Chapter 5- First Time

"Matt!" Julie said.

"Of course." Matt said. "Did you think I would sit back and wait until he was only an inch away from Drake?"

"Well, you got pretty damn close." Drake said.

"Detail, details." Matt kicked the dog-thing on the ground. "I've never even seen this thing before. And that can't be good."

"Wow, finally something Matt doesn't know!" Keith said.

"It does seem rather vulnerable at the neck." Bentz said.

"You made it out, too, Chancellor?" Matt said.

"Yes, this time I did."

"Good. We need another duelist, regardless of their experience at a Shadow Game."

"Shadow Game?"

"Yes. That's why we were all so beat-up looking when we got out of the Shadow Realm." Drake said. "They were a real pain. Still are, probably."

"Okay, enough idle chitchat. What are we going to do?" Julie said.

"We need to break Flynn out first." Keith said. "More firepower, you know."

"Yes, that makes sense." Bentz said.

"My gun jammed." Julie said.

"Is that why you weren't firing?" Keith asked.

"Yes."

"Let me see it." Matt said. He took the rifle, gave it a good whack, pointed at the ceiling, and pulled the trigger. The gun fired. "Here, all unjammed." Julie took her rifle. "Now, let's go. I noticed that there was a ship at the docks. Is that where he is?"

"Yeah." Drake said. "We need to get his rifle."

Matt ran out the door. Very, very quickly. So quickly in fact, that all that could be seen of him was a black streak. He returned in less than twenty seconds with Flynn's rifle. "Here it is."

"God, when did you learn to run that fast?" Keith said.

"I'm a freakin' ninja! I could always run that fast."

"Then why haven't you before?"

"Don't ask." Matt slipped the rifle into his cloak. "Let's roll."

"Not yet you don't!" said a fiend behind them.

"Oh, great. An intelligent fiend." Drake said. "Just what we needed."

"Shut up!" said the fiend. "Shut up so I can pick one of you out! I choose… the old guy!"

"Who?" Drake said. As far as he knew, there were no truly old people amongst them.

"That guy!" the fiend responded, and pointed at Chancellor Bentz.

"Fine! I'll duel you." Said Bentz.

"Oh, this is no normal duel." The fiend smiled evilly. "It'll be a Shadow Game!"

Matt sighed. "Figures."

"Doesn't matter. I can take him." Bentz said.

"Oh, I'm sure you can take him. It's the Shadow Game that I'm worried you can't take."

"Enough! Get ready!" said the fiend.

"Let's duel!"

Bentz: 4000

Fiend: 4000

"I'll go first!" Bentz said. "I summon Bazoo the Soul Eater (Earth/Beast/Effect, 1600/900) in attack mode!" Bentz groaned, and slowly moved his hand to his heart. "What is this?"

"Ha! You're a complete fool. I knew you wouldn't be able to handle the Shadow Game!"

"So… this is it?"

"Yes! What did you think it was?"

"Nothing. I'll set a card facedown and end my turn."

"Fine then!" The fiend drew a card.

"Do you think Bentz will be fine?" Julie asked.

"Certainly." Matt said. "He should be fine, if he can blow off the first taste that well."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

"Shut up back there!" said the fiend. "I'm about to pawn this guy. I activate the spell card Fissure! This will destroy your Bug! Then I summon Don Zaloog (Dark/Warrior/Effect, 1400/1500) in attack mode, and attack directly!"

Bentz: 2500

Fiend: 4000

"And now, I can activate his special ability! When he does damage, I can discard a card from your hand! So, I'll get rid of that one!"

"Curses… Goblin Elite."

"Good! I set one card facedown and then activate Delinquent Duo! By paying 1000 life points…"

Bentz: 2500

Fiend: 3000

"I can discard one card from your hand, and then force you to discard a card! So, Say goodbye to that card!"

"Hmm… King Tiger Wanghu."

"Now you discard a card! Not that you have much of a choice!"

"I'll discard my Sabersaurus. Are you done?"

"Yes, I am."

"Wow, this just sucks." Keith said. "The fiend just pulled a huge card advantage trick on Bentz."

"Yeah, but don't worry. He can get out of it." Drake said.

"My turn!" Bentz said. "I activate Pot of Greed, to draw two more cards!"

"See? Not a problem." Drake said.

"He's still down."

"I summon my Gemini Elf (Earth/Spellcaster, 1900/900) in attack mode! Now, I activate my Field Spell Card, Gaia Power! This increases the attack points of all Earth-Attribute monsters by 500 points, and decreases their defense by 400 points! So that gives my Elves 2400 attack points… so! Let's use them. Gemini Elf, attack and destroy his Zaloog!"

Bentz: 2500

Fiend: 2000

"Grr… you'll pay."

"Maybe, maybe not. I set my last card and end my turn."

"Fine then!" The fiend drew a card. "I special summon Cyber Dragon in attack mode!"

"So? He's not strong enough."

"He doesn't need to be! I sacrifice him for Zaborg the Thunder Monarch (Light/Thunder/Effect, 2400/1000) in attack mode! And when he's summoned, I'm allowed to destroy any monster on the field! And you know what that means!"

"Oh no!"

"That's right! Now your Gemini Elf is gone! And since they are gone, I can now attack you directly! Go, Zaborg, attack directly!"

Bentz: 100

Fiend: 2000

Bentz groaned and fell to his knees as the attack hit him.

"So, you can't take it!"

"This is bad!" Julie said.

"No kidding! With just 100 life points left, it's got to hurt a lot to be in Bentz's position." Drake said.

"Don't worry." Matt said. "He can pull through… I think. I hope."

"How sure are you?" Keith asked.

"I'm not. But I hope…"

"Ha! There's no way to come back from this. I end my turn!"

Bentz slowly got to his feet. "I think I can win this…" He drew a card. "Hmm… maybe… yeah! This should do it… ouch… I activate Stray Lambs, which gives me two lamb tokens on my side of the field in defense mode. Now, I sacrifice them both for Behemoth, the King of All Animals (Earth/Beast/Effect, 2700/1500) in attack mode! Now, I can return two beast-type monster to my hand. So, Bazoo and King Tiger will come back. Not that I can summon them yet… still, a little insurance! And don't forget, because of Gaia Power, Behemoth gains 500 attack points, giving him 3200. Now, Behemoth, destroy Zaborg!"

Bentz: 100

Fiend: 1200

"I end my turn."

"Wow. I didn't know that Bentz could do stuff like that." Keith said.

"You underestimate him." Matt said. "Don't ever underestimate anyone."

"But can't the fiend do something?" Julie asked.

"Maybe." Drake said.

"My turn… I'm going to destroy you." The fiend drew his card. "Grr… I set a monster and end my turn."

"This is it!" Bentz said. He drew a card. "I activate Nobleman of Crossout, and remove your facedown monster!"

"Grr…"

"Now, Behemoth, destroy him!"

Bentz: 100

Fiend: 0

The fiend screamed and exploded. Bentz groaned and fell to his knees. "Ow… well, now I know how you four felt…"

"Yeah, don't worry, you get used to it." Julie said. "I have."

"Yeah, because you went through about a thousand of them." Drake said. Matt walked over to Bentz and crouched down next to him. Betnz threw his arm over Matt's shoulders and stood with Matt's help.

"Let's go." Matt said. "We need to get Flynn before we can resolve this." They walked out the front door into the night.