Bogdan came in Bruno's office to find him counting the money from the last duel. Bruno lifted his head and his face spread in a wide grin.
"Hello, my young prodigy! Come in, come in! Make yourself comfortable and try one of these cigarettes."
"Aren't you in a good mood today? And people have invented an electronic money counter, man. Much easier, much faster." Bogdan took one of the offered cigarettes, lit it and inhaled.
"Nah, I like doing it the old fashioned way. It's my favorite hobby." The grin never leaved Bruno's face.
"No shit. Anyway, I came here to ask you something."
"Anything you want. You deserve it."
"I'd like to take a vacation and go home for a month or so. I haven't seen my parents and sister for over a year." Bogdan said. Bruno stopped counting for a second and looked at him. Then he sighed and grinned again.
"Why not? Take two months instead of one. Rest a little. Recharge your batteries. But before you go you have to do one last gig for me, and I'll drive you to the airport myself."
"For fuck's sake, man, haven't you had enough already?" Bogdan protested.
"As far as I'm concerned, you can leave today. Say the word and I'll call Mauro to cancel the gig. But be honest with yourself here. You've acquired the taste, haven't you? You get off on overcoming the challenges. I saw it in your eyes the other day, you couldn't get enough of it. You are the best at reading people when you duel, but I read people for a living, and you're an open book to me." Bogdan gave him a long hard look, then sighed.
"God damn it. What's the catch on this one?"
"No catch, as far as I know, a simple one on one. All Mauro said is the opponent has something tailor made just for you." Bruno explained.
"Great, I bet it's going to be one of those gay decks that shut you down or something. They tried that once and it didn't work so well for them." Bogdan rolled his eyes.
"Just go over there and steamroll over them. Do what you do best so we can go on with our lives. Of course, you know what's at stake every time you duel, so don't fuck it up." Bruno shook his index finger.
"This looks like the kind of place a ska band would go to shoot heroin." Bogdan was standing in an empty pool, his opponent in the deep end. They had to switch locations for every duel so as to avoid suspicion, or people would ask question why expensive cars park on regular intervals of time in front of the same abandoned building. This time Mauro had chosen an Olympic pool that was used for some competition hosted there, then abandoned. Italy's tax dollars at work. Bogdan turned to see Bruno chatting with some fat dude in a suit, glass of liquor in his hand, with Luca scanning the crowd next to him. His role today was that of a bodyguard, to prevent any attempts at Bruno's life. Then he noticed Mauro staring at him intently. The fuck is your problem? I don't like that stare. Makes me think he's trying to pull something here. He's never once congratulated me on a win so far, so he's obviously not too happy when I do. Why should he care, if he only organizes the duels and takes his commission for it, he shouldn't care who wins and who loses. Unless…
"I'd say it's time we kicked things off, don't you think?" Bogdan's opponent, a man in his early forties, dressed in a simple shirt and leather jacket, suggested while drawing five cards. Bruno was right, Bogdan had started loving the thrills of these illegal duels; the real consequences of losing, the extremely rare cards, the challenges. You don't see this in a casual tournament between kids. But he did miss playing against another kid, for the pure, simple, and unadulterated fun of playing a game. The youngest opponent he faced in the pit duels was the millionaire kid with Shooting Star Dragon. Poor sap couldn't handle the pressure of the underground and had snapped. Bogdan was afraid of even imagining what had happened to him after he lost. He drew five cards as well. What the- Hope for Escape?! God dammit I forgot to take out the cards I added for the last gig. The hell am I going to do with this card now? He facepalmed. The judge approached them and tossed a coin. Bogdan declared heads while the coin was mid-air, and when it fell back down in the hands of the judge, he revealed the result.
"Tails!"
"I go first." The goon drew his sixth card, initiating the duel. "I activate Upstart Goblin to draw another card, but you get 1000 life points and go up to 9000. I set a monster and end my turn."
"I summon Genex Neutron in attack position. Neutron, attack his set monster!" Neutron shot a burst of light at the card hologram, which flipped to reveal a monster all too familiar to Bogdan.
"Dekoichi's flip effect, I draw a card." The mobster declared.
"Ok, then. I set a backrow card and end my turn. In the end phase Neutron's effect activates and I get to search my deck for a machine-type tuner, so I add Black Salvo." Bogdan passed. Too early to determine what sort of deck he's playing, but so far I've seen only draw effects. Is he playing Exodia, or something scrubby like that? Bogdan thought.
"My turn. Since I control no monsters, and you do, I special summon Cyber Dragon, then I normal summon Black Salvo, which activates its effect, special summoning Dekoichi from the graveyard in defense position." That looks awfully close like something I'd do. Is it possible? Bogdan narrowed his vision in alertness. "Now I tune my level three Black Salvo and level five Cyber Dragon! Come forth, Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons!" Bogdan took a good look at the monster as it descended upon the field, his Google Glasses providing information on the monster's stats and effects. He had no idea why it was a Dragon-type, looking more like something demonic out of his nightmares. It had a snake-like body, like a Gorgon, two arms, but instead of a head between its shoulders, two serpentine heads protruded on each side under its shoulder pads like another pair of appendages. "But I'm not done yet. I activate my quick-play spell card Mask Change 2! By discarding a card from my hand, I can send to the graveyard a monster I control to special summon a Masked HERO fusion monster with the same attribute but a higher level. So I sacrifice Dekoichi to special summon Masked HERO Anki!" Dekoichi dissipated, then the familiar fusion vortex appeared in its place, and an armored superhero stepped out of the portal. "Beelze cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects, so that backrow shouldn't pose much of a problem. Beelze, attack Genex Neutron!" As the demonic dragon started charging energy spheres in both mouths, Bogdan revealed his trap card.
"Too bad I'm going to banish it. I activate Dimensional Prison!" A portal appeared below Beelze, and it, losing its footing, fell through, shooting the charged energy upwards into the sky.
"A blunder on my part. But I'm far from finished. Anki, you attack Neutron as well!" Anki lunged at Neutron and delivered an uppercut so powerful it broke the robot's head clear off, launching it in the air. "You're down by 1000 life points, back to 8000. When Anki destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the graveyard, I can add a "Change" quick-play spell card from my deck to my hand, so I add Form Change. That concludes my turn." So monsters that are easy to summon and a bunch of wieners that work together, then he replaces them with synchros and these Kamen Rider knock-offs. Not bad. But he'll have to do more than that to bring me down. Bogdan thought as he drew and saw the card.
"I summon Machina Gearframe! When Gearframe is summoned I can search the deck for another Machina monster and add it to my hand, so I add Machina Megaform. Now I discard Machina Megaform to special summon Machina Fortress! Megaform is level eight, just right for Fortress' summoning condition. Battle! Machina Fortress, attack Masked HERO Anki!" Fortress fired a missile from its cannon at Anki, who jumped at it, caught it mid-air and, with a spin, threw it back at Fortress, blowing it up.
"Nice work, idiot, you lose 300 life points and now have 7700, and I get to add a Mask Change 2 from my deck to my hand." The mobster grinned.
"Yeah, you do that. When Fortress is destroyed I get to destroy a card on the field, so Anki is done here." As the shrapnel from Fortress' body dissipated, a disappearing metal plate in front of Anki revealed another missile below it, which blew up, taking Anki with it. "And when Fortress hits the graveyard, I can special summon Megaform from it in its place. Megaform and Gearframe, attack him directly!" Both Megaform and Gearframe fired their rocket-powered punches, which went through him as the holograms disappeared. "You're down to 3600 life points. I tribute Megaform to summon a second copy of Machina Fortress from my deck, then I equip Gearframe to Fortress. Your turn, bitch." Now Bogdan was grinning. His opponent growled in anger and yanked out a card from his deck.
"I summon Machina Gearframe as well, and add Machina Fortress from my deck." Then it hit Bogdan like a sledgehammer.
"Now I understand what's going on here! You people tried to copy my deck, but you had insufficient info on it. You haven't seen every card in my deck and you couldn't get copies of the Malefic and Meklord monsters I possess due to the rarity of said cards, so you decided to improvise, give it your own spin. This is probably why you made a show like the last one, a long-ass duel where I would play a lot of cards and different combos and you could later study it and try to recreate it. If I lost then and there, problem solved, if I won, you would have your data and would try to beat me with my own deck. It was win-win either way. Problem with that is, what you created is ultimately a cheap knock-off of my deck and you will never beat me with it. I've hand-picked every card from the whole card pool available right now, and know every single combo it is capable of making. Success without hard work is like cumming without stroking. It can only happen in your dreams. And I intend to prove it to you by defeating this clown. Go on, then, show me what you learned so far." Bogdan gestured with his hand a "come-at-me" sign.
"I activate Mask Change 2, and by discarding a card I send Gearframe to the graveyard to special summon the Earth-attributed Masked HERO Dian! Dian, attack Machina Fortress!"
"I detach the equipped Machina Gearframe to save Fortress from destruction!" Bogdan reacted.
"But you still lose 300 life points and go down to 7400."
"Big deal, 300 life points are nothing to me."
"Then prepare to lose even more. I activate Form Change! I return Dian to the extra deck and special summon another Masked HERO with the same level as Dian, and I choose another Masked HERO Anki! Now Anki, destroy Fortress in this déjà vu!" Anki charged a ball of dark light between his hands, then threw it at Fortress, which blew up, scattering metal parts everywhere. "Anki destroyed a monster, so now I can add another Mask Change 2 from my deck to my hand. You're down to 7100 life points." Meanwhile, the shrapnel from Fortress' body shredded Anki's torso, destroying it.
"Machina Fortress destroys Anki, then I can special summon Machina Megaform from my graveyard again. Have you forgotten that it's a cycle?" Bogdan inquired.
"No, I haven't. That's why I activate Raigeki to destroy Megaform and, at least for the time being, stop this recurring monster. I end my turn."
"I activate the continuous spell card Supply Squad, then set a monster and a backrow card. This should do for now. Your turn."
"Time to go in the offensive, and show you the real power of this deck. I summon Ghost Charon the Underworld Boatman, then, if you control a monster and I don't I can activate his effect. I discard a card, then I can banish both Charon and a fusion monster in my graveyard to special summon a synchro monster with a combined level equal to the sum of Charon and the fusion, regardless of its summoning requirements. So, Charon's level two and Anki's level eight equal ten, and I summon Majestic Star Dragon!" The silver dragon appeared on the field in a flash of light followed by a shockwave that, for a moment, shone over the light of day, turning it to night, before it came back to normal. Bogdan took a step back, looked at the shining dragon, and whistled in admiration.
"Sweet jibbling jibblets! So that's why you did all those pointless moves just to destroy Fortress. You goaded me into destroying Anki so you can later banish it and summon a synchro monster, ignoring however difficult summoning requirements it has, just as long as it doesn't have the Nomi-clause. Well played, indeed. But according to what I'm reading here on my glasses' display, Majestic Star Dragon returns to your extra deck at the end of the turn. What's the point?" Bogdan shrugged.
"Majestic Star Dragon, attack his set monster!"
"I activate my set trap card Magical Hats! I can select two non-monster cards from my deck, set them on two monster slots on my field, and then shuffle them. Only after this, you can select your attack target."
"Before you do all that Majestic Star Dragon's effect activates! By tributing it I can negate the card you activate and destroy all cards on your side of the field." Majestic Star Dragon exploded, creating another blinding shockwave that wiped away every card on Bogdan's field. "I end my turn."
"Well, that was a very complicated and overkill move just to blow my field up, which you could've done with a simple Black Rose nuke for the exact same result, but I don't judge. What you lack in efficiency, you make up in style. Unfortunately, style itself won't win you the game. Remember the Black Salvo that I added in the beginning with Neutron's effect? Now that I have a Dekoichi in the graveyard, I summon it and special summon said Dekoichi. Now I tune both monsters to synchro summon the level seven Karakuri Shogun mdl 00 "Burei"!" A robot samurai jumped out of the synchro hoops, drawing his katana sword out of the sheath. "Burei, attack him directly!" Burei lunged and, as it ran past the mobster, it sliced him with the hologram sword, then jumped back to its place. "You're down to a measly 1000 life points, while I'm still over 7000. For all your bravado, you still suck."
"Then maybe it's time I turned the odds in my favor. I summon Ghost Charon again, and activate its effect because you have a monster and I control nothing else. I dump a card from my hand, then banish Charon and the second Anki to special summon the level ten to special summon Beelzeus, the Ultimate Dark Dragon!" A monster even more nightmarish than Beelze appeared on the field. This one was even larger than before, and had a third jaw on its chest. Bogdan's Glasses display was flooded with information on the new card.
"No need to read the thing, I'll explain it to you by demonstration. Just like Beelze, Beelzeus is immune to battle or card effect destruction. Then, Beelzeus' effect lets me lower Burei's attack to zero, then I gain the same amount in life points, so I go back to 3600, effectively rendering your last turn moot.
"Oh, fuckberries!" Bogdan cried out.
"Now Beelzeus, attack Burei!" The two serpentine heads bit Burei on both sides and dragged it towards the torso mouth, which chewed it in half. "Beelzeus has 4000 attack points, but you get only half as battle damage if Beelzeus activates its effect before attacking. You're down to 5100 life points. I end my turn." His opponent passed, grinning with a malicious smile.
"My turn." Bogdan drew the card and looked at it. Still nothing. I can't take down that atrocity with what I have in mind. 4000 attack is way too much, and it can't be destroyed. With Unknown Synchron and Cyber Dragon in hand I have no chance of defeating it, since the only level six synchro I have is Goyo Guardian. How could I've forgotten to adjust my deck back to normal after the three-to-one duel, son of a Ben and Jerry! The fuck am I supposed to do with Hope for Escape. He has lower life points than me, I need him to have… more… of course! It's a long shot, but I have no other choice. "I special summon Cyber Dragon in defense mode because only you control a monster. I end my turn." He looked at Bruno who was sweating rivers, then at Mauro, who had a barely visible smile on his face.
"Getting desperate are we? It makes you misplay, because you left Cyber Dragon for Beelzeus to feed on. I activate Beelzeus' effect to turn Cyber Dragon's attack points to 0, and that brings me up to 5700 life points. Now that Beelzeus has done its job, time to replace it with a more useful monster. I activate my spell card Synchro Change! I Banish Beelzeus to special summon a synchro monster from my extra deck with an equal level as the banished monster, but its effects will be negated, which I don't care about as I'll only have to overpower you, something I couldn't do with Beelzeus' restrictions. I choose Dragocytos Corrupted Nethersoul Dragon!" Yet another fiendish serpentine dragon appeared on the field. It flapped its leathery wings to pull itself upwards, then bellowed with a powerful roar. "Dragocytos, attack Cyber Dragon!" Dragocytos flapped its wings again to give a boost to its jump, clumped its hands together by interlocking its fingers in a combined fist above its head, and then crashed over the curled-up Cyber Dragon, demolishing it. Then it slithered back to its place beside the goon. "I end my turn." Damn, he took away the life point-regenerating monster, and now he's free to attack with more than one monster too. That could be a problem. Bogdan thought as he draw the card. Meklord Emperor Skiel. Thanks, asshole, where were you when I needed you before, now I can't even summon you. "I set a monster and a backrow card. I end my turn with this."
"Bluffs won't do you any good. I summon Dekoichi in attack position. Then I attack your set monster with it." Unknown Synchron appeared for an instant before being hit by the speeding locomotive. "You really are reaching for straws, setting wieners in hope of drawing something good! Ha! But that will never happen!"
"Talk is cheap, dickbag." Bogdan was unfazed.
"Then how about this? Dragocytos, attack him directly!" Again Dragocytos curled up like a spring, then jumped up with the help of its wings, hands above its head in an interlocked fist. It crashed over Bogdan, creating a shockwave of dust, then retreated to its post on the other side of the field. "You're down to 1100 life points. Go on, make your last move." The mobster taunted him.
"Thank you for bringing me down, and yourself up, to the desired life point difference. You made a trap card that was dead ever since the first turn live again. But first, I activate Upstart Goblin to draw another card. Here, have 1000 more life points." Malefic Cyber End Dragon. At least Skiel is live now, if nothing else works. "Now since you're up to 6700 life points, I activate my trap card Hope for Escape! I pay 1000 life points, bringing myself down to a measly 100, then I can draw a card for every 2000 life point difference between you and me. That's three cards." Bogdan drew a deep breath, exhaled, then drew the first card. Machina Fortress. Useless at this point. He drew the second card. Electromagnetic Turtle. Well, if all else fails he could dump Turtle in the grave with Fortress to summon it in defense, and Turtle would be able to protect him for a turn. Now he had hope for surviving. He drew the last card. His eyes widened, and he burst into a laugh. Bruno threw his glass of liker backwards in happiness. He had no idea how could Bogdan pull it off, but he know that laugh all too well. Bogdan's opponent was visibly dumbstruck. "Time to end this charade. You've made an abomination of my deck and that will not go unpunished. Witness the one true power! By banishing the original Cyber End Dragon, I can special summon its Dark-attributed counterpart, Malefic Cyber End Dragon!" The gigantic machine appeared with a shriek, then exploded instantly.
"Are you mad?! Malefic monsters can't survive without a field spell card!" The mobster yelled.
"I know what I'm doing. Since a monster I control was destroyed by a card effect, I can special summon Meklord Emperor Skiel from my hand. Skiel, absorb Dragocytos!"
"No!" The goon cried out. Wires made out of pure energy came out of the insectoid robot and weaved themselves around Dragocytos' arms, wings, neck and torso, dragging him all the way over to Skiel, until it disintegrated and was absorbed by it.
"Now I discard both Machina Fortress and Electromagnetic Turtle to special summon Machina Fortress from the graveyard. I'd like to attack you right now for the win, but Skiel prevents other monsters from attacking, so if I want to finish this now, I have to go for overkill. I activate my spell card Overload Fusion! As long as I have a Cyber Dragon in either my field or graveyard, I can banish every machine in both my field and graveyard and fusion summon Chimeratech Fortress Dragon, which gains 800 attack points for each machine I use."
"What?!"
"I banish Genex Neutron, Gearframe, Megaform, Dekoichi, Cyber Dragon, Black Salvo, Burei, Unknown Synchron, Malefic Cyber End, Electromagnetic Turtle, three Machina Fortresses and Skiel for a total of 11200 attack points!" As Bogdan took the cards and inserted them in the "banished" slot of his duel disk, Chimeratech Overdragon appeared on the field, fourteen heads sprouting out of its body like a mechanized hydra. "Copy this! Chimeratech, attack Dekoichi and end this!" Bogdan gave the command and all fourteen heads simultaneously fired a beam of energy directed at both Dekoichi and the mobster. The subsequent explosion created a mushroom cloud and a shockwave so strong it blew everybody in the audience off their feet, despite it being only a holographic rendition of the battle. As the smoke cleared, Bogdan could see Bruno and Luca stuffing all the cash he won in duffle bags. He looked at the thug, who was still standing there, wondering what went wrong. "A, B, C, D, E, F, G. Someone should've told you not to fuck with me."
"Show's over, Bogdan, We have to scram before the police show up. The sound and visual of that explosion is sure to attract attention." Bruno bellowed, as Luca pulled Bogdan up by one hand like a sack of potatoes out of the pool. Everybody was huddling to the exit, pushing each other in a race to get out first. Luca hopped in the driver's seat as they reached their card, while Bruno and Bogdan went in the back.
"You never cease to amaze me, you little prodigy." Bruno grinned as he opened one of the duffle bags to look at the money.
"What can I say, I'm the best there is at what I do."