I forgot to mention this in the previous chapter, but Cyber Dragon Novus is Limited due to its sheer card advantage. Pot of Greed is a plus 1 and it's already too broken to ever be unbanned, now imagine the chaos of Novus when its FRICKING PLUS 2! The only reason it's not banned is because Novus is archetype-specific, and archetypes come and go. Verstarkung is Semi-Limited.
Okay, I know that Pot of Greed says "Draw 2 cards." but it's only a Plus 1 because it's a Spell Card, a single use, and it doesn't stay on the field. Novus is a monster, stays on the field, and can perform other functions, thus a Plus 2.
In addition, Galaxy-Eyes Neutron Dragon and Galaxy-Eyes Noble Dragon are also Limited.
As a matter of fact, if a made-up card sounds too broken to be used in a duel, assume it's Limited unless proven otherwise.
Also, if you REALLY like what you're reading, please support me on SubscribeStar at:
www. subscribestar jackwayne (remove the spaces.)
Just $1 a month to keep me going!
"Insect Queen attacks you directly!"
[ATK Metamorphosed Insect Queen: EARTH LV/7 Insect/Effect ATK/2800 DEF/2400]
"Not if I have anything to say about it. As a matter of fact, I do!" Dylan proclaimed. Hand slammed on the table, fist tightened up to his face. Glory awaited. "I'm going to say the N-word!"
"Mrs. Obama, get down!" One of the two guys across the table ducked with his arms covering his head. Face fake-trembling with fake fear, arms up as shields preparing for the inevitable bomb that would drop out of Dylan's mouth.
"Negaaaaaaated!" Dylan emphasized as he banished the Electromagnetic Turtle from his graveyard. "Your battle phase is negated!"
"You can't say that! That's racist!" Over-the-top, ecstatic, and out of his mind.
Raymond sat there dumbfounded.
"I can do what I Goddamn please, Skippy!" Dylan tucking his leather collar up, speaking into it similar to some super spy. "Kowalski, analysis."
"Your constant usage of dead memes has increased your chances of victory by three hundred ninety nine percent." The totally-not-Dylan's robotic voice said.
The other guy clapped his hands together and motioned his body up high. "If only our almighty Jinzo, destroyer of internet memes, would save us!"
Was this some sort of inside joke? And what the hell is a meme? And weren't they in a duel? When the heck had this become some kind of self-deprecating fest for elite snobs who think they're higher than Raymond because they understand inside jokes? Did that make sense?
Raymond dozed off into a daydream, letting the guys have their own version of jokes. Several hours have passed since the start of the tournament. Obviously, since they were still here meant that they haven't lost yet. By the way this duel was going, it wasn't going to change anytime soon.
Sure, Raymond and Dylan had no monsters on their side and the other team controls a retrained Insect Queen and a very big dinosaur with thirty-five hundred attack points that can flip all their monsters face-down. But they've been in tougher situations before.
Huh. That phrase felt wrong. It was something he would say as he thought about something that happened a long time ago, not something just a few hours ago. It felt so long ago however, when Raymond looked outside the window. It was evening, as in the sun was glowing red and orange rather than the usual shine. Technically, no one could see the Sun because of the silhouettes of New York City, but the effect was there.
Boy, had the game changed. When he stopped playing, players could draw on their first turn, destroyed by battle effects were pretty viable, and the gameplay in general was a whole lot slower. The only monsters in the extra deck were Fusions, Synchros, and Xyzs.
Which lead to one of the most outrageous things he had ever discovered. During one of the duels, Raymond figured out why there was a red arrow on the far right and a blue arrow on the far left. It resembled like a decoration on the mats, such as a political statement: Red for Republicans and blue for Democrats.
Imagine his shock when he discovered a Pendulum card.
Why was the bottom half of the monster card green? Why did the monster have two sets of effect boxes? What were those red and blue numbers? So many questions suddenly popped up from just looking at a card.
Those fake Yu-Gi-Oh cards with spell cards that had levels were years ahead of their time.
Then for no apparent reasons at all, the player from that past duel just took a bunch of cards from his extra deck and summoned them all to his monster zones. Okay, that was where Raymond got lost.
Apparently, what he witnessed was a Pendulum Summon.
Once per turn, the turn player could special summon any number of monsters whose levels were between the Pendulum Scales simultaneously.
And what were Pendulum Scales? It was the numbers under the red and blue arrows on the card. Pendulum cards could be summoned as a monster or activated as spell cards in the pendulum zones.
And they go face-up in the extra deck instead of the graveyard to be summoned back later.
What. The. Hell?
There was no freaking way he was going to go through the trouble of destroying those monsters only for them to revive next turn with no cost at all!
Summoning a bunch of monsters in one turn by game mechanics only should be against the rules.
Who thought of this!? There's no way someone in Konami could have ever thought that was a great idea. Geez, they must've been high from smoking all the weed to even think this was a great idea. There is no way Raymond could ever win against something like that; every time he destroyed a monster, they'd just keep coming back.
A day back into the game and he was already confused. What other idiotic things did Konami do? An erotic Castlevania game? Some sort of zombie-based Metal Gear Solid? Shitty mobile games? No! They wouldn't do that! ... Hopefully... Somebody should tell its president to put down the pipe and the weed; he may be smoking too much of it.
Couldn't let this new Pendulum Mechanic deter him; Konami's game meant Konami's rules, and he didn't come this far away from home just to turn back. Until he got what he wanted, he must suck it up and deal with the broken game.
"Novak…" A muffled voice spoke into his conscience. "Novak!"
Raymond flinched. Dylan was waving his hand right in front of Raymond's face.
"It's your turn, Novak."
"Oh right." Novak drew a card. "Sorry."
[TURN 13 Raymond Novak LP/2600 Hand/2 — 3]
First thing's first: Ultimate Conductor Tyranno. Once per turn, during either player's Main Phase: it could destroy one monster in its side of the field or hand, and if their opponents did this, it could change all face-up monsters they control to face-down Defense Position. That was definitely a major blockade to overcome already. Add it on with thirty-five hundred attack points, and it was virtually an indestructible wall.
So far, the head count was three monsters: Metamorphosed Insect Queen, Ultimate Conductor Tyranno, and Giant Rex. Raymond knew that the one card the dinosaur player had in his hand was Miscellaneousaurus. After all, the guy added it from the graveyard on a previous turn.
Quick refresher: during either player's Main Phase, Miscellaneousaurus could be sent from the hand to the graveyard, during this Main Phase, Dinosaur-Type monsters the other team control were unaffected by Raymond's activated effects. Best chance was to destroy it during the Battle Phase—
Wait, no. What the heck was he thinking? The partner's life points had already hit zero. Damn, Raymond was confused for a minute. He had to remember that although the other guy could use his defeated partner's monsters, he could not use the guy's hand as it was not in 'Public Knowledge'.
He still had to deal with Tyranno's face-down effect. Most logical conclusion was that its effect would be activated in the Battle Phase.
Dylan had a field spell card that grants all light attribute they control a thousand attack points when attacking a monster of higher stats. So, he needed a light attribute monster with at least twenty-six hundred attack points.
Well, hopefully, it'd go as smooth as he played out in his mind.
"By paying 1000 LP, I can Special Summon Galaxy Kaiser Dragon from my hand!" Raymond started.
[ATK Galaxy Kaiser Dragon: LIGHT LV/6 Dragon/Effect ATK/2500 DEF/1000]
[TURN 13 Raymond Novak LP/2600 — 1600 Hand/2]
"Straight to the Battle Phase!" Raymond declared. "Kaiser Dragon attacks Tyranno! And by Sanctuary of Light, it gains one thousand attack points!"
"Tyranno's effect activates!" The owner destroyed Giant Rex. If he didn't, Kaiser's effect would kick off when destroyed to add one Galaxy or Photon monster from deck to hand. Sanctuary of Light would trigger as well, letting him special summon a light attribute monster of the same type the moment Kaiser was destroyed.
Just as predicted.
"I activate the trap card, High Spell Aria!" If a spell card's activation or effect was negated by an opponent's card effect during his turn, it could activate this card from his hand. High Spell Aria allowed him to target one spell card in his grave—Normal, Quick-Play, or Ritual—and banish it. The card's effect would become that spell card's effect when that card would be activated. "Monster Reborn!"
[ATK Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon: LIGHT LV/8 Dragon/Effect ATK/3000 DEF/2500]
It was Raymond's dragon. His Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon was the only copy that wasn't first edition.
"Attack!"
[TURN 13 Kuykendall LP/0 — 0 Hand/1]
Damn shame that the damage was still going to Kuykendall instead of his partner. "I end my turn."
[TURN 13 Raymond Novak LP/1600 Hand/2]
[TURN 14 Rob LP/2100 Hand/1 —2]
"From my hand, I equip Parasite Paranoid to your Galaxy-Eyes!" Rob said.
[ATK Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon: LIGHT LV/8 Dragon — Insect/Effect ATK/3000 DEF/2500]
Here they go again. Rob tried this before and it was dealt with the very next turn. The threat of his glorious Galaxy-Eyes becoming a petty insect, denied of its attack, and cannot activate its effect that targeted insect monsters, was a frightening one. Until he realized that he could literally just use it to Xyz summon a better monster.
So yes, not really a good draw for their opponent, which obvious was good for Raymond.
"I activate Cocoon of Ultra Evolution! I tribute Photon Dragon to special summon Super Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth from my deck, ignoring its Summoning conditions!"
[ATK Super Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth: EARTH LV/8 Insect/Effect ATK/3500 DEF/3000]
Raymond would like to take that statement back.
And what kind of idiotic name was Super Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth? Must've been an executive employee who said, 'Screw it' and handed the naming process to his five-year-old son who proceeded to add on as many adjectives as possible without it taking up too much space. Of course, he failed, and Raymond was going to call him out on it, regardless of the age.
"Then, by banishing Cocoon from my grave, I target and shuffle one insect monster from my grave into my deck, then draw one card." Rob was not satisfied with the card he drew. Luck was on Raymond's side. Dare he call it luck, or the… thing he most despised? "Insect Queen attacks Galaxy Kaiser Dragon!"
"Galaxy Kaiser Dragon allows me to add my second Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon to my hand!" And it was Reynalda's card. There was a little scratch on the edge of the card to confirm it. It was so little that a person had to specially look for it to find it, but it was there. He had chosen it to remind himself that she was always with him. "And Sanctuary of Light lets me special summon Galaxy-Eyes Neutron Dragon under the condition that it can't activate its effects this turn!"
[DEF Galaxy-Eyes Neutron Dragon: LIGHT LV/8 Dragon/Effect ATK/2500 DEF/2000]
"Super Moth attacks Neutron Dragon!" Rob entered Main Phase Two but did nothing. "I end."
[TURN 14 Rob LP/2100 Hand/1]
[TURN 15 Dylan Trudeau LP/4900 Hand/0 — 1]
"I set one card and end my turn."
Guess even Dylan didn't have fancy and complex moves every turn. Most of his monsters were banished, which was bad since the graveyard was a core element in his strategy. All copies of his Chimeratech Rampage Dragons were banished, as well as Megafleet and many others, so there was no possible way he could repeat his formula. That first twenty-one damage was from Power Bond and the remaining thousand was for life points cost.
From that, Raymond could infer that Dylan really doesn't like taking damage from his opponents, especially when his own cards could damage it. Cards like Power Bond, Soul Charge, Solemn Strike, etc.
That was something indeed to be noted.
[TURN 16 Rob LP/2100 Hand/1 — 2]
"All-out attack!"
"I activate Cyberload Fusion!" Dylan was quick to erect a metaphoric wall to defend himself from the monsters that was about to end his life.
[DEF Cyber Eternity Dragon: LIGHT LV/10 Machine/Fusion/Effect ATK/2800 DEF/4000]
Classic move. Cyberload Fusion was Dylan's go-to spell card whenever in a tough situation. However, with no fusion monsters in his graveyard, Eternity was as vulnerable as the Great Wall when the Mongols invaded like hordes of insects. How poetic.
"Super Moth's effect activates! For each time you summon a monster, I can equip an insect monster from my deck, hand, or grave to it! I choose Parasite Paranoid!"
[DEF Cyber Eternity Dragon: LIGHT LV/10 Machine — Insect/Fusion/Effect ATK/2800 DEF/4000]
Rob wasn't pleased. "I end."
[TURN 16 Rob LP/2100 Hand/1]
[TURN 17 Raymond Novak LP/1600 Hand/2 — 3]
Yes! He drew the card he needed!
"I activate Galaxy Zero!" Raymond declared. "I get to special summon back my Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon with its effects negated and attacks neutralized!"
But it wouldn't matter. With his dragon back to the field and his sister's card in his hand, his victory was assured. Once he merges them together, they would be unstoppable. "I now activate Polymerization! I fuse the Photon Dragon in my hand and the Photon Dragon on my field to fusion summon Galaxy-Eyes Supernova Dragon!"
[ATK Galaxy-Eyes Supernova Dragon: LIGHT LV/10 Dragon/Fusion/Effect ATK/3000 DEF/2500]
"Attack Super Moth!"
"Wha—?" Rob was puzzled. No doubt, it'd be pointless to attack with a weaker monster; common sense dictated it. But Rob was smart, he quickly recovered as he figured out it must be Supernova's effect that made Raymond this bold.
"Supernova's effect activates! When it battles, I can banish both monsters!"
"What good does that do?" Rob chuckled. Although Rob lost his monster, at least his life points were safe. Not for long, of course.
"When Supernova is banished, it special summons itself!"
"Oh shit…" With nothing to stand in the way of him and his sister…
"Galaxy-Eyes Supernova Dragon attacks you directly!"
[TURN 16 Rob LP/2100 — 0 Hand/1]
"Alright!" Dylan cheered, raising his hand for a high-five. The other team weren't so happy, and Dylan's good mood was only rubbing the salt on their wounds. "Come on, don't leave me hanging!"
Reluctantly, Raymond returned the gesture.
"Good game." Rob and his partner offered their handshake.
"Good game." Raymond and Dylan accepted.
"It was fun while it lasted." Kuykendall sighed. "Guess it's back to janitorial duties."
"I really thought we really had a chance…" Rob said to Kuykendall as they walked away with their stuff.
The place wasn't as crowded as when it was the morning; most players were done with their duels and the people that remained were trading cards. Which was a damn good thing because Holy shit, some people had no sense nor concept of personal hygiene.
Understandable if they had to work out for a body like his. Inexcusable when the majority of them were fat. And by method unimaginable, they smelled worse than the locker rooms. No amount of nice personalities would convince him to hang out with those people. Yes, pitiful and repulsive.
"That was the last duel of the day, right?" Raymond asked. It better be, since dinner time was approaching fast and his stomach growled, though not out loud. He skipped lunch already, so if Dylan told him that it wasn't, then Raymond would lose his mind.
"Yep." Dylan had no idea of the crisis he just averted. "We're finally free to go cruising!"
"We?" Raymond questioned as he packed up everything and carried his backpack.
"Yeah… uh… I hope it's we." Dylan was a little concerned that he came off creepy. Let's be honest, he kind of did. "I just thought that maybe we should get to know each other a little bit more."
Absolutely not. First of all, that sounded gay. Yes, Raymond was using the word gay; he would not apologize for his words. Second, Raymond was freaking tired. Third, it might take hours for him to find a good spot that wouldn't leave him robbed naked; if he wanted to sleep without worry, he needed to start searching right now.
"I don't have any other friends here," Dylan continued. "They… uh… really don't share my enthusiasm for the game."
…Raymond mentally sighed. Pitiful little bird. Suppose he could hang out with him to pay back what Dylan did for him. "Okay, we'll go cruising."
Dylan's face lit—oh why was Raymond surprised? "Yeah, maybe we should—"
"THIS IS FUCKING BULLSHIT!" A behemoth of a shriek erupted from somewhere in the facility, amplified by the echoey nature of their surroundings.
Raymond and Dylan's animalistic instincts kicked into overdrive. Raymond was up and ready to defend himself, fixing himself into a stance without his mind needing a second to tell his body so. Dylan though, was more than ready to run away from the potential threat.
"YOU FUCKING CHEATED!" That voice shrieked out again. It was coming from Raymond's left, from a group of four guys around a table with cards laid upon it. Must be a duel dispute then; none of his business as far as he was concerned.
"YO, JUDGE!" One guy yelled out to another guy from across the row of tables. Raymond didn't want to even describe the appearance of the man mentally in case he would accuse himself for being… let's just say stereotypical. "DISQUALIFY THIS BITCH!"
Wow, what a mature way for adults to take this precious flower of a man seriously. Keep it up and he just might win a Nobel Prize.
"Oi, a win's a win, mate." Another man retorted. British, by the sound of it because Raymond had a better chance of finding a dead American than an American that uses 'Oi' in a sentence. "You don't have to get your crappers in a bunch."
"CUT THAT SHIT OUT!" The stereotype screamed back. "I'MA POUND THAT SMUG-ASS GRIN OFF YO MOTHERFUCKING FACE!"
Security was immediately on the move. How effective they would be, was up in the air. They didn't look exactly in shape, and the out-of-control monkey looked to be someone who could put up a fight or two. By Raymond's experienced estimations, it would take about five or six security guys to subdue him, now that the inept was fully aware of the situation he helped to create.
British guy got to have a lot of guts to just sit there all smug. He was collecting his cards though, as he wasn't that confident in his abilities to take on a guy off his meds.
"Let's get out of here before things get ugly." Raymond said. But Dylan didn't move; he was fixated on the British guy for some reason. Raymond tried to gently pull Dylan away, but that didn't work either. It got to the point where Raymond had to forcefully drag Dylan away from the scene.
Good thing too, because things did get ugly. And they would've been in the crossfires.
The guy sure acted all tough, but his skills were quite lacking. He did manage to get a couple of hits in before security nabbed him. From then on, he was trying to fight off the security. Good luck with that, as only more back-up came in to restrain the lunatic.
"YOU AIN'T GONNA GET YO-SELF OUT OF THIS, YA HEAR!?"
Jesus Christ, this moron must be a disappointment. Did he still need his mommy to be called in at his age? Maybe all he needed was a change of diapers.
The British man strolled off, seemingly okay with the outburst. But nevermind that; Raymond's priority was to protect Dylan from danger than to settle the little squabble himself.
"That was quite a show." Raymond tried to lighten up the mood. Not really a show compared to his experiences though. "It's not like you get to see that every day, isn't that right, Trudeau?"
"Yeah." Dylan mumbled, disgruntled.
Raymond picked up on something. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, it's just that…" This was the first time he had seen Dylan angry; what was with the British guy that could tick off everyone? "That guy is Travis E. Lawrence."
Which one? There was four men over there; Dylan would have to be more specific. The name didn't ring a bell either. Was Raymond supposed to know who he was? "Who's Travis E. Lawrence?"
"King of Games."
Raymond froze.
"First place world champion for two years in a row." Dylan sneered. Yes, Raymond saw that right, he wasn't hallucinating. Dylan fricking sneered. "He's always so Goddamn lucky."
"You sound like you hate the guy."
"I guess you can say that." Dylan confessed, much to Raymond's surprise. This Travis guy must've done something so terrible that made a jolly man like Dylan to hate him.
"Why?"
"I told you, he's incredibly lucky."
Raymond looked at him puzzled.
"Like impossibly lucky."
Raymond was stilled puzzled.
"Winning lottery jackpot twice lucky."
Oh. "Wait, seriously?"
"I don't understand why someone would buy an eight hundred dollars shoes if nobody would see them under the table." Dylan went off to his own world. "Or hundred dollars of cufflinks nobody else is going to know is there."
Raymond didn't want to say it, but Dylan sounded like a communist right at that moment. Hating someone for being more fortunate than him? Surely, Dylan was above the pettiness. "You have to hate something else about him; you can't be hating him only because he's more fortunate than you."
Dylan sighed. "I know I'm not supposed to, but if you're me and you've known him as long as I known him, then you'd be feeling the same way."
"Doubt it." Raymond said. It saddened Dylan that Raymond did not understand why he hated Travis so much. Based on his choice of words, Raymond could assume that there had been some bad history between the two. Being an outsider who had no more than a day's reputation, he had no right to probe. Also, it wasn't like he cared too much.
The only thing he should care about was that this Travis E. Lawrence was two-time World Champion. "Look, we don't need to linger on that Travis guy; remember what we're going to do?"
"Yeah, yeah, you're right." Dylan gave in, trying to smile again. He patted Raymond on the back. "Let's go have some fun."
"Say… what do you have in mind?"
"I don't know," Dylan said. "Would you like to just wander around the big city until we find something to do?"
Raymond smiled back. "I would certainly like to."
"You look terrible."
Dylan huffed, and puffed, and blew his breath out. Hand on the rails, barely able to stand. Sweat was running down his face and his body was burning, hot and steamy. Face ran red too, almost giving up as he half-heartedly glowered at Raymond.
"Want to take a break?"
"One… more… round…" Dylan struggles to get the words out. Something clogged his throat, and Raymond best guess was over-saturated amount of thick mucus. Easy to tell, since he could hear Dylan trying to breathe through the snot.
Raymond chuckled at Dylan's feeble attempt to beat him. "You may be better than me at card games, but when it comes to stamina and endurance, I am the master."
Faster reflexes too, he didn't add. Dylan was a fool to challenge Raymond to a game of Dance Dance Revolution. Now he would show this mortal what it feels like to be totally humiliated by a superior deity!
"Actually…" Dylan sighed, as he collapsed with his leg giving way to the strain it accumulated. "I… concur…"
Damn. There went his victory lap.
Dylan was a… pretty chill guy, according to the terms of how the idiots back during high school would refer to it. They did wander around the big city for an hour or so, visiting Times Square to experience just how clustered everyone was. Surprisingly, even when they were both adults—well technically, Dylan was a year younger, so only Raymond was legally the adult—they still got lost sight of each other for a short period of time. It was the perfect hunting ground for a very naive child.
Next was Grand Central Terminal. So many movies took place in here; Raymond had to visit it. Besides, it also gave this little steampunk kind of feeling, a glimpse to the founding years of what New York had been. If one could ignore the modern people walking around, then he could definitely delude himself to think he's a time traveler.
Places here and places there. Raymond had to confess, he was enjoying his time here. He hadn't had this much enjoyment in years. The last time he was this way was when—
No. Shouldn't have thought about that time. Let's just focus on the good things at the moment. It was a good evening out.
Oh, except for that one douchebag that tried to sell them Staten Island ferry tickets. Dylan may have been tricked hook, line, and sinker, but Raymond could smell the deceit. Just a low-time crook who went around scamming people for their money. Being around so many people like this, Raymond could instantly tell the difference between an honest one and a scumbag one.
Dylan almost bought one too, up to forty dollars' worth, but Raymond stopped him. 'It's a special offer,' that scum said, 'You won't get this kind of discount anywhere else,' it said. Turns out that the ferries were free, absolutely no charge at all.
So, right now, they were at a Dave & Busters. It was supposed to be all in good fun, but the moment Dylan got into a game with him, it was forgotten, replaced with determination to beat Raymond on every single machine they came across. A small crowd had gathered to watch, partly for the high score, mostly to get a laugh of how erratic Dylan desperately danced to show off how much of an equal he was to Raymond.
And boy, was Dylan bad at almost everything else besides card games. Connect Four? Raymond beated him at the ratio of ten-to-one. Pac-Man? The ghosts ate him before he even cleared the first round, and no, easy mode did not count. Galaga? Too disorientating. Dylan kept on challenging him to new games, because there must be something he was better than Raymond at.
Raymond won each of them, of course, as he always should. Sometimes, a man like Dylan just needed to accept that he was inferior… in some ways.
"Next time," Dylan growled as he got down. "You have to be cheating. You have to be."
"A common excuse for a common man." Raymond smirked.
Huh. It's been a while since he did that, for somebody else other than family. An era ago, from a memory's perspective.
"Oooh!" Dylan wagged his finger back and forth. "Your pride will be your downfall!"
"Sure it will," Raymond dismissed. "Though I'm not the one who embarrassed himself by tripping over the edge on round two."
"Damn it, I thought we agreed that it's a common mistake that shouldn't be focused on!" Dylan flustered.
Raymond had to admit, he thought all arcades were just a place of mindless music trying to be hip with the kids and constant flashing lights that hurt everyone's eyes. Then again, that may be the kid-oriented places only; this was an adult palace for those who wanted to revisit their childhood. There was no other reason as to why else would there be a bar serving alcohol right next to the arcade with no barriers whatsoever.
Speaking of which, was complete bullshit. Raymond old enough to pick up a gun and fight in a war but too young to drink? Come on, he wanted to try at least once. No, nevermind, scratch that. Reynalda would be pissed if she found out and doing so would disrespect Mom.
"So, what should we do now?" Dylan asked once they were alone.
Raymond simply thought they should just more onto the next game, but then he remembered that they played all the games. Suddenly, the thought of just how much money had Dylan spend for him to join was too much. They should stop here for today.
"You look really tired." Raymond tried to play it as it was beneficial to Dylan, instead of Raymond trying to relieve himself of some guilt. "Maybe we should just head out and call it a night."
"You kidding?" Dylan slapped Raymond on the back. "This is New York City! NEW YORK CITY! Last time I've came here was when I was ten! I'm going to experience everything it has to offer! Food, places, rides, and if I'm lucky, a girl!"
"A girl, huh?" Raymond held back his chuckle. It was not meant to be an offense to Dylan, but he must accept the reality of that notion. He was staying for only up to three days, then he must return home. Good luck convincing a girl to move out of her home in three days. Long-distance relationships never work.
He could have a one-night stand, but aside from the fact that Dylan was absolutely not a lady-killer, it was also pointless other than disenfranchise his ability to bond when he did want to settle down. And yes, he was trusting his mother's wisdom on this one.
"Then name one of your charms." Raymond challenged, folding his arms.
"Uh… what?"
"You heard me." Raymond returned the gesture by slapping back. "If you want to get a girlfriend, then you're going to need something to attract her with."
Because whether he liked it or not, friendships are a form of trade. One can do a favor for the other in exchange for a waiver to call in an equivalent debt in the future. If other pulled an idiotic 'Friends should just help each other without expecting anything,' then that friendship was doomed to fail, no matter how hard one tried.
Now upgrade that to romantic relationships, and the costs would guarantee to skyrocket.
"Well, I'm nice, loving, patient—"
"Funny and reliable too?"
"How did you know?"
"Trudeau, this isn't the first time a guy listed off his generic traits to me." Well, also the nice and reliable part was based on the fact that Raymond wouldn't be here without Dylan's help, which he was thankful for. But it came from naivety, which was just asking for people to trample him under their feet. It was better for Dylan in the future to not list niceness as a quality, at least not that quick. "Everything you just said can be provided by every other guy."
Dylan began to nervously chuckle. "I'm sure all you need is love—"
"'I have no job, no house, no car, but I'm totally sure my heart is enough to get us through anything, baby!'" Raymond parroted. "'You should just love me for who I am!', 'My past doesn't matter!', 'I'm not that guy anymore!', 'If you can't handle me at my worst, then you don't deserve me at my best!'"
Dylan grimly winced at the words as if they were punches to his guts. It resonated with him, and not the good kind.
"You see how bad that sounds, right?"
"You have a very skewed view of love, Novak." Dylan accused. Now he was on the defensive. "I'm sure you've just had some bad experiences, but I'm sure you know not—"
"Not all?" Raymond finished for him. "Like I said Trudeau, this isn't my first rodeo. General does not mean no exceptions. So come on, what's you charm?"
"Well, I… I…" Dylan was stunned. Visibly sweating a little bit. Body became fidgety as the seconds dragged on. "I don't know…"
"Come on, you must have some rare qualities." It really seemed like Dylan had a confidence issue, which was rather a surprise to Raymond. He had no problem sending that girl a text, so what was the problem? Supposed it could be Raymond's fault that he pointed out how far off the target Dylan actually was when he tried to flirt, but better truth than lies.
"I…" Dylan stuttered. "I really don't…"
Raymond really had his work cut out for him. He scanned the area, particularly at the bar section of the arcade. There were plenty of women to choose from, but most of them were either low-quality, too old, or holding a fake ID. So, Raymond searched harder, much to Dylan's confusion. He didn't stop until spotted a woman sitting by the bartender, drinking her watermelon mango margarita.
She was just sitting there, alone, waiting for a man to make a move on her. Soft fingers held up her chin as the other set skated around the circumference of her glass. Raymond followed the imaginary line of direction as he slid his eyesight upon her slender neck. She sat with her legs crossed, tightening the hold of her jeans over her thick thighs. That shirt she wore may not be the prettiest of outfits, but it worked if her goal was to display a modest and good robust.
Perfect.
"Psttt," Raymond leaned in to whisper, pulling Dylan closer. "Don't react, but there's a girl who's been watching you for the last five minutes."
"There is?" Dylan's head, ignoring Raymond's clear instructions, instantly swiveled. Raymond had to deliver a hard elbow hit so deep into Dylan's side that a permanent bulge would've been formed out of the other end. That didn't stop Dylan though, as the prospect of a secret admirer made him invulnerable to pain. "You're not lying to me, are you?"
Honestly, he was. The lady had no interest in Dylan; he was just another face in the crowd. But by making him think there was, Dylan could build some confidence and not borderline arrogance like he did with the text girl.
"I said don't react! Jesus…" Raymond dodged the question.
"Kind of hard not to when you say something like that…" Dylan whispered back, adding in a fake cough to be extra-careful. "O-Okay… is she hot?"
"Oh yes, definitely." Blonde, feminine, clear skin, good hip-to-waist ratio, noticeable bust size, and most of all, a pretty face. All men's dream girl. "I've that look before; she's trying to not look like she's obviously watching you."
"Really?" Dylan was excited. Very excited. Holy crap, it was growing.
"See for yourself." Raymond spun Dylan faster than the washing machine spinning its clothes. Missed Raymond with that kind of shit.
"I thought you said she was looking!" Dylan cried.
"What part of 'Trying to not make it obvious' do you not understand?"
"Oh, right."
If she was bait, then Dylan fell for it hook, line, and sinker. Raymond could see himself biting the bait, if he lacked the tutor of living with two women for more than eighteen years of his life. Experience was a bitter teacher, indeed. This woman was nothing special, inferior in fact, when compared to his mother and sister. They held themselves with dignity, she didn't.
"She looks like she's twenty-one though…" Dylan was seventeen, almost eighteen, so a four-year difference. "Do you think she'll go with a younger guy like me?"
No.
"You'll never know if you never try. There are such things as cougars, Trudeau."
"But what if—"
"You'll come off like a creep?" Raymond guessed. And by the way how Dylan looked astonished, he guessed right. Raymond was a prophet tonight, wasn't he? "Trudeau, trust me when I say this: being 'creepy' is an inevitable part of your age learning to speak to women you're interested in. You shouldn't allow women who've never had to be the pursuer shame you for trying and not being perfect at it on your first try."
"But I couldn't name a single charming thing about myself…"
"Use the most out of what you do have." Raymond patted him on the back. "After this, we're going to work on that self-esteem of yours, Trudeau. It's a universal turn-off."
Dylan was still hesitant, but nevertheless, he braved it out and marched towards the woman with a smile on his face. Once he realized that he was smiling too much, he tried reeling it back. Dylan might be nervous, but that wasn't enough to stop him. Eventually, he found himself on the stool next to her, ready to mingle.
Raymond felt guilty for sending such a tender and mild sheep to the slaughter.
Though not to fear, when Dylan was doing quite well for himself at first. By quite well, he meant that she didn't looked like she wanted to tell him to piss off nor wanted out of the conversation. Did she looked like she was interested? Hell no. Dylan didn't pick up on her cues however, and he continued.
Bad it was, it was going as expected.
Oh, looked like Dylan finally picked up that he was boring her, and now trying to tell a story. Hopefully made-up and convincing at the same time, otherwise it'd be the riskiest play he made so far. It didn't seem it paid off that well, however, she was more engaged to the interaction by a margin.
This was good. Dylan found a good pace and she wasn't that disinterested. Raymond should've given Dylan more credit than he initially did. Step by step, he moved in closer to actually hear what they were saying without appearing like he was approaching because he wanted to talk to her as well. It'd be a shitty thing for any man to do and he'd ruin any chance Dylan would have.
Not to brag, but being over six feet, fellow blonde, blue eyes, and a bodybuilder's body compared to the common features of the common man? Yes, Dylan wouldn't stand a chance.
"Sorry love, that took longer than expected." A British accent cut into the conversation. The newcomer handed a new glass of margarita to her, then was surprised to see another man trying to flirt with her, just as the other man was surprised by the newcomer. "Dylan?"
Wait, what the hell?
Dylan groaned, clearly irritated. All sense of pleasantry evaporated the second the newcomer showed his face. "Travis…"
"You two know each other?" She asked, pointing them to each other.
"Why yes, love," Travis put his arm around her. She didn't resist. She enjoyed it. And she giggled when its fingers began walking down her body. Oh no… Oh no. "Dylan here is an old pal, isn't that right?"
Dylan's brow twitched. "Not really."
"Ouch, that hurts, mate." Travis laughed it off. Although she didn't laugh as he did, she did take it as light-hearted banter between assumed friends.
Dylan wasn't taking it as so. "What are you doing here?"
"Having fun! Same as you. I was just talking to this lovely lady when I unfortunately had to take a sponsorship call." Travis shook his head. "You can't take much of a break these days when you're a superstar like me."
"You call that unfortunate?" She teased, booping his nose. Oh God, Travis already had her under his thumb before Dylan could make a move, if she felt comfortable enough to make physical contact.
"When compared to not having time to talk to you, gorgeous?" He teased back. "Do I even have to answer that?"
They continued to flirt with each other for the next minute. Right in front of Dylan. Travis knew full well what he was doing.
This did it, this was the moment Raymond knew exactly why other men hated him. It'd be one thing for him to affirm that he was trying out his chances with her before Dylan came; Raymond was fine with getting in line of first come, first serve. What he wasn't fine with was Travis being a Goddamn son of a bitch who didn't care about letting the other men gently down and instead opt to rub it well in their faces.
Nonetheless, it didn't change the fact that this was a lost cause now.
"How about we call a cab?" Travis leaned into her ear, though not a whisper. His malice was clear as day. He pulled her in closer, leaving no room for escape, not that she wanted to. Wherever he moved, she followed. Together, they got off their seats and proceeded to the exit.
Meanwhile, Raymond came up to him, putting his hand on Dylan's shoulder. Dylan barely looked back at Raymond. He was defeated.
"It's okay," Raymond sighed. He truly felt pity. "Just because you failed this time, doesn't mean it'll be like this forever. Just remember what I've said and don't give up."
Sudden, something came over Dylan when Raymond said that. He immediately dashed towards the exit too. He cared little for the other people standing in his way. "Wait!"
Travis and his date stopped and turned around to see Dylan behind them, furious.
"One game."
"Pardon me?"
"Since we're such good 'pals'," Much emphasis on the last word. "How about one game with me?"
What the hell was Dylan doing!? This only makes him look like a sore loser and a 'nice guy' to be laughed at, ridiculed, and slandered for 'expecting her to owe him sex because he was nice to her' even though common sense dictated nobody thinks like that! Raymond chased after him, dreading the aftermath if he didn't reel Dylan in and pull him back to his sense.
Travis, however, was amused. He cooed to her, "I'm terribly sorry love, but do you mind waiting just a wee bit longer?"
She shook her head. "Not at all."
"I promise this won't take long." Travis kissed her on the cheek. "Alright Dylan, we can play one game. You want play Rambo? Air hockey? Mario Kart? What do you want?"
Dylan unbuckled the deck-box attached to his belt and slammed it down on an empty table. Gently.
"A duel, eh?" Travis folded his arms. "And how do you know I brought my deck with me?"
"Because your luck allows you to have everything you need whenever you need them." Dylan increasingly became venomous.
"You know me too well."
Travis unbuckled his own deck-box and gently placed it down on the same table. They both took a seat, as Raymond and the woman stood there and watched on.
"Let's duel."
That's right! Another cliffhanger! Sorry about that.
Disclaimer: The second part is the way it is because I'm expanding on what I've written in the A/N in the previous chapter. It's essential to the plot. Trust me.
Also, you might have noticed calendar dates at the end of every chapter. Those are dates when the chapters are published. I'm doing this so you can predict my update schedule.
1/17/2019