Chapter 15- The Power of a United Front

"It's my turn!" said Julie.

Drake: 3200

Julie: 4000

William: 4000

Benjamin: 4000

Julie drew her card. "Oooo, I like this. I activate Card Destruction. Now, all of us must discard our entire hands and draw the same number of cards that we had before we discarded." William scowled.

"I hate people who make you discard cards." He said as he slid his hand into the graveyard. Three monsters appeared on Julie's side of the field. "Wait, what the…?"

"Heh. Those are my Dark World monsters." She said.

"Dark World…?"

"Yeah. Kind of odd to see a girl playing a Dark World deck?" Drake said. "Well, anyway, go ahead Julie."

"Yes, thanks to my Card Destruction spell card, two Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World (Dark/Fiend/Effect, 2300/1400) and one Sillva, Warlord of Dark World (Dark/Fiend/Effect, 2300/1400) were discarded from my hand, and therefore were Special Summoned to my side of the field. And, since another of those cards that was discarded was Broww, Huntsman of Darkworld, I get to draw an extra card." She did so. "Now, Goldd one, destroy Exarion Universe!"

"I-I-I a-a-activate my f-f-face-down c-c-card, which is R-r-rush R-r-recklessly. T-t-this i-i-increases the attack p-p-points of one m-m-monster b-b-by 700 p-p-points."

Drake: 3200

Julie: 3800

William: 4000

Benjamin: 4000

"Oh well. I still have another Goldd and a Sillva. Goldd, destroy the Battle Footballer!"

"Oh, well. After you destroyed him, it doesn't matter that you have another monster. You can't attack without being blocked by the Exarion Universe that Benjamin has." William said.

"Actually, that's not true." Drake said.

"What? Huh?"

"Well, Exarion Universe is in attack mode. I don't think a monster in attack mode can defend very well."

"Crud, I thought I could get you with that."

"No. Julie, proceed."

"With much gusto. Sillva, attack William directly!"

Drake: 3200

Julie: 3800

William: 1700

Benjamin: 4000

"I'm done with a face-down."

"And now it's back to me!" William said. "I draw… and activate Monster Reborn! I'll use it to bring back… PERFECT MACHINE KING (Earth/Machine/Effect, 2700/1500)!"

"Great." Drake said. "That's one of the best Machine-Type monsters out there."

"Well, duh, he's perfect, you idiot." William said. "Perfect Machine King, destroy his Vampire Lord!"

Drake: 2500

Julie: 3800

William: 1700

Benjamin: 4000

"Now that your only monster is destroyed, I think I'll set a card and end my turn."

"I'll destroy your face-down with my face-down Dust Tornado."

"Oh, well. In one turn, your partner will be gone. Then how will you compete…?"

"Great. No monsters and no hand cards. Just my face-up Call of the Mummy…" Drake said. "But I guess that's a consequence of the deck." He drew his card. "And I top-deck the Swords of Revealing Light!"

"Nice!" Julie said. "Now, no matter how perfect that Machine King is, he can't attack for three whole turns!"

"And neither can Benjamin. Since this is a tag duel, what affects one affects the other." Drake said. "I'll end my turn."

"T-t-then it's m-m-my t-t-turn." Benjamin said. He drew a card. "I-I-I set a m-m-monster in d-d-defense mode, and s-s-switch my E-e-exarion Universe to d-d-defense m-m-mode. T-t-that's all."

"Then it's my turn!" Julie said, and drew her card. "Hm. I suppose I'll play Dark World Lightning. I'll destroy Benjamin's set monster, then discard a card from my hand- another Broww, Huntsman of Dark World! I'll draw another card." She drew it and her eyes lit up. "Drake, if you could have one monster in your hand right now, what would it be?"

"Huh? Uh, tough question. Let's see… maybe another Ryu Kokki. Why?" Drake said, utterly lost as to where she was going with this.

"Because I activate Dark Designator. Now, I get to tell you the name of one monster card. If that monster card is in your deck, then you get to add it to your hand. So, I think I'll say- Ryu Kokki!"

"Oh my gosh! I don't believe it! How'd you know I had that card?" Drake said, smiling. He pulled a Ryu Kokki from his deck. "Thanks a bunch."

"Ah, no problem. Now, I think I'll summon Cyber Soldier of Dark World (Dark/Machine, 1400/1200) in attack mode." William's Perfect Machine King began to glow. "Huh?"

"Oh, come on." William said. "Anyone knows that a King grows stronger when surrounded by his subjects. So, now that there is another machine type monster on the field, he gains 500 attack points! (3200)"

"Oh."

"Don't worry yet, Julie. He still can't get out of the Sword's power, so we'll worry about that later." Drake said.

"Yeah! I agree. Okay, now, Goldd, destroy Exarion Universe!"

"G-g-good t-t-thing he w-w-was in d-d-defense m-m-mode." Benjamin stuttered.

"Well, it doesn't matter, because now you're wide open. Sillva and Cyber Soldier, attack him directly!"

Drake: 2500

Julie: 3800

William: 1700

Benjamin: 300

"Rats. He just managed to hang on." Keith said.

"So? He'll go soon." Matt said.

"I'll end with that." Julie said.

"My turn!" William said. "I can't throw off these infernal swords yet, so I'll just play… Polymerization!"

"Great. This is never good." Flynn said.

"There are worse things that could happen." Matt said.

"True."

"I fuse Cannon Soldier and Giga-Tech Wolf to from my Labyrinth Tank (Dark/Machine/Fusion, 2400/2400) in attack mode. And since that puts another machine type-monster on the field, Perfect Machine King gains another 500 attack points (3700)

"That thing is getting very big." Keith commented.

"I've seen worse." Said Matt.

"I'll bet you have." Flynn said.

"I'll end it there." William said.

"Fine, then it's my turn!" Drake said, and drew his card. "Hm. This might be useful later. But for now, I'll rely on my Swords for protection. I end my turn."

"M-m-my turn?" Benjamin drew another card, hand shaking. "I-I-I summon M-M-Mechanicalchaser (Dark/Machine, 1850/800) in attack m-m-mode. That g-g-gives William's P-P-Perfect Machine K-K-King an extra 500 p-p-points. (4200) Then I-I-I activate m-m-my Axe of D-D-Despair. I'll equip i-i-it to P-P-Perfect Machine K-K-King. (5200)

"How are we going to break through that?" Julie said.

"With a little… unity." Drake said. "Summon some monsters."

"Ha! 'Some monsters' won't help you now. My Perfect Macine King has more attack points than Dragon Master Knight!" William said.

"I-I-I end m-m-my t-t-turn." Benjamin said.

"My turn, then!" Julie said, and drew her card. "Hm. I'll summon Dark Blade (Dark/Warrior, 1800/1500) in attack mode. I guess that's it."

"Wait! You can still… never mind." Drake said.

"What?"

"You could have attacked, and defeated Benjamin. But don't worry about it."

"Oh, okay. I'm sorry."

"It doesn't matter."

"Yes it does." William said. "This is the last turn for those Swords, so after this my Machine King will walk all over you. I draw…" He checked his one-card hand. "Ha! Another good card! I summon my Machine King Prototype (Earth/Machine/Effect, 1500/1600). While he isn't as good as the Perfect Machine King (obviously), he still packs good power. He gains 100 attack points for each machine-type monster! (1900) And so does my Perfect Machine King, so now he's a t 5700! I'm done."

"Here it goes… this could decide the duel…" Drake drew his card. "And it is! I Special Summon Ryu Kokki with Call of the Mummy, then I activate Book of Life! I'll use it to bring back my other Ryu Kokki and remove the Cannon Soldier from your graveyard."

"How are more monsters going to help you?"

"Like so… I activate… my last card… UNITED WE STAND!"

"Yes! That card is awesome!" Flynn said.

"Wait, what exactly does it do?" William said.

"You don't know? Oh, fine. It's a equip spell card. I'll equip it to my Ryu Kokki. Now, for every face-up monster on our side of the field, my monster gains a whopping 800 attack points."

"Wait a minute… wait… you have six monsters so that's…that's… uh…"

"As I thought. Stupid." Drake said.

"Let me help you out here." Matt said. "That's an addition of 4800 attack points."

"WHAT?!?" William looked panicked. "Extra attack points? How much does that make?!?!?"

"Try 7200 attack points."

"Holy…"

"Yes, I know, quite a bit, and your partner is about to lose as well. Non-equiped Ryu Kokki, destroy Mechanical Chaser!"

Drake: 2500

Julie: 3800

William: 1700

Benjamin: 0

"And now, Equipped Ryu Kokki, destroy perfect machine king and end this!"

Drake: 2500

Julie: 3800

William: 0

Benjamin: 0

"What?!? I lost?!? It can't be!" William said.

"And that's game." Said Drake. He turned away. "Good game, Julie."

"Thanks."

"See what I meant?" Matt said.

"Huh?" Drake looked at him questioningly.

"Unity, Drake. United We Stand. Simple." He said, and walked away. They all watched as he walked away.

"Do you think he can see the future?" Julie asked.

"Somehow, I don't doubt it." Flynn said. "I still haven't worked out what he said before we left the docks. You know, about always remembering why we dueled in the first place?"

"Yeah. I haven't figured that one out. Maybe he can see the future. But hey, he's cool. And real good to have as an ally." Keith said.

"I will…defeat you eventually…" William said from behind them. Drake turned and looked at him.

"Not a chance."