Chapter 36: Absolution

Classes hadn't even started by the time Vic knew it was going to be one of those days. For starters, Hayley's persona had given way to Serpentina's crankier self and disappeared in the middle of the night. There was no telling where she went, but until she came back and told him a story bearing some level of seriousness, he was going to be a little bit cranky and suffer through thoughts of Hayley's darker side attaching to some new guy on a whim the same way she attached to him. It was a longstanding fear of his and one feature of his life that did not alleviate his already caustic disposition.

And so, already cranky, Vic wasn't in the mood to put up with the insinuations Alister Kazama, a guy he never associated with beyond being a fellow Duel Academy student, hurled at him.

The conversation started with, "Where's Abel Shinzo?"

Annoyed, Vic replied, "Who are you?"

"We've had classes together. You've seen me with my fiancée Jessica, and Abel did something to her."

"Is she no longer your fiancée?" Vic snickered.

"Not like that. She's in the health center."

"What's wrong with her?"

"They said it's a 'coma-like' state. She's mostly unresponsive but she shows different brain activity from normal comas. It's like the Shadow Realm incident from two years ago."

At least now he had Vic's attention. "Abel put her in the Shadow Realm?"

"That's my suspicion. I need to know where he is."

"I haven't seen Abel in weeks. I'd heard rumors he was hanging out in the woods late at night. People were asking me if he was the Ghost Duelist. I guess that explains why he dropped out of the gang without saying anything."

Alister repeated, "Hanging out in the woods? Do you know where?"

"Maybe he built a treehouse."

"I need more information!"

"I don't have any for you," Vic snapped back. "Aren't you both residents of the Blue Mansion? Can't you look up his school record or something?"

"RAs can't do that, and I don't see how it would help."

"Just go to his room and try to find him there. That's the best I can give you right now. I seriously have not seen him for a long time."

Alister hung his head slightly, possibly in shame. "You're right. I'm sorry for coming off so strongly. Please let me know if you can help me find out what he did to Jessica." With that, he turned toward the dormitories and walked away.

"'Coming off strongly?'" Vic muttered to himself. "Waiters have given me more crap than that. I've had worse confrontations with Hayley when she's in a good mood."

"Hey, Vic!"

As if his annoyance weren't big enough yet, now Carter Jade approached him with an eager, ravenous look in his eyes. "At the mention of food…" Vic uttered further. "What did Abel do to your girlfriend that you need me to fix? I assume your girlfriend is a refrigerator, of course, or maybe the Pillsbury Doughboy."

Carter hardly seemed phased by the insults. The look in his eyes was not one of being bigger than the comments, but one of not even hearing them. Vic spent a lot of time with people at various levels of attentiveness, and Carter wasn't hearing anything he said. He was single-minded.

"I can't wait for tonight's duel club meeting. Can you invite twice as many people as last time?"

"Invitations?" Vic repeated. What an odd request for someone who always fixated on food. More people meant less food for him. "Since when are there invitations involved? The duel club has been successful by word-of-mouth."

"So you'll get more people tonight?"

"What do you care how many people there are?" he asked out loud. And why does it sound like you could just as easily replace the word "people" with "chili cheese dogs"? he thought quietly to himself.

"I just think it will help the atmosphere."

"It's an underground dueling place for townies to pretend they have skills. How much do you actually think I'm worried about the atmosphere?"

Vic normally didn't care about people's motives as long as their actions worked in his favor. And if a request made no difference to him, he usually just went with it. Granted, he might've turned this one down because he didn't want to do more work, but he normally would have offered some generic permission-granting comment, such as, "Knock yourself out." Something about Carter's expression simply creeped him out.

"What's going on here?" asked the annoying voice of Lili Von, the scrappiest little girl who ever set foot at Duel Academy. Vic hated her for jumping way past him in the school rankings. She was short, underdeveloped in the chest, and annoyingly overpowered with her cards. It was shock enough she didn't fall into the top ten. Vic took that as karmic justice (even though he hardly knew how karma works).

"What do you want, Von?"

"Just curious what you guys are talking about."

"How is that any of your business?"

Carter sneered at her. "Yeah, Lili. Leave us alone. Vic's gonna bring more people to duel club."

"More people? So you can feed on their spirits?"

Vic chortled. "What? Feeding on their spirits? That's a new excuse. I guess it's better than 'he's big-boned.'"

Lili ignored him. "The more you feed, the dumber you seem to get. Is that some kind of side effect of feeding on spirit energy? Are you consuming your own energy by accident? Maybe the Ghost Duelist didn't give you enough power to sustain yourself."

"The Ghost Duelist?" Vic repeated, interested in the conversation again. Was Abel responsible for Carter's creepiness? First Jessica and now Carter? Come to think of it, Logan hadn't been around in a while. Maybe he was involved in this whole mess somehow.

Hey, wait! He's kind of a dick. Is he the Ghost Duelist? Maybe he actually brainwashed Abel into doing stuff. Vic realized he was going to need more information. For just a little while, he needed to focus on something other than himself.

"Whoa!" Vic stumbled away from the others when they both whipped out their Duel Disks. Lili said something about spirit energy being tasty, and the air around Carter exploded. Not a literal explosion, of course, but it felt like a gas bomb went off. The temperature was so high Vic could see distortions in the air. The grass around Carter's feet pushed away from his feet and a few dead leaves disintegrated. Lili wasn't kidding around; Carter had some kind of power in him he didn't have before.

Vic always paid little mind to the Shadow Realm incident. It didn't directly affect him, and since he didn't care about anyone else, none of the afflicted meant anything to him. But he did remember feeling the fear that somewhere out there was something and someone who might consume his soul, just like in all those old Academy ghost stories. He backed away from Carter steadily, knowing this must be what that felt like.

"I'm surprised he fell for it," spoke the tree Vic almost bumped into. After his initial surprise passed, he realized it wasn't the tree speaking, but the student lying in the tree. Nathan Zislaw had a reputation for that. A lazy bastard, he was always somewhere he could see the action without having to participate.

"Fell for what?" Vic asked harshly, trying to regain his tough-guy composure.

"She baited Gluttony into a duel he didn't want to have. Don't get me wrong; she still doesn't stand a chance against the level of power he's attained, but her odds do improve just slightly."

Vic scowled at Nathan, wanting nothing more than to scoff and walk away, but there was one thing he couldn't ignore. Maybe Nathan could tell him, "What is that energy?"

With a yawn, he said, "Greed wants us to build up our power enough to fight the Ghost Duelist. He thinks the Ghost lied to us about bringing God to this world—that he actually wants to destroy it."

"O…kay… What do you think?" Vic asked slowly, flabbergasted.

"I think it hardly serves one well to destroy the world. He's too methodical for that. He's planned every step so far. Even I can't figure out his motives. I don't really care to try anymore, either. Once I figured out he's the only person I've met capable of thinking one step further than I can, it seemed pointless."

Vic thought to himself, Abel is smarter than Nathan, and may or may not be trying to destroy the world? Geez, what did he step into?

"You're sure he's the only one who can outthink you?" Ivy Roaks was noticeable to Vic. (Try to find a cute girl who wasn't.) One of the campus's few redheads, she had green stars tattooed next to her eyes. From a distance, they looked like they held her glasses to her head. She sat in the grass drawing a picture of Nathan sleeping in the tree while Cactus Fighter—an image borrowed from one of her Duel Monsters cards—moved to poke him in the rear with its long spikes.

"Great. Another freak," Vic muttered. "Am I wearing some kind of magnet today?"

Nathan actually hopped down out of the tree when he saw Ivy. He wasn't graceful, but he didn't hurt himself, either. "Why are you here?"

She shrugged and gave a wry smile. "Rumors that you'd been acting weird lately. Now talk about some guy who's smarter than you?"

"He's not smarter than I," Nathan insisted.

"Are you sure? You can't figure out what he's planning, and that's supposed to be your whole claim to fame. You're the brilliant strategist, but someone else has you beat."

"You don't even come close to my level of thinking. Might as well be an ant trying to figure out man's destiny."

Her smirk didn't fade. "I don't know about that. I've learned a thing or two about you since we teamed up for that Tag Team Tournament. I bet I could take you out now."

Vic wouldn't even classify this banter as provocative, but Ivy obviously got under Nathan's skin. The air around him exploded the same way it had around Carter moments earlier. Instantly, sweat formed around Vic's hairline and his stomach tightened. The energy was intense. Even Ivy winced under the power, unable to resist completely and maintain her smugness. That very fact seemed to please Nathan.

"Still wish to 'take me out'?"

Ivy forced a difficult smile. "Yeah. That sounds like fun and not at all challenging."

Nathan growled in reply. "Draw your cards."

This was unbelievable. Vic had seen thousands of duels on this quad, with thousands of duelists with skills ranging from King of Games to Velcro is Easier. And even though he'd seen the effects of the Shadow Realm before, he'd never felt the effects coming straight off a person like he felt from Nathan and Carter. These two guys still looked like the kind of short nerds Vic would normally beat up and steal their girlfriends, but the air about them rendered them like powerful apparitions. Every step of the duels was dominated by intense, dark power.

Vic was horrorstruck. "Did Abel cause all of this?"

The swordsman moved like a blur, brandishing his twin blades with the fluidity of his own arms as he cut straight through the leather armor of Lili's Armageddon Knight (4/1400/1200). Driven Daredevil (7/2400/2100) carried a polearm on his back, wore greaves on his shins, and covered his face with a tight, scarf-like mask. He wasn't the biggest monster ever to grace the field, but he already proved powerful enough to destroy Lili's Chaos Sorcerer, and it even destroyed Black Luster Soldier with its deadly effect.

Lili 1200 – 1000 = 200: Carter 2800.

This duel was not as easy as Lili had hoped. She suspected Carter might be stronger now than he was at the beginning of the term, but this change was more than she prepared for. With the destruction of her Knight, she had only one card in her hand—a monster, too weak to do anything about the Daredevil—no cards on the field, and four of her monsters were banished in her failed efforts to win with chaos monsters. By contrast, Carter had an unbeatable warrior and three cards in his hand to provide backup as needed.

"Here we go," she uttered as she drew what might be her last card. "I'll banish Armageddon Knight and Honest to summon Chaos Emperor Dragon (8/3000/2500)." An enormous, green-scaled dragon wearing gold armor around its joints and wings burst onto the field, its mane like a blazing fire.

"That card won't help you," Carter said. He produced brief laughter that sounded almost like he was heaving. "You don't have enough Life Points to activate its effect, and it can't destroy my Daredevil." Any monster with more points than the Driven Daredevil was incapable of destroying it by battle, yet he would retaliate with that polearm on his back and kill any more powerful monster that failed to kill him.

Lili knew Chaos Emperor Dragon stood no chance against Carter's warrior.

"You truly have gotten stronger by consuming all that spirit energy," she admitted to Carter. He just heaved happily in reply. "I can feel the power you poured into your cards. You're really going all out on me, aren't you?"

"Greed wants all duelists marked. Your power will feed him the same way it feeds me."

"Right…" She clenched a fist, simply wishing her will power would be enough to provide a favorable outcome. "I really hope your brain restores itself when this duel is over." Inhaling sharply, she slapped down another card. "I'll summon Gren Maju Da Eiza (3/+2400/+2400)." A red beast with a mouthless face and a hardened, tailed body appeared on the field—small at first but growing quite rapidly until it nearly matched Driven Daredevil in girth.

"That's your trump card?"

"In this situation, yes," Lili explained. Gren Maju gains 400 points for each of my banished monsters. It's a difficult sacrifice, but now that it matches the power of your monster exactly, Daredevil can't protect himself. They'll both go down together!" The beast charged across the field and latched onto Driven Daredevil with its massive claws. The warrior resisted the pain enough to whip the polearm from his back and drive it into Gren Maju's chest. Both holding the position for a moment, Gren Maju tucked its neck and thrust its horned head into the warrior's chin. Both monsters disappeared from the field.

"And now, the field is open for a direct attack."

All that power he stored up erupted from Carter's body like an explosion as he tried to resist the golden fire streaming from the Chaos Emperor Dragon's tongue. The golden fire had infinite drive behind it whereas Carter felt the exhaustion. One flinch on his right side and the fire engulfed him completely.

Lili 200: Carter 2800 – 3000 = 0.

Lili watched Carter topple over backward, slamming into the ground hard. She leaned forward and clenched her fists tightly, trying desperately not to give in to the exhaustion that swamped her. Sleep was the only thing she could think about save the fear that if she slept, she might succumb to whatever secondhand effects that power would have on her. Her prediction was they weren't going to give her superpowers.

A spectator from the quad patted Lili on the shoulder softly, hoping to congratulate her on a tough duel. That soft pat was enough to collapse her to the ground; she had been asleep on her feet.

Ivy 3400 – 3000 = 400: Nathan 4900.

"Just stop trying to predict my moves," Nathan requested. "I've never had such an easy duel against a decent player. I'm genuinely offended you think I'm so predictable." Going by cards on the field, Nathan was simply dominating with his large, cybernetic demon looming over the field and obliterating Ivy's sunflower monster. "Overmind Archfiend (9/3300/3000) deals piercing damage over your Dandylion (3/300/300)." He acknowledged, "To your benefit, you do get two Fluff Tokens (1/0/0) as a result, but then again, Overmind Archfiend deals piercing damage to Tokens, too. Plus your Black Garden Field Spell gives me another Rose Token (2/800/800)."

"I've still got one facedown card," Ivy pointed out.

"That you haven't played for the past four turns. If you're going to bluff, do it right. That's probably just a Normal Spell you can't use yet that you had hoped would prevent me from attacking."

Ivy didn't respond to that.

"Your expression tells me I'm right. I've already rendered your Black Garden more harmful than helpful by getting Overmind without cutting its attack. Anything you summon will be weakened."

He sighed. "Per Overmind's ability, Psychic Nightmare is now banished from my Graveyard. That marks the end of my turn. All you've got now are two Fluff Tokens and a facedown bluff card. All I have is Overmind Archfiend. This is not a hopeless situation for you. Go ahead and see if you can find a Tribute monster strong enough to beat mine."

Upon drawing her card, Ivy smirked. "Here's a way to reduce Overmind's points: I'll play Murmur of the Forest to put it in defense mode." A steady breeze blew through the trees of her black garden, turning Overmind upside-down and into defense mode. The trees faded from the field, leaving the two duelists standing on the quad again. "I don't have a bigger monster in my hand, but I have one in my Extra Deck."

"So you drew a tuner?"

"Nope. I have one in the Graveyard. I'll banish Cactus Bouncer (4) to summon Spore (+5/400/800) from the Graveyard." If two fluffy seeds didn't present a piddly-enough defense, she added a monster that was just a small spore with eyes like sparkling sapphires. "Spore has the ability to gain levels equal to the level of the monster banished to summon it. With the Fluff Tokens, that gives me a tuner and seven levels. I'll tune my monsters together to summon Black Rose Dragon (7/2400/1800)!"

"Black Rose Dragon?" Nathan repeated aghast. Rose petals swirled around the field with the arrival of a rose-colored dragon. "That's a surprisingly good move."

"Then you'll love this part," Ivy continued. "When Black Rose Dragon is on the field, I can banish a plant from my Graveyard to switch Overmind Archfiend (-0) to attack mode and reduce its points to zero." The cybernetic demon suffered an electrical short during a flurry of rose petals. It metallic body had red spots stuck all over, leaking energy. "Now Black Rose Dragon (2400) can attack and deal about half the points you have left." The red dragon exhaled a tunnel of razor-sharp winds. At hurricane force, each rose petal carried by the wind tunnel tore huge chunks out of Overmind Archfiend's armor.

"I wish I could have seen that coming," Nathan mumbled. "If only I'd known you had Spore in the Graveyard, or that Black Rose Dragon was a great choice for knocking out stronger monsters. Then maybe I would have left preparations for Overmind's inevitable defeat."

A warp hole appeared in the sky, and suddenly four monsters Nathan already played in the duel dropped out onto the field. A short man wearing a VR visor, a red-haired woman wielding psychic weaponry, a lanky man charging psychic energy into a staff, and a monster with mighty horns and claws big enough to knock over a tree all joined the Rose Token already present. "Maybe removing Overmind Archfiend from the field summons back all the monsters he banished."

"Purely by coincidence, right?" Ivy mocked. "I'm sure you didn't plan that at all."

He shrugged. "What can I say? Your strategy hasn't changed. Even if I weren't able to see a path spread out by your cards, I would already know what you were going to play."

"It was pretty much downhill after you spoiled my Cactus-Garden Lockdown," Ivy admitted.

"Yes, it was. And now my field is swarmed with psychic monsters that can easily take the rest of your Life Points."

Ivy nodded slowly, as if admitting defeat. "You're right. Your field is swarmed. It's a great time for Just Desserts." A black wall appeared on the field between Nathan and Ivy, but it was moving. As the top shifted, presenting a face turning toward Nathan's field, he realized it wasn't a wall. A giant of a man turned and hurled rocks at Nathan in fear that the opposing monsters might try to steal his food.

"When did you put that card in your deck?"

"Does this card feel like the spirit of your friend inhabits this card? Its gluttonous nature deals you 500 points of damage for each monster on your field." She smirked as she dropped to the grass and assumed a relaxing, seated position. "Maybe for once, someone truly was one step ahead of you."

Ivy 400: Nathan 4900 – 2400 – 500*5 = 0.

When Nathan's Life Points dropped, the energy didn't spill from him the way Duel Academy had become acquainted. Being the embodiment of sloth, he hadn't accrued as much power as a duelist with his talents could have. A single burst emerged from him like a shockwave, brushing the grass along the ground and providing a quick breeze that blew past Ivy's skirt and aided in pushing her to the ground.

Nathan dropped to his knees, scraping them on the hard ground. "That… was impressive," he uttered.

"Thanks," Ivy replied heavily. Hitting the ground knocked the wind out of her. "Maybe next… I'll figure out… what the Ghost… Duelist is… planning." Her words fell on deaf ears as Nathan face-planted into the grass, unconscious. Ivy wasn't far behind.

Spectators couldn't figure out what happened to everyone. To the third party, fainting after a duel seemed excessive, but it warranted a call to the campus emergency line.

Vic couldn't believe the events he just witnessed. Somehow, this simple card game—not even an athletic competition—forced four people to exert such will power that all of them collapsed under the pressure. What the hell was going on?

"Hey, you!" came Hayley's cheerful, almost musical voice. She jabbed Vic in the back to get his attention and pecked him on the cheek when he turned to look at her. Then she pulled back when she saw his fallen expression. "Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost." She noticed the four people on the ground and asked, "What happened here?"

"I'm not really sure," he told her. "But I know how to stop it."

"Yeah?"

He put his hand on her waist and helped lead her away from the scene. "I'll need your help."

Luring Abel to a secluded area of the island was not a favorable task. With the power he was giving out to other students, he must have a wild store for himself. It was a lot like bringing a grizzly bear to your clubhouse, or like talking to the most beautiful woman you've ever seen in your life when you don't really have the guts for it. It was a task requiring nerves of steel, an iron will, and a silver tongue to avoid suspicion.

Or in lieu of those qualities, one could have, instead, great ignorance and difficulty understanding a given situation. In other words, a perfect job for Ty and Clyde to undertake. Somehow, with the limited information Vic gave them about why he needed to get Abel to the beach at the edge of the campus grounds, they managed to get him following them at sunset unwittingly (for all three of them) into Vic's trap.

"Here we go," Ty said. He pointed to the beach, then traced his finger in the direction of the volcano until he found the cliffs that wound around the west side of the island. Where the cliffs met the beach, he saw a small alcove. "I think this is the spot."

"Why here?" Abel asked. "You planning to entomb me alive?"

"That wouldn't work," Clyde insisted. "I heard you can walk through walls."

"Did you, now?"

"Yeah. Hilda said you walked into her room late at night and attacked her."

"It sounds like Hilda was trying to avoid explaining why a boy was in her room after curfew."

"That's dumb," Ty replied. "How do you explain the way he walked through the walls?"

"It's called a door, dumbass," Vic said as he stepped out of the alcove. Groaning loudly and rubbing his head, he said, "Get out of here, guys."

Ty asked, "Why?"

"Because I'm the boss and I said so."

Both guys seemed reluctant to go, but Clyde pointed out, "He must have some gang business to discuss with Abel. Maybe he's actually going to let him come back."

"That would be sweet," Ty agreed. With a goofy wave, they both walked back toward campus.

Abel smirked. "I wondered when you'd show. Why come all the way out here?"

"I wanted to get you alone, out here where you can't hurt anyone else."

"How noble. Is that why you ran off your only real friends, too?"

"I saw what happened when your underlings used their power on the quad. Ty and Clyde don't need to be in harm's way like that."

"How unlike you. So what do you propose?"

Vic grunted. "Obviously we're going to duel." His voice was tinged with frustration. "For some stupid reason, this card game seems to break brainwashing spells put on people."

"A duel through our cards is no different from competing in the coliseums of old. Combatants continue to place their hearts in their performance, to exert their wills through their movements. The physical effort may be less, but the spiritual energy required for a duel is just as taxing. Anything less than your full soul will result in a loss."

He sure didn't talk like he used to. The sheer confidence behind Abel's words and the way he carried himself betrayed immense confidence. Carter and Nathan never looked even close by comparison. Vic stood no chance against him, yet he felt there was no choice.

"Don't forget about me," said Hayley, stepping out of the alcove.

Abel smirked again. "You would allow your girlfriend to remain in the way of the same harm that wouldn't let your friends endure?"

"That's different," Vic told him. "As stupid as it sounds, if a duel is really a spiritual game like you say, then she's better off than I am."

"Are you sure about that? A young lady with a split psyche will undoubtedly struggle against the power of the Seal."

Offended, Hayley pointed out, "I beat Romulus last year. He was one of your buddies, too."

"Wrath was on the same level as the two duelists you witnessed on the quad today. I am on a whole greater level. I will accept a challenge against both of you, but if you wish to participate, then be prepared for the greatest suffering of your lives." He snapped his Duel Disk open and activated it.

Vic didn't like the sound of that, but he kept reminding himself, Forget what you saw on the quad. It's just a card game.

"I'm already familiar with great suffering," he laughed, trying to reassert himself as a tough guy. "I have dated, you know." Hayley scoffed, but while hiding a grin. Both activated their Duel Disks and created a wide triangle with Abel.

"To keep this quick and to put it all out there," Vic announced, "we're borrowing the Deck Master system. This isn't a tournament-sanctioned duel, but we can still use the system to change the pace of our contest."

"I accept the challenge," Abel said, "and I wish to summon Aztekipede, the Worm Warrior as my Deck Master." An enormous centipede whipped onto the field, rearing up to become as tall as Abel.

"I'll use Fabled Miztoji," Hayley said. A short man shrouded in a winged, black cloak stood beside her, carrying a small scepter he used for balance.

Vic forced a smile, hoping his grand strategy would work out. "And I'll summon Elemental Mistress Doriado." His card appeared as an attractive, blonde priestess wearing blue robes and a red headdress. "Let's get started."

Spoke Abel, "Very well. I'll summon Inzektor Dragonfly (3/1000/1800)." A man wearing a black bodysuit spotted with red greaves, breastplate, and helmet fluttered onto the field via pink wings. He knelt to the ground and aimed a plasma rifle at the opposing fields. A second man, wearing a similar bodysuit with yellow armor and carrying a pointed battering ram, flew down as well, merging his ram with the Dragonfly's (+6/+1500/+2300) gun. "I can equip him with Inzektor Hornet from my hand. I'll end with one facedown card."

"One small monster?" Hayley asked as she drew. "Let's overpower him. I'll start by setting one card, then I'll summon Fabled Raven (2/1300/1000)," a man wearing a black mask and with bladed feathers growing from his arms. "His effect lets me discard Dandylion and two Fabled Ganashia. First, Raven (+5/+2500/1000) gets stronger, then two Fluff Tokens (1/0/0) appear on the field, and both Ganashia (3/+1800/1000) revive." Alongside Raven appeared two seed fluffs and two humanoid elephants wearing Indian garb. "First, Raven will tune with one Ganashia to summon Fabled Valkyrus (8/2900/1700)." The completed summoning produced a man wearing a full suit of bulky, Japanese armor, including an oni mask meant to frighten his foes and weaken their resolve.

"By discarding one fiend from my hand, Valkyrus gives me a new card." Hayley dropped a card into her Graveyard, but another card immediately popped back out. "Whenever Fabled Krus (2/1000/800) is discarded, I can revive a low-level Fabled monster, like Fabled Raven (2/1300/1000)." The man with the bladed wings appeared on the field once more. "Now I will set one more card and use my Deck Master's ability: Once per turn, I can turn any Fabled monster into a Tuner. That means Ganashia (3) can tune with the two Fluff Tokens (1) to summon Fabled Ragin (5/2300/1800)," a man with thin, demonic wings that barely shielded his gold-and-black armor, marked by red glyphs. "When he's summoned, I get to draw until my hand contains two cards."

Hayley smiled and finally dropped her hand, pleased with the fortification of her field. Looking to Vic, she said, "Sorry that took so long."

"As long as you're happy," he replied. He already told her he wanted the duel over as quickly as possible, and they set up their decks to do just that. The last thing they needed was Abel showing any hidden Shadow Realm power.

"I'll summon Element Valkyrie (4/1500/1200)," a woman wearing a red leotard under an iron breastplate and a lengthy, blue skirt. She carried a flaming staff in her right hand. "To make her stronger, I'll activate the effect of my Deck Master." Doriado held her hands forward, and a red light flowed into Vic's monster. "She changes the attribute of my monsters once per turn. Now that Valkyrie (+2000) is a fire monster, she gains 500 attack points."

The obvious next choice was to attack Abel's monster, but even though he continued to use insects, these Inzektors brought a new experience for Vic. Abel's previous deck was simply an insect deck designed for swarm and beatdown. What effects did these two bug men have?

"Valkyrie will attack your Dragonfly guy."

"No," Abel countered. "I'll play Sakuretsu Armor to destroy your attacking monster." A body of spiked armor emerged from the ground and covered Inzektor Dragonfly; the armor pierced Element Valkyrie during her attack and destroyed her. Aztekipede crawled rapidly across the field and made Vic flinch as it lunged for his deck, grabbing a card in its massive mandibles and ripping it away. "Every time one of your monsters is destroyed, you discard a card from the top of your deck."

"At least your Trap is gone," Vic said to rationalize the loss of his monster. "I'll put a card facedown and end my turn."

"Then we will continue the destruction of your monsters," Abel announced. "When I send Hornet to the Graveyard, he will take Fabled Valkyrus with him." The yellow man stepped away from the red man and dove across the field, targeting the mighty creature in front of Hayley.

"My monster won't go down without a fight," Hayley replied. "I'll play Ring of Destruction!" A ring of connected stones latched onto Valkyrus's neck. One stone suddenly spouted fire, followed closely by a second spout from another stone. "I destroy the monster you just targeted, and then we both take damage equal to his attack power." When fire spouted from all eight stones, the ring exploded, and energy from Valkyrus struck all players while leaving Hornet with no target as he sailed by harmlessly into the Graveyard.

The fire from the explosion engulfed all three players, subtracting more than a third of everyone's Life Points. Finally, when the fire subsided, Abel acted as though the effect on him was minimal. He still had plenty of moves to make.

"Sending Hornet away activated Dragonfly's effect; I can summon Inzektor Centipede (3/1600/1200)." This man was huskier than the others, wearing a black bodysuit covered by brown armor studded with spikes. The man with yellow armor reappeared on the field, this time lending his spiked battering ram to Centipede (+6/+2100/+1700). "When summoned, he equips an Inzektor from my hand or Graveyard. Once more, I'll send Hornet to the Graveyard, this time to destroy Fabled Ragin." For the second time, the man in yellow dove across the field, aiming his battering ram at Hayley's monster.

"Any protection this time?" Vic asked hopefully.

"I didn't plan for it to happen twice."

Hornet's effort succeeded this time; he pierced Fabled Ragin with his stinger, and a moment after he disappeared into the Graveyard, Ragin's body withered and disappeared as well. Aztekipede lunged across the field and consumed a card from the top of Hayley's deck.

"This activates Centipede's effect and lets me take an Inzektor from my deck to my hand. Using his special effect, I'll equip Inzektor Giga-Mantis to Dragonfly (+2400)." A man adorned entirely in green armor appeared on the field, armed with tonfa made from enormous sword blades. He handed the blades to Dragonfly and then stepped back. "Being equipped, Giga-Mantis increases Dragonfly's power to 2400.

"And now, I summon Unknown Synchron (1/0/0)." The first non-insect he summoned was a small, floating sphere with metal antennae and a single, red eye. "I'll tune my Synchron (1) to Centipede (3) to summon Dark Diviner (4/2000/1000)." The advent of this monster wasn't imposing, but slow and mysterious. A heavy mist filled the field, and it slowly took a form similar to a man. The blue mist remained as his robes, with a red cowl over his head, and a three-headed, ashen staff appeared in his hand.

"Bring it," Vic challenged, gritting his teeth.

Abel did exactly that. "Dragonfly (2400) will attack Raven (1300)." Using the blades borrowed from Giga-Mantis, the man with red armor eviscerated the man with the bladed wings. Aztekipede lunged across the field and ripped another card from her deck. "Dark Diviner can attack directly."

"Hang on," Hayley countered. "I've got Call of the Haunted!"

"No!" Vic shouted. He knew about Dark Diviner from his synchro coursework. It was a monster immune to battle damage, and it could grow to match the power of any stronger monsters, veritably making it the ultimate attacking monster.

But Hayley surprised him: "I'm summoning Reborn Tengu (4/1700/600)," a human-avian hybrid wearing thick, samurai garb and dual wielding a wakizashi and a katana.

"A weaker monster?" Abel confirmed curiously. "I'll still attack." Dark Diviner thrust the staff forward, and the blue mist traveled across the field, consuming Reborn Tengu without any visibility. Aztekipede took another card from Hayley deck. "When Dark Diviner destroys your monster, you lose an additional three cards from your deck."

As Hayley tossed three cards into the Graveyard, she commented, "I'm starting to notice a shortage of cards here."

"Famine is my specialty," he replied gladly. "I'll set one more card and end my turn."

Vic 8000 – 2900 = 5100: Hayley 8000 – 2900 – 1100 – 300 = 3700: Abel 8000 – 2900 = 5100.

"Here goes," Hayley said hopefully. "I'll summon Fabled Lurrie (1/200/400)," a small fiend with a red mask, demonic wings, and razor teeth. "Using Miztoji's effect, Lurrie becomes a tuner and merges with Reborn Tengu (4) to summon Stygian Sergents (5/2200/1800)." The resulting monster was a two-headed, yellow-skinned dragon riding a powerful, double-wheeled motorcycle. Vic knew it was a powerhouse and a staple in Hayley's deck, but it couldn't beat Dark Diviner. They needed something else.

"To give my monster more points, I'll activate The Gates of Dark World." A wall appeared on the field, blocking Hayley from the other duelists. But this wall was shaped like a tome, and it opened to provide a passageway for Hayley to rejoin the field. "All fiend monsters gain 300 points. That makes Stygian Sergents (+2500) strong enough to destroy your Dragonfly (2400)."

"I'll activate Fiendish Chain." A heavy chain suddenly appeared on the field, snaring Stygian Sergents, motorcycle, and all. "Your monster's effect is negated, and it can't attack."

"I beg to differ," Hayley replied. "I've got Mystical Space Typhoon." A heavy storm whipped up overhead, and a single bolt of lightning struck the chain, snapping it and freeing the revving motorcycle. "Sergents' attack goes through." The motorcycle collided with Dragonfly and crushed him like a bug.

Abel pulled a card from his Graveyard. "When Giga-Mantis is sent to the Graveyard like that, I can summon Centipede (1200) from the Graveyard in defense mode."

"Good, because now Sergents (+3300) gains another 800 points and gets to attack again." Turning the motorcycle, Hayley's monster barreled through Dark Diviner's (+2300) mist on its way through the Gate and back to Hayley's side of the field. "Your turn, honey. A win now would be great."

Vic 5200: Hayley 3800: Abel 5100 – 100 – 1000 = 4000.

"Don't I know it?" Vic replied as he drew his card. This was going to be tough, but thanks to the horrendous effect of Abel's Deck Master, it seemed possible. "I'll play Preparation of Rites. This card lets me bring a Ritual monster from my deck to my hand, plus I can return a Ritual Spell from the Graveyard."

All of a sudden, Vic felt a chill. He looked up and caught sight of a shadow growing from Abel. It looked like his good friend was possessed by a demon.

"Is something wrong?" Abel asked ominously.

Concerned, Hayley asked, "Vic?"

He forced a smile; he didn't want Hayley to know he was afraid of the power Abel was beginning to show.

But wait. Why now? Why would Abel wait through the first several plays to begin displaying his power now? What was different? All that came to mind was the growing evenness of the field. Thanks to Hayley's efforts, Abel's life was almost half gone, and remembering that Abel had no facedown cards restored some of Vic's confidence.

"I'm good," he said, finally sounding like himself. "I'll play Doriado's Blessing and discard Element Saurus to summon Elemental Mistress Doriado (3/1200/1400)." A twin sister of his Deck Master, the woman Vic summoned was an attractive, blonde priestess brimming with elemental power. "I'll also play Fuh-Rin-Ka-Zan." Doriado placed her hands together and closed her eyes, chanting silently. When she opened her eyes and revealed her palms, four colored lights rose into the sky. Suddenly Abel's side of the field was bombarded with elemental energy, eliminating both of his monsters—even the blue mist of his immortal Dark Diviner. "Fuh-Rin-Ka-Zan activates only if my field has monsters with fire, water, wind, and earth elements, and Doriado has all of them. It destroys all monsters on your field."

"I understand that," Abel said. Translation: Duh.

"Right. I'll summon Element Dragon (4/+2000/1200), which gains 500 points because Doriado is a fire monster." His new monster was a typical, pink-scaled dragon with a long neck and a red mane. "In order to finish this, I'll give Doriado the Ritual Weapon." The unarmed priestess suddenly equipped a crossbow on her forearm—one with a golden frame and a bolt made of pure light energy. "This weapon gives Doriado (+2700) an extra 1500 points.

"And you're defenseless." Vic smirked at the field as he quickly counted the points to himself. Element Dragon blasted Abel with a ball of fire. "I'll bet you weren't expecting this result, were you?"

Hayley shared his excitement as Doriado took aim. "We actually took down the Ghost Duelist."

Abel hummed softly. "I am not the Ghost Duelist," he confessed. "I am merely his servant, and the purpose I served him was to lose this duel and break the seal." Doriado's bolt passed through him, reducing his Life Points to zero. "Your true enemy is still out there, and now there are only four seals remaining before the Rapture."

As he hit the ground, he uttered, "Now is the time to atone."

Vic 5100: Hayley 3700: Abel 4000 – 2000 – 2700 = 0.

Response to reviewers:

Thanks go to tiramisu19 for continuing to point out that I don't how this game works half the time. I tried really hard to get everything right for this chapter, which is one reason writing them takes me so dang long. He also pointed out that I didn't explain every step of the duel well enough last time. I hope this chapter works better in that sense, too.

Additionally, he brought up the difficulty with tying in Yu-Gi-Oh! characters without having my story take place in their immediate world. The primary distinction with the YGO universe is greater prevalence of cards. I try to keep them rare to avoid boredom, but I also believe that after Kaiba obtained Industrial Illusions and became the monopolizing entrepreneur of all things Duel Monsters, he would know the value of replicating some rare cards for greater distribution. (One complaint I hear and wish to counter immediately: Yugi was not the only Dark Magician user. Fact. There is no reason to believe there are only three Dark Magicians in the universe.) The only card I can see Kaiba never selling is the Blue-Eyes, and though my story may have suggested production of more, I have never shown any of them not owned by the Kaiba family.

I plan not to have any more cameos (and never really planned those to begin with). If anyone still has any cognitive dissonance about combining the two worlds, feel free to ask questions.

Weekly trivia:

This chapter was originally two separate chapters, but the way I began the story focusing on Vic led me to bring up his duel against Abel two chapters early in order to maintain the flow. In terms of timeline, it is Thursday evening, meaning the following morning is when Bryan will duel against Salman Nazari.

Credits:
Vic Rock...Iron-Arm-V
Hayley Wilson...TeamRocketDiva
Alister Kazama...ZaneKazama001
Carter Jade...Jaden2010
Lili Von...Happy2BMe
Nathan Zislaw...mavrikzero
Ivy Roaks...Mental Panda
Romulus Malligan...Maximus1