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YGO CoP 2: A New Dawn


MewMew3

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Duel 15 - The Battle of New Orleans

 

 

The two duelists stared each other down, Akira overseen by the two Ghouls behind him, Maya flanked by Yukio by her side. Maya felt her heart pound in anticipation and fear, yet also excitement at the extreme challenge before her while she felt her head build up in pressure from her wrath.

 

She hated Akira and everything he stood for. Privately trained in Japan’s finest Duel Academy and usually dressed in immaculate attire, he was a prodigy bred for success. With his hair fashionably died and spiked with gel, he looked more like an anime character than a real person.

 

At fifteen years old, he was already crowned World Champion. He breezed past every tournament, yet never really fought in them. His financial backers merely saved him a seat in the final round where he beat the last champion. But this time Kaiba and Pegasus hosted a real tournament, something they didn’t do in ages. The CEOs of Honda and Mitsubishi let their little boy out into the real world, thinking he was a grown man who would fight through his competition.

 

Of course they were did wrong, as was plain for Maya to see. She relished the sight of his torn clothes, his dirtied hair and face, the fear in his eyes most of all. He tried to look tough under the pressure but barely his true feelings. Maya suspected he feared facing her in a fair fight far more than the threats of the Ghouls leering behind him. It was a comforting thought, and helped stem Maya’s own fears.

 

To stem her fears even more, she forced herself to concentrate only on the game ahead. The Ghouls didn’t exist. The bombs on their neck didn’t exist. Heishin didn’t exist. Egypt didn’t exist. Her trials and anxieties didn’t exist. Only her opponent and her plan to completely break and own him existed.

 

“You ready for your big day, little man?” She called out to him across the necropolis wasteland. “Try not to cheat this time.”

 

Akira tried to posture himself as some aloof, dignified, important person like anime characters in the Yugioh TV shows often do, but failed miserably. “To think I have to face a low-level duelist like you! You are not even worth a fair challenge! You lack the soul of a true duelist!”

 

Typical. Was he sniveling just now? Maya agitated in her eagerness to school this fool at his own game. “Aww, how cute. Junior wants to play with the grown ups. You think you’re tough? I smacked around opponents ten times worse than you long before your balls dropped. What makes you think you’re any different?”

 

Akira was just about to make a comeback, probably some weak generic comeback about being a “true duelist”, whatever that meant, but Lumis cut him off. “He has us behind him and no prey of ours makes it out alive. Got it?”

 

“Pipe down you pot-bellied, skin-headed gimp.” Yukio shot back from across the wasteland. “Maybe you should leave the dueling for those of us without Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.”   

 

Now it was Maya’s turn to throw her barbs. “HEY BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD! Maybe you should face us intead of abducting little boys to do that for you, unless you goons into that sort of thing!”

 

Lumis definitely had a short fuse because it blew up right now. He angrily waved his remote controlled switch like a red flag. “You think you’re cute, you cheeky jabroni? Watch me blow you to little bits right now, you JABRONI you!”

 

Umbra, the bigger, taller goon, grabbed Lumis’ short, stubby arms with his massive hands to restrain him. Lumis wriggled under his partner’s grasp, his short little legs comically kicking in the air, but he settled down.

 

Akira propped his Duel Disk of silver Academy design, ready for battle. “You will lose as the sad upstart you really are.”

 

“Upstarts win and for a reason.” Maya corrected him. “Here’s a reality check. You’re Edward Pakenham. I’m Andrew Jackson. We’re at the Battle of New Orleans. And this is Jackass.”

 

Akira: 8000  ||  Maya: 8000

 

AKIRA’S TURN: “ORE NA TURNO! DURAW!” Akira shouts as an anime character, oblivious to how silly he sounds. He stacked his deck before the duel exactly the way he wanted to. His victory was secure. “I activate Qliphort Scout and Qliphort Monolith as pendulums.” The two machine shell husks levitate above him far on either side, encased within two blue colums. “I pay 800 to search a Qliphort. Now, brace yourself for my ULTIMATO COMBO! I Pendulum Summon Qliphort Helix, Qliphort Disk, and Qliphort Carrier from my hand!” Three shells, each unique in size and shape, descend from the gateway that yawned between the two pendulums.

 

“And I tribute them all for Apoqliphort Towers.” The three shells fly back into the pendulum portal and a monstrous alien machine, with four turrets for legs, descends to the field. “With Towers’ effect you must discard a monster.” And Maya does so without complaint. I use Monolith’s effect to draw three cards, the number of monsters I tribute. TURNO ENDO!”

 

MAYA’S TURN: Maya can’t help but grunt in a very rude way. Akira played the exact same opening moves as in their last duel. He probably stacked his deck to get what he wanted. Maya wonders if he even stacked his deck in their last duel too… Back to the duel. “To quote your pint-sized Card Game Jesus, ‘Your monster may be powerful but it is not unbeatable.’” And she is right. Apoqliphort Towers is a formidable monster but it is mundane, a monster perfectly designed for its purpose and with little creative potential. Maya’s monsters on the other hand…

 

“Ready, little mans? I play Trade-In, tossing a Level 8 monster to draw 2. Since you have a monster and I have none, I summon Lizardon.” An ancient legendary dinosaur swoops from the skies, closer to a dragon than a dinosaur with its blazing breath, wings, and red hide. “I use its effect: discarding a Dinosaur to summon a Dinosaur from my deck, Quetzalcoatlus.” The majestic pterosaur takes to the skies with its fiery counterpart. “Next up, Inferno Reckless Summon!” Two more Quetzalcoatlus appear.

 

“I Xyz Summon Stella Pterra and Number 62: Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon!” Two Quetzalcoatlus fall into a portal in space in time, unveiling an even more extravagant pterosaur, while the remaining Quetzalcoatlus and Lizardon open the doorway for an alien dragon, as dark and yet sparkled with light as the starry night itself. “I use Stella Pterra’s effect, bouncing your pendulums back to the deck.” With her words two gusts of wind come from the pterosaur’s wings, sending Akira’s pendulums out of sight. Akira gazes up at the awe-inspiring sight, the avian beasts so big and Akira so small. He gulps.

 

“Brace yourself, kid! You’re about to get jabroni-slapped and pimp-slapped in one turn! Prime Photon Dragon, wipe out Apoqliphort Towers!” Maya detaches a Xyz Material as the dragon withdraws its long neck to prepare for the attack. The dragon draws forth its starry power from itself and its dinosaur neighbor, its ATK skyrocketing to 6700! “ATTACK!” Maya barks, and the interstellar dragon pierces the monstrous machine’s hull with its burst. The mighty Towers collapse on the ground, bursting into flame. (Akira LP 7200 à 3500) “You’re next! Stella Pterra, attack directly!” The pterosaur swoops just above Akira, blasting him with a sonic wave with its wings, pummeling him to the ground. (Akira LP 3500 à 700)

 

Finally, mercifully, Maya sets two cards.

 

AKIRA’S TURN: Trembling, Akira clamps his hands, nervous with sweat, around the bomb strapped to his neck. The small counter on it coldly mirrors the score on his duel disk. Only 700 Life Points! And on the first turn! His pride wounded, Akira takes his trembling hands and clenches them into fists. “I use a Tier 1 deck! – No, a tier 0 deck! – There’s no way am going to lose against an upstart who uses some dinosaur gimmick!”

 

“Keep telling yourself that.” Maya bores her eyes down on him with nothing but contempt.

 

“I’m dirty and grimy! I’m so scared for my life! I was kidnapped and forced to duel when I’m not ready! This duel is not fair

 

“You should have thought about that before bugging my duel disk last time.” Maya said, sympathetic as the desert for the dead around them, as if she and not the Ghouls made this duel happen.

 

Akira eyes the Ghouls behind him, somehow expecting compassion when there would be none. Lumis’ reciprocated by brandishing his remote. Akira trembles. No explanation is needed.

 

“I activate Qliphort Monolith and Qliphort Archive, and I Pendulum Summon again Qliphort Helix, Qliphort Disk, and Qliphort Carrier!” Akira’s old shell husk machines, the ones he sacrificed so eagerly last turn, return through the pendulum’s portal. I tribute Helix and Carrier to summon Qliphort Stealth!” Two of his machines vanish yet again, their place taken by a new shell machine that looks more like a space ship than anything else. “Helix, Carrier, and Stealth activate all at once!” Akira shouts as his Stealth fires three atomic beams from its husk, dematerializing Maya’s massive monsters and shattering one of her cards, much to her chagrin.

 

Akira feels his confidence rebuild. He is World Champion for a reason the usurper in front of him would never understand! Yet… she doesn’t look fazed. Why? Is he falling into a trap? He darts his eyes behind him in a quick glance. Lumis is ready to push the button as ever. Akira feels the sweat trickling down his face, seeping into the space between his neck and the bomb around it.

“This is it. Disk, strike Maya directly.” The shell husk that looks similar to an alien saucer hovers above its target, striking her with its bombs. (Maya LP 8000 à 5900) “Stealth, hit her directly.” His mighty flying ship locks on its target, charging its destructive rays, and unleashes them on its foe. The blast hits Maya head on, catapulting her to a wall of the necropolis. (Maya LP 5900 à 2800)

 

Yukio, startled at his friend’s injury, is about to jump to her side, but Lumis wags his finger and points to the bomb button, his cheeky grin creaking through the open side of his mask. Yukio resents the two Ghouls but and his inability to do anything far more, but he stays put.

 

Maya lays on her side on the sandy floor, but quickly crawls back to her feet, dusting the sand from her chest and knees. Akira sees the evil glint in her dark, narrow eyes. Nothing good can come from this. “You’re a great duelist, Akira.” Maya says, her voice soft and low, but far more dangerous. “You’re far greater than I thought you were. I used to think you were another mediocre champion, but no, you truly surprised me. A great duelist is truly generous to his opponents. You activated Inferno Tempest.”

 

Only at this moment does Akira realize the depth of his error, but is too late. The entire field explodes in a cataclysmic big bang, sweeping the Egyptian sands in a diabolical maelstrom. Akira watches in horror as every monster card in his deck and graveyard is vaporized in the flames. He watches Maya’s entire army burn away too, but she only grins back at him across the flames, her hateful, glaring dark eyes colored red by the fires. Before her appears two broken baby doll heads inhabited by monstrous worms. “You banished my two Necroface, so we both banish 10 cards.” Maya explains.

 

Akira trims his deck even further, but he isn’t ready to give up. “Don’t think this is over. No pro duelist plays Inferno Tempest for a reason. I set a card face down.” Akira ends his turn two ichthyosauri leap from the sands as dolphins leap from water.

 

MAYA’S TURN: “I summon two Fishstyx from my Banished Zone and use its effect to return two banished Dinosaurs to my hand, but I can’t draw this turn. I don’t need to. I play Extinction Record, banishing the two Quetzalcoatlus there and draw 3.” She shows her hand since her card told her to. Akira’s stomach drops instantly. It’s over.

 

“I overlay two Fishstyx to Xyz Summon Nanosaur Infinity.” Maya’s two water dinosaurs merge together into a wormhole to form a small, fiery orange raptor, carrying machine guns.

 

“Activate Lose 1 Turn.” Akira shouts. “You can’t use its effect.”

 

Maya grunts, slightly annoyed but nothing more. She sets three cards.

 

AKIRA’S TURN: “There has to be a way out of this situation!” He tells himself and his opponent at the same time. “I will find a way out! ORE NA TURNO! DURAW!”

 

“You idiot.” Maya says with disdain. “You have no idea how out of your depth you are against me. Activate Fairy Wind.” The magical wind graced with magical dust and plant seeds blows about the two duelists gracefully, but that is all it takes to destroy Akira’s pendulums and his trap. Then the gentle breeze turns into a sharp gust, cutting through both duelists with its magic dust and seeds.

 

The duel, however, is not done. Akira still has 1900 Life Points, but his Qliphort Disk is gone. “I activated Mystik Wok. I gain in Life Points the ATK of the monster I sacrificed.” Akira explains.  

 

“Big deal. I play Anti-Spell Fragrance next.” Maya flips her card face-up, and Akira cringes at the blow. It is a quiet blow, but it totally cripples him. If he has to set Spells before activating them, then all pendulum plays are moot.

 

“GAAH! DAMN IT!” He shouts through the desert air. Maya, Yukio, the Ghouls, all glance at him coldly, as distant as the stars. “I still have a chance! Qliphort Stealth, vaporize Nanosaur Infinity with your blast!” The machine airship incinerates the futuristic dinosaur effortlessly. Maya then adds a banished “Nanosaur” card to her hand. Akira sets a card face down. He can still set a trap.

 

Except Maya doesn’t even let him due that. “I activate Nanosaur Infinity.” She declares, banishing a card in her hand. The sandy field below her yawns, then explodes underneath her, and three Quetzalcoatlus fly from the dimensional rift.

 

MAYA’S TURN: “My turn! Draw!” Maya moves with the grace and force of a true champion. “I bring back my banished D.D. Ancient Firebird,” a fiery, winged dinosaur, an ancestor of modern birds, leaps into play. “But I can use this effect only once in a duel.

 

“Activate Re-qliate!” Akira counters. But he knows it won’t stop her.

 

Maya simply continues, ignoring the sprung trap. “I tune D.D. Ancient Firebird and one Quetzalcoatlus to Synchro Summon Star Eater, and overlay two Quetzalcoatlus to Xyz Summon Number 62: Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon again!” The Ancient Firebird breaks into green rings, Quetzalcoatlus turns into stars aligning with them, and the synchronized light show summons a massive space dragon in the act of consuming a small star. The other two Quetzalcoatlus crush into single lights, and open the interdimensional gateway allowing the interstellar Prime Photon Dragon to return.

 

Maya let her hatred for Akira and everything he stood for grow throughout the duel. Now, on the cusp of victory, she lets it go, letting the wildfire take its destructive course. She peels her lips back to bear her teeth, contorting her face into a horrible snarl a dragon would recognize as a smile.

 

She thrusts her fist in front of her as if she could knock Akira out cold. “Time to put an end to your sad Qliphorts! Star Eater, consume it!” The gargantuan dragon raps itself around Akira’s giant ship as a snake wraps around a mouse, crushing it, chewing it, obliterating it.” (Akira LP 1900 à 1500)

 

Akira’s loss was immanent, and with that loss it means he will die. Akira collapsed to the floor in weeping. “Please don’t! I don’t wanna’ die! I don’t wanna’ die! I don’t wanna’ die!” The boy’s reedy body shakes violently as his tears mix with the snot from his nose. He convulses, breathing too raggedly, taking in too much oxygen.   

 

“Too late, spoiled brat. You ridiculed me by cheating and joined the Ghouls. Now pay the ultimate price.”

 

Yukio leaps in front of her, grabbing her by the arms. “You can’t do this! If you beat him, he dies!”

 

Maya violently shoves him aside. She strikes her left arm in front of her, her hand contorting into a vicious claw.  “Prime Photon Dragon, kill –“

 

She froze right on the spot, stiff as a statue. She halted everything halfway, her body, her arm, her muscles, her speech, even her breathing. She felt the fire inside her give way to ice. Her reason told her exactly what she was about to do and the implications rang inside her head. All of a sudden, the summer desert felt very cold.   

 

Akira turned his head away from the sand and looked up at her, too shocked to even feel grateful at the moment.

 

Maya stared at her hand twisted into a claw. It was all she could do. It was the first time she realized how monstrous the hand looked. She let her hand fall. “I’m not a murderer.”

 

“WHAT!?” Lumis eagerly awaited the duel to end in a decisive victory so he would have the pleasure of exterminating the humiliated loser, but that sadistic glory was denied him. He was like a child who got no presents for Christmas.

 

“You serious?” Umbra said in disbelief, almost as baffled as Lumis was.

 

“Yes.” Maya spoke, her voice distant, little more than a whisper. She talked more to herself than two the two goons.

 

Yukio hugged Maya in gratitude and pride, and Maya hugged him back absent-mindedly. But it was too soon to celebrate. Lumis clenched the bomb remote so hard he was about to crush it. “You’ve got to be kidding! What kind of bullshit is this!? I want to see someone DIE!”  

 

“I’m not a murderer.” Maya said again, hard and certain. “I want to be a great force for change, both in the dueling and, more importantly, outside it. But I don’t want to be a destructive force.”

 

“You already are a destructive force!” Umbra violently shouted at her like a child throwing a tantrum. “You should watch yourself duel! You should see how you treat people around you! You should look into the anger, scorn, hatred, and sarcasm you show everyone around you! Make no mistake, Marina Bozovic! I know you are a thief and usurper at heart, I tell you! Everyone knows this!”

 

Umbra offered his own rebuke. “Don’t think you’re any better than us. You hate the law and society with as much malice as we do. You know as much as we do how hypocritical civilization is. We only live in crime and war. The ‘laws’ are whatever the local warlord chooses them to be, whether it’s Matthew, Heishin, or Kaiba. If you’re not the ruler and can’t use hypocrisy then you must use fraud to your advantage.”   

 

Yukio stepped in to refute his enemy. “You’re no Joe Peshi and you’re no philosopher, so pipe down, Frankenstein. People treat each other decently because they actually empathize with each other. It’s natural human behavior, no matter what laws or society we live in. It’s not humanity that’s the problem. It’s people like you.”

 

Lumis shook the remote in front of Maya in an abrupt spasm. “Let’s see your real moral worth, the both of you, when put to the test! If Harlem Renaissance over here doesn’t smite Akira like the little jabroni he is in thirty seconds, I send you all to Hell! Got it!? 30… 29… 28… 27…”

 

Maya couldn’t do it. She couldn’t kill him. But what she ready to accept death? She thought about how mother died. Now was she ready to join her? Apparently, she was. She wasn’t scared of death but she didn’t expect it all to end like this.

 

18… 17… 16… 15… 14…”

 

But letting herself die didn’t help anyone. Everyone would die. Not just Akira, but Yukio too. She couldn’t let that happen! The instinct to survive, the fundamental terror of death all living creatures have seized her completely, driving out all contemplation. “I have to kill Akira!”

 

“What do you mean?” Yukio grabbed her again. “You’ll become a murderer!”

 

10… 9… 8…

 

“If Akira doesn’t die, then you will! I can’t live with that!” Maya almost cries herself.

 

4… 3… 2… 1…

 

“I’LL DO IT!” Maya roared. “PRIME PHOTON DRAGON, ATTACK!!!” Maya channeled all her energy into her dragon. As the beast readied itself to deliver the onslaught Maya wished there was some way to spare Akira’s life. If only there was a way to somehow disable Akira’s device! She poured all her energy into the dragon as if she could somehow make it happen by willing it.

 

“Dragon, fire at Akira’s neck bomb only!” Maya commanded as her dragon fired its destructive burst stream. She felt so powerful, as if enlarged into something bigger than her own body, but felt so drained too, as if she was literally giving the dragon her energy.

 

The atomically powerful blast hit Akira on the mark somewhere above his chest and below his neck. Akira jettisoned ten feet across. As he hit the ground his neck bomb burst into pieces. Unbelievable! It actually worked! It actually worked!

 

Umbra and Lumis looked on, stupefied, their mouths hanging. Lumis didn’t even bother to try to push the button. He tried to smash it with his fist. It was all over. – Suddenly, a man darted from nowhere. He kicked Lumis in the face. The short Ghoul dropped the remote, howling and cursing in pain. Umbra tried to help his partner but he was as slow as he was big and tall. The man threw a small knife, hitting Umbra in the abdomen. He staggered, trying to get the knife off him with his big, clumsy hands but couldn’t. He would’ve fallen to the ground had Lumis not darted to his side and pulled out the knife from him. Recognizing defeat, the two Ghouls fled.

 

The mysterious man, completely unknown to our protagonists, took the remote and, after examining it for a while, pushed a smaller button on the side. The bombs came clean off our protagonists’ necks. Both of them clasped their throats, now scraped and red from the harsh braces they had to endure. The man wore nothing more than plain white tunic, white pants underneath, a white hat on his head, and a white shawl hiding his face. Our protagonists tried to get a closer look at him to figure who he was, but he was gone, vanishing as quickly as he came.

 

Maya and Yukio picked up the wearied and wounded Akira, each holstering one shoulder. Akira offered Maya his Millennium Item Card. “Take it. You beat me fair and square, as a true duelist.”

 

Maya declined the offer. “You had enough trouble for one day.” Maya wanted to also say, “You aren’t a worthy opponent. There is no reward in beating you.” But for once in her life she held her fast and sharp tongue.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Duel 16 – Old Enemies, New Tactics

 

 

Maya and Yukio hastened their way back to the city of Assiut as much as they could with Akira, who could barely walk on their own. When Maya dueled Akira their blood boiled so hot from the challenge of fighting such a strong duelist and from the life-or-death pressure of the game they forgot all about Sophia. They knew only one thing could have happened to her and they feared for the worst.

 

The entire marketplace broiled in chaos. The duelists ran in all possible directions in a delirious panic, fleeing from the bloodthirsty hunters who stalked them. The Ghouls destroyed everything in their path to catch their prey, smashing every shop they saw, looting it for any trinkets they could get their hands on. Sometimes the Ghouls humored their prey with a duel, playing with their food before they ate it, as was their habit. Many a duelist hoped in vain the Ghouls would leave them alone if they beat them in a duel, but it was a false hope the Ghouls gave them just to hurt them even more. Sometimes the Ghouls didn’t even bother with a card battle. They beat their prey and ransacked them of everything but the clothes on their back without any formalities.

 

Some duelists fought back, like Mathias, Maximus, and Ivy, somehow repelling their attackers. Maya saw that, somehow, their holographic monsters made a huge dent on the Ghouls, as if they were more than holograms. If the Ghouls tried to manhandle them, the trio quickly put them down. She barely noticed any of this through the forest of duel monsters, running people, and burning shops, but she noticed it nonetheless.

 

Yukio pointed at the trio for he saw what Maya saw, and they hurried to them as fast as they could with Akira hobbling with them. They never reached their friends. The trio disappeared deeper into the chaos, everyone swept around in a whirling circle of death as dry autumn leaves. Instead, a regiment of Ghouls closed in on them, their cloaks as black as night. Their leader immediately tore off her entire cloak. Alexis Burkeheart, Matthew’s companion, had a deathly pallor. Her black hair, once sleek and short, was long and disheveled and she replaced her white Academy skirt with a dirty black dress.  

 

Alexis pointed at Maya and Yukio, her eyes glimmering with a violent expression. “You humiliated Matthew in front of the whole world and ruined his life. I’ll kill you in a duel and bring you to Matthew. Our mission will finally be done.”

 

“How about we wager our fates. You know, duel the old fashioned way?” Maya offered. “If you win, you can take us to Matthew to depose us how he wishes. If we win, you only have to tell us where Sophia is. You’re this thing called a ‘true duelist’ Matthew babbles about, aren’t you?”

 

“Let me take care of this. It’s my turn.” Yukio said to Maya. He stepped up to the plate, showing his duel disk to Alexis as an unsheathed sword. “Tell us who you work for! Matthew isn’t bad enough to cause this much misery by himself!”

 

“Over my dead body.” Came Alexis’ reply. “Once I defeat you, we will both finally have peace.”

 

“I accept your challenge but with our wagers. Agreed?”

 

Alexis nodded and said, ““I keep my word.”

 

Yukio: 8000 || Alexis: 8000

 

YUKIO’S TURN: “I summon Thunder King Rai-Oh!” Yukio declares, and a sentient electromagnetic machine levitates in front of him. “I set a card facedown. Go.” Time is already running out for Sophia. The duel must end as soon as possible.

 

ALEXIS’ TURN: “You think a cheap, antimeta track will stop me? I activate Nekroz Cycle, sacrificing Great Sorcerer of Nekroz to summon Nekroz of Unicore.” A magical, golden thread loops into a circle and a wizened wizard passes through it in death. Then a young man appears, with blue armor that looks like it has pieces of a deceased unicorn’s body. “Nekroz is one of the best decks out there, a tier one – no, a tier zero! – deck. It can’t lose to something as low as Heroic Challengers.”

 

Yukio thrusts his hands over his head, and challenges, “Then come and get me! Put me in my place the way Matthew puts you in your place every night, if you know what I mean, though I can tell he probably doesn’t give you enough action now. You went from model to anorexic since we last saw you.”

 

 “Talk to my tier one deck! Unicore, slay Rai-Oh!” The necromancer-warrior leaps at the electric android.

 

Forbidden Lance!” Yukio quickly retorts. “Unicore loses 800 ATK.”

 

“No, it won’t.” Alexis counters. “I discard Nekroz of Decisive Armor, giving Unicore a 1000 ATK boost!” A long, finely crafted lance springs from nowhere and spears Unicore in the gut, but even that doesn’t stop him. He wrecks Rai-Oh with its blade, making it explode in its face. (Yukio LP 8000 à 7400)

 

“I activate Cycle, banishing Sorceror and itself to add another Cycle. This activates Great Sorcerer of Nekroz, so I mill Clausolas. Now I activate Nekroz of Brionac from my hand. I discard it and add Valkyrus. And I set a card face down.”

 

YUKIO’S TURN: Yukio is left to ponder his next move. Alexis is a smart, methodical duelist, he thinks to himself. She plays meta, but she does it smart. Then again, you can’t play dumb with Nekroz. “Her only problem is she showed me her hand. She’s scared I’ll screw up her hand more with more antimeta plays next turn, but she made a mistake!” Yukio realizes. “She is predictable. She plans to summon Nekroz of Trishula next turn! I have a combo, but I need to play smart and stop my monster from getting banished.”

 

“Here goes!” Yukio announces aloud. “I have no monsters, so I Special Summon Heroic Challenger – Assault Halberd and summon Satellarknight Deneb.” Two warriors, one with dark, heavy armor, the other glowing in golden, celestial armor appear together. Alexis looks surprised at the sight of the celestial warrior, and Yukio answers her, “I always try something new. I activate Deneb, adding Altair to my hand. I overlay Halberd and Deneb to Xyz Summon Number 85: Crazy Box.” The warriors collapse and fuse in a worm hole, giving rise to what looks like a massive floating Rubik’s cube.

 

“Now for the fun part, I detach Halberd to use its effect.” The cube twists and turns chaotically, leaving everything to chance. “What happens depends on the number it shows.” Yukio looks calm but is tense inside. His monster could either take out Alexis’ monster or blow up his entire field. It was called Crazy Box for a reason. Suddenly, the cube stops twisting, showing the number “3” on its gridded surface. Yukio leaps for joy as an arrow released from its bow. “AAAHH YEEEAAAHHH! SUCK ON IT! DISCARD A CARD RIGHT NOW!” Alexis reluctantly does so.

 

“Crazy Box, destroy Unicore!” The cube slams into the sorcerer hard enough to crack its armor and its skull. (Alexis LP 8000 à 7300) “I set a card face down. Your move.”

 

ALEXIS’ TURN: “Draw! Nekroz Mirror, activate!” A gateway forms from mist behind Alexis, with a surface transparent enough Yukio can see himself perfectly from a few meters away. Is it a mirror of glass or of water? “I banish Clausolas and Brionac to summon Nekroz of Trishula!” Two sorcerer-warriors in ocean blue armor form in the reflection, and disintegrate into the mist.

 

“I activate Imperial Iron Wall!” Yukio tries to halt her, but with no effect.

 

“Counter with Royal Decree! It negates all traps, so you can’t stop me from banishing my monsters!” And Alexis’ ritual proceeds as according to plan. The dissolved Nekroz reform into a new, far more powerful knight, who then steps out of the mirror into reality.

 

Suddenly, a large holographic card with an image of small, crawling insects inflates in front Alexis’ view. “I discarded Maxx “C” while you weren’t paying attention.” Yukio says. “I draw a card.”

 

Alexis sweeps the information aside; a small annoyance. “I use Trishula to banish Crazy Box on the field, Halberg in your Graveyard, and one card in your hand.”

 

 

The new monster strikes its blade in the air. Crazy Box evaporates into mist and the ghost of Halberd is exorcized. Yukio holds two cards up. “Choose carefully.”

 

Yukio’s move gives Alexis pause. Most duelists cower in front of Trishula, afraid even to let a card randomly get banished, but Yukio strikes her options right in front of her! Alexis feels cold tears of sweat roll down her neck. Is she nauseated from malnourishment or does her decision bear that much weight? How can it? She wins ninety-nine of one hundred duels with Nekroz! Yukio is such an inferior duelist to her! Then she recalls how Maya one turn killed her four years ago. Her deck back then was one of the most elite out there, with Elemental Hero Stratos as its focus, but she lost in one turn.

 

Yukio glares at her, eyes piercing, unwavering. “Choose!”

 

Alexis shakes away her doubts as a bad headache. “The right one.” Yukio banishes the card Instant Fusion. “Back to the duel. I banish Mirror and Unicore from my Graveyard to put Nekroz Kaleidoscope, and I activate it.” A spectrum of mirrors forms behind her, sliding in and out of each other. The white and ethereal Stardust Dragon reflects in the mirrors before the mirrors quickly slide away from one another. “I summon Nekroz of Valkyrus!” A knight in even more extravagant and intimidating armor than Trishula appears by her side.

 

“Monsters, direct attack! Put Yukio in his place!” At her command, both of her knights leap at Yukio and struck him down with their blades. Yukio wobbles on knees but stays on his feet. (Yukio LP 7400 à 1800)

 

“Seriously, how do holograms do that?” Yukio moans. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

 

“Maybe shadow games are real or maybe they put drugs in our water to make us hallucinate it all so we can spend more money on card games. Beats me.” Maya replies simply and honestly.

 

“Conspiracy theory much?”

 

“I want to believe.”

 

YUKIO’S TURN: “Finally, my turn.” His plan worked! Now he has all the puzzle pieces in place for a decisive victory. “I activate Reinforcement of the Army to fetch another Heroic Challenger Assault Halberd and Special Summon it.” Another copy of his dark-armored warrior takes the field, wielding its burly axe. “And I summon Satellarknight Altair, which lets me summon Daneb from the grave.” Another celestial soldier descends from the heavens, accompanied by its companion. “Then I activate Inferno Reckless Summon!” And two more Daneb spawn.

 

“Go, monsters! I overlay all you to Xyz Summon Number 86: Heroic Champion – Rhongomyniad!” Yukio’s entire army vanishes into five twinkling stars, opening a gateway to the cosmos, heralding the arrival of a colossal hero with shining platinum heralds. “I have five Xyz Materials, so Rhongomyniad kills your whole army!” The grand hero gestures with his hand and in a blaze of fire all of Alexis’ monsters evaporate as sea foam at the shore. “Rhongomyniad, attack Alexis directly!” His monster strikes Alexis down to the market place pavement. (Alexis LP 7300 à 4300)

 

Alexis’ servile Ghouls, who stood by and watched the duel the entire time, swiftly rush to help their master without a second thought. Alexis, with the help of her squad, returns to her feet, only to realize the duel is done. “I should have banished the other card.” She sighs ruefully. “I made the wrong choice.”

 

“You didn’t.” Yukio corrected her. “Instant Fusion or Reinforcement, I would’ve turned the game around.”

 

ALEXIS’ TURN: She draws her last card, another Trishula. Rhongomyniad stops her from playing anything. There is nothing she can do.

 

YUKIO’S TURN: “I summon Heroic Challenger Thousand Blades.” A bronze fighter carrying innumerable swords joins the fight. “Thousand Blades, Rhongomyniad, attack for game!” His two soldiers strike Alexis down, this time once and for all.

 

Yukio: 1800 || Alexis: 0

 

The Ghouls returned their leader to her feet again. Alexis’ eyes were dull and glazed, and she barely could stand on her feet. “Good game, Yukio. Not bad for a rogue duelist.”

 

“You too.” Yukio acknowledged his opponent in mutual respect, but an impatient Maya cut their moment short.

 

“Where’s Sophia?” She demanded. She spoke with a fearful urgency Yukio never heard before.

 

Alexis obliged her enemy’s demands, “She was taken by our second in command. He’s probably dueling her right now just to torture her and give her a false sense of hope. It doesn’t matter if she wins or not. He’ll probably just beat her up or worse.” Alexis trembled at the knees and fell down one final time.

 

“What the hell do you mean?” Maya shouted, her voice even harsher than before. “Don’t you dare be cryptic with me or I’ll do even worse to you!”

 

“Tell us who Matthew works for! Is it Heishin? Somebody else?” Yukio yelled even louder than Maya, but it was too late for the both of them. Alexis was out cold.

 

Surprisingly, the Ghouls kept their leader’s word and left, and as they did so Mathias, Maximus, and Ivy ran in, calling Maya’s and Yukio’s names, thanking their god they were all right. Maximus curtly explained their situation for brevity’s sake, “About thirty Ghouls surrounded us but we wiped them all out. Stella and her friends held their own.”

 

Yukio and Maya sighed in relief. Yukio sighed in relief, but Maya said, “Sophia is missing! We need to find her fast!”

 

Mathias and his company nodded grimly. Maximus knew exactly what to do. He slapped his Millennium Puzzle Card on his duel disk and requested the materialized Millennium Item, “Locate the duelist Sophia Petrova.” But the Puzzle shook, it’s frame distorted by glitches, and blue-lined code manifested in front of it. “The location of her duel disk was shut off, possibly encrypted.” Maximus sighed. “What now?”

 

Maya remembered how she deduced Akira’s whereabouts. She saw all duelists whose rosters weren’t corrupted by Ghouls. “We could use a Millennium Tauk Card to see all the encrypted codes, but,” her voice dropped, “not trace them.”

 

Maximus suddenly got an idea. “I know how. You still have a Millennium Rod Card?” Maya produced it. Maximus slapped it on the duel disk, the Millennium Item appeared. He requested all encrypted codes, and the holographic Rod obeyed, projecting from its eye every encrypted code. He recognized a code similar to the one the Puzzle displayed before it crashed. He pointed to it. “Trace the encryption to its source.” The Rod obeyed and produced a set of coordinates.

 

Yukio reached for his iPhone and entered them on Google Maps, which pointed to the nearest Nile cataract. “It looks like it’s at a cliff face. Maybe it’s a bunker.”

 

Upon hearing this news everyone knew exactly what to do. Everyone ran to Maximus’ car as fast as they could to rescue Sophia in time.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Duel 17 - An Old Ghost

 

 

TRIGGER WARNING: EXTREME PROFANITY AND SEXUAL ASSAULT

 

Sophia squirmed on a chair in a dark chamber, her ankles and arms bound together by rope so tight they burned red. She felt the tight rope rub her blisters and tried moan her feelings of pain but couldn’t for she was gagged at the mouth. She saw nothing but absolute blackness everywhere but could smell the oxidated stench of rust. With this information, she guessed she was in one of the Ghouls’ hideouts, maybe an old bunker.

 

Someone threw a switch, turning the total darkness into a blaze of white light in less than a second. The absolute light burned Sophia’s eyes so even when she clamped them shut she could see it on the back of her eyelids. “Rise and shine, sweetheart.” She heard a mocking voice say, and she opened her eyes a bit to see the dark shape of a Ghoul.

 

The Ghoul gestured to his partners in crime and so another Ghoul stepped into the room, and another, until the entire gang was present. One of the Ghouls, bigger than the others and their leader, gestured with his large hand. His cronies swiftly backed off from Sophia. Then the leader approached her, leaning towards her.

 

His mask was of a deathly pallid skull full of cracks, tears of blood dripping from the eye sockets. Sophia once saw a display of masks crafted by American soldiers after war, and the leader Ghoul’s mask was just as haunting. It spoke to her of death and the surviving, tortured, vengeful spirit that still existed after the person was killed. The Ghoul was terrifying, even among Ghouls.

 

“Who do you think I am?” The Ghoul’s voice was mechanically distorted and deep, like the voice of most Ghouls who wore a mask, but Sophia could still hear the malice behind them.

 

Sophia’s heart raced, her palms moist with cold sweat, her body chilled to the bone. All she could do was shake her head. “I have no idea who you are. How can I know?”

 

The Ghoul growled and tore off his mask. “How about now?” He was a middle-aged man with disordered blond hair and rough stubble on his face that could never grow to a full beard. His cheeks were gaunt and his small, watery blue eyes glinted with restless greed, hate, and a haunted expression. He looked like a starved hyena.

 

“Bandit Keith!” Sophia gasped.

“That’s right, the great Bandit Keith! I am the American champion and if wasn’t for that kiddie fiddler baka Pegasus I would still be a household name!”

 

“Was the American champion.” Sophia impulsively corrected him in spite of her fear. It was only after she said those words she realized she made a terrible mistake, and her fear doubled.

 

Keith snarled as an angry dog and smacked Sophia in the face, almost sending her to the floor. “What did you say to me!? What did you say to me!? I funking dare to say that to me again, you little jabroni! Pegasus taught you how to be sassy in one his Neverland orphanages, huh!” He drew his knife and pressed it against her throat, threatening to let his blade slide at any moment. “Talk back to me again and I’ll slit your throat and throw you in the dessert! You understand me!?”

 

Sophia slowly and silently nodded. Her eyes watered, barely holding back her tears. Keith caressed Sophia’s chin, then her hair, pulling her braid with one hand while gently squeezed her breast with another. He muttered lustfully to himself, “Never knew Pegasus adopted such hot girls. Thought he was a total jabroni like Michael Jackson. Wonder if you’re legal. Uncle Merv always said, ‘Better safe than statutory.’ But why do I care?”

 

He slipped his hand in between Sophia’s thighs. “What a sexy Russian pussy. Gotta’ lose that braid. You’d look so hot in a metallic animal print dress. I’m gonna’ funk your pussy so hard I’ll turn it into a bloody gaping hole.” Sophia’s skin crawled. She never felt so awful in her entire life.  

 

A handheld transceiver on Keith’s waist interrupted his fantasies. He answered it with a groan. He listened in briefly before his temper flared like a rocket again. He screamed, “funk you! I’m not taking her to you! I serve no one, you funking brat! I’m only here to get back at that baka Pegasus for what he did to me and I’ll do it by smacking down this jabroni!” He threw the transceiver at the wall, shattering it.

 

He cut Sophia’s bonds with his knife and threw her on the floor. “Get her duel disk. I’m gonna’ humiliate her and Pegasus in every way possible.” He barked at his stooges, who obeyed without hesitation.

 

When Sophia stood up, trembling, to meet her opponent, Keith said,
“I heard Pegasus only adopted MENSA kids. Let’s see what skills he taught you, little smartass.”

 

Bandit Keith: 8000 || Sophia: 8000

 

KEITH’S TURN: “I summon Cyber Dragon Core, and use its effect to search for Cyber Repair Plant. I activate Machine Duplication to summon two Cyber Dragons!” A small, wiry snake appears, and two metal white armless dragons accompany it. “I use Galaxy Soldier’s effect to summon itself from my hand, and I use it’s other effect to search another one.” The next monster looks like an astronaut in some kind of battle armor. “I activate Instant Fusion to summon Panzer Dragon from my Extra Deck.” And a tank with what looked like a Cyber Dragon head’s rolls into play. (Keith LP 8000 à 7000),

 

Keith grins sinisterly. “Time for the real kicker! Woohoo! I Xyz Summon two Cyber Dragon Nova!” All of Keith’s Level 5 monsters collapse and collide into each other, forming two black, winged cyborg snakes. “And I Xyz Summon two Cyber Dragon Infinity!” The two Dragon Novas modify their appearance, evolving into even more formidable machines. “Let’s see you get past this!”

 

SOPHIA’S TURN: “Oh, God no.” Sophia’s kneels trembled and she fell on the floor. Cyber Dragon Infinity could negate any effect she threw at her opponent. What could she do with two on the field? She thought of Maya and of Yukio, and nearly cries for the third time. “I’m sorry I failed you.”

 

One of the Ghouls looks at Keith, thinking perhaps Sophia gave up. Keith claps his hands together. “Games over! Time for my blow job!”  

 

Sophia rockets back to her feet. Not even her overwhelming fear and feelings of failure match her disgust and hatred. “Baby steps. Baby steps.” Sophia whispers to herself, breathing slowly. She fearfully, instinctively reins her anger as someone who fears losing control by letting it go. She looks at her hand carefully, calculating her solution, checking it twice to make sure it works. Killing two Cyber Dragon Infinity’s was possible.

 

“I Special Summon Fortune Lady Pendulum Nova and tribute her for Fortune Lady Dark.” A perky fortune lady with a tight, bubblegum pink outfit appears, then disappears, replaced by a dour counterpart. “Lady Dark, destroy Cyber Dragon Core!” The dark seer blasted the small metal serpent with lightning from her staff. Its machinery malfunctioned and it explodes in Keith’s face. (Keith LP 7000 à 5400)

 

“I set three cards facedown.”

 

KEITH’S TURN: “Think you’re pretty damn smart, don’t you? Face it, kid.” He chuckles. “One Infinity is bad, two are impossible to get over, but three…”

 

“Three?” Sophia can’t believe it.

 

“Well, you’re more screwed than a porn star, sweetie. I activate Cyber Repair Plant, adding Cyber Dragon to my hand, and I discard it to summon Galaxy Soldier.” The second astronaut appeared. “I add a third Galaxy Soldier, but you won’t see him. I summon Cyber Dragon Drei instead.” A lean and long metal serpent materializes. “I use it’s effect to make its Level to 5, and I Xyz Summon Cyber Dragon Nova and Cyber Dragon Infinity!” The galactic soldier and metal serpent open the space-time portal to the baryon world, letting a black metal snake with wings emerge. Then it too collapses, and a larger metal serpent follows through the portal.   

 

“Prepare to be blasted the funk out of existence! I use Infinity’s effect. Absorb Fortune Lady Dark!” The metallic serpent draws metal wire tendrils from its body and laces them to surround the fortune lady.

 

“This is it!” Sophia says to herself. To Keith she says, “I activate Fortune Wave! I banish a monster in my hand. Now all non-Fortune Lady monsters on the field have their effects negated this turn

 

Keith bursts out in a course and garrulous laugh. A token resistance is to be expected of course, but this is just pathetic! “Whatever! I detach a Xyz Material, activate my Infinity’s effect to negate your trap.” One of the serpent’s orbs disappears and the snake prepares itself for the task at hand.

 

“I counter with Solemn Strike!” Sophia declares. “I negate and destroy your Infinity!” (Sophia LP 8000 à 6500) Her card flips face up and an old sage with flowing robes and a long beard steps forward, ready to rain down divine judgment on its target.

 

“Don’t get cocky, little brat! I use Infinity’s effect to negate it!” Keith shouts, but his Infinity acted two late. The old Moses reins God’s judgment on the cyborg beast and it blasts into pieces. Keith is about to swear at Sophia but then remembers: Solemn Strike is a Counter Trap. Only another Counter Trap can negate it. And he realizes that Sophia’s Fortune Wave is now acting on his other dragons. Their steely hides look cracked and eroded and he realizes he can’t use their effects.

 

He shrugs it off. “Whatever. You can play as many pussy plays as you want little girl but in the end of the day I’ll drill you so hard you’ll have the greatest pain you’ve ever faced in your life! Infinity, beat down her Fortune Lady Dark!” His monster blazes a red stream of plasma at its target.

 

“I counter with Mirror Force!” Sophia flips her trap. Infinity’s red plasma bounces off her fortune lady, frying Keith’s remaining two monsters.

 

“You’ve gotta’ be funking kidding me!” Keith cries with utter incredulity.

 

Sophia gives a profound sigh of relief. Keith’s field is wide open and she has some field advantage.

 

SOPHIA’S TURN: “My turn.” With Sophia’s words, her monster gains a Level and 400 ATK. “Lady Dark, attack Keith directly!” And her dark seer strikes Keith squarely on the torso with her lightning. Keith shouts in pain, “Don’t think you’re getting away with this!” (Keith LP 5400 à 3000)

 

“I set a card facedown. My turn’s over.” Sophia concludes.

 

KEITH’S TURN: “You actually beat three Cyber Dragon Infinities at one turn. That’s cute.” Even Keith has to admit it is an impressive feat, but he doesn’t. He draws. “But there’s no way in Hell a brat like you can beat the likes of me. I activate Overload Fusion!” A vortex of smoke and lightning explodes behind Keith, enveloping him in aura of power, much to Sophia’s horror. She doesn’t gasp or even open her mouth, but Keith can see the fear in her eyes and enjoys every second he does so. Nevertheless, Sophia’s jaw is clutched hard in steely determination, as if trying to master her fear. Keith shrugs it off. What can she possibly do?

 

“I banish 14 – that’s right, you heard me! – 14 machines from my Graveyard! That means all my Cyber Dragons, all my Novas, all my Infities, and my Galaxy Soldiers! I summon Chimeratech Overdragon!” He triumphantly slams his card down on his duel disk.  The king of beasts among the Cyber Dragons forms in the electrical explosion behind Keith, a writhing mass of cyborg serpents, a hydra with fourteen heads. “This baby’s got 112,000 ATK! You’re as good as dead!” Keith bellows with arrogance.

 

“Maybe.” Sophia admits to her opponent. “But it’s still a monster. A million ATK doesn’t mean anything if I can kill it with a card effect. I activate Dark Renewal! I send my Fortune Lady Dark and your Overdragon to the Graveyard to summon a DARK spellcaster from my Deck!”

 

“WHAT!?” Keith shouts in complete horror. An austere coffin crowned with a pentagram symbol rises from the earth. It opens, the casket bare and empty, but lures both Fortune Lady and Overdragon with its dark magic. The Fortune Lady reclines gracefully into death while the Overdragon shrieks, torn to pieces, its shards sucked into the casket. The coffin shuts tight, it’s pentagram glows a hellish red, then opens again. A new Fortune Lady rises, darker in appearance with its long, black robes, and greater in power: Fortune Lady Umbra.

 

SOPHIA’S TURN: Sophia draws while Keith is too shocked to reply. Keith was wide open, meaning Sophia is one step closer to beating him. Her hope brightens. The light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer! She can definitely do this!

 

…until, she realizes Bandit Keith is not a man of his word. Not just Keith, but all the other Ghouls surrounding her. Her heard sinks and she imagines all the horrible things Keith will do to her even if she wins. She trembles, first in fear, then in anger, anger at the wickedness and injustice of it all. She instinctively tries to shut it down in fear but can’t. The anger feels to her as if it is seeping out of her as a fiery aura, and it seeps into her monster as if it is borrowing her power, or as if she is giving her power to her monster. She can’t tell.

 

“You damn, filthy scum!” Sophia screams, losing all restraint. “It’s time I violated you! Lady Umbra, kill the Ghouls!” Her monster rose to the air and struck her staff to the ceiling. Lightning bursts everywhere in a thunderous roar. The bolts strike through the heart of every Ghoul in the room. All of them shriek in surprise, pain, and terror before falling to the ground, lying still. Except one. Keith teeters on his feet, clutching his hand over in chest in agony, but he still stands. (Keith LP 3000 à 600)

 

KEITH’S TURN: “You brat. You little jabroni.” Keith groans. “When this duel is over, I’ll beat you, rape you, and sell you in Thailand for the cheap little whore that you are. You’ll forever suck dick for cash with nowhere to run and no future ahead of you. Just you wait.” He tries to choke back his nausea but can’t any longer. He vomits on the ground while standing up, splattering his black cloak with sick.

 

He looks at Sophia and realizes he faces quite a challenge. He has an empty field and his small hand can’t do anything for him. But he always has a trick up his sleeve. “I’m Bandit Keith for a reason.” He snickers to himself, his nausea turning into glee.  Hidden in his sleeve is a small machine strapped to his wrist, holding a few stashed away cards. If he ever is in a tight spot, he can make the machine give him whatever cards he needs.

 

Under Keith’s command, the machine puts five cards on the palm of Keith’s right hand. Keith subtly stacks the five cards on top of his deck so Sophia doesn’t notice. “All right. Everything’s stacked perfect.” Keith says to himself.

 

He draws and says to Sophia. “Look what I got! I activate Psychic Sanctity! I discard my entire hand and guess the next five cards I’m gonna’ draw. If I guess right, they go in my hand. If I guess wrong, I lose all my cards and lose 1000 Life Points for each one. Quite a gamble, isn’t it? But you know as they say, ‘Fortune favors the bold.’ Here I go! I guess Barrel Dragon? Nice! Blowback Dragon? Yoohoo! Polymerization? Fantastic! Megamorph? Perfect! Limiter Removal? I got it!”

 

“There’s no way you can guess all those cards right.” Sophia says. “You have to be cheating, you coward.”

 

“Don’t get salty on me just ‘cause I’m a pro.” Keith nonchalantly brushes her comments aside. “Time to meet you’re doom! Polymerization! I fuse Barrel and Blowback Dragon to summon Gatling Dragon!” A machine brute with three Gallic guns screwed on its body for heads appears. “And I use its effect. Russian Roulette!” All three barrels rotate, then stop with a click, all on a full chamber. The machine dragon fires all three of its barrels, riddling Sophia’s Lady Umbra with holes.

 

“I activate Megamorph, doubling its ATK!” Gatling Dragon grew twice its size. “And activate Limiter Removal, doubling its ATK again!” The dragon fires its power to maximum, overheating its circuits. “Let’s go! Blowback Dragon, smack Sophia directly! End this game!” The dragon fires all three of its revolvers at Sophia, smashing her to the bunker wall behind her. She collapses to the ground in defeat.    

 

Bandit Keith: 600 || Sophia: 0

 

Bandit Keith basked in his victory before looking at all the fallen Ghouls around him. Even he had to say something, so he said, “You took out all of my stooges, you nasty little viper. Oh well, the duel’s done. Time to make a slashfic.” He knelt down on Sophia, caressing and squeezing many places of her body.

 

Sophia was so revolted she wanted to cry and throw up at the same time. She felt his hard hands, looked at his deranged eyes, and smelled his breath, which reeked of decay and alcohol. “Get off of me, you creep.” She squirmed, trying to get him off her, but in vain. She struck out in desperation, painfully contorting her leg, striking at Keith’s groin three times.

 

Keith groaned in pain and let go of her. He slumped to the floor, and Sophia saw her chance. She ran out the dark bunker and into the blinding light and heat of the Egyptian desert. She didn’t get very far. Keith tripped her, and she fell face-first on the scorching sand. Keith fell on her and grabbed her feet as if trying to pull her back into the bunker only a few meters away.

 

“Let me go! Let me go!” Sophia cried, sticking him in the face with her foot. Keith shrieked again and she ran as fast as she could, not caring where she went, only to get away from him. Keith clasped his bleeding forehead, angrily cursing at her the most obscene invectives he could think of, but did not follow her. He was too weak.

 

Sophia saw a car in the distance and, seeing Maya, Yukio, and Mathias in the car, hollered at them. The crew got out of the car. Sophia ran to Maya and buried her head in her chest, violently sobbing. Maya and Yukio sank to the ground with her, hugging her tightly, telling her everything was all right. The nightmare was over. She was safe.

 

Sophia told Maya and Yukio everything that happened to her, her bitter story broken by her tears. Mathias could only look at Maximus and Ivy and shake his head in pity. He put his hands on Sophia’s shoulder. “Mark my words. If I ever find Bandit Keith I’ll make him play the worst game of his life.”

 

“Don’t even bother dueling him.” Maya said, barely containing the burning hatred inside her. “I would shoot the pig right between the eyes, or make him so scared of me he’ll shoot himself first.”

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  • 2 weeks later...

Duel 18 - Future Plans

 

 

DAY 4 : 1:12 PM : LUXOR

 

The events of yesterday were too grueling for any one person to bear. Maya, Yukio, and Sophia were exhausted the next day. They could barely sleep from the all the stress last night, their bones ached, and tolerance for stress thin. But they had to keep moving on. Maya’s fatigue brought back her college memories, where she lived alone in a small apartment, fighting in a duel stadium to pay tuition, her every day in class earned in a victory… and getting a Political Studies degree to make a career on top of that… and trying to work on her dramatic arts on top of that…   

 

Time marched on relentlessly anyway, uncaring. Our protagonists had to keep up despite their aches and pains. It was mandatory. Maximus called every team that survived the Ghouls’ attacks and was still in the tournament to meet in the town square of the village workshop. Beyond the workshop lay a field of sand littered with small, sharp rocks and pottery fragments, and beyond the sand lay the tall, jagged hills of the Valley of the Kings, austere and intimidating. They sky was a perfect blue with no clouds or other blemishes, magnifying to yellow shine of the sand the might of the hills.

 

Our protagonists saw those wondrous scenes and vowed to see them more, but needed to move on. They huddled just inside a hovel over their laptop, deep into conversation.                                                        

 

June 3, 2009

PRIVATE CHANNEL

Maya, Yukio, and Sophia tell the crew back home everything that happened last night.

 

JOLENE: “I’m so sorry everything happened to you, Sophia, and you too, cher and Yukio.”

 

HASSAN: “I offer my condolences.”

 

JC: “I do too. Sorry about everything.”

 

Did JC just apologize? And why? Maya can’t make out if JC apologized for what the Ghouls did last night or what JC did four years ago, or both.

 

MAYA: “It’s fine. What’s done is done. We can take care of ourselves.” Maya offers an equally ambiguous reply.

 

YUKIO: “We don’t know who is left in the tournament. It’s not unreasonable to think the Ghouls took out a lot of people.”

 

Maya: “Jolene, can you show us all the teams that are left?”

 

JOLENE: “No problem, cher. I don’t even need to hack anything. Kaibacorp keeps an open record of every duel that took place for spectators.” She then delves to find the records.

 

MAYA: “This tournament really is Battle Royale…” she mutters to herself. “It’s worse than the Superbowl.”

 

YUKIO: “Worse. It’s the Superbowl for douchebag fat bearded virgins who don’t bathe, euphoric over the thought of their own enlightenment, while everyone else faints as soon as they smell their armpits. It’s as if Conan the Barbarian, Broly, and Bandit Keith left their jockstraps in a locker room for a week.” He nudges Sophia and winks at her.

 

MAYA: “You’re not helping, honest as you are.”

 

SOPHIA: “I think you’re both being unfair to duelists everywhere. Think of Stella and Mathias. They’re great duelists and wonderful people.”

 

MAYA: “Girl, you need to wake up. Like chess, Yugioh is a game that consumes you totally if you’re not careful. People who resist this game’s corruption maintain their humanity. Most don’t. Among the damned there are only three types. One: the aforementioned neckbeard losers. Two: pedophiles with lolicons for Internet avatars. Three: worst of all, arrogant wannabe champions who netdeck each other.”

 

SOPHIA: “You mean like you, right?”

 

YUKIO: “Burn.”

 

MAYA: “Honey, you need to step up your game, so burn it up your own ass. I’m still the American Champion and have been for the last four years. Please explain to me how I’m a generic meta player who netdecks everyone else.”

 

Sophia remains silent.

 

MAYA: “That’s what I thought.”

 

YUKIO: “You’re taking this really personally, aren’t you?”

 

MAYA: “The last few days have really put me under a lot of stress, and I hate everyone. My whole life is on the line in this tournament. What happens here will shape my future forever.”

 

SOPHIA: “As it will ours. Maybe Yukio and I don’t have everything to lose, but our lives are still on the line anyway.”

 

JOLENE: “Okay, guys. I have all of the teams still standing.” She downloads the information and sends it to Maya, Yukio, and Sophia, who examine it for themselves. Around twelve teams remained, including theirs, Baby Blast Furnace, holding three Item Cards. Team Stella remained, as did Buffalo Chicken, Ultimate Super Sayan Gods, and others.

 

XIAOYI: “Oh, you guys survived the second Ghoul attack? You sweethearts are tough cookies, aren’t you?”

 

MAYA: “Xiaoyi, how are you useful again?”

 

XIAOYI: “I provide the hovel so your friends to talk to you together, not unlike the hovel you’re in. Listen, I have a tip for you. Notice how Umbra, Lumis, and Bandit Keith went after your team?”

 

MAYA: “Yes, but Bandit Keith attacked for personal reasons.”

 

XIAOYI: “That aside, notice how the Ghouls attacked you with their lieutenants, not their foot soldiers. There is clearly an order in their attacks. The capos bring down the biggest threats while the rest of the crew takes out the small fry. Expect Umbra and Lumis to confront you again soon and next time I doubt they’ll use a proxy.”

 

MAYA: “You know an awful lot about Ghouls.” Xiaoyi sounds like Bakura in her black book.

 

XIAOYI: “Common induction. Elementary, my dear Watson. Even someone as naive as Sophia could figure it out. Most criminals aren’t very smart. Only strong people can wield evil and not get burned.”  

 

JOLENE: “Anything else going on?”

 

YUKIO: “Mathias wants everyone to meet up at the town square. Well, village square really. He wants to prepare us for the Ghouls.”

 

JOLENE: “That makes sense.”

 

HASSAN: “Before we hang up, I need to tell you something. I had another dream. Among the three snakes, one of them slithers towards with guile and strikes her. The second snake strikes back at the first and they war with each other while the third snake tries to protect the second one.”

 

JC: “Don’t be ridiculous! Only idiots think bad dreams actually mean anything!”

 

Maya agrees with JC in silent. It’s not like they have the time to ponder the vague and dim babbling of prophecies anyway.

 

Mathias called everyone to gather round the square and the meeting was held in short order. Mathias stated his case, “Duelists everywhere, look around you. When the tournament began there were seventy teams. Now, only twelve remain. We don’t know when the Ghouls will strike again. We need to stick together. Maybe we should stop dueling each other entirely until the worst is over. Everyone who agrees, raise their hand and say ‘Aye!’”

 

Maximus, Ivy, Maria, Stella, Yukio, Sophia and others raised their hand “Aye!”

 

Maya did not. She furrowed her brow, pondering her thoughts briefly, then spoke, “We can’t stop dueling entirely. We’re still in a tournament after all. What if the Ghouls strike us at the last day? The tournament will end and we’ll all be fair game.”

 

“But if we duel each other we’ll still weaken ourselves either way.”

 

“I see your point, but keep in mind our duels are televised all around the world. The tournament is a fight for survival for us but for Kaiba and Pegasus it’s reality TV. They don’t care about us. If we don’t entertain them, if we don’t give them revenue, they’ll make us duel in some devious way, which makes our situation even worse. Besides, the Ghouls care less about technically eliminating us and more about terrorizing us. Why do you think they go to such lengths to destroy the marketplaces, even set tingfires on them?”

 

Maria took a deep sigh. She disliked Maya in every way, from her brazen impudence towards everyone who was her superior to her rude, perverse, and violent personality to her hatred of everything right and normal about Yugioh and everything. She was Lucifer, wildly trying to grasp the cosmos to bend it to her pride and will.

 

But Maya had a point. She knew Kaiba loved her, that he would always defend her and never put her in danger. But when Seeker attacked her, he let her get disqualified. Only Maya stepped up to her and saved her. She despised owning a debt to someone like Maya but her doubts of Kaiba’s love overpowered those feelings. Perhaps Kaiba was just testing her or being fair, not to give her any advantage over anyone else. She hoped.

 

She said, “A compromise, maybe?”

 

Maximus nodded curtly. He put his foot down on the matter. “We should duel each other, but each team can only duel another team only once per day. No one can leave Luxor. We need to stick together. Everyone agree?”

 

“Aye!” The group chanted. The meeting was over.  

 

All teams dispersed. Our protagonists wandered the village to find a shelter from the sun’s blazing heat. The day was especially hot. Sweat poured over their heads so much it sometimes got in their eyes, blinding them.

 

“Have you guys noticed that Heishin, the Egyptian governor, lets the tournament go on in spite of the Ghouls wrecking his country?” Yukio said, wiping huge beads of sweat off his forehead. “Furthermore, his soldiers always come to stop the Ghouls a little too late, when all the damage has been done.”

 

“Heishin may be in league with the Ghouls.” Maya concluded. “It’s not uncommon for politicians to make deals with organized crime.”

 

Sophia interjected,  “That makes so sense. The tournament attracts more tourists. Egypt makes a big profit just accommodating us duelists. Why would Heishin sabotage his own profits?”

 

Against Sophia’s doubts Maya could only repeat a point she made before, “Heishin may be working with someone else who has other motives.”

 

The team kept pondering their thoughts as they looked for shelter. It wasn’t easy because heckles kept breaking their concentration. “Come buy alabaster jar! Three dollars! No hassle! No hassle!” The team had no choice but to run away to escape the hassling.  

 

Their exhaustion, the sweltering heat, worrying about the Ghouls, and the store hecklers started to get to the team. Their blood boiled under the sun. Maya and Yukio sounded more irate while Sophia became more sullen. Her eyes were in pain, the horrors of last night still all too fresh to her. Whenever she looked at someone it was almost as if she was pleading for someone to pity her.

 

The team briefly stopped under the shade of a palm tree. It was nowhere near a good enough place to stay but they could rest for a while. Maya and Yukio guzzled down bottles of water. When they offered Sophia a bottle she refused despite the heat practically melting her. She seemed to withdraw inside herself like a caterpillar into a cocoon, or worse, like a butterfly returning into a cocoon. Whenever the team bumped into another duelist Sophia would almost cry. The duelist would ask what happened to her, she would answer and ask for a hug, which the duelist would then give. Her melancholy degraded into simpering.

 

Maybe the broiling heat was too much but Maya had enough. When the team was out of earshot from anyone who knew English, Maya turned around and met Sophia face to face. “You really need some cold water to the face and not from an overpriced bottle. You’re self-pity is revolting and precludes any sympathy given to you. It’s fine to feel terrible but you indulge in your melancholy like it was comfort food. Then you display it publicly, sacrificing your dignity so random people will comfort you. How dare you exploit your assault this way!”

 

The words stung Sophia as a blast of icy wind. She suddenly felt very cold. She looked even more hurt than before. “I – I don’t understand. W – What are you talking about? What’s wrong with you?” She chocked, holding back tears.

 

“You honestly think all the people who hugged you actually cared? You think they would really stop Bandit Keith from harassing you or would they enjoy the show?”

 

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Yukio stepped in. “Can’t you see she’s trying to heal herself?”

 

“Bullshit. She’s exploiting her suffering and weakening herself in the process.” To Sophia, she said, “You’re very privileged people treat you as a lily white delicate flower. I was assaulted too at seventeen. I was coerced into having sex in a punk concert bathroom stall over an unflushed toilet. The man was ten years older, kept grabbing me in places and hurting me even when I told him not to. Nobody gave a sheet about me. You know what I did the next day? I got up, went to school, and went to work afterwards. Like nothing happened. Because if I told someone, no one would care. I never got to be a delicate flower.”

 

Sophia burst into sobs. “Why do you hate me?” She cried out again and again.

 

“Way to go getting Sophia to like you.” Yukio said.

 

“She’s training herself to become a victim.” Maya rebuked. “She’ll live a life where she keeps ending up with bad men over and over again and won’t be able to stop the vicious cycle. Sympathetic people aren’t drawn to the vulnerable. Predators are.”  

 

Yukio had enough. “You know what, Maya? You’re like a drug addict, except instead of being addicted to coke you’re addicted to being destructive to yourself and everyone else. I bet a million dollars your entire life will be a story of self-destruction. You delude yourself into thinking you’re some kind of freedom-fighting iconoclast when all you are is a MASSIVE jabroni!”

 

“This is coming from an overgrown wannabe rock star manchild who still lives in mommy’s basement. You’re lamer than Jack Black. Blood Velvet is a band name as original and inspiring as Mystic Spiral. You might want to think of changing it. Tell me, Trent Lane, when will Mystic Spiral finally get off the ground and top the charts? When you’re thirty-five? Fifty-five? When you’re dying a nursing home?”

 

“grape you. You’re an evil person. You’re living proof the Devil is a woman.” Yukio rebuked.

 

“Don’t flatter me.” Maya shouted over her shoulder as she stormed off.

 

Yukio tried to put his hand over Sophia’s shoulder to comfort her. “She’s talking more about herself than anyone else.” He said, but she was too distressed to listen to him.

 

Maya walked only a short distance away. Her rage dissolved into despair. She fell against the wall of a hut, crying. The stakes for her in the tournament, her promise to Hassan, her feelings for Sophia were too much. The black cloud of depression shrouded her vision wherever she walked. Everything looked far worse than it really was but she could never see how things really were. The bright desert looked black as night to her. Where would she go if she lost the tournament? How would she pay her college debts? Her duelist career debts? And even if she won where would she go? Where was her proper place in life?

 

Worst of all was her guilt. “Sophia.” She moaned, the only thing she could say. She failed to protect Sophia against Bandit Keith. It was all her fault for letting her get kidnapped. The very thought of Sophia being abused again frightened her and seeing Sophia pity herself guaranteed to her it would happen again. She realized she had to confess to herself she yet only knew in her innermost thoughts. She summoned all her courage to speak her knowledge openly to herself. She loved Sophia. Yes, she liked Yukio and Jolene but she loved Sophia, the first person she ever loved.

 

She felt so worn out and tired. She wanted to die and sleep in a tomb forever, never to be disturbed, but her thoughts were ahead of her as always. She needed to apologize to Sophia. There was no other way around it. She nodded to herself as if she made a point to convince herself and wiped away her tears. The villagers looked at her as if she was insane.

 

Maya returned to her friends. “Sophia, I’m so sorry. Anger got the better of me. I didn’t know what I was saying.”

 

Sophia dried her red, raw eyes, but said nothing. She sniffed and crossed her arms in an almost haughty and defiant gesture.  

 

Maya let her knees hit the sand. She was not a religious person but it was as if she was at confession. “Please forgive me. I beg you to forgive me. You are the only person in the world who can put me on my knees. I love you. Seeing what Bandit Keith did to you drove me insane with guilt. I felt like the biggest failure in the world. I don’t want to see you sad. I want to see you happy. You’re smile twinkles more brightly than all the stars of heaven.”

 

Sophia, moved to sympathy by Maya’s words knelt down across from her. They became equals.  “I care for you. I care what happened to you.”

 

Maya reached into her bag and gave Sophia the rarest card she owned. “It’s called Sophia, Goddess of Rebirth. It’s not the most practical card but it’s definitely one of the strongest. It’s stronger than any god card. It symbolizes what I see in you, buried deep inside you.”

 

Sophia and Maya hugged.

 

Our protagonists found a small bedroom under the ownership of a local who loaned it for a few dollars a night. The bedroom, no the whole building, was a hovel and no hotel in any sense. However, it did have a massive, noisy fan, which eased the burden of the oppressive heat.

 

As they unpacked their bags, Yukio reminded them of the dueling grounds a duelist mentioned to them. Dueling grounds, places people could just hang out and duel for fun, were everywhere but were very popular in poorer towns and countries where duel disks were not frequently imported. The workshop village in Luxor was no exception. It supposedly even had a duel box, an ancient precursor to the massive duel arenas of the old Duelist Kingdom days.

 

But first things first. Our protagonists took a hearty bite from the portable food they carried and set out to improve their decks. Their opponents would soon know how to counter their tactics. They had to evolve, always exploring new ideas to keep their opponents on their toes. They tweaked and play tested their decks again and again until they were at last satisfied. Exhausted, they fell comatose in their cots, eager to win a victory later tonight. 

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Duel 19 - A Small Bug Grows Big

 

 

“MATTHEW CARTER! EXPLAIN THIS TO ME THIS INSTANT!” Heishin roared to Matthew over his desk in the President’s office.

 

Matthew felt a bead of cold sweat run down from the back of his neck into his fine white suit. His suit, which he wore each time he went to Heishin’s office, was part of the cover of his role as the Ghoul leader. As far as the outside world new, he was the son of a wealth oil contractor, but at the moment he truly wished he was the son of an oil contractor. Life would be so much easier, and more fruitful. He had not avenged his grandfather’s death and he was becoming more impatient each day.   

 

But right now he needed to answer Heishin with excuses of why the Ghouls failed to destroy every duelist in the tournament. Gernand apprentice, the same shady woman Matthew loathed but could not understand, herself dressed in a beleaguering business suit, glanced at him once and Matthew knew what to do. He opened a laptop and started researching the current statistics of every tournament participant. Heishin, apparently, did not know how to use a computer.

 

He revealed to Heishin his results. “For the record, my Ghouls have actually wiped out most teams. We didn’t just take their Item Cards but literally everything they had, even the clothes from their backs. But three top tier teams remain. Number one is Team Buffalo Chicken, with Mathias, Maximus, and Ivy. Number two is Team Baby Blast Furnace, with Maya, Yukio, and Sophia. And number three is Team Stella, with Stella, Poppy, Luca, Willow, and Dahlia. Right now they’re all in Luxor near the Valley of the Kings.”

 

Heishin barely let Matthew finish before insisting, “Well, what are you waiting for? Strike them now!”

 

“We need to regroup.” Matthew stated. “And think up of a better strategy.”

 

“I’ve had enough. Since you’re so incompetent in dealing with a few stupid Americans, I’m getting my army to deal with the problem myself.” Heishin said, rising from his desk, ready to storm out of the office.

 

Just before he did so, the apprentice said, “Not so fast.” Her voice was soft and unassuming, but she made Heishins stop in his tracks. She gestured to Matthew encouragingly, “If you will.”

 

Matthew opened his briefcase, displaying a collection of Yugioh cards to Heishin. “A German team developed a new top tier deck, brand new but already becoming big in the tournament scene. It combines all the best pendulum archetypes out there and counter traps to create a deck that swarm and take out an opponent in one turn and protect itself from monster summon or monster effect. It’s known as a ‘PePe deck.’”

 

Heishin did not how to play Yugioh, so Matthew, judging his perplexed look, stated simply, “It’s an unbeatable deck, but it will take three days to mass produce it for the Ghouls.”

 

Heishin waved his hand. “Accepted, but make no mistake, my army will reinforce the Ghouls by disguising as them. Now leave before I change my mind.”

 

When Matthew was gone Heishin bore his eyes down on the small woman beneath him. “I do not know what your master, Gernand, wants, but I did some of my own research deep into Egypt’s history. I believe I know what he and you want. Sometime during Pharaoh Akhenamkhanen’s reign in the 18th dynasty, the high priests used a spellbook called the Millennium Tome to ward off Assyrian invaders. They slaughtered a graverobber’s village to create seven gold talismans called the Millennium Items. But creating Millennium Items is only one spell in the entire Millennium Tone.”

 

The apprentice looked amused. “Go on.” She prodded.

 

“Older in Egypt’s history, perhaps older than Egypt itself, there exists another spellbook, the Book of Isis. The Millennium Tome is, in fact, a corrupted copy of the Book of Isis, which may explain why priests only used one spell. In either case, you and Gernand, your master, want the Book of Isis for its forbidden knowledge and magical spells. Thing is, I do as well.” Heishin patted the walkie-talkie on his waste. “You can maybe beat me one-on-one but not the entire Republican Guard. If you don’t tell me how to get the Book of Isis now, both you and your obese master will be wanted dead in all of Egypt.”

 

Heishin paused to see what effect his words would have on the small, young woman. She did not even blink. But she conceded, “Could you at least let my master and I copy the writing on the Book of Isis once you get it?”

 

“Of course.” Heishin smugly answered. “I will have everything I need. Now tell me, do you or your master have any idea how to get the Book of Isis?”

 

“Yes. Remember the emerald chamber we visited in the Prologue?”

 

“What Prologue?” The word utterly confused Heishin.

 

“Nevermind. To receive the Book of Isis, legend says you must defeat and sacrifice the strongest duelist to the Emerald Temple. You do so by beating them in a Shadow Game. Upon your victory, a hidden door in the temple will open and swallow the loser into the depths of the earth. It will then deliver to you the Book of Isis as a testament of your strength and worthiness.”

 

“And how do I know who the greatest duelist is?”

 

“Kill the duelist who is brave and stupid enough to challenge you.”

 

The apprentice’s answer pleased Heishin, for he directed her out of the office.  

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

DAY 4 : 5:38 PM : LUXOR

 

Maya, Yukio, and Sophia met up with their friends in the dueling grounds. It was a strange experience for Maya. As a pro for four years, she had mostly dueled for prizes in large stadiums, surrounded by a screaming crowd, entombed by their expectations and her manager. She hadn’t dueled casually in a basketball court for a long time and the dueling grounds now before her recalled to her memory simpler times.

 

In fact, the entire dueling grounds were nothing more than a large rectangle dug into the rock and sand. Maya saw two children kick a small ball around, playing in pure, unsullied delight what looked like soccer, the setting sun casting long, gloomy shadows over their small, thin bodies. A young woman in a simple but elegant hijab, not unlike the ones Maya and her mother used to wear, called the boys home for it was getting dark outside. Something about the setting sun, the children’s long shadows, and the inevitable end of their innocent games made Maya feel very sad.  

 

But there was no time for melancholy. Mathias, Maximus, and Ivy lit every torch surrounding the rectangle pit, hollering, “LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE!” The crowd of duelists leapt into the air, shrieking in such excitement Sophia covered her ears. And the celebration and games began.

 

Duelists fought against each other, every little move cheered, booed, or debated on. It reminded Maya of rabid cacophony in the stadiums in America, yet here all the excitement of a world championship duel reveled in a tiny box in the middle of the desert. Villagers came to the dueling grounds, lighting a fire, playing their flutes, and dancing as if to complete the festivities.

 

There was something surreal about the women dancing around the fire. They looked so wild against the backdrop of the twilight valley, holding an aura so dark and sinister yet so playful and lively. The fire seemed to dance with the women, growing larger and larger every passing minute. If the Chicago Stadium was the center of the dueling world, then the village in Luxor was at the very end, tipping over the edge. The sun sank into the underworld, sending the valley and the entire world to its end. Dawn would not bring a new day, but a new world.

 

Maya acted on impulse, dragging Yukio with her near the fire. The couple fell into a mad dervish, losing themselves into the fiery colors and music. Time and space blurred around them and they fell back, back into the times of Egypt and times long, long past. Every ghost of every era of the land came to the party, their voices coming out through the living. Maya and Yukio crashed into each other and fell on the sand, voraciously kissing each other and groping each other’s bodies.

 

To Sophia, who watched the spectacle from the third person, they seemed to obliterate each other in their passion, possessing each other so tightly they disappeared into a single person. Their groping sizzled into caresses. Then they got up. Their dance seemed to end as suddenly as it had started, as if they had just recovered from a seizure or a thunderbolt.

 

A short man ran into Yukio but Yukio, being tall, did not flinch while the short man fell to the sandy floor. He got up, shook his head, and cleaned his glasses. With his long-sleeved shirt, shorts, Beetles haircut, and round thick glasses, he was the epitome of the ‘90s era dork. None other than Mathias had chased him, and when Mathias caught up with him, he shouted, “WEEVIL!!! BUDDY!!!”

 

Weevil screamed in complete horror, frantically crawling away from his mad pursuer. He unfolded a document from his pants and brandished it in front of Mathias. “I have a restraining order! You’re not allowed to get within two hundred feet of me! You hear?”

 

“Oh I hear you all right, buddy.” Mathias grinned sadistically. “But your restraining order only applies in Japan. We are in No Man’s Land.”

 

Weevil scurried behind Yukio. “Rex! Save me!” He desperately pleaded.

 

“What the hell, Weevil?” Another short mean appeared behind his comrade. He looked like a burnout with his dirty looks, long, unkempt hair, and red beaner. “How’d you get into trouble this time?”

 

“I- I-“ Weevil was mortally offended. “I don’t get into trouble! Trouble finds me! Now help me escape the big lunatic chasing me!”

 

Maya and Yukio broke into hysterical laughter. Rex Raptor and Weevil Underwood, universally mocked as the Two Stooges, were the most comically inept duelists to ever live. In the ‘90s they were the butt monkeys of none other than Yugi and Jonouchi themselves, and in the ‘00s they were the butt monkeys of everyone else. How they managed to get into a world championship tournament, let alone any tournament, was a mystery to everyone, but some people suspected that tournament officials let them play only to watch them get humiliated.  

 

With our protagonists incapacitated, Rex and Weevil were left to fend for themselves. Mathias grabbed them both, giving them noogies so hard it burned their skulls.

 

Maya, utterly baffled, said, “What history do these people have with each other? Actually, I’d rather not know.”

 

Yukio replied with, “I can only imagine the fanfiction they inspire, or worse.”

 

Sophia commented, “This is ridiculously inappropriate, and frightening as well.”

 

“You know what? We agree.” Maya and Yukio said in unison.

 

Weevil overheard their mockery, so he declared, “You think we’re funny, right? Think we’re nothing more than a laughingstock? We’ll prove you wrong!” He virulently pointed to Maya. “I challenge you to a duel! Right here! Right now!”

 

Maya burst laughing again, so hard her ribs almost cracked. “Oh, by the Egyptian gods! This is rich! What will I ever do against the mighty Bug Boy? Quick, give me some Raid! I really need the kills-fast, low-irritant kind because by the time the duel is over I’ll be annoyed more than anything else! Life, like Weevil, is too short for clichés, but I’ll indulge in some anyway! Why did Weevil cross the road? To lose a duel! What happens to Bug Boy in China? He gets served!”

 

Yukio laughed with her. “You’re a very bad woman. But seriously, you’re as funny as Rob Schiender.”

 

“Shut up, Yukio. You couldn’t make a George Takai pun to save your ass.”

 

“OH MY!”

 

The couple laughed a bit more but stopped, falling into awkward silence, when they saw how visibly hurt Weevil and Rex were. Yukio suggested to Maya that they stop and Maya agreed. Maya remembered when she used to be a dorky outcast in high school before she became a pro. She used to lose every duel and everyone made fun of her except Jolene. Back when she was Muslim, around the time the Iraq War broke, an angry classmate tore her hijab out of her hair so violently she shredded it, and Maya ran home crying. No one cared how bad she felt like no one cared now how Rex and Weevil felt.

 

“Sorry, Weevil.” Maya said. “It’s nothing personal. Even before I was a pro I preferred to duel people better than I was. I sometimes got my ass handed to me but the challenge and struggle far outweighed something as petty as a win-loss outcome. No offense but I don’t think you’ll deliver, and my skepticism is justified. My life is on the line in this tournament but I want to face the best of the best before the finals. Crushing the latest meta decks in the process is a plus.”

“If you think so, then get a hold of this.” Rex showed a total of four Item Cards. “How many do you have?”

 

Maya and Yukio were too embarrassed to admit Rex and Weevil of all people were ahead of them.

 

Yukio heeded Weevil’s call. “Weevil, I’ll accept your challenge.” To Maya, he said, “I bet you fifty dollars Rex and Weevil deserve to be taken seriously.”

 

“Bet accepted. We really need to get all seven Item Cards in the next few days.” To Rex, Maya said, “If your life partner Weevil beats Yukio or puts up a good fight then I’ll duel you next as seriously as I duel a national champion. But if Weevil loses by a landslide I won’t give you a second glance. You have a chance to prove yourself. Sounds good?”

 

“Accepted.” Rex replied. “But you’re pretty cocky. You’re not a world champion yet.”

 

“I know my limits, but I doubt you’ll surpass them.” Maya turned to Yukio and kissed him on the cheek. “Good luck, sweetie.” Her voice was sweet and sultry, exaggerated to the point of parody. “I’ll give you Raid if you need some.”

 

Yukio smirked, replying to Maya’s two-faced words with two-faced words of his own. “Of course, honey. Girls are so scared of bugs anyway.”

 

Sophia stuck her tongue out and pointed her finger at it.  

 

“EXCELLENT!” Mathias boomed, and he ushered everyone to the center of the rectangle pit. “READY!” Yukio and Rex shuffled and cut each other’s decks. “SET!” They took their stands opposite each other. “LET’S ROCK!”

 

Weevil: 8000 || Yukio: 8000

 

WEEVIL’S TURN:

 

“I’ll show you in only one turn how foolish it is to underestimate me, Yukio. I summon Naturia Marron,” a sweet, anthropomorphized Marron with wide blue eyes sprouts.And set two cards facedown. I use Marron’s effect, sending another Marron from Deck to the Graveyard. You’re move.”

 

YUKIO’S TURN: “I summon Golbindberg.” A goblin with a red scarf and goggles flies into play in a WWI fighter plane. “And use its effect to summon Elemental HERO Shadow Mist from my hand.”

 

“Don’t get ahead of yourself!” Weevil interjects him. “I activate Naturia Sacred Tree. I tribute Marron to summon Naturia Antjaw from my deck.” Yukio’s Shadow Mist, a shady, caped superhero emerges from the darkness. “Now I use Antjaw’s effect, summoning another Naturia Antjaw from my deck.” Two flying ants swarm Weevil’s field.

 

“Well I’m not done yet.” Yukio says, resuming his turn. “I use Shadow Mist’s effect to add Mask Change to my hand. “Shadow Mist, attack Antjaw!” His dark hero leaps for one of Weevil’s ants.

 

But Weevil stops him. “Activate Parasite Invasion! This continuous trap card summons a Parasite Paraside to your field and forces all your monsters to defense position!” A gross bug appears on Yukio’s field, growing wormlike appendages from its back, ensnaring Yukio’s monsters. The parasite drives its limbs through their bodies, polluting them into insect corruptions of their former selves. “Not only that, you can’t Special Summon for the rest of this turn. But don’t feel bad! I gave you a monster!”

Yukio, shocked, curses under his breath. He knows beating Weevil would be hard, but not this hard!

 

“And speaking of Special Summoning, I my two Antjaws activate. I summon Naturia Fruitfly and Naturia Rosewhip from my Deck.” A colorful fruit fly with eyes of a phlegmatic expression lazily hovers over the field while a thorny rose with sly-looking eyes sprouts from the ground beside it.

 

Yukio sets a card facedown and calls his turn quits.   

 

WEEVIL’S TURN: “You’re still not taking me seriously, are you?” Weevil becomes indignant. “I can tell. Your set card is probably Mask Change. Did you think I was that stupid? That I couldn’t see through something that obvious? I’ll punish you for your arrogance! I use Fruitfly’s effect to take control of Goblindburg.” The pilot goblin flies over to Weevil’s side.

 

“Go, Synchro Summon! Rosewhip, Antjaw number one, Antjaw number two, combine together to make Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier!” Rosewhip dissolves into two clear emerald rings and the two Antjaws becomes stars, aligning within the green rings. They all transform into gate of blinding light, and a massive white and blue dragon arrives in the world, covering the arena in a blizzard of snow. “I use Trishula’s effect. Banish three cards!”   

 

“Not quite! Mask Change!” Yukio springs his card. “I replace Shadow Mist with Masked HERO Dark Law!” The shadowy superhero clasps a shining mask, fixing it on its face. Its body melts away and transforms into an even darker superhero. “And since Shadow Mist was sent to my Graveyard, I add Bubbleman to my hand.”

 

“That’s nice, but Trishula still banishes three of your cards. I choose Dark Law, Shadow Mist, and one card in your hand.” Yukio is about to protest, but then grimly realizes that Trishula doesn’t target cards, so his Dark Law could not dodge the beast.

 

He moans, “Trishula, not again!” As the ice dragon conjures a severe blizzard, banishing his cards.

 

Weevil isn’t done. “I summon Naturia Cherries!” Two anthropomorphic cherries with cheerful, youthful faces appear. “I tune Cherries to your Goblindberg and my Fruitfly to Synchro Summon Crimson Blader!” Cherries transform into rings, Fruitfly and Goblindberg align as stars, and a portal opens, allowing the entrance of a tall, fiery swordsman brandishing two humongous swords.

 

“Let’s get going! Crimson Blader, slay Yukio’s parasite!” The swordsman slices the offensive creature to bits. “If Crimson Blader destroys your monster, you can’t Special Summon a Level 5 or higher monster!” Weevil snorts with glee, a strange, conceited, irritating noise. For an instant, Yukio suddenly wants to punch Weevil in the face. “Trishula! Hit Yukio directly, hard as you can!” Weevil barks. His dragon uses its monstrous wings, sweeping an entire ice storm at Yukio, battering him with frozen fury. (Yukio LP 8000 à 5300)

 

Maya witnesses the entire spectacle, and her jaw drops. “I think we stand corrected.”

 

Weevil hops with joy, laughing even more. “I end my turn with a card face down. WHERE’S YOUR RAID NOW!”

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Weevil: 8000 || Yukio: 5300

 

“Now that you and your girlfriend stand corrected you will never take me lightly again.” Weevil even dramatically points at an accusing finger straight at Yukio’s face. “Let’s see you get out of this situation.”  

 

Rex hops with joy at the edge of the dirt pit of an arena at the sight of seeing Weevil take the lead. “WOOHOO! Yes! You get ‘em, Weevil!”

 

Yukio, still smarting from Weevil’s last attack, dusts his shirt as if he was trying to get rid of mountains of hale and frost from it, but, being holograms only, they aren’t there. Perhaps this is why duelists dodge or brace themselves for monster attacks, and maybe even come out with a bruise or two. Gameplay is so intense and the holograms are so realistic their minds make it real. Weevil’s last play was far from the worst think Yukio ever faced, but it was a very decent play – and a shocking one! It came from someone so laughable and weak.

 

So it is Yukio’s turn to eat humble pie, though he does wish Maya would have her slice since she needs it more. “Weevil, congratulations. That was an amazing play.” Yukio admits.

 

“You mean it?” Weevil asks, shocked and skeptical. “No one has ever praised us before. If we ever did anything cool people would call us lame anyway.”

 

“I mean it.” Yukio says. “You’re a worthy opponent.”

 

Rex is as shocked as Weevil is. “Did he just call us worthy?”

 

“I think he did, Rex.” Weevil says. “Oh, God!” His eyes start watering. His little heart fills with so many intense emotions he never felt before. “What does this even mean? I don’t understand it.”

 

“It’s called pride. For once in your life, you feel good about yourself.” And Yukio turns to Maya and says, “See. You’re cynicism about Yugioh is completely undue. This game does bring people together and help us grow as human beings. It’s not just a marketing scheme for wealthy pricks.”

 

“Pfft! Preach to this, Card Game Jesus!” Maya says and flips him off.  

 

“Up yours where you enjoy it!”

 

And Sophia once more covers her face in embarrassment. Aren’t they at least five years older than she is? Maximus nudges her in the shoulder and whispers, “Psst! It means they really like each other.”

 

Yukio says to Weevil, “Anyway, now I’m taking you seriously this means something really big. It means I will fight in my full strength. You want a serious duel? You got it!”

 

YUKIO’S TURN: “Draw card! I activate The Warrior Returning Alive, retrieving Shadow Mist back to my hand. I Special Summon Heroic Challenger – Assault Halberd from my hand and summon Elemental HERO Shadowmist again.” A bronze-armored hero and a caped counterpart stand together size by size. “I activate Xyz Change Tactics. Each time I summon a Utopia monster I can pay 500 Life Points to draw a card.”

 

Weevil gasps, “Oh no!”

 

“Oh yeah! I got a fresh can of Raid! I overlay Halberd and Shadow Mist to Xyz Summon Number 39: Utopia!” Yukio’s heroic monsters collide in a wormhole to form a new hero: a familiar platinum-armored space warrior. “I pay 500 and draw one. I overlay Utopia to Xyz Summon Number S39: Utopia One!” The space warrior adds extra armor to its arms and legs, and even obtains a sword. “I pay 500 and draw one. “I activate Rank-Up Magic – Barian’s Force to replace Utopia One with Number C39: Utopia Ray V!” His space warrior mutates again, growing in size and adding a full exoskeleton of red armor to its arsenal.

 

“I pay 500 and draw one, and I use Ray V’s effect. Destroy Trishula and damage Weevil equal to its ATK!” Yukio’s massive monster fires its massive clawed fists from its wrists like rockets, cracking the ice dragon’s heads and heart. The dragon’s body breaks into a hailstorm of ice shards, which rain down on a frightened Weevil. (Weevil LP 8000 à 5100) “Since I detached Shadow Mist, I add Stratos to my hand.” Yukio proceeds further. “I activate Rank-Down Magic Numeron Fall! I transform Ray V back into good old fashioned Utopia!” Ray V sheds all its armor, causing it to shatter around him like glass. “I pay 500 and draw one. I overlay Utopia to Xyz Summon Number S39: Utopia Prime!” Utopia adds extra gold to its armor and acquires a huge golden sword. “I pay 500 and draw one. Now I discard a Rank-Up Spell Card to Xyz Summon Number S0: Hope ZEXAL!” A black hole – or was it a white hole? – opens up high above in the sky, and Utopia fearlessly flies through it. Thunder strikes the earth and among the jovial bolts of pure power a golden-haired space warrior wielding a staggering sword comes into view.

 

Weevil comes close to peeing his pants just looking at Yukio’s new super monster, but thankfully he holds it. “H-How strong is that thing!?”

 

“8000 ATK!” Yukio boldly declares. “And bigger than anything Maya can make or handle.”

 

“BOOOOO!” Maya hollars from the sidelines. “Even your mom can handle that!”

 

“Here I come, Weevil!” – “Phrasing!” Maya interrupts. – “Its time I blow it all out with my ultimate attack!” – “Phrasing!” Maya interrupts again. – “ZEXAL, kill Crimson Blader! End the duel!” Yukio commands. His greatest soldier, surrounding by so many so many orbiting Xyz Materials it almost looks like atom, dashes at Weevil’s far lesser warrior, swinging its huge blade, ready for the attack.

 

Weevil, at the end of his rope, has one last trick up his sleep. “I activate Xyz Drain!” ZEXAL slashes Crimson Blader to pieces, there mere contact jettisons a blazing radio wave shower engulfing Weevil’s entire field. Everyone, even the stout Mathias and the impious Maya, duck for cover. As the blast fades, everyone is shocked to see Weevil still standing, still in the game. (Weevil LP 5100 à 1900) Weevil seems to sense everyone’s complete surprise, so he quickly explains, “My trap took away 2 of ZEXAL’s Xyz Materials, and since both of them are Xyz Monsters themselves, I can draw two cards.”

 

“And since ZEXAL had only 6 Xyz Materials when it battled, it only had 6000 ATK. So you survive.” Yukio concludes. The duel is far from over. Yukio has a massive hand and field advantage but at only 1800 Life Points he is in precarious position. Taking Weevil seriously is not about being nice anymore. He needs to survive. “I set two cards facedown and end my turn.”      

 

WEEVIL’S TURN: “I draw a card.” Weevil declares.

  

“And right after you do, ZEXAL activates.” Yukio counters. His great warrior sends a photon wave sweeping over the entire field, losing 1000 ATK in the process. “You can’t activate any cards this turn.”  

 

“I know what it does. I set a monster and a card facedown.”

 

“Damn it, Weevil! You were so close!” Rex throws his beaner on the ground in disgust.

 

Sophia almost jumps for joy in excitement. “Yukio got his best monster out! He bagged this duel! Right?”

 

“I wish.” Maya shakes her head and replies, “Zexal is powerful but overrated. I mean, just look at it. It looks like a Super Saiyan, so you know how lame it really is. If Weevil is truly smart and not an old joke he’ll work his away around it.”

 

“You’re scoffing at a monster that had 8000 ATK!” Sophia protests.

 

“Exactly. Had.” Maya corrects her junior.

 

“But still, 5000 ATK!”

 

“It could have infinite ATK and still be lame.”

 

Shocked, Sophia turns to Maximus who nods in agreement, “ZEXAL can only stop effects during your opponent’s turn, not when it’s your turn. So Weevil can still turn things around during Yukio’s turn. By the way, Maya really is digging into Yukio right now.”

 

“I heard that!”

 

YUKIO’S TURN: “I summon Elemental HERO Stratos.” A superhero wearing dark teal spandex and hoisting a jetpack on its shoulders flies into play. “I use its effect to search a HERO monster in my deck. Now, Stratos, attack Weevil’s facedown monster!” The superhero dove straight through Weevil’s card, punching out what looks like a massive cricket.

 

“You killed Howling Insect, which lets me Special Summon another one from my Deck.” Weevil hastily summons a second cricket.

 

“ZEXAL, kill the other Howling Insect.” A few seconds and a swift, clean slash of a sword later, the next insect goes down.

 

“I activate its effect and Special Summon Naturia Butterfly from my Deck.” A pink butterfly with large, sentimental blue eyes flutters into play.

 

Yukio has no choice but to end his turn.

 

WEEVIL’S TURN: Yukio activates ZEXAL’s effect as soon as Weevil draws his card, again dousing Weevil’s field in a swamp of photon particles.

 

“I only have to endure one more turn. Then my best combo will be complete and my mightiest monster will rise.” Weevil thinks to himself. “Just live one more turn.” Out loud, he says, “I set a card facedown. You’re move.”

 

 Out loud, he says, “I set a card facedown. You’re move.”

 

YUKIO’S TURN: “Hmm. Weevil’s traps can’t be terribly useful. If they were, he would have activated them already, unless, he’s setting up some super combo.” Yukio thinks to himself so intensely he almost mumbles the words out. He can’t let Weevil finish his combo. He has to break him now. “I return Stratos to my hand to Special Summon Nova HERO Bouncer.” The flying superhero disappears, replaced by some kind of superhero from the distant future, its ghostly luminous body almost invisible. “I summon Elemental Hero Stratos again,” The flying superhero reappears. “And use its effect. I pop your middle facedown card.” The superhero hovers above Weevil’s set card and blazes a torrent of fiery wind at it.

 

“You fell into my trap!” Weevil shouts with glee. “Activate Insidious Infestation! It skips the duel by three rounds!” Time speeds ahead and, to Yukio’s nasty surprise, his monsters are decaying on sight, with maggots chewing through their necrotic flesh. “I forgot to mention my maggots. Your monsters lose 100 ATK and DEF for each turn this card stays on the field, and this card has already been around for six turns.

 

Yukio shrugs this blow off. “Regardless, Stratos destroys your facedown card.” And surely, Stratos vaporizes it with the fuel from its jetpack.

 

“And here is my real trap! Underground Chrysalis activates! Thanks to Insidious Infestation, five rounds (read: ten turns) passed by the time you destroyed it, which means I can summon a Level 12 Insect monster from my Extra Deck! Arise, Infinity Great Moth!” Weevil’s facedown card turns out to be a massive cocoon. The flames from Stratos’ jetpack crack it open, and a moth bursts from the chrysalis, a creature so massive it seems to be as large as the Pyramids themselves. Yukio sees – and smells! – something more. With each beat of its wings so wide they blot out the stars, the great moth pollutes the air with a poisonous miasma. Yukio’s two superhero monsters clutch their throats in suffocation, their bodies dissolving in the corrosive atmosphere. Weevil chuckles at a horrorstruck Yukio, “All your monsters lose 400 ATK times their Level or Rank and if their ATK becomes 0, they’re through.”

 

“YES! YES! YES!” Rex hops and hops again as a tiny adorable velociraptor. “You pulled it off, Weevil! Now you won the duel we can celebrate by going to xhamster.com!” The entire arena falls silent. Weevil covers his face in embarrassment but Rex remains undeterred. “What are you looking, you hypocrites. Everyone goes to xhamster. Even your grandma goes to xhamster.” An unfortunate duelist faints upon hearing this awful truth.

 

“Don’t celebrate just yet. We’re still dueling.” Yukio reminds Weevil. “I change ZEXAL to defense position and set two cards facedown.”   

 

WEEVIL’S TURN:  “Like that’ll help.” Weevil snorts. “Did you also know my moth has 4000 ATK and is unaffected by card effects? Well now you do. The more you know. Infinity Great Moth, get rid of ZEXAL! It’s been a blight on my plans long enough!” His great moth dissolves even the mightiest of Yukio’s monsters with its gale of poison.    

 

YUKIO’S TURN: The pressure is too much. Weevil’s monster is simply too strong. He collapses, one knee on the sand. He honestly doubts if he can go on anymore. He just lost his team an Item Card.

 

“Don’t give up, Yukio! You can do it!” Yukio hears Maya’s voice and instinctively glances at the sidelines. Maya runs to him and hugs him. “You know no matter how much I talk trash to your face I’ll always believe in you, right?”

 

Yukio chuckles dryly, “Same here.”

 

“Uh-oh!” Weevil mocks, “Trouble in paradise!”

 

“THAT’S MY LINE! MY LINE!” Mathias roars from the sidelines. He tries to bulldoze Weevil over but Maximus and Ivy restrain him with all their might.

 

Maya ignores the spectacle, saying, “A monster card is only a monster card, no matter how strong it is. It has 4000 ATK? You can easily top it. It’s immune to card effects? So is every other monster in Yugioh these days.”

 

“But he’s got that infestation card out. My monsters can’t even stay alive as long as it’s out, unless –“ He bolts up, straight as a rocket. “I have an idea.” They hug each other, and Maya returns to the sidelines.

 

“I set a monster and a card facedown. You’re move.” Yukio says.

 

WEEVIL’S TURN: “You think a full back row is gonna’ help, cause it’s not. Twin Twister!” Weevil discards a card and two tornadoes storm Yukio’s facedown cards, sweeping away two of them. “My Great Moth, attack Yukio’s facedown monster!”

 

“Activate Mask Change!” Yukio shouts, I tribute my facedown Bubbleman to summon Masked HERO Acid!” A portly superhero with an aqua-themed costume seizes a mask, puts it on his face, and he transforms into a taller superhero wielding what looks like a large water gun. Except it’s no water gun.

 

Weevil scoffs, “Big deal! My Great Moth’s poison kills it instantly.”

 

“Yes, but its effect still goes off.” The superhero acts quickly, close to dissolving entirely. it sprays a wide mist of acid from its gun all over Weevil’s cards, making every card in his back row dissolve, to Weevil’s chagrin. Then the superhero dissolves away.

 

“No matter! Great Moth, attack Yukio directly!”

 

Yukio blocks, “I activate Oasis of Dragon Souls! I revive Utopia in Defense Position!” Water bursts from the ground as if from a deep underground spring. Yukio’s space warrior emerges from the water back into the plane of the living, but not for long, as it soon perishes under the great moth’s poisonous storm.  

 

“You escape for now, but on my next turn I’ll finish you!”

 

YUKIO’S TURN: “You won’t have a next turn.” Yukio smirks, “I figured out how to beat you, yes, even beat your Great Moth.”

 

“I’d like to see you try.” Weevil scoffs.

 

“You’ll see. Let me put it this way. You're the bug!  I’M THE WINDSHIELD! Activate Xyz Reborn! I revive Utopia!” Yukio’s future space warrior returns again. “And I overlay it to Xyz Summon Number S39: Utopia the Lightning!” Utopia upgrades again, donning on blue and white armor this time, its body crackling with lightning. “Utopia, attack Weevil’s Great Moth!” His monster flies straight at the massive beast.

 

“Ha! My Great Moth’s too strong and it reduces Utopia’s ATK to 900.”

 

“True, but I detach 2 Xyz Materials, allowing Utopia’s ATK to become 5000, no matter what its ATK was before. Plus it is unaffected by card effects.” Utopia crackles with ever stronger lightning, its entire body blazing a bright platinum color, fierce as a blue-white star. “Utopia, finish the duel!” The space warrior punches deep into the great moth’s gut with such strength and drives through the monster’s whole body and bursts from the other side. The great moth moans as close as an insect can moan, crashing to the ground in a catastrophic blaze as if it is a huge bomber plane. (Weevil LP 1900 à 900)

 

Weevil cries to the heavens, his whole world gone down in flames, “NO! My bug! My beautiful bug! My precious little butterfly! AHH!” Weevil refuses to go on. He surrenders. The duel is done.

 

Weevil: SURRENDER || Yukio: 1800

 

“YUKIO WINS! FATALITY!” Mathias announced, making his voice deep and ominous as the announcer’s in the Mortal Combat games! The entire audience burst into cheers and applause, not for Yukio or Weevil but for both of them and for the spectacle of a duel they just displayed.

 

Yukio shook Weevil’s hand. “Good game. You dueled extremely well. No one should take you lightly again.”

 

Weevil smiled, his appreciation beyond words. He reached into his pocket and gave Yukio an Item Card, the Millennium Eye Card.

 

Rex didn’t feel as good as his friend, but his fighting spirit caught fire. Maya gestured to him, catching his attention. “Your trials aren’t over yet. Tomorrow, we duel. Same time. Same place. Be prepared, because I definitely will.”

 

Rex accepted the challenge, but warned her that he would completely beat her tomorrow. He patted Weevil’s shoulder and the two left, disappearing into the darkness of the village beyond the firelight. Meanwhile, the restless carnival went on without our protagonists as if Yukio’s duel against Weevil never took place. Two brand new duelists were already jousting each other on the field.

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CREATED CARDS (DUELS 19 & 20)

 

Infinity Great Moth
LV 12/Insect/Earth/Synchro/4000 ATK/3850 DEF
1 Tuner + 2 or more Insect-Type non-Tuner monsters
Unaffected by card effects. Decrease the ATK of all monsters on the field by their Level x400. If a monster has 0 ATK: destroy it.


Insidious Infestation
ContinuousTrap
When this card is activated: move the turn count forward by 6 turns (3 rounds). During each Standby Phase: place 1 Infestation Counter on this card. Decrease the ATK and DEF of all non-Insect type monsters by the amount of Infestation Counter on this card x100.

Underground Chrysalis
ContinuousTrap
When this Set card is destroyed by a card effect, you can destroy all monsters you control; activate one of the following effects based on the number of turns this card has been Set:
@3 turns: Special Summon 1 Level 8 or lower Insect-Type monster from your Extra Deck (ignoring Summoning conditions).
@4 turns: Special Summon 1 Level 10 or lower Insect-Type monster from your Extra Deck (ignoring Summoning conditions).
@5 turns: Special Summon 1 Level 12 or lower Insect-Type monster from your Extra Deck (ignoring Summoning conditions).

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  • 3 weeks later...

Duel 21 - Quiet Moves

 

 

DAY 5 : 5:38 PM : LUXOR

 

Our team led a quiet morning. They went to the marketplace to buy some food for they ran out of rations and needed to restock and brought back bread, eggs, and fava beans, and garlic to their small hut. Maya and Yukio wanted to play a couple so they created a makeshift stove outside, lighting a fire over a borrowed pan. The couple squabbled with each other as all couples do. Maya berated Yukio for how could a man whose parents owned a restaurant fail to cook? Yukio fired back, calling Maya “Kyle’s mom” and telling her she didn’t need to wear the pants in every relationship!   

 

Yukio sang in a very fast-paced, breathless voice, “Maya’s a b**** she's a big fat b****, she's the biggest b**** in the whole wide world she's a stupid b**** if there ever was a b****, she's a b**** to all the boys and girls! On Monday she's a b****, on Tuesday she's a b****, on Wensday though Saturday she's a b****, then on Sunday just to be different she's a super King Kamehameha beeyotch!” Sophia danced and clapped her hands without a second thought. She knew the lyrics all too well.

 

“Shut you’re f***ing mouth, Yukio!” Maya shouted. She pretended to be angry but could barely suppress her laughter and tackled Yukio head on, plummeting them both to the sandy ground. She lowered her voice to that of a gruff, American black man, barking, “Where you think you goin’, Anna May! I’m the Ike Turner in this relationship!” Yukio kept shouting, “You shall not silence me!” He muffled under Maya’s hands, trying to wriggle away from her grip. “I really mean it! Maya, she's a big, fat, f***ing b****! A big ol' fat f***in' b****! ARRGH!” And he ended his song.

 

Sophia would never dare let such a chance pass her buy. She filmed the entire scene on a video camera for posterity. Let every future duelist who worships these two heroes for their skills and deeds know what they’re like in the flesh. By the time the two heroes stopped trying to kill each other their slapdash dish burned black but they had to eat it. The beide hamine and ful medames they tried to cook became black gruel instead but everyone ate without complaint because they were so hungry. Maya and Yukio vowed never to cook anything again. Next time they would buy something already made, even if they went to a nearby city, or so they swore. Sophia knew they lied.

 

Maya and Yukio did tell each other how awful they smelled. How could they not know after trying to kill each other a moment before? So everyone took a shower, which they didn’t have in a long time. The water, heated by the desert, was barely cold but it still felt like an icy, crystal paradise. It was a rather uneventful morning.

 

Maya now set herself to work. She opened the team’s laptop, dumped all her cards out of her back, spread them out, searched for Rex Raptor’s records on the Dueling Network, used Millennium Key Card to unlock the full recipe for every deck Rex ever used throughout the entire tournament; she did everything she could to learn her opponent’s tricks and stratagems to outmaneuver him in their coming duel.

 

Maya held a thought that gnawed her from inside her head for a very long time. She was shackled somehow. Her dueling, no, her everything, was not as good as it could be, her full potential still unfulfilled. She suspected an upsetting fact, that she herself kept her chains on her wrists and ankles steadfast. And now, more than ever, she wanted to break them. Her approach was nothing knew. Even when she was a child she always strove to grow stronger, clear all challenges, and break past limitations. The greater the challenge the happier she felt, especially if it meant snubbing the nose of a rich white kid or corporate stooge. She still fondly savored her last duel with Matthew when she completely scorned his pride. Once, after Maya defended her National Champion title, Maria spoke how she dueled without grace or humility, as if she was always annoyed by the game’s limitations.

 

And Maria was right. Limitations always annoyed Maya. Once again she struck a wall and once again she wanted to break it down. But how? That was a puzzle she couldn’t solve. Perhaps she needed to figure herself out and solve herself to do it. It would be a hard task indeed, maybe even harder than Yugi solving the Millennium Puzzle. She took a first step, something she always did to break a deadlock when she was in one. She changed her deck so she had more monsters with different Levels, expanding her Extra Deck options, and changed her Extra Deck accordingly. She wanted her deck to be faster, to get more monsters to her hand even faster. There were some traps she wanted to try out too. As she said to Yukio just yesterday, every other boss monster can’t be destroyed by card effects. She needed to work around it.

 

She heard a singing voice, seeming to come from nowhere, such a sweet yet sad enchanting voice; a tender alto more full than the viola! Who was this muse? Where was she? Maya and Yukio found Sophia singing outside under the shade of a palm tree to pass the time. She was in her own universe, somewhere in the lonely Russian winter, oblivious to the sweltering Egyptian heat or the effect her singing had around her. Maya and Yukio slowly crept up to her as to not disturb her, patiently waiting for the fallen angel to end her serenade.

 

When Sophia did, Maya embraced her, kissing her in the cheeks. “Why didn’t you tell us anything about your talent? We are musicians too!” Sophia’s cheeks blushed red against her pale white face. No one could tell if she was shy or sunburnt, or both.

 

By sunset the team wandered back to the marketplace, for trinkets and souvenirs. Villagers harassed them as always, “Only five dollars! Real alabaster relic! No hassle! No hassle!” And when they left the villagers insisted, “Three dollars! No hassle! No hassle! Americans! Mr. Washington! Mrs. Washington! Only three dollars!” This prompted Yukio to say, “Three dollars? Who does he think we are, the Kardassians?” And Maya remarked, “He’s a good conman. If he moved to America he’d make millions.” One of the villagers proudly stated to Sophia, “If you marry me I’ll give you ten thousand camels!” Maya dragged Sophia away, one of the rare times she had good sense.

 

The team explored further, even getting a boat across the Nile with a few tourists. A village on the other shore greeted them with open arms. Our protagonists sat on rugs and drank coffee under a wooden canopy, visited the insides of small brick houses layered with white plaster, admiring the tapestries with complex designs, and even went out to the small plots of farmland, which meant petting a few goats. Of course Sophia took pictures and videos of the whole thing.

 

Maya sat by the Nile’s shore, gazing at the sun as it descended behind the Valley of the Kings and into the underworld. She held the card Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal and thought of Sophia. She asked a villager what he thought when he saw the setting sun but he merely gestures. He probably didn’t understand. If she and her teammates dueled well they would be at the tournament finals very soon. Her dueling was decent but if she wanted to win she would need to take a step further. She needed to not hit a high target but hit a target that no one could see. And this was more than about winning some tournament. Dueling was one of her talents, one of her intelligences, but all her talents and intelligences were linked together. Yukio and Sophia called on her to take the boat back to the Valley. As she was about to leave, the same villager came to her and said, “I think of being forever young.” Maya looked at the Sun, the Beatrice card, and thought of Sophia. Maybe this was the answer.

 

Dusk became darkness. The dueling grounds opened again to blazing torches, loud music, and dancing villagers. Maya saw her opponent, Rex Raptor, across the darkness. They shook hands and took their places opposite each other in dueling pit.

 

Mathias, who made himself the leader and referee of the dueling grounds announced, “MAYA BOSCH VERSUS REX RAPTOR    ! DINO VERSUS DINO! LET’S GET READY FOR SOME JURASSICE RUMBLE!”

 

Maya: 8000 || Rex: 8000

 

MAYA’S TURN: “I activate Terraforming to search a Field Spell, and I activate it: Seventh Heaven!” Before anyone could know it, a gust of wind from the seventh region of the air lifts them from the dark, shallow sand pit of the dueling grounds to the highest clouds, a place so high the skyline was red and outer space could almost be seen. “And I use its effect. Once per turn, I can banish one WIND monster from my Deck, and I choose Mountain Pterra. I set a monster and a card facedown. You’re move.”

 

Rex’s TURN: Now that was a setup Rex didn’t see before. Anyway, it’s his turn and he has the perfect combo to seal every play she could make. Now he just needs to set it up. “I activate Prohibition and the card I call is ‘Inferno Reckless Summon.’” Maya feels her back tingle in mild shock. Not bad. Does he have more? Rex seems to have read her thoughts for he carries on, “And there’s much more! I activate Pendulum Call! This card let’s me –“

 

“I activate Macro Cosmos!” Maya cuts him off. “Now you’ll have to banish the card you discard if you want your two dragon magicians.”

 

Rex grunts as he does so. “That won’t stop me one bit. I activate Dragonpulse Magician and Dragonpit Magician in my Pendulum Zones.” Two neon columns of light, one blue and one red, flank Rex’s field, a magician soaring high above each column. “Go! Pendulum Summon Dinomist Spinos, Dinomist Rex, Dinomist Stegosaur, Dinomist Plesios!” Four great dinosaurs made from steel and hydraulic pistons not from flesh and blood, march by Rex’s Side: a spinodon, a T. Rex, a stegosaurus, and a plesiosaurus.

 

“Go, Xyz Summon! I overlay Spinos and Rex to make Cyber Dragon Nova and overlay it to make Cyber Dragon Infinity!” The Dinomists merg into a wormhole to create a cybernetic serpent plated in black steel, which then collapses into the wormhole to create a larger serpent of black steel. “I overlay Stegosaur and Plesios to make Bahamut Shark.” His other Dinomists fuse in space-time to make a powerful blue beast with wide wings, more a water dragon than a shark. “And I use its effect to summon Nightmare Shark right from my Extra Deck and overlay it to make Full Armored – Black Ray Lancer.” A large shark with fins so huge they look more like wings appears only to replace itself with a black armored warrior of the sea, armed with a mighty trident.

 

“That’s a pretty big combo.” Sophia remarks, to which Yukio nods, adding, “And if Rex is as good as Weevil, he has way more where that came from.”

 

“Black Ray Lancer, attack Maya’s facedown!” Rex commands, and his undersea warrior spears the facedown card, impaling a fiery D.D. Velociraptor in the heart. “And I use my Lancer’s effect. Say goodbye to Seventh Heaven.” And his Lancer smites Maya’s card with his spear, returning both duelists to the dark desert.

 

“I activate D.D. Velociraptor.” Maya begins, her monster opening a dimensional portal behind her, but she knows it’s pointless.

 

“I use Cyber Dragon Infinity to negate its effect.” One orb, one Xyz Material, disappears, the black serpent spreads its wings, glowing a bright orange, and Maya’s portal is sealed. “Cyber Dragon Infinity, direct attack!” And his machine snake strikes Maya with a ball of plasma. (Maya LP 8000 à 5700)

 

Maya bears the assault with no hardship. She faced much worse, but she knows Rex has more in store. Prohibition, Cyber Dragon Infinity, Black Ray Lancer: seeing these cards Maya knows Rex is building a lock combo just to beat her. What she just observed is the tip of the iceberg, or so she hopes. She doesn’t want Rex to waste her time. Weevil jumps up and down, punching his fists in the air, happy as a little grasshopper. “Yes! Bring out your dino-might, Rex! Get back our Item Card!”

 

Rex declares, “You’re not the only clever antimeta duelist out there. I do my homework too. I researched all of your duels and made the perfect combo to stop all your strategies.”

 

“Perfect, huh. Now I’m skeptical.” Maya rebukes. “A bold claim from one of the Two Stooges.”

 

Rex insists, “I mean it. Once my combo is complete you won’t be able to do a single trick against me. I’ll cancel every wily stratagem you have hidden in your deck. I set one card and end my turn. No amount of cunning or foresight will get you out of this hole.”

 

“That’s what she said.” Yukio, Mathias, Maximus, and Ivy say in unison, chuckling at each other over the happy accident. Sophia covers her face with her hand, embarrassed her older peers are such manchildren.

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Duel 22: Beyond Duelists

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLRF0Wx-vf0

 

Maya: 5700 || Rex: 8000

 

MAYA’S TURN: Maya draws her next card and ponders her next move. Rex indeed does have a considerable combo but she can break it with a little forethought and take the advantage; that is, until Rex completes his lock. But that won’t happen! Maya smirks in the smarmiest way she can, “Sorry, Rex. You’ll need to do more than shut down one key card to beat me. A simple trick like that won’t work. I’m not like the shallow duelists we faced; not like Michael, not like Akira. People say I use gimmicks because I’m antimeta but frankly they’re the ones who use one-note strategies. Get out Shaddoll Construct, get out Aqliphort Towers, et cetera.”

 

“And what’s your point? Get on with it already!” Rex demands, his body becoming more tense and stiff. How did his attack not faze her? Is she so strong she can kill effortlessly kill him off no matter what he plays? He remembers when he watched the American National Championship duel with Weevil four years ago. Maya nearly wiped out Matthew on her first turn with a Zombie swarm. Matthew even played three Judgment Dragons in one turn, one after the other, and they all failed to beat her. She overkilled him next turn.

 

“You deserve a better enemy, one who plays a higher game.” Maya changes expression, deliberately changing from a smarmy insect to a predator right before it murders its prey. “I’ll give you a higher game.”

 

Sophia softly nudges Yukio on the shoulder and says, “Is Maya doing what I think she’s doing?”

 

Yukio nods, “Yup. She’s messing with Rex’s head. It works on poor guys like Rex and Matthew but on better duelists.” He shakes his head. “I’m tired of games. But I do think she’s talking to herself too. When Malik possessed a mime to duel Yugi in Battle City, he talked how duelists were like vessels and strategies like water poured in the vessel. The larger and deeper a duelist is, the more water they can take in and pour out. A great duelist has more than one strategy, more than one way of thinking.”

 

In the battlefield, Maya thought of the very same tale, and thought to herself, “Time to test my depth, and his.”

 

To Rex she says, “You asked for it! I activate Raigeki! The clouds of the sky gather together to form a vortex, whirling faster, faster, crackling lightning louder, louder, until it threatens to tear apart the entire field. Rex counters, “I use Infinity’s effect to negate and destroy it!” His cyborg beast shoots it dead in the sky, dispersing it. “That’s your higher game? You seriously thought that would break my combo?”

 

“Of course not.” Maya replies, “For a skilled player, cards like Raigeki are bait, not the answer. I activate a second Seventh Heaven!” And both duelists and onlookers return to the highest of skies. “And I use Seventh Heaven’s effect. I banish Zsa Zsu from my deck. Then I summon a second D.D. Velociraptor.” A twin of the first fiery raptor appears. “And I use Seventh Heaven’s other effect. Once per turn, I can banish a monster I control to summon a banished WIND monster with a Level equal or lower. I banish my Velociraptor to bring back Zsa Zsu.” Maya’s first dinosaur vanishes, replaced by a smaller one, what looks like the earliest bird. “Since Velociraptor was banished, I’ll banish another Mountain Pterra from my Deck, and since Zsa Zsu was summoned, I’ll summon another Zsa Zsu from my Deck.” Another early ancestor to the modern bird flies to the field.

 

“I activate Ghosts and Stars. I Special Summon a D.D. Velociraptor, but it’s banished at the end of my turn.” The blood red-skinned dinosaur returns. “Its other effect activates. When it’s Special Summoned, I can summon a banished Dinosaur, so I summon another Velociraptor, and then use its effect to summon a Mountain Pterra.” Another red raptor appears alongside a mighty pretosaur with a wingspan of twenty feet.

 

“I activate Mischevious Mistuning.” Cries a frightened Rex, “Once per turn, I can change the Level of a monster by 1, so I decrease one of your Velociraptor’s Levels by 1.”

 

“That scared of Evolsaur Laggia? I overlay my two Zsa Zsus to summon D.D. Volcanoraptor, and use its effect to summon my third Mountain Pterra from my Deck.” The two ancient birds merge beyond space and time to form a smaller blood-red raptor, which flies to a stargate that just formed. Seconds later, it returns with another huge pterosaur. “I use the effect of my first Mountain Pterra, I bounce my D.D. Volcanoraptor and your Cyber Dragon Infinity.” The pterosaur circles both monsters in the air, catching them in a whirling cyclone. When the sky clears, both monsters have disappeared. “Volcanoraptor is gone, so I use its other effect. I summon my third Mountain Pterra.” And the final pterosaur materializes.

 

“God this duel is convoluted.” Yukio complaints.

 

Maya concurs, “Tell me about it. This game is like chess. It eats your life and your soul.”

 

She continues with the duel, “I use the effects of my two remaining Pterras to bounce my first Pterra and Velociraptor and your Bahamut Shark and Black Ray Lancer.” Both winged dinosaurs took to the sky and together swept away all four monsters with a double whirlwind. “I overlay two Mountain Pterras to Xyz Summon Golden Sunbird.” And the Pterras fly together for the last time. A large phoenix flies from the Xyz wormhole in a shower of golden flames. “And I use Sunbird’s effect. I summon your banished Dinomist Rex.” And the hydraulic T. Rex manifests on Maya’s field.

 

Rex gulps, his stomach feels like its falling down a dark pit. Maya commands, “All monsters, direct attack!” The entire horde crashes into rex, the phoenix burning him and the two dinosaurs trampling him on the ground. Weevil covers his face with both his hands – except to peek through his fingers – it was not a pretty sight. (Rex LP 3000 à 1300)

 

“Is your turn over yet?” Yukio hollers from the sidelines.  

 

“It finally is!” Maya hollers back.

 

Mathias comments, his stomach growling, “I really wish this village had some Buffalo Chicken pizza.”

 

REX’S TURN: Rex gets up. He dusts off his shirt. He declares, “That was a nice, fancy turn you pulled back there, but I will complete my combo and shut your deck down.”

 

“Big talk for a little man. Let’s see you prove it.” Maya challenges him.

 

“Challenge accepted. I activate Pot of Eternity. I can shuffle four banished monsters back in my Deck and draw two. I knew you would banish my cards so I put my own cards to take advantage. I set one card facedown card. My turn’s over.”

 

MAYA’S TURN: This game is over, but she didn’t get to see Rex’s great combo. It’s a disappointing, but at least he put up a small fight. “Go, monsters! Direct attack for game!”

 

Rex springs his trap, “Drowning Mirror Force! I bounce your monsters back to your Deck.” Maya’s great phoenix swoops in over Rex but it hits a wall of water so reflective Maya could see her mirror image in it. The wall drives forward, becoming a title wave, swooping in over all her monsters, making them all disappear.

 

“Hmm…” Maya bites her lip in frustration. It was too good to be true, but maybe Rex will pull of his lock after all. She wants this really badly but not just to see an awesome play but to hopefully see her own current limits manifest in front of her. Thinking about your limits is one thing. Being confronted by them is another.

 

REX’S TURN: “Not so great as you think you are. My turn. I summon Vicious Vapor Tyrannmaschine.” A huge engine with what looks like a rotating disk for a face hovers over the board. To Maya the gross and clunky thing looks a bit like the Meteo Crusher from Star Fox 64. Rex elaborates, “I use its effect and summon a banished Level 5 machine. Welcome back, Dinomist Spinos!” The huge machine lights up, spins its disk face around, and the hydraulic spinodon rematerializes. “Now I overlay them to Xyz Summon Cyber Dragon Nova and overlay it to Xyz Summon Cyber Dragon Infinity!” The two monsters become tiny stars and collide into each other. A black metal serpent emerges, then collapses to make way for a more powerful one. “Next I play Domain of Sanctity. We shuffle our hands in our Decks, I banish half of my Deck, and we both draw six cards.”

 

Maya comments, “That’s one goofy card. Bet you five hundred dollars it’ll be banned by next week.”

 

“It probably will, but why not use it while I can.”

 

Mathias jumps into the fray so fast he leaves a dust devil behind him as he locks Rex in a chokehold. “Where did you get a card like that? You stole it? Because if you did, you’re dead meat!”

 

“No! I did not!” Rex gags as much as he could. Mathias is so big and Rex so small Rex dangles a few feet from the ground. “Oh no! Vertigo! I’m gonna’ hurl!” Rex swoons, ready to vomit. Weevil scampers to Rex’s aid, trying to climb up Mathias’ thigh but looking like a perverted dog instead. Mathias wriggles his thigh to get Weevil off, screaming at Weevil to stop humping him. Everyone else groans in embarrassment.

 

Rex gags again and again, spitting out whatever words he can, insisting he did not steal his broken card but got really lucky opening a booster pack. Honest! Mathias lets him go and flicks Weevil away from his thigh. Both stooges crash into the ground. Mathias wipes his hands. “You’d better be right.” And he leaves Rex and Weevil to groan on the sand.

 

Rex dusts himself and resumes the duel, after complaining about sand in his shoes, “I activate Pot of Cupidity. I banish ten cards and draw two. I Pendulum Summon Dinomist Rex, 2 Dinomist Ceratops, Dinomist Brachion.” Four new Dinomist monsters march into play as if they are real dinosaurs: a T. Rex, two ceratops, and a brachiosaurus. “I overlay Rex and Ceratops to Xyz Summon Number 94: Crystalzero and overlay it to Xyz Summon Full Armored – Crystalzero Lancer. Then I overlay my second Ceratops and Brachion to Xyz Summon Constellar Pleiades.” The Rex and Ceratops collapse together to form an armored amazon from the depths of the sea who transforms into a more fearsome warrior, with an even more elaborate armor, dress, and girdle. The other Ceratops and Brachion form a guardian of the stars, adorned with the purest platinum armor and cape of the richest shade of violet.

 

Maya realizes at this point that Rex is about to win the game. Before Maya can gasp in terror, Rex commands, “Monsters, direct attack!” Cyber Dragon Infinity blasts her with a plasma beam as the two warriors, one of the depths the other of the stars, spear her. Maya’s spirit hits rock bottom. She lost. It’s all over. But then she realizes she still has Life Points. (Maya LP 5700 à 1150) A feeling of relief washes over her. She’s still in the game!  

   

Rex grunts, “You’re lucky Domain of Sanctity cuts all battle damage I give by half this turn. I set three cards facedown. Turn end.”

 

MAYA’S TURN: “Oh.” A pit sinks to the depths of Maya’s stomach. Rex really did pull it off and it’s really strong. As Maya gazes onward at Rex’s monsters she realizes that Rex completely covered his bases. Can she activate a card? Infinity negates and destroys it. Summon a monster? Pleiades bounces it back to her hand. Synchro or Xyz Summon? Mischievous Mistuning messes up her monsters’ Levels. Take out his back row? Imperial Custom stops such a plan.

 

At this moment Maya realizes her limitations are made manifest, not just in dueling but also in life. As much as she always strives to break free from her chains, cuts through the red tape, tear down anyone who stands in her way, she always holds herself back to a degree. Why? She wondered about it for a while but now she thinks perhaps it may be this: if she is truly happy and free than she fears losing control. Of what? Herself? Her world?  If she stays miserable she still feels in control, even though she never was in control. She never knew what it was like to be happy and at peace, not to constantly have a fire demonic and angelic burn inside her. Maybe it is time to try something new, not to kill the fire, but make a truce with it.

 

Now she has to find a strategy. Strange, how easy it is for her now. Solving problems of the inside world makes the outside world much easier to deal with. Now it is time to act. Maya walks to the center of the field, within close striking range of Rex’s monsters, just under the vicious jaw of his Cyber Dragon Infinity, and extends her hand.

 

The audience blinks in surprise, as does Rex. “You want to call it a draw?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Hah!” Rex balks out a laugh. “Why would I want to do that? I control this game and you want me to throw it away? Get real! I expected more from someone like you!”

 

“My offer is a sign of my mercy, not yours. If you don’t accept my offer I will demolish you and your pathetic combo in three rounds. You can walk away with dignity or lose your Item Card and any respect people have for you.”

 

Maya’s words hit Rex hard as bullets. What does she mean? His combo is impenetrable and it isn’t even complete! All of a sudden his entire game feels as shaky as a house of cards, a sand castle Maya can blow away at any moment, a feeling that isn’t new at all. There was a time when he felt like a great duelist worthy of world recognition but years of humiliation and defeat, by Jonouchi, by Espa Roba, by Siegfried, by countless other people, thoroughly beat that feeling out of him.

 

“Y- You can’t break me. Prove it! I flip my two traps: Imperial Custom and Imperial Iron Wall. My combo is not completely finished but it shuts you down!”

 

“Very well. Round one! I set a monster and four facedown cards. My turn’s over.”

 

“Hah!” Rex desperately laughs. “That was your combo-shattering move. Such big words!” He looks Maya in the eye, a mistake. She’s not bluffing. Rex stammers, “I- I activate Pleiades’ effect. I bounce your facedown monster back to your hand.” The large holographic card   

 

REX’S TURN: I summon Mean Steam Tyrannmaschine and use its effect to summon my banished Dinomist Plesios” A smaller version of the dimensional machine assembles itself into existence and reassembles the hydraulic plesiosaurus right after. “I overlay them to Xyz Summon Bahamut Shark and use its effect to summon Full Armored – Black Ray Lancer from my Extra Deck.” The two machines leave the field. Once more the large, dragon-like shark and trident-wielding guardian of Atlantis form. “And I use Pleiades’ effect again to bounce your facedown card back to your hand.” Another of Maya’s holographic cards flashes and disappears.

  

Maya secretly breathes a sigh of relief. Thank the Gods of Egypt it wasn’t one of her key cards!

 

“And I flip my trap: Vanity’s Emptiness. You can’t Special Summon! My combo is finally complete! Five monsters! Five face-up cards! It’s perfect!”

 

Weevil hollers from the sidelines, “You got this duel in the bag, Rex! Don’t let her get in your head and tear you down!”

 

“Don’t worry. I got this, Weevil. Go, monsters! Direct attack!” And with his command all his monsters lunge at Maya for the kill.

 

Maya braces herself. This is the moment of truth. “I activate Needle Ceiling! All your monsters are destroyed!”

 

“Not quite! Forget about Cyber Dragon Infinity? It negates and destroys your card!” His black metal serpent fires a photon bullet at Maya’s card, shattering it. “I got you cornered! Monsters, continue you’re attack!”

 

“I activate Quaking Mirror Force! All your monsters go facedown!” Her trap springs, summoning a fierce sandstorm, driving Rex’s monsters to cower for their lives. They crouch so low in defense they fall to the ground and disappear into five large cards on the field. “No Rex. I got you cornered.”

 

Rex realizes to his horror she is right. His entire field is full of facedown monsters he can’t flip face-up. He can’t summon anything or attack! And he can’t activate a spell or trap either since his back row is completely full! “I…” He sounds heartbroken. “I end my turn.”

 

“Wow.” Sophia gasps in astonishment. “A moment before Rex controlled the duel. Now he’s a sitting duck.”

 

Yukio shrugged. “She was America’s National Champion for four years for a reason.” He whispers, mimicking a line from Jurassic Park. “Clever girl.”

 

“I heard that!” Maya shouts from the sidelines.   

 

MAYA’S TURN: Maya draws. Trapping Rex was only half the battle. Now she has him afraid, trapped, and cornered, she must, like a hunter, carefully plan her strike. Nothing short of a killing blow will work. “Round two! I set a card facedown. Turn end.”

 

REX’S TURN: “There’s nothing I can do.” Rex sighs. “Turn end.”

 

MAYA’S TURN: “Final round! Get ready, Rex! I activate my own Pot of Cupidity. I banish my top ten cards and draw two. I activate Twin Twister. I discard a card to destroy Imperial Iron Wall and Prohibition!” Two tornadoes gather on Maya’s field and shoot out like bullets to Rex’s two cards, disintegrating them. “And since some of your cards were destroyed, Vanity’s Emptiness is destroyed too.” Rex groans as his card vanishes. “I Special Summon Lizardon with its effect and I activate Inferno Reckless Summon to summon two more from my Deck.” With Maya’s words a total of three flying red dragon-like dinosaurs swoop over the field.

 

“H- Hold on!” Rex stammers. “I activate Mischevious Mistuning. I increase one of your Lizardon’s Levels to 9.”

 

“That won’t help you. I overlay two Lizardon’s to Xyz Summon Stella Ptera!” Two red dinosaurs are replaced by a massive green pterosaur. “And I use it’s effect. I dethatch two Xyz Materials to bounce two cards to your hand.” The flying beast flaps its wings only once and two stormy whirlwinds wipe away Rex’s cards. “I activate my trap: Nanosaur Invasion! I banish a Mountain Ptera to summon all three of my banished Mountain Pteras!” A dimension portal yawns above for just long enough for all of Maya’s pterosaurs to fly out before it collapses in on itself. “And I overlay two of them to Xyz Summon Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon!” Two of the three pterosaurs circle each other, closer and closer, before colliding into each other to form a worm hole. A fiery dragon with scales as black as volcanic soot climbs out of the portal.

 

The creature roars at Rex as if recognizing an old enemy. “You just had to rub in it, didn’t you?” Rex groans.

 

Maya says, “D.D. Ancient Firebird is banished and I have at least two Dinosaur monsters on my field, so I Special Summon it!” A small, lithe, fiery orange dinosaur, resembling the most ancient birds, dances on the field. “I tune it and Mountain Ptera to Synchro Summon Dino Demon!” The ancient bird morphs into a gate of three green rings while the last pterosaur flies through it, vanishing in a column of light. The light vanishes, revealing a dinosaur so grotesque and burning with such fury as to look satanic. “I use its effect. I banish Lizardon your two facedown monsters, the one on my far right and my near left.” Dino Demon plucks down Lizardon high from the sky from the sky like fruit from a low-hanging branch, devouring it whole, and fires two blasts as huge as meteors, one after the other, at Rex’s monsters, vaporizing them effortlessly.

 

Maya explains, “Black Ray Lancer and Crystalzero Lancer can protect themselves from destruction once. Not when they’re facedown though. And for the last card: Dragon’s Mirror.”

 

“But you don’t have any dragons!” Rex objects.

 

“Not in my Deck, but I have a Dragon Fusion Monster that needs two Dinosaur monsters to be played, and I do have two Lizardons in my Graveyard thanks to Imperial Iron Wall.” Rex curses under his breath. Maya shouts, “I banish two Lizardon to summon Ancient Dragon of the Badlands!” An enormous enchanted mirror materializes on the field, its glass shines brightly and monstrous black dragon flies out.

 

Her path to victory all clear, Maya can finally let it all go. She snarls and flings all her fire at her opponent, roaring, “Ancient Dragon, destroy all Rex’s monsters!” And her obsidian dragon burns away the rest of Rex’s defenses. “Monsters, attack for game!” And her remaining monsters, her other black dragon and her freakish fiery dinosaur blast hellfire at Rex, ending the duel.

 

Maya: 1150 || Rex: 0

 

“Wow. Talk about an incredible combo.” Maximus comments. The rest of his team nodded, albeit cautiously. Sophia ran up to Maya to hug her while Yukio stared at her, frowning, shaking his head. Rex slumped his posture in disgust while Weevil tried to comfort him. Rex handed over his Item Card to Maya, sighing deeply. Now the team had five Item Cards: Millennium Puzzle, Millennium Ring, Millennium Rod, Millennium Key, Millennium Eye. Two more to go: Millennium Necklace and Millennium Scales.

 

“You know, it’s a real shame you can’t make any good locks anymore.” Rex complained. “The game’s so fast-paced and cards are so overpowered these days your opponent can just screw you over.”

 

Maya nodded understandingly, saying, “I hear you. Don’t get me wrong. I love locks and wish I could use more of them. Bakura is actually my favorite duelist of all time. He was the best strategist this game ever had. But back then the game was more like chess, a back and forth exchange where you had to consider your opponent more. Now this game is a dick-measuring contest… well, clit measuring contest in my case… Clits are bigger than dicks anyway… You just can’t see most of it… But that’s beside the point…”

 

“Are you like a lesbian supremacist or something?”

 

“No. I just hate frat boys and rich tech brats.”

 

“Ah, figures. I guess. Me and Weevil have to get more Item Cards. Next time we’ll pick on weak duelists, not crazy bastards like you. Bye.” And Rex and Weevil left.

 

Maya sighed in relief. It was a really tough duel. It was finally over. But she didn’t even get a few seconds of rest when Yukio, her nagging wife, began his lecture. “You pulled a really dirty trick on Rex. You know he and Weevil have a crippling lack of confidence and you exploited that, you manipulative snake. You talk to Rex about how to be a better duelist. But you’re no duelist.”

 

Yukio, like all true duelists, expected Maya to lurch back in shock and pain upon hearing his truths, but she merely smirked and put her hand to his face. “Honey, Yugioh is a game. There is no such thing as a true duelist. It’s a stupid label that means whatever people want it to mean, something Matthew did when we fought him.  You’re not a samurai following bushido. You’re a gamer just as pathetic as the neckbeard you make fun of for playing World of Warcraft all day in his mother’s basement. And that applies to everyone else.”   

 

“One day your obnoxious and selfish attitude will get you killed.”

 

“I thought my smarmy, cocksure insolence would do that.”

 

“And you wonder why you’re never popular.”

 

The couple kept arguing as if they were married but ended their quarrel as suddenly as it began and before Sophia knew it they went back to talking like normal people. “Relationships are strange things.” Sophia noted to herself. She mulled over a decision she wanted to make. It would have enormous consequences but she felt it was something she needed to do, both for the team and for herself. She prodded her two companions, saying, “We have to go back. There is something I must do.”  

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  • 4 weeks later...

Duel 23 - The Nordic Gods Descend!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehZluWqawTI

 

Sophia turned around and walked up to Mathias. Startled, Mathias asked, “Hey, can I do something for you?”

 

Sophia took a deep breath as if trying to sum up all of her strength in one action. She spoke boldly, “Mathias, I challenge you to a duel. I ante two Item Cards.”

 

A hammer from the sky must have struck Maya and Yukio for they stood frozen at the mention. Mathias widened his eyes a bit in mild surprise. “I honestly didn’t expect you of all people to challenge me. – I thought someone with as much ambition and hubris as Maya would do it but life is strange. – You sure you want to do this, kid? You’re friends worked really hard to get their last two Item Cards. If you lose to me, you lose everything they worked for.”

 

“Yes, I know the risks. I know how strong you are.” Sophia said. And indeed she was right. Mathias, Maximus, and Ivy were the best duelists in the entire tournament. They were even known worldwide as the Saints, righteous duelists who promptly defeated any champion who abused other people with his celebrity status. Mathias was so strong only Yugi and Kaiba could beat him, yet so humble he claimed no title for himself. Mathias brandished Sophia no less than twenty Item Cards. He didn’t lose a single duel.

 

“But.” Sophia continued. “If I win my team will have all Seven Item cards. We can make it to the finals.” By this point every duelist surrounded them, all their breaths held. People even quit their duels.

 

Mathias gave his advice, “You don’t have to take such a huge risk. Challenge other people. You’ll be able to make it to the finals in only one other day. If you lose, you’ll seriously set back your team, and you may not be able to make it.”

 

Sophia turned back to her companions, trying to put the thoughts raging inside her head into words. “I’ve felt like a liability ever since Bandit Keith assaulted me. You guys are so strong and smart. I’m so stupid and weak. I need to prove something to you guys. I’m not a liability. I’m just as good as you. And it’s not just that. I feel like a molting lizard or insect, like I’m ready to burst out of my own skin. I need to take this huge challenge!”

 

Maya gently put her hands on Sophia’s shoulders. She understood what was happening. “You’re growing as a person. That feeling deep inside you is telling you to break past your limits so you can keep growing.”

 

Yukio said, “You were never a liability to us. You won our duels and helped the team like we all did. Take Mathias down. Go get him.”

 

Maya and Yukio gave Sophia a warm hug. Empowered, Sophia restated her challenge. Mathias accepted. Everyone surrounding them fell into dead silence. He said, “Agreed. Tomorrow at seven pm before the dueling grounds opens. Be ready. You wanna’ beat me it’ll take all you got.”

 

He reached out his large, square hand and Sophia clasped it with her small, narrow hand, sealing the agreement. Our heroes went to bed early, prepared to tackle the big day tomorrow.

 

DAY 6 : 7:01 AM : LUXOR

 

The team rose early to get the day going. They bought food at a local store – they didn’t want to try making food again! – and ate in the comforting shade of their sleeping quarters. Sophia placed the card, Sophia, Goddess of Rebirth, on the floor in the middle of her room. It was one of the most powerful cards in the game, and Maya gave it to her. But it was so hard to Summon in a duel. You needed to banish a Fusion Monster, Ritual Monster, Synchro Monster, and Xyz Monster. Was there any way she could use it?

 

It wasn’t like Sophia had a choice. She did the research on Mathias using the Item Cards they had. He used three nigh unstoppable cards known as the Nordic Gods. The only way she could beat such divine creatures was to use one herself. She popped open the team’s card cases, strewing hundreds of cards on the floor, searching for an answer.

 

Maya and Yukio sat down next to their friend to help her. “You know what this reminds me of?” Yukio said. When Sophia asked what, he replied, “Yugi’s most famous duel with Kaiba. Not the one in Battle City, the one where Yugi draws Exodia for an instant victory. Exodia is like a puzzle where you assemble five pieces together. You’re deck is the same, where you need to assemble five pieces, the various types of monsters and Sophia herself.”

 

Maya sifted through the various cards on the floor. “Hmm… You don’t have any trouble summoning Synchros and Xyz monsters, but at the same time your Fortune Ladies stand more on their own than relying on other cards.”

 

Yukio had a brilliant idea. “Brilliant Fusion! Use this nifty combo: you use Brilliant Fusion to send Fortune Lady Light and a Gem Knight to get out Gem Knight Seraphinite. Play Junk Synchron to revive Lady Light. Synchro Summon Junk Destroyer to destroy Lady Light and use her ability.”

 

“If that’s the case, then you’ll want to focus on Rank 4 Xyz monsters.” Maya said. “Daegusto Emeral should help recycle your cards too.”

 

And Ritual Monsters? “Sophia held out a card she always liked: Saffira, Queen of Dragons. “It was always one of my favorites. So let’s throw in some support for that.”

 

It was a daunting project since Sophia had to cram together so many different combos. Sophia’s deck now had almost fifty cards in it. It went against common sense. The best decks were slim and got out simple combos as fast as possible. But Yugi and Kaiba weren’t like that, nor were most great duelists. Their decks had a certain multifaceted complexity to them. It made them much harder to use but allowed a duelists to play at a much higher level. Our heroes, whether they realized it or not, were already heading in that direction. Now Sophia would be the first one to fully manifest her potential. Sophia play-tested her deck against Maya and Yukio, dueling them again and again, and changing her deck in tandem. Our heroes, now satisfied, rested in the shade.

 

Yukio spoke to Maya, “You once said you wanted to beat Kaiba and Yugi, didn’t you?”

 

“You did?” Sophia said, mildly surprised.

 

“Yes. I’m more than capable, but I sometimes don’t want to anymore.” Maya said. “I have no incentive. Yugioh, it’s,” She gestured in futility. “Going nowhere. Sure, it’s suffering a massive power creep, but the game lost the moral force it used to have.  Yugioh was simpler back then, even naïve, a battle between good and evil, but it was more meaningful. When we win this tournament I can hopefully settle my debts and buy a comfortable life. Then I can quite this game and go back to my music and writing. I’ll no longer be a reality TV star, a caged circus animal.”

 

Yukio smirked. “Let’s blame the economy and Republicans as usual.”

 

Maya looked deep into Sophia’s eyes. They were the same shade of dark brown, the same narrow shape, but the fires inside them were so different. Maya’s were sharp, piercing, bilious, while Sophia’s were tender, attuned, and sad. Maya said, “If I press on it has to be a deeper reason; someone to fight for, more creative paths to travel, and so forth.”

 

Then Maya twitched her fingers. “They itch.” She complained. She hadn’t played the piano or wrote anything down for one week too many. In desperation, she took a low desk from downstairs and drew a complete set of piano keys on it with chalk. Then she started to play, letting herself get lost in the music that wasn’t there.

 

Yukio and Sophia watched in fascination. Yukio played the guitar while Sophia sang, and all three could somehow read the music Maya played just by watching her. It was something they never heard before: up and down arpeggios on the right hand while two voices went down in thirds on the left hand. The two hands exchanged roles, the arpeggios retracted into block chords, then unfolded into scales, the descended thirds freed into a recitativo of sorts joined by octaves, then back to arpeggios and thirds, the descending thirds became ascending sixths, all while Maya meandered from g minor to every other key.

 

Yukio and Sophia knew the shape of the best. It was a Baroque-style prelude; melancholic, with a wistful beauty beyond this world, but moved as a force of nature. Its character kept changing as Maya modulated to different keys the way a prism broke white light into a rainbow of different colors. Dark green became a teal, ocean blue, then a glowing bronze, a baby sky blue, a brilliant yellow, a fizzling orange. And Maya went on for hours. Yukio and Sophia even walked outside to stretch their legs but Maya didn’t notice them. She was lost.

 

And then she was found. She staggered on her feet as if she fell down a rabbit hole into wonderland and just tumbled out. “It opens to whole worlds, dimensions, feelings, parts of your life, the past, present, future. And it’s different for each person; like an extradimensional entity that materializes in a different way to each person. Or like a divine creature that appears in a form most relevant to that person.”

 

Yukio laughed and slapped on the back. “You high or something? Of course it is. It’s like in Paradise when Dante says the spheres of Paradise and its angels are manifestations projected by higher beings in the Empyrean, not the actual beings themselves. Paradise appears differently to each person.”

 

“What did you see?” Sophia asked. Maya eyed her dead on for a few seconds before shaking her head, laughing at herself in bemusement.

 

 DAY 6 : 6:56 PM : LUXOR

 

Re, the great sun god, was slowly dying, slowly falling down the horizon. Our heroes, hurrying to the dueling grounds not to be late, saw Mathias and his teammates just ahead. The sun crept behind Mathias, casting over the land a very long shadow. Every duelist in the tournament surrounded him as if they were planets and he was the sun itself. Sophia took her position, facing opposite Mathias, opposite the setting sun.

 

Maya, watching Sophia square off against Mathias in front of her, pondered the end of one duelist and the beginning of another. Mathias was an older duelist who was in his prime in a different era. Now things have changed. If Sophia wins, everything will be different after today.

 

Mathias shouted, “LET”S ROCK!” And the duel began.

 

Mathias: 8000 || Sophia: 8000

 

MATHIAS’ TURN: “I set a monster and card facedown.” Two larger than life cards appear before him. “You’re move.”

 

SOPHIA’S TURN: “I draw!” She notices the obvious. Her opponent has only two cards in play. Time to make a big attack! Seize the advantage! “I activate Brilliant Fusion! I sent Gem-Knight Garnet and Fortune Lady Light  from my Deck to the Graveyard to Fusion Summon Gem-Knight Seraphinite!” A knight made of pure rock and the smallest of fortune ladies appear, then shatter into rocks that smash into each other, begetting a large, blue knight made of rocks. “I Summon Junk Synchron and use his effect.” A short, pudgy mechanic appears and so does Sophia’s fortune lady.

 

“I use Seraphine’s effect to Normal Summon again. Go, Summoner Monk!” A shinto priest bows in Defense Position. “I discard a Spell Card to Summon Fortune Lady Water from my Deck.” The most elegant of fortune ladies, with flowing dark hair, is called forth. “And use her effect to draw 2 cards.”

 

“I tune Junk Synchron with Seraphinite to Synchro Summon Junk Destroyer!” The mechanic bursts into three rings and sapphire knight aligns inside the rings as five stars. A pillar of light shines, then lifts like a curtain, showing a giant made of spare vehicle parts. “I use its effect. Pop Lady Light.” The small fortune lady bursts. “And I use her effect Summon Fortune Lady Aeter from my Deck.” A new fortune lady, a luminous queen of fortune ladies, takes its place. “And I overlay Lady Water with Summoner Monk to Xyz Summon Daigusto Emeral.” The two monsters collapse into stars, fall in a worm hole, and a heroic monster with a backpack of propeller fans jumps out. “And use its effect to return Lady Water, Seraphinite, and Junk Destroyer to my Deck and draw 1.”

 

“Lady Aeter, attack his facedown monster!”

 

“I spring my trap, Phantom Knight’s Fog Blade.” Mathias declares. A sword, made of a corrosive mist, not metal, impales the fortune lady queen, but does not kill her. Its body stiffens, forever frozen in time.

 

“Not a problem. Go Junk Destroyer!” Sophia’s tin can titan crushes Mathias’ monster, a rather rotund hamster, with is outstretched hand.

 

“I use Super-Nimble Mega Hamster effect. I summon Tanngrisnir of the Nordic Beasts.” With Mathias’ words a new monster appeared, a small white goat with red eyes.

 

“Daegusto Emeral, destroy Tanngrisnir!” Sophia declares. Her monster smashes the goat’s face, crushing it, only for two more goats to appear. Sophia bites her lip in frustration. She made a mistake! Now he has two monsters, meaning he can summon a Nordic God easier!

 

Maya and Yukio watch Sophia’s attacks unfold with grim faces. Yukio comments, “This is bad. Sophia rushed in without thinking straight. She used about 9 cards in her turn but Mathias stopped her with only 2. She’s trying to overwhelm Mathias right away with all of her speed and strength but it backfired.”

 

Maya elaborates, “Sophia’s dueling like a novice. A seasoned duelist knows when to bide his time or when to press for advantage. Mathias waited for Sophia to attack or at least expose her strategies. Now that he judged Sophia’s dueling to be inferior and built up a combo, he will strike next turn.”

 

MATHIAS’ TURN: “You made a mistake underestimating me, Sophia. I’m a very gregarious and honest man, but I’m no idiot. Now you’ll pay for your blunders. Get ready to meet the first Nordic God. I summon Guldfaxe of the Nordic Beasts,” A red yak jumped into play, “And tune it with my two Tanngrisnir tokens to Synchro Summon Thor, Lord of the Aesir!” His two monsters break down into rinks and stars and align as they ascend to the sky, now a colored in the beautiful colors of auroras. Snow slowly fell unto the desert ground. Then a thunderbolt strikes the ground, shattering the earth, toppling everyone but Mathias over! And thus appears Thor, a grey-bearded giant in a billowing purple coat, holding its legendary hammer.

 

“Next card is Mound of the Bound Creator!” The dessert sand morphs into an island of black dirt, surrounded by four pillars and the shapeless matter of chaos. Chains spring from the pillars to lock the God’s ankles into place. “Get ready for some action, kid! Thor, smack down Junk Destroyer!” The Nordic God smashes the tin man into shrapnel. “And Mound activates, dealing you an extra 1000 damage!” Thunder strikes Sophia down from the grey, foggy sky. Sophia clutches her knees, otherwise she would fall over. (Sophia LP 6500) “I set a card and end my turn.” Mathias concludes.        

 

SOPHIA’S TURN: Her confidence shattered, Sophia thinks of defending herself at all costs. But she shakes her head. “No! I cannot run away! I have to attack! And I know how!” Mathias hears her madly yelling at herself. He almost wants to ask if she’s OK and quit the duel, but he knows it would disservice her to do so.

 

“I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Fog Blade.” Sophia’s cyclone sweeps away the pernicious blade, and her fortune lady revives. “I Summon Fortune Lady Silent and Special Summon Equalizer Magician.” A tall, somber fortune lady with dark grey robes and cartoonish, mischievous professor, looking more like a mathematician than a magician, appear. “I use Lady Silent’s effect to boost time ahead for three rounds.” The somber fortune lady strikes her staff and space-time zooms ahead, but for only for one square meter. The other fortune lady in it grows in size and three levels, becoming ever stronger. “And I tune Lady Silent and Equalizer Magician to Synchro Summon Hi-Speedroid Chanbara!” A giant floating sword, really a machine, appears behind the pillar of white light.

 

Mathias chalks up nonchalantly, “More fancy moves? You must be the biggest, scariest duelist in town. What ever will I do?”

 

“Try making fun of me after I beat you.” Sophia rebukes him. “Lady Aeter, strike down Thor!” The fortune lady queen leaps right at the God’s face with boldness and impunity, and strikes its face with its burning, brilliant staff. The giant God, blinded, grabs its face in agony, roaring, and topples to the ground. (Mathias LP 7900) “Now I use Lady Aeter’s other effect. I banish her to Special Summon Fortune Lady Water and Fortune Lady Mist from my Deck,” Two fortune ladies of the water, one familiar, another new, smaller, and paler appear, “And draw 2 cards.”

 

Mathias claps his hands in admiration of Sophia’s skill. Sophia looks at him with suspicion and confusion so Mathias clarifies for her, “I’m not being sarcastic. I genuinely feel proud of you. You’re the second duelist in this entire tournament to succeed in killing a Nordic God. Everyone else gave up.” Sophia wants to know who the other duelist was but it doesn’t matter. Mathias has a caveat. “But you’re celebration is over. I Guldfaxe from my Graveyard to revive Thor, and deliver 800 damage!” The Nordic God stands up tall to its full height, groaning in irritation as if bitten by a mosquito. It spots Sophia, the source of its aggravation, and shocks her with a bolt of thunder from its fingertip. (Sophia LP 5700)

 

Sophia groans, not from the attack but from her mistake. In her fright she forgot all about Thor’s effect. Even worse, she realizes all the Nordic Gods can revive themselves. There’s nothing she can do but defend. “I tune Lady Water and Lady Mist to Synchro Summon Samsara Dragon.” The fortune ladies disappear, replaced by an otherworldly dragon engulfed in blue flames. But Sophia places it in Defense Position, for it has a strong 2600 DEF but meager ATK. “I switch Daegusto Emeral to Defense Position and set two cards facedown.”       

 

It is now Mathias’ turn to press his advantage even further.

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Duel 24 - Rise to Full Height!

 

 

Mathias: 7900 || Sophia: 5700

 

MATHIAS’ TURN: “Your disadvantage only worsens, Sophia. Now you’ll see my real power! I Summon The Phantom Knight of Ragged Gloves and Special Summon The Phantom Knight of Silent Boots, and overlay them to Xyz Summon The Phantom Knights of Break Sword!” Two phantoms burning in blue flames, transparent in all but the attire of their namesake, haunt the field, but quickly fuse into each other to form a black horseman and steed. “I use its effect to destroy itself and one of your spells.” The black horseman slashes its blade in the air. A pillar of blue flame slices and burns Sophia’s card, then rebounds on its own caster like a boomerang.

 

Mathias sees Sophia’s destroyed card is Rise to Full Height. Perplexed, he wonders why she put such a card in her Deck. What purpose could it really serve her? He puts this information in the back of his mind and returns to the duel. “Thanks to Break Sword’s other effect, I welcome Ragged Gloves and Silent boots back to the field.” And the two former phantoms reappear, now 1 Level higher.

 

Sophia gets what he’s up to. He’s trying to summon another Nordic God! “But Break Sword only allows to you to Summon DARK monsters from now on.”

 

“True, but I can easily go around this rule. Watch and learn. I activate my trap, Nordic Spirit Message! I pay 1000 to Summon Valkyrie of the Nordic Ascendant from my Deck.” A winged lady with the most ethereal white dress descends from above. “The effects of all monsters in my field and Graveyard are negated this turn, but it’s a great trade-off.” (Mathias LP 6900) He boldly declares, “ODIN, LORD OF THE AESIR, I SUMMON THEE!” The valkyrie and two phantom knights fly up to the auroras above. A column of rainbow light strikes the ground so violently it shakes, toppling everyone but Mathias over. None other than the elder god of Asgard descends, a white robed king, his one ice blue eye atop a long, snow-white beard.

 

“By Lucifer’s beard, did he really need to be so dramatic?” Maya complains under her breath.

 

“Absolutely.” Yukio says, “A big, hammy monster needs a big, hammy summon, no?”   

 

Mathias declares, “Odin, attack Chanbara with Divine Judgment!” The king of gods fires a beam of fiery light from its massive oak staff.

 

“I activate Harvest Time!” Sophia fights back. “It cancels your attack and skips two rounds of the Duel!” The Nordic God’s attack vanishes instantly.

 

“Not bad, but you still have to deal with Thor! Thor, strike down Chanbara!” The warrior thunder god smashes the speedroid with its hammer. The shock of the blast knocks Sophia off her feet and a bolt of lightning from Mathias’ field spell strikes her down for good measure. (Sophia LP 3400)

SOPHIA’S TURN: The young duelist clutches the sandy ground, then her knees. She slowly staggers to her feet but gets up nonetheless. She draws her next card, looks at it with disappointment bordering heartbreak. She holds five cards in her hand yet none of them hold a candle to the Nordic Gods. “I set two cards facedown. That’s all I can do.”

 

MATHIAS’ TURN: “My onslaught continues! I activate Harpies’ Feather Duster!” A blustering tornado of feathers sweeps away Sophia’s facedown cards. “Then I activate Nordic Spirit Message. I pay 1000, and add Mara of the Nordic Alfar to my hand.” (Mathias LP 5900) “I banish Ragged Gloves and Silent Boots from my Graveyard to add a Fog Blade to my hand and an Ancient Cloak to my Graveyard. Then I banish Ancient Cloak to add Phantom Knight’s Wing to my hand. Odin, Thor! Shatter Samsara Dragon and Daegusto Emeral!” The two gods easily trample over their weak opponents. Two lightning bolts leap from the foggy sky and strike Sophia. (Sophia LP 1400)

 

“I activate Samsara’s effect and Summon your dead Phantom Knights of Break Sword.” Sophia says, and the black phantasmal horseman reappears but on Sophia’s field.

 

SOPHIA’S TURN: “I activate Fortune’s Future. I return Lady Aeter to my Graveyard and draw 2.” She draws, looks at her cards, and sighs in relief. “I activate Swords of Revealing Light!” Seven swords made purely from white light strike the field around the Nordic gods. The gods try to break past the barriers set up by the swords but struggle in vain.

 

MATHIAS’ TURN: “Not bad. You stop me from attack for three turns. You put up a pretty good fight.” Mathias acknowledges Sophia’s skill. “But it’s too little, too late. I activate Odin’s effect to make it impervious to spells.”

 

“No you don’t!” Sophia shouts angrily. “I discard Effect Veiler to negate Odin’s effect!” A boyish youth in white pants and wings sweeps around the elder god, coating it in blue dust, suppressing the god’s powers. Sophia, meanwhile, jumps back, surprised at the vehemence in her own voice.

 

“Don’t think this lets you off the hook.” Mathias reminds her. “You will now see my final Nordic god. I Summon Mara of the Nordic Alfar.” Clouds appear, then condense together, forming a strange humanoid creature. “I tune it with Vanadis of the Nordic Ascendant and Garmr of the Nordic Beasts Synchro Summon Loki, Lord of the Aesir!” Two monsters leap from Mathias’ hand and they climb up to heaven with Mara. Auroras clear the dark sky once more, and the trickster god descends below under a blizzard of snow.

 

Loki is the strangest and most clownish of the Nordic gods, a thin and thinly bearded god dressed in wonky, mismatched clothes and a hat to match. Indeed, it takes one look at Sophia and bawls in laughter. “Really? You summoned me to beat this n00b!” It guffaws to Mathias, “Who uses Fortune Ladies? I mean, who plays Swords of Revealing Light in this metagame?”

 

“Just shut up and duel!” Mathias shouts to his monster.

 

“Hah! Dueling’s your job! STFUGTFO, pleb!”

 

“NO U!”

 

Maximus and Ivy cover their faces in embarrassment. Loki was one of the… stranger god cards out there. Even Sophia forgot about her terror and laughed a bit.

 

SOPHIA’S TURN: But the hard reality of her position in the duel comes back to her soon enough. Mathias has all his Nordic Gods out. They’re too powerful. She falls to her knees, knowing she is completely outclassed. She clutches the sand under her and watches it slip through her fingers. “I can’t do this. It’s too much.”

 

Maya runs to Sophia’s aid but Yukio grabs her, holding her back. Maya violently fights back, hitting Yukio a few times in her wrath, but Yukio holds her in place. “She has to do this on her own!” He shouts to her over and over again, until Maya slackens. “She wanted to handle a challenge on her own. She has to fight Mathias without any help.” Maya sadly agrees, knowing that helping Sophia won’t help her. Sophia has to stand on her own.

 

Sophia finds only one option left, to play Sophia, the Goddess of Rebirth. “But it’s impossible! I can’t gather all the pieces!” She shouts to herself in despair. Then she remembers a story Pegasus told her when she was small, when she just picked up Yugioh. It was about Yugi’s most famous duel with Kaiba. Yugi faced three Blue-Eyes White Dragons with nothing on his field, almost falling in despair. He heard his Grandfather’s voice, telling him of the legendary Exodia, a monster that gives you instant victory if you gather its give pieces. Yugi doubted himself, but his Grandfather told him not to give up. And Yugi persisted to the end, achieving a miracle.

 

Sophia rises to feet. It is only when you have no choice but to be strong do you realize how strong you can be. She has no other choice but to summon Sophia this duel. “I activate Pre-Preparation of rights to add a Ritual Monster and its Ritual Spell to my hand. Next, I play Hymn of Light, Tributing Fortune Lady Earth to Ritual Summon Saffira, Queen of Dragons.” Colorful light strikes the ground as if from a strained glass window. A large fortune lady in earthy robes springs from Sophia’s hand and dissolves into the light above. Then a human dragon materializes from the light, a graceful creature with blue scales and wings. “And I activate her effect.”

 

“Nope. I activate Phantom Knight’s Fog Blade on Saffira.” Mathias denies her. A blade of poisonous smoke pieces the queen of dragons in the hard. It doesn’t die, but languishes in pain.

 

Undaunted, Sophia continues, “I activate Brilliant Fusion. I send Gem-Knight Garnet and a LIGHT monster from my Deck to my Graveyard to Fusion Summon Gem-Knight Seraphinite.” A cluster of precious stones smash into each other into a rough sculpture, and the surfaces break, freeing a knight in sapphire armor. “I Summon Junk Synchron and use its effect to revive Fortune Lady Light from my Graveyard.” The tiny android mechanic and small fortune lady reappear. “I tune Junk Synchron and Seraphinite to Synchro Summon PSY-Framelord Omega!” Mechanic and knight once more assemble themselves as rings and stars and open the portal for the arrival of a tall and lanky cyborg. “I end my turn.”

 

MATHIAS’ TURN: Mathias puzzles over Sophia’s moves. She looks like she’s trying to set up a combo but has no idea what it is. “Hmm. I have no idea what you’re scheming but it won’t work. I activate Nordic Spirit Message. I activate Pot of Avarice. I return Mara, Vanadis, Garmr, Ancient Cloak, and Tanngrisnir to my Deck and draw 2.”

 

Maximus almost leaps up to Mathias in comical irritation. “You played that card to just to annoy me, didn’t you? You know I’ll trade my arm and Deck for it!”

 

Ivy restrains her hot-tempered friend. She gestures apologetically to everyone around her, mouthing silently, “It’s a running gag.” Hoping everyone would understand. They don’t.  

 

Then I pay 1000 to add another Vanadis to my hand.” (Mathias LP 5900 à 4900) “I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Swords!” His own cyclone circles his field, blowing away the glowing white swords. His gods now free, they ready themselves to exact their vengeance.

 

Sophia says, “You won’t attack me this turn. I banish Rise to Full Height in my Graveyard to target Omega, which means you can only attack Omega this turn. Then banish Omega and 1 card in your hand.” The cyborg glows, then vanishes through a worm hole. Mathias removes the card in his hand with a grimace. Since Omega is gone, he can’t attack it, meaning he can’t attack at all.

 

Mathias confesses, “You’re stalling on me? Really? Now that’s annoying. I expected more from you. I end my turn.”

 

SOPHIA’S TURN: Her Omega returns through the wormhole, and Mathias regains his card. “I set one card facedown. Your move.”

 

MATHIAS’ TURN: As soon as he draws, Sophia activates her Omega’s other effect, returning Rise to Full Height to the Graveyard. “Now I banish Rise to Full Height to target Omega and banish Omega again.”

 

“Not this time.” Mathias counters. “I activate Thor to negate all your monsters’ effects.”

 

“No, you don’t. I equip Thor with Trickster Sprite from my Graveyard.” A green fairy with gauzy wings, looking more like an insect than a fairy, flies around Thor, spinning its green web around the giant. The god tries to swat away the annoying creature and break from its bonds but in vain. The sprite’s web is stronger than steel. “As long as my Sprite is on Thor it can’t attack or activate its effect.”

 

Sophia carries out her plan, her psychic cyborg disappearing through a wormhold again. Mathias is in a jam but knows the truth. Sophia can’t actually beat him. All she can do is stall her inevitable defeat. The duel is truly his. He sighs in disappointment. Sophia played a good duel and even her stall tactic was nice, but its not going anywhere for her. He needs to put the dog down. “I set a card facedown. You’re move.”

 

SOPHIA’S TURN: Her Omega returns through the wormhole, and Mathias regains his card. “I activate Secret Village of the Spellcasters.” Sophia’s side of the field dissolves away, molding into new terrain: a pixie village in the middle of a bright green forest. “Now you can’t play any Spell Cards. I end my turn.”

 

MATHIAS’ TURN: He draws, and once more Sophia activates Omega. This is the chance Mathias waited for. “I activate Breakthrough Skill! Your Omega is negated.” Surely enough, the psychic cyborg atrophies, falling to its knee.

 

But Sophia isn’t done with her bag of tricks. “I activate Mystical Space Typhoon!”

 

“You can’t negate a Normal Trap by destroying it.” Mathias begins to chastise her, but Sophia says, “Screw your trap. I’m killing off my own Trickster Sprite.”

 

Her cyclone erases her own card. The green web entangling Thor disappears, but a a green screen shimmers between Mathias’ and Sophia’s monsters, frustrating the Nordic Gods once more. “I can return my destroyed Sprite to my Deck to remove your Battle Phase this turn.” Sophia explains.

 

“So I can’t attack.” Mathias grudgingly acknowledges. “Honestly, that’s fine by me. I activate Lock Out Space. This Continuous Spell stops you from moving any banished cards. I’ve got you cornered. No more stalling for you. Either attack me or die next turn.”

 

SOPHIA’S TURN: “He’s right. I can’t stall anymore. I can’t run away anymore.” Sophia says to herself. She feels herself fall into the pit of despair again but stops herself instantly. “I can’t lose! It’s not just about my self-worth and potential! My entire team is riding on this draw!” She sees the setting sun shine behind Mathias, casting him into a silhouette like he was some kind of angel, but inevitably dying. As the day darkens into knight Mathias too fades away. Unless the evening bonfires are lit she won’t be able to see Mathias at all.   

 

“I’ll defeat any enemy that stands in my way!” Sophia shouts, drawing her last card. “This is it! I activate Instant Fusion! I pay 1000 to Summon Elder Entity Norden from my Extra Deck!” A sealed can appears and pops open, the mist forming into a water god driving a pair of seahorses on its conk shell chariot. “I banish Norden, Saffira, Omega, and Break Sword to Summon Sophia, Goddess of Rebirth!” Sophia’s monsters shatter. Their remains, sparkling like tainted glass, swirl in a vortex around her. The ground violently shakes, yawning wide open. Then light erupts from the ground as if from a volcano and a holy beast climbs out from the very depths of the earth.

 

Mathias and the entire audience gape at the divine creature in awe. It looks like a primitive pagan deity from a time long ago very different from ours. The chimerical beast’s color is brilliant white, shaped like some form of cow, adorned with gold and other precious stones. Its gold and white wings, dotted with wide open, piercing eyes, shine so brightly they turn the evening dusk into noon. On its noble head, just under its great horns, rests a golden headdress shaped like a vulture’s wings.

 

Maya and Yukio pump their fists in their air. That’s their Sophia! That’s their Deck! Their Deck they all built together! Nothing gives Maya more pride than seeing her Sophia grow up.

 

Sophia feels overwhelming power flow from her body to the earth and her monsters and back her. She channels her power into her attack and roars so loud it deafens everyone in shock. “Sophia, banish the field!” And under her command her goddess roars as a lion, spreads her wings, and her many eyes burn a sea of holy flames on the entire dueling grounds, incinerating every card in Sophia and Mathias’ hand, field, and Graveyard. Mathias screams and covers under the flames while his Nordic Gods scream in terror before burning to death under the flames.  

 

Only Sophia remains in play, but not for long. “Fortune Lady Light left the field, which lets me Summon a fortune lady from my Deck. I choose Fortune Lady Umbra!” And the tall, dark sorceress appears beside Sophia’s god. “Lady Umbra, attack Mathias directly!” The sorceress strikes Mathias with hellish flames from her staff. Mathias desperately rolls on the sand as if the flames are not holograms but really burning him. (Mathias LP 2800) “Sophia, finish him off!” The goddess bats her wings, flaming the divine flames under then, and sweeps away Mathias with them. Mathias falls to the ground, burned in agony.  

 

Mathias: 0 || Sophia: 400

 

The crowd gasped in horror while Maximus and Ivy rushed to aid their fallen friend. Maximus clasped his friend’s hand tight while trying to stabilize him while Ivy put bandages on Mathias’ wounds. “Somebody help him!” She shouted in fear.

 

Sophia rushed to Mathias in tears, holding his other hand, while Maya rushed to Ivy’s aid, handing her a first aid kit from her bag. Maximus, noticing Mathias wasn’t breathing, became desperate, pushing his abdomen with his palms and breathing into his mouth.

 

Ivy, realizing normal first aid wouldn’t work, had to make a desperate measure. Ivy commanded, “Maya, Yukio, Sophia, cover us up as best as you can. Nobody should see this but there’s no other option.” She laid her hands on Mathias’ wounded body, chanting in deep, gurgling voice, her face contorted in concentration, her body glowing bright. “I call upon my Ka, Fairie Queen! Channel your power through me! Heal Mathias!”

 

Did Ivy grow white wings? No, it must have been a trick of the eye for they vanished instantly. Mathias’ burns faded away. A miracle! Only a few marks remained as if he just brushed by a fire. Mathias gasped for air, pawing on the ground, coughing while Maximus patted him in the back to help him get any junk out of his throat. Maya, Yukio, and Sophia were all dumbstruck in shock and surprise. None of them believed in the supernatural, yet here it was right in front of them.

 

Recovering, Mathias laughed his heartiest laugh yet. “That was one of the most fun, craziest duels I ever had!” He shook Sophia’s hand with all her strength, nearly breaking the poor girls arm, and handed her the two last Item Cards her team needed. Everyone around him sighed in profound relief, except Sophia, was still in shock. “WAS THAT A GREAT DUEL OR WHAT!” Mathias called out and the whole audience trumpeted yes in a bright fanfare.  

 

The audience cheered at Sophia in a thunderous applause. The sudden shifts in mood were too much for our protagonists. Maya and Yukio wondered if cheering was the best thing to do since Mathias nearly died playing a card game, but Mathias himself and his friends didn’t seem to mind. They even patted them on the back for being such great teammates. Sophia had the same thoughts but also a few more. She couldn’t believe she won the duel and became that much stronger, but also feared her power, the power that nearly killed Mathias.

 

Maya and Yukio hugged Sophia, summoning all their love from the depth of their heats, and Sophia did the same. Maya and Yukio lifted Sophia into the air. Exalted, Sophia could see the entire crowd cheering for her from her height. She never believed anyone could love her or so many people would welcome her into her heart. For the first time in ages, Sophia lead her guards down and embraced the falling night and the revelers around her.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Duel 25 - In and Out of Egypt
 


 
Hassan falls down the rabbit hole and crosses through the looking glass… Darkness… Silence… He feels himself slip in half, rather duplicate, not seeing his twin but feeling him in the pitch black waters.
 
They’re clad in gold and white, white, fair, youthful. The sun in their eyes, looking ahead to the rising sun. They enter a golden temple and meet the priestess in the holies and holies; a woman in white, skin pale as death, long hair dark as night; her forehead high, her nose and eyes odd, her thin red lips wide, grinning as a snake.
 
The princes beg her, “Give us the power to fly to the sun, down in the dark, and back again. Let be immortal, beyond human.” And the priestess flickers her forked tongue, beaconing them forward. The first prince declares, “Give me the power of the gods, to be taller than the greatest obelisk, stronger than the mightiest colossus, a granite giant to outlast all of time!” The priestess smells his princely haughtier, grants his wish; turns him into stone and shatters him into pieces.
 
The second prince implores, “Let me see behind the moon and beyond the stars, let me turn a green leaf and see its other fair side.” The priestess grips him as a vice, twisting his lefts arm. The prince pleads for pardon and mercy. The sorceress smiles, flickers her forked tongue, and inflicts on him a far greater cruelty. She touches his forehead; the prince reels, bursts into a phoenix, flies through the stars and beyond. He sees the universe in seconds, his head opens to every world, he crosses to every star in infinite space, sees the earth and the ants crawling on it bending towards their graves as soon as their born. He sees the infinite empty space between stars, between galaxies rendering them lost in the darkness, the space always infinitely larger than all the stars in the universe.
 
The prince leaves the holy and holies and sees a priest. The priest speaks his knowledge learned through scribes and rites, “The earth lay submerged at the center of a vast cosmic ocean, the Nuun, which itself had a distinct, rough spherical shape. The Nuun did not have any barrier at its ends, but rather the physical nature of the Nuun itself gave it its shape and stopped it from spilling everywhere into chaos.” 
 
The prince and priest travel to a faraway land, stand atop the ruins of a great civilization on top of a rocky hill. They see the Greek ruins and speak of Assyrian kings, great wars, the gods, and slavery. The prince reveals the true evils and slavery. The vexed priest says, “Egypt always had slaves and slavery was just as the gods decreed it; thus it is the cosmic order of the universe.”    
 
The prince speaks. Every bricklayer and king, all common mud, see their gods unique, their empires eternal truths, every king commands his wars, conquests, enslavements under this hubris. “I lost my innocence when humanity lost its innocence to me.” 
 
Hassan clutched the bedposts. Then realized he was awake. He didn’t fall off the bed this time. Wiping the sweat off his forehead, he put on his slippers, feeling his way through the dark room, stumbling to the kitchen, and turns on the light. He was in Chicago, JC’s house, with Jolene and JC, who still slept. Xiaoyi was nowhere to be found.
 
Hassan knew it was morning in Egypt right now, so he fetched some takeout Chinese food and in the fridge. He wondered how the gang was doing in Egypt, chewing his food as he thought as a cow chews cud, his thoughts dark and leaden. Would his father lose his control over Egypt or rule it forever with the Ghouls? He wanted his father to lose, but he feared if that happened father may die. He wanted nothing more than to be with his father again.  
 
Xiaoyi entered the kitchen in a white dress so thin it was almost transparent. She sat on the table, and started eating from Hassan’s carton. Hassan noticed how quiet yet presumptive the move was, not unlike Xiaoyi herself. He stared at Xiaoyi, realizing the similarities her features shared to Maya’s and Sophia’s: their dark, narrow, snake-like eyes, broad foreheads, and full cheeks. Yet their hands were very different. Xiaoyi’s were as small and dainty as a noblewoman’s, Maya’s as a spider’s; palms wide with powerful, long fingers with large fingernails, and Sophia’s as a witch’s; narrow palms with long, thin fingers.
 
Xiaoyi leaned closer to him, bridging what seemed like to be the mental barriers between them. “You want to see your father again, don’t you?”
 
This took Hassan completely off guard. Xiaoyi’s face betrayed the deepest sympathy, her arms very warm, forgiving Hassan for his betrayal and cowardice for leaving his father.
 
“Yes, I very much do. I love him but I hate what he does. Now he’s a dictator who probably aligned himself to an entire crime syndicate. People die every day under his mad quest to create a great Egypt and, worst of all, I got all you guys into this. I thought fighting the Ghouls was enough but knowing my father he’ll crack down with his army once he’s frustrated. I don’t know how Maya, Yukio, and Sophia will defend themselves. They could really die. But I don’t want to defend them because if they retaliate father may die.”
 
Xiaoyi said, “You’re father is a soldier. He knew the risks of politics and war and willingly accepted them. Maya, Yukio, and Sophia aren’t the only ones chipping an ante in this tournament. Heishin bet his most precious cards too. This situation may be something bigger than your father’s life. His predecessor knew that too.”
 
“The old President?”
 
“Yes, and he lost his life from Heishin playing the game, fighting for what he believed in. He imprisoned corrupt politicians, brought back a multiple parties in Egypt, and made peace with Israel, a peace your father could easily destroy. He wasn’t always the feeble old man your father easily broke with his gun.”
 
Xiaoyi paused as if she wanted to say something of gravest importance but wanted to phrase it the right way, understanding the power her words would have. She held his hands with her own. “You have a duty to your country, to all the people of Egypt, not just your father. You can cure Egypt of its sickness and return it to relative peace. It will be hard, dirty work but we’re all behind you. You’re father never believed in you were capable of anything but we do. We know you are a warrior greater than your father.”
 
Hassan felt a fire burn in his chest and felt for the first time in his life he had a real chance to prove himself. No longer would he be under his father’s boot but would live beyond his father’s dreams. He nodded solemnly. “I agree. I’ll go back. I know colleagues who used to serve my father but who now defected. We could make an ally with all the duelists in Egypt and make a counter revolution.”
 
“See! You were always a good soldier.” Xiaoyi said warmly.
 
Hassan laughed at himself. “Man, I didn’t know I limited myself in so much.”
 
“What do you mean?” Xioayi asked.
 
“I mean, astrology is one example. Jolene is really into New Age stuff and I was into it myself. Yesterday she rattled off everyone’s birthdays and zodiac signs, and I can’t help but think how I put myself in a small box believing in a bunch of conventions and stereotypes that have nothing to do with reality. My father does the same thing to himself, but his boxes are his military and religious ambitions.”
 
“Go on.”
 
“My birthday is on December 18. Yours is December 11, Maya’s is December 15, Sophia’s is December 10. Astrologers call us ‘Sagittarians’. Sagittarians are optimistic and freedom loving, happily charging forward through life to expand their horizons. They are silly, blunt, and simple-minded, with hoof-in-the-mouth disease, lovable and trustworthy but gullible and naive. They love to travel but hate commitments and have shallow emotions.”
 
Hassan looked over his shoulder to see Jolene and JC fast asleep. “But as I observe you three and myself I realize how little that description holds up to scrutiny. But it’s not just us. My father, born on May 4, is a ‘Taurian’, yet he loves war. He doesn’t indulge in food or art at all. Yukio, born on Mary 23, a ‘Gemini’, must be scatterbrained and superficial, but he isn’t. Jolene, born on September 13, is a ‘Virgo’, but doesn’t care about neatness. JC, born February 20, is a ‘Piscean”, but has no traits of a dreamy artist.”
 
Xiaoyi barely gave a knowing smile in amusement. “So that’s what the modern Pharisees say.”
 
“Explain. Don’t speak in riddles.” Hassan insisted.
 
Xiaoyi explained, “Reading your horoscope is like listening to a televangelist in a megachurch or rallying behind your favorite political party. You dull your intellect and emotions to join a congregation, believing there is a ‘proper’ place for you in this monstrous world. Want to find your soul mate and live happily ever after? You might as well play MASH. It’s more accurate and costs nothing.”
 
Hassan considered Xiaoyi’s words, then said, “I’ve been too timid all my life, following people I really hate. Maybe it’s because father always told me how disappointing I was, so I never believed in myself.”
 
“Maybe it’s time to change.”
 
“Maybe it is.” Heishin got up and started packing his bags. “Tomorrow I leave for Egypt.” Before he went to bed, he realized something: Xiaoyi, Maya, and Sophia were all left-handed.
 
--------------------------------------------------------------
 
DAY 7 : 6:01 AM : LUXOR
 
Maya and Yukio heard a loud knocking from downstairs. Mathias called for them out from below, saying he really needed to talk to them. Yukio groaned, taking his hand away from Maya’s breast, while Maya untangled her legs from his. Sophia rose from a separate bed, rubbing the gunk from her eyes. What did Mathias have to say that was so urgent?
 
Mathias, and Maximus and Ivy, showed our heroes exactly what, making them swear to never say a word of what they heard or saw. Mathias and his comrades held each other’s arms as if in prayer. Our heroes couldn’t tell if it they feeling some aura from them or if it was the rising sun’s warming rays, but it was a deeply powerful presence. Our heroes looked toward the rising sun and saw something extraordinary! A dragon bathed in fiery gold, a swordswoman in the purest armor, and a dragon of ice and fire soared through the rising sun as if climbing its rays, peaking at the sky with the highest zephyrs. Then they vanished; everything was over in a few seconds.
 
Our heroes were astonished, but Mathias explained it to them. “I noticed Sophia’s latent powers when she dueled me. She almost killed me back then!” Mathias gave an echo of a garrulous laugh just remembering it. “That was intense! And I suspect you two have powers too. We,” He gestured to Maximus and Ivy, “Are known as the Saints. We destroy arrogant champions, as you know, but, more importantly, we defend humanity and the earth from evildoers of all kinds, human and demons.”
 
Maya raised her eyebrow in severe skepticism. “Powers? Explain.”
 
“A Doubting Thomas to the end like Kaiba himself, I see. Very well.” Mathias said, “The occult is real. Magic exists. It’s a fact. Deal with it. One type of magic is summoning your Ka, as practiced by the Ancient Egyptians, who believed it to be the spark of life. It entered a baby at birth, animating his body molded from clay by the gods, and left at death. The Ba is the personality, no, the very person herself. When a person surpassed their trials in the Underworld, Ka and Ba merged together again, forming the Akh, or intellect; a complete soul. Maximus, will you?”
 
Maximus took over his comrade’s part, “What does this have to do with magic? The Egyptians thought the Ba could nourish the Ka to the point of it taking a bodily form. They thought a Ka could either be good, a spirit, or evil, a monster. This was how Pharoah Atem, wielder of the Gods, battled Bakura, King of Thieves, wielder of Diabound and Zorc. Today, Ka are your Monster Cards, and Ba are your Life Points. Sometimes you can channel your Ka without making it into a monster, as Ivy did to heal Mathias.”
 
Ivy took over, “But people use their Ka beyond magic. Each time you help a friend or do some other good deed, it nourishes your Ka, casts light on your Ba, and makes you a better person. If you do evil, your Ka grows darker and corrodes your Ba, eating you from the inside out. Each affirmation of life enlargens you and, believe it or not, you’ve nourished your Ka for a long time. The Ka and Ba nourish each other, your Ka growing brighter, your Ba growing stronger. It even happens when you play music and duel for what you believe in.”
 
Maya and Yukio talked to each other for a moment, Yukio then saying, “So your Ka is almost like your creative live force.”
 
“If that makes sense, yes.” Ivy said.
 
Mathias grew solemn and gloomy, which told everyone that whatever he would say would be of utmost seriousness. “Matthew has a Ka of his own, Horus the Black Flame Dragon. It takes years of training to wield such magic, or Heka, but Matthew took the quick route. An evil person forced his Ka to grow and hatch, but bound his life to his own. You must be prepared for Matthew, the Ghouls, and the wicked beings behind him.”
 
“How do you know any of this?” Maya asked.
 
“We cannot disclose such classified information.”
 
“Convenient.”
 
“Enough sarcasm. Don’t break the fourth wall just yet. You’re Kas are strong, but underdeveloped. We don’t have time to train but we can discover your Ka, stir it a little bit, make it a bit stronger.”
 
Mathias instructed for our heroes to put their hands together while he clasped his hands over theirs, with Maximus and Ivy putting their hands on top of his to support it. Everyone closed their eyes, concentrating, diving down the well of their beings.
 
Mathias rides through open space, streaking through the stars, a burning comet. A rainbow road across the horizon, a warrior; a burning bright blue-white sun, races across the road on a motorcycle, trailing stardust behind him. Further and further, he rides to the future, flying higher and higher to his destiny as a true duelist: Starlight Quasar Knight.
 
Up, up, away from the road, Mathias sees the farthest of stars and galaxies, and the limitless space they all swim in, a space always infinitely larger than all the stars in the universe. He flies further to the edge of the universe, the stars glowing gnats at the surface of a great bond, all stars and galaxies gathering together. To the event horizon: the stars are a body. Beyond the starry tent he sees a dragon, brighter than all the stars, blacker than the deepest space: Cosmo Dragon.
 
He follows the light beyond to a graveyard; dark, sorrowful, a fog fills the air, the smell of dust and death. A glint, a crack of gold, reaches him; the sun rises, filling the graveyard with light, shattering the fog, banishing death. A dark dragon climbs the sky with the sun; a skeleton of black bones, its insides on fire, singing, the whole world, the whole universe within the fire inside, the rising sun casts a ring around it, making it even darker and more glorious. The dragon looks directly down at him, right through him, right to his soul; the only being to ever really see him: Deadstar Dragon.
 
Mathias cast himself away, gasping, as did Maximus and Ivy. They never saw such Ka in their lives: neither spirits nor demons, neither good nor evil. The Saints knew their task to investigate the events at Egypt and discern humanity’s destiny was of the highest seriousness, but only now did they know the weight of their task.
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  • 4 weeks later...

Duel 26 - Final Forshadow



AUTHOR’S NOTE: I changed and refined the plot so it makes more sense. Sir Carter, Matthew’s grandfather, never owned the Book of Isis. He just owned a few copied manuscripts, fragmented over millennia of time, and a draft of clues gathered all over Egypt hinting at where the Book is and how to get it. Sensing his impending death at the hands of the Ghouls, he entrusts Pegasus with the documents, who destroys them. The Ghouls, undeterred, still scour Egypt for the lost Book.
 
Seto Kaiba kept his all female staff of computer programmers busy the entire afternoon, as he did at all times every day since the tournament began. Realizing how taxing the tournament would be on his workers, Kaiba allowed a generous schedule of morning and nighttime shifts to be enacted, but the women were still fatigued and exhausted; they worked diligently anyway. This didn’t impress Kaiba much, as he worked before sunrise and after sunset each day, sleeping for at most four hours, intensely driven as he was. Mokuba Kaiba, however, encouraged the women with kind words and increased their pay for the duration of the tournament.
 
As for fulfilling the regular duties of a CEO, Kaiba occupied himself too much on the tournament. He left Isono, his trusted underling, to answer all questions at the desk. But Isono was not to worry. Kaiba would employ him as judge during the finals, as he did years ago at Battle City.
 
As for Pegasus, co-host of the tournament, he soon appeared on one of the oversized screens of the computer room, announcing his presence in booming, childish voice, “Hello, dear Kaiba boy! Keeping up with the tournament so far? I know I certainly have!”
 
“Of course.” Came Kaiba’s gruff and terse reply.
 
“Naturally, you’re such a grumpy bear.” Pegasus feigned sadness with a sigh, before brightening up again, “You know we would do great together in a children’s show. You know what a whiteface and redface clown are, Kaiba boy? Well, the whiteface clown is the center of the comedy, a lively character who starts a routine. The redface clown is a contrasting character; he bungles the routine, on accident or on purpose, and everyone has a good laugh. I know there’s an adult sitcom about Malik and Bakura, directed by a tragicomic personage by the name of… what was it? Martin Billany! Yes!”
 
“Get to the point, Pegasus. Notice anything unusual about the tournament? Did the Ghouls come any closer to finding the Book of Isis?”
 
Pegasus sighed, this time for real, and became even more solemn than Kaiba. “No, thankfully. As you know, Sir Carter never actually held the Book of Isis, just a few copied fragments passed down over millennia and a draft of clues gathered all over Egypt hinting to where it might be. Sir Carter thought he could guard the secret documents, but it cost him his life. He gave them to me before he died. I destroyed them.”
 
“What?” The news shocked and dissapointed Kaiba deeply. He thought of getting the forbidden book himself for his own purposes.
 
“Of course I destroyed them. Why would I risk the Ghouls finding them and getting the Book themselves? And I strongly suspect you want the Book yourself, Kaiba boy.” Pegasus changed his tone further, becoming dark and sarcastic. “I don’t know why you want it. Maybe you want to open a door to the afterlife to settle your obsessive grudge with Atem beyond the grave. Maybe you want to unlock Maria’s powers. Maybe you want world domination as your stepfather did. Who knows? But make no mistake! I’m watching your every move!”
 
Kaiba seethed with rage, matching Pegasus’ burning glare with his own. Nothing angered him more than when someone reminded him, let alone compared him, to his stepfather. That evil man ruined his childhood, marked him with the scars of abuse, and forever cast him under the evil spirit’s shadow. Gozaburo Kaiba was long dead, but his ghost would always live on.  
 
Kaiba had no refutation against Pegasus. He did his best to hide his true self so no one could see through him, but the silly dandy Pegasus of all people always pierced past his defenses. Kaiba had no choice but to sulk.
 
He cast his icy gaze at the hundreds of monitors in the room, eying every duelists’ profile and history. Maria was one duel away from the finals, which made him proud of her. Mathias and his crew were way ahead of everyone else. Rex and Weevil were almost back to square one, as if those worthless loser dogs ever had a chance. Stella and her team progressed well. Maya and her crew just defeated Mathias in a duel and advanced to the finals. Such news grabbed Kaiba’s attention. Mathias never lost before. It was unprecedented.
 
But he also saw their difficult duels against Rex and Weevil. Kaiba could barely contain his scorn and ridicule; that they struggled so hard against such lowlives, but they beat Mathias too? How such dregs, such deadbeat duelists, make victories beyond their worth aggrieved him. They were agitators of the people, dirty street rats that belonged to the masses: bodega owners, minimum wage workers, the homeless, drug addicts, people trapped in project buildings, local politicians, and other untouchables.
 
Pegasus noticed Kaiba’s fixation, goading him, once again a flirt, “You may be looking at the next Yugi.”
 
Humph! A response was beneath a man like Kaiba. Such ignoble people who excelled in life were merely clever predators, like snakes or wolves in a pack. They had the souls of thieves and conmen, lacking any understand or respect for the higher values of life; the honor of a true duelist meant nothing to them!
 
Yet…
 
Maya and her many friends over the years were slowly changing the game, and in his heart Kaiba didn’t know how to feel about it. Maya was an impious scoundrel who didn’t play by the rules, but a bold one, changing the dueling world before she even became America’s national champion. As one mushroom appears, others grow around it. Stella and her team rose in Iceland, Miguel Garcia became second best in America, and Juliette defeated Donatien in France.
 
Under a more diverse society of duelists the game itself changed as well. Chaos Control and Monarch decks were no longer the law of the land in America and Europe lost its D Heroes as well. A large palette of diverse decks and strategies exploded on the scene. Gameplay sped up and a power creep made combos much more lethal. Since Kaiba retired he locked himself in a tower, watching his Blue Eyes White Dragons become obsolete. Now all the great new duelists gathered into a mighty storm, their lightning shattering the tower, allowing him at last a chance to walk free.
 
He thought of himself and other genius prodigies who rivalled: Noah, Siegfried, Tenma. All of them had more native intelligence, excelling in academic subjects while Kaiba struggled. But that was how he became the best. He knew what it meant to struggle and to have guts, to keep trying when the chips were down and win. Maya, as he understood her through her records, knew the same. He couldn’t say any of that for Maria but desperately wished in his heart he could.
 
Absorbed in his gloomy contemplations, Kaiba didn’t even notice that Pegasus left him.
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
DAY 7 : 10:05 AM : LUXOR
 
“Guys! Guys! I made it to the finals! Woohoo!” Stella rushed to embrace our heroes, who woke up from a nap, able to begin their day proper.
 
Yukio noticed she was alone without her team mates, for he said, “Why are you all alone? Shouldn’t your team stick together?”
 
“I wanted to tour Luxor a bit but none of them wanted it, so they stuck with Mathias and his crew instead.”
 
“Actually, we wanted to tour Luxor ourselves. Want to come with us?” Maya offered.
 
Stella agreed with zeal and joined the party. They climbed in the nearest tour bust, setting off to the Ramesseum, their first destination. Maya poked Yukio in the chest with her shoulder. “How does feel being the only man for so long?”
 
Yukio shrugged her playful blow aside, laughing, “Feels great being the only rooster in the henhouse. I have an exotic, Egyptian harem all to myself. No gentleman is luckier.”
 
“In your dreams!” Stella punched Yukio in the shoulder, and the two started parrying each other’s blows in sport. The jealous Maya cut between the two, insisting Yukio was only hers to hit as she pleased. Sophia laughed as the two hens pecked and scratched each other for their man’s attention. Yukio spread his arms and legs wide, enjoying the catfight. There was no reason to interfere.
 
The Ramesseum was less a temple and more an entire city or village. That was how it appeared from far above. The group did not have that benefit. They could only see the colossi of Rameses, the shadows of the larger than life person who built the monuments in his name. The king was as imposing, imperious, and distant as always, his shadow cast darkness unbroken after three thousand years.  
 
“’My name is Ozymandias, King of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’ Nothing beside remains. Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare the lone and level sands stretch far away.” Yukio recited Shelley’s famous poem named after the pharaoh.
 
“We wonder, - and some Hunter may express wonder like ours, when thro’ the wilderness where London stood, holding the Wolf in chance, he meets some fragment huge, and stops to guess what powerful but unrecorded race once dwelt in that annihilated place.” Maya concluded with Smith’s work, seeing with her inner eye New York City gone except for its temples: the World Trade Center, Wall Street, and the Empire State Building.
 
“Yukio, we need to put those poems to music.” Maya suggested to her friend.
 
“Classic or rock?” Yukio queued in.
 
“Both.”
 
“Excellent!”
 
Sophia wandered everywhere, peeking everywhere she could with her camera like a voyeur while Maya thought. Of everything. The tournament. Her future. Yukio. A year ago she came back to New York to duel the regional champion. Before the duel she crashed in Jolene’s apartment to not pay money for a hotel room. They played a game called “watch the news”, one of their usual stints, where they watched CNN and took a shot of whisky every time the news station lied or neglected a story. They never watched Fox News on principle. That would be too easy, and fatal.
 
Naturally, the two got drunk and ate pot cookies. The drug cocktail let them open up to each other in ways they never did before. Somewhere in the middle Jolene talked about her new boyfriend. Maya confessed she liked Yukio but shook her head. She said, “Love is bullshit. Women sigh over romantic love and some magical, profound bond you have with someone. It’s infatuation and nothing more. After a few months women whine to their girlfriends over how their exes were such jerks. ‘Why, oh why, couldn’t I find a soul mate as pretty as Ryan Gosling, rugged as Chris Hemsworth, and responsible as Don Cheadle?’
 
I met Donatien when he was a foreign exchange student. I fell for him, fooling myself into thinking he was a sweet gentleman-rugged badboy who I could share my deepest feelings with. His sweetness was a ruse. I helped him in his studies, his pro dueling career, and even let him live with me, but he never once supported my work. The sex was all about him – he even tortured me during the act – I was just his fleshlight to help him jerk off, and he cheated on me in the name of ‘sexual enlightenment’. I finally kicked him out. We hit each other and smashed the entire apartment before he left.
 
I never got close to anyone after that. Even if romantic love was real I can’t take it. I’m not worthy of love or even friendship. I am a disgusting, worthless person. If people can’t see that already they will know for sure when they get close. grape to your heart’s content, Jolene. But never love. The heart is a weakness, the flaws of the mind. Nothing more.”
 
Hearing Maya’s tirade, Jolene countered, “The heart is not a weakness. Our emotions, our needs to bond with people, are why we live in the first place. They give us the strength to live. People can have deep love with each other. I had it with Yukio and you can too. He is a good man who can offer you so much but you need to risk being vulnerable if you ever want his love.”
 
“Yes, our feelings give us meaning and even strength,” Came Maya’s reply, “but they’re tricks in the end. If Yukio is so great why did you break up with him? Love is worthless. It blinds you to a person’s true nature; leaves nothing but tears.”    She grunted, taking two shots. “I’m not a fun drunk girl.”
 
“What’s wrong?”
 
Maya snapped out of it. The empathetic Sophia looked at her in concern. Sweet child. Maya didn’t talk about these things with anyone, but she made the exception with Sophia, someone she knew she could trust. She told her everything.
 
Sophia thought about it grimly, but said, “I’m surprised someone as determined as you would give up so easily. You can reason all you want but all it does is hide your crying heart. Yes, love is rarer than a blue moon, but friendship is better anyway. It can last forever. It’s the only true love there is.”
 
As the group left for Deir El-Medina, Maya vowed to give love one more chance. The ancient village was a maze of old brick huts of only two rooms, the second room only for the stove. Yukio wondered how any man, let alone the king of the henhouse himself, would have any privacy in a family. It was a wonder the stove didn’t burn the house down or explode. – The boiler room from his memory exploded again, his father burned alive in the blast.  He shuddered at the thought. Perhaps he should acknowledge his pain. But to whom?
 
The group entered the Tomb of Sennedjem, marveling the vignettes on the tomb walls, so pristine as if painted only a few minutes ago. Workers reaped a bountiful harvest in one scene, in another Re takes the form of a cat to slay Apep in the form of a snake. A stranger marvel was the outside of the tomb, marked by miniature pyramids, which the group saw as they left.
 
Back in the bus they went to see another village: Kul Elna, a tomb robber’s village. Worker’s houses littered the village everywhere but had none of the warmth of El-Medina. Many villages were the homes of tomb-robbers but Kul Elna was one of the few villages where everyone was in the game; where they arguably created the first national black market from riches stolen from tombs. Either way, all the villagers were massacred, ninety-nine used to create the Millennium Items. The rest is history. Kul-Elna held only one tomb, the resting place of the Millennium Items, but it was closed off, having collapsed a long time ago.  
 
And, at last, the Valley of the Kings. The group drove there by car down a winding sand road, the cliffs sharp, austere, tall, forbidding. Inside the tomb of Seti I they went, Sophia taking as many pictures as they could, while Maya and Yukio told all sorts of morbid and inappropriate jokes. Stella found them very funny. Maya teased her further, telling her how erotic it would be to have sex in a tomb, joining the lewd with the morbid. Yukio joked how Maya was as tasteless as she was kinky. Maya rejoined him, challenging him to join a threesome by kissing Stella in the lips. Yukio cried in distress and fell to the tomb floor, pretending to drink poison and die. The three laughed at the entire show. Maya giggled, “Romeo to the end. What a sucker.”
 
Sophia didn’t understand any of it. Was Maya trying to make Yukio jealous? Why didn’t Yukio take offense at her transgression? They danced and made out a few days ago. Maybe Yukio and Maya liked open relationships or didn’t think making out meant you were in a relationship with someone. Maybe she was thinking way too hard. It certainly wasn’t the way she did things. People do strange things against their best interests all the time.
 
The group spotted a small man dressed in a while jellabiya, his face covered by a white veil. He gestured at them to come see him away from the tourists and they followed him, wearily. “Are you in the tournament?” He asked, voice altered to a very low pitch. When the group said yes, he continued. “The Ghouls will attack every city in Egypt, including Luxor, to wipe out every duelist in the tournament. But Hassam returned to Egypt to stage a counter-revolution. He wants to overthrow his father and beat the Ghouls. You duelists must aid Hassan and defeat the Ghouls.”
 
“How can we trust you? How do we know you’re not a Ghoul setting us up as prey? Remove your veil!” Maya challenged him.
 
The man declined her challenge. “I’m sorry. I cannot. I only wish to warn you to keep you safe. But I can offer you a token of my trust in you.” He tossed Maya a small wooden box. The group opened it to discover some of the most powerful cards in the game: Ultimaya T’zolkien, the Sacred Beasts and their fusion, and others. “We will meet again. Farewell.” And the mysterious man disappeared.
 
 Sophia expressed her uneasiness. “I have a very bad feeling about this.”
 
“I do too.” Maya said. “He’s chivvying us into a trap. We can’t lose against the Ghouls but if we win we go down the path he wants us to.”
 
Yukio put his hand on Maya’s shoulder. “We no choice but to follow him and, hopefully, prepare ourselves for whatever trap he has.”
 
When the team returned to the workers’ village they told Mathias and his crew what happened. Maximus advised them to not use any card the man gave them except as a last resort and the finals. Stella thanked Maya and company for the touring trip and returned to her group.
 
Our group retired back to their little room upstairs, thinking about everything that happened today. Maya thought of the tournament and her future. If she lost, she lost everything. She would be without money and without a home. If she won, where would she go next? Yukio thought of his father’s death, bearing on him like a vice, growing tighter and tighter by the day.
 
He put it off again. He took his guitar out. “Let’s put Shelley’s and Smith’s songs into music.” So he started to sing and string out a few chords, improvising. Eb diminished sounded nice, but not with D major. He tried C minor, then B major, and then B major 7. Now he was going somewhere. Yukio saw the music as a fog where simply, blurry colors materialize; in this case a swamp green. For the lines “My name is Ozymandias, King of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!” he chose F major seven chord where E-flat is augmented to E, first inversion.
 
Maya’s ears, sharp as a bat’s, perked up. “Aha! You’re stealing from Beethoven’s third symphony!” She cried. “I thought you didn’t like classical music.”
 
 “But seriously,” Yukio said. My chords are better for the middle of the music, not the beginning.
 
“Maybe.” Maya turned to the chalk drawing on the ground that was supposed to be a piano. The opening lines could be played like in the Dante Symphony, but with trombones and a better melody since Liszt sucks.” She played two sharp, bold octaves, shouting a harsh, cold declaration with Yukio’s chord, except she changed the F major to F minor and turned the G to G-flat. This music conjured the very dessert outside.
 
Yukio praised her for the idea but gave his caveat. “There has to be a better way of saying ‘Ozymandias’ then a melodic turn.” And he tried an arching melody; two notes rise, “OZ-Y”, a held note, high above, “MAAAAAAAAN” two eight notes descend as the cruel master lashes his slave, “DI-AS!” Maya and Sophia applauded him for his great idea and had some more fun.  
 
Their celebration finished, Yukio prepared to sleep on his cot, but his demons only returned as usual. Maya sat next to him. “You’ve looked very troubled these days. I didn’t say anything back then because it would have been awkward. But tomorrow we battle. No doubt can cloud our mind.”
 
Yukio rubbed his eyes together. The pain grew too great. He needed to release it. “Alright. I’ll do it.” Sophia appeared beside him to hear his tale. “I feel very guilty.” Yukio confessed. “My family runs a restaurant in New York, as you know. I always wanted to change the world, fire people’s hearts with immortal music, and fight for justice around the world. But father would have none of it. He wanted me to run his restaurant with him. How could I live such a lowly life when I wanted to be a hero? When I was sixteen I got into a big fight with dad and ran away. The boiler room later exploded, killing him. It was a cold winter so we abused the boilers too much.
 
Now, I always feel awful and afraid.” Tears welled in his eyes. “I feel like a spoiled brat for running away. If I didn’t, I could have saved him. But I feel so angry, too. How can a parent try to control their kid’s life? He always wanted me to be his clone, to blindly obey until he died. I apologized to mom many times. I wish I could apologize to him.”
 
“You still can.” Maya said. This gave Yukio an idea. Our heroes bought a few flowers just before the stores closed. Yukio placed the flowers on a large rock, serving as makeshift symbol of a grave. He vowed to his father’s shade, “Dad, I’m sorry I couldn’t be the son you wanted. But I can still walk down my own road and be the best person I can. I can fight for all the right things and still make you proud.” He wiped away all his tears. All was done.
 
Right before everyone went to sleep, Maya leaned towards him, staring at his eyes. “Yukio, I must confess too. For a long time I have been cynical, angry, and selfish. Mother died, dad hit me until I bled, and people on the whole are such wicked hypocrites; and a convoluted mess of base fears and desires. I felt there was nowhere to go and nothing worth doing. But you truly believe in honesty and justice. You really are a hero. You and Sophia give me hope.”
 
Maya pinned his arms down on the bed, hovering above him. They looked into each other’s eyes. Fiery, righteous brown met fiery, devilish brown. And they kissed.
 

[***THE FOLLOWING CONTENT HAS BEEN CENSORED BY 4KIDS ENTERTAINMENT. WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE. HAVE A NICE DAY. :)***]

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  • 3 weeks later...

Duel 27 - The Storm Awakens

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqckLrB92Ts

 

It was twilight, just before sunrise, the place where sky and earth meet glowing in pink and blue paints. Gernand arrived to the arena where his schemes would manifest; he was so excited he even dared not to hide. But still, he was not fond of traveling these days, and once he cemented his great, massive body on a chair he refused to ever sit up. Neither did he have his small, mysterious apprentice to aid him. She was gone, but Matthew took her place.

 

Heishin left his office in Cairo to oversee the coming battle in Luxor himself, which was expected, as he was always a military man. He even perched the obese Gernand on top of the steep canyons in the Valley of the Kings just so his ringleader could have a front row seat and be safe from the conflict at the same time. But Heishin held his radio close at hand, ready to enter the fray the instant he would have to.  

 

Gernand snapped his fingers and Heishin’s men served him a massive meal enough to feed ten men: ten cooked ducks, fifteen cups of coffee, five liters of win, and seven dessert cakes. The ogre was all too ready to feast on every morsel, his jaw yawning like the lion’s mouth of Hell, but he did complain how there was not enough food for him.  

 

Heishin thought how he should bring his soldiers in to capture but not kill the duelists, and voices his plan to his overseer, but Gernand brushed it aside: “Why rush things so? Bring the Ghouls to battle first; let them torment their prey in a Dark Game, let the lions toy with the Christians you wish to sacrifice in our makeshift coliseum, play with the helpless animals before sacrificing them to the darkness.”

 

He brandished a greasy duck drumstick in front of the general, trying his hardest not to eat it so he could use it as an exhibit for his pedagogy. “So many little ducklings meet a grisly end before they can even grow into delicious mallards. All male babies and deformed female babies grown in your modern hatcheries are ground up alive in macerators. Nature is less cruel but nonetheless a most harsh mistress; the little runts die of the cold at night, the ibis, crocodile, and catfish swallow them whole, or they catch a contagion and become weak; the mother banishes the youngster from her brood lest the group suffers from the ills of one individual, and the little one is left to die amongst the elements.”

 

Gernand noticed Heishin’s patience but couldn’t care less, taking his time to fasten a handkerchief over his neck. “Do you not see the sublime beauty of Nature in this situation? We are the hungry crocodile while the duelists below us are the little ducklings, cast adrift with no old mallard to protect them. They can only huddle together in fear and desperately chirp for their mothers to save them as we clamp our jaws on our victims and devour them.”

 

Heishin cleared his throat, trying to put a stop to the cruel man’s fantasies. “I kill only when I must, not out of pleasure.” He said. “I only want this battle to be over soon. I am a man of honor. It gives me no satisfaction killing people who are basically innocent and defenseless.”

 

Gernand smirked at the general’s quaint remarks then gestured to Matthew. “Boy, do not forsake the dark powers my apprentice awakened within you. Maya desecrated your grandfather’s grave four years ago just so she could duel against you and win. She might as well have killed him herself. You’re grandfather confided in Pegasus to help him keep the Book of Isis safe only to be betrayed.” He took only a second to contrive an entire story to lead Matthew astray, “But the old man had the Book of Isis reburied in Egypt just before his death. Help us find the Book of Isis and you will gain all the powers of darkness to kill Pegasus and avenge your precious grandfather’s death.”

 

Matthew’s blood boiled, his tan face growing red, as Gernand wanted, but Matthew had other thoughts. He knew Gernand was less than trustworthy and, while he did grieve for his grandfather’s death and despised Maya for adding insult to injury, he wanted more than simple revenge. He wanted the truth: about his grandfather’s life, his forbidden dealings, the facts of his death, and, most of all, the Book of Isis itself. What mysteries did such a forbidden text guard? He knew his rivals held the same dark curiosity but he would unlock every secret first.    

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

DAY 8 : 9:18 AM : LUXOR

 

Maya and Yukio still embraced each other, sometimes planting soft kisses on one another: on the lips, the cheeks, the neck, and chest. Throughout their lives they always felt alone and took it for granted they had no one but themselves to rely on. Even Yukio, who believed in the power of friendship more than anyone else, didn’t realize his own stubbornness and pride. But now both lovers realized they need not be alone, and they were never alone to begin with. They always had each other.

 

But would that bond last today’s test? They went to the rooftop, still nude, of the white building of clay and mortar to see the sunrise. Pink and blue turned to indigo, then orange, and finally fiery gold with sky blue. It was a beautiful sight but the air felt odd. The couple, especially bellicose Maya, expected a certain static tension in the air, the gathering hum and darkness before the storm, but this day looked no different than any other.

 

Sophia climbed up to the rooftop, took one glance at them, and covered her eyes and red cheeks in embarrassment, her modesty offended. “Oh my God! Can you two put your clothes on, please?”

 

“You’re not a little girl, Sophia. Deal with it.” Maya curtly rebuked her.

 

“It’s not just me. Mathias wants everyone gathered at the square now.” Sophia tossed a cell phone at Maya’s bare lap. Maya read the txt message and gave a sly, even slightly wicked grin. The great battle would test every ability she had and would herald even greater battles to come.  She trembled with anxiety of all the wrong things that could happen but at the same time, how could she not tremble with excitement?

 

All remaining duelists in the tournament gathered in the village square while Mathias, surrounded by soldiers, gave them a briefing. Both Heishin’s troops and the Ghouls would arrive to attack them. The Saints would use their powers to protect the duelists from the crude weapons of guns and bombs but in Dark Games the duelists would only have their wills and wits by their side. All duelists would stay put in a tight group and defend each other. The village would be their fortified position. The battle would take place there.

 

A young man stood just behind Matthew as a leader – None other than Hassan himself! – Receiving aid from a renegade officer, ready to take Egypt back. Mathias finished the briefing. Every soldier instantly surrounded the duelists, shielding them in a cage of camouflage colors.  

 

The briefing upset Maya. Always when the armies of mighty kings and soldiers fought, in all wars ancient and the modern, innocent people would get caught in the middle and suffer the most. Like the refugees and deformed children of so many drone bombings, the villagers would get in the crosshairs. Matthew ordered the villagers to evacuate but Maya was not reassured.

 

There was no more time to worry. All the duelists pointed to the rising sun in awe. Did they see a real-life monster soaring among the sunbeams? By Re, it was a mighty dragon of silver and red, Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8! And flying on its left side was a dragon of deep blue, a moon beside the sun, Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier!

 

The sight took everyone’s breath away in pure astonishment and wonder, but before they could even blink the black flame dragon hailed a storm of fire and brimstone on the village, shattering the brick huts and buildings into dusty rubble, raging fire engulfing the small streets. Next the ice dragon dove under, flying over the village, beating its wings, and ice joined fire.

 

“Stay on formation!” Hassan and Mathias said, repeating it over and over again. Soldiers and duelists followed orders, huddling close to each other, buffering themselves as a tortoise shell, bearing the brunt of the fire and ice.

 

The supernatural storm faded and our tiny army could breath. Then stranger wonders of nature happened. Bright noon blotted into night. Dark clouds shrouded the entire village. Everyone could barely breath, as if a cork was jammed down their throats, and shivered in the cold. Mathias answered their worries with a warning. The Ghouls began a dark game, playing to kill. The only way to beat them was to duel them.

 

Stella gasped in disbelief, “Dark games are real!?”

 

Ranks of people shrouded in black cloaks and hoods appeared; the procession of a death cult. Hassan and his superior ordered their soldiers to ready their guns to attack, but of no use. Two Ghouls came out on front, taking off their veils. It was Matthew and Alexis. The queen of Ghouls smacked a card on her duel disk while evoking her dark powers, summoning a massive undead turtle made of skulls: Bone Snapper. Hassan ordered the soldiers to fire but their bullets bounced off the beast harmlessly.

 

“Bone Shatter Earthquake!” Alexis screamed her order. The huge zombie leveled the ground, shaking the earth, shattering it with such force the entire rebel formation broke. Matthew commanded his dragon to besiege the village with a firestorm, scattering their opponents in a panic. Hassan’s militia tried its best to fight back but was no match for the Ghouls’ dark powers. The duelists defended themselves by summoning their own monsters, something they could do in the dark realm, forcing the Ghouls to duel them.

 

Maya, Yukio, and Sophia clasped each other’s hands into a chain, desperate to keep each other from separating. Soon they ran into Matthew himself. He pointed at Maya and Yukio, “I finally got you two rats! You’ll pay for desecrating my grandfather’s grave and ruining my dueling career!”

 

“Fine but leave Sophia out of this.” Maya instinctively shielded the girl from view.

 

Yukio saw the wicked light in Matthew’s eyes. “Bad move.” He said to Maya, who all too quickly grasped the truth.

 

Matthew smirked at his rivals. “I was always better than you, always of higher class and quality. My strong Ka will prove my divine rights once and for all! Horus, attack!”

 

The black flame dragon, silently perched on the ruins of a building like a bird of prey, opened fire without warning, the fiery missile pummeling straight at Sophia. Maya leaped at Sophia, taking the full attack on her back! Everyone; Matthew, Yukio, Sophia, was astonished. “Why isn’t she burned to ashes? Horus, kill her!”

 

His dragon amped the pressure; breathing down on Maya with more fury and brimstone. But Maya called forth her own powers, awakened by the Saints to do her bidding. Barely a novice, she could still at least summon some of the tough, scaly back of her own Ka to protect her back. But it wasn’t enough. Her skin was burning. She whined in agony. She couldn’t last much longer.

 

Yukio had to act. He dashed at Matthew, fists raised to pummel him to oblivion. Matthew stretched his hands, the darkness surrounding bellowing at Yukio as a fierce wind, cutting his body like icy, sharp blades. But Yukio kept coming, calling forth his own will, his own power, his own Ka. Matthew’s eyes widened in fear, seeing Yukio plowing through, his warrior spirit undaunted. “HEY, jabroni!” Yukio roared with a strength that would impress Maya. Drawing all his strength, he smashed Matthew’s face, hurling Matthew yards away.

 

The Horus dragon vanished, its breath stopped. Maya collapsed into Sophia’s arms, the girl weeping at her friend’s suffering. Yukio rushed to help Maya out. Her back, hips, and shoulders were badly burned and she was unconscious. Yukio slapped her face. “Wake up! Wake up, you idiot!”

 

Matthew clenched his jaw, nearly broken, spitting out blood and, to his horror, two teeth. Matthew seethed at his enemies in resentment. How did they learn to use shadow magic!? He called his strongest henchman, “Your jailbait is here! Get her!”

 

Maya woke up in a fit, wincing at her burning pains. Her friends hugged her, thankful she was all right, and she did the same with the same relief and gratitude. Sophia and Yukio were also fine.  

 

Their relief was not meant to last. Bandit Keith appeared on the scene, followed by Umbra and Lumis. Keith’s grin was worse than Matthew’s. Our heroes knew they would kill them without hesitation so they gave themselves a fighting chance. They readied their duel disks and challenged the three Ghouls to a duel, knowing a dark game could never be refused.

 

This irked Keith a bit but he laughed, brushing it off. He gave his toadies a nod. Time for Plan B. He summoned his Ka, Barrel Dragon. The machine locked and loaded the three guns on its head and arms, and fired at heroes with a precise shot. The bullets hit just in front of them, enough to blast them apart from each other.

 

Keith pounced on Sophia the way a beast of prey attacks a wounded animal, yanking the girl away by the scruff of her neck. Maya and Yukio called Sophia’s name, scrambling to rescue her, but Umbra and Lumis locked two explosive collars on their neck. Lumis pointed his finger at a button. “Duel us, now! One move from you bastards and you’ll be blown to bits, I tell you!”

 

Maya and Yukio let themselves drop in dejection. There was no way out but to beat those clowns. And to make matters worse, Matthew said, “Don’t think you’re buddies in America are safe. Ghouls are coming to get them too!” He let himself enjoy the thought of their friends being mercilessly killed before letting Umbra and Lumis do their work. He returned to the battle at large, his dragon’s wings blazing.   

 

Meanwhile, the Ghouls cornered the Saints from every direction, challenging them all to a duel. Maximus and Ivy easily took care of all comers but Mathias had an extra opponent to face, Seeker. The squad of Ghouls cleared away, letting their leader begin the deadly game.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“Guys! Guys! Are you there? Guys!” Jolene shouted into the phone, desperate to call her friends but there was no answer. The battle must have begun, but she wanted to know if they were OK. With no answer, she could only imagine the worst.

 

Loud noises thundered in Jolene’s house as a legion of Ghouls battered her door and smashed her windows. JC grabbed her hand. “Time to go!” They escaped through a back door and ran for their lives. But the Ghouls knew Chicago’s streets far better than Jolene and JC ever could. Soon they were cornered in an alley.

 

Two Ghouls approached them, wearing frightening clown masks under their hoods, the stuff children’s nightmares were made of. “You can call me Leftie. My partner is Gonzo.” The first Ghoul said in a low, distorted voice; a towering giant next to his short and thin partner in crime. The two Ghouls revealed their duel disks from their cloaks, brandishing them the way apes display their fangs. “I’ll give you two one chance.” Leftie said. “Beat us and we let you go. I’m a man of my word.”

 

Jolene and JC accepted his challenge. There was no other option.  

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  • 4 weeks later...

Duel 28 - Card Violence

 

 

Leftie: 8000, Gonzo 8000 || Jolene: 8000, JC: 8000

 

Jolene glanced at the alley around her, realizing she was in a small open patch of space between two narrow corridors of brick and mortar. She felt like a trapped mouse, knowing there was no way out. She asked Leftie nervously, “And if we win the duel. You’ll let us go.”

 

“Of course.” Leftie quickly replied. “Duelist’s honor and all that.” While in his heart, Leftie said, “Of course not, stupid mothergrapeer.” And let his duel disk flare up in a holographic rainbow. The duel began.

 

LEFTIE’S TURN: He draws. “I summon Performapal Skullcrobat Joker,” a buffoon in white and black stripes twirls prances into play, ready for the opening act. “I use its effort to search for Monkey Board. I activate Performapal Guiturtle and Performapal Monkeyboard in my Pendulum Zones.” A red and blue crystal, capturing the monsters inside them, soar high above him. “Guiturtle lets me draw a card and I use Monkeyboard’s effect to add Pendulum Sorceror to my hand. Next, Wavering Eyes!” His Spell breaks the two crystals above him into a thousand shards. He points at Jolene, and the shards fall unto her as hail. Jolene cries in pain, having not dueled with solid vision holograms in a long time. (Jolene LP: 7500)

 

JC remains stoic but secretly says to himself, “Hang in there, Jolene. I’ve got a plan to rescue us.”

 

Lefties smirks at Jolene’s suffering, enjoying the pain of a whit woman unused to street violence. “I use my Spell’s effect to search for Guiding Ariadne, and activate it and Performapal Lizardraw in my Pendulum Zones.” Two new crystals hover above him. “Phase two: Pendulum Summon Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer and Luster Pendulum, the Dracoslayer!” Two beings, a circus magician, and a knight wearing dragon scales bound from the portal between the crystals. “Now Pendulum Sorcer, destroy yourself and Ariadne.” The sorcerer and the red crystal evaporated into smoke. “I search for a Counter Trap, Solemn Warning, and two Performapal monsters with Pendulum Sorcerer.”

 

“Phase three: activate Perfomapal Jestagon in the Pendulum Zone and destroy Lizardraw to draw a card.” A new red crystal appears while the blue one vanishes. “I tune Luster Pendulum and Pendulum Sorcerer to Synchro Summon Ignister Prominence, the Blasting Dracoslayer.” The sorcerer funnels through a tunnel of green rings and a giant knight with gray scales and a huge sword emerges from the portal created thereof. “And I use its effect to summon Master Pendulum, the Dracoslayer.” And a new dragon-knight appears. “Now my Spell, Clash of the Dracoslayers.” He chose two cards from his deck and randomly chose one, summoning  the black dragon-wizard, Vector Pendulum, the Dracoverlord.

 

“I overlay Master Pendulum and Vector Pendulum to Xyz Summon Majester Pendulum, the Ascending Dracoslayer.” The two monsters open a wormhole, sacrificing themselves to allow a new monster, a dragon-knight riding a white dragon with golden mane, to pass through. “And I use its effect to add an Ariadne, the Absolver to my hand and activate it.” And another blue crystal appears. “Then I destroy it with Ignister.” The large dragon-knight crashes the blue crystal with its sword while returning the monster in the red crystal back into his deck. “And I use Ariadne to get another Solemn Warning.”

 

JC clasped the sides of his head with hands. “Oh my sweet Black Jesus, just end your turn already! I thought Matthew’s Chaos Deck was bad but this meta deck is so boring it makes me want to punch a cop in the face!”

 

“If you did, you would die instantly.” Jolene reminds him.

 

“EXACTLY!”

 

Leftie gives and honest laugh, “From one brother to another, you’re as unfunny as Eddie Murphy in a Disney film, but you did make me laugh bit. Ah… too bad I’m gonna’ kill you.”

 

Jolene has the impulse the ask, “Why don’t you just kill us now?” But doesn’t dare say it. A children’s card game is their only chance to survive.

 

Leftie says, “I use Majester Pendulum’s second effect to summon Luster Pendulm from the Extra Deck.” The dragon-knight in white returns to the field from the dimension above. “Next, Hadron Collider.” His Spell destroys Majester Pendulum. “And I replace the Xyz Monster with a monster with a Level equal to its rank in my Deck. I summon Performage Plushfire!” A sentient plushy of a circus torch appears. “I fuse Luster Pendulum and Plushfire to Fusion Summon Dinoster Power, the Mighty Dracoslayer.” The two monsters fuse into one, a dragon-knight in a large and cumbersome blue panoply. “I overlay Dinoster and Ignister to Xyz Summon Divine Dragon Knight Felgrand.” And through dimensional travel the dragon-knights let a knight dragon descend into the world.

 

Lefties sets two cards, no doubt the Solemn Warnings, as a finish touch. His first turn lock is complete.

 

GONZO’S TURN: “Leftie already did so much I might as well let you surrender.” Gonzo taunts JC.

 

JC tolerates none of the nonsense. He barks, “Shut up and make your move or drink bleach.”

 

Gonzo laughs heartlessly, “Then let me force you to surrender with my own game. I activate Magical Abductor in the Pendulum Zone.” A witch and dark grey robes and a staff of matching colors hovers above, incased in a red crystal. “Next my Spell, Pendulum Call.” He discards a card in his hand to search two Spellcasters in his Deck. Meanwhile, a glowing light, a Spell Counter, surrounds the red crystal. “I summon my own Performapal Skullcrowbat Joker and use it to add a monster to my hand.” His own clown with a crowbar comes into play. “I activate Pre-Preparation of Rights. I add a Ritual Monster and Spell to my hand.” Another Spell Counter appears.

 

“I activate Dragonpit Magician,” And a blue crystal floats above him, making another Spell Counter spark into life. “I use 3 Spell Counters to add a Spellcaster to my hand.” And the three orbs die away. “Now, Pendulum Summon Summons two Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragons, Xiangke Magician, Oafdragon Magician!” His field floods with four monsters, two magicians, one dressed in a squire’s garb while another looks as a knight, and two red horned dragons with purple bellies.  

 

“Next my Ritual Spell begins, Odd-Eyes Advent.” A stone slab rises from the ground alongside a cultist in black; it seizes one of the Pendulum dragons and slits its throat. The dragon’s blood flows on the alter, lights into flames, the dragon burns to ash and, “I Ritual Summon Odd-Eyes Gravity Dragon!” A new dragon rises from the remains. “I overlay Odd-Eyes and Xiangke to Xyz Summon Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon!” A horned dragon in ice blue and black scales travels to Earth from the spacetime portal. “My turn’s done. Surrender.”

 

JOLENE’S TURN: She braces herself for the upcoming battle. She can beat one of them this turn, but Gonzo’s monster has a dangerous effect. “I summon Royal Magical Library.” A tall set of bookshelves rises from the ground but for long.

 

Lefte pounces on his chance. “Gotcha, girl! I activate Solemn Warning!” Moses and his holy train appear and smite down the heathen library through Jehovah’s judgment. (Leftie LP 6000) “You won’t get Exodia this duel.”

 

Undeterred, Jolene says, “I activate Soul Absorption.”

 

“And now for my trap.” Gonzo says, “Gravity Dragon, strike her!” The mystical turquoise dragon smacks her with a fireball. (Jolene LP 7500) “Each time you activate a card, you lose 500 Life Points.”

 

“I know what it does.” Jolene retorts him. “Soul Absorption saves me.”

 

“But only when you play Spells. Let’s see how long you last.”

 

“I will last! I look weak but I’m not! I activate Magical Abductor.” Her own sorceress flew by her side in a red crystal. “Next three Into the Void.” She draws three cards. “Now I use Abductor to search a Spellcaster.”

 

“But it’s not a spell so Gravity Dragon smacks you.” Gonzo reminded her as his dragon burned her again. (Jolene LP 7000)

 

Jolene struggles onward. “I activate three Upstart Goblin.” She draws three cards while Gonzo gains 3000 Life Points, much to his delight. “I use Abductor to search another Spellcaster.” She takes another hit from Gravity Dragon. “I play Toon Table of Contents, searching for another one, and another one, then for Toon Cannon Soldier. I activate Thunder Dragon, discarding it and adding two more.” Gravity Dragon strikes her again but she stays strong.

 

“I gathered three Triple Spellmasters to my hand, so I can banish them to add Card Destruction to my hand.” Gravity Dragon burns her again. “I activate Card Destruction.” Everyone discarded their hand and drew new cards. “I discarded Voodoo Dummy, so I can put it back to my hand.” And she takes another hit from Gravity Dragon. “I activate Magican Mining Stone to discard two cards and add Card Destruction to my hand. I discarded two more Voodoo Dummies, so I put them back to my hand.

 

Gravity Dragon strikes her twice with two devastating blasts. Jolene falls to ground facefirst, scraping her knees and hands. (Jolene LP 4000) JC rushes to her aid, supporting her on her shoulder. Jolene’s knees tremble a bit, nausea setting in. “I’m not used to being punched around by holographic monsters.” She remarks wryly.

 

JC agrees,“That’s what Maya and Yukio are for.”

 

“You gonna’ fight or not?” Leftie demands.

 

“Keep playing.” JC tells Jolene. “I’ll protect you.”

 

Jolene gives his idea a nod. “I activate Card Destruction again.” And all players renewed their hands again. “And also Hand Destruction.” Each player discarded and drew two cards. “I use Abductor again to get another Abductor.” Gravity Dragon rears its head again to strike but JC takes the hit, his large, strong body, enduring the blast.

 

“I activate two Hand Destruction.” Each player renews their hand twice more. “I set a card and play Card of Demise.” Jolene draws three cards. “And I use Abductor to add one more Abductor.” Gravity Dragon strikes again, and JC receives the blast. (Jolene LP 5000) And finally, “I set three cards.”

 

JC’S TURN: Before he can move, Jolene gently grabs his wrist. “Don’t play much. Trust me.” JC sets two cards.

 

LEFTIE’S TURN: “Well that was dumb.” Leftie taunts her. “You lost your whole deck and you didn’t get Exodia.”

 

“I didn’t go for Exodia.” Jolene corrects him. “I play my three cards: two Blasting the Ruins and Magical Explosion! Your PePe deck is almost invincible, but not against this!”

 

Leftie gasps in disbelief. “Oh SHI–“ But it’s too late. Two ancient buildings tower above him, the collapse burying him the rubble. He receives 6000 damage; so much power in one attack he faints. (Leftie LP 0)

 

“Now for you, Gonzo! I blast you with Magical Explosion!” An old mage takes its stance in front of her. She directs its attack, and the mage strikes Gonzo with the force of twenty Spells! Gonzo slams on a brick wall but fails to collapse, bruised but still standing. (Gonzo LP 7000)  

 

Jolene shakes her head, “Pendulums, not even once.”

 

GONZO’S TURN: Gonzo fumes in rage – it shows on his face – but he has enough brains to plan an attack. Jolene is an annoying pomegranate but he doesn’t need to kill her. She’ll deck out next turn. So, “Gravity Dragon! Absolute Dragon! Attack JC!”

 

“Activate Trap, Localized Torndo!” Jolene declares, shuffling all her cards back into her Deck.”

 

Gonzo curses, calling his dragons to pummel a new target, which they do. The dragons strong attacks smack her onto the brick wall, and she falls down, limp. (Jolene LP 0)

 

JC calls out to her, rushes to aid her, but Gonzo shouts, “Joker, attack him!” The clown smacks JC with its crowbar, forcing back into the fight. (JC LP 6200)

 

JC’S TURN: “I’ve had enough of you, you annoying damn clown. Now I’m really pissed. Prepare to be annihilated.”

 

“I play Terraforming to search Revolving Switchyard, then play it.” The small, narrow, dark alleyway expands into vast, bustling train station. “Then I activate it, I discard a card to add a train.”  But JC suffers another three strikes from the dragon. (JC LP 5200)  

 

“I summon Knight Express Knight.” A large and rather tall blue knight marches to the train station. “Then activate Switchyard’s other effect. I summon Ruffian Railcar and use Heavy Freight Train Derricrane to summon itself.” A massive red engine and a small but hot-tempered railcar roll to their stations on schedule. “Then I play Infernal Reckless Summon, with Derricrane’s ATK cut in half, I can summon two more!” And two more imposing freight trains take their stations. But once more, Gravity Dragon assaults the player. (JC LP 3700)

 

“I overlay my three Derricranes to Xyz Summon Superdimensional Robot Galaxy Destroyer.” A robot of unbelievable size falls from the sky, crashing the ground under it. “Galaxy Destroyer, wipe all his Spells!” The titanic robot launches its gauntlets at Gonzo’s two crystals, effortlessly smashing them. “I detached Derricrane, so I destroy Gravity Dragon.” A dark tunnel to the Graveyard opened, a light appears at the end, small at first, but bigger and bigger until the massive train steamrolls the annoying dragon flat, but before it gets to hit JC with one more attack. (JC LP 2700)

 

JC groans from all the damage he received, but is relieved. “I return Derricrane to my Deck to Special Summon Exodius the Ultimate Forbidden Lord.” A towering giant similar to the forbidden one arrives. “I overlay it with my Knight to Xyz Number 81: Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Super Dora.” A towering black train armed with a massive cannon rolls to station. Gonzo gasps in awe and disbelief. “Super Dora, attack Absolute Dragon! Lock, aim, fire!”

 

“I use Absolute Dragon’s effect to negate your attack!” Dora states.

 

“And I use Super Dora’s effect to make it impervious to any effects! Fire!” The superdreadnought cannon blasts the dragon to pieces. “Galaxy Destroyer, take down the clown!” JC commands, and the robot smushes the joker like a bug. (Gonzo LP 3300) JC sets a card, ending his turn.

 

GONZO’S TURN: “I still have one trick left. I activate Performapal Guiturtle and Performapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn.” Two new crystals appear and he draws a card. “I Pendulum Summon Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Magical Abductor, Skullcrowbat Joker, and Dragonpit Magician!” His whole army, destroyed a moment ago, effortlessly returns.

 

But JC has none of it. “I activate Solemn Warning!” And the wrath of Jehovah annihilates Gonzo’s entire army. JC pays a steep price of 2000 Life Points, but it’s well worth it. JC could barely see a small, wet stain on Gonzo’s pants.

 

JC’S TURN: “Super Robot, Galaxy Destroyer, finish him with a fatality!” The huge train fires its cannon straight through Gonzo’s gut while the space robot crushes Gonzo’s chest with its rocket fist. The Ghoul crumples to the floor, expired.     

 

Leftie: 0, Gonzo 0 || Jolene: 0, JC: 700

 

JC gasped for air. Finally, it was over. He didn’t feel this much overwhelming since he dueled Maya four years ago. He turned his attention to Jolene, cradling her in his arms, gently shaking her until she woke up.

 

Jolene rubbed her eyes, squinting at JC. “Did I get high?”

 

JC laughed in relief. “No, you were knocked out. I beat the Ghouls. You’re safe. Let’s get you to a hospital.”

 

DESCRIPTIONS OF CREATED CARDS ARE HERE (on Exodia GG Forums):

http://exodia.gg/topic/94486-ygo-cop-2-a-new-dawn/?p=1846349

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HEADS UP:

From now on a link to a forum post at Exodia GG will take you to any new created cards. It's too exhausting posting my created cards on every Internet forum. The link will always be at the end of a chapter where duels happen.

 

EXAMPLE

DESCRIPTIONS OF CREATED CARDS ARE HERE (on Exodia GG Forums):

http://exodia.gg/topic/94486-ygo-cop-2-a-new-dawn/?p=1846349

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Duel 29 - Ragnarok! Battle of Titans!!!

 

 

Back in Egypt the battle at the village raged on. Many Ghouls bit the dust as Stella eviscerated them with her Yang-Zing monsters. Her teammates behind her just as tough, took away just as many Ghouls. Rex and Weevil tried to hide but were quickly exposed by a gang of Ghouls, but when pushed into combat with no way out the two dweebs suddenly found the courage to fight. The duo struck all the Ghouls surrounding them down with their ace monsters.

 

But many duelists from the tournament died too. Their bodies littered the sand, tossed by fate with black-robed bodies everywhere. To Mathias, just one dead duelist was too much. He aimed his sight at his opponent, the Ghoul known as Seeker, ready to wipe him off the earth once and for all.  

 

“I suggest you run away while you can.” Mathias advised the Ghoul. “Do you know how many evil henchmen I’ve killed over the decades? If I’m Super Mario, you’re the first Goomba from World 1-1. A lowly foot soldier like you has no chance.”

 

Seeker gave a smirk so small to be almost unseen but with great slyness. “I doubt I’ll pose much a threat, Saint, but you won’t know for sure until you beat me. Shall we?” He offered his hand almost as if asking Mathias to dance with him. Mathias accepted his challenge.

 

Mathias: 8000 || Seeker: 8000

 

MATHIAS’ TURN: He has no idea what devious tricks Seeker has in store but he can’t take any chances, not even with a lowly foot soldier.

 

“Let’s rock! I Summon Valkyrie of the Nordic Ascendent, banish two Nordic cards from my hand to Summon two Einherjar Tokens.” A fair maiden, ironically more fairy than warrior, descends to play with two celestial beings who were once warriors. “I tune them all to Synchro Summon, Father of the Aesir!” Then the titan god, Odin, arrives; tall, solemn, serene. “I activate Mound of the Bound Creator!” Mathias shouts, and the sand beneath them turned into primeval rock. Four columns rose from the rock, their chains wrapping around Odin. “My turn’s done.” Mathias concludes.

 

SEEKER’S TURN: “A strong play indeed, my prey. But you are ignorant as all prey are. I, the hunter, have long prepared my net to ensnare you.”

 

“I play Painful Choice.” Seeker reveals five cards from his Deck, all of the pieces of Exodia!

 

The move startles Mathias and arouses in him the strongest suspicion. Seeker needs the five pieces of Exodia in his hand to win, not in his Graveyard. What dirty trick could he be planning? Mathias selects one piece, Exodia’s right arm, and Seeker throws the rest away to the Graveyard.

 

“Well, that was easy!” Seeker grinned as a fox eager to invade a henhouse. “You took my bait, and it only took one turn! I Summon Right Arm of the Forbidden One, and sacrifice it to Summon Exodia the Summoned God!” The golden right arm of an ancient giant appears, then vanished, for the golden giant itself towers over the field, its ATK 5000 for all five pieces were dead and buried. “Exodia, destroy Odin!” Seeker commands, and the Egyptian god smashes Odin’s face. Mathias staggers back from the blow, then falls back even more as his own Field Spell strikes him with lightning. (Mathias LP 6000)

 

Mathias gasps in shock. There was no way Seeker, a man lowly even among criminals could be that strong!

 

Seeker is all too eager to see Mathias squirm. “I’ll let my attack sink in. I set two cards facedown and as I end my turn Exodia, activates. I return Exodia’s head to my hand.”

 

“I too have an Effect. I banish Valkyrie in my Graveyard to resurrect Odin.” The Nordic god rises from the dust of death, towering behind Mathias. “And its Effect lets me draw a card.”

 

MATHIAS’ TURN: Good! Here was his chance! Exodia’s ATK lowered to 4000. Both gods will kill each other, but Odin can revive itself. “Odin, attack Exodia!” Mathias commands.

 

The Nordic god casts a blizzard at the Egyptian god with its palm. Seeker springs his trap, “Obliterate!!! I send an Exodia card from my Deck to my Graveyard. I bounce Odin back to your Extra Deck where he belongs!”

 

“I counter with Cosmic Cyclone!” Mathias declares. A flaming breeze of solar wind disintegrates Seeker’s card, but it damages Mathias a bit as well. (Mathias LP 5000) “Odin, destroy Exodia!”

 

“I activate Backup Soldier! I return three Exodia pieces to my hand.” His play drastically cuts down his giants strength, allowing Odin to effortlessly topple it. Then lightning from the four pillars struck Seeker, wounding him more. (Seeker LP 5000) But the Ghoul is happy, for since his giant died, he draws three cards, the same number of Exodia pieces in his hand.

 

Mathias raises an eyebrow. Another puzzling move! Why did Seeker weaken his monster? He knew it! To gather all Exodia pieces! To summon Exodia in its true form! If Seeker did that, he would instantly win the game, but he would need to recover the two last pieces from his Graveyard. He had a plan.

 

“I play Burial from the Different Dimension, returning three banished monsters to my Graveyard. I then Summon Tomtmork of the Nordic Alfar and use its Effect to resurrect two Nordic monsters in my Graveyard.” A small, black, dark gnome emerges from the ground and strikes its hammer, calling forth two monsters from the grave. “I tune all of them to Synchro Summon Loki, Lord of the Aesir!” All three monsters rose to the sky and the legendary trickster god descends from heaven. “I set a card facedown. I end my turn.”

 

He then said, “You blundered. I now have 1000 more Life Points than you.”

 

SEEKER’S TURN:  “It doesn’t matter how many Life Points you have! You’re still going down!” The Ghouls shouts in triumph. “Victory is mine. I activate Dark Factory of Mass Production! I return two Normal Monsters to my hand. Guess what they are?”

 

“I know your plan!” Mathias retorted. “Exodia. But you won’t get them! Reveal trap, Phantom Chaos! I sent a Phantom Knight card from my Deck to the Graveyard and your Exodia piece dies a second death!” Mist rises from Seeker’s duel disk, and takes the ghostly form of a giant’s right arm on the field, then extinguishes. Seeker gasps in horror.

 

“Your one and only strategy is to gather Exodia. Now Exodia is gone, you have nothing left. Admit defeat.” Mathias says.

 

Seeker’s horror turns to resentment, then vindictiveness. “Or so you think, Saint. I have more strategies than you realize. “I return my one dead Exodia piece back to my Deck to Summon Exodius, the Ultimate Forbidden Lord.” A lesser form of the ancient giant appears, one with flesh of bronze, not gold. “Next, Card Destruction.” Seeker discards and replenishes his hand. With four Normal Monsters sleeping in the grave, Exodius’ ATK rises to 4000.

 

“I summon Mokey Mokey.” The tiny square angel pops into play with a poof. “And equip it with Moon Mirror Shield.” The angel shrouds itself with a halo of silver and platinum.

 

Mathias lurches back. “SWEET IRISH JESUS YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!”

 

Seeker’s tall, lanky body lurches forward in excitement. “Exodius, attack!” He sends a Normal Monster from his Deck to the Graveyard, the giant’s muscular right arm engorges, pulses with bodily power, and shatters Odin’s body with a single blow. “Mokey Mokey, you’re next! Destroy Loki!” The tiny shimmers within the silver halo, growing so bright it surpasses Loki in strength. Loki fires bolts of thunder from its hand but the light from the Mokey Mokey’s halo bounces it away. Mokey channels the light into a single beam, and incinerates the god as an ant. Then lightening from the four tall towers strikes Mathias twice, driving the Saint to his back foor. (Mathias LP 1900)

 

“I set two cards facedown. I’m done.” Seeker said.

 

“But I’m not.” Mathias banishes Valkyrie and Tomtmork, letting Odin and Loki revive. “And I draw a card.”

 

MATHIAS’ TURN: He doesn’t much going for him but he can take one more gamble. He needs all three Nordic gods to defeat Seeker. But the chances of him drawing the right cards are too low. He says, “I banish Phantom Knights of Fragile Armor from my Graveyard, I send another Phantom Knight to my Graveyard and draw a card.” He hovers his hand above his Deck. Please let this be the right card! He draws.

 

“Got it! I Summon Summoner Monk and discard a Spell with its Effect to Summon Guldfaxe of the Nordic Beasts!” The Taoist Monk appears, chants its ancient spell, calling forth the flaming steed from the North. “I play Monster Reborn and I revive a monster from your Graveyard.” Mathias issued a command. The duel disks responded, displaying Seeker’s entire Graveyard via hologram. Mathias snaps his fingers. He was lucky! “I revive Ojama Yellow!” The small yellow creature in circus tights appears. “I tune all three monsters to Synchro Summon Thor, Lord of the Aesir!” The three monsters ascended to the auroras above, vanishing. The heavens respond, the god satisfied with the tribute. Thor, the most bellicose of the Nordic gods, crashes into the ground from on high, wielding its hammer in earnest.

 

Seeker is inconceivably astonished. “I don’t belief it! All three Nordic gods in play!”

 

“Happens pretty often when I duel. Eating Buffalo Chicken Pizza makes you extra good at strategy like that. I activate Thor, negate Exodius’ Effect.” Thor smashes the bronze god with its hammer, dropping its ATK to 0. “And I activate Odin to protect itself from Card Effects.” The elder god coats itself in shimmering ice.

 

“Let’s do this! Thor, anesthetize Exodius the old fashioned way! Crack its head with your hammer!” Thor lunges to Exodius.

 

Seeker declares, “I play my trap, Quantum Crush!” He discards a card. “All monsters will now have 0 ATK.”

 

“Not on my watch! Loki, use your Effect! Destroy his trap!” And Loki burns the trap away with a bolt of lightning.

 

Seeker is pushed to his last card. “I play Mirror Force!” Loki strikes a mirror-like wall with its thunderbolt, which bounces the lightning back to the Nordic gods. Loki and Thor succumb to the reflected attack, vanishing, but Odin remains, protected by its divine powers.

 

“Odin, finish this! Crush Exodius!” Mathias commands. The Nordic God calls forth a blizzard from the North. Exodius struggles against it but falls to the cold, freezing into an ice statue. Odin smashes the ice Exodius, shattering it into millions of shards.

 

Mathias: 1900 || Seeker: 0

Seeker trembled at the sight of his defeat. He perfectly knew what it meant to lose a dark game. He begged, protesting for his life. “You can’t do this to me! I have a family!”

 

Mathias only heaped scorn. “Bullshit! You seriously thought you’d get away with activating the ‘I have a family’ card? I’m showing you NO MERCY! You’re going out Mortal Combat style! Odin, FINISH HIM!”

 

All the holographic monsters vanished except one, the elder Nordic god, which reached out to Seeker as if to grab him. Seeker panicked, he cried in terror, running away from the god as fast as he could. Odin stayed put, calm and serious as ever, and instead fired a beam of pure blue light from its finger.

 

Seeker stopped dead in his tracks, falling to his feet. Only then did he realize why. He had a gaping hole through his chest. He was too shocked to even speak, his mouth gaping but silent. He collapsed on the sand, dead.

 

Mathias took a few deep breaths to remain calm and buoyant. It was a surprisingly tough duel. Looking to his sides, he observed Maximus and Ivy finishing their duels together, battling as a couple. They finished off the last Ghouls, Maximus with his swordswoman, Ivy with her fire and ice dragon, then ran to Matthew.

 

“Thank God you two are alright.” Mathias told them. “I worried you two wouldn’t survive.”

 

Maximus slapped Mathias on the back. “You thought we couldn’t survive a few evil henchmen? We wipe out mooks like them every other day!”

 

Ivy said, “But seriously, we are so relieved your OK.” She hugged Mathias and Maximus, who returned her affection.

 

Mathias looked onward to the battle still broiling beyond. “Let’s hope everyone else makes it out alive too.”

 

CREATED CARDS IN THE LINK (Exodiagg forum):

(The forum now merges all recent posts together, which is annoying. You'll have to go to the very bottom of the post.)
http://exodia.gg/topic/94486-ygo-cop-2-a-new-dawn/?p=1846470
 

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