Chapter Five

Carl and Brennden Round One: Zombies vs. Psychics

Carl Colburn? As far as Brennden was concerned, the boy was little more than a challenge that had been overcome. Carl was Petunia's ex-boyfriend; he knew that. But Brennden had "faced" Carl, defeated him, and won the girl of his dreams, unlike other boys who would have waited for a weak point in their relationship before making a move to split them.

Did Brennden feel sorry for Carl? Sometimes, when he bothered to think about it, yes. To have lost a girl like Petunia must feel terrible, and it was Brennden's understanding that Carl was very similar to himself. Nonetheless, Brennden loved Petunia, always had. He and Carl had clashed for her heart with neither one "cheating" and Brennden had come out on top. This being the case, Brennden didn't see that there was any point in worrying about Carl anymore.

But that was before the strange "instant death epidemic" that took place in the nearby city of Charleston. It was the strangest thing Brennden had ever heard of; apparently purple flames simply came out of nowhere, engulfing southern Charleston, which is the less populated area. Videos had come out showing a reflection of those flames in the sky forming a very strange shape. Conspiracy theorists were convinced that it was the Mark of the Giant as seen in the Yu-gi-oh 5Ds TV show. Whatever it was, after it was gone, a large number of people near the center of the disaster were found mentally dead with no explanation.

All of this was strange in and of itself, but what really got Petunia's attention was that two people who were in the epidemic hadn't been found; David Colburn and his son Carl, whose house had been at the center of the strange phenomenon. Since hearing this, Petunia had been very upset. Brennden believed she blamed herself, as if she could have somehow prevented this by staying with Carl. Brennden was extremely hurt by all of this. He had tried to reassure Petunia, but it was no good.

A week later, he was mulling over his problem while waiting in the grocery store parking lot for his parents. He didn't hear the strange looking motorcycles outside, nor did he notice when they stopped behind his family's van, nor would he have cared had he noticed. But he did notice when someone yanked the van's door off, tossed it aside, and then pulled him out with such strength that his seat belt snapped. After this he was tossed headlong onto the pavement.

Brennden bounced to his feet and was immediately shocked by several things at the same time. First, he was shocked at the appearance of the tattooed freaks that'd attacked him. Second, he was startled by what appeared to be duel disks and duel runners. Thirdly, one of the bikers looked strangely familiar, but Brennden was unable to identify him. Lastly, but by far most shocking, Brennden realized he should be dead or, at least, unconscious; he had just been tossed onto the pavement headfirst and with extreme force. His skull should have cracked open or, if he was lucky, he should have suffered a concussion and/or fallen unconscious, but instead he had felt no pain, wasn't bleeding, and had jumped back up as a reflex before he realized he shouldn't be able to stand.

This last oddity seemed to be as much a surprise for Brennden's attackers as it was for Brennden. The one who looked somewhat familiar (and who had thrown him to the ground in the first place) turned to another one, and the two started a very sharp conversation with each other. "That should've-ˮ "I know." "But he's not-ˮ "I know." "How?" "I think you know." "You don't think-ˮ "I do." "Please tell me you're-ˮ "I wish I were."

Brennden, of course, had absolutely no idea what they were talking about, but hearing their voices helped remind him that these people had tried to kill him and that he probably shouldn't stick around. But when he turned to run, Brennden found out he was surrounded. And of course, the fact that he was (apparently) invincible had already slipped his mind.

The familiar-looking one groaned. "What can-ˮ "Oh, actually-ˮ "Stop interrupting me!" the first one yelled at his companion. "It's annoying." "Sorry," the other one said, not really sounding like he meant it. "Anyway, what I was going to say is that all we really have to do is toss him a duel disk. Then he'll no longer be under the prophecy's protection and you can slaughter him as you so wish."

At this point, Brennden, still stunned and very confused, turned to the two who were talking. "What's going on? What did I do to get you guys to hate me? I don't even know any of you." Even as he said it, he knew it was a lie. He did know the one who had spoken first from somewhere, but he didn't know where. Indeed, if he had doubted that he had seen this guy somewhere before, those doubts were crushed when the familiar guy laughed at him and said, "Come now Brennden; just because we never met doesn't mean we don't know each other." Just because they hadn't met? Who did Brennden know but hadn't met who would want him dead?

"Don't talk to him; toss him the duel disk and get it over with," the second one said impatiently. The first one nodded and pointed at one of the other tattooed weirdoes. "You; give him yours." The specified man pulled the duel disk off his arm and tossed it over to Brennden. Brennden studied it for a moment and then said, "I'm invincible as long as I don't put this on? Then I won't put this on." But the second guy, who Brennden now noticed had the same symbol on his right arm that the strange fires had made in Charleston, rolled his eyes and shook his head. "That doesn't matter. You've been given a duel disk; from now on you shall always be vulnerable." Turning back to Mister I-know-you-but-we-haven't-met, the tattoo-of-fire guy stated, "He's all yours."

Brennden started to back up, still holding the duel disk as the man who claimed to know him transformed his duel disk into… a lightsaber? and walked toward him. But then, the man, who Brennden was beginning to realize was just a boy about his age, stopped and frowned. "No," he said. The other guy looked at him quizzically. "ʽNo'? What do you mean 'no'?" "No, I can't kill him this way," replied the first. "It was one thing before I could see his face or before I knew he was a chosen one, but if I'm going kill him now, I'm going to do it sportsmanlike. You guys might want to back up."

The boy who wanted to kill Brennden held up his right arm, and a tattoo on it shaped somewhat similarly to a worm started to glow. The other tattooed people jumped back, and Brennden was about to do the same when his path was blocked by purple-black flames. The flames spread far and wide destroying anything in their path, and in the sky was a reflection of the flames as they formed the same symbol as the tattoo. Just like the instant death epidemic in Charleston, Brennden thought.

Brennden's adversary walked away from him for a few seconds and then turned around, his duel disk morphing back into its usual shape. "I offer you a fighting chance. If you duel me and defeat me, I'll be forced to retreat for a time during which you might be saved before I come demanding a rematch," he stated. "If you lose, however, your fate will not be very different from what would happen if I just killed you." "What if I refuse to duel?" Brennden asked watching his opponent warily. "Then I'll kill you right now; then I'll be able to get Petunia all the easier."

At the mention of Petunia's name, Brennden finally identified the boy standing in front of him. "Carl?" "Ding, ding, ding, I wondered whether or not you'd figure it out; after all, Petunia kept that picture of me in her locket for a long time," Carl replied, applauding sarcastically. "For your prize, I'll let you take the first turn." Brennden looked back at the duel disk. He didn't want to play games; he wanted answers. But if he didn't accept Carl's challenge, Carl would kill him outright, so Brennden activated the duel disk. Immediately, it set for 8000 life points and spat out 5 cards. "You've got a duel!"

Brennden drew a card from his deck and looked at his hand. After thinking for a moment, he declared, "I'm going to summon Psychic Commander in attack mode." A creature that looked like a tank with a robot's or alien's body sticking out appeared in front of Brennden. "Attack of Psychic Commander, 1400." "And before ending my turn, I'll place one card face-down on the field. That's all."

Carl raised his eyebrows. "How interesting," he said, drawing his card. "As for me, I'm going to play Tribute to the Doomed. This card causes me to discard a card in my hand and allows me to destroy a monster you control." Carl placed a card in his graveyard and a mummified hand dragged Psychic Commander into the ground. "Next, I'll summon Goblin Zombie." A rotting, greenish, humanoid creature appeared in front of Carl. "Attack of Goblin Zombie, 1100." "And now, Goblin Zombie will attack your life points directly!" The Goblin Zombie raised its claws and charged at Brennden. On instinct, Brennden raised his duel disk to block the attack, and found himself staggering under the weight of the Goblin Zombie's attack while his life points dropped to 6900. "And get this," Carl continued. "Goblin Zombie has a nasty special ability. If he inflicts battle damage to you, you must discard the top card of your deck to the graveyard." Brennden's deck ejected a card for him to place in his graveyard, but he didn't grab it at first. "That attack," he said slowly, "felt real—dangerous." "No, this isn't dangerous at all," Carl said sarcastically. "Except that whoever loses the duel will also lose their soul. No biggie." Brennden glared as he placed the top card of his deck in his graveyard. Carl was obviously having fun and too much of it for Brennden's liking. "I end my turn."

Brennden picked up his card and surveyed the field. Carl's move had certainly caught him off-guard, and Brennden could see that he wasn't playing against an amateur. However, Carl had made the mistake of leaving a really weak monster exposed, with no means of protection. And yet, Petunia had once described Carl as an ingenious strategist who built strong decks using various themes. Could this be a trick? Possibly, but Brennden chose to believe that Carl had simply spent too much time wrapped up in duel theory and not enough time on the duel field.

"I summon Absorbing Kid from the Sky." A fat boy with wings and the scowl of a spoiled brat appeared between Brennden and the Goblin Zombie. "Attack of Absorbing Kid from the Sky, 1300." "And now, Absorbing Kid from the Sky, attack the Goblin Zombie." Although that was a wise move strategically, Brennden felt as though he might throw up when he saw the Absorbing Kid from the Sky eat the Goblin Zombie like it was a gourmet meal, however Carl didn't even flinch. Shaking off his discomfort, Brennden went on declaring, "Not only will your life points drop by 200, but now Absorbing Kid from the Sky's effect activates, so now my life points increase by 300 times Goblin Zombie's level." Carl's life points dropped to 7800 and Brennden's life points increased to 8100. "There," Brennden said, "maybe now you'll realize that you're in over your head." "Maybe you're right, or maybe I'm one step ahead of you," Carl said still smiling. "After all, when Goblin Zombie is sent from the field to the graveyard, I can search my deck for a Zombie Type monster with 1200 defense points or less and add it to my hand." Doh. Brennden had underestimated his opponent two turns in a row, and he had no doubt it was going to cost him big time real soon. "I end my turn," he said lamely as Carl placed a card in his hand.

"In that case," Carl said, "this duel will be over soon. You may be a chosen one, but your skills betray your inexperience and unworthiness. Not only do you not deserve to be a chosen one, I intend to prove that you're not worthy to be Petunia's boyfriend." "This coming from the psychopath," Brennden spat out. Carl shrugged, waving his head from side to side as though conceding a point while at the same time preparing to make one of his own. In fact, that's exactly what he did. "Yes, this is coming from the newest member of the Order of Daemons, but I'd rather be a madman with the ability to protect my love than a goody-goody who couldn't ever hope to protect himself much less his girlfriend." Listening to this, Brennden started to wonder if this really was Carl. If it was, what happened to the noble boy who couldn't hurt a fly that Petunia used to talk about?

"Even so," Carl continued, "that move wasn't half bad. In fact I…" Carl stopped and his smile started to disappear as the wheels in his head started turning. "In fact… your deck seems, uh, so far, uh, exactly like one I once made… and gave to…" Brennden flinched visibly as Carl's eyes lit up in anger. "Petunia! She gave you my Budget Deck!" "Yes, well, uh, it wasn't your decision as to whether she kept it or passed it on," Brennden said, trying to remain calm. Really, he had hoped that Carl wouldn't figure out that he was dueling against a deck he built. Since he built it, Carl knew every card in Brennden's deck, but Brennden didn't know a thing about Carl's, so now Brennden would be at an even greater disadvantage than he already was. Brennden was beginning to realize just how much the odds were stacked against him.

Carl cooled off his temper saying, "It makes no difference. After I defeat you, I'll take back everything you had that belonged to me. So then, let's get back to the duel! I summon Paladin of the Cursed Dragon." A white rotting dragon with an undead knight riding it appeared. "Attack of Paladin of the Cursed Dragon, 1900." "Next I'll activate the Book of Life. This card let's me Special Summon Goblin Zombie from my graveyard and remove from play the Psychic Commander in yours." "Attack of Goblin Zombie 1100." "Furthermore, I'll play the Temple of the Sun spell card. So from now on, any monster I control that was Special Summoned from the graveyard gains 300 attack points." "Attack of Goblin Zombie increased to 1400." "Now, Goblin Zombie take your revenge!" Goblin Zombie raised its claws and struck at the Absorbing Kid from the Sky, destroying it and reducing Brennden's life points to 8000. Instinctively, Brennden reached for his trap card only to remember he couldn't activate it because Absorbing Kid from the Sky was a Fairy Type monster, not a Psychic Type. "Since my Goblin Zombie just inflicted battle damage, you must now discard the top card on your deck. And now, Paladin of the Cursed Dragon, attack Brennden's life points directly." The dragon-rider took aim and commanded his hideous steed to hurl lighting at Brennden. Brennden collapsed and his life points dropped to 6100. "My turn is over."

Slowly, Brennden stood up and drew a card. He had underestimated Carl one too many times already; he would not make that mistake again. "I activate the spell card Psy-Station. As long as this spell card remains active on the field, I can pay 500 life points every time I Normal Summon a Psychic Type monster in order to increase that monsters attack points by 300 and its level by 1. Next I'll summon Psychic Snail."…

Twelve rounds into the duel and Jake was bored silly watching, when Corbak's voice intruded into his thoughts. Your progress report is overdue. Jake checked his watch. Only by twenty seconds. Corbak scoffed. It would have been longer if I had not contacted you. Now, progress report. Jake rolled his eyes and plunged in. Brennden's a chosen one; Carl challenged him to a duel and was in total control until Brennden played a Wall of Revealing Light. Now they're at a standstill; they seem evenly matched.

Corbak cursed loudly, or at least, Jake assumed it was loudly; it's hard to determine pitch and volume over a mental communication. I was afraid this would happen; ever since the fusion failed. Yes, the fusion. Jake thought back to when Carl was first initiated into the Order of Daemons nearly a week earlier. Carl had agreed to join on the conditions that he be allowed to take revenge on Brennden and that Corbak make Petunia fall in love with him again. After that, he allowed their techno-sorcerers to stitch the Marks chosen for him into his skin and he was handed his deck and two mystical gems. As the Deck Builder, Carl's deck was supposed to be like Corbak's, completely infused with dark energies to make him incredibly powerful, but something had gone wrong; only two thirds of the deck was infused. As a result, Carl's deck had power, yes, but not full power.

Often it seemed as though the dark powers were just as confused about what had happened as the sorcerers were. Carl had spent a week training, but despite the fact that he was supposed to have as much control over his deck as Corbak, his deck continued to behave unpredictably. He was still an average duelist with little combat skill, and the entire Order was going crazy trying to figure out why.

Jake sat up straight. Wait a minute, something's happening down there. I'll get back to you. "I activate the Mark of Disiados!" Two grey circles with runes between them came spiraling down around the two combatants. Jake grinned, eager to see the power of Carl's Orichalcos offshoot. Lines bounced around inside the circle and formed a rough shape of a tombstone. "This field spell lets me discard 1, 2, or 3 cards from my hand once per turn, then you must discard twice as many cards from your deck and after that we both draw a card. Oh, and one more thing, the Mark of Disiados gives all of my monsters that were special summoned from the graveyard an additional 800 attack points." "Attack of Paladin of the Cursed Dragon increased to 3000. Attack of Zombie Master increased to 2900." Ouch, just a tad short, Jake thought. Carl needs at least 3001 attack points to get past the Wall of Revealing Light. Still, between Temple of the Sun and the Mark of Disiados, any of Carl's monsters that were special summoned from the graveyard would gain 1100 attack points. And Carl wasn't done yet. "Now I activate the effect of the Mark of Disiados. Now, I'll discard the three cards in my hand and you must discard six cards from your deck, then we each draw one card." Brennden's deck count was now to 23. It was only a matter of time before Brennden's deck was all drained out. "I activate the special ability of my Goldd, Wu-lord of Dark World! Since it was discarded from my hand to the graveyard by a card effect, it's special summoned to the field." "Attack of Goldd, Wu-lord of Dark World, 2300." "And of course, that will change quickly, since it was special summoned from the graveyard, the Mark of Disiados gives it an additional 800 attack points and the Temple of the Sun spell gives it another 300 to boot!" "Attack of Goldd, Wu-lord of Dark World increased to 3400." Jake sat up straight. Would Carl finally be able to attack? "Now, Goldd, Wu-lord of Dark World, attack Cure Mermaid!" "I activate my trap card; Draining Shield. So now, your attack is negated and I gain life points equal to your monster's attack points." Jake let his shoulders drop as Brennden's life points increased to 11600. There didn't seem to be any way to put a dent in his life points; if they were depleted, Brennden would just replenish them again. "I end my turn."

Brennden's turn. Brennden draws a card. Brennden further increases his life points by 800 using Cure Mermaid's ability. "And now I activate the effect of Psychic Lifetrancer; by removing a Psychic Type monster in my graveyard from play, I gain another 1200 life points." How many life points did this guy need anyway? He now had 13600! "Now I activate the Psychic Path spell card. By paying 800 life points, I can add two Psychic Type monsters that are removed from play to my hand." Now that was unexpected. As the possibilities started to play through Jake's head, he realized there was a danger if Brennden had the card he needed to pull it off. "I now summon Krebons in attack mode." "Attack of Krebons, 1200." "And now, since my level 2 Krebons is a Tuner monster, I'll have it tune with my level 7 Psychic Lifetrancer to form the level 9 Hyper Psychic Blaster!" A white half-man half-machine that was twice as tall as any of them took the place of the clown-like Krebons and the Psychic Lifetrancer. "Attack of Hyper Psychic Blaster, 3000." "And now I activate my trap card-ˮ Jake stood up, suddenly afraid. "-Assault Mode Activate!" "Uh, oh," Jake said. The duel was over now; Carl shouldn't have done things the fair and square way. The truth of his defeat seemed to have dawned on Carl too as his eyes widened in fear. "This trap card will allow me to sacrifice my Hyper Psychic Blaster to summon Hyper Psychic Blaster Assault Mode in its place." Jake watched as the Hyper Psychic Blaster morphed, receiving upgrades and taking an even more aggressive stance than before. "Attack of Hyper Psychic Blaster Assault Mode, 3500." "And when Hyper Psychic Blaster Assault Mode destroys an opponent's monster in battle, you take damage equal to the destroyed monster's attack points. So now go, Hyper Psychic Blatter-uh-Blasser-uh-blablabla, just attack the Goldd!" The duel disk comprehended what Brennden was trying to say, and the massive cyborg smashed the Wu-lord into the ground and knocked Carl's life points to 0.

Jake smacked his head. Progress report—it looked like Carl was about to win but he just lost. Orders? Corbak cursed again. Get him back here; we still need him, he's not expendable yet. All the same, this time we'd better find out what his problem is before letting him go off and duel.

Jake stood up as the Mark of the Worm began to fade. He noticed Carl yell out the predictable promise that he'd return and have his revenge. Unfortunately, Jake knew that sooner or later Carl would have to defeat Brennden; as long as Brennden lived, Carl would not help them-it was as simple as that. Hopping onto his duel runner, Jake zoomed past Brennden to where Carl was laying on the ground. Brennden didn't make a move to stop him as Jake picked up Carl and placed him on the duel runner; he probably knew that there was nothing he could do anyway. But he did start asking the predictable questions.

"What did you guys do to him? I may not have known Carl myself, but I definitely know Petunia, and I know how highly she thought of Carl." Jake rolled his eyes. "We didn't do anything to him; he chose this. You and your girlfriend are the ones who drove him to this, so don't blame us; all we did was take advantage of the madman you created." Jake jumped onto his duel runner as he finished saying, "Make no mistake, if there's one thing you can count on, it's that Carl will be back for you very soon, and there's nothing you can do to save yourself."

Having said his piece, Jake and the four minions he brought with him zoomed off, on their way back to Corbakkan leaving Brennden standing defiantly in the distance. However, even as they did, they failed to notice the man in the car who started to follow them. Mr. Colburn's face was as cold as ice and his eyes held a fire hotter than the sun. As he started to gain on his prey, he spoke in a low, nothing-to-lose tone. "I may not know who you are or why you're doing this, but you murdered my wife and youngest son, and kidnapped my eldest. I will stop you, and I will save my son," he declared, though he knew they couldn't hear them.