A/N: Here's Chapter 45 for your reading pleasure. Soon enough we're going to hit Chapter 50. Oy, this story's getting up there, isn't it? Just like our parents. Happy birthday to my mom, who doesn't read this story but nevertheless deserves a shout-out for not murdering me in any variety of interesting methods over the last 20 years.
Eusine: For the record, the lateness was due to me entertaining my girlfriend, who was paying an extended visit. Yup, real life is good.
Monica: Well, of course she's awesome. Look at everything she's got going for her... up to and including a dedicated fan such as yourself!
Lady Tetsu-Maru: I applaud your performance, madam... I was quite afraid you'd hyperventilate before I had a chance to post the new chapter. But now it's here!
Voakands: Considering what Kepler has agreed to wager against Monica's Blue-Eyes, Kyle would probably raise his eyebrows at the chance to get his hands – however briefly – on Gate Guardian. Kudos for the idea, though; a couple others suggested the same thing. Augh! My writing's becoming predictable!
Lumen: You assume correctly, my friend. Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon is actually the fusion of three Blue-Eyes White Dragons instead of just two, but there are certain ways around that... she just wants to have the powerful monster. And don't worry about Kyle, he'll come around... eventually.
Skraku: Ideas are dangerous things. They're what got me started on this story. But as to your questions, you're about to find out who the hired gun is. Hope you enjoy!
Mira: I didn't catch your review in my inbox until after I'd posted Ch. 44, sorry about that. I'll take your disapproval of Jade to be a compliment, since it's hard to create a character so realistic you have actively negative feelings toward that character. However, I can't take all the credit on that – Ankhutenshi is responsible for helping me bring Jade to life. So kudos to Ankh-chan, as well!
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When the contract had come in, it had – most unfortunately – come through the director's office. And he got a good look at it. A very good look.
He'd gone through the roof.
For the rest of the day, Monica had to shut her ears to the sound of his ranting through the hallways about how she could be so reckless as to stake the entire future of his staff and his work in this campaign on "some lousy card game". She didn't even bother to attempt reassuring him that they had nothing to worry about. There were only a few that could beat her at the game of Duel Monsters; this had already been confirmed by virtually every analyst of Duel Monsters tournaments, big and small. And those few who could defeat her were also well-known in the dueling community.
Idly, she wondered just how big of an upset her loss to Kyle had been.
Doesn't matter right now, she finally decided. It's because of Kyle that I'm even wagering one of my Blue-Eyes cards in the first place. Returning a favor I owe him... in pretty much the only way I know how.
At least the contract had been honest enough, which was a surprise to her. She'd expected some obscure clause designed to make her lose in virtually any outcome. But no; the entire thing had been laid out in fine, clear detail. Interestingly enough, the cards that the two opposing sides were wagering were not mentioned by name on the contract, but rather by ID number.
That's probably to make sure no wandering eyes happen to spot all these goings-on, she thought, grinning at the code strings of each card. The last thing they need is for someone to spot them typing out "A Deal For Blue-Eyes White Dragons" and report it to Kaiba. He'd kick their teeth in even worse than I could hope for him to.
When she received the call, the director refused to let her anywhere near his office, so she had to take it on a phone much further up the hallway. "Yes?"
"Ms. Zocallos, Dorian Mendez. I trust you've received our contract by now."
"Yeah, I have it. It looks like everything's in order. I'm waiting for the invisible ink on it that shows just how you intend to ensure victory, but..."
"If there's invisible ink on it, it's because the owner of the fax machine in that building put it there," Mendez responded, dry amusement in his tone. "However, we will require proof that you actually are in possession of two Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards, as you well know."
"Of course," she responded. "Likewise I'll need proof that you're in possession of the cards I want when it comes time for the duel. If even one card is missing from either player, or if any card isn't genuine, the deal's off."
"That doesn't sit well with the board, as they believe you would prefer a court battle to a Duel Monsters match for the purposes of drawing your campaign out over a longer period of time."
"Actually, I'd prefer the match. It's so much more exciting to have all this on the line. And if you don't like it, you're free to burn the contract, and we can meet in front of the judge." She grinned into the phone.
"Very well, since you're so insistent on the game. Will you sign the contract and fax it to us?"
"That, I will," she responded. "And what happens after that?"
"We've chosen the duelist we wish to hire, but won't do so until we receive the contract. Upon reception and review, we'll contact you and let you know when and where the duel will be."
"Just don't make it on the other side of the country, I'd much prefer it was local."
"We'll do what we can."
As she hung up, she muttered, "Yeah, right.
--
The Next Day – 5 p.m.
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Monica griped to herself about traveling all this way after getting barely any sleep the night before because of anxiety. She'd traveled halfway across Washington, D.C. just to meet this duelist and give him the trouble of his life. Let's hope he's got the goods I want, too.
The duelist center had a few people coming in and out as she approached it. She hummed and kept her cards safely tucked away, as there was simply no point in being clumsy with them and holding them out for everyone to see – not even in a place like this.
She approached the secretary, who glanced up momentarily. "Hello, may I help you?"
"Yeah, there's a reservation under Kepler, I believe. Was just wondering if you could tell me where that reservation is."
The secretary looked at her records. "Kepler... ah, yes. Fourth hallway on the left, just go all the way down. You'll need to buy an ID bracelet before going in, though."
Monica mentally rolled her eyes. They couldn't pick up the tab for a lousy duelist center ID bracelet... Nevertheless, she paid the fee without vocal complaint and snapped the bracelet on as she moved down the hallway.
She emerged into a gymnasium-sized room with a dueling arena situated right in the middle. A fair-skinned man who looked to be a bit older than her was leaning against the side of the arena facing the doorway; he wore simple black clothing and a gray cap that covered most of his dark hair. He tipped his hat at her in greeting. "Hello, there."
She placed her hands on her hips. "You're the duelist for Kepler?"
"In the flesh. Cameron's the name, and Duel Monsters is my game."
"How terribly cliché."
He shrugged. "If you say so. But before we start in, we may as well inspect each other's merchandise."
"Agreed. No cards change hands for an instant, though."
"Of course." He pulled a pair of card protectors from his pocket. They were double-thick, and when Monica saw what was in them, her eyes shone in anticipation. There they are... And the holographic panel on the bottom right corner was present on each one to assure authenticity. But she didn't need those, for the sparkling holographic pictures, indicating the level of rarity being dealt with, were enough to confirm that they were genuine.
"Now show me yours," Cameron said.
"Gladly." Monica pulled out her deck and riffled through the cards until she found both Blue-Eyes and showed them to him. She'd expected him to wince or show some form of disapproval that they had gone into her deck and not card protectors, but he didn't; instead, he simply nodded in approval.
"Good enough for me. Shall we?" He gestured to the arena.
She nodded, eager to get started.
A minute later, they were both mounted on their respective platforms – Monica on blue, Cameron on red – and ready to duel. Monica stared across the expanse, her eyes set on the cool, steely gaze of her opponent. He's not the least bit afraid. Good.
"It's my custom to let ladies go first," Cameron mentioned. "So go ahead."
At that, her eyes narrowed. "I'm so glad you're letting me go first, because gee, it would be a shame to simply watch me as I make the first move," she sneered, drawing her sixth card as she spoke. She inspected her hand a moment, then said, "I place one magic/trap card face-down and one monster in defense mode."
As the according holograms appeared on the field, she frowned at Cameron. "My turn's over. Now I'm letting you take your turn."
His response to that was a small quirk at the corner of his mouth as he drew. "Thank you, it's much appreciated," he said. "And now, for the turn you're letting me take, I'm playing Soul Exchange on your defensive monster."
Her eyes narrowed further as her Witch of the Black Forest (1100/1200) was caught up in the flashing light of Soul Exchange's magic. "I still get her effect."
"Yes, and I imagine it was exactly what you wanted," he answered. "Meanwhile, I have exactly what I want: a higher-level monster in defense mode. So there you are. We're both happy."
"You make it sound like we've hit a compromise."
"Maybe we have."
"Not even," she sniffed.
The corner of his mouth quirked again. "End turn."
She drew, then immediately put the drawn card into play. "I play Graceful Charity," she announced. "And if I don't get any good cards, then I'll know it isn't my deck."
She drew the next three cards, then perused her hand for the two she'd have to discard. Hm. I don't really want to discard any of these, but of the ones I don't need right now... "I discard Ultimate Offering and Card Destruction," she continued. "And now I play Spear Dragon (1900/0) in attack mode!"
Monica's Spear Dragon appeared in a perch atop its holographic card, waiting for its chance to strike.
I have to put a quick end to this duel, she thought. C'mon, give me some luck... "Spear Dragon, attack his face-down monster!"
With that order, Spear Dragon took flight and bolted toward the face-down card.
But it was halted mid-strike by a powerful magical shield as the monster card flipped over, to reveal a white-robed spellcaster bowed in meditation.
"Your Spear Dragon's powerful," Cameron noted, "but it takes a bit more than that, I'm afraid, to destroy my Great Dezard (1900/2300) when it's in defense mode. And now you'll have to pay the price for acting so rashly."
Monica's Life Points scrolled down to 3600 and her Spear Dragon, as per its effect, knelt into defense mode. She ground her teeth. Spear Dragon's got no defense points, it's an easy target for anything. I shouldn't rush into things like that... "My turn's finished, now show me what you've got."
"If you insist," he answered, drawing. "And what I've got is a monster whose attack points far outweigh your dragon's defense points. So I'm going to switch Great Dezard to attack mode."
With that, the spellcaster got to his feet and stared dispassionately across the field, as if in simple observation.
"Next, I summon Wandering Mummy (1500/1500) to the field in attack mode."
The new monster proved to be rather difficult not to flinch at with a first glance. Whatever it had once been, it had since been mummified and stored away; now, however, it seemed rather alive, if disgustingly so. Its jaw stretched almost too far down in a perpetual expression of shouting, and its skin was stretched so tightly over its skeleton that Monica could see its bones where the wrappings weren't covering it. She winced. Ew. Zombies give me the creeps.
"Great Dezard, attack Spear Dragon."
A beam of black energy lanced from between the spellcaster's hands and obliterated the defensive monster on Monica's field. She frowned. Why would he make Great Dezard attack my monster? It's the one with more attack points; by all rights it should have been Wandering Mummy to attack my dragon so that more Life Points could be deducted from me by the end of the round.
"Wandering Mummy, attack her Life Points."
Cameron's zombie spewed forth a foul-looking cloud of greenish gas – apparently poisonous to Monica's LP, because the counters descended to 2100. She winced again when she saw them. Okay, I take it back, having Wandering Mummy attack was a good idea, more LP for me to work with.
"And that ends my turn," Cameron announced.
If I don't get a handle on this, I'll be finished before my fifth turn... She drew her next card, and visibly relaxed upon sight of it. Okay, this is much better. "I play Luster Dragon #1 (1900/1600) in attack mode!"
A dragon covered in sapphire appeared in place of Monica's recently departed monster. It can't destroy Great Dezard, but it can at least match the attack power. And meanwhile... "Luster Dragon, attack Wandering Mummy!"
Luster Dragon's mouth craned open and issued a burst of blue flame. The flame incinerated the Zombie-Type monster where it stood, and left Cameron with 3600 Life Points.
"Good," he congratulated, nodding in approval. "Your counterattack leaves something to be desired, I suppose, but good, nonetheless."
She glowered. "I'm glad you think so. My turn's done."
"This is also good." He drew his next card. "Since it's pointless to have Great Dezard try to attack, I'll just put him back in defense mode."
Great Dezard returned to his kneeling position and stayed there.
"And then I place another monster in defense mode." He smiled up at Monica. "Your turn."
She drew her next card. Good. Now I can start building up. "I place one magic/trap face-down," she announced, "and a monster in defense mode. Now you're gonna have to work a little harder to hit my Life Points."
"You make hitting your Life Points sound like a challenge."
She glared. "Do you just enjoy raining on everybody's parade?"
He smirked. "I'm the life of every party."
"Your zombies suggest otherwise. Luster Dragon, attack his defensive monster!"
Her dragon's blue flame did its work in destroying the face-down – but only after it flipped over to reveal another zombie. This one ejected another cloud of poison gas, this one red in coloration.
"You've destroyed my Poison Mummy (1000/1800)," Cameron declared. "Which was a bad idea, because now you lose 500 Life Points due to his flip effect." As her LP counters scrolled to 1600, he continued, "Life Point strikes really aren't all that hard if you know how to do it right. It's not that big a deal to go after them, no matter how many monsters you have out or how good they are."
"Thanks for the lesson; now if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to the duel I'm trying to win," she snapped.
"Ah. Well, I wish you the best of luck on that. Looks like you need it right about now."
She snarled to herself. He's trying to get me riled up and it's working... "End turn," she grumbled.
As he drew his next card, he smiled. "Now, I'm guessing you probably have a way to keep something like that from happening again all set up on that back row of yours. But since I can't have that, I'm playing Heavy Storm. Say bye-bye to your cards back there."
Bolts of electricity crackled from the photon arrays and blasted both her Polymerization magic card and her Shadow of Eyes trap to oblivion. As Monica continued to grumble to herself, Cameron said, "And now I'm placing one magic/trap card face-down. Your turn, whenever you're ready."
Monica hissed as she drew her next card. "Fine. If I can't have any magic/traps, you can't, either. I play Harpie's Feather Duster!"
"Good," he responded, "because that gives me a trigger to activate my face-down before it's destroyed – Poison of the Old Man." He smirked. "It gives me a pair of effects to choose from. I could raise my Life Points by 1200 by its first effect, but I think I'll use the second one instead... and lower your Life Points by 800."
As the sweeping feather duster came to swat at the little old man that had appeared on Cameron's magic/trap field, Monica could only watch as her remaining Life Points were cut in half by the effect of his card.
Monica pounded her pedestal in frustration. Damn it! Every time I think I've got him, he gets me back even harder! I need to calm down... She drew in several breaths, but only partially succeeded in finding calm. Remember what I'm here for. I'm not going to lose to this smart-ass. "In that case, I place one monster in defense mode and end my turn," she said, her words semi-civil.
Cameron apparently took no notice of Monica's warring emotions and drew his next card with a look of expectancy. Then he grinned. "Just what I wanted. Don't blink; this is something you shouldn't miss."
"Get on with it."
He tsked. "So impatient. But fine, it's not as if we both have nothing better to do and all day to do it. I play the magic card Pyramid Energy, and put the first of its two effects to use – to increase the attack power of all monsters on my field by 200 for the duration of this turn."
Trying to power up his Great Dezard, I'll bet, she thought. Since it destroyed one monster in battle, it can't be specifically targeted by magic and trap cards anymore, but if the card is a general field-side power-up, like Pyramid Energy, the effect works.
Sure enough, Cameron announced, "Now I'm putting my Great Dezard back into attack mode with the attack power necessary to take out your Luster Dragon. So I'll have him do exactly that... Great Dezard, attack Luster Dragon."
Another bolt of black energy fried her Luster Dragon in a near-mirror image of what had happened with Spear Dragon. Her Life Point counters continued to descend, now at a perilous 600.
"And now I get to activate Great Dezard's second effect," he declared. "After he destroys two monsters in battle, I can tribute him from the field in order to special summon from my deck the most powerful Zombie-Type there is... Fushioh Richie (2600/2900)!"
Great Dezard vanished from the field in a flash of smoke and light, to be replaced by a horned, pale blue zombie wearing a red cloak and carrying a staff that seemed to be made of decaying bone.
"My monster is privy to several special effects," Cameron continued, "but I'll let you in on them as we go. Here's the first one: I flip Fushioh Richie to face-down defense mode."
With that, the monster hologram vanished from the field and its card flipped over. Monica frowned. "Is that legal?"
"For this monster, it is," Cameron responded, "though you're free to check the rule book. While you're at it, if you'd like, you could see if there's a rule against losing quite like you are right now."
Monica glowered. "Anything else before I come over there and beat you with a crowbar?"
"Maybe the money to help you buy the crowbar. By that point I won't have anything else to worry about. Soon as you step down from your pedestal, the duel's finished. And as we both know, the one with the higher Life Points wins when that happens." That same confident smile was still there.
She tried not to fume. Admittedly, it was a difficult task, especially since she was so exceedingly good at it. Cool down, Monica. This duel isn't being fought just for the sake of playing Duel Monsters. Its outcome makes a difference in people's lives. Keep that in mind. Stick close to your guns, turn your head into a block of ice, and just stay calm.
"My turn's finished," Cameron announced.
Monica drew her next card. I don't have anything I can play to counter that monster, so I'm going to have to defend myself until I do. "I place one monster in defense mode and end my turn."
Cameron drew. "I'll also place one monster in defense," he responded, "and now I'll flip Fushioh Richie back into attack mode."
The Zombie-Type creature once more emerged onto the field – and then, right next to it, there appeared another zombie. Her brow furrowed and she looked at Cameron. "Mind filling me in on what's happening here?"
"Whenever Fushioh Richie is flipped face-up, he can Special Summon one Zombie-Type monster from my graveyard. So I chose to bring back my Poison Mummy, in defense mode. And since he can also be flipped face-down every turn, I can use his effects to continue bringing back the zombies you destroy until they overwhelm you." Cameron pointed at the hologram of the monster Monica had placed face-down. "And they'll start with that one. Fushioh Richie, attack the monster she just played!"
The giant zombie let loose a great gust of green and white smoke, which drifted across the field and washed over Monica's face-down. Her Forgiving Maiden (850/2000) was revealed for an instant, clutching at her face in agony, before vanishing into nothingness.
"And with that done, I return Fushioh Richie to his original face-down defensive position." Cameron's smile didn't waver as his monster vanished underneath its holographic card. "That ends my turn."
She drew her next card and nearly groaned in frustration. These are good cards, they just aren't the right ones! And meanwhile he's standing over there, completely confident and in control. He knows exactly what he's doing. She looked up at him. Every move he makes is precise. He's totally in control of the situation, and he knows it. She finally sighed. "I pass this turn."
He quirked an eyebrow. "Really? How interesting. That leaves you with two monsters." He drew. "And now I'll once again flip Fushioh Richie to attack mode. With his effect, I recall my Wandering Mummy from the graveyard in defense mode!"
With that, Fushioh Richie rose again, and Cameron's fourth monster took form once more. The hired gun duelist simply smiled. "Fushioh Richie, attack her face-down monster."
Another burst of green and white smoke caused Monica's Giant Soldier of Stone (1300/2000) to crumble and topple where it knelt.
"And now Fushioh Richie returns to his face-down position," Cameron continued, "followed by my Wandering Mummy, which is privy to the same effect. But something different happens when Wandering Mummy goes face-down."
As Monica watched, the holograms of his face-down monster cards warped and seemed to shuffle themselves across his field. His Poison Mummy didn't seem to be affected by this change.
"Whenever Wandering Mummy is flipped face-down, his effect allows him to shuffle all monster cards that are face-down on my field. So now you don't even know where on the field my monsters are, save that they're there."
So if I try to go on the offensive against his face-downs, even with a decent monster, I run the risk of attacking Fushioh Richie and losing the rest of my Life Points to his high defense, she thought. He knows the strengths and weaknesses of his own monsters to the T, and he's made sure to have the advantage the entire time. He's good, no doubt of that.
"Your move," said Cameron.
If I don't get a good one now, this might be the end of the game...