Chapter 55: The King of the Maze.

Leaving Nistro behind Drake quickly reached the great doors at the end of the room and pushed them open. Inside was a large duelling arena made of carved black granite stone, with great columns topped by white marble statues. Like some dark Roman colosseum the duel field was surrounded by a ring of stadium seating and the whole place was exposed to the sky above. Not some fake projection or pretty picture but the true open sky.

Drake could feel the wind blowing in, smell the scents of the outside park and basked in the warm light of the sun that was high overhead. It was a refreshing change after having to wander that stuffy maze and then having to fight a gloomy Shadow Game.

But Drake did not see the Guardian, the Lord of the Maze that he was meant to fight. The place was too open for a Duel Bot to hide here so Drake could only walk down the steps before him to the duel field.

Stepping into the challengers area Drake was unsurprised when hidden projectors activated around him and before him appeared the holographic image of Drakes opponent, a giant of a monster that towered so high its head almost reached the height of the open roof.

It had an appearance of a beast warrior, a silver furred wolf man its torso clad in gold and black armour with crimson leggings and cape. Atop its lupin head was a silvery helmet adorned with a single great purple jewel. Dragonbane King Beowulf.

What was a D/D/D monster doing in this world?!

Had Faker and Heartland discovered Pendulum cards? Impossible! Drake himself had tried to create Pendulum cards in this world using the Mirror of Critias and it had miserably failed, this world rejected them and Link monsters both. So Drake refused to believe that Faker could create a card that he could not.

But if this really was Beowulf and if, as Drake assumed, he would be using a D/D/D deck, then it most likely meant that this guardian had no access to the Pendulum cards from any of the Arc V worlds.

But did it make the beast any less dangerous?

"Challenger of the Maze! Prepare for Battle!" came a roar from the holographic beast king.

The image and sound quality was much better than some of the other voice overs Drake had seen on this island so far for the various Duel Bots, but it was not strange if one considered it from a gaming perspective. It was normal for more care and detail to be taken on bosses in games than the grunts after all.

<< Beginning Due- *%#£&… Beginin£^*$*… Error, Error.. &$#>£*….>> came the sound from Drakes Duel Disk.

What the?!

It was only now that Drake took a close look at his Duel Disk as it sputtered and glitch, only now that he could see the slight signs of scorching and the occasional spark flashing across its surface. When had this happened? Oh… Drake thought back to his last turn of that Battle Royal. The Dragons Draw.

Seems like mixing a fate altering mystic power and a scientific virtual duel system did have consequences after all. Had he ended up shooting himself in the foot? If his duel disk broke what would that mean for the WDC?

<< Beginning..#$^…Duel…>>

[Turn 1 – Beowulf LP:6000 Hand 5, Drake LP: 3749 Hand 5]

Drake was speechless. Having a boss monster like this start with a higher life point total was not unreasonable, but 3749 life points for himself? As he watched that number it began to flick and flicker, 3741, 3724, with each glitch his life points seemed to drop even more.

And what was worse was that a couple of his starting hand cards were fuzzy and blurred to the point he could not recognise them. A quick check also showed that Drake could not activate any of his skills, although this might perhaps be an effect of the duel environment rather than another glitch.

Drake guess he had no choice. Even with a glitchy system he had to win so he needed to take down this boss and fast, because at this rate he might just run out of life points before the Duel Bot had to even do anything.

"I am the guardian of this Labyrinth, its strength is my own, so long as it stands so will I, I begin the duel with 6000 Life points." Beowulf spoke, far more elegantly than any bot Drake had encountered so far.

But Drake had a nagging question. Why was the guardian of the Maze of the Minotaur a wolfman? Where was the logic in that? But there was no denying that Beowulf was a lot cooler than Drake was expecting, so who cared.

"I draw! From my hand I activate the effect of <D/D Swirl Slime>! Using it and the mighty <D/D/D Dragon King Pendragon> I fusion summon the flaming warlord who tramples the battlefield! Come forth lord of the chaotic lands <D/D/D Flame High King Genghis>!"

[D/D/D Flame High King Genghis – Lv8 ATK:2800/DEF:2400]

A spiralling tornado of flames appeared in the sky and descended to the field, Dissipating into a flurry of embers as it touched down it revealed the four-armed form of the crimson and black armoured fiend king. A pairs of its arms wielded a pair of black short swords with crimson red flame markings along the blade while its other hands held a massive burning great sword and equally great tower shield.

"Next I summon from my hand the tuner <D/D Nighthowl> to the field."

This monster was like a great fanged mouth with a pair of eyes sticking out on stalks, no body or even head, just a lot of teeth and tounge. As it appeared on the field it gave a devilish howl.

[D/D Nighthowl – Lv3 ATK:300/DEF:600]

"When this card is Normal summoned I can special summon Dragon King Pendragon back from the grave, although it will loses all of its attack and defence." Beowulf continued.

A great black and great dragon in spiked armour clawed its way back from the graveyard before taking a defensive position beside the excited howling maw.

[D/D/D Dragon King Pendragon – Lv7 ATK:2600 > 0/DEF:2400 > 0]

"Now I tune my level 3 Nighthowl with my level 7 Pendragon! Open the path of the conquer, high and mighty king that dominates the heavens! Synchro Summon! Descend on stormy wings <D/D/D Gust High King Alexander>!"

Nighthowl and Pendragon flew into the sky, their bodies fading away to leave a cluster of ten stary lights that began to spin around the sky, leaving trails of light that formed a great ring. The inside of the ring transformed itself into a portal to realms unknown and from out of it descended a white warrior holding a green blade while behind it flapped a pale green cape under the constantly blowing winds that surrounded the sky king.

[D/D/D Gust King Alexander – Lv10 ATK:3000/DEF:2500]

As the Gust High King landed beside its fellow king Genghis a ring of fire appeared from behind the Flame High King and from it emerged another monster.

"I activate Genghis effect, since I special summoned a D/D monster to the field I can one per turn special summon another from the grave. Return Dragon lord of the far isles, <D/D/D Dragon King Pendragon>!"

[D/D/D Dragon King Pendragon – Lv7 ATK:2600/DEF:2400]

One more the dragon king returned, but this time in all its great glory. And as it appeared the greenish gale surrounding Alexander moved to form its own ring from which flew another familiar monster.

"This activates Alexanders effect! Allowing me to special summon Nighthowl back to the field."

Just like the Flame High King, Alexander could also special summon a D/D monster from the grave when another D/D was special summoned to the field.

"And not only that, but since I now control three D/D/D monsters my Gust High King Alexander also gains an addition 3000 ATK!"

[D/D/D Gust King Alexander – Lv10 ATK:3000 > 6000/DEF:2500]

The blowing gale wrapped around the Gust Kings sword creating a green energy that doubled the length of the blade.

"Tremble and weep! I activate the effect of D/D Swirl Slime in my grave, by banishing it I can special summon another D/D monster from my hand. Appear <D/D Berfomet>!"

[D/D Berfomet – Lv4 ATK:1400/DEF:1800]

A swirling green slime appeared on the field, its blobby form morphing into the shape of a winged beast fiend and transforming into brown fur, yellow skin and white feathered wings. It had two arms on its right side while a third ended arm on its left ended in black bat like wing.

"With Berfomet's ability I now change the level of my level 3 Nighthowl to level 4!"

[D/D Nighthowl -Lv3 > 4]

"With these two Level 4 monsters I now build the Overlay Network! Emperor of the flowing empire set forth now and unleash your might! Xyz Summon! Rank 4 <D/D/D Wave King Ceaser>!

Forming the Overlay Network on the floor between the two duellists the two D/D monsters entered its black vortex. Suddenly one could hear the sound of crashing waves as a purple armoured brute of a monster rose from the dark depths. It held a single great double handed sword in its hands.

[D/D/D Wave King Caesar – Rank 4 ATK:2400/DEF:1200 OU:2]

"And lastly I activate the field spell <Yami> which gives all my Fiend monsters a 200 ATK/DEF boost!"

The skies darkened as the field spell activated, replacing the sunny skies above with a black featureless darkness illuminated only by the small flashes of purple lightning.

[D/D/D Flame High King Genghis – ATK:2800 > 3000/ DEF:2400 > 2600, D/D/D Gust King Alexander – ATK:6000 > 6200/DEF:2500 > 2700, D/D/D Wave King Caesar – ATK:2400 > 2600/DEF:1200 > 1400, D/D/D Dragon King Pendragon – ATK:2600 > 2800/DEF:2400 > 2600]

"Tremble before the armies of Rule! I end my turn!"

[Turn 2 – Drake LP: 3327 Hand 5, Beowulf LP:6000 Hand 1]

Drake was glad that the duel boss had finished, if the turn had lasted much longer who knows how low his life points would have dropped. He was also impressed, it seemed a D/D/D deck was still pretty powerful even without Pendulum monsters, capable of performing all the available forms of summoning (except Ritual summoning) in this world in a single turn.

If he wasn't playing with a malfunctioning duel disk in a tournament Drake would have liked to take his time and enjoy such a duel.

"I draw! … I said draw you stupid machine."

Drake used the age old method of bashing the uncooperative machine that refused to draw a card for him with his fist until it worked.

"Finally… well this should work..." Drake thought as he looked at his cards, some of which were flickering on and off, threatening to disappear at any moment. Perhaps luck had not abandoned him after all, or else some of that magic that caused the problem in the first place was still lingering in the program.

"I play <One for One>! By discarding <The White Stone of Legend> I can special summon <Blue-Eyes Kuriboh> from my deck."

[Blue-Eyes Kuriboh – Lv1 ATK:300 > 500/DEF:200 > 400]

Drakes favourite fuzz ball popped onto the stage. As a fiend monster it too benefited from the Yami field spell card. Although it paled against the assembled D/D/D kings before it, Drakes Kuriboh showed no fear.

"Kuri! Kuri!"

"Next my White Stones effect activates in the grave adding a <Blue-Eyes White Dragon> to my hand." Drake continued, giving his duel disk a shake and another bash.

*Clank*

"There we go." He said as his iconic monster was added to his digital hand.

"I activate <Polymerization>! I use Blue-Eyes Kuriboh and two copies of Blue-Eyes White Dragon in my hand to fusion summon the <Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon>!.... I said Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon come forth!..."

Looking at his project extra deck Drake couldn't find his three headed beast, just static. Fortunately not all of his extra deck had been lost.

"…Fine, what can I summon then? … Appear <Blue-Eyes Alternative Ultimate Dragon>!"

[Blue-Eyes Alternative Ultimate Dragon – Lv12 ATK:4500/DEF:3800]

The second variation of the original Ultimate Dragon appeared on Drakes Field, although for a second Drake had serious doubts that the summoning would be successful. This version of Drakes ultimate beast was covered with blue jewel like growths over its body, its neck, tail and heads. Each one faintly glowed with an inner light.

Thankfully on problems seemed to happen to Drakes monsters once they were on the field, perhaps because the field was a shared projected space whatever was happening to Drakes Duel Disk could not effect his cards once they were in that shared space.

Otherwise Drake had visions what had happened in Duellist Kingdom when Kaiba had infected his own Blue-Eyes with a virus when it was used by the fake Kaiba against Yugi. His monsters attack continually dropping just like Drakes life points now.

[Drake LP: 2749]

He needed to speed this up!

"Next I Activate <Dragons Mirror>! By banishing the three monsters now in my Graveyard I summon <Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon>!"

Thankfully this time everything worked and Drake successfully summoned his second three headed dragon to the field.

[Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon – Lv12 ATK:4500/DEF:3800]

"Alternative Ultimate Dragon attack Wave King Ceaser! Burst Neutrons!"

The jewels across the body of Drakes monster began to glow with a brighter and brighter blue light as it charged its power and channelled it towards its three heads, it reminded Drake of how the spines of the movie monster Godzilla would light up before it unleashed its atomic breath.

Of course three heads were better than one and Drakes Ultimate Alternative Dragon proved that by blasting out a three explosive bolts of blue ball lightning that spun around each other as they rushed towards the Wave King.

[BEAUD ATK:4500 > DWKC ATK:2600 – Beowulf LP > 4100]

*BOOM*

"Wave King Ceaser effect activates, from my deck I add <Dark Contract with the Witch> to my hand." said Beowulf unflinchingly as his monster was destroyed by the violent energy balls.

"Next I use the quick play <De-Fusion>! To return my Alternative Ultimate Dragon to my extra deck. Off course since the monsters I used to summon it have been banished from my grave they cannot be returned to the field." Continued Drake as he watched his Life points plummet.

[Drake LP: 2166]

Under the power of Drakes own spell, his Alternative Ultimate dragon vanished from the field, leaving the Neo Ultimate Dragon as his only card on the field.

"Now Neo Ultimate Dragon attack Dragon King Pendragon! Neo Neutron Burst!"

While Beowulfs Dragon might call itself the Dragon King, there was no doubt which of them was the true ruler here.

Triple beams of destruction blasted out and spiral together into a massive ray of lightning energy, the D/D/D dragon tried to fight back with a blast of dark flames but it was instantly overwhelmed.

*BANG*

[NBEUD ATK:4500 > DDKP ATK:2800 – Beowulf LP > 2400]

"Since I now control only two D/D/D monster Gust High King Alexanders attack falls to 3200." Beowulf commented as the green energy that had gathered around Alexanders blade faded away.

[D/D/D Gust King Alexander – ATK:6200 > 3200]

"Well since I control no other face up cards, I can now activate my dragons ability! Sending the Alternative Ultimate Dragon I just returned to the extra deck to the grave my Neo Ultimate Dragon can attack again! So it now attacks Flame High King Genghis!" Drake commanded.

Again The Neo Ultimate Dragon attacked with its Neo Neutron Burst!

[NBEUD ATK:4500 > DFHKG ATK:3000 – Beowulf LP > 900]

The High Flame King tried to resist the dragons might with its shield and swords, but ultimately failed. But Drake was still in great danger as he looked to his own life points.

[Drake LP:1441]

"I activate its ability again! I send Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon to the grave. So finish this my Dragon, attack Gust High King Alexanders!"

However at this point Drakes monster began to glitch, frozen as it gathered its power for its final attack.

"Come on you stupid!"

*Bang, bang, clank.*

Drakes life points continued to drop as he tried to get a reaction from his duel disk, 1209, 1157, 994… Desperate Drake could only try to overcome this peril with some of the same poison that had gotten him into this mess, he gathered a spark of power the Critias and inserted it into his duel disk.

Just a single spark, afraid that anymore would cause the system to completely crash.

*ROAR!*

With a mighty roar the Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon finally unfroze and continued its mighty attack. Under its onslaught both the Gust High King and Dragonane King Beowulf behind it were wiped from existence.

*BOOM*

[NBEUD ATK:4500 > DGHKG ATK:3200 – Beowulf LP > 0]

[Drake LP: 48]

<<DRAKE £&@#... DRAKE.. £#!% WINS… Gain… 10 Duel Points.. Gain SkillZzz%£"% … Gain Toon Kingdom Code Fragment…£&#{^…>>

The Duel was over, Drake had won and his duel disk… had died.

"Now just what do I do?" Drake asked the empty arena.