Chapter 17- Not as Seen on T.V.

Keith found himself in a strangely bright room.

Is this really part of the Shadow Realm, he thought, or did I get separated from the others? He stood up and looked around, then gaped at what he saw.

He was standing in what looked like a set for a game show, complete with flashing lights. There was a set of what looked like contestant stands from The Price is Right off to one side. One of the walls had what looked like the board from Family Feud placed in it. And the huge wheel from Wheel of Fortune was right in front of him.

What the hell? I must not be in the Shadow Realm… Keith thought. I need to find a way out of here! He began to search for a door. There were a lot of them, but they were all the of the large, sliding variety that the game show hosts usually hid the prizes behind. Keith kicked one in disgust.

This is pointless, he thought. But there's gotta be a way out, and I'm going to find it.

"Don't bother looking! You won't find a way out until you defeat me!" came a voice. Keith turned around and nearly died laughing.

One of the fiends was standing on the top of a set of stairs that looked like it would be the place that the host of the show would emerge from. Keith had laughed because the fiend looked absolutely ridiculous. He was dressed in what looked like the fiend equivalent of a suit and tie, and it made him look like a complete fool. Keith could barely stand.

"What are you laughing at?!?" The fiend shouted.

"Look at yourself! You look stupid!" Keith said.

"No I don't!" said the fiend. "You arrogant twerp, I'll kill you!"

"How?"

"In my Shadow Game!"

"Oh great. Are we actually in the Shadow Realm?"

"Yes! I created this room to duel you in and destroy you! And you are no match for my deck!"

"Somehow I doubt that." Keith activated his duel disk. "You ready?"

"I'm always ready to beat down on fools." The fiend responded, and activated his duel disk.

"Let's duel!"

Keith: 4000

Suit Fiend: 4000

"I'll lead off." Keith said. He drew a card. "I set one monster in defense mode, and it'll be accompanied by an equal number of facedown cards. That's all."

"Ha! Is that all?" The fiend drew a card. "I summon Jirai Gumo (Earth/Insect/Effect, 2200/100) in attack mode! When he attacks, I'm forced to flip a coin! If I call it right, his attack goes through normally! Else, I must pay half my life points to attack! But wait! I activate Second Coin Toss! While activate, I can negate any coin toss and redo it, once per turn! Now, Jirai Gumo, attack his monster!"

"Flip your coin."

"I will!" The fiend procured a coin from a pocket in his jacket. He flipped it into the air. "Tails!" He caught it, flipped it onto the back of his hand, and checked it. "Oooo, too bad. Heads. Good thing I can flip again!" He tossed the coin again. "Tails!" Hr caught it and checked it again. "What do you know? It's tails! Jirai Gumo, commence attack!"

"You've attacked Kisetai! When it's attacked in facedown defense mode, it equips itself to the attacking monster and gives me life points equal to half of your monster's attack points during your standby phase."

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

"My turn!" Keith drew a card. Hmm… Jirai Gumo. Usually only insect users use him, but something tells me this guy doesn't use insects. Maybe he's running a gamble deck… I'll plan accordingly. This guy will help. "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

"Fine then!" The fiend drew a card.

"Now I gain life points equal to half of Gumo's attack points! That's 1100!"

Keith: 5100

Suit Fiend: 4000

"It doesn't matter! All of those life points won't save you! I summon Abare Ushioni (Earth/Beast-warrior/Effect, 1200/1200) in attack mode! When he's on the field, every turn I can flip a coin and call it! If I'm right, you lose 1000 life points! And just to make sure it works… I activate another Second Coin Toss! Now, I'll activate Abare Ushioni's effect!" The fiend flipped the coin. "Heads!" He caught it and checked it. "Ha! Luck is on my side! Heads! You lose 1000 life points!"

Keith: 4100

Suit Fiend: 4000

Keith groaned. "Ow, that kind of hurt. I assume this is just a normal game?"

"Of course not! Of course, standard Shadow Game rules apply, but there will be a new twist! The loser will fall into a pit filled with giant game show wheels, and ground into tiny pieces! I wonder how long it will take for you to die…"

"Sickening." Keith said. "But I won't be the one to die here." I can't let die and abandon the others.

"Ha! Allow me to prove you wrong! Now, Jirai Gumo, attack his monster!"

"First you have to flip a coin."

"Ha! Is there even a point? Thanks to Second Coin Toss, I will almost always get it right! But hey, if you insist…" The fiend flipped the coin and caught it. "Tails!" He checked the coin. "Hm. Not quite right! Let me try this again." The fiend flipped the coin and caught it again. "Heads." He checked it. "Heh. As I suspected! Heads. Jirai Gumo, commence attack!"

"Hehe. That was Old Vindictive Magician! And when he's flipped, I can destroy any monster on the field. Jirai Gumo is no more!"

"So what? Abare Ushioni can still attack!"

"Not really, because I now activate Michizuri! With it, I can destroy another monster when a monster is destroyed. So, Abare Ushioni is destroyed!"

"No!"

"Hehe."

"I'm done…"

"Good! Then let the killing begin." Keith drew a card. "Okay. This should work. I summon La Jinn the Mystical Genie (Dark/Fiend, 1800/1000) in attack mode! Now he'll attack you directly!"

"I activate my Trap Card, Ordeal of a Traveler! Now, whenever you attack, you must choose a card in my hand and guess its type! If you call it right, then you can proceed. But if you call it wrong, then your monster gets bounced back to your hand!"

"So what?" Keith said. "I know almost exactly what you have."

"Not possible!"

"All the cards in your hand are monsters."

"What?!? How did you…?"

"Your deck is a gamble deck. Whenever you draw a spell card, you'll use it. Whenever you draw a trap, you'll set it. The only limit you have is monsters… and so every card in your hand ends up being a monster!"

"No!"

"La Jinn, attack!"

Keith: 4100

Suit Fiend: 2200

"Curse you…"

"If you don't like that, get ready to curse some more. Let's see… I'll win in three turns, on your turn. I guarantee it. I set a card and I'm done."

"Don't make guarantees you can't keep!" The fiend drew a card. "Especially with this card! I activate Reasoning!"

"Hmm. An interesting card."

"Call a monster level!"

"Let's see… how about 7."

"Ha!" The fiend picked up the top card of his deck and smiled. "Ha! A level 7 monster! And you know what that means! I'm allowed to special summon it! Go, Slot Machine (Dark/Machine, 2000/2300) in attack mode!"

"That's a rather pathetic monster."

"Not compared to yours! I'll crush that monster and walk all over you! I set another monster and attack La Jinn!"

Keith: 3900

Suit Fiend: 2200

"Ha! While I have the Slot Machine, your chances of winning are as high as getting straight 7's in a casino!"

"Actually, they are much better than that." Keith said, and drew his card. "You're right where I want you. Your Ordeal is no threat, because you used the only Spell card you had. Your facedown monster is undoubtedly some kind of gamble card, something really risky. So, I'll summon Malice Doll of Demise (Dark/Fiend/Effect, 1600/1700) in attack mode, and then I'll activate Dark Energy. This card gives him an extra 300 points."

"So? He's no match for Slot Machine!"

"I'm not targeting your Slot Machine. Malice Doll, attack his facedown monster!"

"Haha! Kyruel! When he's destroyed, I get to flip a coin! If I cal it right, I can destroy a monster! Heads!" The fiend flipped the coin and caught it. "Nope. Not quite right! Guess I'll have to flip again." He flipped the coin again and caught it. "Heads!" He checked and gaped. "WHAT?!? TAILS???"

"I knew that you couldn't keep winning at that." Keith said. "The approximate chance of correctly calling a coin is 50, but that does not mean you will always be right in two tries."

"NO! But it doesn't matter! Next turn, I'll summon another monster and destroy you!"

"No you won't apart from the Slot Machine, you have very few strong monsters. I end my turn."

"Fine then!" The fiend drew a card. Ha! This'll crush you. I summon Time Wizard (Light/Spellcaster/Effect, 500/400) in attack mode! And now, I'll use his effect! By calling a coin right, I can destroy all of your monsters! If I call it wrong, all my monsters are gone! But I don't think I'll lose twice in a row." He flipped his coin. "Heads!" He caught it. "Ha! Don't even have to flip again! Heads! All of your monsters are gone!"

"So? You don't have nearly enough power."

"Not yet, but now I activate Question! What's the bottom monster in my graveyard? If your wrong, I get to summon it!"

"It's Jirai Gumo. Don't insult me with such trivial matters."

"How could you…? No one ever remembers that kind of stuff!"

Keith smiled. "Last year most people considered me a lucksacker. But over the last year, I've started noticing and remembering every played card… I can guess at almost anything, and know even more than that. You haven't got a chance with all these luck based cards."

"Shut up! Time Wizard and Slot Machine, attack directly!"

Keith:1400 Suit Fiend: 2200

"Now you can't win! I end my turn."

"On the contrary, I have you right where I want you." Keith drew a card. "Yep. I don't even need this card. I summon my second La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp (Dark/Fiend, 1800/1000) in attack mode! And your Time Wizard is now very vulnerable… attack!"

"I activate my Ordeal!"

"They're still all monsters."

"No!"

Keith: 1400

Suit Fiend: 900

"I'll crush you!"

"Maybe. But I doubt it. I end my turn."

"Grr…" The fiend drew a card. "I summon another Abare Ushioni! Slot Machine, crush his La Jinn!"

"Ha. You fool. You should have used the bull's effect first… but now you lose."

"What?!?"

"I activate my Trap, Bark of Dark Ruler. Now I'll pay life points to reduce the attack of your monster by increments of 100! So, I can pay 1100 life points…"

Keith: 300

Suit Fiend: 900

"…to reduce your monster's attack points to 900."

"No! But that means I lose!"

"Exactly."

Keith: 300

Suit Fiend: 0

The fiend screamed in terror as the floor beneath him opened up. He fell screaming into the new pit and continued until the giant wheels below had ground him into fine powder. Keith walked over to the edge of the pit and looked down.

"And now, I must be off." Keith said. "By your leave." Keith smiled and walked away, through the door the fiend had come out of originally. He guessed that he would find the others through there somewhere. It was one guess he hoped he was not wrong on.