Chapter 32- Ice Cold Duel
"Let's duel!"
Drake: 4000Fiend: 4000
"We don't have time for this…" Flynn muttered.
"Why not?" Julie said. "It's not like we had an option."
"Yes, but still… we could have tried to avoid it rather then running headfirst into this duel."
"He's right." Helen said. "It would be easy to escape in this snow. Now, since Drake took it, there's no way to get out. I was doing a little research on this Shadow Game stuff. I figured it might help me if this ever happened again. The old chancellor had a lot of books. One of them said that once you accept a challenge, no matter what you do, you will not be able to escape."
"Yeah, I think Matt said something like that once." Keith said.
"Well, I'm sorry then. I'm impulsive." Drake said.
"Yes, we noticed." Flynn said.
"But it doesn't matter anymore." Drake said. "I'm the one in danger now, so that's good, right?"
"That's what you think!" The fiend said. "I'll go first!" He drew a card. "I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior (Dark/Spellcaster/Effect, 1600/1000) in attack mode! When he's summoned, he gets one Spell Counter, which increases his attack by 300 points! (1900) Furthermore, I can remove the Counter to destroy any spell or trap card on the field! I set one card and end my turn."
"Fine then, I'll begin your destruction." Drake said, and drew a card. "Hmm… not good, but not bad. I think I'll just set a monster in wait for you and end my turn."
"Ha! That will not save you from what I have!" The fiend drew his card.
Maybe, but it's better than losing any of my traps to Breaker. Drake thought.
"I'll summon my mighty X-Head Cannon (Light/Machine/Effect, 1800/1500) in attack mode!"
What kind of deck is he playing? Those monsters have no connection… wait… Drake remembered Matt's first duel. The world champ of the time (who had proceeded to lose the title after losing to Matt) had used monsters like this. Light and Dark… so it's Chaos. I sure hope he doesn't have what I think he has.
"Now, Breaker, attack his monster!"
"Too bad! It was my Skilled White Magician, who has 1900 defense points."
"Curses… oh well, I shall get you next turn! I'm done."
"Good. Then I can get to destroying you." Drake drew his card. This won't do! Why can't I draw a card today?!? Oh well… guess I'll just have to hold out longer. "I summon Apprentice Magician (Dark/Spellcaster/Effect, 400/800) in defense mode! When summoned, it allows me to add a spell counter to any monster that can bear one! So, I'll tack one on to my White Mage. That will end my turn."
"Hmph! I knew this duel wasn't going to be any fun. Time to turn up the heat, I guess. Or turn it down… Keh keh keh."
"Uh-oh. Evil laugh. Not good." Julie said. "At least, I don't think so…"
"It can't be anything good." Flynn said.
"I summon another monster, Giant Orc (Dark/Fiend/Effect, 2200/0) in attack mode! Then I'll break this tedious stalemate by attacking your White Magician with the Orc!"
"Curses…I could have used him. Oh well."
"Now, X-Head Cannon, destroy that little magician!"
"Ha… fool. When the Apprentice Magician is destroyed, I can special summon one level two or lower Spellcaster-Type monster in facedown defense mode."
"What threat will it be if I destroy it with Breaker?!?"
"Quite a large one…"
"Ha! I'll call your bluff. Breaker, attack his monster!"
"Not a bluff… Old Vindictive Magician. I'll use his effect to destroy your Breaker."
"That's good! Now Drake can play some traps without fear of them being destroyed." Keith said.
"Yes, but he doesn't have any cards in the field. He needs to gain some control." Helen said.
"I'll take control now!" Drake said, and drew a card. "Hmm…" Another worthless draw! It would have been nice to draw that Mpirian Warrior card right now so I could summon him and two more… but no. Had to draw a currently useless card. "Let's see… now that your turn has ended, the Giant Orc is in defense mode. So, I'll set these two cards, and then summon Gemini Elf (Earth/Spellcaster, 1900/900) in attack mode. Attack the Orc!"
"It doesn't matter. He was worthless hanging around here anyway. I only needed him for one turn. Besides, there are good things to come from that… for me, that is!!!"
"Yeah, sure. Let's see them. I'm done."
"Fool!" The fiend drew a card. "Let's see how you like this! I activate my facedown card, Monster Reincarnation! Now, I'll send one card from my hand to the Graveyard to bring Breaker back to my hand! Next, I'll summon Breaker! As you know, he now gains a spell counter, which I can remove to destroy your facedown card!"
"Curses… I could have used that. But it doesn't matter! Because you removed the Spell Counter, Breaker can no longer take on my Elf."
"He's not meant to."
"What?"
"I remove the two monsters in my Graveyard, Giant Orc and Armor Exe, to special summon the Chaos Emperor Dragon- Envoy of the End (Dark/Dragon/Effect, 3000/2500) in attack mode!"
"No! That thing is ridiculously strong!" Drake said.
"And now I'll use its special ability! By paying 1000 life points…
Drake: 4000 Fiend: 3000"…I can destroy all cards on the field and in each players hands! When this effect resolves, you take 300 points of damage for each destroyed card! Now, let's see… I have three monsters on my side of the field, and three cards in my hand! You have one monster, a facedown, and three cards in your hand! And all of them are about to be destroyed! When it's over, you will have lost 3300 life points!"
"Crud! It's a good thing I have Hallowed Life Barrier! Now, I'll discard a card…not that it matters… and reduce the damage to zero!"
"It doesn't really matter! All cards are still destroyed!"
"Yes, but now you've left yourself wide open…" Drake sent all his cards to the Graveyard and drew one card. Wrong Mpirian, but it'll do!
"Was that a good idea?" Julie asked.
"Not at all." Helen said. "At least, not in retrospect. If Drake had eaten the damage, then the fiend would look brilliant. But since Drake blocked it all, the fiend looks like an idiot."
"I summon Mpirian Knight (Light/Warrior, 1900/1600) in attack mode!"
"…and that's why."
"Knight, attack him directly!"
Drake: 4000Fiend: 1100
"You'll pay for that…"
"I don't think so."
The fiend snarled and drew a card. "Oh, ho! Now this will hurt. So… I'll play Pot of Greed!" The fiend drew two cards. "And I got exactly what I wanted! So, now I'll remove the Emperor Dragon and Chaos Command Magician to special summon Chaos Sorcerer (Dark/Spellcaster/Effect, 2300/2000) in attack mode! Attack his knight!"
Drake: 3600Fiend: 1100
"Not good." Drake said, and drew another card. This might help. "I activate my own Pot of Greed!" Drake drew his allotted two cards. "Let's see… how to do this." Well, I drew the Warrior this turn, but he won't help me now! But he can defend for a while. "I summon Mpirian Warrior (Light/Warrior/Effect, 1500/1200) in defense mode. When he's summoned, I can special summon his two compadres, also in defense mode. That will end my turn."
"Ha! A desperate move by a desperate person. You're not getting out of this one!" The fiend drew a card. "Ha! This'll kill you. I summon Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke (Light/Warrior, 1800/1000) in attack mode! Next, I'll activate Fairy Meteor Crush, and give it to the Sorcerer! Now, he breaks your defenses!"
"No!"
"Chaos Sorcerer, attack his Warrior!"
Drake: 2500Fiend: 1100
"And now, it's time to introduce you to my ice-cold Shadow Game! My first cut was too shallow, so I waited until I cut a little deeper! For every five hundred points you lose, your little friends will have a little drop in their body temperature! I've been researching you humans, and it seems that if your body temperature drops too low, you die! So your friends will lose about 2/3 degrees of their body temperature for every five hundred points you lose… and since you lost 1500 points, their body temperatures will decrease by 2 full degrees!"
"So? That's not too formidable."
"Did I mention that we're talking in Celsius?"
"…oh."
"Keh keh keh… now watch as your friends freeze to death!"
Drake turned around. Slowly, everyone's skin became tinged with blue. They started shivering intensely. "I-I-I c-c-can't feel m-m-my feet." Julie said, sounding a lot like their stuttering classmate Benjamin.
"Yeah… it's… pretty damn cold." Flynn said.
"Great." Drake said. I need to hurry up and win this. Otherwise, it's likely that they'll die from this cold if it takes too long. Good thing he only has 1100 life points left…
"Now, Sasuke, destroy another one!"
"My turn." Drake drew a card. "Okay… let's see… I've got one Warrior left… but he has that Fairy Crush… okay… I'll sacrifice my last Warrior in order to summon Silent Swordsman LV. 5 (Light/Warrior/Effect, 2300/1000) in attack mode. Now, attack Sasuke!"
Drake: 2500Fiend: 600
"Curses… you'll pay for that one."
"No I won't! I'll activate Fissure, which destroys your Sorcerer. I end my turn."
"Hmph." The fiend looked displeased as he drew his card. Then his eyes got big and his frown twisted into a smile. A very, very evil smile. "This is the end. I remove Grandmaster Sasuke and Chaos Sorcerer from my Graveyard to summon the last one… to summon… the BLACK LUSTER SOLDIER, ENVOY OF THE BEGINNING (Light/Warrior/Effect, 3000/2500)!"
"No!" Drake said. I know that effect, and I don't have anything to block it!
"Ha! Now, Black Luster Soldier, destroy his Swordsman!"
Drake: 1800Fiend: 600
Drake turned to look at his friends. A look of sudden confusion came over them.
"What's going on?" Julie said.
"Yeah, how are we here?" Keith said. "Wait, who are you?"
"I don't know who you are… wait… weren't you on T.V.?" Helen said.
"Yeah, I think I was…"
What's going on? Drake thought. Why are they acting so strange?
The fiend was smiling evilly. "Witness the effects of cold on a human. Long exposure and a decreasing body temperature causes confusion, the effects of which you now see. Your friends barely remember who they are… hahaha… so funny… time to end this. As I'm sure you know, when the Envoy of the Beginning destroys a monster in battle, he can attack again! Go, attack him directly!"
Drake: 0Fiend: 600
Drake felt a sudden burst of cold wash over his body. He couldn't move- the cold numbed his entire body. He couldn't turn- all he could do was fall face-first into the snow, unconscious.