tower in the distance.

"That tower holds the strongest duelists in all of Duel World. If you make it to the top, there should be a gate that will lead you out of here."

"Ok, thanks."

The centaur bowed before returning to his post. Jaden then turned to his friends.

"Well, looks like we know where we're going."