Mechanical Mayhem Part I

Duke didn't even want to know where Sharee got that device she was tinkering with.

A cool breeze blew over the open plains.

'That breeze feels nice.' Serenity tipped her chin up to enjoy it.

'I guess this virtual world does have some good points,' Tristan remarked.

'Five old creepy guys want to steal our bodies!' Duke snapped. 'How can you talk about good points?'

Sharee waved a hand in his direction. 'Thank you!' She looked around. 'To be perfectly honest, I keep expecting to get ambushed.'

'But we did get ambushed!' Serenity insisted.

'That wasn't an ambush,' Sharee said. 'It was a 300-pound animal protecting its territory – or what passes for one here.'

Duke lightly grinned at her. Well, at least somebody besides him was taking it seriously.

'Guys!' Tristan just about hissed. 'Chill!'

'Why should we?' Duke demanded.

'Because, I'm trying to help certain people stay calm, Einstein!'

'Hey.' Serenity turned with a smile. 'You don't have to worry about me being scared cause you make me feel safe.'

As Tristan gushed over that, Duke was surprised to find his thoughts echoing by Sharee's low mutter of,

'That's just corny.'

'Dude, she means both of us,' Duke said.

Tristan shot over and grabbed his collar. 'Look, man! She means me!'

Duke flinched away from him. 'You've got to do something about that breath.'

'Is that so?' Tristan demanded.

Serenity's plea broke up the argument. 'Guys, come on! Don't fight!'

Sharee looked at her. 'You have got to learn to get enjoyment out of this. I had five bucks on Duke!'

The boys turned and looked at them.

'But we've got to work together to find a way out of here,' Serenity said. 'And time's running out.

'Yeah,' Duke agreed. 'And those guys could show up any minute.'

'True enough,' Sharee said. 'They're businessmen, which makes it worse.'

'What do you mean?' Tristan asked.

Sharee frowned. 'Businessmen are the modern-day kings.' She paused a moment. 'They're as ruthless as wild dogs. They have to be or they'd be eaten alive. And these are evil businessmen so they're not going to grant us concessions because we're teenagers. In fact, they're going to capitalise on anything they perceive in us to be weaknesses.'

Duke nodded. 'And don't forget, there are five of them, so they're not only after Kaiba, Yugi, and Joey. They may also want to duel against us.'

Tristan looked annoyed at that observation. 'So what?'

Serenity smiled. 'Yeah! There's no way we'll lose a duel! Not if we stick with Tristan!'

Duke was stunned at that remark. 'You're kidding, right?'

'Don't you know that Tristan taught my brother, Joey, everything about duelling?' Serenity asked.

Duke was pretty sure that was Yugi but Tristan slapped his hand over his mouth before he could say anything.

Sharee rolled her eyes. 'Have you ever duelled before?' she asked Serenity.

'Well, no, but I'm sure it'll be fine.'

Sharee's response was to rub the bridge of her nose.

YGO

Yugi, Joey, and Téa walked through some really creepy caves.

'I'm sure Sharee will keep Serenity out of trouble,' Téa remarked. 'The good news is that each of us defeated one member of the Freaky Five. Three down, two to go!'

'The bad news is we don't know where they're gonna strike next,' Yugi stated.

'Or who they're gonna strike next,' Téa added.

Joey growled and picked up his pace. He broke into a run. 'Serenity, I'm coming!'

'Joey!' 'Joey!' Yugi and Téa called out to him as they hurried to catch up.

YGO

Sharee blinked. 'Where did that come from?'

The four teenagers stood nearly in a straight line. There was an ornate wooden door directly in front of them. They hadn't moved an inch but the door had just faded into view a moment ago. Now they all just stared at it. Three of them stared at it in apprehension and a touch of fear.

'Please tell me we're not going through that door,' Duke said. 'Right, guys?'

Tristan stared at it in disbelief.

Sharee pulled a face and folded her arms tightly across her chest. 'Wise man say, never trust a door that appears out of nowhere and is held up by nothing.'

'Well…' Serenity fished for a moment. 'What harm could a door do?'

That question made Sharee snort in laughter. 'You'd be surprised the amount of videos you can find online of accidents involving doors.' She composed herself. 'But, in this case, it's not the door that's the problem. It's what's potentially on the other side of the door.'

'What if it leads back home?' Serenity asked. 'To the real world?'

'And what if it doesn't?' Duke asked. 'Let's just turn back.'

That was the sensible option.

'I hate to say it,' Tristan said, 'but Duke maybe right.'

'Come on! We'll never know unless we try, guys.' With no hesitation she reached out and grabbed the door handle.

'No, Serenity, wait!' Tristan cried out as Duke cried out in alarm.

'Hold on!' Duke called.

Sharee shot over, but it was too late. Serenity had the door open and a bright light was spilling out from inside. Sharee flinched back, covering her eyes and jamming them shut. The light still stung and her brain clenched with the beginnings of a headache.

She's got no concept of the danger we're in, does she?

Nope. To her, this is just a game. She's not taking any of it seriously. She won't until she sees something bad happen to somebody.

'Oh, it's too bright to see!' Tristan exclaimed.

It took a few moments for the bright light to fade. When it did, Sharee opened her eyes and looked around. 'Huh?'

'Looks like we're back where we started before the Big 5 sent us to virtual land,' Duke observed. 'But there's no sign of the blimp in here at all.'

'My guess is that this is the duelling field,' Sharee said.

'So are we in the real world?' Serenity asked.

'Of course not,' Sharee said. 'Our real bodies will be in pods or something. We'll wake up in those when we go back to the real world.'

'How do you know that?' Duke asked.

Tristan, of course, remembered. 'Because, the last time we saw a virtual world, it was Kaiba's and that's what was used to put their minds into the virtual world.'

Duke nodded and pointed. 'Look!'

The four of them looked up and watched as a large duel monster slowly descended from above.

'It's some kind of giant robot or something!' Tristan cried.

'Greetings, humans,' the monster said. 'Allow me to introduce myself. In the outside world, I was known as Nezbitt.'

'Yeah,' Sharee said. 'I remember Mokuba saying. You're one of the Big 5.' Her eyes flicked over to Serenity. If at all possible, I'm going to have to keep her from duelling.

'I am,' he said. 'Former Vice-President of new technology at KaibaCorp.' His eyes narrowed. 'But here, in the virtual realm, I am known as Robotic Knight, a creature that represents the power of machine over man. As the tech expert of the Big 5, I designed some of KaibaCorp's most advanced machinery.' He lifted his arm and duel disk appeared on his arm. 'And as soon as I outduel one of you, I'll be able to continue my work in the real world. Now! Ladies first!'

Serenity gasped.

'Which one of us?' Sharee asked suspiciously, stepping forward.

Nezbitt almost seemed to sneer. 'Not you. I can't do all that much with an American. You're only here for the duration of your exchange scholarship, and then you'll be going back to your home country. That isn't where the seat of power is. So you, Sharee Pertinicle, can be assured that you're not a terribly desirable vessel for us to inhabit. Your friends are much more appealing.'

Sharee raised an eyebrow. Vessel, huh? I guess they don't know the rules.

'Me? But I've never duelled before,' Serenity murmured, worried.

Tristan stepped forward. 'Nezbitt, leave Serenity out of this. If you wanna duel someone, duel me, you scrap-heap!'

Duke stepped in. 'No! Fight me!' He looked over at Tristan. He spoke so low, Sharee barely heard him. 'You don't know what you're getting yourself into, Tristan. This is not the time to be showing off, man.'

Tristan pouted. 'Like you're some kind of duelling expert?'

'I've duelled more times that you,' Duke pointed out.

'I have challenged the female to a duel.' Nezbitt was evidently not going to budge. 'We shall begin our battle immediately.'

Tristan turned back to face him. 'Not quite.'

Sharee stepped forward. 'I agree. You know that Serenity's the most inexperienced one in this room. She's not even a duellist. That's why you picked on her. And I'm not going to let you do it.'

Nezbitt looked back at her. 'That's not going to work, girl. You have no control here.'

Oh, I think I have more control than you think I do.

By proxy, certainly.

Shaddup.

Duke sighed. 'Hey, I've got a great idea. Me, Sharee, and Tristan will all take you on. Beat us and you'll get three bodies for the price of one.'

Tristan looked startled at the suggestion, but Sharee nodded.

'Negative,' Nezbitt said, 'but you have given me an idea. The duel shall be four against one.'

They all started.

'You're kidding?' Duke demanded.

'No,' Nezbitt said. 'For when I defeat you, we'll gain control over all of your bodies, leaving your four minds trapped her forever.'

Sharee blinked a moment, and then she grinned. It was obvious why he went that way. 'Well, well, well. Lost four duels already, huh?'

Nezbitt said nothing but her friends looked over at her.

'How do you figure that?' Tristan asked.

'He's trying for a four-in-one package,' Sharee said. 'Logically, that would suggest that they already lost against Yugi, Joey, Kaiba, and even Téa.'

'Téa?' Duke asked. 'I thought she didn't duel.'

'She doesn't, but she must've beaten them if they want all of us. It's the only way to compensate…' Sharee trailed off as Mayet suddenly had an idea.

Or maybe the Big 5 aren't the only ones hoping to do some bodysnatching.

'When this duel is over, I'll have proven once and for all that machines are more powerful than people,' Nezbitt stated.

'In his dreams,' Tristan remarked.

'Let's do this,' Duke said.

'I intend to pull the plug on all four of you,' Nezbitt said, 'so let us begin this duel.'

'Look, man,' Tristan said. 'It's gonna be three-on-one.'

'No, Tristan.' Serenity stepped forward. 'It's gonna be four-on-one, cause we're all in this together.'

Well, Sharee thought, this just got harder.

'But Serenity…' Tristan trailed off.

'Don't worry about me,' Serenity said. 'I'll follow your lead.'

'That's what I'm scared of,' Tristan said.

'Look, you don't have to do this, Serenity,' Duke said.

Nezbitt cut in. 'Correction. I'd say she does. Observe!'

All four of them suddenly had duel disks on their arms.

'Everyone wearing a duel disk must participate,' Nezbitt said.

Sharee cringed as Serenity got excited over it. Like Sharee and Mayet had discussed before: she had heard the words about what would happen if they lost, but the concept had no meaning to her. Human brains were funny like that. It was part of why her father had given her a broad range of experiences while she was growing up. And what he would not expose her to, he spent years drumming into her head.

There hadn't been time to drum the severity of this situation into Serenity's head.

'Cool!' Serenity lifted her arm to get a better look at the duel disk.

'Serenity, just think this over for a bit,' Tristan said. 'Please!'

'I told you,' Serenity said. 'I'll just do exactly what you do!'

Sharee just had to joke. 'I bet you never thought a teenaged boy's boast would get you into trouble like this.'

While Serenity looked confused, Tristan dropped his head. Duke gave a light smirk.

'Would it make everyone feel better if I went first?' Sharee asked.

'Yes,' Tristan and Duke said in near-unison.

Nezbitt interrupted them. 'Before the duel begins, you need to build your decks from the card database. Simply touch the cards you desire.'

Rows of cards appeared in front of each of them. Sharee moved, quickly touching all of the cards she knew to be in her real deck. She ignored the brief conversation that went on between Serenity and Tristan. Part of her thought Serenity would make the same mistake that Joey did. So…Sharee needed a strategy that would not only protect their weakest link, but also knock Nezbitt down to size.

As she selected her cards, her brain was already turning over possible first moves.

You want me to take this?

Sharee considered it for a moment as she selected her final card and the cards in front of her vanished. Her deck appeared in her duel disk. She glanced over at her friends before looking back at Nezbitt. She had no doubt he had something planned and Mayet did, after all, have a far more strategic mind than hers. And the duel itself would be hell on this developing headache of hers. The best thing to do would be to retreat until her head settled down.

Yeah. Sharee surrendered control of her body.

YGO

Mayet folded her arms across her chest as their friends finished selecting their decks.

'Now it's time to choose a monster to act as your Deck Master,' Nezbitt said.

Mayet pulled her deck from the duel disk and rifled through the deck until she found the card she was looking for. She was glad for that device Shauna had quickly provided them with. Noah must not have been watching them too closely because she was able to find the ideal Deck Master for what she wanted. And, to be honest, part of her felt an affinity for that particular monster.

Mayet took the card and returned her deck to the slot. 'I choose Dark Witch.' The monster emerged from the card and came to hover just behind her.

Tristan looked over in relief when she spoke.

Looks like he can tell the difference. Bright lad.

When he's not being hormonal, yes.

'All right.' Duke took a card from his own deck. 'My Deck Master is gonna be Strike Ninja!'

Serenity looked at her cards. 'I pick…uh…' Her face lit up. 'Goddess with the Third Eye!'

Tristan took his card. 'I choose Super Roboyarou.'

All three monsters emerged from the cards and came to hover by their sides just as Mayet's Dark Witch did.

'And I'll be acting as my own Deck Master, Robotic Knight,' Nezbitt said. The floor between them suddenly opened up. 'And just to make this duel more interesting, we'll be battling above a sea of radioactive waste. Play by the rules and you won't fall in. There's one regulation in particular I'll be strictly enforcing: under no circumstances are any of you to discuss your strategy with one another. Break this rule, and you'll plummet into the toxic abyss below.'

Serenity freaked out. 'Tristan, wait! How can I duel without your advice?'

'You can do this,' Tristan said. 'Just believe in yourself.'

Serenity made a distressed sound and slid her deck into the slot. Their life points shot up to 4000. They drew their first cards.

'Right,' Mayet said. 'Let's begin.'

She looked at her first hand. Not bad for a first draw, if I do say so myself. Mayet already had two very advantageous cards in her hand.

'Hold on,' Nezbitt said. 'You don't decide who starts this duel.'

Mayet looked him right in the eye as she drew. 'Trust me. By the time it circles around to you, it won't matter one way or the other. I go first, no arguments. If it makes you feel better, Serenity will go after me.' She quickly decided the rest of the order. 'And then Tristan and then Duke.' Because she could tell they'd need someone with their head still screwed on to round them out.

Mayet took the two cards from her hand. She knew they only counted on removing one mind from her body. They didn't count on the second one. Still, the floor didn't give underneath her. Mayet set her first card. 'I'll start by playing Battle Footballer in defence mode.'

The card in question appeared face-up on the field and the monster emerged from within. He was crouched down on top of the card. Mayet took this to mean that she'd gotten her way. She would start their round and Duke would finish it. Serenity was too inexperienced to do a lot and Tristan was too busy thinking with his hormones.

Mayet took the other card. 'I also set one card face-down on the field and end my turn.' She looked over to the other girl. 'Okay, Serenity. Your move.'

'Well, that doesn't look too difficult.' Serenity drew. 'Here goes.' She studied her hand for a moment, then pulled one out. 'Ah! That's the one! Now I'm going to summon Shadow Tamer!' She set the card. Unfortunately, she summoned it in attack position. And she was too green to recognise her mistake.

That had probably been what Nezbitt was counting on.

Good thing we made the move we did.

Sharee ignored the exchange between her friends in favour of planning what she was going to do next. The strategy she'd implemented would only do for one turn. Then she'd need something to back it up. There was nothing in her hand, however, that could help. With a bit of luck, her draw would do better.

Tristan drew her attention again. 'All right, Nezbitt. My move.' He drew and then set his card in defence mode. 'So now I'll play Cyber Commander.' The card appeared on the field and the monster emerged, crouched in defensive position. 'Come and get me, punk!'

Is he trying to deflect Nezbitt from attacking Serenity? Sharee wondered.

Mayet frowned. Definitely. He must think that by playing a weaker monster than hers, Nezbitt will attack him instead.

But that won't work. She's the weak link in the chain. She's the easiest target and the first one Nezbitt went after. On top of that, she's the one who played her monster in attack mode. Her life points are wide open.

Tristan's obviously unaware of that. Or he's not thinking clearly on account of that crush of his.

That'd be my guess.

'I guess it's up to me now.' Duke drew. 'Let's see. I summon the 13th Grave now,' he set the card and his monster appeared on the field, crouched on top of the card, 'in defence mode.' He waited a beat. 'I'll stop here.'

'It's time for me to accelerate into high gear.' Nezbitt drew. 'With this!' He played a card and it appeared on the field. Giga-Tech Wolf.' A giant metal wolf emerged from the card. 'Attack the female's Shadow Tamer!'

The Wolf charged forward.

Serenity's eyes went wide and she covered her face.

'Oh, no!' Tristan cried. 'He went after Serenity's monster!'

Mayet looked over in interest.

The Wolf sailed across the field…

And bounced against a barrier.

YGO

Joey came out of his run as he realised something. 'Hang on…We're getting nowhere fast.'

'Yeah,' Yugi said as he slowed to a stop next to him. 'Noah controls where we are and what we see. After I finished my duel, he kept me in a tunnel too. But he also kept projecting me a recording of Téa saying "it's freezing" while she was in that ice duel.'

'Which I only said once,' Téa added.

Joey scowled. 'So what you're saying is that we won't find Serenity until Noah's good and ready for us to.'

'Well…I had to complete a puzzle first,' Yugi said.

Which meant he was probably doing a similar thing in this place. 'Then let's find the one he's got here!'

Joey took off again.

YGO

'What?' Nezbitt demanded.

'What just happened?' Duke asked. 'And what did the Wolf bounce off of?'

Mayet chuckled. 'Reveal face-down card.' She flipped the card up.

Nezbitt made an alarmed sound. 'Central Shield?'

'That's right,' Mayet said. She shrugged. 'Unfortunately, it doesn't inflict any battle damage but it does stop your attack.'

Duke grinned at her. 'Great move!'

'What's Central Shield?' Serenity asked.

'Central Shield is a magic card that I can equip to one monster,' Mayet explained. 'Once equipped, it defends all surrounding monsters on my side of the field. Seeing as we're fighting as a team that means your monsters.' She looked over at Nezbitt. 'I figured Serenity would be the first one you'd attack. As she said, she's never duelled before. She'd be the weak link, as it were – no offence, Serenity. On top of that, she set her monster in attack mode. Easy pickings.'

'Oh,' Serenity said. 'Should I not have done that?'

'The rest of us put them in defence mode for a reason,' Mayet said before turning back to Nezbitt. 'Of course, I could have been wrong – slim as the chance may be. That was why I played it on a monster with such high defence points. To destroy Battle Footballer, you'll first need to sacrifice a monster to get one strong enough to take him out. Far less effort, on your part, to just attack one of the others.' She smirked. 'So, therefore, Battle Footballer was the most logical monster to equip my Central Shield to. And you've already used your monster to attack so you can't do it again.'

'No,' Nezbitt growled. 'But I can activate my Deck Master's special ability.'

'And that would be?' Duke asked.

'Final artillery,' Nezbitt said. 'Even the four of you combined can't take me down.' He took some cards from his hand and discarded them. 'Each machine monster I discard will inflict 500 life points of damage to you.' Four monsters appeared on the field.

Mayet braced herself as they fired. She heard Serenity scream in pain and both Tristan and Duke grunt as they were hit. All four of them had their life points drop down to 3500. Mayet had a feeling his turn wasn't over yet, though, and she lifted her head. Sure enough, he set one card.

'Serenity!' Duke and Tristan were both too distracted with Serenity collapsing to notice.

'That's enough torment for now,' Nezbitt said, 'so I'll play this card and end my turn.'

Wait a minute, Sharee said, looking at his hand. You draw five cards and then take one when you take your turn. He had four machine monsters, besides that wolf, and now he's setting one card, and he's got one left in his hand?

One of the cards he fired at us was Metal Yin-Yan. It can serve as two monsters in one card. It allows him to attack two people for the price of one. I wouldn't be surprised if his deck was stacked with these "twin option" machine monsters.

Damn.

'Serenity's not looking so good!' Duke said, causing Mayet to look over.

'No.' Serenity struggled back to her feet. 'I'm okay, guys. I promise.'

Mayet drew. She glanced at the face-down card across the field. She could use the monster she just drew to attack. It was certainly stronger than Nezbitt's Wolf, which was still in attack mode. But…that face-down card could have been a trap. She would be walking right into it.

'I play Kanan the Sword Mistress in defence mode.' She set the card and the monster appeared on the field. 'That ends my turn.' She looked over at Serenity.

Serenity drew and looked down at the card in her hand. She did not, however, set her monster in defence mode. Her next card, however, she said, 'I think I should put this in defence mode, right?'

'Yeah!' Tristan said. 'Now you're getting the hang of it.'

Unfortunately, when she played the card in question, the Forgiving Maiden, she put it in attack position instead. And she couldn't change it now. Mayet left Duke and Tristan to explain what she'd done wrong to her. Mayet, in the meantime, focused on Nezbitt and waited.

'Silence, humans,' Nezbitt said. 'No discussing moves.'

'Let her take that turn over, dude!' Tristan snapped.

'Negative, young man. No second chances.'

Tristan growled in agitation.

'I'm so sorry,' Serenity said.

Mayet answered that one. 'You're not the one who should be sorry.'

'It's my move!' Tristan drew. 'Now I activate Block Attack!' He played the card. It was clear that he knew what Serenity to too inexperienced to realise: they'd lose Central Shield on Nezbitt's next turn.

'Nice effort, but it's time to reveal my face-down card!' Nezbitt hit it and the cards flipped up.

'Riryoku Field?' Mayet bit back a curse.

'Exactly,' Nezbitt said. 'It destroys any magic card that's used on a monster. Originally, I was going to use it on the Central Shield, but I have another way to destroy it.'

Block Attack shattered. Tristan cried out in alarm and flinched back. Then he straightened up. 'Yeah, I can see that. Okay. Now what?'

YGO

The beach had turned to desert.

The Kaiba brothers walked over sand dunes. Kaiba had no memory of walking over dunes like this but he found it so easy, he actually had to slow down for his brother. Mokuba was struggling far more than he was. Kaiba didn't dwell on it too much. It was probably just because he was more hardened that Mokuba was.

And that was just the way he liked it.

'This desert never ends!' Mokuba complained.

They stopped as something caught Kaiba's eye. From the distance, he couldn't tell if it was a city or a pile of ruins. For a moment, that was. Then he remembered where he'd seen that set of buildings before. 'Look! Isn't that Nezbitt's old research lab? I always hated that place.'

That was part of the reason why he'd gotten rid of it.

Kaiba smirked as he remembered the explosions. I had no choice but to tear down that sweatshop. His battle machines were useless in the new KaibaCorp. And sometimes starting over means erasing the past. Kaiba looked up. Clearly, this was meant to be a power-play of some kind on Noah's part.

'You can't lead me around your world like a puppet forever, Noah!'

YGO

'Okay.' Duke drew. If I want to do some damage, I've gotta play smart. So far it looks like the only one thinking of the bigger picture is Sharee. She thought ahead enough to cover for Serenity's mistake without compromising her own defences. In fact, she anticipated Serenity making that mistake. But, it's like she said, Serenity is the weak link so of course Nezbitt's going to go after her first. He set his card. 'I play Yaranzo!' His monster appeared on the field in front of him.

'Come on!' Tristan snapped. 'Yaranzo? That thing's never gonna help us, dude!'

Duke ignored him. It was clear he was more interested in playing the Knight in Shining Armour to Serenity than he was in thinking logically. 'Then I'll finish things with one card face-down.' He set the card and it appeared on the field in front of him.

'Very well,' Nezbitt said. 'I shall start my sending my Giga-Tech Wolf out. Attack and destroy the Battle Footballer!'

The Wolf pounced. Mayet stood there and watched as what she expected to happen actually did happen. Her Footballer yelled out as he was destroyed. Tristan cried out in a wordless protest. Mayet stood there and watched passively. As she expected, Serenity was confused.

'Hey,' she said. 'What's the deal?'

Tristan quickly explained. 'With the Battle Footballer destroyed, the Central Shield is destroyed as well – because it was equipped to him. Nezbitt can attack us now!'

'Indeed,' Nezbitt said. 'But first I shall sacrifice my Giga-Tech Wolf,' the Wolf dissolved, 'in order to summon Machine King!' A robot-looking monster appeared on the field. 'And because of his special ability, Machine King receives another 100 attack points for every machine monster in play – that includes your Cyber Commander, Tristan, so thanks for the power boost, you fool!'

Machine King's attack points went from 2200 up to 2400.

Nezbitt went on. 'Machine King, attack the female's Shadow Tamer!'

'Can he do that?' Sharee demanded, eyes narrowing.

'Maybe,' Duke said. He'd never actually seen someone actually do it personally, but he wasn't sure if there was a rule against it, per say. 'It is a new monster, after all.'

Regardless of whether that move was allowed or not the Machine King attacked, launching a fist at Serenity's monster, still left in attack mode. She'd obviously put way too much faith in Sharee's Central Shield. It really drove home what Sharee had said before.

'No!' Serenity cried in protest.

'Cyber Commander, go!' Tristan barked.

Duke turned and snapped at him. 'Don't be a fool, Tristan!'

'I gotta save her!' Tristan insisted as his Cyber Commander intercepted the attack.

'No!' Sharee shot over. 'I'm pretty sure you're being a fool, Tristan!'

At the same time, Cyber Commander was destroyed and the fist also hit him right in the chest. Tristan reacted like he'd been actually punched in the chest really hard.

'No!' Serenity cried. 'Tristan!'

Tristan groaned as his life points dropped down to 1850.

'I could have protected her without losing points, you show off!' Duke snapped at him.

'Hey!' Tristan snapped, voice laced with pain. 'Just back off! You're no help!'

'We have to play smart or we'll all lose!'

Nezbitt's face-down card flipped up. 'Now I activate Card of Sanctity, forcing us all to draw! Don't stop until you have six cards.'

Nezbitt drew all six cards, so it was clear that card was more for him. Serenity only drew one. But Duke, Tristan, and Sharee all drew two of them.

'Think of it as recharging your batteries to refresh the game,' Nezbitt said.

'You done?' Tristan demanded.

'Yeah,' Duke said. 'Can we go now?'

'Not quite. Next I'll dispose of four machine monsters to activate my Deck Master's special ability.' He dropped the cards into the graveyard. Four machine monsters appeared on the field and fired at them. 'Final Artillery!'

Duke braced himself. It was just as bad as the first blast. At least this time he was able to keep his reaction as quiet as Sharee's was – a grunt as the air left his lungs. Again, Serenity collapsed to her knees. His, Sharee's, and Serenity's life points all dropped down to 3000. Tristan's life points dropped to 1350 thanks to his "noble sacrifice".

'Say goodbye to 500 more life points each,' Nezbitt boasted. 'Soon, you'll all be obsolete. Now, I'll place this face-down and end my turn.' He set a card and it appeared on the field.

Duke looked over at Sharee. She was looking at Machine King with a calculating expression. Then she drew. 'I play one card face-down.' She set the card and it appeared on the field. 'That's all from me.'

'Now, I'm ready.' Serenity stood up with a determined expression on her face. Here goes.' She drew. 'I play Lady Panther in defence mode!' She actually put it in defence mode and then flicked both of her other cards into defence mode too. 'Then I'll switch Shadow Tamer and the Forgiving Maiden from attack mode to defence mode.'

'You go, girl!' Tristan drew. 'All right. Now, I summon Command Angel to the field in defence mode!' The monster appeared on the field.

'We're on a roll now!' Duke drew and played his card. 'I summon forth my Dark Assailant in defence mode!' The card appeared on the field and the Dark Assailant emerged from within.

'Looks like you've lined up your monsters for me to knock down one-by-one as I move closer to disassembling you three,' Nezbitt said.

'All right, you rust bucket!' Duke snapped. 'You'll never get past our army of defensive monsters! And I dare you to attack us directly again!'

'Quit flapping your lips!' Tristan hissed at him. 'We don't need to give him any ideas!'

'Don't worry, Tristan,' Duke said. 'He doesn't have enough cards left to activate his Deck Master ability yet, so our life points are safe.'

Nezbitt's eyes flashed. 'Almost correct. But you've forgotten about my trap card.'

'No!' Tristan yelled. Serenity gasped. But, like him, Sharee growled in irritation.

The card in question flipped up. 'I activate Backup Soldier.'

'Oh, no!' Duke exclaimed. 'What's that?'

'Since I have more than five monsters in my graveyard, this trap allows me to bring three of them back to my hand,' Nezbitt said.

'One of them, I'm betting, is Metal Yin-Yan,' Sharee said. 'Allowing you to hit two of us with a single card.'

'Correct.' Nezbitt took the three cards that his duel disk spat out. 'So, it looks like I'll be able to activate my Deck Master ability after all. Now I'll take the three monsters I've just received and deposit them back to the graveyard. Thus activating my special ability, Final Artillery.' He dropped the cards back and the monsters appeared on the field.

Duke braced himself.

'Show some originality and do something new for once!' Tristan cried out desperately.

'Why change a good thing?' Nezbitt asked rhetorically. 'Attack!'

The blasts hit. Only Duke and Sharee managed to keep their reactions to a minimum. Sharee's, Duke's, and Serenity's life points dropped to 2500. Tristan's life points dropped down to 850.

'Reliability is the key to a good invention,' Nezbitt said.

'He's too strong!' Duke exclaimed, mind turning.

'Affirmative.' Nezbitt drew. 'But you've only seen a small sample of my overall strength.' He looked at the card in his hand. 'What you're about to experience will blow your circuits.' He turned the card around. 'Meet Clockwork Night.' He played it. 'This magic card has the power to transform all of your monsters into machines.'

'Say what?' Duke demanded.

'No way, man!' Tristan cried.

Sharee growled.

'And,' Nezbitt added, 'in addition to turning your creatures into metal, they'll each lose 500 attack points.' The attack points of their monsters dropped.

'And you'll get 100 attack points on your Machine King for each of our monsters,' Sharee stated.

'Correct again, Sharee. My Machine King gets an additional 100 points for every machine monster in play – and I could eight.' Machine King's attack points shot up to 3100. 'Finally, Clockwork Knight gives my Machine King 500 extra points.' His attack shot up to 3600.

'Nezbitt can't be stopped now!' Tristan insisted.

'Chill out, Tristan,' Duke told him. 'Everything's under control. Our monsters are in defence mode, remember? If we keep cool, that pile of scrap can't hurt us.'

'You must grow tired of being wrong all the time,' Nezbitt said as he took a card from his hand. 'Engage Short Circuit!' He played the card and it appeared on the field. Electricity began crackling around every single one of the monsters on their side of the field. 'You see, unlike humans machines follow commands.'

All of their monsters began moving.

'Hey!' Tristan exclaimed. 'What gives?'

'I'm afraid to find out,' Duke said.

Sharee growled again.

'If you haven't already figured it out,' Nezbitt said, 'this magic card gives me the power to change all of your monsters from defence to attack mode. So, once again, your life points are in danger.'

'Man, I hate this guy!' Tristan snapped.

'He never lost control of this match for a second,' Duke observed. And that meant someone – probably Serenity – was in big trouble.

'Now, witness the triumph of machine over man.' Nezbitt pointed across the field. 'Or should I say female? Machine King, prepare to attack her Forgiving Maiden now!'

The Machine King moved into attack position.

'Serenity!' Tristan cried. 'No!'

'She'll lose the duel,' Duke stated.

'There's gotta be something I can do to save her, but what?' Tristan said. Then, as the attack was launched, he did something really stupid. 'Go, Super Roboyarou!' he ordered his Deck Master. He leapt into the field.

'No!' Duke snapped. 'Tristan! If your Deck Master's destroyed, you'll lose!'

'My monster's special ability allows me to play this card,' the card appeared on the field, 'face-down! Then its attack points go up!' But they only went up to 2200.

'Not by enough, you fool!' Nezbitt snapped as Roboyarou was hit and destroyed. 'You monster has sadly become…last year's model! When the Deck Master is destroyed, so is the duellist!'

'I'm aware of that, you oversized trashcan!' Tristan snapped. 'Okay.' He looked at Serenity. 'No more lies. I'm not the duellist you think I am. I didn't teach Joey how to play. I hardly know the basics of Duel Monsters.' He glared at Duke. 'And you – you better take care of her!'

On Serenity's other side, Sharee was giving Tristan the most disbelieving look Duke had ever seen.

'You lost the duel.' Nezbitt lifted an upraised thumb. 'So it's time for you to go,' he turned his thumb down, 'down there.'

The ground beneath Tristan disappeared and he plunged down with a scream.

'Oh, no! Tristan!' Serenity dropped to her hands and knees at the edge, and stared down in horrified disbelief. 'Please come back! No!' She broke down crying.

'Where'd he go?' Duke asked, walking over to look down.

'He said we'd only fall if we cheated!' Serenity insisted.

'Relax,' Nezbitt said. 'His mind has been digitised and his body is in the holding area waiting to be taken over. And you'll both join him…soon enough.'

Duke ground his teeth.