3 Animals

Malkator stopped and leaned against a nearby building.
"So, is that all?" he asked the talking bat, while rubbing the new, glowing wounds on his chest.
"Yes, pretty much," the bat said.
"God, next to France, this is probably the most bizarre thing that's ever happened to me," he said.
"I believe it," the bat said. "I'll be going now."
The bat flew off, leaving Malkator alone. He stayed leaning against the building for a while, trying to piece together everything that had just happened.
"Hey, Malkator!" a voice called, breaking him away from his thoughts.
He turned his head to see a man approaching him. He was a Japanese man in his late twenties, and was carrying a long samurai sword.
"Oh, great," Malkator said. "What do you want, Hiroshi?"
"I want to know what in hell is going on here," the man replied.
"Same here," Malkator said. "But I doubt I'll figure it out sticking around here."
Malkator got up, and began walking.

Meanwhile, on a different part of the Board, Daniel stood across from the bearded man, watching the Rake card.
"Well, this sucks," Daniel said, looking back at his dueldisk and the enlarged image of the card. In addition to its invulnerability, the Rake could also deal piercing damage. And if it went a turn without attacking, it could destroy a non-Fear monster easily.
"So are you gonna do anything else, or can I take my turn now?" the man asked.
"Hold on," Daniel said, setting a card on his field. "I set one card and end my turn."
As Daniel's turn ended, Light End Dragon's attack became 2100 and Rake's attack returned to 2500.

"Great!" the man said. "Time to teach you a lesson! I summon Beast King Barbaros!"
A large centaur like creature, with the head of a lion, and wielding a lance and a buckler. It was level 8.
"I can summon this monster without tributes, but if I do, its attack power becomes 1900," the man said. "Next, I activate the trap card Metalmorph! This card will now become an equip card for the Rake, increasing its attack power by 300!"
The Rake was coated in a layer of steel, and its attack power rose to 2800.
"Now, I attack Light End Dragon with the Rake!" the man said. "And do to Metalmorph's effect, the Rake will gain half of Light End Dragon's attack during damage calculation!"
The Rake's attack power rose to 3550, and it savagely ripped apart Daniel's Dragon. Daniel's life points were reduced to 6050.
"Now, I attack directly with Barbaros!" the man said. His beast prepared to strike Daniel with its spear.
"Not so fast!" Daniel said. "I activate the trap card A Rival Appears! Now, I can target one monster you control, then bring out a monster from my hand with the same level. Rake is a level 7, so I can bring out my level 7 Dark Magician!"
Daniel's Dark Magician appeared on the field.
"Since a new monster was brought out, I can cancel my attack," the man said. "Then I set a card face down and end my turn!"

"Alright," Daniel said, drawing. "So who are you, anyway?"
"My name is Briant," the man said. "Why do you care?"
"Because I'd like to know who's ass I'm kicking before I stomp them in to the ground," Daniel said, grinning.
"Ha!" the man laughed. "You think you have a chance against my Fear card?"
"Let me let you in on a little something," Daniel said. "This deck I'm using? It was customized to hold its own against a Five Headed Dragon."
"What!?" Briant exclaimed.
"You're Fear card was a bit intimidating at first, but I've gotten over it," Daniel said. "I can beat that thing. No sweat."
"Oh yeah," Briant growled. "Prove it!"
"I will!" Daniel said. "I summon Buten!"
A small, pig like fairy creature appeared on Daniel's field. It was level 1 with 200 attack points.
"Now, I tune my level 1 Buten to my level 7 Dark Magician!" Daniel said. "Come forth, Dark End Dragon!"
Daniel's monsters were replaced by a terrifying black dragon, with an extra face on its torso. It was level 8, with 2600 attack points.
"I attack Beast King Barbaros with Dark End Dragon!" Daniel said.
"I activate the trap card Half Unbreak!" Briant said. "This card prevents Barbaros from being destroyed in battle, and halves any damage I take."
Briant's life points were reduced to 6050, the same as Daniel.
"Oh well," Daniel said. "I activate Dark End Dragon's effect. Now, by permanently reducing its attack power by 500, I can destroy any monster you control. I'll chose Night Whisperer, Rake!"
Dark End Dragon opened its second mouth, and fired a bolt of energy that destroyed the Rake.
"Damn it!" Briant exclaimed.
"I end my turn with that," Daniel said.

"I draw!" Briant said. "Then, I activate the trap card Wild Return! This card revives a level 4 beast-type monster from my graveyard! I bring back Trojan Horse!"
The Trojan Horse reappeared on Briant's field.
"Now, I tribute my Beast King Barbaros, and my Trojan Horse treated as 2 tributes!" Briant said.
"Three tributes?" Daniel said. "Uh-oh..."
"I tribute summon another Beast King Barbaros!" Briant said. "And since he was summoned with three tributes, I can destroy every card you control!"
A second Barbaros appeared, with 3000 attack points. It swung its lance, destroying Daniel's Dark End Dragon.
"Now, attack him directly!" Briant demanded.
Beast King Barbaros stabbed forward with its lance, hitting Daniel. Daniel collapsed, clutching the area where it had hit. The was no wound, but the pain was still there. His life points dropped to 3050.
"I end my turn," Briant said.

Daniel looked at his hand. All he had was a Giant Soldier Of Stone. He could go on the defensive, but Briant's power deck could just break through it. He needed another plan. Some kind of Deus Ex Machina that could save him. He looked at the screen of his duel disk, trying to figure something out. That's when it occurred to him. He tapped the screen, and an image of a spell card appeared. He read its effect, and began chuckling.
"What's so funny?" Briant Demanded.
"Nothing much," Daniel said. "Just that I figured out how I might be able to make a comeback.
"What?" Briant asked.
"I activate the effect of The Board!" Daniel said.
The checkered tiles surrounding them began glowing.
"I pay 300 life points to guess what type of card I'm gonna draw!" Daniel said. "Then, if I guess right, I can draw again!"
Daniel's life dropped to 2750.
"I guess my next card will be a spell card!" Daniel said. He drew. "Looks like I lucked out and drew a spell! Which means I can draw again! And I think I'll use the Board's effect another time!"
Daniel's life was reduced to 2450.
"I guess trap card!" Daniel said, drawing again. "And it looks like that's exactly what I got! I use the Board's effect one more time!"
Daniel's life went down to 2150.
"This time, I guess monster!" He said. He drew another card, and looked at it. "Damn. Got a spell this time. Oh well. I summon Giant Soldier Of Stone!"
A warrior made of stone appeared on Daniel's field. It was level 3 with 1300 attack points.
"Next, I play the spell card Riryoku!" Daniel said. "Now, I can cut your monster's attack in half, and add it to my Soldier!"
Barbaros's attack was reduced to 1500, while Giant Soldier Of Stone rose to 2800.
"Now, I'll have my monster attack!" Daniel said.
Giant Soldier Of Stone attacked, destroying Beast King Barbaros and reducing Briant's life points to 4550.
"I set 2 cards face down and end my turn," Daniel said. "Looks like those dumb beast cards of yours aren't paying off too well, are they?"

Briant burst into laughter.
"You think they're dumb?" he chuckled. "Animals are far smarter than human's give them credit for. They are absolutely brilliant. A fact that scares the hell out of me."
Something wasn't right. There was a dark aura surrounding Briant now. Something Daniel had felt before, when in the presence of the Archangel. He gulped and tried to shove that memory to the back of his head while Briant drew his next card.
"I pay 1500 life points to activate the equip spell Wild Retribution!" Briant said. "This card allows me to revive a beast-type monster and equip it with this card! Return, Night Whisperer! Rake!"
The Rake reappeared on Briant's field. But it wasn't the same as before. It was more feral, and destructive looking. Daniel took a step back. For the first time since this duel had started, Daniel was legitimately terrified.