Chapter 15- A Heated Duel
Drake didn't remember falling asleep or losing consciousness, but he woke up. He sat up and looked around. He was in the middle of a dark room, so dark that he couldn't see farther than a foot in front of him.
"Guys?" He said. "Did you guys make it okay?" There was silence. "Uh, guys?"
"They're not hear, you fool!" came a voice. Drake spun around, but of course since it was so dark he didn't see anything.
Light gradually flowed into the room. A large amount of candles had been lit all at the same time. A fiend was standing in the center of the room. Light was reflected off of the many silver plates on the walls. Drake wondered whether they were just decoration or if they served a much more sinister purpose. The fiend was smiling in a way he didn't like.
"What have you done with my friends?" Drake demanded of the fiend. He continued his evil smile.
"I didn't do anything with them!" The fiend said.
"You liar… how can you not have?"
"When you fools stepped through the gate, you were all separated throughout this realm, so that you would be easy pickings for us! We know that you are worthless isolated! So now we can pick you off, one by one! And you'll be the first!"
"Oh no…" Drake's thoughts immediately went to Julie and Bentz. Bentz was, after all, defenseless in this place without one of them around, and Julie… well, there was no point in lying to himself. He liked her. A lot. And not just as a friend.
"Yes, and now let us begin the duel!" The fiend activated his duel disk.
"Yes, let's!" Drake said. The sooner I beat this guy down, the sooner I can go and help my friends! I'm not too worried about Flynn or Matt, especially not Matt, and even Keith, but Julie and Bentz… I don't know if they'll be able to handle this place.
"Let's duel!"
Drake: 4000Fiend: 4000
"I'll go first!" The fiend said. "And before I start my turn, allow me to explain the game here!"
"Let me guess… a new twist on the usual shadow game?" Drake said.
"Sort of." The fiend smiled evilly. There was a mechanical sound and Drake felt something clamp around his ankles. He looked down and saw that his ankles had been clamped in metal shackles that had jumped out of the ground.
"Hey!" Drake said, and tried to pull himself out. It was no use; the clamps were too tight and he couldn't get his foot through them. He couldn't even move his leg. "What are these for?"
"Don't worry yourself. I have them too." Said the fiend. And indeed he did. "Now, let me explain… the shackles are obviously to keep us from running. Now, when someone's life points are reduced, a timer drops a little. As a matter of fact, it will drop to a number equal to the number of life points the losing played has. When someone's life points hit zero, a fireproof box, sorta of like your human phone booths, will come up and surround the winner. Then, this room will explode. You see all of the silver plates around this room? Each is a powerful explosive, capable of burning anything into a tiny pile of ashes.
"Now, while that being is going to be nice and cozy in the heat-protection, the other will be waiting for their imminent destruction. After the box has sealed over the winner, the bombs will go off and fill this room with fire, thus burning the loser alive! AHAHAHA!"
"That's sick." Drake said. "What happens after that?"
"Well, obviously the winner will be released and go on their merry way." The fiend said. "Not like that matters to you, as you will have burnt alive by the time this duel is over!"
"Make your move."
"Fine!' The fiend drew a card. "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."
"Good! That means I can get right to work on defeating you." Drake said, and drew a card. "Let's see… I'll summon Familiar Possessed- Hiita (Fire/Spellcaster/Effect, 1850/1500) in attack mode! Hiita, attack his monster!"
"Ha! That was my UFO Turtle! And when he's destroyed in battle, I can special summon one Fire-Attribute monster with 1500 attack points or less! And so, I'll special summon Fox Fire (Fire/Pyro/Effect, 300/200) in attack mode!"
"So? He's no threat."
"He's not meant to be."
"I know that. I end my turn."
"And I begin mine!" The fiend drew a card. He smiled that evil smile that seemed common place amongst the intelligent fiends. "I summon Gaia Soul the Combustible Collective (Fire/Pyro/Effect, 2000/0) in attack mode! Now, since he's combustible, he'll be destroyed at the end of the turn, but not before he does substantial damage to your life points! By sacrificing my Fox Fire, I can give him an extra 1000 attack points (3000)!"
"No!"
"Gaia, destroy Hiita!"
Drake: 2850Fiend: 4000
"Hehehe… that was too easy. You're a pathetic duelist!"
"Who are you kidding? You just left yourself open for my damage!"
"No I didn't! For now I set two cards and end my turn."
"Fine then!" Drake drew a card. Okay, those facedown cards present a problem. Should I just charge in or play it safe? Let's see… here. Yeah, this should do. "I summon my Getsu Fuhma (Dark/Warrior/Effect, 1700/1200) in attack mode! Now, attack him directly!"
"I activate my Trap card, Call of the Haunted! Now, I'll use it to bring back UFO Turtle (Fire/Machine/Effect, 1400/1200) in attack mode!"
"And I'll cut it in half!"
"And because you did that, I'll use its special effect again- and special summon Little Chimera (Fire/Beast/Effect, 600/500) in attack mode!"
"I know what you're trying to do with that. It won't work."
"Will it now? Its effect gives all Fire-attribute monsters an extra 500 attack points, and decreases all Water-attribute monsters by 400. So it gives itself a boost to 1100…"
"So? It can't take down my front line. I set a card and end my turn."
"I activate my other facedown, Dust Tornado! With this, your facedown is no more!"
"Curses…"
"And now, it is my turn." The fiend drew, then smiled evilly. "This is it! You will not survive much longer. I summon Blazing Inpachi (Fire/Pyro, 1850/0) in attack mode! His arrival signals your doom, for your Getsu Fuhma stands no chance against him! And thanks to the Little Chimera, the attack will be 500 points stronger! (2350) Now, Blazing Inpachi, destroy that fool's monster!"
Drake:2250Fiend: 4000
"And now Little Chimera, attack directly!"
Drake: 1150Fiend: 4000
"Ha! I'm done. How do you plan on getting out of this?"
"Ow… oh, don't worry, I'll get out of this." Drake said. Easier said than done, he thought. The only monster in can use in my hand is Familiar Possessed- Eria, the only Water-Attribute moster in my entire deck! Not to mention that the only Fire-Attribute monster in my deck is in my Graveyard. Figures… guess I'll have to stake everything on this card… Drake drew his card. Hmm… not much. But it's a start. "I set a monster in defense mode! Then, I set a card and end my turn."
"It won't save you!" The fiend said, and drew. "I sacrifice both of my monsters and summon the Infernal Flame Emperor (Fire/Pyro/Effect, 2700/1600) in attack mode!"
"Not him!" Drake groaned. "He's the only thing that could have stopped me!"
"I know! And now I will remove Fox Fire from my graveyard to activate his special ability! When the Emperor is summoned, I remove up to five Fire-Attribute monsters in my graveyard from play to destroy an equal number of spell or trap cards on the field! So, your card is gone!"
"I'll just play it, Dust Tornado!"
"You can't! There aren't any cards to destroy!"
"I use Dust Tornado to target… itself!"
"Of course…"
"And now, I'll use it to set a card."
"It doesn't matter! Now, Emperor, destroy his monster! You're finished!"
"Oh, quite the contrary." Drake said under his breath. "You just destroyed my Apprentice Magician! When it's destroyed, I'm allowed to special summon a level two or lower spellcaster type monster from my deck in face-down defense mode."
"Ha! That won't save you!"
"Will it?" Drake extracted a card from his deck and held it up, back facing the fiend. Then he turned it around.
"Is that Old Vindictive Magician?" The fiend said, a note of panic in his voice.
"Oh, good, you recognize the monster that will kill you. Actually, he won't." Drake drew a card. "This guy will. I flip summon the Magician. When he's flipped, I get to destroy any monster on the field! That means that I get to destroy one monster on the field! Your Emperor is no more."
"No! He was my only monster!"
"Right! And now, I'll sacrifice my Magician for the Magical Marionette (Dark/Spellcaster/Effect, 2000/1000) in attack mode!"
"So? I can still come back next turn!"
"Really? You think so? Then you don't know the identity of my facedown card."
"No… it isn't…"
"It is! Marionette, attack! And when he does, I can activate this card, Magician's Circle! When a spellcaster attacks, I can use it! Now we are both allowed to special summon one spellcaster-type monster with no more than 2000 attack points to the field from our decks! But I'm going to guess that you don't have any…"
"I don't! You jerk!"
"Ha! That's funny. I'll use Magician's Circle to special summon the Dark Magician Girl (Dark/Spellcaster/Effect, 2000/1700) in attack mode! And that's enough cards to kill you right now! Go, attack and destroy him my monsters!"
Drake: 1150Fiend: 0
Thick red barriers slid out of the ground and surrounded Drake. A red ceiling slid in over his head. Outside his little box he could hear the fiend panicking and trying to rip off the shackles. Then there was a terrible explosion. Drake may have been surrounded by fireproof walls, but he could feel the terrible heat pressing in on him, stifling him, making the air heavy around him. Then it was over. He noticed a key, burned black, hanging in front of his face. He grabbed it and used it to free himself from the shackles. The box receded.
The fiend had been burned into a small black puddle on the ground- not even ashes were left, just a puddle of liquid. The shackles were unharmed.
"Pretty durable, those things." Drake said aloud. "Okay, now that that's over with… I need to find the others!" He readied himself and set off into the Shadow Realm.