"I'm in." Bogdan growled.
"Wonderful." The voice on the other side of the line responded.
"Just answer me one thing. How did you pull it off?" He was shaking with anger, barely suppressing the urge to scream out the colorful palette of profanities flooding his brainwaves.
"I have connections and financial resources to do such a thing. You know, I know a guy who knows a guy. That's all you need to know. So, you'll do it then?" Bruno was cheerful, which pissed Bogdan off even more. A few days after he encountered Bruno for the first time, Bogdan's mother called him, crying on the phone, to say that his father was in a car crash that broke his vertebra. He was immediately transported in an ambulance van to Romania's capital, Bucharest, for an urgent surgical treatment to save his spinal column and the ability to walk by implanting titanium rods to hold it in place while it heals. That kind of surgical treatment is very expensive, costing an amount of money they didn't have on hand. Everyone in his family, and some close friend chipped in to pay the minimum deposit so that the surgery could go underway. That left them with an astronomically expensive hospital bill, to be paid in less than a month. An amount of time far too short to get that kind of cash legally. Bogdan remembered Bruno's vague threats, and with the time interval between them and the accident it didn't take Sherlock to piece it together. How could the bastard be so damn happy after doing such a hideous thing to a kid he didn't even know? It's a sick world we live in. He had no choice. Bogdan instantly turned stone cold and cleared his throat.
"When and where?" In a calm, composed voice, he inquired.
"It's still early. You'll receive further instructions in the near future. For now, I'd like you to submit me a wish list of cards you think you might need to further improve that champion deck of yours to an email which you should receive any minute now via SMS, and I'll see to it that you get them. You see, I'm not such a bad guy after all. You'll become the best and most famous duelist, and I'll make a lot of money. Of course, you'll get your fair share, too. You scratch my back; I'll scratch yours, no? Look, you have to understand that what I did to her was necessary, you looked like you needed a little more… Convincing, if you catch my drift. After all, that injury isn't as bad or as expensive as you-" Bogdan smashed the cell phone against the table. The battery flew off of it. He stood there for a few moments, then lit a cigarette, pulled the deck form the duel disk and spread it across the table. No use worrying about it now. What I can do is play along for now, and wait for an opportunity to strike back. And I will. You can bet your ass on it, Bruno, I'll get you. Now, let's see here, how can this deck be improved? Maybe I can find some ideas on the internet?
"Yes, I'm coming right away." Bogdan hung up and exited the apartment. He got down to a car that was waiting for him. The driver opened the door for him. As he entered he saw Bruno sitting next to the window on the other side, smoking. He lit a cigarette as well.
"Hello there, my young prodigy! Ready to become famous?"
"Shut the fuck up, I'm not in the mood. Let's get this over with."
"Good. Fuel that anger and channel it through a duel. Give that poor sap dueling against you the beating of his lifetime." Bogdan didn't respond. The rest of the drive was a silent one. They arrived to a seemingly abandoned building. The windows were broken, the letters on the front wall were fallen off, and the yard was untended. Just as they got out of the car, it drove away. "We don't want to attract attention. Imagine how it would look if many expensive and beautiful limos would be parked in front of a building such as this." Bruno explained. They walked inside, and down a set of rusty metal stairs into a big underground space. "It used to be an assembly room. Lots of conveyor belts, machinery, and all that. Then the company went bankrupt, and we bought the place really cheap and remade it into an arena." Bruno talked all the way.
"Who's we?" Inquired Bogdan.
"People like me that want to make money out of this type of dueling." Bruno responded. Bogdan looked around to check the people out.
"Are all these people mafia?"
"Yes. Mobsters, mafia, pimps. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. These people are a better guarantee of asshole-ry than a digestive system, and yield uglier results."
"But aren't you a part of this group?" Bogdan raised an eyebrow.
"Don't lump me in the same group as them, my friend. I've been treating you like royalty from day one. If you were under anyone else here it'd be a very different and far less pleasant experience for you." Bruno explained. Bogdan just made a dissatisfied grunt as a response. He started examining his surroundings. He could tell that heavy money was being put on his and his opponent's heads. There was a makeshift bar selling booze. Bogdan could notice only expensive brands on the shelves behind the barman. They came to the edge of a huge pit."And this is where you'll duel." Bruno slapped the pipe fence in front of him cheerfully. Bogdan noticed a middle aged man with a duel disk on the other side of the pit. He had a shaven head and a scar running from his temple down across his cheek.
"The duel must've been pretty intense if he ended up with a gash like that." Bogdan sneered. Bruno just looked at him and ignored the remark.
"He's your opponent. They say he's pretty strong. Nobody ever sees his manager. He does all the arrangements over phone and internet. Paranoid fellow. But now, it's time. Go down there and show them how a champion does it." Bruno tapped Bogdan on the shoulder as he showed him to the ladder. The other duelist also climbed down. Everybody went to the betting table to place their money. A judge showed up on the edge of the pit, threw a coin, and after viewing the result, announced the beginning of the duel.
"Challenger goes first!" He shouted, pointing at Bogdan. Bogdan drew six cards and initiated the duel.
"I discard my Assault Beast in order to search my deck for the trap card Assault Mode Activate. Next I set four cards and a monster facedown. That's all."
"I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your-" But the mobster was interrupted.
"I activate my set card Dark Bribe, I negate your spell card and you draw one card." The set cards were an integral part of Bogdan's strategy and he couldn't afford to lose even one of them.
"Ok then, I activate my spell card Future Fusion. It lets me send from the deck to my graveyard the fusion material monsters listed on a fusion monster, and after two turns, I can summon it on the field. So I send Phoenix Gearfried and Dark Valkyria and choose Raptinus the Superalloy Beast. Now I summon Marauding Captain, and when he's normal summoned I can special summon another level four or lower monster from my hand, and I special summon the Gemini monster Future Samurai. Then I activate Symbols of Duty which lets me tribute a normal monster and then special summon a monster from either mine or your graveyard, and I tribute Future Samurai to special summon Phoenix Gearfried from my graveyard and equip it to him. Now with Marauding Captain I attack your set monster." The mercenary jumped up and sliced the set card in two. The pieces flipped to reveal a broken jar with a face on it before disappearing.
"My set monster is Morphing Jar, so we both discard our hands and draw five new cards from our decks."
"How convenient. Now I attack you with Phoenix Gearfried directly, and you take 2800 damage to your life points, which lower you to 5200." The paladin drew his sword which caught fire upon being drawn from its sheath and stabbed Bogdan. "I set a card and end my turn. Have you ever dueled against Gemini monsters?"
"No, but I know how they work. They have nasty effects, but the trouble is that, as the name implies their dual nature, they are normal monsters in the graveyard and on the field until their effects are activated. You have to spend your one normal summon per turn on a Gemini monster on the field so you can perform a so-called second summon and switch it from normal to effect monster. Simply put, each monster needs to be summoned twice. Which is pretty slow, by the way. The slowest way is to waste two turns on one monster, one normal summon to place it on the field, then next turn to switch it to effect mode. But I presume your deck is made to work around that setback, with Gemini support and cards that give more than one normal summon, and probably you also have that normal monster support too. So technically, Phoenix Gearfried is just a vanilla beatstick for the time being. But you most likely intend to swarm the field with monsters until you find a way to activate their effects." Bogdan explained. Scarface was surprised at first but quickly regained his composure.
"Exactly. And when the two turns pass and Raptinus is summoned, the Gemini monsters will be summoned as effect monsters right away. That's his effect, to make all Gemini monsters effect monsters without second summoning them. Then you're finished." He laughed manically.
"Don't let your mouth write checks your ass can't cash, dude. This duel will never come to that point." Bogdan was unimpressed.
"What?!"
"Observe. My turn. I activate my spell card Mystical Space Typhoon and destroy your set card. Justi-Break, huh? You wanted me to attack your monsters while they're normal so you can activate this? To destroy all monsters except normal monsters? Well, sorry to disappoint you, but these kinds of cheap tricks don't work on me. Now I activate my set trap card Call of the Haunted, which lets me special summon a monster from my graveyard, and I summon Assault Beast, then I play my spell card Emergency Teleport and special summon Krebons from my deck. And when I have a tuner monster like Krebons on the field I can special summon the Quillbolt Hedgehog I discarded via the effect of Morphing Jar. Now I tune the level two Quillbolt Hedgehog, level four Assault Beast and level two Krebons and synchro summon Stardust Dragon. At this point I activate my set card Assault Mode Activate and tribute Stardust Dragon for his upgraded version, my ace monster and the prize of the national championship I won, Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode!" He raised the card up before slapping it on the duel disk. Shining silver armor with a green bead formed around Stardust Dragon, who let out a roar as it encased its chest.
"Y-you won the national championship?" His opponent was stunned. A few people from the crowd gasped as well.
"Yes, now don't interrupt me; I still have a full hand of cards to play. I activate my spell card Reinforcements of the Army and search my deck for a level four or lower Warrior type monster, so I take Junk Synchron and summon him to the field. Now that he's normal summoned he can special summon a level two or lower monster from my graveyard and I choose to summon Morphing Jar again. Now I remove Reinforcements of the Army from my graveyard out of play to special summon Spell Striker. Time for a second synchro. I Tune my level two Morphing Jar, level three Spell Striker and level three Junk Synchron to synchro summon Red Dragon Archfiend. Now I activate my spell card Pot of Avarice which lets me return five monsters from my graveyard back in my deck, then draw two cards. And the choice is simple, all monsters but Stardust Dragon go back to my deck. Then I activate my spell card Assault Teleport which lets me return an /Assault Mode monster from my hand to my deck and draw two cards, and I return my Red Dragon Archfiend/Assault Mode. You see, the one weakness to an /Assault Mode deck is if you draw the /Assault Mode monster. Then it's a dead draw, because the /Assault Mode versions of the synchro monsters can be summoned only from the deck. This leads me to the activation of my last set card, my second copy of Assault Mode Activate. I tribute Red Dragon Archfiend in order to special summon Red Dragon Archfiend/Assault Mode!" The crimson behemoth's armor was more demonic looking than Stardust Dragon's, to match its own appearance.
"No way! He made a double level 8 synchro summon AND managed to bring the two most powerful /Assault Mode monsters in existence to the field! And all in just one turn! Incredible!" Someone from the crowd exclaimed. The audience was in awe. Bogdan could hear people whispering and commenting in amazement. In any other situation this would've made him happy. But not this time. He was angry. His opponent simply watched with an expression of horror at the inevitable loss.
"They say paraphrasing is a sign of respect to the speaker. Shows that you've been listening… Or that you have poor comprehension skills. Now I activate Lightning Vortex, which destroys all your face up monsters by discarding one card from my hand. And now that your field is wiped clean, I can destroy you. Stardust Dragon, you're first." The mighty dragon blew a blue stream of energy at Bogdan's opponent and a big explosion took place. The life point counter above changed from 8000 to 5000. "Red Dragon, you're next!" Bogdan commanded. The crimson behemoth flapped his wings to get himself in the air, and then charged at the awe-struck man with a flaming fist. Another explosion echoed in the empty factory. The life points dropped from 5000 to 1500. "Red Dragon Archfiend/Assault Mode has an effect that, after he attacks, he destroys all other monsters on both sides of the field. It can be a double-edged sword."
"So that's it? He played like 15 cards and this is all he managed to do? In the end he loses his monster as well? After all the trouble he went to summon it?" The same person commented. Everybody in the audience was confused, and somewhat disappointed. But Bogdan raised a hand and everyone went silent in an instant.
"I'm not done yet. Like I said, this effect is a double-edged sword, but I had that in account when I made my strategy. I can easily play around it by activating Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode's effect. Once per turn, I can tribute him to negate any card's effect and destroy that card, and in the end phase of that turn he will return to me."
"So you're going to negate and destroy your own dragon? How is that any different?" Someone else from the audience yelled. Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode disintegrated into raw energy with the same pale blue color as his burst attack, and hit Red Dragon Archfiend/Assault Mode, just as he was preparing to destroy Stardust.
"Simple. There is one effect that any /Assault Mode monster shares. If by any chance the /Assault Mode version of a synchro monster is destroyed, both in battle and by an effect, the original synchro monster will be special summoned to the field." Red Dragon Archfiend's Assault mode armor cracked and broke into pieces which disappeared, and the crimson behemoth reverted to its original form.
"But why? You tributed it to summon the more powerful version of that monster. Why would you let it all go to waste just to end up with the same monster?" Again, someone demanded. Bogdan facepalmed.
"Are you people dense? All this occurs in the battle phase! According to the rules, if a monster is special summoned to the attacker's side of the field in the battle phase, it can attack right away. Get it now?" At that moment Red Dragon Archfiend blew his fiery breath at Bogdan's opponent and the life counter above him flashed the number 0. For a moment everybody was silent. Some were still trying to understand what happened, others were too amazed to speak. Someone made an Ooh! sound as the person caught on. Someone smashed a glass against the wall in rage. Must have placed a bet on the other guy, Bogdan thought. And as if that sound was the cue, everybody started applauding. Bogdan turned and climbed up the ladder as the holograms of the cards and monsters dissipated. His opponent fell on his knees. He knew he was ruined. Then again, he was dueling against the national champion, so this wasn't supposed to be much of a surprise.
"Bravo, my boy! First class victory! I expected nothing less of the national champion!" Bruno was happy as a child. He witnessed first-hand what his new protégé was capable of, and knew he would earn him a truckload of money.
"Yeah, fucking time of my life." Bogdan just walked past him and exited the building. The owner of the show approached Bruno. He looked like a vulture, bald, thin, tall, scrawny curved neck and a beak-shaped nose.
"Nice performance. Quite a gem you have gotten your dirty hands on, my friend." He said while handing him a big envelope with money.
"Yes, isn't he? He'll make me a lot of dough, Mauro." Bruno was rubbing his hands at the thought.
"Yes, yes. I have only one request. Could you tell him to make a little more of a show next time? While a 10 card combo leading to a one turn kill is pretty amazing, the audience would love if the duel lasted a tad longer. So, can I book you for next time?"
The car parked and both of them got in.
"Here you go, 30%, as agreed upon. And, next time make it last longer. Don't go for a quick kill, torture your opponent some more, or make some drama, act like you're losing, then turn the tables on him. You know, give the audience some tension, give them an adrenaline rush. You're the star, and the duel is your show, your performance, so make it look like one."
"Whatever…" Bogdan responded absent-mindedly. He didn't even look away from the window.
"Look, you don't have to be like this. Why can't you understand? Play by my rules and you will be richly rewarded. I don't ask much. You're a winner. You love this game. Just keep doing what you do best, and I'll grant you every wish. Money, glory, women, whatever you want, I can get it, no problem. If you agree to forget about the past I'll make it up to you tenfold. What do you say? Water under the bridge? Let's shake on it and agree to work together and help each other. You scratch my back, I scratch yours." Bruno raised his hand. Bogdan turned to him, enraged, but paused to think it through a bit. Then he shook Bruno's hand. Bruno smiled. "You made the right decision."
"Not like I have a choice." Bogdan showed no emotion.