Chapter 38- Fighting a Former Friend

Brooklyn: 4000

Keith(Possessed): 4000

"…I go first…" Keith said. He drew a card. "…Set monster… end turn…"

"My turn." Brooklyn said.

"Do you think Brooklyn can take down Keith?" Drake asked Flynn. "I mean, Keith was worse than us, but how good is Brooklyn?"

"Well, as he mauled all nine of those fiends in the time it took me to take down the gatekeeper, I would say he's almost as good as Matt." Flynn responded.

Brooklyn drew his card. "I summon Mpirian Axe Man (Earth/Warrior/Effect/Mpire, 1900/1000) in attack mode! Then, I'll give him Mpirian Equipment, which gives an Mpirian monster equipped with it an extra 500 points. Attack!"

"…Sangan… when destroyed…I take monster with 1500 attack from deck and add to hand…"

"Ha! Only 600 defense points!"

"…so?"

"Mpirian Axe Man has the trample effect… in other words, whenever I attack a defense mode monster and my monster has higher attack points, it's treated as if he were in attack mode. So, I just did 1800 damage…"

"…!"

Brooklyn: 4000

Keith(Possessed): 2200

"…still get to take a monster… take Kuriboh…"

"Fine then. I set a card and end my turn."

"See? I told you he was just as good as Matt." Flynn said.

"…my…turn." Keith drew a card. "Play… Tribute to the Doomed… discard one card… destroy Axe Man."

"Rats. Oh well." Brooklyn said.

"…summon… Goblin Elite Attack Force (Earth/Fiend/Effect, 2200/1500)… in attack mode. Attack…"

"I play Mpirian Emergency Call! When you destroy a monster on my side of the field and then attack directly, I can special summon one level four or lower monster from my hand. So, I'll play Chris the Monk (Light/Spellcaster/Effect/Mpire, 1700/1300) in attack mode."

"…Elite Attack Force, attack…"

"Fool. I'm- I mean he's a monk. He takes no damage from fiend or dark monsters during your battle phase."

"…oh…"

"And now the Goblins go into defense mode!"

"…set card…end turn…"

"And I'll go now." Brooklyn drew his card. "I play Mpirian Berserker (Earth/Warrior/Effect/Mpire, 2400/1000) in attack mode! He too has the trample effect, but when he attacks, he goes into defense mode, and when you attack him in defense mode, the difference between his defense points and your monster's attack points come out of my life points." Brooklyn shrugged. "Not like you'll get the chance to attack him! Chris the Monk! Attack his Elites!"

"Activate… Waboku… no damage…"

"Ah, but during my battle phase, a fiend- or dark- type monster attacked by the Monk is destroyed without applying damage calculation. I can't do any damage, but I can remove tribute material."

"And now it is time to ask that fateful question- where do they get these cards from?" Drake asked.

"Still don't know. Maybe we should ask Brooklyn after this." Flynn said. Julie groaned and looked up.

"Huh? What's going on?"

"Oh! Decided to rejoin us, huh?" Drake said, and set her down. Her legs shook but she managed to stay upright.

"Wait… Brooklyn? What is he doing here and why is he dueling Keith?"

"Don't ask. It's very complicated." Flynn said.

"I end my turn." Brooklyn said.

"…my turn…" Keith drew his card. "…activate…Soul Exchange… sacrifice… Mpirian Berserker for… Summoned Skull (Dark/Fiend/Effect, 2500/1200)… next…set one card… end turn."

"Hm." Brooklyn drew a card. He smiled. "I know that's a trap card. So, I activate my Crowning As King spell card. This allows me to send one future Mpirian royal the graveyard to special summon his royal form. So, I send Chris the Monk to the Graveyard to special summon Chris, King of Mpire (Earth/Warrior/Mpire/Effect, 2600/1500) in attack mode! Then, I set two cards and end my turn."

"…heh heh heh… fool…" Keith drew a card. "…it isn't a trap…"

"Hm, really?"

"…no… it's not… I play Mystical Space Typhoon… on that one…"

"I activate my other card, Mpirian Charity Society! This allows me to draw three cards and discard two…" He shuffled a few cards through his hand. "Keep going."

"…that card is destroyed…"

"Oh, yes…" Brooklyn smiled a very small smile that Drake was sure that the fiend couldn't see.

"…I activate Rush Recklessly…gives my Skull more points… attack Chris…"

Brooklyn: 3400

Keith(Possessed): 2200

"…hahaha…you'll lose…end turn…"

Chris showed a big smile. "Not really. One of those facedowns was a bluff." He drew a card. "I activate my Return from the Dead spell card!"

"…?"

"Since you sent it to the Graveyard, I can activate it during my Standby Phase. Now, at no cost, I'm allowed to special summon any and all Mpirian Royals from my graveyard. So, meet Chris, King of Mpire, back from the dead, as well as his buddies, Andy, Lord of Mpire (Wind/Warrior/Mpire/Effect, 1900/1800), and Jeff, Lord of Mpire (Wind/Warrior/Mpire/Effect, 2100/1700)."

"Where… did they come from?"

"Mpirian Charity Society, of course. I discarded them. And now, with no facedown cards left, I can win right now. Chris, King of Mpire, attack the Skull!"

Brooklyn: 3400

Keith(Possessed): 2100

"And now, Jeff and Andy, attack directly and win the duel!"

Brooklyn: 3400 Keith(Possessed): 0

"Game over."

Keith let out a raspy scream and fell over. A fiend burst out of his back and exploded. Keith's soul-less body remained on the ground.

"Is he dead?" Julie said.

"Of course not." Flynn said. "He just has no soul."

"Ugh… that's terrible."

"Don't worry yet." Brooklyn said. "We still can find the Vault of Souls and release it. After that he'll be fine. Now, does anyone have a match?" Without warning the lights came on. "Ah, that's better." Everyone looked around, expecting to see something besides the walls.

"Oh no…" Julie said, and began to cry. Drake looked at the stretch of wall she was looking at to see what she was crying about. What he saw disturbed him enough to look away. Hung from the wall by steel chains was Matt's body. The face was almost unrecognizable; it was covered in multiple scratches and blood was flowing down it. Matt's right eye was closed, but his shadow eye remained open and in motion, darting around at a sickening rate. His jacket was torn nearly to shreds; blood flowed from the cuts on his arms. He had several gashes across his chest and even more on his legs. There could be no denying it after seeing it. Matt… was dead.