OP2: "Back Again" by Daughtry
Chapter 17: "Trial"
Ciro's cliffside cabin was surprisingly spacious on the inside. It was all one large room, slightly larger than an average living room, wood-paneled from top to bottom. Stationed to the far left was Ciro's bed, beside which was a small table with an old-looking radio beside it. Nearer to the center of the room was a large round table with four chairs circled around it. Against the far wall from the only door in and out was a fireplace carved into the cliffside, where a large cooking pot hung from a bracket that looked removable, likely for use over the outside pit. Farthest to the right was a slightly smaller bed where Mike placed his duffel bag at Ciro's direction, saying that would be his space. Much of the wall space was aligned with numerous cabinets and shelves in which the two placed Ciro's large bag of groceries.
"Afraid it's not much," Ciro said modestly, nibbling on a chip while stacking groceries into an overhead cabinet, "but it's home."
"No complaints here," was Mike's answer as he handed a cup noodle package off to Ciro. "Beats sleeping on the ground like I thought we were gonna."
Ciro grunted amusedly. "Just because I live in the woods, doesn't mean I live like a savage."
It wasn't long before the last of the bag's contents were finally packed away, and Ciro led Mike back outside. The light shining through the trees' foliage was notably dimmer than when they had entered the cabin, signaling the day's approaching end.
"So, exactly how long have you been living out here for?" Mike asked, somewhat uneasily. It almost felt like too personal of a question to pose, but he couldn't help himself. Who wouldn't wonder how someone—especially a retired Pro Circuit duelist—would decide to settle themselves in such a universally decried place?
Ciro hummed in thought for a moment before answering, without turning to face him: "About eight years now, I believe."
And why here, of all places? That was the next question he wanted to pose. The fact that he'd been retired for ten years and had been living in these woods for almost all of it since then struck him as odd. But the curt tone of Ciro's answer left the impression that he was trekking into sensitive territory, and he didn't want to agitate his new tutor before his training began.
He remained quiet in the remaining minutes it took for Ciro to lead them into another clearing; one about as large as the one around his cabin, though barren of any man-made structures or instruments. Somewhere in the distance, the splashing of a running stream reached Mike's ears, which brought the first sense of calm to him since he'd entered the woods some hours ago.
"So tell me," Ciro's voice cut through the forest's white noise, bringing Mike's attention back to him as they came to a halt, "are you familiar with the alterations in the Duel Monsters rulebook that have taken effect here in Japan?"
"Yeah, I read about them," he answered, a web article Danny had shown him the day before his departure popping up in his head. "The first turn player no longer draws, and both players can simultaneously control field spells now, right?"
"That's right," Ciro confirmed, sounding impressed as he turned to face him from across the clearing. "And by the time you finish up here and return to the States, those changes will have applied to the game over there as well. So for the sake of consistency, we'll be training with those rules in effect."
Mike nodded his agreement while Ciro began pulling the leather gloves from his hands one at a time, letting them fall to the ground. As they did, a reflective glint drew Mike's eyes to Ciro's left hand: it looked metallic—robotic, even. Surely, it had to have been some trick of the light by his weary mind... right?
Ciro then reached up to his coat's zipper, dragging the slider down the length of his torso before the front split open, revealing a black muscle shirt beneath. With a shrug, the jacket slipped from his shoulders, meeting the same fate as his discarded gloves on the ground. And in that moment, Mike realized that what he'd seen had been no trick: from his left arm's elbow joint down to his fingertips, his forearm was entirely mechanical, veined with a multitude of thin wires and moving parts which fit perfectly together throughout its length—a prosthetic the likes of which Mike had never seen before.
Noticing Mike's perplexed expression, Ciro smirked for a moment as he raised his unique limb. "Ah, you're probably wondering," he nonchalantly said with a flex of his fingers, "I was in a bit of an accident quite some time ago; couldn't save my arm. Had this ever since."
Despite Ciro's casual tone, Mike couldn't find enough comfort in the explanation to entirely recover from the shock. But he didn't have long to consider it anyway, as Ciro then extended his arm out before himself. "Now, what say we get on with what you're really here for?"
Without warning, the side of Ciro's mechanical limb suddenly opened to release a fanned blade, upon which Duel Monster card zones were emblazoned, each lighting up in unison. The compartment which had housed the unexpanded blade remained open to act as his graveyard, while a smaller opening seemed to open atop his wrist, from which a deck of Duel Monsters cards protruded.
Mike was stunned for a moment as Ciro positioned his arm before himself to duel, before coming back to his senses and activating his own duel disk. Raising his arm into position, they both drew five cards before crying out: "LET'S DUEL!"
- DUEL -
[Mike - LP: 4000] VS [Ciro - LP: 4000]
"I'll let you pick the first turn player," Ciro said with an air of courtesy, to which Mike nodded before his mind went into planning mode:
First turn player... with the new rules, they actually have a disadvantage starting with less cards. And since I don't know what I'm up against yet, I'll want to have as many cards as I can at the start. So in that case...
"I'll let you kick things off then," he decided.
"Very well," Ciro replied, wasting no time before picking a card from his hand. "I'll start by summoning my Card Trooper!" [LV: 3/ATK: 400]
"And with his effect, by sending up to three cards from the top of my deck to the graveyard," he explained, milling that number of cards from his deck, "his ATK power increases by 500 points for each one until the turn's end phase!" [ATK: 400→1900]
"And luckily, one of the cards I just sent was my Eclipse Wyvern," he went on, "which, once sent to the graveyard, lets me banish a level 7 or higher LIGHT or DARK attribute dragon from my deck."
Mike arched a curious eyebrow at this play while Ciro replaced his banished card in another slot in his arm, before going on: "With that done, I'll now end my turn; which means my Card Trooper's ATK reverts to its original value." [ATK: 1900→400]
A low-ATK monster left out in the open with no set cards? Not a good sign. I'll have to keep my guard up.
"My turn, then!" Mike declared as he drew, glancing from his new card to the ones in his hand and back again. "I'll first call on my Constellar Algiedi!" [LV: 4/ATK: 1600]
"And with its effect, I get to special summon another level 4 Constellar monster from my hand, like my Kaus!" [LV: 4/ATK: 1800]
"And thanks to him, he can increase the level of any Constellar monsters I control by 1, up to two times!" he explained. "So I'll use him to increase the levels of both him and Algiedi up to 5!"
Ciro smirked. "Afraid that's where you're wrong," he countered, raising a card from his hand before revealing it to Mike: "With its effect, I discard my Effect Veiler from my hand to negate your Kaus's abilities during this turn!"
Ciro placed the monster in his grave, whereupon it appeared in a flash of light behind Kaus, wrapping its feathered wings around the latter's body in a restraining hold.
Though surprised by this development, Mike maintained his cool: "Let's see if you can stop me from overlaying my Kaus and Algiedi to build the overlay network!"
The two named monsters allowed themselves to be consumed by a spatial vortex, the creature they created emerging as Mike cried out, "Xyz summon! Pummel all who stand in your way, Constellar Praesepe!" [RK: 4/OUs: 2/ATK: 2400]
As Praesepe descended upon Mike's side of the field, Ciro appeared to look at the monster thoughtfully, as though he recognized it somehow. "Not bad, kid, but you best have a little more up your sleeve if you want to stand any chance at beating me."
"How's this for a little more up my sleeve?" Mike shot back. "I enter my battle phase, and use Praesepe's effect to detach an overlay unit—" [OUs: 2→1] "—so that he gains 1000 ATK during this turn!" [ATK: 2400→3400]
"Now take out his Card Trooper, Praesepe! Starstruck Smash!" he commanded his golden mech, spurring it to action as it dashed across the field, drawing its fist back only momentarily before pounding the minuscule Card Trooper into the ground. [Ciro - LP: 4000→1000]
As Praesepe leapt back to Mike's side of the field, the latter took note of the small smile that came to Ciro's face as he watched his monster's destruction. He'd only hindered Mike's strategy slightly with Effect Veiler, and still lost three-quarters of his life points in a single blow. And yet, that smile gave Mike the sense that he still had a strong controlling hand on everything—as though the only moves he'd had made so far were ones that Ciro had allowed to happen.
"With my Card Trooper's destruction, its other effect activates," Ciro then said, "allowing me to draw one more card from my deck."
Mike knit his eyebrows as he watched Ciro pick his card. So he wanted me to destroy his monster.
He looked back down to his hand again. Not that it matters. I have a good defense prepared for whatever he throws at me next turn.
"I'll set two cards face-down," he said, watching them materialize before him, "and end my turn there." [Constellar Praesepe - ATK: 3400→2400]
"Then we're back to me," Ciro said as he drew next, before exchanging that card for another in his hand. "I'll begin by activating an old spell card known as Graceful Charity!
"With it, I'm allowed to draw three cards from my deck," he explained as he did so, "but as a hefty exchange, I then have to send two cards in my hand to the graveyard."
His two cards disappeared within the slot in his arm before he continued: "Next, I'll banish Eclipse Wyvern from my graveyard to special summon Black Dragon Collapserpent from my hand!" [LV: 4/ATK: 1800]
"Then, my Eclipse Wyvern's other effect activates," he went on, "allowing me to add the dragon-type monster it banished last turn back to my hand!
"And now that it is," he said as he retrieved the card from the other slot in his arm, "I'll call it to my field by banishing my Black Dragon Collapserpent!"
Mike's eyes widened as he watched the smaller dragon suddenly become engulfed in a dark flame, crying out in pain as it became nothing but embers before another, larger dragon nearly half the size of the surrounding trees emerged from the fire in its place: a dark, red-accented beast that was encased in some sort of armored coating.
"Scorch this earth with flame blacker than night!" Ciro cried out as his dragon roared fiercely. "Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon!" [LV: 10/ATK: 2800]
Though initially stunned by the appearance of this new monster, Mike brought himself to scoff it off. "A level 10 monster that can be summoned by banishing a single monster," he pondered aloud. "Too bad its ATK power won't be enough to take on my Praesepe thanks to its effect."
Ciro chuckled. "Funny, I don't recall saying I had any intention of pitting this monster against your Praesepe," he retorted. "I'm not quite ready to enter my battle phase yet.
"Now, I'll banish from my graveyard my Effect Veiler and my Night Assailant," he continued, his two named monsters emerging as phantoms from the ground before him before vanishing, "to special summon my Lightpulsar Dragon from my hand!" [LV: 6/ATK: 2500]
Mike's brow furrowed as the realization finally hit him: "So that's why you've focused so much on sending cards to your graveyard," he noted. "Your deck's a Chaos deck, focusing on monsters that are special summoned by banishing both LIGHT and DARK attribute monsters from the graveyard."
Ciro smirked. "A Chaos Dragon deck," he corrected Mike, "as you'll now observe: I activate the effect of my Darkness Metal Dragon, which special summons any one dragon from my hand or graveyard!
"So join me!" he cried out as the ground erupted before him, allowing a familiar white dragon to emerge. "From my graveyard, my second Lightpulsar Dragon!" [LV: 6/ATK: 2500]
Mike had to stop himself from taking an instinctive step backwards as he looked to each of the three dragons on Ciro's field. He wouldn't allow himself to show how intimidated he really was. "Too bad for you," he chastised, "my Praesepe still has the upper hand on all your dragons since his ATK boost will last until the end phase."
"I'm acutely aware of that fact," said Ciro, "but your Praesepe isn't my primary concern right now; it's those set cards of yours.
"That said, I'll now activate my spell card: A Wingbeat of Giant Dragon!" he exclaimed, prompting his Darkness Metal Dragon's wings to begin undulating, starting a current of brutal wind that Mike had to raise a defensive arm against.
"By returning a level 5 or higher dragon monster—like my Darkness Metal Dragon—to my hand," Ciro yelled over the strengthening gusts, "I destroy every spell and trap card that's out on the field!"
Mike watched his two face-down cards—Intrigue Shield and Miracle Synchro Fusion—blew over, before being carried away by the winds, which then died down as Darkness Metal Dragon ceased its wing-thrashing, before fading from the field as it returned to Ciro's hand.
But to Ciro's surprise, Mike then cracked a smirk: "I had a feeling you'd try something like that, which is why I set my Miracle Synchro Fusion spell," he explained. "When you destroy it while it's set, it allows me to draw another card!"
As Mike added his new card to his hand, a small smile appeared on Ciro's face as well. "So you've a good sense of strategy anticipation, and even use it to your advantage to keep up your resources. Impressive.
"But with your back row empty, your field no longer carries any more threats to me," Ciro proclaimed, "so I'll carry on by overlaying my two level 6 Lightpulsar Dragons to build my own overlay network!"
Another spatial portal opened on Ciro's field, consuming the two identical dragons before another monster emerged from within its confines, hitting the ground before Ciro with an impact that shook the surrounding forest.
"Xyz summon!" Ciro declared as the clear parts of the monster began to glow with an ethereal light, traveling from its legs to its eyes. "Destroyer of stars, Photon Strike Bounzer!" [RK: 6/OUs: 2/ATK: 2700]
Mike stared wide-eyed at Ciro's creature as the latter continued: "Now, let's battle! Photon Strike Bounzer attacks Constellar Praesepe with Photon Thrash!"
Bounzer leapt into action, barreling towards Praesepe with surprising speed for its size. Mike, meanwhile, only smirked as he said, "How many times do I have to say it?! By detaching an overlay unit—" [OUs: 2→1] "—my Praesepe's effect—!"
"Is worthless here!" Ciro finished for him. "Thanks to my Bounzer's effect, by detaching an overlay unit when you activate a monster's effect—" [OUs: 2→1] "—he can negate it and deal 1000 points of damage to you!"
Mike choked as he watched Bounzer fire two beams of light from the mounts on its shoulders, with one beam shooting through Praesepe, disabling its ability, while the other shot through Mike's chest, causing him to stagger backwards from the impact. [Mike - LP: 4000→3000]
Damn it, he had preparations sets for everything I could've thrown at him, Mike realized with panic as his hand seized at where he'd been hit. From my spells and traps, to my monsters' effects...
He managed to raise his eyes back up to the duel just as Ciro said: "Now I think I'll deal a little extra punishment by discarding Honest from my hand! By doing so, any LIGHT-attribute monster of mine gains ATK equal to that of the monster it's battling for the duration of the turn!"
A quivering gasp escaped Mike's lips as he watched the apparition of Honest appear on the field, before merging its essence with Bounzer to envelop the monster in a bright, luminescent glow. [Photon Strike Bounzer - ATK: 2700→5100]
Mike was rendered helpless as he watched Bounzer finally thrust its fist through Praesepe's chest plate, tearing into its insides and causing the Constellar monster to groan with agony before eventually shattering with a bang that Mike had to brace himself against. [Mike - LP: 3000→300]
Bounzer retreated back to Ciro's side of the field while Mike regained his composure, meeting Ciro's steeled eyes. He dragged me down to 300 life points in just a matter of moments, all without breaking a sweat...!
Meanwhile, Ciro continued: "With that done, I think I'll set one card of my own face-down, before ending my turn." [Photon Strike Bounzer - ATK: 5100→2700]
The set card materialized before him as he kept his gaze locked with Mike's. "So what do you think, kid?" he asked. "How are you liking your first taste of a real Pro Circuit duelist's power?"
"Tch..." Mike hissed dismissively. It was finally starting to come back to him, the time he spent looking over Ciro's track record from the Pro Circuit during his private tutoring: he'd been one of the most impressive duelists to have ever graced the Pro Circuit, revered alongside the many other legendary duelists he'd competed against. But the deck he'd been using over the course of those years was nothing like the deck he was using currently, with superior strength, strategy, and resourcefulness. And in that realization, he couldn't help but wonder why he wouldn't have used such a deck during his career all those years ago...
He pushed the thought from his mind, refocusing his attention on his duel in progress before putting on a brave face. "You really are every bit as good as I would expect an old Pro to be," he said as he put two fingers to his deck. "But I think it's about time I paid that back to you in kind. I draw!"
He pulled the card from his deck and looked to it.
And smiled.
"Heh, guess I should thank you," Mike said, flipping the card he'd drawn to show it to Ciro, who raised an eyebrow in surprise. "After everything you did last turn, you actually cleared the way for me to activate this: my Infinite Impermanence trap card!"
"Wait, what?" Ciro said with surprise as he watched Mike's trap card take form on his field. "But you can't activate a trap card directly from your hand!"
"I can activate this one if there are no cards on my field!" Mike explained. "And with it, your Photon Strike Bounzer loses all of its effects for the duration of this turn!"
Ciro watched in stunned silence as his Bounzer was blasted with a charge of electricity by Mike's trap, staggering the beast and making it fall to one knee as it let out a low, protestful roar.
"Now your Bounzer can't negate any of my monsters' effects, and my life points are safe," Mike said with relief. "So now, I'm gonna summon my Constellar Pollux to the field!" [LV: 4/ATK: 1700]
"And with him on the field, I'm allowed to normal summon a second Constellar monster each turn! So I'll call on my Rasalhague to join him!" [LV: 2/ATK: 900]
"Then I'll use my Rasalhague's effect, releasing him to bring my Kaus back from the graveyard!" he said. [LV: 4/ATK: 1800]
"Now that he's back on the field, I'll use his effect to raise both his and Pollux's levels by 1 each!" [Constellar Pollux - LV: 4→5] [Constellar Kaus - LV: 4→5]
Ciro watched Mike with intense eyes as the latter then cried, "With those levels set, I'll now overlay them and build the overlay network once again!"
Once more, a spatial portal opened to absorb his two remaining monsters, before his most powerful warrior emerged. "Xyz summon! Harness the light of the cosmos, Constellar Pleiades!" [RK: 5/OUs: 2/ATK: 2500]
At the sight of this monster, Ciro's expression seemed to turn to one of familiarity again, just as it had with Praesepe. "Constellar Pleiades..." he repeated the name softly, his eyes lingering on the warrior only a moment more before turning his attention again to Mike as he declared his next move:
"Now I'll use his effect, detaching one overlay unit—" [OUs: 2→1] "—to send your Bounzer back to your extra deck!" he said, prompting Pleiades to take up his sword and leap across the field to perform a launching attack on Bounzer. The beast flailed helplessly as he was sent into the air before shimmering and dispersing in an explosion of stardust.
"Now I've got you right where I want you," Mike said with restored confidence. "I'll wrap up this duel with one more attack!"
For a time, Ciro only stared back at Mike in silence. But eventually, his stern countenance turned to a smile, before being accompanied with steady laughter, prompting Mike to arch a perplexed eyebrow.
"Forgive me," Ciro excused himself as his laughter settled, "it's just that, you remind me of an old friend I knew many years ago... even the way you duel is so very similar to him; almost uncannily so."
Mike cocked his head curiously at this, however Ciro then turned the subject again: "Unfortunately for you, my nostalgia won't hold me back from defeating you! I reveal my continuous trap, Call Of The Haunted!"
The set card on his field flipped face-up. "With this card, I resurrect one monster in my graveyard in ATK mode! And the monster I choose to revive is my Lightpulsar Dragon!"
Mike grit his teeth as he watched Ciro's dragon emerge from below the earth once more, putting yet another barrier between himself and winning this duel. [LV: 6/ATK: 2500]
"Seems we've reached a bit of an impasse, haven't we?" Ciro commented with arms crossed. "Both our monsters have the same ATK value, and your Pleiades has already wasted its effect on my Bounzer. You've no way of destroying my dragon without leaving yourself at my mercy next turn."
At this, Mike chuckled. "Yeah... I guess it makes sense that you'd think that."
Ciro's expression contorted with confusion while Mike continued: "Too bad for you, then; I have just the card left in my hand to wrap up this duel! I play the equip spell known as Stoic Challenge!"
At the spell's activation, an identical, transparent silhouette of Pleiades formed behind the monster, before growing to twice its size as it crackled with energy.
"This card equips to any Xyz monster," Mike explained, "and at the cost of negating its effects, it boosts the equipped monster's ATK by 600 points for each overlay unit it has!" [Constellar Pleiades - ATK: 2500→3100]
Ciro's eyes narrowed. "So you've overpowered my dragon, but that ATK boost won't be enough to finish off my life points!"
"It doesn't have to," Mike countered, "because my spell card also doubles the damage the equipped monster inflicts during battle!"
Ciro's eyes went wide as the realization of Mike's intentions set in, while the latter declared, "Now let's finish this duel, Pleiades! Eradicate his Lightpulsar Dragon with Cosmic Saber Strike!"
Once more, Pleiades took up his blade and charged towards Ciro's dragon, ready to slay. Mike watched fixedly, his heart racing. He'd been expecting a difficult fight right from the start, but he never would have expected to be capable of overpowering his new tutor in their very first duel...
CLANG!
The echo of metal clashing against metal seemed to reverberate through an eternity within the moment it happened. At first, Mike hadn't even registered what had occurred. But then he saw it: the phantasmal form of an armored man with long, white hair and red armor decorated in large black spikes had come to the aid of Ciro's Lightpulsar Dragon, holding its arms up to block Pleiades's sword strike.
"I have to hand it to you, kid; you really are full of surprises," Mike heard Ciro say somewhere behind his dragon. "But not nearly as many as I am."
The phantom monster then pushed back against Pleiades, sending him back to Mike's side while Ciro explained: "By banishing my Necro Gardna from my graveyard, he can negate any one of your monster's attacks."
Mike could only watch with shock as the phantasmal guardian faded from before Ciro's dragon. But when...? he thought as he scoured his mind's playback of the duel. I was certain he'd used up every monster in his graveyard by banishing them, so how did—
His thoughts came to a halt when it hit him: it had been the very first card Ciro had played at the start of his last turn: Graceful Charity.
"With it, I'm allowed to draw three cards from my deck; but as a hefty exchange, I then have to send two cards in my hand to the graveyard."
Mike felt a trickle of sweat fall down the side of his brow as he cursed internally. Now, because of one careless oversight, he really would be at Ciro's mercy in the coming turns. Not only had his Stoic Challenge been the last card in his hand, but it also came with the drawback of destroying the monster it equipped to in the end phase of the opponent's next turn. So even if he managed to survive another round, he would only have one card to fight back with.
"So, is that the end of your turn, then?"
Mike snapped back to reality at the sound of Ciro's voice, meeting his gaze with resigned eyes. "Yeah... it is," he confirmed reluctantly.
Ciro nodded before drawing his next card in silence. "Well then, if it's all the same to you," he said, looking to the card he'd drawn with causality, "I think I'll bring this duel to an end now."
Mike's feet shifted in the dirt as he readied himself for Ciro's move: "First, I'll discard the Darkness Metal Dragon and White Dragon Wyverburster in my hand to call my second Lightpulsar Dragon back from the graveyard!"
As soon as the cards disappeared within Ciro's arm, the second white dragon burst from the ground before him, taking its place next to its doppelgänger already on the field. [LV: 6/ATK: 2500]
So those things can bring themselves back too? Mike thought with wide eyes. They're even more flexible than I thought...
"Now you might want to brace yourself, 'cause what's coming next may come as a bit of a surprise for you," Ciro cautioned. "I once again overlay my two dragons to build the overlay network!"
It was almost like déjà vu for Mike as he watched the two dragons become absorbed within another spatial portal, which he watched intently in part to Ciro's words of warning. Then, in an explosion of light, through the portal emerged a large, white and gold mechanical dragon with glowing wings. Its armor-plated head was decorated with golden horns, and between the metal plates on its head, Mike could make out two bright lights for eyes.
"Xyz summon!" Ciro called out as his monster roared with a mechanical screech. "Sworn guardian of all light in the Cosmos! Constellar Ptolemy M7!" [RK: 6/OUs: 2/ATK: 2700]
Mike's breath was shaky as he eyed this overwhelming monster, his mind slowly registering the name he'd heard Ciro say. "C-Constellar Ptolemy M7...?!" he repeated. "But... but that's—!"
"A Constellar monster; just like the ones you possess," Ciro confirmed. "And more than that, it's the harbinger of your defeat! With its effect, by detaching one of its overlay units—" [OUs: 2→1] "—I can return any monster on the field or in the graveyard back to its owner's hand!
"And rather than send your Pleiades back to your extra deck with such an effect," Ciro said as a card popped out from the slot in his arm, "I'm going to show you the crushing potential of my deck by calling back Honest from my graveyard!"
Mike's eyes went wide, realizing the outcome of the duel his tutor was aiming for as Ciro added the card to his hand, before continuing: "Now, to end it! Constellar Ptolemy M7, ready yourself for attack!"
M7 launched acrobatically into the air, its wings charging to glow even brighter as it prepared to deliver the final blow.
"And as you're aware, by discarding Honest when a LIGHT monster of mine battles, it grants that monster ATK equal to that of the monster it's battling!" said Ciro as he placed the card back in his graveyard, prompting the angelic figure to take form on his field and merge its essence with M7's. From there, the monster undertook a majestic transformation as its artificial wings morphed into Honest's feathered ones, the glow of their light only increasing in magnitude. [ATK: 2700→5800]
"Everything is set!" Ciro cried out as he pointed to Mike's last monster. "Annihilate his Pleiades, and finish this duel with Shooting Star!"
With one last flap of its wings, the mechanical dragon shot off in a nosedive towards Pleiades, striking through the warrior with unbelievable speed and an impact that resulted in a blinding explosion of light. Mike recoiled at the impact of the attack, his focus on his movements distracting him from noticing M7 emerge from the destructive light where his monster had once stood, charging its way through him and staggering him to the point he lost his footing, landing him on his back as the duel reached its conclusion. [Mike - LP: 300→0]
- DUEL OVER -
[Winner: Ciro]
For a time, Mike was left in astonishment, breathing heavily as he lay on his back, looking up to the towering trees above. He heard the whirring sound of both Ciro's and his own duel disks come to a gentle stop, leaving the natural ambience of the forest the only sound to reach his ears again.
He had so much more skill controlling his cards, and the flow of the duel, was all he could think with astonishment. I could never have prepared myself for a duel against someone like this...
It wasn't until he was standing right before him that Mike noticed Ciro's approach, before kneeling down to offer him his robotic hand, no longer in duel disk mode. "That was a fun duel, kid... but never forget to pick yourself back up."
At this, Mike could only smirk. "Yeah... thanks," he said as he took his tutor's hand, allowing him to bring them both back to standing positions. "I have to admit, I really thought I'd be able to keep up with you better than I did; but I guess I'm nowhere near your level yet."
Ciro chuckled. "Don't discredit yourself," he said. "Your skills are definitely considerable... in fact, I'd wager you're probably closer to my level than you think."
Mike rose an eyebrow to this statement, while Ciro continued in a more serious tone: "Like I said before, this duel was a trial for me to gauge your skill level. And by my assessment, you may have a great deal of potential, but there's something holding you back."
Mike's face contorted. "'Holding me back'?" he repeated with confusion. "And what is that supposed to mean?"
Ciro remained silent for a moment, his gaze distant as he buried himself in thought, before looking back to Mike with a smirk again. "The answer to that will have to wait, kid," he said. "For now, we ought to start making our way back. Trust me, you don't want to be caught in these woods after dark."
He gave the sky a quick glance as he spoke, prompting Mike to mimic the motion and look through the trees: only the smallest sliver of color remained in the sky, signaling that nightfall was soon to come. He was surprised that he hadn't even noticed how swiftly the day's end was coming, but didn't linger on it. As much as he wanted to know what Ciro's words about "being held back" meant, he had a feeling that his other comment about being in this forest at night wasn't something to take lightly.
"All right then," he said with a resigned nod, "after you."
Ciro nodded in return before picking up his jacket and gloves, and began leading their way back to his cabin.
- Two Years Ago -
"There's no way this isn't a trap."
Samael stood over the map table in his cabin, hands gripping each side as he contemplated Aeron's assertion with closed eyes. Aeron stood adjacent to him, his eyes fixed firmly on his boss, awaiting his answer to his claim. Mike and Casey stood a short distance from the both of them, side by side near the cabin's door. They had just finished explaining their earlier encounter with Seth Harald; about his father's proposed meeting the following day to discuss a peaceful coexistence between Frontier Haven's citizens and the Romans of Saddlebury.
Eventually, Samael opened his eyes again. "You may be right," he said, "but at the same time, I cannot discount the possibility that this offer to parley could be genuine."
"You know what kind of man Jared is, Samael," Aeron pressed. "He's never looked out for anyone but himself. If you're thinking about entertaining this proposition as some sort of diplomacy gesture—"
"You know that's not what this is about, Aeron," Samael snapped with a glare at his right-hand man. "It's about our people's survival."
Though Aeron looked more than ready to protest further, he remained silent; instead scoffing from behind his cape before turning his gaze away.
Mike stole a glance at Casey, who stood with arms crossed and a conflicted expression. There was no question that this whole deal had the makings of a trap, but from Seth's earlier words and Samael's tone, there seemed to be something more at stake if this deal was legitimate and they didn't accept it.
"Hey, uh..." Mike spoke up, earning everyone's attention as he pointed his words at Samael, "not to come off as the ignoramus in the room, but does this have something to do with the 'resource upkeep' problem that Seth mentioned?"
Though Samael had met Mike's gaze with intense eyes, they softened as he remembered that the boy had thus far only been trained to fight, and had no knowledge of the deeper intricacies of Frontier Haven's state of affairs.
He sighed solemnly. "Grim as it may sound, the fact of the matter is we've had something of a reliance on knowing we would continually lose people to Keir's death duels," he began. "We have an unlimited supply of water thanks to the nearby spring, but our main source of food lies with our farmers growing produce and maintaining livestock. And that means planning and acting accordingly with the cycle of nature."
Samael paced around the table to stand before Mike and Casey more directly. "But in my frantic haste to end to our conflict with Keir, I started calling Mark-bearers to Frontier Haven more frequently, until you finally came along. This led to a rapid inflation in our population, and it's taken a toll on our ability to supply food. And since we've not lost anyone in the last three months, we're about to reach a point where we won't be able to provide enough for everyone, which will result in starvation and, inevitably, death. And that is something I cannot abide."
Mike's expression slowly turned with realization as he put the situation together in his head, while Samael continued somberly: "I have no doubt in my mind that Jared knew this would happen. He bade his time over these last three months, waiting until we were in a compromising position; all so he could leverage my own conscience against me."
"That's messed up," Mike said, shaking his head with unease.
"That's politics out here," said Casey with a glance to him. "Keir had tried to pull similar things in the past, but we've never been this vulnerable before."
Samael nodded in agreement, the room falling uneasily silent as the voiced reality of the situation hung heavily between them all. But then, the tension broke at the sudden sound of two knocks outside the cabin door.
"You may enter," Samael called as everyone turned to face the door, which then opened with a creak to allow the one who had knocked to join them:
"Ah, hello everyone," Liam casually said, gently closing the door behind him. "I was hoping I'd find you all here."
Mike's brow knit with grudging fury. "Liam..."
He paced a few steps forward, stepping between Mike and Casey as Samael eyed him with caution, fully aware of his status as an ex-Roman. "Mr. Carson, right?" he said tentatively. "What brings you here?"
"Well, I may or may not have caught these two's little chat with Jared's son earlier," answered Liam. "Would I be correct in assuming you're leaning towards accepting this little proposition he mentioned?"
Samael's eyes narrowed. "What business is it of yours?"
"Oh, none at all," Liam admitted with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I mean, aside from having known Jared on a more personal level, and not wanting you to screw this town over by walking blindly into a one-sided negotiation."
Samael raised an inquisitive eyebrow to this, clearly having been caught by surprise at Liam's words. Mike, meanwhile, shook his head with adamant declination. "And what would you know about them that Samael wouldn't already?"
"A lot more than you would know, for sure," retorted Liam with a side-eyed glance, effectively shutting Mike down from making any more protests as he turned away, grunting under his breath.
Liam's eyes returned to meet Samael's again. "Look, I've spent the last three years hanging around that man, so trust me when I tell you this," he said, his tone suddenly more serious. "There is only one thing he wants from you guys, and there's gonna be real hell to pay if he doesn't get it."
Samael's expression turned to a glower, as though he'd been threatened. "And that is?"
"Control," said Liam, the word hanging heavily in the air for a moment after having said it. "Whatever you might've thought about Keir and his violent tendencies, at least he let you keep some individuality as a town. But Jared sees himself as a despot, and he would have both Saddlebury and Frontier Haven under his thumb if he could."
"To what end, though?" Casey pondered. "He would have both towns, and then what? Just keep the death matches going?"
"Unfortunately, that's the bit I don't know," Liam admitted, lowering his head. "But what I do know is that I defected from him and the Romans to come to this town because I was sick of being part of a bloodthirsty dictatorship. And I'll be damned if he tries to push that on this town too."
For the first time since Liam had entered the cabin, Mike's expression towards him softened. Only now did he recall how Liam had said that he and others had taken their chances to leave Saddlebury after Keir's death; and now, he was finally able to look past his grudge to see that they really did seem to share similar values after all.
Meanwhile, Samael had been stroking his wispy beard in thought as he took in Liam's words, before looking to him again. "So what do you suggest, then?"
"I would like you to send me as one of your emissaries to parley tomorrow," he said. "I'm the only one who knows Jared well enough beyond the fact that he's an asshole; so I just might be able to trick him into thinking he's getting what he wants while protecting this town's freedom."
The room fell silent as Samael pondered the motion, before turning to Aeron with a cautious gaze, silently asking that his right hand man point out any potential discrepancies in the idea. Aeron, in turn, set his gaze on Liam before asking, "What makes you think you'll have any pull with Jared? Wouldn't he just see you a traitor and dismiss everything you say?"
"Well, I'm not saying there isn't a chance of that," Liam admitted with a shrug. "But you should know, I'm very persuasive. How do you think I managed to avoid being brought to the front lines of Keir's death matches for three years?"
Even Aeron raised his eyebrows at this as Liam explained: "All I had to do was show him my training as heir to the Cyber Style to convince him I was his best ace in the hole; a last resort measure in case things ever got too dicey."
The room fell silent once again, Samael nodding as he absorbed Liam's words, his eyes distant as he internally weighed the pros and cons of everything he'd been posed with. Though Aeron still looked uncertain, he remained silent so as to leave the final call to his boss. Mike and Casey were left to stand there, their minds vacant of anything else to contribute to the discussion as they awaited Samael's verdict.
Finally, Samael glanced upwards again, a sure expression on his face. "Very well, then," he said, "I shall dispatch emissaries to Saddlebury at high noon tomorrow." He glanced to his caped right-hand man. "Aeron, you will go acting on my behalf, and will be accompanied by Liam to meet with Jared."
"Actually..." Mike spoke up, gaining everyone's attention once more. "With your permission, I'd also like to be a part of this emissary group. Better to send a team just in case anything goes south."
"Then I want to go as well," Casey echoed with a step forward, before turning to Mike with a small smile. "The bigger the team, the better, right?"
Mike returned the smile, a sense of warmth spreading through him knowing Casey had his back. Samael, meanwhile, nodded his approval. "It's settled, then," he declared. "You all will go tomorrow as my appointed emissaries for Frontier Haven. I'm counting on all of you."
"Yes, sir!" Mike, Casey, and Liam each said in unison. Aeron only nodded his confirmation.
Samael smirked. "That will be all," he said, "you're dismissed."
At that, the three gathered teens each turned and exited out the cabin door, leaving Aeron and Samael alone again as they were before Mike and Casey's arrival.
As he watched the door close behind them, Aeron turned to face his boss again. "I still don't like this," he said as Samael rounded his map table to return to his original position. "Leaving you here unguarded aside, how can you be so sure this'll go in our favor?"
Samael turned to him with hard eyes. "Because it has to," he said, sounding more like he was trying to assure himself of the fact before glancing down to his maps again, his eyes on the two spots marked as Frontier Haven and Saddlebury. "I will not allow anyone else to die on my watch."
- Present Day -
Violet stood outside the theater, feeling the absorbed warmth of the brick wall against her back as she heaved a sigh, her fellow graduates emerging from the theater in packs as they either began their treks back home or went to their parents' cars.
Five hours of drilling what was supposed to be one of the most monumental moments in her life had left her feeling burnt-out, not that she hadn't already been after all that had happened with Mike before he'd departed for Japan. And, of course, just thinking of that again brought her back down to the bottom of her misery pit.
"Waiting for your ride?"
She turned her head to face the sudden voice: beside her again was Duncan Reinhardt, a sheepish smile on his face and hands in his pockets as he looked to her with curious eyes.
Though surprised, she couldn't help but smile back. "Nah, just taking a moment to breathe," she said. "I only live a few streets over. What about you?"
"Ah, I live on the other side of town," said Duncan with a glance down the street. "I'm waiting on my dad."
Violet nodded, falling quiet for a moment as she watched Duncan look for his father's vehicle, bouncing oddly on his heels. Though she hadn't noticed at first, everything about him just screamed "awkward" to her; from how he tried striking up conversation by talking about the auditorium's architecture, to his odd way of asking where her mind was at, to the way he was bouncing on his heels like an excited five-year-old. He truly wasn't like anyone she'd ever met before.
"Hey, uh..." she started, earning his attention back, "thanks again for earlier. Y'know, letting me vent to you like that."
"Oh... yeah, no worries," he said with a wave of his hand. "You looked like you needed it, anyway."
Violet's nose crinkled. He really was awkward, as she was unsure of whether she felt more offended or validated by that remark.
Settling on the latter, she then said: "If you don't mind me asking... why did you come up to me like that?"
Duncan's eyes looked like that of a deer in the headlights for a moment, before chuckling uneasily. "Ah, well... um..." He struggled to get his words out, before taking a quick breath and meeting her eyes more directly. "I don't have a lot of friends," he confessed. "Actually, I don't really have any... consistent friends at all. I'm not really good at social interaction, so I spend most of my time with my family. We're real close-knit like that, y'know?"
Violet's eyebrows rose as Duncan went on: "Every now and again, though, I try to come outta my shell a bit; usually by helping someone I see having a tough time. My grandpa said I'd always come off personable if I helped people."
Violet smiled gently. "Your grandpa sounds like a smart man."
Duncan laughed. "Yeah..." He sounded as though there was more he wanted to say, but his voice had already trailed off, and he looked away again. But Violet kept her eyes on him, pushing her hair behind her ear as she weighed what she was about to say next in her mind.
"Hey, you know," she said, "My friends and I are gonna be hanging out after the ceremony tomorrow... would you wanna join us?"
Duncan met her eyes again with an incredulous look. "Wait... really?"
"Yeah," she affirmed, "our spot's the old abandoned construction yard in the northwest sector."
For a moment, all Duncan could do was blink. Clearly, he'd never been invited to be a part of a group hangout before. "I mean... sure, that'd be great," he said shakily. "But, I gotta ask, will your friends be cool with it...?"
"Don't worry, I'll vouch for you," Violet assured him. "It'll be fine."
"All right, cool..." Duncan said, nodding as though to confirm to himself this moment was actually happening. "Yeah, for sure; I'll be there."
Violet opened her mouth to speak again, only to be cut off by the sound of a parked car's horn from across the street. "Ah, that's my dad; gotta go," Duncan said, beginning to sprint towards the car before pausing briefly to turn back to Violet. "See you tomorrow, right?"
Violet nodded gently, eliciting one last smile from Duncan before he continued pacing to the car, disappearing into the back seat before it pulled off down the road.
As she watched the car disappear around the block corner, she held a hand up to her face as she realized her expression was still curled in a genuine smile; in fact, she felt the best that she ever had for as long as she could remember in recent months.
And more to the point, and perhaps most strange to her overall, she no longer felt weighed down by everything that was going on with Mike. In fact, much like he was, her worries seemed, at least for the moment, a million miles away.
ED2: "Leave Out All The Rest" by Linkin Park
Author's Notes
FINALLY. DID IT. UGH. Sorry, had to get that aggression out.
Anyway, here I am, nearly a year later with the new chapter. Was it worth the wait? Probably not. I've been hating myself over it for the last six months. Any salt you wanna rub in my wound will not be appreciated, but at the very least understood. I'm not even gonna go into detail about WHY this took me so long to finish.
So let's talk the chapter itself. Ciro, as you can see, DOMINATES in a duel. Topped with a robot arm and vague talk about stat-boosters (this is a part of the story I've been aching to delve into). Then you've got some good ol' Frontier Haven politics, and Liam finally entering the fray again, along with more Violet angst and… this Duncan guy again? Ooh. Drama. Suspense.
A'ight, I don't wanna drag this too long. I would ask that you check out my profile if it strikes your fancy. Got some major stuff going on with my buddy Master Of Anime224 (thanks for beta'ing btw). Oh, and I've started remastering Chapters 1-11 to match my current writing quality and duel formatting. Expect that whenever I can finish rewriting all the duels... without dying from bashing my skull against the wall trying to do so.
... let's cut to today's CQ: Theorize about Ciro. Why would he have a robotic duel disk arm? What's he doing living in the infamous Suicide Forest of Japan?
Right, that's all for now. See y'all again, and stay awesome.
Recommended Works
"Yu-Gi-Oh! The Termina Saga" by NovaZardX: Follow the story of Kageru, a societal outcast due to the reputation of his bloodthirsty Hiitan brethren, who is brought into the center of the war that took the life of his sister. Drawing inspiration from the depths of the YGO Duel Terminal lore, this story is colorfully written with compelling characters, tragic backstories, clashing factions, and another battle on the verge of breaking out that must be solved with card games. As Nova and I observantly compared, if MoA and I's expanded universe is like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, his story alone is some Game of Thrones-level stuff. Oh, and I beta for it too! So what're ya waiting for, go check it out!
REVISED ON: 7/15/2020
