Chapter One
Author's Note: Hands up. My favourite Yugioh character is Jaden. My favourite deck is Pegasus' Toon deck. And millennium items rock!
"Last night everyone saw your ingenious dragon deck dismantle United States' Tyler Gibson, in thirteen turns, securing yourself a place in tomorrow's junior championship final. But that seems to be of no consequence with everyone being of the opinion that tonight's semi-final between Alberto Rodriguez and Edward McCaughey is the championship match, and as victor, Edward is virtually the reigning junior champ. How does this make you feel as his opponent tomorrow night?"
Nazim, whom in my knowledge spoke little to no English, smiled before the translator spoke in his ear. A moment later, the Egyptian junior finalist responded with a heavy accent. "No pressure for me."
"Does that mean you're not even going to try?"
The room chuckled.
Nazim once again smiled. When he looked my way, I couldn't help but colour. The English press was proving to be as crude as when I was in the Egyptian's position in Switzerland, two years earlier, when I made it to the finals of the European Continental Championships. Press conferences were invaribly a nightmare if you're an underdog matched up with a fan favourite. In my case, at least, Eli Galymzhanov wasn't Swiss.
This time the Egyptian opted for the rapid fire of his native tongue. Like the journalist, I waited on the translator. "Like his mother, Edward is very popular in Egypt. Maybe he might be more popular because my uncle called and threatened violence if I win. I doubt the greats like Ahmed Samir and Mohammed El-Sayed had the same issue when they faced his mother."
The room laughed with him. I took notes.
"He's such a lovely fella," Sierra whispered.
"And handsome too," Hailey added.
"His nineteen," I said to the latter woman.
"How old is Kasumi, if I may ask?" Hailey sneered.
Sierra sniggered inopportunely taking a sip of her coffee. I smiled triumphantly when dark droplets appeared on her white silk blouse. "That looks lovely," I said. "You should definitely spill coffee on yourself more often."
"Bugger off!"
"You might want to pay attention," Hailey nudged.
The journalist selected to ask the next set of questions had risen to his feet. He was a bespectacled African guy in a neat, navy suit. He smiled pleasantly. It would have been easy to imagine the cordiality genuine, but personal experience counselled otherwise. Moments ago, a lady with the loveliest smile ever spawned a trick question that left me no choice rather than admit I'd like to have children with a fellow duellist. I was still sweating over what I was going to say to Kasumi when I met her at school in three days.
"Give me a sec," the guy said, rifling through a notepad.
I couldn't bring myself to say anything when I noted that all the pages he flipped over were entirely covered in blue scribbles. What can I say – I was yet to go to a press conference where a crammed journalist's pad was a good omen.
"Ah, finally found it," he exclaimed. Not wasting another second, "A month ago, at the British sports awards, the duelling community witnessed a brawl on the red carpet between senior team coach, Jeremy Bishops and junior team coach, Sheamus Kennedy, following an argument that arose when the latter coach overheard the first coach's intentions to invite you to the senior team as soon as you turned sixteen – the minimum age for duellist to contend for senior titles. Ever since the incident you haven't been available for comment, could you care to give us your views?"
"Um, I don't know what you want me to say," I shrugged. "I saw what everyone saw: two men wrestling each other until one bit the other on the shoulder and the other countering with a low blow."
Light chuckle filled the room.
Smiling, the journalist waited until the room settled. "Yes, that is indeed what everyone saw," he observed, "but what I was hoping to get your views on is in regards to people saying Kennedy had reacted inappropriately in light that Bishops carries prerogative authority as head coach of the English senior team, entitling him to his intention. On the other hand, the senior coach is accused of being, I quote, 'a two-faced double-crosser' by even members of his own coaching staff as unconfirmed reports of him agreeing to allowing you to spend a year with the junior team are sporadically surfacing. Can you shed light on the matters I've touched on?"
"I don't know if you know this but my coach here," I said, playfully shoulder bumping Hailey, "has been upset with me all year for a habit encouraged by Coach Kennedy's attention. As you all know by now, I seem to favour the training camp of the junior team than of my own team, and that annoys Hailey beyond words. But I've told her time and time that I'm not there because I feel her team is lacking, but because the duellists on that team are more on my level and most importantly I learn from them. Though Coach Bishops attentions are flattering, the junior team is where I'd feel most at home."
"Does this mean you'd still feel at home with the junior team should Coach Kennedy be found unfit to continue as head coach of the junior team following his hearing this coming Monday?"
"I'd be greatly saddened if Coach Kennedy were to lose his job. He loves what he does and his team loves him for that. A junior team without him is one I'd rather not think about."
"One last question before I sit down. Talks of a UK duelling team have reached a critical point in the last remaining months before the 2021 Duel Masters in Chile, and it comes as no surprise your name is amongst the names of UK duellists fans would be pleased to see on the team. But I feel no one has paid any attention to who will manage such a formidable team. Amidst those that have taken up the discussion, Fredrick Notch and Andrew Walsh have been the reoccurring names, can I ask which between the two reputable coaches would you recommend for the position?"
The room reacted disapprovingly to the question. In the United States, Fredrick Notch was a celebrated hero; Europe begged to differ. The Scottish-born coach wasn't particularly a sweetheart in Europe for reasons directly related to him turning down an offer to manager the Irish team a year ahead of the 1987 Duel Masters – the same world cup tournament he won with the US team. On the other hand, Andrew Walsh was the man that accepted the offer and led the first European duelling team to world glory in the next world cup. In addition to Andrew's unfair advantage over the other candidate, everyone was under the impression I owed the latter man for my success, making the question a waste of precious time since it was already known I'd favour Andrew. Considering the room was filled with the world's best journalist, I was a little disappointed.
"Fredrick Notch," I replied.
My response had the room alive instantly. The journalist that had been conducting the interview nodded and assumed his seat, leaving the yelling and shouting to his colleagues. Of course, cameras were flashing wildly in the background.
It is up for debate who's the first recorded female duellist to gain international status between Vivian Wong of China and Mai Kujaku of Japan. Both ladies retired in the 1980's, neither of which having held a single duelling title. That had been enough to make them elite female duellists worldwide back then.
Rebecca Hawkins and Sara Mendez changed all that. In 1988 and 1989, Puerto Rico and the United States recorded the first female national champs. This inspired many female duellists. One particular female duellist was Fiona McCaughey.
In the 1991 Duel Masters, the Irish team led by its five-year head coach, Andrew Walsh, made news everywhere when Joseph O'Connor was replaced by an eighteen-year-old that displayed a shockingly dominant performance that earned the Irish team the world cup that year. To this day, my mother is the only duellist to singlehandedly win three world cup matches in a tournament campaign, two of which were perfect scores of 5-for-0. Her most famed victory, however, was the 4-for-0 she pulled against the Japanese in the quarter finals; a remarkable feat that turned her into an overnight sensation, especially when her fifth opponent in that match was none other than Yugi Muto himself, whom she forced a draw against. As her son, I could not escape the fate of people expecting me to accomplish something of the nature. Sadly, I could barely get 8000 life points to last the duration of two duels, when my mother was able to get through five duels with half as much. It was no wonder I still met people that sang her praises everywhere I went in the world, nearly three decades later.
In 1993, my mother had already made a name for herself to the extent of Yugi offering to defend his title against her for no other reason than a show of respect. Despite the match convincing the world that Maximillion Pegasus wasn't the only person that could command a Toon deck expertly, no one was shocked when Yugi successfully defended his title. In my mother's defence, no one seemed able to defeat the supernatural world champ. More reason to believe the legendary duellist did maybe practise dark magic (as rumour had it.) Besides that, who remained undefeated for nineteen years? As a duellist, drawing from personal experience, it doesn't matter who you arel, weak or strong, a shitty starting hand or a couple of crappy draws, sometimes both, are bound to cost you a duel – apparently, that is if you're not Yugi Muto, who's not a sorcerer.
Anyway, it's after the retirement of the Asian world champ that the world title began circulating and my mother received her chance to become a two-time world champion.
Late August in 1994, my mother pregnant with my older brother, pulled out from an 8-man tournament to determine the next world champ following Yugi's retirement. The winner of that tournament was Ahmed Abdel-Hamid of Egypt, who was one of three Egyptians along with an American that held the title before my mother. In October of 1997, mother dearest made her return and a sponsorship to lure the then world champ, Ahmed Samir, to a lucrative title match was immediately organised. She became the second female world champ after Rebecca Hawkins and held the title for nine months. She then won the inaugural KC Grand Championship in 1999 to earn the opportunity to face Yoshi Mitsugawa of Japan. Four days into 2000, my mother left Tokyo as a two-time world champ. The twenty-seven months that followed offered no rest for my mother when she had to defend her title twelve times, mostly against the Egyptians, which was only fitting when an Egyptian, Mohammed El-Sayed, defeated her at London's Kaiba Dome. The title loss marked my mother's retirement, and consequently Andrew's, who'd been at my mother's side since high school. I found his retirement suspicious. If he was the great coach everyone said he was, he should've found someone else to transform as he claims he's done with my mother.
But he didn't. Instead, he resurfaced many years later when I joined the English U-13 duelling team in 2015 at the age of twelve. Of course, at the time, I didn't know it was him.
Forget that, I had no idea he even existed.
"Everybody please welcome the new member of our family, Coach Andrew Walsh," said Shelby, our U-13 team manager, but at the time, the term "Den Mother" was used.
In front of us, stood a gloomy-looking, severely aged man. His skin looked like he was melting, and him heavily leaning on a cane was not doing his appearance any favours.
"He's got malaria!" Shane shouted.
Despite not knowing what that was, I was second out of the room. Shelby tried to calm everyone but that didn't work well when whoever she tried to calm began wailing. That was the first time I met Andrew. I think it's safe to say it's not a particularly fond memory for either of us. After that bumpy start, he remained the creepy old man no one dared to approach. Although he returned the favour towards everyone else and stayed clear off their way, I was the unfortunate one he regularly bothered with deck queries, card suggestions and duellists tapes. This, I didn't mind. We began butting heads when he began preaching:
"Platform-side seats are the prerogative mark of a contesting duellist, yet neither the privilege nor the title is acquired by planting your bottom on them."
He invariantly recited this whenever he caught me watching a duel during a tournament and would not rest until I was stuck working on deck strategies at the back. I hated this beyond expression. To make matters worse, I was the only person he did this to on the team.
"He still does that?" My mother would say when I reported the old boy.
Though I might never admit it, the Irish man was maybe the reason I had the prodigious rating of 1894 gyro points when I left the U-13 team. When I went to Switzerland in 2017 with the U-17 team, he was there and I doubt I would have anticipated Eli Galymzhanov's MaleficTruthDragon[Dark, Level 12, Dragon, ATK5000/DEF5000] in the final match if the old boy had not required I learn the Russian Beauty's deck at the start of the competition. I left Switzerland with the junior title of European Champion and had risen to a staggering 2614 gyro points by January 2018 and ranked 91st in the world. It was the first time an U-16 had featured in the top 100 world rankings. When two Egyptian prodigies, along with a Japanese, broke into the list the following year, also U-16, I became the youngest and highest debut to do so at fourteen years, three months and twenty-four days.
Andrew had also made himself useful earlier in the year, when I won the English Duellist's Cup junior title. As a national champ of the host nation, I qualified automatically for the 2019 KC Grand Championships. As of July 2019, I'd risen to 2759 gyro points and stood 27th in world rankings. At the age of fifteen years, ten months and twenty-four days, I was more than nine years ahead of Jaden Yuki, the pro-duellist who holds the record of the youngest duellist to ascend 2800 gyro.
"That went well," Sierra noted with an amused smile as we left the press conference. "Though I do wonder, is there anything going on between you and Kasumi?"
"Oh, grow up!"
"Ooh! Touchy, are we?"
"Hey, Ed! Sierra!"
I heard Sierra mutter under her breathe as my brother approached, waving papers at us; due to the fact that Greg was a very special soul, this could not be a good thing. Let's just say, if he was to be one of the three little pigs; he'd be the first and second pig combined. Not a day passed without being grateful we didn't share the same father.
"You won't believe what happened," he said breathlessly.
"Don't tell me you've just heard about the twenty-pound downpour in Newcastle," Sierra said dryly. "It's been, like, on everyone's lips all day."
Greg balked. "Are we talking about real twenty-pound notes?"
"Scientists believe the clouds heavy with currency are bound for wherever there's a live volcano."
"Hawaii or Japan?"
"Greg, she's just kidding," I said, turning a reprimanding gaze on Sierra. She knew my brother's love for money left no room for common sense when it possessed him, and the present moment was a perfect point in case. "Money doesn't rain under any circumstances, regardless of how extreme they are. What's that in your hand?"
"Your chance to duel the Supreme King," he beamed.
Besides the championship matches, the KC grand champs also had two exhibition matches between the four finalists.
"Tomorrow?" Sierra and I said together, equally surprised considering I'd signed the papers to my exhibition match with Tomislav the day I progressed to the semi-finals. Whoever progressed to the final between Alberto and I faced him. That was five days ago.
Sierra recovered enough to accept the papers, after a moment's perusal, she looked up almost alarmed and said, "Where did you get these?"
"Yesterday I found Tomislav threatening to pull out from his match and seized my chance to grab the organizers by the balls. Got the fuckers to agree in black and white we can have the entire value of the contract we signed with Tomislav. The best part, you get to duel the Supreme King too."
When Greg dropped out of university after my victory in Switzerland, I had no idea he was to appoint himself my personal coach, which I later found out meant he'd go around conning people in my name. He'd done it again, as several years of enduring him should have taught me, but his latest stunt was curiously shocking nonetheless.
"You did what!"
"No need to thank me, Ed." He slapped my arm. "Just sign the papers and you'll have the Supreme King all to yourself."
"And I assume you thought that I'd find certain defeat very appealing."
"You're the English Magician." I would've been annoyed if I hadn't received this reply for far more serious questions.
"I honestly don't see how this would be more tempting than a golden ticket for a victory over a world champ."
"Um," Sierra cleared her throat, "I think if you look at Tomislav's share of the contract you'll get your answer." She offered the papers.
I folded my arms and glared at her.
"A glance at least," she pleaded.
"Come on, Ed, even your nanny agrees with me." Sierra momentarily turned to Greg, offended. My brother didn't care, of course. "Eddy, try to see the bigger picture."
"Which is?"
"Duelling the Supreme King – duh! How can you prefer to duel a gutless lizard over a living legend?"
"Because it's easier to continue a nine-month winning streak with a gutless lizard than a living legend," I returned. "And the gutless lizard is also world champ."
"Don't get me started on that load of bull. That wanker not only didn't defend his title in the last year, he's soiled the world champ title at every turn. Where on Earth have you seen a world champ hold a losing streak?"
In Algeria, I suppose, where Tomislav only won his first three matches of the Rosetta League and lost the remaining. Though world champs are not as undefeatable as fans would prefer them to be (thanks to Yugi Muto), the Croatian was the first to hold the title and lose more than one match in a row. Now you can imagine how the world reacted to six!
"At least he's showing improved form in the tournament," I argued.
"Pah! That wanker only got to the final because his opponents were handpicked. If you ask me, even your Egyptian can mop the floor with that pompous arse."
Tomislav was not unbeatable; in fact, the opposite was more true. But I doubted anyone could "mop the floor" with him. When he pleased, Tomislav was a master strategist. Yes, Greg was justified to make his statements: Jaden never received his rematch after a serious snowboarding accident, and Tomislav might've earned himself the name of "gutless lizard" with his poor performance in the last year and his habit of declining challenges unless he was obligated to accept. In this year's KC Grand Championship, however, the Croatian's form has been nothing but impeccable, as though his sole purpose in the tournament was to redeem himself to former status.
As far as Greg's claim of handpicked opponent was concerned, I will only accept that claim if Tomislav's nemesis had done the handpicking. All eight of the champion's opponents ranked above him, and one of which had been Jacques Armand of France, the senior Euro Champ and famed crystal beast duellist. However, that would've not been the impression you got if you had witnessed the humiliating defeat the Frenchman suffered when he prematurely lost his Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder[Light, Level 10, Thunder, ATK4000/DEF4000] in the fourth turn. It was an unfortunate outcome to a highly anticipated quarter final duel between respective champions.
Tomislav was world champ for a reason, only Greg's utter dislike for him made him blind to that fact.
"Do it for Chrissy then," Sierra said. "If you won't do it for us, do it for her. You accept this offer, that's the end of all my financial problems. I'd be able to get that insufferable brat of mine the expensive duel disk she's been nagging me about all year and still have enough money for that house I always wanted. You wouldn't deny me that, would you?"
Inaudible as they were, the cheers of the thousands in attendance at the Kaiba Dorm in London travelled all the way to the back.
"Right now, I do not want to be you," Chrissy grimaced, standing by her mother near the door. "Just the thought of you losing the duel makes me cringe."
"No wonder God gave him the talent," Sierra retorted.
The door cracked open and a guy with an earpiece peered in. "Are you done yet? Your opponent is already on the platform."
"He's done," my mother said, taking my deck out of the duel disk holster. She always did this before a match. "Don't forget to draw your worst hand, reshuffle and rest assured the odds of getting an identical hand are astronomical."
That's what Andrew used to say to her before each match, which is why I always smile and say, "I'll do it just before I emerge from the tunnel." Then I do no such thing.
"Good luck, young lad," Andrew stepped forward to lay a hand on my shoulder. "Don't forget you can still lose this match. Best be on your guard."
I rolled my eyes and looked at my mother.
"Dude, come on. We have a schedule to keep," the volunteer reminded.
"Remember, you've already made everyone proud," Sierra said on my way out. "Just go out there and enjoy yourself. As for the other matter, it is far from over."
I smiled. That's what made her a great manager; she knew how to maintain disputes without burdening her client. I knew better than to think Sierra had forgotten about my refusal to duel Jaden, but I didn't dread the confrontation. Greg, on the other hand, was to be avoided for a few days.
Hailey fixed me with a foul glare as I emerged from the tunnel. The woman impatiently tapped her wrist. I smiled apologetically, and waited until I was climbing the platform steps to frown at her over-obsessive nature with punctuality.
Nazim seemed thrilled to see me. "I think you run away," he said, proffering his deck. I smiled and offered mine, hoping to avoid further verbal interaction. But the dreaded question was issued, nevertheless. "Why they move our match?"
To that, I could only shrug and return his deck without meeting his eyes. Technically, I had no hand in the rescheduling of the matches. My contribution might lie in last night's agreement to duel Tomislav after his title defence against Jaden, and I could assure you my reason had nothing to do with offending the Egyptian, though I was aware he might take offence. I just seriously wanted to continue my winning streak, whether Tomislav is champ or not, and there were no better odds to do that than after the Supreme King himself had worn him down, not to mention I'd be well rested with two duels in between.
"I'm not happy. We must complain," Nazim said as he returned my deck.
"Yeah, of course," I replied in a small voice.
Decks shuffled, the officiator signalled for the duelling platform to be activated and the duellist headsets to be brought. Afterwards, the call for duellists to activate their duel disks and accept the system request to pair. My opponent had the latest Oracle FX portable system, which was used by almost every duellist in the tournament. I would've also had one if I didn't turn down an endorsement deal by the company (another fighting point between me and Sierra). I used a four-year-old customised Toon Wizard portable system my mother bought me when I joined the U-13 English team.
The officiator summoned us to join him at his side-platform.
"First of all, congratulations on making to the finals," the officiator said. "The match has no stipulation, so it's one field spell at a time and both of you get one normal summon and draw on each of your turns. Got that?"
We both nodded in unison.
"You're Decipher?" He looked at me.
"Yeah." The KC Grand Championships recently allowed personalised duel disk usernames in its official matches. Nazim opted to go with his real name.
"Heard that, Tony?" The officiator spoke to the person at the other side of his earpiece, signalling we could go back to our stations. "Let the duel begin!"
Decipher – 8000 LP
VS.
Nazim Qatar – 8000 LP
The first couple of turns were uneventful. I ended the first turn with only a face-down. Nazim, on the other hand, opened with SacredSwordofSevenStarsand chose to banish ArmedDragonLV7[Wind, Level 7, Dragon, ATK2800/DEF1000] to draw two cards, and then ended the turn by summoning BlackMetalDragon[Dark, Level 1, Dragon, ATK600/DEF600] and placing two face-downs. For some reason, he did not attack. The following turn for me wasn't better. It was worse: I ended the turn after the drawing phase.
"You have to be kidding me," Hailey said through the headset.
"I'm having a bad start."
"How comforting."
Nazim's draw-card became his third face-down, then he tributed BlackMetalDragonto normal summon HieraticDragonofTefnuit[Light, Level 6, Dragon, ATK2100/DEF1400], and the removal of the first monster from the field activated its effect which allowed the card holder to add 1 "Red-Eyes" from their deck to the hand. As soon as my opponent had chosen his card, shuffled and replaced his deck, he continued his turn by revealive CalloftheHaunted was one of his face-downs, bringing back Black MetalDragon. I'd seen the combination a couple of times before, and it usually ended with his opponents facing two Red-Eyes as early as the next turn. He ended the turn like any person with two monsters while their opponent had none.
"Tefnuit, Black Dragon, attack his life points directly!"
Decipher – 5300 LP
VS.
Nazim Qatar – 8000 LP
"My turn!" I said drawing my card. I received a monster. Not exactly what I wanted, but enough to activate Monster Gate. Twelve cards were excavated from the top of my deck before Toon Ancient Gear Golem [Earth, Level 8, Machine, ATK3000/DEF3000] – a monster I could normal summon – appeared. As per resolve of the spell card, I special summoned the monster and sent the other cards to the graveyard. I continued the turn by using Toon Table of Contents to bring Toon World to my hand and immediately paid 1000 LP to activate it.
Field spell activated, the path was clearly laid out, and all that remained was for me to play Fusion Reserve, which I held in my hand, and I could've worked my way to a fusion summon of Toon Dark Paladin. However, I was deterred from the idea by the immediate sacrifice of Toon Ancient Gear Golem to tribute summon Toon Dark Magician. The fusion monster I had in mind was without a doubt stronger, even possessed handy effects than, but Toon fusion monsters could only exist on the field with the aid of Toon World or Toon Kingdom, such a weakness before the third turn was not desirable. In a reassessment of the risks, I decided to end my turn without going further.
"Why did you stop?" Hailey knew better than anyone I'd never play Toon World for mere amusement. She was my coach, after all.
"Stop what?"
"Edward, don't play dumb with me. You obviously had something."
"It was too risky of a play."
"Edward, this is how we got eliminated in Chicago. You can't assume your opponent has a perfect hand. That's not how it works. Yes, it seems like the best thing to do, but it's not. Not to mention, by the time you realise the error, the duel is lost."
Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz. That was the name of the duellist that broke my eleven-month winning streak last year. As the newly crowned European junior champ, I earned myself a spot in an 8-man tournament for the next junior world challenger. I had to endure analysts say I lost that match because I was "too cautious" when I knew Mahmoud had been the better duellist on the night. Yes, I had better cards between us, but he found a way into my head. It was that simple. The only comforting thought about that loss was Mahmoud moving on to win the tournament and defeating Alberto Rodriguez to be junior world champ.
"I can't always win, Hailey."
"Goddammit, Edward!" I understood Hailey's frustration. As my coach, she received the worst of all my criticism, and there was still the matter of people saying she was not skilled enough to handle someone of my talent. This was her last shot to prove them wrong. "You had to go through two former junior champs and the junior champ himself. Nazim had a field day compared to you. Don't let that go to waste."
"Wouldn't dream of it."
"Good."
With the addition of a draw-card, Nazim held three cards, controlled two monsters and had two face-downs. This was not enough to say he was having a better day at the office than I was – for people watching the duel, anyway. As his opponent, I could confirm that he was, especially when there was still the threat of the two Red-Eyes he could spring on me. He was certainly better off on this occasion.
Nazim began his third turn by placing a third face-down. Then he tributed his HieraticDragonofTefnuitto summon its sibling, HieraticDragonofNebthet[Light, Level 5, Dragon, ATK2000/DEF1600]. The tributed monster's effect activated, allowing him to special summon 1 dragon-type normal monster from either his hand, deck or graveyard, with the little downside of having to drop its ATK and DEF to zero. He chose Red-EyesB. Dragon[Dark, Level 7, Dragon, ATK0/DEF0] from his deck.
"I now reveal a trap card," Nazim shouted, revealing another face-down. It was Card of Last Will; a new addition to his deck, and it certainly made sense of why the duellist suddenly favoured the Hieratic Dragon archetype. "The trap allows me to draw until I'm holding five cards if the attack points of a monster I control became zero by card effect."
Nazim held one card: it was the Red-Eyes he'd got from tributing Black Metal Dragon. That was four cards he was going to draw. I gave my opponent an approving nod for his impressive play, and he returned it with a smile. Then he went back to tearing me apart.
He continued his turn by banishing his HieraticDragonofNebthetto special summon Red-EyesDarknessMetalDragon[Dark, Level 10, Dragon, ATK2800/DEF2400] — the Red-Eyes that had the ability to special summon monsters onto the field either from the graveyard or the hand. That's how he got his HieraticDragonofTefnuitback from the Graveyard. And then he oddly ended the turn without bringing the second Red-Eyes which would've taken out my monster and prevented the destruction of the first Red-Eyes when it was my turn. Which begged the question: why didn't my opponent summon the other Red-Eyes and remove my monster?
"I count four dragons, which is 2000 additional attack points," Dan said.
Dan was the card specialist on Hailey's coaching team, and a strong believer of magicians pulling rabbits out of nowhere; he refused to understand hats were a requirement, which is why he could make such a statement. He was referring to Toon Buster Blader and Toon Dark Paladin's card effect that gained the monsters 500 ATK for each dragon-type my opponent controlled or had in their graveyard. Toon Dark Paladin was the fusion monster I had in mind earlier, and as handy as this effect was, Toon Ancient Gear Golem had an effect that forced opponents to deal with him immediately than later – it's always best to know what your opponent can do now than later, especially when that opponent begins doing inexplicable things as leaving powerful monsters unprotected.
The presence of Nazim's Black Metal Dragon and Red-Eyes B. Dragon on the field meant his Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon was as good as special summoned. This monster had an effect of gaining 300 ATK with each dragon in my opponent's graveyard while the monster itself possessed 2400 ATK; he could have easily acquired the points to destroy Toon Ancient Gear Golem. Yet he chose not to.
"Duelling strategies aren't pre-existing entities nor are they random opportunities we encounter or have to recognise," my mother once said.
"What are they then?" I had asked her.
"Everything," she replied. "Spells, traps, monsters, duelling tactics, deck archetype, the perfect ratio of spells and traps to monsters, monster effects, the weather, a Mathematics textbook, your teeth, your grandma's left shoe, that old stale English muffin your brother won't throw away, even your fart. Basically, whatever you could use to win the duel."
I laughed and responded, "That's sounds chaotic and dangerous. Thank God, I won't have to duel against you when I'm a pro."
She smiled. "You misunderstood me. What I meant is, they are typically everything we could use in our duels. There is no such thing as a fixed strategy, as there's no chaotic strategy. All strategies are well-thought and organised."
"If someone throws me with his grandmother's left shoe in the middle of a duel, that strategy qualifies as chaotic."
"Wrong. Remember what I told you: strategy is everything, even the appearance of it is a strategy in itself. If your opponent wanted you to think his strategy is chaotic what do you suppose he'd do?"
"Wow! I never thought of that."
"To survive as a duellist, you need the ability to identify your opponent's strategy ahead of your own. Forming a strategy while ignorant of your opponent's strategy is akin to walking with a blindfold, and that is more likely to bring you harm than good."
"That's sounds complicated, if you ask me."
"That's why not everyone is a world class duellist."
"How do I do this? How do I identify my opponent's strategies?"
"Watching for anomalies. Most of the time, how your opponent plays his cards will not tell you anything, but how he doesn't play them does reveal more than he can hide. In any case, you too young to concern yourself with that. It be best if you used your grandma's left shoe for the time being."
Almost nine years later, I think it's safe to say I've out grown my grandma's left shoe, leaving anomalies, and one has to admit, the one that stared me in the face was begging for attention. Whichever way I looked at it, I couldn't see why someone would summon a Level 10 monster to sacrifice it the next turn. Though I could not figured out Nazim's plan, something else came to me, thanks to Dan's rapturous statement earlier.
"It's only four because two were banished," I said excitedly.
"Yes, genius we figured that," said Hailey. "What you should be concerned about is why he's sacrificing his Red-Eyes and didn't bring out the second. He has given up a lot of advantage with that turn. If you've noted that, of course."
"Card of Last Will means my opponent has had a deck-lift. What are the odds of him not having a new Deck Master?"
Hailey said, "I take it you know this formidable Deck Master."
"Let's say I'd deem him crazy if he's not holding Dragon's Mirror."
"You little fucking genius," Dan cried. "That's why he's not concerned about the safety of his monsters or their strengths; he knows wherever they are, graveyard or field, he can banish them to fusion summon Five-Headed Dragon."
"We don't know that, Dan," Hailey cautioned.
"Why else would he give up a Level 10 monster?"
"Okay, Dan, you've made your point," Hailey conceded. "That still doesn't explain why our opponent did not summon the second Red-Eyes. We are missing something."
"Look, I'm no world class duellist but I think getting your hands on Soul Absorption could possibly ease things up a bit," Dan brightly suggested. "That's like 500 life points for every banished card, isn't it?"
"Edward?" Hailey sounded.
Dan's idea was good. Faultless even, given that I had nothing to lose by hoping the card would miraculously wander into my hand. Hailey's scepticism, on the other hand, gave rise to an idea, a less likely possibility. "What if he doesn't plan on summoning the monster? That's a possibility, isn't it?"
"Like a diversion?" Hailey said.
"Yes," I said. "That's something Mahmoud would do."
"Now that you've mentioned it, his play is offishly like the soon-to-be former champ," Nick said. "Now all we have to figure out is why would Mahmoud make such a move?"
No one said anything. Mahmoud was a master when it came to mind games, and rarely allowed an outlet into his mind. In a nutshell, neither of us had any way of knowing why he'd do such an absurd thing. The comforting thought in the entire ordeal was that Nazim wasn't anything like Mahmoud. I hoped.
Soul Absorption just happened to be my next draw-card. I played it immediately, and spotted Dan dancing at the coach benches. There was no doubt destroying the Red-Eyes was the next course of business. Trap or not, I was far off better without the monster on the field.
"Toon Ancient Gear Golem use laser beam to take out his Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon!"
Decipher – 4300 LP
VS.
Nazim Qatar – 7800 LP
Nazim was unaffected by the loss of his monster. In fact, it all seemed part of his plan, if him playing Herald of Creation [Light, Level 4, Spellcaster, ATK1800/DEF600] and using the spellcaster's effect to bring the recently lost Red-Eyes to his hand was anything to rely on. Next, he sent away Black Metal Dragon, getting another Red-Eyes from his deck. Then concluded the turn by revealing one of his face-downs to be Dust Tornado. Once the field was cleared of my field spell, he replaced it with Malefic World.
"Edward, please tell me you know what's going on."
Rather than admit to Hailey I had no idea, I decided to buy myself some time. If there was any available, of course. I used my face-down, Giant Trunade, to return all traps and spells on the field to our hands. My opponent lost his Malefic World and two of his face-down cards; I only had Soul Absorption to lose. My interruption concluded, the turn returned to its rightful owner, who immediately ended it.
As soon as I drew my card, I reactivated Soul Absorption. After that, I played Fusion Reserve. My duel disk automatically ejected a Polymerisation I had in my graveyard (excavated when I played Monster Gate), and as required by the spell, I showed the officiator a fusion monster (Toon Paladin), selecting Toon Dark Magician [Dark, Level 7, Spellcaster, ATK2500/DEF2100] as the fusion material I wished to get from my deck. Next, I tributed Toon Ancient Gear Golem to normal summon Red-Eyes Toon Dragon [Dark, Level 7, Dragon, ATK2400/DEF2000] from my hand and I used the dragon's special ability to special summon Toon Dark Magician from my hand as well.
The crowd reacted wildly when the second monster appeared on the field. But I wasn't done.
Toon Dark Magician had a handy effect that allow me to discard any Toon card from my hand (Toon Defence, in this case) to search for another in my deck. That's how I got Toon Kingdom, which required me to banish three cards to activate it. Thanks to Soul Absorption, that was an additional 1500 LP. The next phase of the plan was to fusion summon Toon Amulet Dragon [Dark, Level 8, Dragon, ATK2900/DEF2500]. This fusion monster came with two special abilities. The first allowed me to banish spell cards in my graveyard, and the monster gained 100 ATK for each card banished. I had six spells cards – Toon Defence, Toon World, Fusion Reserve, Giant Trunade, Emergency Provisions and Polymerisation; 600 ATK for my monster, and 3000 LP for me. The second special ability wasn't relevant – yet.
I ended my fifth turn with a face-down and breathed a little easier looking at the card I held. My opponent wouldn't even know what hit him.
"Damn, I deserve a raise," Dan cried.
Decipher – 8800 LP
VS.
Nazim Qatar – 7200 LP
Not to be outdone, Nazim began his turn with A Wingbeat of Giant Dragon, returning Red-Eyes B. Dragon to his hand to destroy all spells and traps on the field. Faced with losing Toon Kingdom – as a result my monster – I was forced to use my face-down (Dark Bribe) and prevented the activation of the card. Though disaster was averted, it came at a cost as Nazim smiled at the card he received as a resolve of my trap. This is how I knew something awful was headed my way before he revealed his latest Deck Master: Montage Dragon. All of a sudden, the De-Fusion I held was useless.
"Now we know why he didn't summon the second Red-Eyes," Hailey said. I could tell she wasn't impressed, but she couldn't complain since she didn't see this coming either. "Let's hope you can handle a 7800 ATK dragon."
It wasn't unusual of Hailey to connect the dots with little to nothing information, but that didn't make it any less freaky when she did so. Nazim would've had some problems with manoeuvring two high levelled monsters from the field to his hand without drawing suspicion. I had to give my opponent props for clever play and his ability to put together a deck that didn't give away its Deck Master, but complimented it impeccably. Montage Dragon [Earth, Level 8, Dragon, ATK?/DEF0] wasn't an all-powerful monster that was impossible to deal with, in fact, it was the easiest monster to take down – unless it was not anticipated. In the case of the latter, it was extremely deadly for reasons directly related to the monster being a virtual blank cheque of attack points when its ATK were determined by multiplying the combined levels of the monsters sent to the graveyard to special summon it by 300. If my memory served me well, the third – unsummoned – Red-Eyes was a Level 9, and a quick calculation yielded 26, thus Hailey's 7800 ATK estimation.
"Fuck! He also has Malefic Cyber End Dragon," Dan noted.
Of course, why wouldn't he hold another Level 10 monster? How else would he raise the total to 29, and change the estimate to 8700 ATK?
"One remaining turn for us," Hailey observed. Her tone was level and calm, betraying no emotions. When I looked at her, she smiled. "You got this."
I returned the smile. Sometimes, a single turn was all it took.
In spite of the inherent weakness Toon monsters had with their inability to attack on the turn they were summoned on, their ability of attacking opponents directly if they possessed no Toon monsters of their own outweighed the weakness at least tenfold if a duellist had the correct measures in place. My mother had relied heavily on rapid summoning, supporting her play with cards that lent her monsters extra ATK or additional attacking opportunity, which I personally discovered worked well when life points were half what they were nowadays. I had to adapt the deck to endure drawn-out duels. Though I hated to admit it, Andrew made himself useful in restructuring the deck he had built with my mother.
"Montage Dragon attack his monster!"
Toon Amulet Dragon succumbed to an infernal blast aimed at him and the monster's hologram exploded. As permitted by Toon Kingdom, I banished a card from the top of my deck face-down and my monster returned to the field unscathed, and as a result of Soul Absorption, I gained an extra 500 LP for my trouble.
Decipher – 4100 LP
VS.
Nazim Qatar – 7200 LP
On my sixth turn, I could finally attack. Despite my opponent's vulnerability, I was still not out of deep water with Nazim holding a solid 7200 LP while my monster was a mere 3500 ATK, which meant, even if I found a way to attack him twice, I'd still have 200 LP to deal with. To sweeten the deal, I wasn't surviving his next turn if I didn't get the right card. However, the fact that his monster gained its ATK via card effect significantly broaden the spectrum of the "right card". I was hopeful.
I drew my card. Poison of the Old Man. The quick-play spell card at the most bought me another turn, which was better than nothing, but not nearly enough to ward off danger. I added the card to my hand and continued the only logical way possible.
"Toon Amulet Dragon attack his life points directly!"
My opponent's LP dropped with a not-so-significant 3500 points. After that, there was nothing left to do but end the turn.
"We are so fucked," Dan cried.
This was Daniel Thompson at his best. You know that thing that tells you not to say something when it won't sit well with the other person? Yes, whatever that was, Dan does not have it. He once told Claudine Michaels, the second Duel Analyst on the team, she had no more than three weeks when the frightened woman revealed her breast cancer diagnosis. Two years later, Dan constantly fears for his job because his sitting on two written warnings and has had two close calls with obtaining a third, all courtesy of a very much alive Claudine. But he was a needed dose of reality (and a bottomless pit of card knowledge, which is most probably why I haven't banned him from my matches).
Theoretically, he was right. The life points I had, combined with the 3500 ATK cushion Toon Amulet Dragon provided, would still come short against another 8700 ATK blast. If I wasn't holding Poison of the Old Man, I would have resigned on the spot.
"Thank you, Dan," Hailey sounded. "You're a very reliable person. Not once have you not pissed on our heads during a duel."
"Great to know we can count on you, buddy," Nick laughed.
Usually, I'd be relieved to see an opponent draw and consult his or her team at any stage of a duel; any form of uncertainty in a duellist was decidedly good. But not on this occasion. This indicated Nazim suspected I had means to counter the effects of a life-point depleting blast from Montage Dragon, and that was not good, considering he'd guessed right, and was that much closer to finding the correct plan to win the duel, which was either going after Toon Kingdom or summoning a monster with 4100 or more ATK. If my opponent managed to achieve any of these two options, the duel was his.
He went for the coin toss. "Montage Dragon, attack his monster!"
The Egyptian supporters erupted into cheers. This was supposedly the blast that ended it all. For a brief moment, Nazim seemed to believe it too.
"I activate the quick-play spell call, Poison of the Old Man," I interrupted.
Dan, who I now know has freakish maths skills, caught on immediately, and tried to scramble my brain with euphoric yelling. I had to remove my headset to save what remained of my earing. Instantly, the dumbfounding force of the arena cheers struck. It was as though somebody had already won the duel. Ears bare, I could also hear the commentators laughing, and before I could wonder, I saw half of the English U-17 coaching bench converging on Dan, no doubt, also victims of his raptures. I smiled and turned my attention back to the petrified holograms. They would remain this way until my spell was resolved.
"As I'm sure you know: I can inflict 800 LP worth of damage on you or boost myself with 1200 LP. I hope this is enough to see me into the next turn."
As soon as I selected my option, Montage Dragon's frozen hologram came back to life and the infernal blast struck my monster just as my LP counter reached 5300. I had a mere 100 LP when I banished a card face-down to Toon Kingdom's effect. Toon Amulet Dragon returned and Soul Absorption swelled my LP counter.
Nazim ended his turn. The arena erupted into cheers.
As I said, Nazim chose to flip the coin; one way or the other, the duel was going to be decided on the next two turns. Should I not succeed in making something of my turn, there's no doubt of Nazim taking the duel. It was that simple. Fortunately for me, not the same could be said about the Egyptian surviving my turn.
Decipher – 600 LP
VS.
Nazim Qatar – 3700 LP
It turned out Nazim didn't flip a coin by allowing me another turn. Toon Amulet Dragon boasted 3500 ATK, just 200 short from depleting my opponent's life points. And it so happens I had Poison of the Old Man in my graveyard and Soul Absorption on the field, both spells I could banish to raise my monster's ATK by 200. I realised all this before I drew Mimicat. My mother says, "Duels aren't won until won." I've duelled long enough to know this was one bit of wisdom I'd do well not to argue with. But if there ever was a duel that was won before it was called, it was this one.
I just needed to convince my opponent of that.
I removed Soul Absorption from play and used Toon Amulet Dragon's special ability to banish the spell cards in my graveyard, gaining the monster an additional 200 ATK. Nazim did not so much as budge as the home crowd lost its mind. Of course, I wasn't done.
"Next, I activate Mimicat."
I wasn't even done inserting the card into a spell and trap slot when my duel disk vibrated and the entire arena erupted into cheers. For a heartbeat, I feared Nazim had countered and all would slip through my fingers, but the volume of the noise wasn't constant with the number of Egyptians in attendance. Before I knew it, red and white confetti was pouring from the ceilling and security was struggling to hold back Dan from jumping onto the platform.
It was hard to digest. Nazim had resigned and I had won. As much as I'd toyed with the idea of being Junior World Champion, the reality had crept up on me so abruptly that I was numb as the officiator called the match. Then there was no time to brood, for Dan was leading the entire U-17 team onto the platform, and they all clustered about me before the sports cameras were atop as well.
Karen Bezgodov, UK correspondent of ESPN, found her way through everyone. For a woman in heels and a tight skirt, she knew how to handle herself in crowded situations.
"Champ, a moment of your time, please."
Dan grabbed Karen's mic and howled like a man possessed. Maybe he was, because he disappeared to shout elsewhere.
Karen smiled delicately as she adjusted her earpiece before saying, "Your team seems to be besides itself. Congratulation on the big win, you deserve it."
"Yeah, not one of my best matches," I spoke into the offered mic. "But when your number is up, it's up."
"Not one of your best matches? What are you talking about? If what Nazim brought tonight isn't enough for a duellist to defeat you, I doubt there's much left that can. Shaky start or not, your opponent brought the flames every turn and yet his not the junior champ. What does that tell you?"
"I'm the luckiest guy alive." Karen was courteous enough to laugh at my witty comment. "On a more serious note, it was a tight squeeze, and not without its lucky twist of fate because, as you've mentioned, Nazim got everything right, and I can't imagine winning that duel if I was playing with another archetype. It so happened I was a Toon duellist whose clock ticked faster than his. Pure luck."
"Looks like they are ready to get the next match started. Last question, how do you fancy your odds against the Supreme King later on, in the much anticipated main event?"
"The Supreme King?"
"Yeah, Jaden Yuki." There was something in my expression that made Karen laugh. "You look and sound like it's the first time you've heard of this."
That was because it was the first time learning I was duelling Jaden, instead of Tomislav. And I think Karen began to suspect when I still couldn't bring myself to say anything. I saved from her by security, who ushered us off the platform. As soon as I was platform-side, I was swallowed by a cheering crowd.
Author's Note: Next update Yugi makes his appearance. Don't forget yo leave a review.