Chapter 3
A Father's Fury
As Jake hurried down the stairs dragging Carl's limp form behind him, he heard the sound of voices down the staircase. That's not right, he thought. Unless those are my minions, there shouldn't be anyone left with a soul after I summoned Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu. Cautiously he pulled himself toward the sounds. When he rounded the corner he saw the same man who met him at the door creaming one of his minions, and it wasn't the same minion he had originally sent out to duel… which meant he had lost.
There was now no doubt in Jake's mind that Mr. Colburn was a chosen one, but he couldn't face him yet. His mission right now was to get the Deck Builder to Corbak, and even though Mr. Colburn didn't have magical powers there was still a chance, albeit a slim chance, he could beat Jake. He could not afford to take that chance at such a crucial juncture.
"Simon," Jake called to the one man he had left not currently engaged in a duel, "Grab Tom's body and card and let's get out of here." "Hey," called Jordan (the one dueling), "what about me?" "You're stuck dueling. Beat your opponent and you can work your way back to Corbakkan and claim your reward. Fail…" Jake shrugged. "Fail and it's your own funeral."
"Not so fast," Mr. Colburn yelled, "Where do you think you're going? Hand over my son at once or I'll tear you to splinters." "You," Jake said pointedly, "aren't in any position to make demands. By the time you're done dueling, my cohort and I will be long gone. Let's go Simon." And with that Jake and Simon dragged Tom and Carl's bodies into their car and started to drive off. Mr. Colburn yelled a long string of threats, challenges, and swear words, which was not his custom.
"Give it up, old man," Jordan said. "Jake isn't going to turn that car around. The only thing left is to end this duel. And when last I looked it was my turn." Jordan examined the field. His side had a Wall of Revealing Light, which could protect him from any monsters whose attack points were equal to or less than 3000, and a Mark of Orichalcos. On Mr. Colburn's side of the field, there were two face-down spell/trap cards, a defense-position Criosphinx (2400DEF), and a face-down defense position monster. However, Jordan had a fair idea what that face-down monster was. Unless Mr. Colburn had suddenly changed his strategy, the face-down monster was Neo-Spacian Grand Mole, which had been returning monsters to his hand since the start of the game. Jordan's life points were down to 4500, while Mr. Colburn's life points were still at 7100.
"Alright then," Jordan said. "Since I don't have any monsters and you have at least one, I can special summon Cyber Dragon onto my field. And thanks to the Mark of Orichalcos, I can put it in a back row of card zones that are safe guarded from your attacks as long as there's a monster in the front row." A large, white, serpent-like machine appeared. "Attack of Cyber Dragon, 2100." "Next, my Cyber Dragon will gain a power boost from my Mark of Orichalcos. " The Mark of Orichalcos fixated itself to the forehead of the Cyber Dragon, and it seemed to morph, becoming twice as sinister as it had been. "Attack of Cyber Dragon increased to 2600." "Next, I'll summon Biofalcon onto my front row." A gray robot about the size of a man and in the shape of falcon appeared between the Cyber Dragon and the Criosphinx. "Attack of Biofalcon, 1700." "And it will also gain extra attack points from the Mark." The Biofalcon also gained the Mark of Orichalcos. Then it reared up giving it the appearance of challenging its enemies to come and face it if they dared. "Attack of Biofalcon increased to 2200." But it seemed as though Mr. Colburn didn't register any of this; he simply gazed out after his son. Jordan looked on with glee fully believing he had taken back charge of the duel. "Now, Cyber Dragon, destroy Criosphinx!"
Mr. Colburn suddenly seemed to snap to attention. With a fire in his eyes he yelled out, "I activate my trap card, Ordeal of a Traveler! With this in play, you have to select a card in my hand and guess whether it's a monster, spell, or trap. If you're right, your attack goes through, but if you're wrong the attack is negated and your Cyber Dragon gets returned to your hand." Jordan grimaced. Apparently, the loss of his son hadn't weakened but rather enhanced this man's determination to win. Selecting a card he called out, "Spell." Mr. Colburn shook his head. "Looks like Cyber Dragon is going back to your hand." The mystogram of Ordeal of a Traveler glowed brightly and Cyber Dragon disappeared. "And now my Criosphinx's special ability activates, forcing you to discard a card since a monster was returned from the field to your hand." Jordan discarded his only other card angrily and snapped, "I end my turn."
Mr. Colburn drew his card but didn't look directly at it. Instead he saw what it was out of the corner of his eye while keeping his furious gaze fixed on Jordan. "I activate my other trap card, Pyramid of Light. With it in play, I can pay 1000 life points to special summon Andro Sphinx and Sphinx Teleia to the field." As Mr. Colburn's life points dropped to 6100, two sphinxes, one with the head of a lion and the body of a man and the other with the head of a woman and the body of a lioness, appeared side by side. "Attack of Andro Sphinx, 3000. Attack of Sphinx Teleia, 2500." "Next, I'll activate Giant Trunade. This card returns all other spell/trap cards on the field to their owners' hands." A great whirlwind blew around them and when it dissipated, the only spell/trap left in play was the Mark of Orichalcos. "When Pyramid of Light is removed from the field Andro Sphinx and Sphinx Teleia are removed from play, but that's actually a good thing, because when Andro Sphinx and Sphinx Teleia are destroyed at the same time, I can special summon Thenian The Great Sphinx from my hand or deck." Mr. Colburn's life points dropped to 5600 and his two sphinxes fused together to create a creature with a man's torso but the head and body of a lion. "Attack of Thenian The Great Sphinx, 3500." "Furthermore, I can pay 500 life points to give Thenian an additional 3000 attack points during the turn he's summoned." "Attack of Thenian The Great Sphinx increased to 6500." By now Jordan was panicking. Not only had Carl's father done all of this without moving his gaze away from Jordan, but Jordan now realized there was nothing he could do to stop the coming onslaught. Scarier still was the fact that this shouldn't be possible. The real Andro Sphinx, Sphinx Teleia, and Thenian the Great Sphinx were Chaos Spawn; the real cards shouldn't exist and the duel disk should've recognized these as fakes, but for some reason it hadn't and he was about to pay for it. "I now flip summon Neo-Spacian Grand Mole." Mr. Colburn's face-down defense card was replaced by a brave looking mole with strange, drill-like armor. "Attack of Neo-Spacian Grand Mole, 900." "Yes, but whenever Neo-Spacian Grand Mole battles, I can return both it and the opposing monster to their owner's hands instead of conducting battle damage. Grand Mole, attack Biofalcon and return it to his hand!" The Neo-Spacian Grand Mole's armor morphed so that the drill was on its head. Then, spinning rapidly, it flew at the Biofalcon and the two disappeared in a flash of light. "And without your Biofalcon, there is nothing stopping Thenian from attacking your life points directly, so now, Thenian The Great Sphinx smash this murderer into oblivion!" Jordan screamed like a girl, but there was no one who could save him as his life points fell to 0 and the Mark of Orichalcos closed in on him.
As Jordan's soul started to slip away, he saw Mr. Colburn standing over him. "Know this; I will save my son and the rest of my family, even if I have to destroy an army of you creeps!" But, having accepted his fate Jordan just grinned maliciously, giggled, and replied, "Good, because you'll have to." And with that Jordan fell to the ground, and the Mark of Orichalcos fell out of his duel disk with his face stamped onto it still grinning.
But Mr. Colburn did not register the eerie manner in which Jordan left this world. Instead, he ran outside and yelled Carl's name as loud as he could. Then he yelled his wife's name louder than he'd known he could. And then he yelled out the name of his youngest son, Nathanael, a child with down syndrome- so perpetually young and so much closer to God's heart than anyone else's- and he yelled his name even louder than he'd yelled his wife's. But he received no reply except for the wind. His voice too hoarse to yell anymore, he fell to the ground still muttering their names, and then, he cried.