Atticus walked at a brisk pace towards the harbor, duel disk in hand. Going by the times he had already seen Alexis leave her dorm after school, he judged that he still had a few hours before she came to Aster's yacht for the night. The sooner he confronted Aster about this, the better. Even though he knew that the chances of his idea working were slim to none, Atticus knew that he had to try to do something to stop that creep from violating his little sister anymore while he got her hopes up further and further for nothing.
Once he reached the harbor, Atticus breathed a silent sigh of relief when he saw Aster on the deck of his yacht. He was sitting casually at a small table and chairs, casually flipping through a book. He would pause occasionally to take a sip from the straw of what appeared to be a tall glass of iced tea. Just the very air of carefree happiness that Aster exuded made Atticus want to go up there and start punching his lights out. He looked too happy with that stupid little smile, and it was driving him crazy. But then again, what guy wouldn't be if they were getting laid as much as Aster was right now?
Seeing that the walkway ramp leading up to the deck was left out (no doubt in preparation for Alexis' arrival later), Atticus simply started climbing up without even bothering to announce his arrival to Aster.
"I thought you might show up today." Aster said casually, not even bothering to look away from his book.
Atticus sighed inwardly in frustration. Alexis must have tipped Aster off not long after his visit to the girls' dorm.
"Let me guess. Am I about to get the "big brother talk"?" Aster asked amusedly, still not taking his eyes off his book.
"No. I like to call this the "big brother is going to kick your ass talk". I've found that it works much more effectively when it comes to dealing with guys like you who think that they can just do whatever the hell they want with my sister." Atticus said threateningly.
Aster only responded with a slight chuckle, causing Atticus to become even more infuriated.
Atticus strode quickly over to where Aster was sitting. Once he was there, he yanked the book out of his hand and grabbed him forcefully by the collar area of his shirt, forcing him to look at him.
"Hey, kid! Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Atticus snarled in Aster's face.
Aster frowned slightly at Atticus' actions. He then very carefully removed his hand from the front of his shirt with a firm grip.
"Look, I understand that you're upset about this. In fact, I expected it. Alexis is your sister and you care about her. So, of course you're going to be wary of a guy you don't know that you only just found out has been involved with her for about a month now. But that doesn't give you an excuse to just randomly come up here to my private property without an invitation and start getting in my face like this. There's no reason why we can't discuss this civilly. So, unless you are ready to start doing that now, it's time for you to leave. You're Alexis' brother, so I don't want to hurt you. But touch me again, and you will regret it." Aster said coldly.
Normally, Atticus would have just clobbered any guy who had challenged him like that. But the strength of Aster's grip when he had pulled his hand away and the cold, steely gaze that he was giving him right now without a break in eye contact somehow told Atticus that this was not someone he could intimidate or hurt easily.
"Alright, then answer me this: Why are you doing this with her? Alexis already explained everything that has happened between you both, so I know just how fast it all started. If you were just dating, that would have been one thing. But you've been pushing her into sex right from the start and that is wrong. Would it have killed you to at least buy a girl dinner before you started banging her right there on the spot!?" Atticus asked frustratedly.
"It sounds like Alexis didn't quite tell you the whole story about our first meeting. With all due respect Atticus, I was only trying to defend myself. Your sister was pretty angry about me beating her little pals, so I tried the first distraction tactic that came to mind in the heat of that moment. Let's just say that it worked even better than I thought it would." Aster said with a slight chuckle.
When Atticus didn't reply, Aster continued. "I know it sounds bad but come on. You probably would have done the same thing if it had been you in my position with another girl. A pretty girl was about attack me, we got caught up in the moment with the adrenaline running high, and then things happened. It's not as bad as you think." He insisted.
"Except when that girl happens to be my sister. You got serious with her way too fast. She's not ready for all of that yet! And she especially doesn't need to be with someone like you who is just going to get bored and move on eventually!" Atticus argued.
"I will admit that our relationship progressed quickly. But sometimes that's the only way for things to work out when two people become as attached to each other as fast as we did. But just how can you decide how you think this will turn out based on what you think of me when you really don't know me to begin with?" Aster said seriously.
"Please. I know enough about you and your little side tours in the Pro Leagues to see that this is all just a bit of fun for you while you're staying on the island. I've seen how guys like you operate. You'll go after the girl who's the hardest to get for you because that's the biggest thrill of the game." Atticus said disgustedly.
"If that was true, then I would have already parted ways with Alexis right after we met at the lighthouse. I don't spend this much time on people I don't care about." Aster said.
"Well, you won't be spending any time with her at all once I'm through with you!" Atticus declared.
"But that is our choice, so I don't see how you're in a position to stop us from seeing each other." Aster said.
"Then here's how we'll decide that position: I challenge you to a duel, kid! Right here, right now. And if I win, you're going to stop seeing my sister. Permanently." Atticus challenged as he held out his duel disk for Aster to see.
"Challenging me to a duel!? Oh, you're too funny. You do understand that you can't defeat me, right? Even Alexis can't. Oh, she tries, I'll give her that. And she's even gotten pretty close a few times. But it's not enough against me. So, don't think that you'll fare any better." Aster said with a smug grin on his face.
"Ok, so maybe I won't win. Believe me, I don't expect this to be easy. But that doesn't mean that I'm not going to just give up without a fight! So why don't you save your bragging until it's actually warranted?" Atticus challenged.
"There's no "maybe". You won't win, dude. But if you insist on humiliating yourself like this, I'll accept. I don't back down from a challenge to a duel. So, why don't we get started? And when I win, you'll stop interfering with my relationship with Alexis." Aster said with a devious smile as he took out his duel disk from behind his chair and put it on.
"Alright, you've got yourself a deal, Aster." Atticus agreed. A part of him was nervous about the new condition Aster had just dropped. But it was too late to back down now. All he could do was try his best and hope that it would be enough to somehow beat Aster.
"DUEL!" Both Aster and Atticus shouted as they readied their duel disks.
"Since we're in my territory, I'll go first. I'll start with playing my spell card, Destiny Draw. By discarding one Destiny Hero monster from my hand, I get to draw two cards from my deck. Then, I'll set one monster facedown in defense position and set two cards. That's it for my turn. Now, show me what you got!" Aster said.
"You're going to wish I hadn't. It's my turn!" Atticus said.
When Atticus looked at his hand, he could hardly believe his good luck. Depending on what types of facedown cards Aster had, he might have a chance to finish this in one turn!
"First, I'll play Red-Eyes Black Chick (ATK 800 DEF 500) in attack mode! By using its effect, I can special summon one Red-Eyes Black Dragon (ATK 2400 DEF 2000) from my hand! But that's not all! I play the spell card, Double Summon! It lets me normal summon another monster during my turn. So, I'll use it to bring out Mirage Dragon (ATK 1600 DEF 600) in attack mode!" Atticus said.
So far, so good. Atticus thought to himself.
"Now, this where it gets good! I play the spell card, Nobleman of Crossout! It lets me choose one facedown monster on the field to destroy and then banish it after that. So, say goodbye to whatever you have hiding there!" Atticus said.
Aster's facedown monster blew up on the field, revealing Destiny Hero Defender (ATK 100 DEF 2700).
"That's a pretty high defense monster you had there. Even my Red-Eyes couldn't have beaten it. But now you're in trouble with him gone. I play the spell card, Inferno Fire Blast! It deals damage to you equal to the original attack of a Red-Eyes Black Dragon on my field!" Atticus announced triumphantly.
Shit! Aster thought to himself. He had to move fast now if he wanted to stay alive this turn.
"I activate Destiny Hero Decider's effect from my graveyard! By bringing him back to my hand from my graveyard, the effect damage that I would receive from your card changes to zero!" Aster announced. Just as the blast of fire was about to hit him, Decider appeared in front of him as a shield, causing it to bounce away from him.
#$%&! Atticus swore to himself in frustration. He had been so close to having a near-surefire shot at defeating Aster. If he had taken Inferno Fire Blast's effect, all Atticus would have had to do was attack with Mirage Dragon and that would have most likely defeated him as long as Aster's cards were traps that could only be activated during battle. Mirage Dragon's effect would prevent those from working while it attacked. But of course, Aster just had to have some bullshit card that he could even use from his own graveyard to save his ass right at the most convenient time for him. Clearly, he had planned to have him as back-up from the start when he chose to discard him to use Destiny Draw.
"Tch, fine. Lucky for you, my Red-Eyes can't attack during the turn I activate Inferno Fire Blast. But there is still Mirage Dragon! I'll give it the equip spell, Twin Swords of Flashing Light-Tryce. By discarding one card, I can equip it to my monster. It loses 500 attack points, but on the upside, it can attack you twice in one turn! And thanks to Mirage Dragon's effect, you can't activate trap cards when it attacks! Now, give him hell, Mirage Dragon!" Atticus said.
And I'll show you that you're not the only one who can take advantage of having to discard their cards to the graveyard… Atticus thought to himself as he looked at what he had just sent to his with Twin Swords' effect.
Aster groaned slightly as Mirage Dragon's attack hit him. His two trap cards were of no use to him right now. D-Counter and D-Chain were useless to him without any Destiny Heroes on his field. And even if he did have one, he couldn't have used them anyway right now thanks to Mirage Dragon's effect.
"Attack him again!" Atticus shouted as he watched with satisfaction as the second attack nearly blasted Aster off his feet.
Aster growled in irritation after recovering from the last direct attack. Atticus dueled aggressively, but at the same time, he had strategy. If it wasn't for Destiny Hero Decider, he would have actually lost the duel by now. And he had still lost over half of his life points in just one turn. He had to finish this fast.
"To finish up, I'll set one card facedown and end my turn. You may have survived this turn, Aster. But don't think that it will be easy. I have more surprises in store for you." Atticus said.
Atticus- LP 4000 Aster- LP 1800
"It's my turn now." Aster said. He couldn't help smiling when he saw what he had just drawn. Now everything was set.
"I gotta say, I'm impressed, Atticus. You managed to almost defeat me in one turn and that is no small feat. Now I see who Alexis learned how to duel from. Because you duel just like her. There's power, but I could tell from those opening moves that you try to prepare for everything else, too. It's all there in your cards: Mirage Dragon to try to protect yourself from some effects, and Inferno Fire Blast to add in some direct damage. It reminds me of how Alexis' Cyber Girl deck works with cards like Cyber Blader, Prima, and Tutu. You guys try to account for lots of different situations in your decks and that is what makes you so good at dueling. Not as good as me, of course. But with some work, I think you both have a good chance of making it to the Pro Leagues." Aster complimented Atticus sincerely.
"If you're trying to get me to let my guard down by flattering me, it's not going to work. You've got your work cut out for you now, Aster." Atticus warned.
"Quite the opposite, in fact. I was just about to say that it's such a shame that I have to end a duel I'm truly enjoying so soon already. Because you are going to lose in this turn, Atticus." Aster said with a smile.
"What do you mean!?" Atticus asked nervously. Despite his advantage, he had a bad feeling. Aster wasn't a professional for nothing, and when someone as good as him told you what he just had, there was good reason to believe it.
"You'll see what I mean. First, I'll play my spell card, Nightbeam. I can use it to destroy your facedown card. And the best part is that it doesn't get to activate its effect thanks to Nightbeam's effect." Aster said.
Atticus watched helplessly as his trap card, Red-Eyes Spirit, was destroyed. He had planned to use it when the time was right to bring back Red-Eyes Archfiend of Lightning. That would have allowed him to use it to most likely destroy Aster's monsters during his next turn. But it looked like that was all over now.
"Now I play the spell card, Polymerization! By fusing two Destiny Heroes, I will now bring out Destiny Hero Dystopia! (ATK 2800 DEF 2400). And now I'll play my trap card, D-Chain, to increase his attack by 500 points. Now, here's where the real fun starts! Since you like to deal direct damage so much, then you're gonna love this! When Dystopia is special summoned, I can use its effect to give you direct damage equal to the attack points of a level four or lower destiny hero in my graveyard. And since I choose Destiny Hero Celestial, you lose 1600 life points!" Aster said with glee.
Atticus groaned in pain as Dystopia's direct damage hit him. He had heard about how strong Aster's Destiny Heroes could be from hearing about Jaden's first duel with him. But this was getting insane. And he had a feeling that it was only going to get worse.
"Now, I will attack Mirage Dragon with Destiny Hero Dystopia to destroy it! Oh, and did I mention D-Chain's other special effect? Whenever a monster that I used it on destroys one of yours, it deals an extra five hundred points of damage to you! And that is enough to spell game over for you!" Aster said happily as he delivered the finishing blow.
"NOT COOL, MAN!" Atticus yelled (AN: Imagine this as Atticus' duel loss scream in Yugioh Duel Links if they ever added him to the game.) as he took all of the damage head on.
Atticus- LP 0 Aster- LP 1800 Winner-Aster
"It didn't last very long, but that was a good duel, Atticus. You almost would have defeated me, but it looks like destiny was on my side this time. So, as per our agreement, you won't try anything else to stop me and Alexis from being together." Aster said.
"I may not be able to do anything about it now, but that doesn't mean that I have to accept it!" Atticus argued.
"That's true. I can't say anything to change your mind about me and I understand that. Only time can do that. Because despite what you believe Atticus, I really do care about your sister a lot more than you know. Probably even a lot more than she knows. And I promise that you will see that." Aster said seriously. Then, without another word, he turned and walked away into the doorway of his yacht, shutting the door firmly behind him.
Atticus slumped his shoulders in misery. He had failed to save his sister and it was all over now. All he could do was hope that Aster was telling the truth…
AN: I was originally going to update something else first before this, but I just couldn't help myself. And the same will go for the next chapter, too. And this ends Atticus' little three-part story arc! It's been real fun writing from his POV, so I'll probably add another chapter for him eventually down the line. I hope I did everything right with the duel here. The Destiny Heroes are kind of tricky, so I hope I didn't screw up any of the effects. Destiny Hero Decider's effect only says that it turns effect damage to zero, not negate the card itself. So I figured that technically, Inferno Fire Blast was still activated. Thanks for reading, and please review if you can! But, um, no pressure. XD