A/N: Chapter 46. Not much more to say.
Mira: Was actually trying to avoid a Bones analogy, what with Cameron actually being decent competition and using his cards to their full potential without any backseat dueling from Bandit Keith. But if the shoe fits...
Monica: Cameron's past will be revealed in due time... though not necessarily by me. Have fun with this chappie!
--
Monica's LP - 600
Cameron's LP - 3600
--
She reached for her deck and drew.
Yes!
"I play Lord of Dragons (1200/1100) in defense mode,"she declared, and on her field there manifested a spellcaster outfitted in dark robes plated with dragon bones. He was kneeling and looking down at the field, rather than up at the opposing monsters that hovered there.
"And now I play the magic card Flute of Summoning Dragon!"
Her monster stretched his hand out, and an exotic-looking bronze instrument appeared in his palm. When he put it to his lips and played it, it blared a loud tenor note.
"When I play this card in conjunction with Lord of Dragons, I can Special Summon up to two Dragon-Type monsters to my field from my hand without needing a single sacrifice to do it," she said. "And I have just the dragons I need. Come forth, Hyozanryu (2100/2800) and Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)!"
Her field abruptly was aglow in blinding light, and from that light emerged two ivory dragons that took up almost the entire space for monster placement. While Hyozanryu's wings were wrapped around its form in a position of protection, Blue-Eyes' wings were unfurled and its mouth was wide open, ready to blast away any and all monsters on Cameron's field.
And this Blue-Eyes is compliments of Kyle McCraine, she thought, smiling at both the hologram and the card. "Hyozanryu's in defense mode, but Blue-Eyes is very much poised to attack."
Cameron's only reaction was to raise an eyebrow. Monica surveyed his field for a few moments. Where could Fushioh Richie be hiding? She finally pointed at her decision. "Blue-Eyes, attack the monster on the far left!"
Her dragon's mouth was suddenly ablaze with white energy, and that energy spilled out into a stream directed straight at its target. The aim was true, and the card was obliterated – and the monster along with it, which was revealed upon its destruction.
That was it! she thought happily, as Fushioh Richie crumbled under the blast. Cameron's confident expression didn't dissipate, however, even to that drawback. "No big deal. I have plenty other monsters at my disposal."
She scoffed. "Whatever. My turn's finished, and this duel's close enough to be."
"Oh, really? From the looks of our Life Point counters, I'd say you still have a way to go in order to both successfully defend yourself and beat me at the same time." He drew. "And after this, it may take even longer. I play the magic card Book of Life."
Monica's gaze narrowed at the thick book that appeared on his m/t field. Now he can bring back a Zombie-Type monster from his graveyard and remove one of my destroyed monsters from the duel at the same time.
"I'm calling its effect on Fushioh Richie, of course," he said, "and as for the monster to be removed from play, I choose your Witch of the Black Forest."
As his monster rematerialized on his field, Monica moved her Witch card to the appropriate space on her pedestal. "And now what?" she asked.
He shrugged. "And now... I attack. Fushioh Richie, destroy her Lord of Dragons!"
The haze of green and white smoke was apparently too much for her monster, and he crumpled where he knelt.
"Now I switch Fushioh Richie to face-down defense, and then reveal my Wandering Mummy once more... only to have him return face-down as well."
Monica watched the face-down monster cards shuffle on his field, grinding her teeth as they did so. The only monster I have that can destroy Fushioh Richie is Blue-Eyes, whether Richie's in attack mode or not. If I play anything else in attack mode, and then miss Richie on my next Blue-Eyes attack, he'll just take that monster out and I may lose the game. He may have weaker monsters but he's still got me cornered.
"Your turn," he said, not a trace of worry in his voice.
She drew her next card. I need the chance to have more options. Which means... She glanced at the monster card she still had face-down. Guess I'll have to go for it. "I flip my Magician of Faith (300/400)," she announced as her minuscule elven spellcaster took form, "in order to use her effect to bring my Graceful Charity magic card back to my hand."
"How interesting," Cameron replied nonchalantly.
"Oh, this'll be interesting, I can assure you," she responded. "Now I sacrifice my Magician of Faith to summon Luster Dragon #2 (2400/1400) in attack mode!"
As her magician disappeared and gave rise to another of her powerful dragons, Cameron simply offered a silent smirk. The emerald-crusted dragon that arose growled menacingly, placing itself on Blue-Eyes' right.
"Laugh it up," she mocked. "And now I switch Hyozanryu to attack mode!"
The dragon on Blue-Eyes' left now readied itself for battle, light glimmering through its massive topaz horn and diamond wings.
He has four monsters on the field, three of them face-down. I can't afford to attack any face-down with Hyozanryu, because if I find Richie with it, I'll lose the game to its higher defense. That leaves Luster Dragon and Blue-Eyes, which means I've got a two-in-three shot of hitting Richie. But first thing's first. "Hyozanryu, destroy his Poison Mummy!"
The gemmed dragon sailed across the field and gored Cameron's Poison Mummy upon its horn. The mummy let out a hoarse shout before crumbling and vanishing.
"One down, three to go. Now, Luster Dragon, attack the face-down monster on the right!"
Luster Dragon's mouth spewed forth a blast of green fire that set the face-down card alight for a few moments before it and its monster vanished – a woman in dark robes, with three eyes...
"Seems like everyone these days has a Witch of the Black Forest (1100/1200)," Cameron commented, as he looked through his deck to find a monster card privy to Witch's effect. "It's not hard to see why, though. You can get almost any monster you please out of your deck once she's destroyed."
Monica scoffed. Two face-downs left. Gimme some luck, here. "Blue-Eyes, attack the face-down monster on the right!"
The burst of white energy boiled over Cameron's monster card – and Monica's face fell when she realized it was his Wandering Mummy she'd attacked.
He chuckled. "You almost had him, too. What a shame."
She sighed, resisting the urge to smack her forehead. "My turn's finished."
He grinned. "Don't feel bad... I'm a professional at this game. You've made it this far, so you should be proud of yourself." He drew his next card. "Now, I place one monster in defense mode, and then once more flip Fushioh Richie to attack mode."
Richie's arrival heralded the revival of another of his zombies... "Welcome my Wandering Mummy back to the field, too," he said. "The fun just keeps on coming – and so do the attacks. Fushioh Richie, attack her Hyozanryu!"
She stared as the mist engulfed her favorite monster, which seemed to virtually melt under the attack before toppling to the deck.
And her Life Points scrolled down to 100.
Cameron whistled. "Now that is an impressive score, right there."
Monica said nothing, but instead chose to sulk. Your ugly monsters shouldn't be able to stand up to my pretty dragons... that's why you're running scared with Fushioh Richie and Wandering Mummy and all those stupid monsters that can go right back to defense mode.
"And once more, Fushioh Richie returns to face-down defense," he declared, "and following him, Wandering Mummy."
The face-down monster cards shuffled again, much to Monica's dismay. I'm nowhere closer to my goal than when I first went on the attack!
"It's your move," Cameron noted.
Monica drew. This duel has got to end, and fast. "I play Graceful Charity," she said, and she drew her next three cards accordingly. This'll help. "And I'll toss out Light of Intervention and Heart of Clear Water."
"Oh, the anticipation is nerve-wracking," Cameron jeered.
"It should be. Because now I play Change of Heart to take control of the face-down monster you've got in the center!"
The beautiful half-angel/half-demon child soared across the field and into his central face-down monster card. That card subsequently floated toward her side and hovered next to Luster Dragon #2.
"I flip that monster to attack mode," she declared.
And she found herself facing the emaciated blue back of Fushioh Richie.
She blinked. Wow. Too bad I don't have any Zombie-Type monsters myself to use for his effect, but the only zombie dragon in existence is Berserk Dragon, and... She shuddered. Eww. No way. Forget that.
But in the meantime, his field is rid of Richie, at least for the moment... which means I can go all-out. "Luster Dragon, attack the face-down on the left!"
A haze of green fire set the face-down card alight and his Wandering Mummy returned to the graveyard.
"Fushioh Richie, attack his remaining monster!"
But unfortunately, it wasn't so simple with the zombie's attack, ultimate though it was, because when the greenish smoke fluttered across the arena, it surrounded the face-down but didn't destroy it. Rather, the face-down flipped up and revealed a minuscule creature surrounded in a purple cloak and bearing a scythe.
"You've met Fushioh Richie, my ultimate offensive monster. Now say hello to my ultimate defense. Attacking my Spirit Reaper (300/200) doesn't resolve anything," Cameron said. "He can't be destroyed in battle, no matter how high the attack power of the opposing monster is. Unlike yourself, I have ways of keeping my monsters around when I need them."
Monica narrowed her eyes at him. "Well, there's no way I'm letting you keep Richie around if you're still going to have Life Points by the end of this turn. So I'll sacrifice him and Luster Dragon #2 to play one monster face-down."
With that, both her dragon and her borrowed undead minion vanished to give way to a face-down monster card. "Next, I place one magic/trap card face-down. And that finishes my turn."
"Hmm." Cameron drew, and then offered Monica a wide smile. "I play Monster Reborn."
A crease split her brow. He's going to bring back Richie, I know he is...
"Under other circumstances, I might deign to bring Fushioh Richie back, as effective as he's proven to be during this duel. But since I wouldn't be able to use his effect, that would be ultimately quite useless, because your Blue-Eyes would just destroy him again. So instead, I'm going to revive my Witch of the Black Forest (1100/1200)."
Monica blinked as the well-known spellcaster returned to the field, knelt in prayer. There are a limited number of reasons he'd bring that monster back... and every one of them involves her effect. He wants another low-defense monster from his deck.
"And now I sacrifice my Witch in order to summon Patrician of Darkness (2000/1400) in attack mode." As Cameron retrieved his desired monster from his deck, the Witch hologram vanished in a burst of blue smoke, and from that smoke there arose a blue-skinned creature wrapped in cloak and armor of a color as dark as the void.
Monica mentally shook her head at the monster he'd just summoned. That monster's a diversion. His trump is the monster he just pulled from his deck, it has to be.
"My turn's finished," he announced. "Make your move. Something tells me it's going to be your last one."
Probably, she conceded. He mentioned before that attacking Life Points despite monsters on my field wasn't a problem, as long as one knows how to do it. So it's likely that the monster he pulled can attack my Life Points directly; he just couldn't play it because he'd already summoned Patrician. And that gives me the advantage I need to win.
She drew her next card – and grinned. Perfect! "I play my own Monster Reborn," she declared, "and I'm reviving my Hyozanryu in attack mode."
He raised an eyebrow. She scoffed. No doubt he's thinking there're more powerful monsters in both our graveyards... "Why would she pick that one?"
"I like to have my favorite monster out when I'm about to win," she explained, answering the unasked question.
"Aren't you quite the confident one."
"I've got reason to be. Now I flip my face-down monster, Red-Eyes Black Dragon (2400/2000), to attack mode!"
Her Red-Eyes was much the same color as Patrician's armor – black as space, and the monster looked about as merciless. Its eyes blazed bright neon, and its growl – indeed, its mere presence on the field – was all Monica needed to assure herself that it could get the job done.
"And now it's time to win," she said. "Red-Eyes, attack his Patrician of Darkness!"
Cameron snickered. "Not quite. Patrician has a special effect, too; as long as he's face-up on my field, I can switch your attacks to any monster I please. Patrician, redirect her dragon's attack to Spirit Reaper."
A blood-red sphere of energy pulsed from Red-Eyes' mouth and ejected at Patrician – but then was surrounded by a ghostly blue glow as Cameron's larger monster gave the sphere a new target. Cameron's smile widened. "Too bad, but it looks like your attack is going to be for nothing."
"Not exactly," Monica responded calmly. "I'm not quite as dumb as you might think me to be; I already knew about Patrician's special effect, and was, as a matter of fact, counting on it."
"Is that so?"
"It is. And let me show you why." She reached out to her m/t field and flipped over the card she'd placed last turn. "The activation of your monster's effect is enough to trigger my trap card, Dragon's Rage. So now, whenever my dragons attack a monster on your field, you lose Life Points even if the attacked monster is in defense mode. Observe."
The sphere slammed into Spirit Reaper, which held its ground as per its effect – but as the smoke cleared from the attack, Cameron's Life Point counters descended from their mountainous 3600 to a much lower 1400.
Cameron's eyes widened.
Ah-ha, now we see some loss of control. Monica was hardly finished. "Now, Hyozanryu, attack Patrician of Darkness."
This time, he apparently chose not to redirect the attack... in fact, he seemed to have a hard time even saying anything at all. He had a "deer-caught-in-the-headlights" look as Hyozanryu streaked across the arena and impaled Patrician upon its horn, leaving his Life Points to fall again, now to 1300.
"And we can't forget Blue-Eyes, now, can we?" She smiled. "Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack Spirit Reaper and finish this game up."
The glow of Blue-Eyes' attack was blinding. Monica rejoiced in it as the attack came blasting from its maw, engulfing his Spirit Reaper completely.
It would survive the attack.
But his Life Points wouldn't.
When the light faded, Monica's joys proved to be well-founded – his Life Point counters had descended to the rock-bottom number of zero.
Well, she mused, not so much a number as a condition. The end result was the same.
She'd won.
Cameron finally managed to get rid of his surprised expression, instead shaking his head and chuckling to himself as he gathered his deck's various pieces in resignation. He and Monica both lowered their platforms and met each other around the side of the arena.
"That was an impressive match," he said, his voice sincere. "It's been a while since I've been defeated. You're a worthy opponent. Congratulations."
"Thanks, but I'd feel a lot better about the win if I had the spoils to prove I won," she said.
"Ah, yes, of course. Here." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the two double-thick card protectors. "They're yours."
Her eyes glittered as she took the two protectors and stared admiringly at the cards within. Gate Guardian and Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, two of the rarest, most powerful Duel Monsters known to the game... and I have them both in my hand!
She looked back up at Cameron, who was again chuckling to himself. She could just barely hear his muttering. "Oh, if only she knew I had a Gate Guardian in my hand..."
She raised an eyebrow. "Eh?"
"Hm? Oh, nothing." He offered a smile, something that apparently came easily to him. "I've got something else I need us both to sign. Here..." He reached into his pocket again and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen.
She rolled her eyes. "Not yet another sheet of toilet paper to sign."
"No, hardly. This signifies there was a winner and that the loser bears witness to that." He glanced up at her as he signed the sheet. "With both the winner and the loser announcing the same winner, they'll have no choice but to accept it at our word."
"What'll they do when you go back without a win?" she inquired, inspecting the paper in its totality before applying her signature.
He snorted. "Pay me less. I did what I was supposed to do, but not what I was supposed to do. It was a job, nothing more. I performed to the best of my ability, but I'm not giving them the results they want, so there'll be some financial punishment. But I can handle it. Always have." He seemed to strike on an afterthought. "Oh, by the way... that turn would have been your last, whether you won it or not. I drew Nightmare Horse with Witch's effect."
Monica's mind rummaged for the stats on that monster. Nightmare Horse. Zombie-Type that can attack Life Points even if I have monsters on the field. Attack power of 500. She nodded in appreciation. "You're a good duelist. Maybe I'll see you at the next big tourney?"
"Just maybe," he responded, nodding. He folded up the paper and then stuffed it in his pocket. "In the meantime, have a good one."
And with that, he turned to the hallway and left the arena.
"Yeah," she muttered, continuing to stare at her new acquisitions. "I think I will."
--
Two Days Later
--
There was a knock at the door.
Kyle didn't answer. He was fast asleep on the couch, in a position that looked less than comfortable – he'd shifted his way into that position over a period of about three hours. Ever since his duel with Jade, he'd been tired all the time, just wanting to sleep and eat and occasionally write. It was the ultimate lethargy of brooding depression.
The knocking became more insistent. "Kyle? C'mon, I know you're in there, open the door."
Theoris stirred. Kyle. Wake up. Monica is here to see you.
Does she really need to see me right now? Kyle thought, even as he began to awaken from his dreamless sleep.
Apparently she does.
How unreasonable of her.
It is not even time for supper yet and you are asleep. It is you who are sleeping at an unreasonable time.
It's called an afternoon nap.
This has gone beyond a "nap", Kyle. You continue to let your failure against Jade dictate your actions. It is disturbing. If this was "simply a game" to you, why do you let it trouble you so?
Because I know better now. It isn't just a game, not anymore. Nevertheless, Kyle stirred and groaned. "All right," he said, "I'll be there in a sec."
"Well, hurry up, would you? I want to talk to you."
He rolled off the couch and onto the floor – oh, yeah, this is a vast improvement – and put on the nearest shirt to have been discarded in that area. Then he slowly got to his feet and trudged to the door.
Upon opening it, even Kyle couldn't ignore that she seemed glowingly happy about something or other. He blinked. "Hi."
"Hey. You took your sweet time."
"I didn't have to open the door."
"Aw, c'mon, how can you resist me?" She smirked. "So lemme in already."
Kyle stepped aside, and Monica swept through the door, her glowing expression seeming to brighten the apartment by a considerable degree. Kyle raised an eyebrow. "Mind if I ask why you're here?"
"Just figured I'd shoot the breeze with you," she answered nonchalantly, and she flopped down on the couch.
"There's no breeze in here."
"I know. How do you stand the heat? Turn up the air conditioner, for Godsakes."
"Monica…"
Her eyes hardened at the tone of Kyle's voice. "Look," she said, "if you think I'm going to just sit here and watch you keep digging this hole for yourself, you're freaking crazy. I don't know what's happened to you or why you've sunk like this. I'd have thought you'd be on top of the world still, with the Madison tourney and all that. Now I come back to hear that you haven't wanted to duel anybody who's challenged you to one. Surely losing a couple duels isn't the root of the problem."
"It could be."
"Then you're a rather sad individual," she remarked, "because there's more to life than just Duel Monsters."
"An argument could be made for that case," he responded.
"Kyle… take your head out of your ass for a second and look around, would you? There's a lot more to experience if you'd just take the time to find it."
"Like?"
"Well, friendship, for one." She stood up and moved toward him. "We're friends, right?"
"Last I checked."
"And friends do favors for each other, right?"
"That's what I hear."
"You did a huge favor for me. You gave me a gift I didn't think I could repay. Remember?"
He nodded. "The second Blue-Eyes."
"Well, I didn't think I could repay it. But fortune has a way of helping me out."
With that, she reached into her purse and pulled out a double-thick plastic Duel Monsters card protector, then held it out to him. "I want you to have this."
A crease split his brow, but he nevertheless took the protector and inspected the card inside.
His eyes widened and he looked back up at Monica. "How did you get this?"
"Same way you got Blue-Eyes. I earned it. Now…" She reached out and took hold of his arm. "I want you to get out there and start dueling again. If dueling got you into a funk, it's probably the key in getting you out. And after that, I want to see you at the dance that's coming up."
He blinked. "The dance? Why would I go there?"
"Because you need to have a broader range of experience. And you need some time to relax and have fun. Dances are great events to just relieve tension and have a good time."
"Ehh…" He sighed. "We'll see about that. But I will start dueling again… I owe that much."
She shook her head. "No, you don't owe me anything. Gate Guardian is the same rarity as Blue-Eyes, only three copies exist. I've returned the previous favor, now I'm asking you a favor of my own."
"Then I'll do it."
"Good. What about the dance?"
"That may be pushing it. Let me start dueling first and then we'll see."
"Fair enough." She smiled. "I'm still proud of you, Kyle… but don't take that to mean I won't give you a kick in the ass when you need it."
He gave her a wry look. "I'll try to keep that in mind."
--
The next day, Kyle arranged a small Duel Monsters tournament at the park for the following Sunday, with a prize of $100 out of his Madison tourney spoils going to the winner.
No cash exchanged hands that Sunday.