OP1: "Raining" by Art Of Dying
Chapter 5: "Instinct"
The crowd in the Park 'n Shop lot held their breaths as they looked on at the showdown that was about to begin. Mike, with his duel disk arm connected by his duel anchor to the arm of the criminal named Damian, matched his opponent's glare as they readied themselves to duel.
Bulbous Alyssum had pushed his way to the front of the gathered shoppers, shock coming to his face as he watched Mike face down the man who'd threatened him as they said, "LET'S DUEL!"
- DUEL -
[Mike - LP: 4000] VS [Damian - LP: 4000]
There's no way that could be Mike, Bulbous thought. THIS is who I was trying to protect Violet from...?
- The Night Before -
Bulbous tossed his cell phone to the opposite side of the couch. His throat felt strained after yelling at his daughter over the phone, so he took another swig from the almost-empty beer bottle in his hand.
He looked around at the disaster that was his living room. Empty beer bottles lay scattered across the floor, accompanied by several fast food wrappers he couldn't have been bothered to throw out. His legs rested on a coffee table, barely visible under more wrappers. The small television hanging on the wall across from him had a crack across its screen; a reminder of the night he'd tried to swing at his daughter as rage blinded him.
Though Violet had forgiven him because she understood his despair, he would never let himself forget. He'd spent his entire life making his daughter's safety and happiness his top priority, but what he'd heard the night before complicated things.
When Violet had come home that night, she had launched into telling her father about how Mike had apparently returned and defeated Josiah, completely out of nowhere. Though at first this had seemed a joyous occasion, concern had crept in when his daughter commented on how callously he'd treated Josiah during the duel. That was as well as his reluctance to share anything about where he'd been, and his wardrobe change into a bullet-torn duster.
It had taken him the hours since then to reconcile with that idea. Eventually, it led him to the painful decision that he didn't want Violet anywhere near him anymore. Not just because he'd been the love of his daughter's life, but it meant breaking his own bond with the son of his deceased best friends. But his daughter's well-being came first and foremost, and he wasn't about to let her go near someone who'd apparently spent two years being shot at. He wouldn't have it.
He suddenly heard the apartment door open and close around the cornered wall. Before long, Violet stormed through the living room, not acknowledging him as she dashed across Bulbous's eye line before rounding another corner into the kitchen. He could hear her choking up.
"What's wrong, Angel?" he called her by her nickname through a slur, only sounding half-concerned. The alcohol had dulled his senses, leaving emptiness in his voice where his love should have been.
He heard her slam her school bag onto the kitchen table. Moments later, she reemerged into the living room carrying nothing, her hair a strewn mess across her face and eyes red. She'd been crying.
"How could you...?" she asked her father. "How could you tell me to stay away from Mike?!"
Bulbous sighed as he lifted himself, sitting properly on the couch to meet his daughter's gaze. "I'm just trying to protect you, Violet," he said flatly. "After what you told me about him last night, I'm worried that he might be dangerous."
"Dad, he was walking me home specifically to protect me!" she retorted. "Remember that Damian White broke out of Tallgate? Are you really gonna tell me you think Mike's more dangerous than him?!"
Bulbous rolled his eyes as his head swam. He was too drunk for this crap.
"All right," Bulbous said, standing from the couch. "How about you prove to me he's okay, then? That he's still right in the head after disappearing to somewhere that put bullets in his clothes! Somewhere he didn't even want to tell any of you about!"
Violet shifted her weight between her legs as she struggled to think of a comeback. But truthfully, there was nothing she could say about Mike that would put her father at ease. Not that there was much chance getting through to him while he was intoxicated.
Taking his daughter's silence as an admission of defeat, Bulbous huffed. "Look, you're not seeing him again," he affirmed. "That's the end of it."
He sat back on the couch, eyes gluing to the television again. Violet had started to shake, eventually unable to stop herself from blurting out, "god, why do you always do this to me?! It was bad enough that my life felt like a wreck after he disappeared, but ever since you lost the deli it's like you've gone out of your way to make it worse!"
That sank into Bulbous's heart with deadly precision as she continued, "you never listen anymore, set curfew for seven o'clock, punish me for nothing almost all the time—!"
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Bulbous roared as he shot up again, cutting Violet off and making her flinch. It terrified her when he raised his voice. "I don't give a good goddamn what you think about how I act, or the rules I set for you! I've done nothing but protect you all on my own since you were a baby, and you should be grateful!"
"I should be grateful that you treat me more like a prisoner than a daughter?!" Violet shot back, tears once again forcing their way out of her.
That was the last straw. He'd had more than enough of his daughter's noncompliance. "That's it," he growled through clenched teeth. "You're grounded for the next week. And if I so much as see you anywhere near Mike again, there's gonna be hell to pay."
He had Violet cornered. She could hate his parenting all she wanted, but once he put the last word down, there was no coming back.
As expected, she'd fallen silent, glaring at him for a time as tears fell down her face before she ran to her room, slamming the door behind her and locking it.
Bulbous sat down again, feeling his rage simmering. No matter how Violet felt otherwise, he absolutely hated having to punish her. Though admittedly, sometimes there was only so much of her teenage rebelliousness he could tolerate. But the truth was that the impositions he placed on her were the only part of his own life he felt like he had any control over since his deli had gone under. And he'd be damned before he let that slip away from his hand.
But as his drunken eyes waveringly observed what was on his television, he couldn't help but wonder: what if Mike really wasn't in as bad of a shape as he'd thought? What if, at his core, he had remained the same good-hearted young man that he'd adored over sixteen years? And most tormentingly of all, what if he'd just broken his daughter's heart for nothing...?
- Present Day -
Now, he stood watching as the same young man he'd told his daughter to avoid—having saved him from the man who'd held a gun to his face only minutes before—doing everything he could to make sure this Damian White wouldn't get his gun or stolen cash back.
"I'll kick things off!" Damian said as he took the first draw. "And I'll begin by activating the field spell, Venom Swamp!"
Mike narrowed his eyes as his surroundings changed: he, Damian, and all of the onlookers were suddenly standing with their feet buried in red swamp water. The marsh was home to large, dead trees that stood bare of any sort of growth.
"Next I'll set a monster in DEF mode," Damian continued as a horizontally-set card appeared on his field, "and set one card face-down! Now let's see what you've got!"
Mike drew silently as he looked Damian up and down. He dropped the shaking as soon as the duel started, he noted, and now he's all fired up about this duel... I can see why they labeled him a psycho. I'll have to keep my guard up.
"I summon Constellar Leonis!" he began. [LV: 3/ATK: 1000] "And with its effect, I'm allowed to normal summon another Constellar monster this turn. So I'll release my Leonis so I can advance summon my Constellar Antares!" [LV: 6/ATK: 2400]
"I'll follow that up with Antares's effect," Mike continued, taking the only card in his graveyard back, "which'll add Leonis back to my hand!"
"So you recycled your monster!" Damian said with a devilish grin. "That won't matter in the long run!"
"We'll see," Mike said, "but for now, I'm zeroing in on that set monster of yours. Antares, attack!"
Antares took up his chained spearhead of light and hauled it into the image of the card, forcing it to flip and reveal itself: [Venom Cobra - LV: 4/DEF: 2000]
"As I expected, too weak!" said Mike as Antares sliced through the exposed snake's body.
But Damian didn't seem shaken in the slightest. On the contrary, his grin only seemed to broaden as he said, "you just triggered my Snake Whistle trap card! This lets me special summon another level 4 or lower reptile monster from my deck when another of mine is destroyed in battle! So welcome, my Venom Serpent!" [LV: 4/ATK: 1000]
Mike's eyes narrowed. "I'll set a card face-down and end my turn."
"Then we can get to my favorite part now!" Damian said before pointing at Mike's Antares, which found itself being assaulted by a small blue snake that had emerged from the depths of the Swamp, biting into his armor.
"What the hell is that?!" Mike asked, his eyes wide.
"A venom counter," Damian replied, "which my Venom Swamp puts on every monster on the field during each end phase! And so long as it stays in play, every monster with a venom counter is drained of 500 ATK for each one!" [Constellar Antares - Venom Counters: 0→1, ATK: 2400→1900]
Mike glared at Damian's Venom Serpent. "I'm guessing Venom monsters are exempt from your Swamp's effect, since your Serpent didn't get a counter."
"Correct!" Damian confirmed as he drew his next card. "And now that it's my turn again, I'm gonna show you that it doesn't just stop there!
"I'll kick this turn off with my Serpent's effect!" he said. "With it, I can put ANOTHER venom counter on your Antares!"
Mike watched as Damian's Venom Serpent shot another small snake that also latched itself onto Antares, who groaned as its power weakened. [Venom Counters: 1→2, ATK: 1900→1400]
"Now I'll summon my Venom Snake!" Damian continued. [LV: 3/ATK: 1200] "And like my Serpent, he can also place a venom counter on a monster you control at the cost of its attack this turn!"
Mike growled as another small snake was launched before biting into Antares. [Venom Counters: 2→3, ATK: 1400→900]
"Next, I'll activate the spell card, Venom Shot!" Damian said as he took another Venom Snake from his deck and placed it in his graveyard. "So by offering up one more reptile monster from my deck, I can place two more counters on a monster!"
"But then Antares will have nothing left!" Mike realized as he watched two more snakes take a bite out of Antares, bringing him to his knees. [Venom Counters: 3→5, ATK: 900→0]
"Oh, but you see," Damian corrected with a lifted finger, "your monster doesn't just have 'nothing' left. Your monster is now nothing at all!"
Mike watched with horror as his monster was dragged into the Venom Swamp, taking its snake-shaped counters with it as it was destroyed.
"Venom Swamp destroys all monsters whose ATK points hit 0 due to venom counters!" he explained. "And now that your field's clear, I'll have my Serpent attack you directly!"
The Serpent launched itself at Mike, who braced himself as the two-headed creature coiled itself around his arm before sinking both sets of fangs into him. He shook his arm to launch the thing off him before it returned to Damian's field. [Mike - LP: 4000→3000]
Mike staggered as Damian cackled. "Oh, that was great! I can't wait to make you suffer even more!"
"Tch..." Mike hissed between gritted teeth. He hadn't faced someone like this since his last duel in Frontier Haven. He'd defeated Josiah and Danny with ease because he'd trained to face off against stronger and more experienced opponents, and Damian definitely fit that description.
"I'll finish up with one more card face-down!" Damian concluded. "Now, summon something else for me to poison with my venom!"
Mike drew silently again. Anything I throw at him is only gonna get eaten alive, he figured as he observed his hand. I'll have to strike quickly before that can happen.
"I summon Constellar Pollux!" Mike called out. [LV: 4/ATK: 1700]
"And thanks to him, just like my Leonis, I can also call forth my Constellar Siat to the field!" [LV: 1/ATK: 100]
"And his effect," he explained, "lets him copy the level of any other Constellar monster on my field or my graveyard! So I'll have him copy Pollux's level!" [LV: 1→4]
"With that set, I'll now overlay them so I can build the overlay network!" he said as a spatial portal opened to absorb his two monsters, birthing a familiar gold-plated monster. "Xyz Summon! Thrash the enemies before you, Constellar Praesepe!" [RK: 4/OUs: 2/ATK: 2400]
"All right, let's not waste any time!" Mike said as he pointed at Venom Serpent. "Constellar Praesepe, attack Venom Serpent! Cosmic Thrash!"
As Praesepe rose into the air to prepare his attack, Mike added: "And in case you didn't know, my Praesepe can detach an overlay unit to give himself an extra 1000 ATK during the damage step!" [OUs: 2→1, ATK: 2400→3400]
Damian flicked his tongue as Praesepe dived towards his Serpent. "I reveal my trap card, Ambush Fangs!"
Just before Praesepe could land the blow on Damian's Serpent, the reptile sprung to action, letting the mech's fist plunge into the swamp instead as it coiled around its arm.
"This trap not only negates your attack and ends the battle phase," Damian explained with a sneer, "but it also puts a venom counter on your attacking monster!"
Mike's eyes flickered with panic as the Serpent bit into Praesepe's armor, leaving behind a blue facsimile of itself before slithering back to Damian's field. [Venom Counters: 0→1, ATK: 3400→2900]
Mike's brow knit. The fact that Damian was able to read and counteract every move he made was infuriating.
"I'll set these two cards face-down," Mike concluded. "That's all for now."
[Constellar Praesepe - ATK: 2900→1900]
"Not quite!" said Damian as another snake emerged from the Venom Swamp, sinking its fangs into Praesepe. [Venom Counters: 1→2, ATK: 1900→1400]
Damian chuckled as he drew next. "Seems you can't figure out how to get around my Venom strategy!" he chided. "Well, it's only gonna get worse for you now!
"First, my Venom Snake will give up its attack to put another counter on your Praesepe!" he explained as the Snake spat out another snake-shaped counter that landed on Mike's monster. [Venom Counters: 2→3, ATK: 1400→900]
"And I'll follow that up with my Serpent's effect," he went on, "and bring its ATK down even more!"
Serpent mimicked Snake's motion as it launched yet another counter at Praesepe. But Mike was prepared for it this time:
"I reveal my Breakthrough Skill trap!" he said as his set card flipped, intercepting the snake-shaped counter as it hit the trap card instead of its intended target.
Damian raised an eyebrow. "You had a trap waiting in the wings?"
"I sure did," Mike confirmed. "I knew you'd try to poison my monster again, which is why I set this trap card! Now your monster's effects are negated for the rest of the turn!"
But to Mike's chagrin, Damian's face quickly flipped back from disappointment to a maniacal smile. "It makes no difference whether you negated my Snake's effect or not!" he said. "For you see, they've both outlived their usefulness to me. So now I'll release them both!"
Mike went wide-eyed as he watched the two reptiles sink into the murky depths of the Venom Swamp, while Damian exclaimed, "I call forth my Vennominon, the King of Poisonous Snakes!"
In the place of the two offered reptiles emerged the figure of royalty of the Venom Swamp, decked out in its golden snake crown and velvet cape. But despite its overbearing appearance, Mike was ultimately surprised when we saw this creature's stats: [LV: 8/ATK: 0]
"I'm sure you're wondering why he's got no ATK, right?" Damian asked.
"How about you shut up and just get to explaining already?" Mike snapped back, his patience growing thin.
Damian scowled. "You're no fun," he muttered, "but if you must know, Vennominon gains 500 ATK for every single reptile in my graveyard, and right now I have four!" [ATK: 0→2000]
"Now, Vennominon!" Damian declared, pointing at Mike's monster. "Attack his Praesepe with Monarchical Venom!"
From its mouth, the reptilian king hurled a burst of red venom towards Mike's Praesepe. He thought fast:
"I'll minimize the damage I take by detaching Praesepe's last overlay unit to give him another 1000 ATK during this damage step!" he said at the last second. [OUs: 1→0, ATK: 900→1900]
Praesepe's entire body was splattered with Vennominon's blast, causing it to dissolve into nothingness within the Swamp. [Mike - LP: 3000→2900]
Damian chuckled. "Looks like you got off easy this time," he said. "I'll wrap things up there."
"Then it's my turn!" Mike said as he drew next. "And first, I'll activate my Call Of The Haunted trap card to bring my Constellar Pollux back to the field!" [LV: 4/ATK: 1700]
"Next I'll have Constellar Algiedi come out and join him!" he continued. [LV: 4/ATK: 1600]
"And with them on the field, I'll overlay them in order to build the overlay network again!" Mike exclaimed as his two monsters were swallowed by another spatial portal. "Xyz summon! Knight of cosmic light, Starliege Paladynamo!" [RK: 4/OUs: 2/ATK: 2000]
"And he's got the power to dethrone your king!" he said. "Because with his effect, I can detach both of his overlay units—" [OUs: 2→0] "—in order to nullify one of your monster's abilities and ATK!"
Damian's eye twitched as he watched Paladynamo take a swipe at his King, making him stagger as his power was lost. [ATK: 2000→0]
"His ATK points!" Damian wailed, his voice trailing off.
"Are gone!" Mike finished for him. "Now go, Starliege Paladynamo! Attack with Galactic Gladius!"
The warrior swung his spatial blade through the King of Poisonous Snakes, who doubled over as he writhed in pain before exploding. [Damian - LP: 4000→2000]
"Your King has been slain!" Mike said with a smirk.
The shock on Damian's face quickly changed back to a sly grin as he chuckled. "You really thought it'd be that simple?" he asked, bringing confusion to Mike's face. "My Vennominon can't be taken down that easily!"
Mike watched as the spot on the Swamp's surface where Vennominon had shattered started bubbling violently before the King of Poisonous Snakes rose back up, ready to fight again. [ATK: 0→1500]
It came back weaker than it was before, Mike noticed. So for it to revive...
Damian adopted a knowing smirk. "I can see from the look on your face that you're beginning to understand my Vennominon's power!" he said, snatching his Venom Cobra from his graveyard. "When it's destroyed, all I have to do is banish a reptile from my graveyard to give it new life!"
Mike seethed. It felt like every move he made was nothing more than amusement to this guy. He wondered how much longer he'd be able to survive before the Venom Swamp they were fighting in swallowed not just his monsters, but himself...
But then he heard it: the sound of approaching police sirens. The cops were finally about to arrive.
Everyone else appeared to have heard them too, as the gathered crowd moved to unblock the entrance to the parking lot, allowing two police cars to pull up and park. Two officers emerged from each car.
"FREEZE!" one of the cops shouted through a megaphone. The rest all aimed their pistols at Damian from behind their opened doors. "CDPD! DROP THE DUEL DISK AND PUT YOUR HANDS ON YOUR HEAD!"
This prompted the surrounding onlookers to open the space around Mike and Damian more, as nobody wanted to be caught in any crossfire.
As Mike looked back to his opponent, he could see a new look in Damian's eyes as he looked to the police. The evil gleam that he'd be staring into before had turned to fire—a fire that was ready to set ablaze everyone and everything around him.
Damian turned his attention back to Mike. "This duel," he uttered, "it was just a diversion, wasn't it?! To keep me from escaping before the cops finally came, right?!"
Mike stared coolly back into Damian's eyes. Despite the mounting anxiety he'd had moments before, all of it seemed to disappear as he realized he wouldn't need to continue this duel. The cops would take Damian away, and hopefully put him in a tighter-security cell than his last one.
That thought vanished from Mike's mind when Damian jerked his right arm, causing a small device to pop into his hand from his sleeve as the cops steadied their aim.
"LISTEN UP!" he screamed, holding the device up. "IN MY HAND IS A REMOTE DETONATOR THAT'S SET TO DETONATE THE BOMB I HAVE HIDDEN BENEATH MY JACKET!"
Panicked shrieks and cries were heard across the surrounding crowd. Some had started pushing their way to the back to flee, but Damian's psychotic voice kept them rooted where they stood when he said, "IF I SEE SO MUCH AS A HEAD TURNING TO WALK AWAY FROM THIS CROWD, OR IF THE COPS TRY TO PULL ANY FUNNY STUFF, I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL BLOW MYSELF AND EVERYONE ELSE IN THIS LOT TO HELL!"
Terrified silence fell over the crowd as the cops lowered their weapons. Without being able to see under Damian's hoodie, they couldn't risk calling his bluff.
Damian looked back to Mike, a snarl adorning his face. "After all," he growled, "why interrupt our duel when it was just getting good?!"
He really IS insane, Mike thought with panic. He'd seriously threaten a suicide bombing over a grocery store robbery?!
Suddenly, he felt the weight of the world on his shoulders again. The same feeling he'd thought he'd left behind in Frontier Haven. Just like then, everyone in the surrounding crowd watching this duel was depending on him so they could walk away from this. To survive.
"Now go on!" Damian goaded, growing impatient as his grip on the detonator tightened. "It's still your move!"
Mike's face darkened. "That's all I had for this turn," he said. "It's your move, Damian."
"Not just yet!" Damian reminded him. "My Venom Swamp has another victim to feed on!"
Once more, a small snake emerged from the Swamp and wrapped around Paladynamo's neck, biting into it and making him groan with agony. [Venom Counters: 0→1, ATK: 2000→1500]
Mike's glare hardened as Damian drew, his chuckling turning to cackling again as he said, "now this is REALLY getting interesting! First, I'll activate the spell card, Snake Rain!"
He sent another copy of Venom Serpent from his hand to his graveyard, explaining, "so just by discarding one card, I'm allowed to send four more reptiles from my deck to the graveyard!"
Mike's eyes widened in alarm as Damian took four reptiles from his deck and put them in the graveyard.
"And you know what else?" he asked. "Since I discarded a reptile in order to activate that spell, I put a total of five more reptiles in my graveyard! And each one powers my King with 500 more ATK for each one, or 2500 more!" [ATK: 1500→4000]
"Now my King, take your revenge and wipe out his Paladynamo!" Damian declared, his monster shooting another burst of venom from its jaw. It splattered across Paladynamo's armor, making him writhe with agony before he too was lost to the Venom Swamp. [Mike - LP: 2900→400]
"Now, are you ready to admit that you've lost?" Damian asked Mike with a sneer.
"Not yet," Mike replied, "because when you destroy Starliege Paladynamo, I get to draw another card!"
He dealt his card while Damian growled. "Guess I'm done for now."
Mike drew once more as his anxiety reached its peak. The feeling embodied everything that he'd left Frontier Haven to get away from. He didn't want to fight for his life anymore. To fight for the lives of so many others. He wondered whether he would ever be able to escape the carnage the last two years had inflicted on him; to escape the darkness that had since all but eclipsed his life.
He shook his head. Now wasn't the time to be having a crisis. He looked to the cards in his hand. The three he'd been holding weren't of any use to him. But the card he'd just drawn…
He sighed, closing his eyes before admitting, "I have no choice but to end my turn."
The surrounding bystanders erupted into scared gasps and whispers. Bulbous shook his head. If Mike really was the same person Violet claimed him to be, there was no way he was about to throw away the match. Even if he really had reached a point where he had nothing left, he would've kept on fighting until his last life point had gone.
Meanwhile, Damian chuckled. "Sounds like someone finally set aside their denial," he said, drawing his next card. "Time to bring this to an end, then!
"Vennominon!" he declared, pointing at Mike. "Finish this duel now!"
Vennominon again unhinged his jaw, spitting his venom towards Mike as Damian's cackling reached its highest pitch yet.
But then, the unthinkable happened: just before the venom reached Mike, he was suddenly immersed within a dome of multicolored light that repelled the projectile.
"What the hell?!" Damian said as he took a step back.
Bulbous's mouth hung open. There was only one card he knew that Mike owned that could do that.
Sure enough, a tiny voice suddenly rang out saying, "kuri, kuri!" Then, a small purple creature of round shape with a rainbow-colored spike atop its head appeared, bouncing happily in the air as the barrier it had conjured turned to twinkling dust around Mike, who was grinning.
"What did you do?!" Damian demanded.
"It's not what I did," Mike answered as he indicated the small creature before him. "It's what my Rainbow Kuriboh did! Whenever my opponent declares an attack, he can come out onto the field and stop it! Then he becomes an equip card that equips to your monster, making it so that it can't attack so long as he's on the field!"
Damian watched as Rainbow Kuriboh chirped another set of "kuris" before charging at his Vennominon, stopping right above the King's head as another barrier appeared. This one was a crystal-clear dome that encased the reptilian, who looked around as he realized that he'd been trapped.
The crowd of spectators all felt like they had witnessed a miracle. Bulbous, meanwhile, was even more surprised by what had happened as he stared at Mike's monster.
He could remember the first time he'd seen it, clear as day: the last birthday celebration that Danny, Marina, and Violet had put together for Mike's sixteenth birthday before he'd disappeared. They had thrown a small party in Bulbous's deli, where he had spoiled them with free sandwiches and even put his baking skills on display, pulling the most delicious cake that any of them had ever tasted from his oven. But Violet had waited until Danny and Marina were gone before finally giving Mike his gift: the Rainbow Kuriboh card, which she thought Mike could add to his deck so that he'd have a reminder of her whenever he dueled.
Now, here was that card that she had given to Mike two years ago, still in his deck. Fighting back against the criminal that had nearly killed him.
"He was walking me home specifically to protect me!"
He had to bring his hand to his mouth as emotion overwhelmed him. Violet had been right after all.
Back in the duel, Damian hollered with a furious rage as the fire in his eyes seemed to consume him. "I'll teach you to make a fool out of me!" he said. "I activate my Mystical Space Typhoon, which'll get rid of your pesky Kuriboh!"
A whirlwind erupted from the center of the field, sucking in the Rainbow Kuriboh hovering over Vennominon. It gave a fearful cry of "KURI!" before disappearing within the winds.
Mike's heart ached as he watched his monster disappear, but he didn't have time to lament. With Rainbow Kuriboh gone, he had no way of keeping Vennominon from attacking him. So unless he drew something to help him win in the next turn, he'd likely be setting low-level monsters in DEF mode until he ran out, before losing the duel with one final attack from Vennominon.
"Now go ahead and make your move!" Damian shot at Mike. "Throw out some monsters for my King to devour!"
Mike put his fingers to his deck. This is it, then. If I don't pull a winning card now, it's over...!
He drew his final card.
For a moment, there was silence save for the ambient noise of the surrounding cityscape. Everyone's eyes were fixated on Mike, waiting to see whether he was about to turn things around or not. Mike looked to the card he'd drawn.
He smiled. A strategy started piecing itself together in his mind. A winning strategy.
"Damian," Mike said as a grin spread across his face, "I hope you're ready to lose."
Damian's eyebrows rose as Mike began: "First, I'm summoning Constellar Aldebaran!" [LV: 3/ATK: 1300]
"And with Aldebaran's effect, I can special summon another level 3 Constellar monster from my hand!" he explained. "So I'll call back my Leonis!" [LV: 3/ATK: 1000]
"Now, do you remember when you said earlier that it wouldn't matter in the long run if I'd gotten this monster back?" he asked. "Well let me show you just how wrong you were: his effect lets me normal summon another Constellar monster from my hand! And I choose Constellar Acubens!" [LV: 4/ATK: 800]
"And when he's summoned," Mike went on, "every Constellar monster on the field, including himself, is granted an extra 500 ATK points!" [Constellar Aldebaran - ATK: 1300→1800] [Constellar Leonis - ATK: 1000→1500] [Constellar Acubens - ATK: 800→1300]
Damian scoffed. "What good does that do you? They're all still far too weak to even touch my king!"
"They won't need to," Mike replied, "in fact, I'm saying goodbye to two of them right now by overlaying Leonis and Acubens to build the overlay network one more time!"
Once more, Mike's monsters disappeared into a spatial portal, from which emerged a new monster dual-wielding large, kunai-like swords. "Xyz summon!" he exclaimed. "Shadow hidden among the stars, Constellar Hyades!" [RK: 3/OUs: 2/ATK: 1900]
Damian's eye twitched again. "So you threw out another Xyz monster, big deal!"
"Oh, it's a bigger deal than you think," Mike said. "See, I summoned this monster because it has the power to exploit one of your King's two weaknesses: specifically, its 0 DEF points!
"And my Hyades can detach one overlay unit—" [OUs: 2→1]"—to switch your Vennominon into DEF mode!"
Damian watched as his King was forced to submit into a kneeling position. [ATK: 4000→DEF: 0]
"Still doesn't matter!" he said. "You can't deal any damage to me by attacking him in DEF mode!"
"I can with this card!" Mike said as he played the last card in his hand. "An old favorite of mine I like to call Fairy Meteor Crush! By equipping this card to my Acubens, it gains a piercing ability!"
"Say WHAT?!" It was Damian's turn to panic.
"You heard me!" Mike shot back. "Now, Constellar Acubens! Attack his Vennominon!"
Acubens charged forward and thrusted its hook-shaped hand into Vennominon's gullet, making it writhe before it exploded. [Damian - LP: 2000→700]
But Damian's maniacal grin quickly returned. "And here's the part where you fail!" he said. "You seemed to forget that by banishing a reptile monster from my graveyard, my King returns to the field!"
Just as he promised, Vennominon rose up from the Venom Swamp again. [ATK: 0→3500]
"Actually," said Mike, "I was counting on your Vennominon to revive, or else I wouldn't have been able to exploit its other weakness!"
Damian's face fell as Mike explained, "your monster's ATK power only increases because of its effect, so I'm going to take that effect away by banishing the Breakthrough Skill trap I used earlier from my graveyard! By doing so, all of your King's abilities are cancelled out, meaning it has no way to power itself!" [ATK: 3500→0]
Damian's trembling began again. "No!" he denied. "No, I can't lose! YOU WON'T SEND ME BACK TO THAT PRISON!"
"Well I hate to break it to you, but it looks like that's exactly where you're going!" Mike said as he pointed to Vennominon one last time. "Constellar Hyades! Wipe out his King along with the rest of his life points! Lightspeed Slash!"
Hyades took up its large blades and swiftly struck through Vennominon in an X-formation, eliciting one final cry from the king before he shattered into pieces for the last time. [Damian - LP: 700→0]
- DUEL OVER -
[Winner: Mike]
The Venom Swamp, along with Mike's monsters, vanished as the duel disks deactivated. Damian stumbled and fell onto his back, the impact with the pavement knocking the wind out of him.
Mike drew back his duel anchor, replacing it in his pocket before sprinting over to Damian, who was struggling to lift his right arm with the detonator in his hand. He kicked it from his grasp before forcing his knee into Damian's stomach, making him groan as Mike unzipped his hoodie. No sign of any kind of explosive device to see on his person, only a white t-shirt. The suicide bomb threat had been a bluff after all.
Though he struggled, Damian managed to inhale as he looked up at Mike. "Damn you…" he hissed between gasps. "You think... just 'cause you won I'll—?"
His voice trailed off when he felt pressure against his chest, making him shudder. Mike had disarmed his revolver-disk from his arm and trained it on him, at an angle that hid his aim from the surrounding crowd. It was what his instinct had trained him to do: Damian had threatened to kill so many people. He had almost killed Bulbous. He deserved to die, so he would never be able to terrorize anyone ever again. That was the way of things in Frontier Haven.
Except... he was no longer in Frontier Haven. He was home in County Dame. He was no longer the judge, jury, and executioner he had been over the last two years, and Damian was nothing more than a criminal who needed a psychotherapist and twenty-four-seven surveillance.
This was exactly what he'd come home to escape from.
With a sigh, Mike retracted his firearm from Damian's chest, replacing it in his holster before dragging the crook up by his shirt and turning to the police waiting to move in. "The detonator was a fake," he said. "There's no bomb or anything on him."
Hearing this, the four cops dashed forward with pistols drawn on Damian. But he was still winded by the time they'd reached him, putting up no resistance as they cuffed him and read him his rights.
One of the officers turned to Mike. "We owe you our gratitude, son," he said with a tip of his cap. "Takes a lot of guts to detain a psycho like this guy."
"Just doing my civic duties," was all Mike said. "The money he tried to steal is in that bag over there."
He pointed to the bag lying not far from them. Another officer moved to pick it up, looking inside before letting out a whistle. "Looks like he would've made off like a bandit," he said with raised eyebrows.
"Would've," Mike repeated as he turned to watch the other two officers walking Damian to their car. Damian managed to turn his head to look one last time at Mike, glaring into his eyes with an intense hatred.
"This isn't over..." he growled.
"It is for you," Mike replied coolly.
Damian's face lit with fury before the cops forced him forward, throwing him into the back of their car. Meanwhile, the surrounding crowd of people finally began to disperse, realizing that their safety had been assured.
Bulbous, however, remained rooted where he stood as he processed everything he'd just witnessed. His earlier brush with death looking down the barrel of that gun had already gotten him questioning how he had lived his life up to that point. But now he could hardly comprehend how the same Mike he'd worried would endanger Violet had gone out of his way to save not only him, but everyone else in that store lot.
All of it made him reflect on the last few years. How before, despite some hardships, he and Violet had been happy before he'd lost his livelihood. The deli had been his pride and joy, and without it he'd become a man lost for a cause. And instead of dealing with it, he'd given into weakness and crawled into a bottle, shutting himself away from responsibility, reason, and worst of all, his daughter.
And he was ashamed of himself.
He'd become so wrapped up in self-realization that he hadn't noticed Mike approaching him until he was standing before him. "You okay?" he asked.
Bulbous could only bring himself to nod. "Y-yeah, I'm fine," he replied, a small grin coming to his face. "Now that I don't have a gun shoved in my face."
Mike shared Bulbous's grin as the two of them made their way back into the store, retrieving their baskets before getting back in line at the register as they spoke.
As Bulbous paid for his goods, he found himself glancing at Mike's basket, and his eyes widened. "Only that much, son?" he asked.
"Rationing out the cash that I have," Mike said as he put his basket on the conveyor belt behind Bulbous's, who was now paid for and waiting for Mike. "Besides, I don't have much of an appetite nowadays."
Bulbous smiled as a memory came to his mind: "I remember back when the deli was still open," he said, "and you'd always come in and order two foot-long sandwiches with cheese, lettuce, ham, and turkey using whatever allowance money you got from the orphanage."
Mike gave a small laugh as he pulled out his cash to pay. "I always wanted to make sure I didn't run out of energy before the day was over," he admitted, giving the cashier a twenty dollar bill as she made change.
Bulbous's attention then turned on the numerous twenty-dollar bills in Mike's hand. "You call that rationing out, son?" he asked with disbelief.
"It's all I have to my name," he said as he took his change. "Until I find a more permanent residence."
Bulbous blinked as the two walked out of the store. "You don't have anywhere to stay?" he asked.
"Well, I spent the last two nights in the motel at the edge of the city," he said. "But I wouldn't have been able to stay for more than a few nights. Not to mention the lack of AC."
"What about the orphanage?" Bulbous suggested.
Mike scoffed. "I'd sooner swelter away in that motel than go back there," said Mike. "Besides, you age out when you turn eighteen. I couldn't go back there even if I wanted to."
Bulbous looked at Mike with sympathy as they continued walking. After having been saved by him, he was ready to pay him back by any means necessary. And he could only think of one method which seemed perfect:
"Y'know, Mike," said Bulbous, gaining Mike's attention as a warm smile spread across his face, "I think I got somewhere for you to stay."
Violet lay on the couch in the living room in her maroon bathrobe, one arm slung over one edge while the other lay across her forehead. Her breathing was deep and slow as she contemplated the events of the previous hours, replaying the chain of events in her mind: the fight she and her father had had over the phone. The way Mike had comforted her. The kiss she had finally given him. The face-to-face fight with her father, and the message she'd sent Mike with tears in her eyes before going to bed.
She grumbled. There was no doubt in her mind that her father was out buying more beer and junk food. And she had a bad feeling that their landlord would be stopping by any day to finally make good on his promise to evict them if they didn't get the place cleaned up, what with all the leftover bottles and wrappers growing mold and attracting insects. Violet had tried many times to get the place cleaned on her own, but her father always brought in even more to litter the place with.
Then, her ears caught the sound of voices behind the apartment door around the corner. She ignored them out of both laziness and apathy, not in the mood for any guest of her father's.
But as the door opened, she couldn't believe whose voice she heard accompanying her father's:
"Thanks again for letting me stay here."
"Hey, it's no bother!"
She lifted her head as she moved into a sitting position, wrapping her bathrobe tightly around her as she watched her dad and Mike walk in, carrying their large bags of Park 'n Shop goods together. The two of them, their faces concealed by the paper bags, didn't see her as they passed through the living room, rounding the corner to their right as they entered the kitchen.
"I really appreciate you doing this for me," she heard Mike say as she got up and crept towards the kitchen.
"Son, my place is your place," her father replied as she leaned against the corner looking into the kitchen, watching the two loading the fridge. "Besides, it's the least I can do to repay you for keepin' that guy from shooting me!"
Violet's eyes widened before she asked, "from what?"
Bulbous, who had been leaning into the fridge, jolted his head up in surprise, only to hit the back of his head on the fridge's ceiling. "OW!" he cried, followed by a couple of whispered words that would have made the nun who ran Mike's old orphanage cringe.
He shook his head before turning it to join Mike in looking at his daughter. "Violet?" he said with surprise. "I didn't realize you were up, I'm sorry!"
"It's fine, Dad," she said as she walked towards him and Mike, a mixture of concern and curiosity on her face. "I just wanna know what you meant by nearly getting shot, if you don't mind my asking?"
Mike and Bulbous exchanged glances for a moment before looking back at Violet, the former scratching the back of his head as he laughed nervously. "Do you want the short version of this story, or the long?" he asked with a half-grin, knowing there was going to be no easy way of telling her about that morning.
Bulbous and Mike spent the next ten minutes detailing their encounter with Damian White to Violet. Her face turned into a roller coaster of emotions as they told her about Mike's rescue of her father, and how he'd barely managed to duel the criminal into submission. Bulbous had painted a particularly scary picture for her describing the end of the duel, when it had looked like Damian's King of Poisonous Snakes was about to finish Mike off. Violet had shrieked, but breathed a huge sigh of relief when Mike assured her that he'd managed to avoid the attack.
"Don't do that to me!" Violet said as she started to pummel Mike's arm.
"Ow, hey!" Mike yelped as he shielded himself from Violet's assault. "You're gonna kill me quicker than he would've if you keep that up!"
Violet's hits ceased, but she continued to glare at him as he laughed sheepishly. Bulbous gave a chuckle before he finally added, "actually, the reason Mike was able to evade that attack was thanks to that Rainbow Kuriboh card you gave him!"
Violet looked to Mike again, only now with eyes that held a mixture of shock and joy. "Wait, you mean," she said, hardly able to speak, "you still have that card?"
"Of course," Mike said with a smile. "I could never part with that card. It means as much to me as you do."
Violet felt herself blushing immediately, and quickly averted her eyes from Mike, though she didn't notice as Mike looked away too. He normally wasn't one for corny one-liners like that, but it had slipped out. It was the truth after all, and if Violet ever needed any more confirmation of his feelings for her, he hoped that would make the message a little clearer.
Bulbous couldn't help but roll his eyes at the two love birds. He didn't understand why they didn't confess their love to each other then and there. Then again, it wasn't any of his business where their relationship stood, so he resisted the urge to speak.
Violet turned her attention back to her father as she said, "so, about what you were saying earlier, when you first got back. Did you say Mike's gonna be staying with us?"
Bulbous nodded. "That's right. It's my way of paying him back for saving me today."
He looked to Mike, who flashed him an appreciative smile before Bulbous looked back to his daughter. "Also, Violet," he said, sounding nervous. "I, uh..."
He started fidgeting as he struggled to find the right words. Mike, sensing that this was about to become a family moment, stood up from his seat at the kitchen table. "I think I'll sit out of this one."
Violet nodded to him while Bulbous looked into his eyes, as if trying to find the words he wanted to say to Violet in them. Mike gave him a reassuring nod, as if to tell him: You can do this.
Bulbous took a moment to register this before nodding back to Mike. He looked back to his daughter again as Mike moved to the edge between the kitchen and the living room.
"Look, after what happened this morning," he started, almost choking on his words, "I came to realize that I haven't been in my right mind for a while now. And I wanna make things right with you.
"So lemme just say," he said as his large hands took hold of Violet's on the table, "that I'm really sorry about the fight we had last night. Along with all the other ones we've had over the last year."
Violet nodded as Bulbous stammered, "I know I haven't been the best father to you all this time... not since I lost the deli...
"But I promise," Bulbous said as the tears began to jerk themselves out of his eyes, "I promise that things are gonna get better from here on out. I'm gonna start working on fixing my addictions, and even try to get the deli back if I can."
He could no longer hold back his tears. "And I promise I won't ever treat you so badly ever again!"
Violet's eyes started to well with tears too, and the smile that Mike had been waiting to see finally came to her face.
"Thank you, Dad," she whispered as she got up, circling the table to hug him.
"Aw, c'mere," Bulbous said as he spread his arms and the two embraced each other.
Mike couldn't help but smile himself. Nothing made him happier than seeing Violet finally happy again, much less reunited with the father that she'd felt had been lost to her.
He then caught Violet looking at him, still embracing her father as she mouthed to him with a big smile, "thank you."
Mike nodded in return as he smiled back.
Soon, the father-daughter embrace ended, and Bulbous turned to Mike as his expression turned serious. "Now, there's one thing I want to make abundantly clear."
Mike's eyebrows rose as Bulbous raised a stern finger at him. "Part of the reason I'm letting you stay with us is 'cause I trust you as an adult. But if I ever catch you tryin' to sneak into her room after dark, I can't guarantee that I'll let you stay much longer than a few seconds after that. Capiche?"
Mike raised his hands defensively as Violet's face turned beet-red. "All right, all right," he said, "I got it."
Bulbous lowered his hand before turning to Violet again. "The same goes for you too, young lady. You understand?" he inquired.
"Yes, Dad," Violet said, averting her face to hide her embarrassment.
Bulbous gave a firm nod. "Good," he said with a jollier tone as he stood from the table. "Now, why don't you go show Mike to his room while I get some breakfast ready?"
Violet nodded before hurrying past Mike, into the hallway to the right as she said, "follow me."
Mike obeyed, following her away from the awkward negotiation they had just endured. He was led into a narrow hallway that was simply mapped: the farthest door at the end of the hall led to Bulbous's room. On the left side was Violet's room, which was also accompanied by a smaller closet door. On the right side, the bathroom door was the closest to Bulbous's, and the one next to it was their spare room where Violet led him.
She opened the door, and he entered a medium-sized room with blank walls, a small wooden bureau and a night table to the right of a twin-sized bed. There was a small closet to the room's right side.
"I'm sorry it's not much," Violet said as Mike walked around and took in the surroundings. "But we never use this room, so—"
"I like it," Mike said, surprising her as he continued to gaze at his new living quarters. "Considering I've spent the last two nights in a shabby motel room, this feels like royalty."
Violet giggled as a smile adorned her face. She was glad that Mike had retained some sense of humor despite all that he'd apparently gone through. Even after getting to spend some time with him and watching him duel Danny, she had been afraid that perhaps he was too scarred to ever entirely be the same Mike she had lost. But as he stood before her, she could tell that the boy she'd grown up with was not too far gone after all.
Mike turned to face her as he suggested, "we might wanna get out of here before your dad starts getting uppity, huh?"
Violet nodded vigorously before the two of them exited the room. They moved back to the kitchen, where Bulbous was fiddling with a new bread bag. "Anybody want toast?" he offered as he looked at the two teenagers.
But before either Mike or Violet could answer, an unexpected noise interrupted them: a knock at the front door.
"Now who would that be at this hour?" Bulbous said with knit eyebrows.
Violet's heart leapt into her throat. Odds were it was their landlord, wanting to see how Bulbous had failed to keep his apartment's cleanliness in check and give them their eviction notice. And at the worst time too, after offering to let Mike stay with them.
"I'll see who it is," Mike said as he approached the door, and Violet crossed her fingers. She prayed to whatever gods that existed that this wasn't the visit she'd been dreading.
But when Mike opened the door, he was even more surprised than Violet or Bulbous at who was standing before him:
"Mr. Copperson?" Mike addressed the suited man standing in the doorway.
"Ah, hello Mr. Harper," Mr. Copperson said. "I was hoping I would find you here."
Bulbous tried to pull his shirt down over his belly. He failed. Violet was still tense, if not even more so than before. Her landlord was one thing, but being personally visited by the mayor of County Dame was a completely different story.
Mike remained collected as Bulbous stumbled to stand behind him so that Mr. Copperson couldn't see his disaster of an apartment. "It's, uh, really a pleasure to see you, Mr. Mayor!" he said with a smile. "What brings you to my abode?"
"Actually, I'm here to see this young man," he said, still staring at Mike.
Mike, Violet and Bulbous all raised their eyebrows as the former asked, "how exactly did you know I was here, sir?"
"Well I didn't, at first," Mr. Copperson explained. "But witnesses at the Park 'n Shop you were at earlier this morning said that they saw you walking away with Mr. Alyssum here."
Mike's face darkened. "I guess you know what happened, then."
"Indeed," said Mr. Copperson. "I was informed about an hour ago that the police had managed to apprehend the escaped convict known as Damian White, who apparently was detained from fleeing the scene of the crime by a citizen.
"And to my own surprise," Mr. Copperson continued, "that citizen was you."
"I was only trying to make sure no one got hurt," Mike explained as he indicated Bulbous behind him. "Nothing more to it."
Mr. Copperson saw the grateful smile spread across Bulbous's face. "Well, in any case," the Mayor said, "I decided against meeting with the board of education this morning to discuss continuing your education, as I very much wanted to present you with this myself."
Mr. Copperson reached into his jacket, from which he pulled out a small, leather-bound booklet that he handed off to Mike. He took it hesitantly, unable to believe he was holding what he thought he was. But upon opening it, his eyes went wide as they took in the fine print. "This is a high school diploma."
Shock took over Violet and Bulbous's faces as Mr. Copperson said, "that it is. And with it, along with my own personal recommendation, you are now qualified to take Professional Dueling courses to prepare yourself for the Professional Dueling Circuit, which you'll be taking at Dexterity High at 6 PM on weekdays starting Monday."
Mike's heart nearly stopped when he heard this, looking from the diploma to the Mayor as he stammered, "M-Mr. Copperson, I'm flattered, really, but I have to ask... why?"
For the first time, Mr. Copperson put on a small grin. "It isn't obvious?" he asked. "You just helped to put away an escaped convict. I'm merely expressing my thanks to you on County Dame's behalf by setting you on the path you wished to go on."
Mike was at a loss, save for the only thing he could think of. "Thank you, sir. Really and truly."
Mr. Copperson extended his hand, which Mike took gratefully as he replied, "just don't make me regret going to all this trouble for you, okay?"
Mike chuckled. "Don't worry, I won't."
With that, Mr. Copperson turned on his heel and began walking away while Mike shut the door behind him, turning to meet Violet and Bulbous's shocked stares.
"Since when were you in talks about taking nightly courses?" Violet asked, her tone a mixture of excitement and disbelief.
"To get into the Pro Dueling Circuit, no less!" Bulbous added.
Mike rubbed the back of his head, still barely grasping what had just happened himself. "Well, the day I came back, I actually talked to Dr. Crawford after my duel with Josiah, asking if there was any way for me to fast-track my education so I could graduate sooner."
Violet's eyes widened in realization as Mike continued, "that turned into being summoned back last night, so I could talk with Mr. Copperson about what I wanted to do afterwards."
So that was where Mike had gone after he'd brought her home the night before. She could hardly believe how much stealthy initiative he had been taking to secure a steady plan for his future—a trait that she couldn't help but feel more attracted to him for.
Bulbous went to Mike's side and patted him on the back. "Well this is great news, son! Now as long as you practice and study hard, you'll get yourself into that Pro Circuit in no time!"
Mike opened his mouth to say something, but what came out instead was as much of a surprise to him as it was to the two Alyssums: a great yawn. His lack of sound sleep had finally caught up to him.
He looked to Violet and Bulbous drowsily. "Huh. Guess I'm more tired than I thought."
"Hey, after the morning you've had already, I don't blame ya," said Bulbous. "Maybe you oughta take a quick nap. The toast can wait."
Mike's form of agreement was another deep yawn. "Well, I'll see you when I wake up, then," he said as he made his way to his new room. "Good night. Or, morning. Or... ah, never mind."
Violet could only giggle again. "Sleep well, sleepyhead."
Mike nodded to her half-consciously before making his way to his new bedroom, closing the door behind him as Violet let out a contented sigh. Her life was becoming like a fairy tale, and she never wanted it to end.
- Two Years Ago -
Mike spent the following days training relentlessly at Aeron's demand. He spent a lot of time showing Mike how to best utilize his deck, making smarter moves and initiating combos the likes he'd never thought of before. He even taught Mike the deeper mechanics of the game, including spell speeds, chain resolutions, and summon-response windows.
During the evenings, Aeron brought Mike back into Frontier Haven and left him at Samael's cabin, where the latter awaited him with stew every night. He'd also allowed Mike to continue sleeping on his bed, while Samael took his nightly business elsewhere. In the mornings, he would find himself awakened at the crack of dawn by Aeron, who would shake him awake. He was allowed to eat a bread-and-water breakfast, before marching back to the edge of town, where he and Aeron would duel over and over again.
Each time, Aeron tried to introduce a new ruling or tip to Mike, which he would then try to utilize in the next duel. And he never fell short of Aeron's expectations, always finding a way to use what he'd learned previously in the next duel, and would come that much closer to winning. But despite this, Mike always found himself coming up short against his trainer, losing every single time that they played.
Near the end of the second day, Mike found himself falling onto his rear end as the latest duel between him and Aeron reached its conclusion. Dueling repeatedly in the middle of the desert in sweltering heat was something he never thought he'd have to get used to in his lifetime, but now the sun was setting, which made it a little bit cooler.
Aeron approached Mike from where he'd stood during their duel. "You've gotten stronger over the last couple of days," he said.
Mike spat sand out of his mouth. "Yeah?" he replied, exasperation in his voice. "Sure doesn't feel like it when I can't ever beat you."
Aeron shook his head. "That's not the point of this training."
"Then what is the point?" Mike asked as he stood up again, eyeing Aeron with annoyance. "Aside from all the little bits and pieces you show me every now and then, what have I actually achieved so far?!"
"Clearly not the virtue of patience, it seems."
Mike and Aeron's heads turned as they saw Samael approaching them, an amused-looking smirk on his lips.
Mike's face soured. "Been a bit since you came out here to check on me."
"Well, I've had other responsibilities to tend to," Samael replied, before glancing to Aeron. "Might I have a word?"
Aeron nodded, before looking back to Mike again. "Take five."
Mike's eyebrows arched in surprise, but his expression quickly returned to one of annoyance before pacing away from them. He hated that he knew they were likely going to be talking about him. But as he was powerless to fight against whatever fate they would end up bringing him to, he tried to keep his mind off it.
As Mike stood staring into the distance, Samael and Aeron stood shoulder-to-shoulder as they observed him from afar. "How has he progressed?" Samael asked.
"Depends on his headspace," Aeron said. "Sometimes he picks things up quickly, carrying what he learned into his next duel with no effort. Other times he's not all there, and winds up making rookie mistakes."
A worried frown appeared on Samael's face. "Do you think he'll be ready for tomorrow?"
Rather than answer, Aeron decided to respond with a question of his own: "why do you feel so strongly about pitting him against Keir? He's just a scared kid."
Samael glanced at his right-hand man, surprised. "Don't tell me you've started to care for him, Aeron?" he asked. "You've never been one to grow attached."
Aeron fell silent as he turned away, ignoring Samael's stare.
"You haven't forgotten what I told you about emotions and attachment, have you?"
"They lead to weakness," Aeron said, as Samael had taught him. "And weakness leads to death."
"That's right," Samael confirmed, a small smile coming to his face.
He turned to look at Mike again. He had sat down in the sand again, holding in his hand the cell phone he had been looking at every night before falling asleep. Though it had no reception, it provided him the smallest sense of comfort looking at the photo that was his home screen: the one that had been taken of him and his friends at the beach. It only had 68% of its charge left.
"It seems he's not been able to let go of his bonds from the past," Samael said, turning to Aeron again. "That needs to be rectified."
Aeron met his eyes with a raised eyebrow. "How do you mean?"
"If his purpose for dueling before was to protect his friends," Samael explained, "we take away the instrument he used to do so with."
Aeron knew where Samael was going before he said it: "He has to part ways with his current deck."
"That's insane," Aeron argued as he moved to stand face-to-face with Samael. "That's all he's practiced with. You expect him to walk into that duel against Keir using a different deck he hasn't practiced with at all, and win?"
"Drastic times call for drastic measures, my old friend," was Samael's reply. "Like you said, he's burdened with distractions. Surely putting a new deck with no ties to his friends in his hands will yield results."
Aeron's eyes narrowed to slits. He knew exactly the deck Samael was talking about replacing Mike's with.
He watched as Samael turned his back to him, before saying, "oh, and to answer your earlier question, about why I'm pitting the boy against Keir?"
His head turned slightly, allowing Aeron to catch the smallest glimpse of a smirk on Samael's face. "Call it an instinct."
Aeron said nothing as Samael walked back into town, realizing that there was no changing his mind. He shifted his head to look towards Mike, who was still staring longingly at the image on his phone.
And for the first time in his life, Aeron's heart felt heavy.
ED1: "Behind Blue Eyes" by Limp Bizkit
Author's Notes
Whew... bit of a long-winded entry, but I couldn't find a justifiable splicing point after fitting everything in. Regardless, I won't waste any of you guys' time and just thank you for reading, as always. See you next chapter, and stay awesome.
REMASTERED ON: 9/24/2020
