I awoke to a sickening feeling in my stomach, having obviously overindulged in the food I'd had the night before. It was the first time since arriving at the hotel that I'd actually had a good night's sleep, which was incredibly surprising considering what had happened with Slade. And even with that aside, usually, I would have been restless, thinking about the tournament or Luna, and while I did do a little bit of that, I must have fallen asleep at some point, but I couldn't recall when.
I rolled over onto my side and exhaled, Apple Magician Girl appearing beside me, a warm, gentle smile on her face.
"Good morning, Tyler," she greeted, "did you sleep well?"
"Mhm… morning Fizdis…" I mumbled. "What time is it…?"
"Don't worry. You've still got a few hours before your Duel today…" she cooed.
My eyes veered to Tim's bed and I realized it was empty. I sat up. "Tim?" I called out.
"Tyler, it's okay-"
"Wh-wh-where's Tim?" The day had just started, and I'd already stuttered. Great. "H-he was saying last night th-that he wanted us to be together at all times, after what happened w-w-w-with Slade-"
"I know, he… told me all about it." Apple Magician Girl spoke slowly.
I turned to her. "You spoke to him?"
"He talked and I listened."
"Could you… was there no way that he could have seen you?" I asked, unsure of how the whole 'communicating with Duel Spirits' thing actually worked, outside of Luna and I being able to see them.
"Not everyone can see Duel Spirits, Tyler. Even if a human wants to see a Duel Spirit, and the spirit is perfectly comfortable with revealing themselves to them, sometimes it just doesn't happen." Apple Magician Girl turned away. "He could tell I was there, but he couldn't see me, and…"
"And what?" I asked softly.
Apple Magician Girl turned back to me and came close, her voice wavering. "I-I've been trying to think of a way to tell you this. Ever since I first saw him, I've been able to sense this presence. There's something there with him. I can feel it. It's faint, but… dark. Unbelievably dark."
"Yeah?"
Apple Magician Girl nodded. "I haven't felt anything like it since…" she shook her head. "Not important. I just don't want anything bad to happen to you, that's all."
I smiled. "I appreciate the concern, Fizdis, I really do, but I think that if Tim was going to do anything bad to me, he would have done it by now."
"It's not him, Tyler, it's…" Apple Magician Girl sighed. "I don't want to worry you, and I'm still not completely sure of things myself, but… just be careful, okay?"
"Okay-"
"A-and whatever you do, don't talk to him about it. I'm not entirely sure how much of it is, um… sentient…"
"Y-you mean… whatever's there with Tim could potentially be l-l-l-listening in on us…?" I asked softly, Apple Magician Girl nodding.
"Again, I… I don't know for sure, but I'd rather not risk anything until I know that you're safe."
"Yeah, that's a good idea. Tim's been pretty quiet regarding himself anyway. I still don't really know all that much about him, and I've told him all… all this personal stuff…" I exhaled, my lips starting to tremble as I felt a stutter coming. "B-b-b-b-but I guess it's good to talk about things. That's what normal people do, hey? Instead of bottling things up, they… they actually function as real people. I don't really mind if some dark presence is l-l-l-listening in. I tend to put my foot in my mouth anyway regardless, so wh-what does it matter?"
Apple Magician Girl looked at me with a warm, assuring smile. "You are normal."
"Well, not really. I can barely speak half the time."
"Don't talk like that." Her tone was gentle, but I could tell her statement was serious.
"I know, I know," I cautioned. "I have to stop thinking like that. I know. Th-there are p…people with far more deb… deb…" I sighed, "fuck…" I whispered.
"It's alright, sweetie. Take your time."
"I can feel it. It's right fucking here!" I snapped, forcing a hand to my chest. "Deb…debilitate. Far more debilitating things than a speech impediment. That's all I wanted to… say…" I shook my head. "A-a-a-and I kn-know there's more important things to worry about at the moment anyway, like the tournament. Speaking of which, there was something I wanted to… ask you."
"Of course. You can ask me anything, sweetheart. And please, don't rush yourself."
"Well… Tim and I are Dueling Sesu and Tony today, a-a-and they were friends of… the other Tyler, right? I-I-I was just wondering… w-were they good friends… to him? I'd hate for him to have, you know, 'cause he… he couldn't hear you anymore… it would have sucked if he was alone."
"He was never alone, Tyler, even if he couldn't hear me. I was always there. Some nights I wish I wasn't. I couldn't bear to listen to him, the poor thing. I wish I could have done more." Apple Magician Girl looked deep into my eyes. "That's why I'm so glad I have you…" her eyes averted mine for a moment. "But the other Tyler, he… he was very lucky… yes, they were… they were very good to him… Not just Tony and Sesu, but Crow and Shinji as well, they were like family to him. The family that he always wanted, but it wasn't enough. Not everyone's kind, and he knew that, you know that, from experience, but the other Tyler was very reserved, he shut everyone else out. After what happened with Kobi, Crow was the first person who got through to him, which is probably why it hurt him so much when he found out that you weren't him…"
"Damn…" I sighed. "Damn, damn, damn…" As if I already wasn't feeling bad enough about Crow, what Apple Magician Girl said had made me feel terrible. And what was even worse was that Crow and Shinji had lost their Duel against Celina and Yugo, which meant they'd no doubt been sent back to The Facility, and there wasn't anything I could do. I sighed once more. "What about before all of that? Before Kobi, before Joel, was he happy? The other Tyler?"
Apple Magician Girl nodded, a passive smile forming on her face. "He used to sing songs with this boy, Taze."
"Taze Cameron?" I asked.
"Ah, that's right. You probably did the same thing, didn't you, sweetheart?"
"Yeah… a little bit…" I mumbled. "Did your Tyler suck as much as I did?" I asked with a sheepish grin.
"He enjoyed it. And I thought he had a beautiful voice."
"That was probably before puberty though, right? Before his voice… mine, his, broke?"
"He never really sang after Daisuke… passed away…"
"Yeah, that sounds about right…" I muttered, recalling very much doing the same thing, which was probably a good thing for everyone around me. I did enjoy it growing up, but I hated hearing myself. I remember the first time I heard myself sing, I cried. I thought I sounded terrible. I would have enjoyed singing with Taze more if I'd remembered I'd done it. I mostly only did it with him after the whole Dark Signers thing because it was something he really wanted. "He never met up with Taze again, did he…? He never got brainwashed… never had amnesia…"
"No, he… he never…" Apple Magician Girl trailed off.
I licked my lips. "Wow…" I sighed. "It just amazes me, that's all. How… how similar and yet how different our lives are… w-were… So many things are just the same. You're telling me what he did and how he felt, and I remember experiencing the exact same thing, but then somewhere along the line… things just turned out differently… he died… and I lived…" I exhaled shakily. "This is all just so…"
"I'm sorry if I upset you-"
"No, y-y-y-you didn't. Besides, I asked the question. I'm sorry if anything I say or ask you is, you know, too much… honestly, if I didn't have a fucking stutter, I feel like I could talk to you for hours about this stuff. It probably would take me hours…" I chuckled, but because it was sad rather than funny.
"You can always talk to me. I was there for the other Tyler, and I'll always be here for you…"
"Well… um, okay, there is one other thing…" I muttered.
"Mhm?"
"I-i-it's not important, b-but… what kind of music was he into? 'cause when I was a kid, I was like, really into Shania Twain, like really into her. In fact, I'm pretty sure she was my first celebrity crush."
Apple Magician Girl giggled. "Well, um… the other Tyler really liked listening to ABBA."
"Aww, that's cute. Good on him." I smiled. Eagle was a good song.
I quickly turned to the door as I heard the handle rattle, the door swinging open as Tim pranced in.
"Mornin', fellow wadjela." Tim beamed. "You are lookin' at the newest and bestest Lancer." He said proudly. "Don't really know what it means, but I hope I get to lance some'hing. Red told you I left, right?"
I turned to Apple Magician Girl and smiled. "Yeah, she did."
"Good." He then shouted to the room, "Thanks, Red!" Tim turned his attention back to me. "Anyway, Dookie Scarf-guy told me that he was impressed with my Dueling ability, as he put it, especially since I'd only started playing recently. And he said that you told him about what I said about how I'm happy to help fight against Duel Academy. He also was sincerely sorry that you got mixed up in what happened with Slade. Mokubro's promised extra security so that stuff like that won't happen again. Also, everything's good with the boat. It turns out the boat operates using resonant frequencies. Of course, we'll still need the crystal ball to actually power the boat, but at least now I know how it works, so gettin' you home shouldn't be a problem."
"Wh-what about your part in the Lancers?"
"Yeah, I'm still gonna do that, o'course. That's why I joined. Those interdimensional terrorists have to pay for what they tried to do to you, but I'm still gonna take you home before all that." Tim smiled. I must have looked like my mind was elsewhere, because Tim tilted his head and asked "Is somethin' wrong?"
"Uh… It's just…" I glanced at Apple Magician Girl. I trusted her. I had no reason not to. So of course I couldn't say anything, if there was some other presence there listening in, and Tim didn't know about it. "We could have been Dueling the twins today…" I mumbled, racking my brain for something that I could have been conceivably worried about. And to be honest, part of me was worried for the twins. Even though they weren't mine, there's no way I could have Dueled against them, and it sucked that they'd most likely been forced into labor in the Commons. I mean, they might have been a little psychotic, but they were kids, and kids didn't deserve to get sentenced to labor for life, especially when there was no real logical reason behind it.
Tim shook his head but never lost his smile. "I'll tell ya what I told Forrest Whitaker Gump: white chocolate's fine when you're a kid, but once you grow up and realize it's not real chocolate, you're gonna wanna try the dark stuff."
"Right…"
Another one of Tim's random statements.
"Oh yeah! You know what I realized? It hasn't even been a month since we met." Tim told me.
"Huh…" I scratched the back of my head, "for some reason, it's felt like way longer than that…"
"I hear ya. For the first six years I taught at my school, it felt like only seven months had gone by." Tim shook his head.
"Of course that's just one month on top of the other six months that I didn't see my friends for." I sighed. "I have to-"
"'You have to get back', I know. That's what we've been tryin' to do ever since we got here. You don't need to keep goin' on about it. Besides, even best friends can grow apart. You see 'em less and less as time goes on, and before too long… that's it. The people who are like your second family are gone. I've met countless people over the years, had incredible once in a lifetime experiences with all of them, and now… poof. The only ones I've really kept in touch with are the kids I used to teach. Everyone else I just drifted apart from, and I mean honestly, if you have to force a friendship, if you have to move Heaven and Hell for people to like you or respect you or forgive you, it's not worth it."
"I didn't just 'grow apart' from my friends, I pushed them away! I had ample opportunity to go and visit them, or call or text, or email, Facebook, whatever, but I didn't do any of that. I just sat there for six months feeling sorry for myself wondering when someone else was going to contact me."
"We could go on like this for hours. In fact, I'm pretty sure we have gone over this for hours. And going over it again isn't gonna do anything for either of us."
"R-r-right, right…" I stammered, closing my eyes, "push it out, and just focus on what needs to be done."
"Now you're gettin' it!" Tim grinned. "Anyway, things are pretty by the numbers at this point. If we win the next two Duels, which, who are we kidding? Of course we will, then we'll be able to Duel that Atlantis guy in the finals and get the boat back. Easy." Tim smiled. "I just feel bad for everyone else. Having us Duel first each round means every other Duel will just look crap by comparison. I mean, how can you top Exodia?"
"I don't know, Tim. Yuya and Zuzu's Duel with the twins was pretty good, and we only won our Duel against Gong and Vokah because of… w-w-w-whatever the Hell that was…"
Tim shook his head. "Doesn't matter who we go up against, we'll win. Trust me, the outcome of this whole thing was decided the moment the tournament began. Now come on, Young Terror," Tim ushered, "we should have a few practice Duels before our game today."
"Good idea." I said to him, Apple Magician Girl's spirit silently observing the two of us, though looking over at Tim with concern.
You'd have thought by now I'd have gotten used to the crowd and overall environment at the stadium.
No.
I wished that was the case, and that obviously had to be why Melissa Trail was so warm and friendly all the time. Apart from it having to look exciting and engaging for the viewers, she obviously thought it'd help relax the contestants as well. It probably did all the others, but not me. The further along in the tournament we got, the more I felt the pressure get to me, and the sense of urgency grip at every fiber of my being.
I had to admit the whole thing was feeling quite monotonous. Back when I'd had my job at the Library, my schedule was more or less wake up, go to work, come home, go to bed, wake up and repeat. This time it was wake up, Duel, go to bed and repeat. But this, much more so than my job, was all for a purpose. I had to stick it out, for my sake and Tim's. I had to see my friends again. I had to make things right.
"Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the second-last day of the Friendship Tag Cup!" Melissa greeted, sounding as cheerful as ever. "There are four teams left, and only two will make it to the finals where tomorrow, they'll face each other and be given the chance to challenge our champion, Jack Atlas! Let's give our first two teams a round of applause!"
A cascade of cheers erupted from the stands as I shivered, Tim soaking it all up.
At least he was enjoying himself.
We were good, I assured myself. Well, maybe not me, but Tim was. Regardless, the fact was that we made it this far. Two Duels left before we'd face Jack Atlas.
"First, the duo that put on an absolutely fantastic performance in their last Duel, Summoning Exodia the Forbidden One, Tyler 'the Terror' Nochi and Tim Ihansha!"
"And second, Tony Zomboni and Sesu Lomakkia! Will they be able to overcome the strength of Exodia?"
"Th-the commentary's become a little bit skewed…" I noted.
"Can you blame her?" Tim shrugged.
"Hey, Tyler, good to see you again." Sesu smiled across from Tim and me.
Tony nodded. "It's just a shame we have to meet up again in a place like this…" he muttered.
"Y-y-y-y-yeah…" I stuttered. It was obvious they, like Crow and the others had before, believed that I was their Tyler, and that they hadn't spoken with Crow or Shinji yet. I sighed. It wasn't the time or the place to tell them otherwise.
"And hey, no matter what happens, no hard feelings, okay?" Sesu smiled, looking to his partner who nodded once more.
"Duel!"
[Tim & Tyler: 8000 LP]
[Sesu & Tony: 8000 LP]
"I'll start!" Tony shouted, "I Set one Monster face-down, and then Set two cards face-down. I end my turn."
Tim drew from his Deck, looking over the cards he had in his hand as though he seemed to be pondering something. "Alright, I'll Set a card, and then Set a Monster. And that will do it for me."
I could tell Tim was becoming more confident in his plays, which was a really good sign. I sighed, recalling that I used to be like that, with Devack, Roman, Lazar and Lester, even though I couldn't do crap against Lester. Part of me wanted to be like that again, confident, but I knew there was no point in even projecting confidence if I didn't have the skills to back it up, and our previous Duels in the tournament proved I had nothing to be cocky or confident about.
"My turn!" Sesu drew, "I Summon Paladin of the Cursed Dragon in Attack Position!" he shouted, an armored warrior astride the corpse of a rotting dragon taking the field [ATK: 1900]. "Attack!"
Tim's Set Sangan [DEF: 600] was impaled by the Paladin's lance. Tim smiled. "Nice. That's the kind of lance I want. But now that Sangan's been destroyed, I get to add a Monster with fifteen hundred Attack Points or less to my hand from my Deck." Tim's Deck shuffled a card to the top which he drew, revealing to Sesu, Tony and I the Left Leg of the Forbidden One, before adding it to his hand.
Tony and Sesu glanced at each other before Sesu shrugged. "That's fine. I place one card face-down and end my turn."
I drew. "I-I activate the Spell Card F-F-Foolish Burial, which lets me send a Monster from my Deck to the Graveyard." I tapped away at my screen, selecting Time Wizard as the target of Foolish Burial's effect as it was ejected from my Deck and I placed it into the Graveyard. "Next, I Banish Sangan and Time Wizard from the Graveyard to Special Summon Chaos Sorcerer!" Sangan and Time Wizard briefly re-appeared on the field, only to become respective spheres of light and darkness, merging together as a mighty magician clad in iron and leather took the field [ATK: 2300]. "Now, I enter my Battle Phase and attack your Paladin with my Chaos Sorcerer."
Chaos Sorcerer formed two balls of energy in each of his hands, one white magic, the other black magic, before bringing his hands together and combining them, a pulsating sphere of chaos energy resonating between his hands. With a smirk, Chaos Sorcerer threw the ball of energy at Sesu's Monster, Paladin of the Cursed Dragon vanishing from the field.
[Sesu & Tony: 7600 LP]
"Nice, Tyler, I didn't even know you had that card." Sesu sounded surprised.
"Th-thanks… I Set two cards and end my turn." I smiled, sliding Magic Cylinder and Call of the Haunted into play.
Tony drew. "I play Monster Reborn to revive Sesu's Paladin of the Cursed Dragon from the Graveyard!" he shouted, Sesu's Monster returning to the field [ATK: 1900]. "Next, I Flip Summon my Pyramid Turtle!" a large turtle wearing an Egyptian headdress and carrying a pyramid on its back appeared on Tony's field [ATK: 1200]. "And now, I Normal Summon Pain Painter!" my eyes widened as a destressed-looking overall-wearing zombie painter appeared on Tony's field [ATK: 400]. "Alright!" Tony cheered. "I activate my Pain Painter's effect! Not only is he treated as Plaguespreader Zombie, but once per turn I can also Target two other Zombies out on my field and decrease their Levels to two!"
[Paladin of the Cursed Dragon: LV: 2] [Pyramid Turtle: LV: 2]
"Why would you do that?" Tim asked.
"Because now!" Tony hyped, "I can Synchro Summon! Level two Pain Painter tunes with Pyramid Turtle and Paladin of the Cursed Dragon! The ground twists and breaks to give rise to power as the stench of death takes its hold on Earth! I Synchro Summon Archfiend Zombie-Skull!" the three Zombie Monsters disappeared, turning into stars as a pillar of purple light erupted from the ground. When the light cleared, a massive winged demon stood in its place [ATK: 2500]. "Archfiend Zombie-Skull, attack!"
I threw my hand out. "I play my Trap Card, Magic Cylinder! This card-"
"I chain Trap Jammer, negating Magic Cylinder!" Tony countered. My eyes widened as my Chaos Sorcerer was sliced in half by Archfiend Zombie-Skull's massive claws.
[Tim & Tyler: 7800 LP]
"Damn…!" I muttered, realizing I should've used Chaos Sorcerer's effect to Banish Paladin when I had the chance. "Th-that was a really good move." I had to praise Tony. "I w-w-w-wasn't expecting that…"
"You think that's good? You haven't seen anything yet. I end my turn."
Tim yawned, drawing as he mulled over the cards in his hand. "Hey, uh, Tyler… I've got a little bit of a dilemma. My hand is just full of Exodia pieces. Like, literally nothing else. What do I do?"
I turned to Tim. "Maybe don't announce what you've got in your hand."
"Don't be cheeky." He glared at me.
I sighed. "Sorry, just… we've been over this… use one of the duplicates to protect us."
"Oh yeah, good idea." Tim smiled, turning back to our opponents. "I Summon Exodia the Forbidden One in Attack Position." Tim said, placing the card down as I nearly choked on my own heart.
"What? What?! What?!" I shouted, the lone head of Exodia appearing on Tim's field [ATK: 1000]. "That's not what you're supposed to do! You're supposed to Set him! You've been doing that the whole time! You did that today! How could you mess that up?!"
"Alright, alright," Tim sighed, "keep your pants on. Jeez, I'll Set him then-"
"No, you can't just redo a move. We'll take two thousand Life Points of damage as penalty if you change the battle position of a Monster after you've already played it."
"Sorry, I just blanked. I had an extra head and it got me thinkin' about this one time where I mushed-"
"Do you not understand-"
"Hey!" Tim shouted, pointing a finger at me. "Don't interrupt me, alright? No more o' that."
"Sorry, but I'm gonna have to interrupt." I heard Tony say, turning to him. "I reveal my face-down Chain Destruction, forcing you to destroy all copies of Exodia the Forbidden One in your hand and Deck." An iron chain whipped past me and struck Tim's hand and Deck, two copies of Exodia's head falling to the ground. Tim grunted, picking them up and sliding them into the Graveyard.
"Well damn. He just defeated Exodia." Tim said simply, not sounding the least bit upset or irritated, which only irritated me further.
"Just end your turn!" I snapped. "Y-you can use Monster Reincarnation to get one of the heads back by trading in another spare."
"Wow, okay, fine. Your time of the month or somethin'?" Tim sighed once more, Sesu drawing from his Deck.
"I activate the Continuous Spell, Card of Safe Return!" he shouted. "With this card out, we get to draw a card each time a Monster is Special Summoned from our Graveyard. Next I Set a Monster in Defense Position, and now I'll enter my Battle Phase and attack your Exodia head with Archfiend Zombie-Skull!"
I braced myself as the undead Synchro Monster's claws ripped through Exodia's head like a hot knife through butter. Tim however wasn't at all phased.
[Tim & Tyler: 6300 LP]
"I end my turn."
I sighed, drawing.
It was clear to me that I'd overestimated Tim's skill. Sure, the pressure was intense, but even I wouldn't have made a mistake like that, and I was, after all, well, retarded.
I shook my head. I had the choice of either waiting and hoping for Tim to play Monster Reincarnation and return one of the heads to his hand – forcing me to wait and potentially screwing me over – or just go for it with everything I had.
I tensed my free hand, encased in the gauntlet. "I play my face-down Call of the Haunted, allowing me to bring back Chaos Sorcerer from the Graveyard!" in a flash of black and white, my magician returned to the field [ATK: 2300]. "Next, because our combined Graveyard contains exactly three Dark Attribute Monsters, I can call Dark Armed Dragon to the field!" The three heads of Exodia rose up out of the Graveyard, turning into three orbs of dark energy, blackness raining down on the field as a distorted version of Joel's ace Monster appeared on my field, roaring angrily [ATK: 2800]. "Next, I play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your face-down card!" I shouted, a cyclone blowing away Sesu's Set card, Magical Arm Shield.
"Shoot…!" Sesu shouted.
"Now, I play my Chaos Sorcerer's effect, Banishing your Archfiend Zombie-Skull!" My Chaos Sorcerer's hands crackled with power as he unleashed a wave of energy that zapped Tony's Synchro Monster out of play. "I enter my Battle Phase… and attack your Set Monster with Dark Armed Dragon!"
My dragon's tail whipped forward, Sesu's Set Monster, Spirit Reaper [DEF: 200], flipping up and unfortunately withstanding the attack. I groaned.
"Hey, what gives?! Shouldn't your Monster be dead?" Tim asked.
I turned to him. "Spirit Reaper can't be destroyed by battle." I explained. "But that's okay. On y-your turn, you can use my Chaos Sorcerer's effect to Banish him instead of attacking. Can you do that?" I asked. Tim nodded. "Good. I'll Set a card and end my turn."
"My turn now!" Tony shouted, drawing. "I'll Set a card and end my turn as well."
"Alright, let's do this!" Tim drew. "I play Pot of Greed, which lets me draw two cards from my Deck." The Pot of Greed appeared on the field and Tim drew twice. "Next, I play Shard of Greed." A fragment of the Pot of Greed appeared on Tim's field. "Now, over our next two Draw Phases, if we draw, we get to add a Greed Counter to the Shard, and when Shard of Greed has two Greed Counters, I can send it to the Graveyard to draw two more cards."
"Draw as many cards as you want!" Tony taunted. "It's not going to do anything!"
Tim shrugged. "I Summon Witch of the Black Forest in Attack Position!" the violet-haired witch appeared on Tim's field [ATK: 1100]. "Now, I play Chaos Sorcerer's effect, Banishing your Spirit Reaper!" Sesu's Spirit Reaper vanished, leaving our opponents' field empty. "Okay, time for battle! I attack with Dark Armed Dragon and Witch of the Black Forest!"
Dark Armed Dragon roared, throwing a black fireball at Tony from its maw. Tim's witch followed suit, muttering incantations as purple light struck Tony in the chest.
[Sesu & Tony: 3700 LP]
"Hey, hey, looks like we've got this!" Tim smiled.
"Don't count us out just yet…!" Sesu said, drawing. "I play the Spell Card Shrink, which lets me cut the Attack Points of a Monster in half! So I'll cut your Dark Armed Dragon down to size!" My eyes widened as Dark Armed Dragon shrank, just as Sesu's Spell Card suggested [Dark Armed Dragon: ATK: 1400]. "Next, I Summon Getsu Fuhma!"
"Not so fast!" I shouted. "Tim, my trap!"
"Oh yeah, good call." Tim flipped over my Trap Card. "I play Bottomless Trap Hole, destroying and Banishing your warrior!" Before Sesu's Monster could even touch down on the field, the warrior fell through the pitfall only for it to be immediately closed after.
Sesu groaned and twitched. "Um… alright… how 'bout this?! I play the Spell Card Soul Taker…! This card destroys a Monster you control, but then you gain a thousand Life Points…!"
I watched as my Dark Armed Dragon started to convulse, its chest glowing as its soul was ripped from its body, crumbling away to dust.
[Tim & Tyler: 7300 LP]
Sesu sighed. "That's… that's all I can do… I end my turn…"
I drew from my Deck. "Alright, since I've drawn a card, we get to add a Greed Counter to Shard of Greed." [Greed Counter: 1]. "Next, I Summon Apprentice Magician in Attack Position!" the magician-in-training appeared on my field, staff poised [ATK: 400]. "A-and now, I move to my Battle Phase, and attack you directly with all three of our Monsters."
Retrospectively, it was probably overkill to have attacked with Apprentice Magician along with both Witch of the Black Forest and Dark Armed Dragon, especially as the former wasn't at all necessary to win, but I figured with the caliber of opponents we'd been facing that there was always the chance that Sesu could have had a hand trap to nullify damage and save him from losing. As it turned out though, he didn't, and Sesu ended up taking the brunt of all our Monsters' attacks.
[Sesu & Tony: 0 LP]
"Tyler Nochi and Tim Ihansha are the winners!" Melissa cheered.
Tim raised his hands into the air as the crowd once again erupted into a sea of cheers and I found myself smiling. I wasn't even really happy that we won, I was just happy I was actually able to do something, instead of leaving it all to Tim. Of course, this time, if I had have left it to Tim, there's a good chance we would have lost, not to toot my own horn or say I was the reason we won or anything. Besides, I couldn't be happy that we won. Beating Tony and Sesu meant that they'd end up sent to the labor facility in the Commons.
I found myself mutter "I-I'm sorry…"
Sesu shook his head, closing some of the distance between us. "Don't be. It was either you guys or us. Just… if you're going to lose, lose your next Duel. Don't give Jack the satisfaction of beating you…" Sesu smiled weakly, KC Guards approaching the Duel Field. One of them stopped at Sesu and Tony's side, while the other stopped at Tim's and mine. "It was great seeing you again, Tyler…"
"Yeah… you too…" I muttered, the KC Guard escorting him and Tony away from the Duel Field.
"Mr. Ihansha, Mr. Nochi," our KC Guard bowed to us.
"It's Professor Ihansha, but continue." Tim jerked his head to the side.
"I-is something wrong?" I asked.
The man in white shook his head. "I've been asked to escort the two of you up to the Commentator's Booth. Miss Trail would like to conduct an interview with you."
"I-i-i-interview?" I stammered.
"It's standard procedure for finalists. The winners of the next Duel will be asked to conduct an interview as well. Now if the two of you will please follow me…"
"Interview, eh?" Tim shrugged. "Cool. I'm down."
Fuck.
I could barely say a fucking sentence without fucking stuttering and she wanted to fucking interview me?! I mean sure, Melissa seemed nice, but she couldn't have thought it was going to go well. And I assumed it was going to be aired or broadcast or streamed or whatever, live on TV and I didn't want that. I really didn't want that.
But, in spite of the fact that I really didn't want that, I also didn't want to piss anybody off, so I thought it best to just go along with it, and if I did happen to fuck up and embarrass myself, which there was a definite possibility of, it wouldn't matter, because, I hoped, I'd be home once the tournament was over.
Tim and I followed the KC Guard from the Duel Field and down the hall into an elevator. I found it hard not to think about the fact that while Tim and I were heading up for an interview, Tony and Sesu were on their way to a labor facility in the Commons, where this Dimension's Leo and Luna most likely were.
I fidgeted, only removing my cards from (and powering off) my Duel Disk once I realized the elevator had stopped moving. The doors opened to reveal a room just barely bigger than the interrogation room at The Facility. There was a table with three chairs at one end, Melissa sitting in the middle chair as she overlooked the stadium. Two others stood at the corner of the room, operating a camera and a teleprompter respectively.
Melissa's eyes lit up as they locked with Tim's, the KC Guard bowing as he remained in the elevator, Tim and I stepping out.
"Hiya! Congratulations on your win! Thanks so much for coming up on such short notice!" Melissa smiled.
"Ah, it's no trouble. Anything to get to see a beautiful girl like you again, Lissy," Tim smiled, leaning over and giving Melissa a quick peck, that actually quickly turned into a full-blown make-out session.
My head fell to my hands as their tongue-licking and spit-swapping did nothing to calm my nerves. Melissa moaned and then eased herself away from Tim. "Wait, I… um… we need to be professional here for a moment, gorgeous. Besides we have company."
I passively put my hands up. "No, don't m-m-mind me…" I sighed, trying and failing to get my speech under control. "But actually, I was w-wondering. As you can… probably tell, I h-have a speech impediment, s-so if it's alright with you, I'd like if I could be excluded from the interview, p-p-please."
"Oh…" Melissa sounded genuinely disheartened at my request. "Well it was only going to be a short interview anyway. I mean, all we have left after this for today is the Duel between Yugo, Celina, Yuya and Zuzu. The plan was to record the interview, air it live, and then air parts of it again at the end of the day along with an interview with the winners of the next Duel, after a recap of the tournament's events so far." Melissa put a finger to her lips for a moment. "Okay, okay, how about, I interview you, and you can give one word answers if you want? No pressure, and your hunk of a partner can answer all the tough ones." She winked.
"Alright, that's… yeah, okay…" I mumbled. It was better than nothing, and I was actually really grateful with how understanding Melissa was.
"Great! Great! Thanks so much!" she smiled, taking my hands in hers for a brief moment. "Okay, so, my questions will come through on the teleprompter there, and you can answer them however you like. They won't be too invasive, too personal, but I have to ask, have either of you been interviewed or been on television or anything like that before?"
"N-no…" I muttered.
"Well, back in Dimension H-GS1, I was technically on TV when I participated in the seventy-fourth Hunger Games and won, spoiler alert. But that was honestly pretty meh. Way too overhyped. I would have liked to have been on that cooking show though. That food looked awesome." Tim licked his lips and I once again had no idea what he was talking about.
"Okay, well, great! So, both of you sit either side of me." Melissa patted both seats as Tim and I sat down and Melissa turned to face me. "So, I'll ask a question, move the microphone to you, you can give as minimal or as detailed an answer as you'd like, and then Tim can answer. If it helps, just pretend the camera's not here and look at me."
"Right, we're back on in thirty seconds." The cameraman spoke up.
I glanced at the camera and then at the teleprompter, feeling my heart pound in my chest as I froze up.
Melissa cleared her throat. "I probably should have asked you this before, but can I get you a glass of water or something?"
"Nah, I'm good, love." Tim grinned, staring directly into the camera.
"N-n-n-no thank you, I-I'm fine-" I lied. "H-how l…ong is this going to be?"
"Not very long. Five minutes at the most." Melissa smiled.
"Ten seconds." the cameraman stated. Melissa nodded, turning to face the teleprompter. Moments later, Melissa was signaled, and she was off!
"And we're ba~ack! If you're just tuning in, up here with me now is the team that just won the first Duel of the Friendship Tag Cup's third day, Tyler Nochi, and, of course, Tim Ihansha. Now, I must say that we've all been very impressed by what you've achieved in the tournament so far. I mean, you were able to Summon Exodia the Forbidden One, a feat that no one in the history of Duel Monsters has ever accomplished, and your first Duel in the tournament was positively spellbinding! We all think you've done magnificently so far, but how do you feel you went today?" Melissa asked, holding the microphone out to me.
All I had to say was 'Good', but any effort to say anything just made my face start to contort, the only thing my stupid body able to muster being a staggered whispering of "Ah…" as the word 'Good' seemed to clog up my throat.
I must have looked like a deer caught in the headlights, my eyes fixed on the microphone for what was certainly far too long. "Good." I finally managed to struggle out, Tim reaching over and taking the microphone from me, which I wished he would have done sooner.
"It's tough to say." He began, his eyes moving from the camera as he faced Melissa. "I don't really look at the numbers, I just go off the feel. I feel like I could have done better. I came in a little tight. The thing is, I live for this stuff. A fight's a fight. I live for fighting, I don't take days off. The fact of the matter is, coming into this competition, my fingers were feelin' it. Know why? 'cause I trained yesterday. Not once, not twice, three times. Match Duel. Was it smart? Yes, 'cause that's what I live for. And I know that, even if today was not a good day, tomorrow will probably be a better day, but the fact of the matter is tomorrow, I'll be goin' up against Quack Atlantis, and I know now, after all these Duels, what I need to work on!" he suddenly yelled, Melissa flinching. "I had no idea what to think comin' into this competition, I was expectin' thirty year old virgins with neckbeards and B.O. Do you think I playtested my Deck before goin' into this? No. Know why? 'Cause it's a mindset! I don't care if it's in the arena or on the streets, I'm gonna wreck that Quack Atlantis with his bad Australian accent." Tim suddenly turned, once again staring directly into the camera, as though he was personally addressing Jack Atlas. "I bet you're not even Australian, cobber. Where you from, mate? I'm from Perth. I'll destroy you. Meet me on the Armadale line. What I'm trying to say is…" Tim's face quickly broke a smile, and he covered his face with his hands for a moment before turning back to Melissa and shouting into the microphone once more. "It's never enough! It's never enough! It doesn't matter, even if I was the best! Even if, like, people have been sayin' 'Hey man, that was a pretty good Duel' No it's not! It's never a good Duel! Because it can always be better! That is not enough! And I can guarantee you this tomorrow, I could come in here, put my heart and soul on the line, and it's still not enough… but lemme tell ya somethin'… people are gonna see the fire, they're gonna see the intensity, and say 'My God! This guy has it. I dunno what he has, but he has it'. So even if I don't win, which I will, I still have it. I still have what they all want. What Quack Atlantis wishes he had…!" Tim panted, handing Melissa back the microphone, who simply stared at him in bewilderment for several moments. I couldn't blame her. I wouldn't have known what to say either. I didn't even know where that all came from!
"Okay…" Melissa muttered. "Next, uh… next question… uh… there have been rumors going around that the two of you are from…" Melissa paused, looking a little unsure, "well, people have said 'another Dimension'. Is there any truth to those rumors, and if there is, would you care to explain?" Melissa asked, moving the microphone away from Tim and facing me, which was probably for the best.
Except for the fact I couldn't talk.
"Uh… w-well, I…" I stammered, Tim grabbing back the microphone.
"It's exactly how it sounds, babe. Tyler the Terror and I-"
I cringed. "Please-"
"Are from a different Dimension. Now, we're not from the same Dimension – we're from two different places and just happened to meet, and now we're here. Oh, and by the way, I got a message for some wankers." Tim grumbled, once again turning to face the camera.
"Sorry, would you mind watching your language-" Melissa asked, only to be cut off by Tim.
"My buddy here was attacked yesterday after our Duel. You hide behind your Real Solid Vision because you're a bunch o' cowards. Drop the tech and fight like a man. The people I'm addressin'… you know who you are. If you wanna come after anyone, come after me, Tim Ihansha, Dimension E-199999, and we'll see who the real men are." Tim held the mic right up to his lips. "That's Dimension E, the number one, and then five nines. Oh, and don't think that now that you know where I'm from that you can just go there and start causing mayhem, okay? The people of my Dimension don't take kindly to invaders, and we have weapons at our disposal more powerful than your pathetic trading cards and Real Solid Vision could ever be, and they'll waste no time in taking you out. I suggest you take this as a warning, and go back to wherever the Hell you came from, and don't bother anyone again. Otherwise, you'll have me to answer to." Tim looked to Melissa, a sternness in his eyes. "Alright, babe. Interview over. Cheers. C'mon, Tyler."
"Uh, yeah, o…okay…" I muttered.
"H-hold on…!" Melissa called out, but Tim had already moved from his seat, grabbed me by my Duel Disk and dragged me over to the elevator. "Uh, o-okay, we're going to take a break…" Melissa's voice trailed off. I assumed she was speaking to the camera, but Tim had already hit the button on the elevator and the doors had already opened. Tim dragged me inside and forced the doors closed.
"Ow, Tim, can you n-not be so r-r-rough?" I whined.
"They're listening…" Tim said quietly, not even looking at me. "We waste time here, more of 'em will come to us."
"Y-you mean… people from the Fusion Dimension…?" I whispered. Tim nodded as I sighed. "You w-were the one who mentioned them in the f-f-first place! You b-b-basically called them out to come and get us, and you just gave any potential threat, like, the direct link to your Dimension."
Tim shrugged. "So what?"
"Even if I knew where I came from, I wouldn't go broadcasting it to the entire City when people from the Fusion Dimension might be listening in. Don't you… don't you care about the safety of the people in your Dimension?"
Tim stopped and turned to me as the elevator stopped and the doors opened. "You know what my Dimension has?" Tim asked, and, of course, I didn't, so I shook my head as he began to walk out. "Witches, wizards, vampires, werewolves, mermaids, mutants, Gods, a Goblin made of Fire, and a whole host of other creatures. Any of them would be more than capable of taking out what basically equate to child soldiers, and not even the good kind of child soldiers."
"There's a good kind?" I asked, quickly moving to keep up my pace with him.
"What do you think I was? I was six years old when I joined the army. How do you think I ended up lookin' this good? I didn't start late. I started early, got a jump on the competition."
I suddenly found myself torn from Tim's side, ripped away and thrown to the ground.
I only realized after several moments that I was on my back, a white hot pain burning through my spine as I looked up to see four young men in blue military uniforms, their faces obscured by masks of crafted bone fashioned onto metal helmets, shield-shaped Duel Disks on their arms. The four of them stood in-between Tim and me, focusing more on the redhead than me.
"Oh?" Tim's voice was uncharacteristically soft. "You lot were quicker than I thought you'd be. I was going to take Tyler back to the hotel and come and find you myself. I mean, I'm assuming you're the ones, right?"
"T-Tim-" I struggled, desperately trying to suck in a quick breath.
"It's alright…" Tim continued to speak softly, his voice almost tickling my senses.
"You think you're so tough?" One of the men asked.
"You got some nerve calling us out like that!"
"A death wish is more like it!"
"Is that right?" Tim tilted his head to the side. "Well, you've got some nerve attacking an innocent bystander."
"Card him." My eyes widened as one of the men turned to me, holding their Duel Disk out. Tim had already rushed forward, faster than my eyes could track, grabbing the man by their head and slamming it into the wall. The building rumbled, and Tim pressed just a little harder, smearing the man's head into a paste, blood, brains and fluid running down and pooling at the bottom.
I was already taken aback by the entire situation, but the gruesome sight kept me from moving. "Someone card him!" one of the other three called out, having seemingly completely forgotten about me.
"You think me being a card will save you?" Tim asked, his voice coarser and gruffer, the softness gone completely. It didn't even sound like Tim. Tim suddenly rushed forward again, swinging his leg around and making contact with one of the young mans' heads. The man jolted, his head forced to move backwards as his neck snapped. He let out one final strangled yelp before dropping to the floor, blood streaming from his mouth.
The fire in Tim's eyes had been replaced with blood, his crimson sclera shimmering as both color and sanity seemed to leave his body.
"D-d-d-d-don't come any closer…!" one of the last two warned. Though in truth, all they were doing was begging.
Tim stopped moving. "Let's Duel…" he said quietly, almost like he was speaking to himself.
"Wh-what…?" the man gasped, Tim once again moving faster than my eyes could see, drawing a card quickly from his Deck and throwing it at the former assailant, lodging it into his left eye. The man tensed for a moment, staggering back before he too relinquished and dropped to the ground.
There was one man left, and Tim turned to him, paralyzing him with his stare. Tim tensed and the man's Duel Disk suddenly shorted, showering him with sparks. He rushed to take off his Duel Disk, throwing it to the ground and taking a step back.
Pulling myself away from the sight of cracked skulls, broken bodies and the blood-stained wall, it seemingly took all the effort I had to call out to Tim, and even then, it probably came out as barely more than a whisper. "T-Tim…! Please stop, that's enough. H-h-his Duel Disk is b-broken! You don't have to-"
"Huh?" Tim turned back to me suddenly, his eyes no longer as fierce and striking as they were only moments ago. Tim put a hand to his scarred chest and shook his head. "Yeah… best let one of 'em go. We need one of them to report back to their leader. Otherwise no one'll know, and it'll be senseless…" Tim sighed, letting the last one slip away. Tim walked over to one of the corpses, the walls of the room red with blood as Tim plucked Exodia the Forbidden One out of his broken skull.
"🎶Shootin' at the walls of heartache! Bang, bang! I a~am the warrior! Well I am the warrior! And heart to heart you'll win, if you survi~ive the warrior! The warrior!🎶"
Tim kicked the door to our hotel room down, obviously experiencing some kind of high from having killed three people. The people at reception were certainly surprised when he came through coated in blood belting Scandal's 'The Warrior'. Hazel looked absolutely horrified and didn't even say a word as we went up to our room. I couldn't blame her. The moment I made it back to the room, I grabbed my counterpart's Deck and frantically searched for Apple Magician Girl.
"I need to talk to you~" I said, my voice cracking as I spoke, desperation unfortunately coming through. I hadn't even finished speaking and she'd already appeared beside me. I grabbed her card and took it with me into the bathroom, closing the door and locking it. Apple Magician Girl phased through the door and looked at me with concern.
"Tyler, is everything okay-"
"You were right. You were right." I said quickly. "After our Duel today, they made us have an interview, and on the way back, we got assaulted by… by these guys from the Fusion Dimension, and, and Tim, he went, it was…"
"Tyler, it's alright, calm down. Take some deep breaths for me." Apple Magician Girl cooed, concern weaved through every word she spoke and breath she took.
Just being in her presence was enough to calm me down a little bit, but I felt very hot, like I wanted to rip my own skin off to let the rest of my body breathe.
"There were four guys, a-and Tim killed three of them. It was different. I-I-I-I mean, he did it in The Facility, but… this was different. His eyes, his voice, they were different, they weren't his. I know he did it to protect me, but it wasn't-"
"It wasn't him…" Apple Magician Girl finished, quickly turning away, a shallow breath escaping her. "I should have been there with you…" she muttered, turning back to me. "What about you? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I'm fine. I just…" I exhaled. "I just want to get out of here. Out of this hotel, out of this City, out of this Dimension. I want to go home where it's safe." I whined, only for an unfortunate truth to be made clear to me moments later.
I would be safe. But the others wouldn't be.
I froze realizing that my stance, my shock of Tim's murders, was almost hypocritical, because I had done the exact same thing. And by leaving, by going home to my Dimension, I was simply expecting my friends to be okay with the person I'd become. A murderer.
I didn't even realize my body was shaking until Apple Magician Girl asked "Sweetheart, what's wrong?"
I clasped my hands together, trying to use them to stop the other from shaking as I spoke. "I was the same… I did the same thing… I-I killed Kobi… shot him right in the head… And the thing is… I would do it again, and again and again, without hesitation…" I exhaled shakily. "S-so maybe… maybe I don't go home." I shook my head, gasping, dread quickly stealing through me. "I can't be afraid of what Tim did if I… I'm perfectly willing to do the same thing… I don't know… Tim might have some other presence inside him, influencing him, but I don't. I have no excuse for how I've been acting; I'm just a bad person. And Yusei and Luna and Seria and everyone don't deserve to be put through that. To have to deal with me." I felt tears well in my eyes as I looked at Apple Magician Girl. "I-I-I-I never wanted New Domino City to be destroyed, but I wanted Joel dead… and I wanted Kobi dead too… that's not right… No matter what they've done or did to me, it's not my place to take someone's life. What do I do? I go back, and… that rage and everything is still there. So then what? Go back to therapy? And what do I even say to everyone? 'Oh, yeah, I tried killing myself, but then this redheaded guy brought me back to life and took me to a place where babies were ground down into nutrients, and then he took me to this place that was sort of like home except my ex and her brother were sadistic as fuck, Yusei was like five years younger, Crow was alive and Jack was still an asshole. Oh yeah, and I also killed my stepdad and my stepbrother, because the version of my stepdad raped the version of me and then he ended up killing himself because of it', I mean, what the fuck?"
"Tyler, this situation… it's hard, I know. I'm not going to tell you to do something you don't want to do. But just take some time and think it over. You still have a day to figure out what you want to do, and whatever that is, I will support you no matter what, because, and I want you to hear this: you're not a bad person. Trust me. I've existed for thousands of years and I've seen horrible, horrible people do absolutely dreadful things. I'm not saying that Kobi or Joel deserved to die, and I'm not saying that you were right to kill them, but I'm not going to blame you or think any less of you because of what you did. If anyone is a bad person…" tears slowly formed in Apple Magician Girl's eyes as she spoke, "it's me… you shouldn't have had to take it upon yourself to do that, and if I had have… if I had have done what needed to be done, protected the other Tyler like I was supposed to, none of this would have happened."
I sighed, activating my Duel Disk and throwing her card down onto it, allowing her physical form to manifest itself. "Hey, c'mere," I motioned for her to give me her hands, which she did. "It's not your fault, Fizdis. None of this… none of this is your fault, and no matter what happened to the other Tyler, that wouldn't have changed how I felt. I mean, I probably wouldn't have known, but… not knowing doesn't mean something didn't happen. I told you before how I had amnesia for a little bit."
"Yeah, you did…" Apple Magician Girl closed her eyes and shook her head. "I actually wanted to ask you about that, but I wasn't sure if… if that was okay…"
I found myself letting go of Apple Magician Girl's hands. "I… told you how I had issues with Duel Spirits before, right?" I asked softly, Apple Magician Girl nodding. "Well, I… I had a… I guess a Spirit partner, a l-l-little bit like you, who… um, was looking out for me, and he… convinced me that… it was probably for the best that I leave New Domino City for the Satellite. Now, I didn't need much convincing, 'cause I didn't want to put up with Kobi's abuse, and I wasn't going to forever. I was already planning on running away as I'd… tried to do several times. But it was Explosivo, my partner, who convinced me that the Satellite – basically our version of your Commons – was the best place for me. And it was… for a while…" I exhaled shakily and I realized I was starting to get emotionally worked up again. "Like the other Tyler, I… I met this really great group of people who did whatever they could to help me, and they became my family, my… the people that I cared about the most. Eventually I started getting these weird dreams where, um… I would be in the Spirit World and someone was calling out to me. And then… I woke up and Explosivo told me to follow him, so I did. And he… led me to an alleyway~" my voice started to waver, "to a man called Sayer, who was the leader of this cult called the Arcadia Movement, and he…" I sighed, "well, he brainwashed me. I don't want to get into all the nitty-gritty, but the long and the short of it was that Luna, the girl I love, was being held captive in the Arcadia Movement, and Explosivo forced me to get brainwashed and all that, so that at some point I could free her. And of course, Sayer used… whatever technology he had to wipe my memories out. My whole life was just gone, and I didn't… didn't even know." I took hold of Apple Magician Girl's hands again, tears staining my eyes and distorting my vision. "That's why I was a dick when we first met, because I thought that you might be like him, and I didn't want to go through that again."
"Tyler~" Apple Magician Girl's voice wavered and I felt myself being taken into her arms. "I am so, so, sorry, sweetheart!" she cried.
"He didn't need to do that to me. I would have helped him if he just had have asked, but he didn't. He just forced it on me without even asking. I wondered if… if you'd done the same th-"
"No, never, never, my darling! I'd never…!" she trailed off, holding me tighter.
We stayed like that for a while, just holding each other, no longer talking. I think we'd said everything that needed to be said. She now knew pretty much everything about me, and I'd resigned myself to her, burying my head in the nape of her neck.
It was only when Tim knocked on the bathroom door and called out "You done in there?" that Apple Magician Girl set me down, her eyes wistful.
"Almost…" she said back to him.
"Whoa, Red?" Tim asked, and then there was silence for some time.
I sighed, moving to unlock the bathroom door, Apple Magician Girl placing a hand on mine. "It's alright…" she whispered, "it's alright…"
"Thanks…" I whispered back, removing her card from my Duel Disk before opening the bathroom door. "What?" I asked Tim, my tone probably less than desirable.
"I thought I heard Red just now. What's up?"
"I-I just needed to talk to someone…" I mumbled.
Tim furrowed his brows. "You okay?"
"I don't know…" I replied honestly. "I'm thinking… maybe I shouldn't go home."
Tim blinked an outrageously frequent number of times. "I'm sorry… what?!"
"W-w-well, it's just-"
"Quiet." Tim said firmly, taking a deep breath. "We were in this very hotel room when you said to me that seeing Jack in this Dimension made you realize that you have to get home, and now you're telling me otherwise? That you'd rather go somewhere else?"
"I-I-"
"So you want to hide then? Hide like a coward in some backwater Dimension rather than face up to your friends, who I'm sure miss you a Hell of a lot more than you miss them. No, listen mate: I'm taking you back to your Dimension even if I have to drag you there kicking and screaming. God damn it, don't you realize how fortunate you are? To have friends who love and care about you? Bloody Hell, I must have said the same thing a thousand times to you by now, and you're still not gettin' it!"
"I-I-I'm sorry-" I found myself apologizing.
"No, don't say sorry! 'Sorry' doesn't mean anything! It's just a word! It's actions that define a person! Don't flip-flop on what you're gonna do! Enough of that! Prove to me, make good on your word, and go home, like you said you would!" Tim sighed. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to chuck a piss, take a shit, and give my tits a good scrub. Just… go watch some TV or somethin'." Tim said, literally moving me out of the way before making his own way into the bathroom, closing and locking the door. I heard him mumbling to himself, probably about me, before I moved away from the bathroom door and over to my bed.
I sighed, staring at the television screen as I heard Tim turn the shower on.
"I don't like how he talks to you." I heard Apple Magician Girl say.
I shook my head. "I don't care about that, really. I just… he didn't even, like, mention what he did to those Fusion Dimension guys." I just continued to stare aimlessly at the television screen, which wasn't even on. I was literally just staring at a blank screen. I took my Duel Disk off and put it aside. "Doesn't matter." I told her. "W-w-we won, wh-which means one more Duel left before we face Jack Atlas." I yawned, turning to Apple Magician Girl. "You don't mind if I watch the next Duel, do you?"
Apple Magician Girl shook her head. "Of course not. I'll leave you to it, sweetie. I-if you need me, just call, and I'll come, okay?"
"Thanks." I smiled, Apple Magician Girl returning it with a smile of her own as her spirit form faded away.
I picked up the remote and turned the TV on, immediately greeted with a split-screen shot of Yuya, Zuzu, Celina and Yugo staring each other down at the stadium. It looked like I'd literally just made the start of the Duel.
"Duel!"
[Yuya & Zuzu: 8000 LP]
[Yugo & Celina: 8000 LP]
"I'll start by Special Summoning Speedroid Terrortop in Attack Position!" Yugo shouted, a red beigoma hiding two blades inside itself spinning onto the field [ATK: 1200]. "I can do this if Rin and I don't control any Monsters-"
"Celina. My name is Celina." The purple-haired termagant huffed.
Yugo scratched the back of his head. "S-sorry… um… anyway, when Terrortop is Summoned, I get to add another Speedroid from my Deck to my hand, so I'll add Speedroid Taketomborg to my hand, and then I'll use its effect, Special Summoning it since I control a Wind Monster!" a bipedal bamboo-copter popped up beside Terrortop [DEF: 1200]. "And now I'll Normal Summon Speedroid Den-Den Daiko Duke!" a regally-dressed cyborg holding a pellet drum appeared on the other side of Terrortop [ATK: 1000]. "Now I tune my Den-Den Daiko Duke with my Taketomborg! Magical sword with the form of a cross! Use your power to rend all enemies! Synchro Summon! Appear now! Hi-Speedroid Kendama!" all of Yugo's Monsters flew up into the sky, becoming bathed in light. When the light faded, a metallic spiked sword-and-ball had taken up Yugo's field [ATK: 2200]. "I'll Set two cards and end my turn."
Yuya drew. "Alright! Now it's time for me to take control of this Duel, and set the Pendulum Scale – Scale Five Performapal Cheermole, and Scale Eight Xiangsheng Magician!"
"Zuzu told me about this…" Yugo grinned, Yuya's two Monsters appearing on opposite ends of his field, a portal slowly beginning to open.
"With this Scale in place, I can Special Summon Level Six and Seven Monsters from my hand simultaneously! So now, swing, pendulum of souls! Draw an arc of light across the sky, and carve the arc of victory in the ether! Pendulum Summon! Appear! Wondrous and beautiful dichromatic eyes! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" a burst of red light came from the portal, settling and breaking to reveal the form of a red dragon [ATK: 2500].
Yuya's Monster roared and Yugo's eyes widened, the boy reaching up and holding his hands near his ears. "I don't feel… what is… what is this…?" he cringed. "It's this… this is… you…"
"Yugo, are you okay?" Celina asked, the young girl uncharacteristically concerned about someone else's wellbeing.
Almost instantly, it seemed like Yugo's strain broke away as he turned to his partner. "Rin…" he whispered, before turning back to face Yuya and Zuzu. "Yes, I'm fine. I'm not scared of your dragon! Give me your best shot, Yuya!"
"I plan to," Yuya smiled back, "but before that, I'm going to play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy one of your face-downs!" Winds swirled together on Yuya and Zuzu's field, making its way over to Yugo's and blowing away his Set Mirror Force. "Oh, and I forgot to mention, since Performapal Cheermole is in my Pendulum Zone, all Pendulum Monsters we control on our field gain three hundred Attack Points!" Yuya's Monster roared once more [Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon: ATK: 2800]. "Now it's time for the first act showstopper! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, attack Speedroid Terrortop! Spiral Flame Strike!"
A wave of red and black spewed from the mouth of Yuya's dragon, engulfing Yugo's Monster and throwing the blue and yellow-haired boy to the floor.
[Yugo & Celina: 4800 LP]
"Y-Yugo…" Celina muttered, suddenly clutching her arm. "My bracelet…" she mumbled. I leaned closer to the TV and saw that Celina was indeed wearing a bracelet, something I hadn't noticed before, nor really given any thought to.
Yuya exhaled heavily. "That ends my turn…"
Celina drew. "I'll Set a card, and activate Allure of Darkness! This card lets me draw two cards and then in return, I have to Banish a Dark Monster from my hand, so, I'll draw two, and then Banish my Lunalight White Rabbit. Now I'll Set one more card and activate Dark Hole, destroying all Monsters on the field!" a black hole opened up on the field, drawing in both Yuya's dragon and Yugo's machine. "Next, I play Twin Twisters! By discarding a card, I can destroy two other Spell or Trap Cards on the field, so I'll discard Lunalight White Tiger to destroy the cards in your Pendulum Zone!" both pillars of light on Yuya's field dimmed as the Monsters were swept away. I had to remind myself that Pendulum Monsters were also considered Spell Cards while in the Pendulum Zone. Something to consider. "Now I'll Normal Summon Lunalight Blue Cat, enter my Battle Phase and attack your Life Points directly!" a blue-skinned catgirl appeared on Celina's field, the silhouette of a third-quarter moon behind her [ATK: 1600]. Without warning, she suddenly pounced on Yuya, who dropped to the ground beneath her weight.
[Yuya & Zuzu: 6400 LP]
"I end my turn."
"Okay, my turn!" Zuzu shouted, Celina throwing her hand out as the former drew.
"I activate Yugo's Call of the Haunted, letting me Special Summon a Monster from our Graveyard. Return, Hi-Speedroid Kendama!" Yugo's sword-and-ball broke out of the ground, taking its place on Celina's field [ATK: 2200].
"No problem! I activate the Field Spell Card, The Sanctuary in the Sky!" a yellow light erupted from Zuzu's field, the four Duelists finding themselves standing at the summit of a temple. "Next, I Normal Summon Aria the Melodious Diva!" a pink-skinned woman appeared on Zuzu's field, hands clasped together, humming to herself [ATK: 1600]. "Then I'll boost her Attack Points by equipping her with Winged Trumpeter, increasing her Attack Points by five hundred!" from inside the temple, the sound of a trumpet could be heard, Aria harmonizing with it [ATK: 2100]. "Battle time! Aria, attack Blue Cat!"
Aria surrendered her hands to her sides, belting out one single note, shockwaves ripping apart Celina's Monster.
[Yugo & Celina: 4300 LP]
Celina wasn't deterred however. "I'll activate my Blue Cat's effect: when she's destroyed, I get to Special Summon another Lunalight Monster from my Deck, so come forth, Lunalight White Rabbit! Defense Position!" a hammer-wielding rabbitgirl hopped onto Celina's field [DEF: 800].
"I'll Set two cards and end my turn." Zuzu said.
Yugo drew. "First, I activate Lunalight White Rabbit's effect: with her out on the field, I can target one of your Spell or Trap Cards and return them to your hand. I'll choose your Winged Trumpeter!" the sound of the trumpet-playing fairy on Zuzu's field was suddenly silenced [Aria the Melodious Diva: ATK: 1600]. "Next, I activate Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying your Sanctuary in the Sky!" Winds swirled around each other from the center of the Duel Field, moving outward and tearing Zuzu's Field Spell away. "Now, I Normal Summon Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice!" a, well, red-eyed die rolled onto Yugo's field [ATK: 100]. "And I'll tune it together with Hi-Speedroid Kendama! Spread those wondrous and beautiful wings, and strike down your enemies at the speed of light! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!" a blue light crashed onto the field as Yugo's Monsters melded together, and when the light faded, a white and black dragon with transparent green wings had taken up Yugo's field, the massive beast hovering above the young boy [ATK: 2500].
I was reminded of both Yusei's Stardust Dragon and Jack's Red Dragon Archfiend. Yuya shivered, looking completely spaced out. "Just like last time…" he cringed.
"Clear Wing Synchro Dragon! Attack! Spinstorm Sky Strike!" Yugo shouted, his dragon roaring, surrounding itself with a green aura before charging through Zuzu's Monster. Yuya gasped, moving to protect Zuzu from the shockwaves of the attack.
[Yuya & Zuzu: 5500 LP]
"Yuya!" Zuzu shouted to the boy in front of her. As the camera panned around the two of them, I realized that Zuzu was also wearing a bracelet, much like Celina. There was a gem or a light or something on it, and it was flickering.
Yuya dropped his hands to his sides and smiled, his crimson eyes wide. "I will… I will…" he snickered.
"Yuya, what's wrong?" Zuzu asked, but Yuya kept his eyes on Yugo, steely and unrelenting as he drew.
"I activate Pot of Desires! By Banishing the top ten cards of my Deck face-down, I draw two cards!" Yuya simply removed the cards from his Duel Disk, discarding them to the floor of the arena before drawing two more. "Next, I Set one card face-down and activate the Spell Card Selection of Fate! Now, you have to choose one of the cards in my hand at random, and if it's a Monster, I get to Special Summon it!"
"Y-Yuya?" Zuzu seemed quite perturbed not only by Yuya's demeanor, but also by the appearance of two portals above Yuya, one white light, the other black.
"Go on, choose!" Yuya pressed.
"Um. Okay, I choose the one on the left." Yugo told him.
Yuya snickered. "Good choice. For me. I Special Summon Tuning Magician!" from out of the white portal, a pink-haired fair-skinned Spellcaster appeared, posing to the audience with a giggle [ATK: 0]. "Tuning Magician's effect activates, and your Life Points increase by four hundred, while our Life Points decrease by four hundred!"
[Yugo & Celina: 4700 LP]
[Yuya & Zuzu: 5100 LP]
"And now that there's been a change to your Life Points, I can activate Performapal Life Swordsman's effect from my hand and Special Summon him to the field as well!" from out of the black portal arrived an orange-haired Warrior, the two portals fading away [ATK: 400]. "Finally, I activate the card I just Set, Cosmic Astral Code!"
"No way…" I muttered.
"This Spell Card lets me Special Summon a Synchro Monster straight from my Extra Deck, ignoring its Summoning conditions, but it gets sent to the Graveyard at the End Phase! Hero's blade that sets forth unyielding light! Here and now, along with a flash, awaken, Enlightenment Paladin!" A light broke in in front of Yuya, a fantastic-looking swordsman appearing [ATK: 2500]. "But I'm not done! Now I'll tune my Tuning Magician with Performapal Life Swordsman and Enlightenment Paladin! From the depths of time, release this power throughout this wide world, and transcend! Synchro Summon! The Super Magical Synchro Swordsman! Nirvana High Paladin!"
Enlightenment Paladin twirled his sword around as Yuya's other Monsters joined him, separating into stars which the other Monsters flowed into, an even more spectacular-looking swordsman resulting from them [ATK: 3300].
"Yuya…" Celina muttered.
Yuya wasn't even looking at Yugo or Celina. No, his eyes were permanently transfixed on Clear Wing Synchro Dragon. Yuya suddenly cried out, throwing his hand forward. "Now I'll reveal Zuzu's face-down card, Broken Spotlight, to negate the effects of all Monsters you have out on the field!" the light around Yugo's dragon dimmed, its wings cracking.
"My dragon…!" Yugo winced.
Yuya dropped to his knees, gasping and laughing. "Now! Battle Phase! Nirvana High Paladin attacks Clear Wing Synchro Dragon! Elysium Eradication!" a wave of purple light came from Nirvana High Paladin's sword, slicing through Clear Wing Synchro Dragon and just barely missing Yugo himself.
[Yugo & Celina: 3900 LP]
Yuya got to his feet, clutching his left shoulder. "When Nirvana High Paladin destroys a Monster by battle, I can cut your Life Points in half!" he shouted, Celina getting knocked off her feet from the shockwaves. Yugo on the other hand stood strong, screaming out much as Yuya had done.
[Yugo & Celina: 1950 LP]
Eventually Yugo's cries were silenced, and he dropped his head, body seeming to go limp for a moment. Celina's bracelet flickered with a light much like Zuzu's, the two seeming to reverberate off of each other.
"The magician longs to see…" Yuya panted, heaving long breaths as he seemed to struggle to speak. "One chants out between two worlds… Fire… walk with me…" Yuya continued to breathe lengthily, heavily, hands trembling ever so slightly.
"What the Hell's going on here…?" Celina muttered, drawing. "You told me you wanted to spread the joy of Entertainment Dueling to everyone here in the Synchro Dimension! What changed, Yuya?!" Celina called to her opponent and fellow Lancer.
"Yuya, you're acting very strange." Zuzu agreed, "This isn't like you!"
"He didn't stop… you didn't stop when I asked… begged… pleaded…" Yuya smirked. "But that's what we wanted, isn't it…? To fight…" he muttered, his eyes meeting Yugo's, the two boys standing across from each other almost in a trance.
"Yuya-"
"Make your move, Celina…" Yuya said coolly.
Celina groaned. "I activate Polymerization, fusing the Lunalight Purple Butterfly in my hand with the Lunalight White Rabbit on my field! Butterfly with violet poison, together with the lively white rabbit illuminated by moonlight! Swarm in a vortex of the moon's gravity and revive with a new power! Fusion Summon! Come forth! Lunalight Cat Dancer!" Celina's Monsters rose into the air, swirling around each other to form a scantily-clad sultry-sounding pink-skinned catgirl [DEF: 2000]. "That's all I can do for this turn…"
Zuzu drew, and as the camera zoomed in for a close-up, I could tell she didn't want the Duel to go on for much longer. Both hers and Celina's hands were shaking, the lights from their bracelets intensifying. "Yuya-"
Yuya suddenly broke his gaze from Yugo, his eyes dark and cloudy as his attention snapped to Zuzu. "You are the one who scattered my essence. Do not meddle, just fight. You and I will have our moment soon…!"
"Yuya, what are you talking about…?" Zuzu groaned before having to turn away completely from the immense light coming from her bracelet.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we seem to be-" Melissa's voice was suddenly silenced as the image on screen changed to a set of color bars with the words 'Technical Difficulties Please Stand By' across the screen, along with a singular high-pitched tone ringing in my ears. The suddenness of it actually scared me a little bit.
I didn't know what to do. I just sat there watching it. I waited for several minutes just watching, expecting something else to happen, but nothing did. Eventually, I got up and walked over to the window, looking out at the stadium, a storm of electric black visible in the distance.