Chapter Seven: Heads or Tails, Even or Odd?
Nick woke up. He was in his room, beneath the covers of his bed. Was everything that just happened a dream? Nick opened his eyes and looked around the room. He saw Laurna, Tony and Jason.
"Wh-what? How did I end up here...?" Nick wasn't fully awake yet, and the events that transpired only hours ago had not yet set in.
"We all decided to check on you when you hadn't contacted us a few hours after you left. Jason drove us to the Spire and we saw you outside the gates. You probably fainted or something. You were holding onto your brother's Duel Disk when we found you." Laurna looked incredibly concerned.
"What happened in there? You had to have seen your brother if you found his Duel Disk." Tony said with an inquisitive look.
"You guys...I don't wanna talk about it right now. I just need some time to myself. I appreciate your support and all, but right now I need to be alone so I can think..."
"C'mon Nick, we'll help you through whatever--"
Laurna cut him off.
"Tony, if he needs to be alone, let him be. He'll talk when he's ready."
"Oh okay. Well if you need me Nick, I'll be at home."
"I'll be at Tony's house doing research about Blackheart. Just call if there's anything we can do." Jason and Tony left the room.
"Well, I'll stick around until Auntie gets home. If you want me to leave you alone I can wait downstairs."
"Actually Laurna...." Nick sat up in his bed.
"Yeah? What is it?"
"I'll tell you what happened, but please, promise you won't tell Auntie, Tony, or anyone. I don't want them to know....But I trust you the most, and you know I don't keep anything from you."
"It's not a problem. But you will tell them later right?"
"I'll deal with that later, if I decide to. But I need you to help me. If I told Tony or anyone else, they'd probably blab about it to everyone and have a whole mob storm the Blackheart Corporation's buildings. But you're the one with the cool head, and you can help me the most."
"Well..." Laurna smiled. "Spill it already."
"..." Nick hesitated a bit. "This is really hard to say....Duo might be dead..." Nick's face had a serious expression Laurna had never seen.
"Oh God...." Laurna's eyes widened.
"He forced the two of us into a death duel. But I think that Duo may still be alive. I can still sense him...Like he's not gone. I couldn't really tell what Blackheart did to him, but I don't think Duo was killed. Blackheart was using some sort of weird magic or something to control him. He used the same type of thing to cast a spell of some sort. He covered Duo in flames, but they weren't burning him. He was screaming in pain, but physically, he wasn't being harmed."
"So you think that whatever Blackheart did to him...Didn't kill him?"
"Well whatever it was, I don't believe that Duo is dead....yet. I'm afraid that whatever happened, will eventually kill him. That's why it's important that I get into the finals so I can enter the Spire. When I get there I think I'll find Duo."
"So how can I help?"
"I figure if all of us, you, Tony and I, get into the finals, we'll definately find Duo. I just need you to hold onto my Decoder Devices until we all have enough to enter the finals. Blackheart will definately send his eliminators after me because I may know too much."
"Hmm...That makes sense. I can do that."
"Here, take one of mine. I'll need to hold on to one so I can duel. I'll give you more of them until we have enough for us to enter the finals."
Laurna took the Device and nodded.
"Right now, I'm going to find someone to duel. I don't think it's a good idea for you to come along. Keep Auntie company for me. I'll be back later."
Nick got out of bed and slipped his shoes on. He grabbed his Duel Disk and went downstairs with Laurna.
"See you when I come back Laurna."
"Be careful out there." Laurna took a seat on the couch and picked up the phone. She called her parents to let them know she was at Nick's. She then sat patiently waiting for Nick's Aunt to come home from work.
---
Nick walked down the street looking for anyone with a Duel Disk. His eyes were burning looking for an opponent. He was determined to do anything to get his brother back. He could still sense his presence. Somehow he just knew that Duo wasn't dead. He ended up in the southern section of New Mephisto, a place he wasn't very familiar with. Nick looked at his surroundings to see many apartment buildings and several small markets. It seemed he came upon a small residential area. Across the street, there was a map posted up near a bus stop. He rushed to it to find out exactly where he was.
"Hmm...if I turn around here and go three blocks west, I'll be at the park. There's always some duelists there..."
Nick turned around, but he bumped into a woman holding some shopping bags. Nick fell to the ground.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, I didn't see you there."
"It's ok. Are you hurt?"
"No, I'm fine." Nick brushed hiimself off and looked on the ground and saw a stuffed toy the woman had dropped.
"Okay. As long as you're not hurt." The woman started to walk away.
"Hmm....that voice sounds familiar to me...." Nick saw the stuffed toy on the ground again. He picked it up. "Oh excuse me! Ma'am? You dropped your pen....guin...." The woman turned around. It was Principal Sheratt.
"Oh! Nick! It's you....Well thanks. I didn't notice I'd dropped it." Maggie snatched the stuffed penguin from Nick's hands.
"So, you've got a thing for penguins huh? I would've never guessed."
"Well, Nick, I see you're more observant that I would've ever guessed. I would ask for a rematch so I could crush you again, but I don't have my Duel Disk with me."
Nick let out a small sigh of relief. "Hmm...Don't underestimate me. I've gotten more skilled since we last dueled."
"Then maybe you'd like to duel my friend? He's waiting in the car, maybe I should get him?"
"Sure I was looking for some competition anyway."
"Ha! You'll be sorry you ever said that Nick. Follow me, my car is another block down this way."
Nick followed Maggie to her car. He saw another familiar face waiting for him.
"Mr. Marcus!! You and Principal Sheratt are friends?!"
"Actually, Nick...we're engaged."
"That's surprising...."
"And why is that?" Maggie indignantly looked at Nick with her hands on her hips.
"Uhh...Uhh...Forget I said that. Let's just get this duel started."
"Okay. Nick, you'll have the honor of the first student to lose to me this school year."
Nick: 4000 Mr.Marcus: 4000
---
Maggie took a seat on the hood of the car after putting away her shopping bags.
"I'll place one Decoder Device on the line. Let's decide who goes first with a coin toss. Heads or tails?"
"Heads."
Mr. Marcus flipped the coin.
"It's tails. I'll go first."
"Go ahead."
"Okay Nick, I'll start with Jirai Gumo in attack mode. I'll then set two magic cards and end my turn."
"Hm, I'll play Gearfried the Iron Knight in atttack mode. I bet you wouldn't dare attack me with Jirai Gumo's effect. I'll now set a magic card facedown."
The iron warrior stared down the giant spider, poised to strike.
"So you wanna make bets with me, huh Nick? I'll have you know that I happen to have a gambling problem. You don't want to push me that far."
"He's right, last month he lost $6000 in a poker game...That's a lot coming from a teacher's salary..." Maggie said. She looked really relaxed as she watched the duel continue.
"I thought we weren't going to mention that to anyone?" Mr. Marcus looked a bit annoyed.
"Someone had to bring it up."
"No, I didn't think that needed any discussion."
"Actually, your gambling problem almost cost me my wedding ring!!"
"Oh, trouble in paradise!" Nick laughed.
"Be quiet Nick, let's just continue." He drew a card. "I'll summon a second Jirai Gumo in attack mode! And you bet me I wouldn't dare attack... I'll take you up on that. I'll attack with Jirai Gumo, and it will destroy your Gearfried. However, before I attack, I have to flip a coin. If I call it correctly, my attack will go unpenalized. However, if I call it wrong, I will lose half of my lifepoints. So I'll call heads."
Mr. Marcus flipped the coin high into the air and caught it. He put it on the top of his other hand and looked.
"It's heads. Aww...Too bad."
The giant spider wrapped its legs around the iron warrior and squeezed the life out of it. Gearfried's armor finally gave and the spider's legs pierced him.
Nick: 3600 Mr. Marcus: 4000
"And now since your lifepoints are clearly open for an attack, I'll attack with my second Jirai Gumo! Say goodbye to more than half your lifepoints!"
"No, I don't think so. I'll activate my facedown magic card, Offerings to the Doomed! Destroy Jirai Gumo!"
"Hmph. A minor loss. Unfortunately for you, your magic card makes you skip your next draw phase. I don't think that you're in any position to be making such a gamble."
"Ugh...He's right! Not being able to draw beats losing 2200 lifepoints, but I have to use the cards I have in my hand now. If I can just hold him off for this turn, I'll be able to draw again."
"I won't be able to do much to you this turn, so I'll set a monster in defense and end my turn."
"That's all? I expected more from a person who owns a rare card like Tyrant Dragon. Too bad I'll be taking it from you! I now summon Time Wizard!"
"What?! That means you'll be able to destroy my monsters without attacking!"
"I see you've been doing your homework...I'll be sure to grade it. Now, Time Wizard, activate Time Magic! Now I have to flip a coin in order for his effect to work. I'll call tails this time."
Time Wizard's magic staff spun around like mad. It awaited the outcome to the coin flip.
"NOO!!! It's heads...That means that my monsters are destroyed and I lose lifepoints equal to half their attack power."
Nick: 3600 Mr. Marcus: 2650
"That puts me in the lead thanks to your little gamble."
"There are no more moves I can make, so I'll end my turn."
"Ok, I'll draw, and flip my Frontier Wiseman! Now I'll summon Dream Clown in attack mode. I'll send both of them to attack you directly!"
"I counter with Skull Dice! The number rolled will lower your monsters attack power!"
A wicked looking demon carrying a red die came from the trap card. It dropped the die, which landed on a six.
"Excellent, that lowers your monster's attack power to 1000 and 600...That makes me take minimal damage from your attack."
"It doesn't matter much. Your trap's effect only lasts for one turn. I'll place a trap facedown and end my turn."
Nick: 3600 Mr.Marcus: 1050
"It may look bad for me now, but when you take a chance, you never know what will happen. I'll play my facedown card, Change of Heart and take control of Frontier Wiseman. Now I'll use Monster Reborn on my Jirai Gumo and tribute them both for my Revolver Dragon!!"
Nick was incredibly intimidated as the mechanical dragon materialized on the field. He knew what was coming...
"I'll now play this magic card, SECOND COIN TOSS!!! Whenever I use a card that involves a coin flip, I can negate the flip and try again! So that means, I'll have two chances to destroy you! I'll also place one trap facedown, then activate Revolver Dragon's effect."
The dragon pointed the guns mounted on it towards the Dream Clown, as Mr. Marcus took out three coins.
"I'll toss these coins in the air, and if I get two or more heads, your monster is gone!"
He threw the coins into the center of the field.
"One heads... One tails....TWO HEADS!!! Say goodbye to Dream Clown! Looks like I didn't need Second Coin Toss with my luck..."
His Revolver Dragon shot the Clown three times, destroying it.
"Now, Revolver Dragon, attack Nick directly!"
"I'll use this trap, Spell Binding Circle! It will prevent your Dragon from attacking me!"
"I should've figured you wouldn't have played such weak monsters without a trap ready for me. Good move, Nick."
"Thanks...I'll make my move now if you don't mind. I set a magic card facedown, then I'll activate Card Destruction, so I'll discard the four cards in my hand and draw four new ones from my deck. You have to do the same with the cards in your hand."
"I discard three, then draw three."
"Now, I'll use the card I set facedown, Monster Reborn, to summon Buster Blader in attack mode! And since your Revolver Dragon is a Dragon type mon-"
"I think not Nick. Your Buster Blader has enough attack power to match my Revolver Dragon, and with its effect, it gains power for every Dragon I have. Unfortunately for you, my Revolver Dragon is a Machine type!"
"Damn, I forgot about that, but I'm not done yet. I'll summon my Goblin Attack Force and equip it with United We Stand! That increases its attack power by 1600 points! 3900 attack power is more than enough to destroy your Revolver Dragon! Now, Goblin Attack Force, strike down his Revolver Dragon!"
"Actually, I was hoping you brought out a monster to attack me. I'll play FAIRY BOX! So now, if I call this coin toss correctly, your monster's attack power drops to zero!"
Mr. Marcus flipped a coin. "I'll call heads."
The coin landed in the middle of the field. "Hm...tails. I guess I'll try again with my Second Coin Toss. I'll call heads again."
Nick watched eagerly as the coin landed.
"I can't look....."
Nick's Goblin Attack Force stopped rushing towards the mechanical creature, and the Goblins dropped their clubs.
"It was heads. Your Goblin Attack Force had its attack power dropped to zero. Now you'll take 2600 points of damage, and your monster is destroyed!"
Nick:1000 Mr. Marcus: 1050
"Now the score is nearly even, all thanks to my little gamble. Are you going to attack me with your Buster Blader?"
"No... I'll just set these two magic and trap cards." Nick looked a bit angry as he ended his turn.
"I'll pay 500 lifepoints to keep my Fairy Box in play. I'll use my Dragon's effect again."
Nick: 1000 Mr. Marcus: 550
Mr. Marcus tossed three more coins to the center of the field.
"One heads. One tails. Two tails...Damn!"
"Mr. Marcus, before you try and use Second Coin Toss, I'll destroy it with my magic card, Mystical Space Typhoon!"
"Again, this is only a minor setback... I'll decimate your monster soon enough. I set this trap card facedown and end my turn."
"Whew, that was close...My heart is beating like crazy."
"I draw, and then I set a monster in defense mode. That's all."
"This duel should be over soon enough, I'll pay 500 lifepoints again to keep Fairy Box in play."
Nick: 1000 Mr. Marcus: 50
"I'll now activate Revolver Dragon's effect." He tossed another three coins. "Ahah! Three heads! I'll destroy your facedown monster."
"It was my Mysterious Guard."
"Ah, looks like I've saved myself from a bit of trouble. Now I'll finish this duel! I'll play Dust Tornado on Spell Binding Circle! Then, I summon my third Jirai Gumo in attack mode. I'll attack Buster Blader with Revolver Dragon, then Jirai Gumo will finish you off! Say goodbye to that Decoder Device of yours!"
"In calling that attack, you've taken a big chance. You didn't take my facedown trap into consideration! I play DNA Surgery, and then call the type Dragon!"
"What?! No! That will make all the monsters on the field into Dragons!"
"Yes, and that boosts my Buster Blader's attack power by 1000 points! More than enough to destroy your monster and your remaining fifty lifepoints!"
Buster Blader lunged and sliced the Revolver Dragon in half.
Nick: 1000 Mr. Marcus: 0000
"Great duel, Nick. You've put me in my place. You're a great duelist Nick. You'll make it very far in this tournament. Take my Decoder Device and Time Wizard card."
"Thanks Mr. Marcus. I'll see you at school. I've got to go."
Nick walked towards the park, looking for another challeger. He had three Decoder Devices. One more, and he'd be able to enter the finals. He just had to wait until Tony and Laurna had enough to enter with him. With great intent in his heart, no one would stand in his way.
Mr. Marcus scowled a bit.
"Don't worry, honey, I'll get him later..." Maggie said.
"I know. I know. Let's go home." The couple drove away.
"Now let's talk about that gambling problem or yours...I heard there are programs for that..."
"Not this again..." Mr. Marcus rolled his eyes.