Monica: Glad you like Chubs. He seems to be the reviewers' choice! And yes, Monica does have some deficiencies in manners... I wonder if that can be cleared up any.
Skraku: Hm... Kyle's swearing "completely disappeared for the most part"? Kinda like being "a little pregnant", isn't it? Can't argue with that! :-P Glad you're enjoying.
Lumen: No bones about it, YGO! TCG is a tough game to master. It takes me and my friends loads of dedication, studying... and money! Don't start in on buying those boosters unless you're absolutely sure you want to. I got a YGO! TCG booster from my sister on my 18th b-day, though I specifically said "no" to YGO! cards because I knew I'd get hooked. And now a one-inch binder isn't big enough to hold what I have now! And I'm more broke than M.C. Hammer!
Ankhutenshi: Start powering up that impressive info database of yours, I think I'll need it. This is somewhat akin to a puppy begging for a cookie! *grins* And yes, there will be more counseling. Probably in the next chapter or so. As for the Duel Monsters gaming... hopefully I won't disappoint!
Penny: Actually, no, Chubs isn't based on Wolf, but rather on another good friend of mine. *thumbs up to the real Chubs*
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"Good deal."
Chubs picked up the stack of cards he'd put down and began picking through it. Kyle gave the stout card-player a look of askance, to which Chubs replied, "You said you got the black deck, right?"
"Yeah."
"Good, then I picked out the right one." Chubs plucked a pair of cards from the stack. "I keep the cards I don't use in binders, but for this little exercise, I pulled out the cards that go into the black starter."
Kyle blinked. "You've memorized the cards that go into each starter deck?"
Chubs scoffed. "I wish. Then it'd prove I have a greater attention span than people give me credit for. But no, I haven't memorized what cards go into what deck. There's a code on each card, three letters and three numbers." He showed one of the cards he was holding to Kyle. "The code's right under the lower right corner of the picture. For the cards in the black starter, the code begins with the letters SDB – Starter Deck Black."
"Hm. So the green starter would have SDG?"
"You're catching on." Chubs held out the card he was displaying for Kyle to take. The long-haired teen accepted the proffered card and examined it.
"Curse of Dragon," he murmured. He pointed at the lower right corner of the card. "Attack of 2000, defense of 1500. Right?"
"Yep, you've got it. See, this isn't so tough." Chubs grinned. "And the monster I've got is Summoned Skull, with an attack of 2500 and a defense of 1200. Just put Curse of Dragon down in front of you and I'll start you off on the absolute basics."
"Okay." Kyle put the card he'd been given on the table. Chubs also put down his Summoned Skull card. Then he remembered something. "Oh. Before we start, I was wondering something."
"Hmm?"
"Do you have any idea what Monica Zocallos' ranking was on that televised tournament she was in?"
Chubs blinked for a couple seconds. "I heard you and Monica were on the worst of terms with each other. You're interested in hearing about her standings?"
"Just wondering."
"Well, she got to the semi-finals, but lost after hitting the final eight."
"Hm. That'd explain her attitude." Kyle leaned forward. "Okay, that answers that. You may being with the course."
Chubs chuckled. "Okay, the most basic rules of all. You can place your monsters in either attack mode or defense mode, depending on which one suits you best. When in battle, the monster with the highest attack power wins. So, for example, if Summoned Skull were to attack Curse of Dragon, Curse of Dragon would then be destroyed."
"Yessir, Mr. Obvious."
Chubs snorted. "Okay, then let's move on. This will sound like a tangent, but follow me on this. Each player starts out with 2000 Life Points. These are what sustain a player in a duel. If you lose all of your Life Points, you lose the duel."
"And how do you lose Life Points?"
"Generally it's through battle that Life Point damage is decided. So it's really all determined on how you maintain your monster field. Now, let's repeat the scenario from before, this time with Life Points – you and I each have 2000. I announce an attack from Summoned Skull on Curse of Dragon. In response, Curse of Dragon is destroyed. Not only that, but the extra 500 attack points that Summoned Skull didn't need are taken out of your Life Points. So now, instead of having 2000 Life Points, you have 1500."
Kyle frowned. "Sounds like it'd be a fairly short game to me."
"Like I said, it's how you maintain your field. There are ways of avoiding Life Point damage. For instance, instead of having Curse of Dragon in attack mode..." Chubs reached over and turned Curse of Dragon sideways on the table. "...let's put it into defense mode. Obviously, its defense power isn't going to help it any against Summoned Skull. But when I attack your defensive Curse of Dragon with Summoned Skull, although the dragon is destroyed, your Life Points are safe. That's the key: if you want to save your Life Points, you have to play defensively until you're ready for an offense."
"So... lemme get this straight," said Kyle. "If I have a weaker monster in attack position, and you destroy it, I lose Life Points... but if my weak monster is in a defensive position and you attack it, my Life Points are still safe?"
"By Jove, I think you've got it!" Chubs grinned.
"Hopefully." Kyle thought for a moment. "I watched a duel on TV once... and I saw the players putting cards face-down. What happens there?"
"Well, these days, there are different rules concerning that. What you probably saw were magic and trap cards being placed face-down. We'll get to those later, assuming you're still interested."
Kyle nodded.
"But meantime, monsters can be played either face-up or face-down. The only stipulation is that you can't put a face-down monster into attack mode. If you place a monster face-down on your field, it has to be in defense mode," Chubs continued. "That's an important rule for this game. That way the opponent doesn't screw you out of a monster and Life Points at the same time when it's not even his turn."
Kyle chewed the inside of his cheek. "So if you attack an opposing monster with an attack power higher than the power of your monster..."
"...your monster is destroyed and you lose Life Points equal to the difference in the calculation. Which is why, if you have any common sense, you don't play that way." Chubs Looked for another couple of cards. "When a duelist places a monster face-down, he usually does so because it has a hidden effect to it that can only be activated once you flip it face-up on your field. We'll get to that later, as well; for now, we're talking purely about normal monsters."
Kyle nodded. "Okay. What else? What if you – my opponent – put a monster face-down, and when I try to destroy it, its defense power is higher than my attack power? I'm assuming if it's in defense position, it's the defense points that matter."
"You're getting it, m'friend." Chubs chuckled. "I'm just getting to that now. Say, for example, you had Mystical Elf. It has an attack power of 800 and a defense power of 2000. Attack power sucks, yes, but defense power is awesome."
He handed a Mystical Elf card to Kyle; presumably it was from the starter deck. "Now, since this card is a lot better for defense power than attack power, let's say you decide to put that in defense mode. You can choose to put it face-up or face-down."
"What difference does it make if Summoned Skull has a higher attack power than Mystical Elf's defense power? Your Skull would just blow her away anyway."
"Well, let's say I don't have Summoned Skull. Instead, I've got this: Gazelle, The Mythical King of Beasts. It has an attack of 1500 and a defense of 1200." Chubs exchanged the Summoned Skull card on his field for the Gazelle card in his hand. "If you have Mystical Elf face-up, I'm not going to bother attacking it because I know its defense is stronger. But if you play it face-down, I might be tempted to attack it.
"So let's set up the scenario. We both have 2000 Life Points. Put Mystical Elf face-down on the table, and be sure to keep it sideways – that's how you show it's in defense mode."
Kyle did as he was instructed.
"Okay, now I play Gazelle in attack mode. And being the overconfident ass that I am, I instruct Gazelle to attack your face-down monster." Chubs glanced up at Kyle. "Now, when your face-down monster is being attacked, it has to be flipped face-up in order for us to see what its power is. So flip it face-up."
Kyle did so.
"Okay. Now, since Mystical Elf's defense power is 500 points higher than Gazelle's attack power, the difference between those numbers is inflicted to my Life Points. Now I have 1500 Life Points, and your monster stays on the field."
Kyle raised an eyebrow. "What about your monster? Is he destroyed?"
Chubs shook his head. "Not when the monster I attacked is in defense mode. All that happens is I lose Life Points from a failed attack." He looked up at his would-be charge. "How are you doing so far?"
"I think I'm catching on. So let's say we keep that setup, then... and I play Curse of Dragon in attack position on my next turn..." Kyle put the Curse of Dragon card back on the table. "...and I had it attack Gazelle. Since Gazelle is in attack position, and Curse of Dragon's attack power is 500 points higher... it's destroyed and you lose another 500 Life Points, right?"
"You've got it." Chubs nodded in affirmation.
"Okay... and if a monster comes out in attack position, does it have to stay that way while it's out?"
Chubs shook his head. "No, not the entire time. But once you put a monster on the field in a certain position, it has to stay that way until your next turn. So when you put Curse of Dragon on your field in attack mode, it has to stay in attack mode until next turn. Similarly, you don't have to keep Mystical Elf in defense mode the entire time, even though it generally is a good idea to do so. You simply have to wait for your next turn. And if you have a face-down monster you want to switch to attack mode, you also have to flip it face-up so that both players know its attack and defense factors."
Kyle tried to digest all of this information and worked it over in his mind. "Hm. Okay. So let's say we keep this setup. If you played Summoned Skull next turn, my Life Points would be vulnerable because Curse of Dragon is in attack mode. But if you attacked Mystical Elf, my Life Points would be safe because it's in defense mode. But in either case, the attacked monster would be destroyed."
"Exactly. I'd say that part's pretty much covered." Chubs chuckled. "The trouble, though, is to make it stick. If you'd like, I could put together a couple of mini-decks to test out your knowledge with."
"More tests? I thought I was finished with semesters."
Chubs laughed. "No worries, Kyle. Like I said, you can quit anytime if you're not interested."
Kyle shook his head. "Nope, nope, can't stop now, you're drilling info into my brain and it's going to stay there for a while, so I may as well try this out. Go on and build your mini-decks."
"Ha. This should prove to be some sort of fun, hm?"
Kyle scoffed. "I guess we'll see, at that."
--
Kyle went home that evening with a new interest in the starter deck his parents had given him. He began picking through the cards in it, and wondered at the monster cards that did not have the yellow bordering, but instead were orange in coloration.
"Every single one of these has the word 'effect' showing up next to the name of the kind of monster it is, too," he mumbled. Despite the hopeless cause of trying to make sense of his Duel Monsters manual the other night, he snatched it from the desktop and again perused it for information regarding monsters of this type.
"Effect monsters," he mumbled. "Each one has a special effect... some called flip effects, other effects happen while they're on the field, some happen while they're not... really weird." He blinked, set the manual back on the desk, and sat back. I think I'll ask Chubs about it, rather than read through that thing... I'll bet the manual, as so many manuals do, makes the process more complicated than it is.
He raised an eyebrow most notably, however, at the one monster in his deck whose border was not yellow, nor was it orange. No, instead, it was purple. It possessed no card description, save for the phrase "Berfomet + Gazelle, The King of Mythical Beasts" underneath the phrase [Beast / Fusion].
Kyle glanced back at the manual. Fusion monsters, effect monsters... where does it stop?
He slumped into bed with more questions rolling around in his head than ever before.
And he dreamed of Duel Monsters.
--
One Week Later
--
Kyle had gotten used to his class schedule by now, and though he had long figured out just how close to the brink of insanity he could push some of these teachers, for the first time in his career at this school... he didn't want to.
What point is there, really? I mean, after all, it's kinda wasted effort on my part, if you think about it. Who would want to take a job for a pauper's pay, working to enhance the education of ungrateful, unappreciative nitwits whose biggest ambitions involve sexual favors? Someone who had a particular love of insanity, that's who. Or a masochist. Either way, there's no point in me torturing them if they've already chosen to bring it on themselves. Hours upon hours of homework to correct, and then get yelled at for not teaching the problem correctly...
He rolled his eyes. Yuck. Seriously, who would want to teach people like us?
His mellowing-out had not gone unnoticed by his classmates. Oh, to the contrary, they were whispering behind his back every chance they got. They asked each other if he'd finally gone over the edge. They asked if he was on Prozac. They asked if he had become perpetually stoned.
Kyle heard about such rumors from Chubs. He dismissed them, knowing they weren't true... although he couldn't help but feel a slight pang of irritation at those who chose to pay such close attention to him. Yes, he wasn't beating anyone up just because he felt like it. Why were they complaining?
Live and let live, was his opinion.
His extensive discussions with Chubs during lunch about Duel Monsters – and the mini-duels Chubs was staging as testing measures – had also become a subject of controversy, and this one was brought directly to his attention.
During the passing period before lunch, Kyle felt the call of nature and redirected himself to a bathroom in a hallway adjacent to that in which his homeroom resided. In the midst of his hurry, his toe had the distinct misfortune of being stepped on by a high heel.
"Ow!" he yelled, and he quickly jerked his foot away.
This caused the person stepping on it – a girl, presumably and hopefully – to fall on the floor on her backside.
Kyle's first instinct was to ignore her and relieve his bladder, especially when he saw who it was – none other than Monica Zocallos.
Now I'm left to wonder if she did that on purpose or accidentally... and with her, it can be either way. He blinked at her, not quite sure what to do at first except simply stand there and stare at her. He noticed that she seemed to have the heels for a good reason: to compliment the dress she was wearing.
The back of his mind shouted, I don't care! She did it on purpose, and it serves her right! Just go about your business, there's no point in just standing here, looking stupid and gawking at her. But the forefront of his mind said, Whether she did it on purpose or not doesn't really matter at this point, because now she's the one sitting here on the floor, looking like a fool.
He leaned down and offered her a hand.
This time, it was her turn to gawk at him for a moment – and she wasn't alone in this action. Nearly half the hallway had hear and/or seen the fall, and now here was Kyle McCraine, offering his hand to the one person he hated above all others.
Interesting position she's caught in, he thought. Either she'll cringe and stand up on her own – a remarkable thing to do in those heels – and come off as a complete bitch – like she doesn't anyway – or she'll take my hand and acknowledge in front of all these witnesses that I'm genuinely trying to do something nice for her, despite the fact that she probably broke my toe.
The back of his mind muttered, Five'll get you ten it's the former.
For a moment, they just stared at each other, a myriad of emotions jumping across the expanse.
And then she hissed and struggled to her own feet. "I don't need any help from the likes of you. You'd probably drop me straight back on my ass."
He sighed and let his hand fall to his side. "Believe what you want to. I was only trying to help." He had to resist the urge to add, Unlike whatever it was you were trying to do to my foot.
Her face screwed up in contempt. "Why? Why would you possibly want to help me? Am I an object of your pity, all of a sudden?"
He glanced at her clique of girls, who were all standing in a semicircle around her, like strange semi-human shields, staring stupidly at the two of them. Then he shrugged. "Well, none of your girls seemed interested in helping you out. I thought I might pick up the slack. But if you want to get back up on your own two feet, that's fine. You shouldn't have to expect any help from anyone. Right?"
She narrowed her eyes. "What the hell are you driving at, McCraine? You got something to say to me, why don't you just say it?"
"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth," Kyle promptly responded. "If someone offers you help, don't automatically assume it's because they find you sad or piteous."
"That's all 'help' ever is," she answered, eyes flashing. "Pity. Pity, pity, and more pity. And if you don't believe that, you can eat shit... just like the mangy-ass dog you are."
Kyle shrugged off the insult. Maybe it really WAS a mistake to offer her any help after all. "Fine. It's your funeral."
Upon the utterance of those words, the scowl on Monica's face vanished, to be replaced by something like... sadness. Maybe even anguish. Her lower lip trembled for a moment.
A slight crease developed in Kyle's brow. I hit a nerve with that one.
"It's your funeral."
Funeral...?
Oh. The dress.
Yeah. Yeah, I heard about this. Her uncle. Martin Zocallos. I remember now, I saw his obituary in the paper the other day. The funeral was set for this afternoon.
Monica twisted around and brought one hand up to her face. Over her shoulder, she gave him a final evil eye and hissed, "Go to hell."
She marched off stiffly, her cadre at her side.
Been there. He didn't say it.
Then he frowned. The thought seemed to echo in his mind, for just an instant. It was something beyond just a natural echo... if the word "natural" could be applied to echoes of the mind.
...been there...
But just as quickly, the echo vanished, leaving him only with his own thoughts.
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Well, how was that? I hope you enjoyed it. Coming up later on, Kyle goes deeper into the world of Duel Monsters, Monica takes an unannounced trip of her own, and Chubs takes Kyle to a Duel Monsters tournament. Looking forward to it? I hope you are! Stay tuned!