It's a well-known fact that immortal beings who measure their lifespans in eons have very little regard or respect for mortals. Fiends consider them to be dung and vermin, useful maybe, but still beneath contempt. Celestial beings view them as young children who must be nurtured and protected, lacking any direction or wisdom. This leads fiends to be viewed as cruel manipulators of mortal will and celestials as hubris-laden snobs.
Which they ARE. But while both views are demeaning and insulting, it can often benefit mortals in some ways. I cannot speak for fiendish and celestial societies, but as a rilmani, I have taken actual classes and seminars on psychology and ethics, and many of them warn, rather adamantly, that remaining cold and indifferent towards mortals is beneficial.
I digress. They bluntly warn you not to get attached. If you take too much interest in humanity, you might want to help them too much, or even worse, try to impose a system that you think is right for them, whether they want it or not.
This was Antisthenes' problem. And I know from experience, he was on the wrong path.
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Chapter 51
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Rhapsody of Fire
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In his dark control room, Antisthenes was, again, overseeing several projects simultaneously. One of them was monitoring Eden. He had never seen such a vigorous attempt to fight the Curse of the Void; it was now fifty-two hours since she had entered stage two, but neither physical nor mental exhaustion had dissuaded her. Still, the fight would end soon, one way or the other, as her brain activity was less than half what it was when Karen had escaped.
Another screen had a program running similar to the previous analysis that had led him to target Karen in the first place, only this time, with the more veteran members of the Shadowchasers under analysis. The records he could obtain of Wells, Voltaire, Edgar, Karl, and even Jalal himself as pertained to the game of Duel Monsters were being read at incredible speed, while a separate programming was altering the recipe of a deck of cards.
"Sir?" said Beatrice's voice.
"Speak," he replied, as the Damned Magician Girl entered from behind him.
"Uh, with due respect," she said, slowly, "do you really think it's a good idea to have him do this?"
"Fear not," he said, "this strategy is sound."
As a RUN command was issued, a new deck of cards started to appear on a pedestal on the far end of the room. "This deck incorporates his usual strategy with one that is far more powerful. One he should have little trouble comprehending, and one our foes should find difficult, if not impossible, to combat."
She nervously picked the deck up as he continued. "I estimate an 88% to 95% chance of victory, depending on the specific opponent."
"I like those odds," she answered, with a forced chuckle.
As she left, he turned to a new program, hitting another RUN command. Many times, he had attempted to use this program to repair the sabotage done to the Pan Dimensional Homing Device, but lack of proximity due to the danger of working with wild magic had caused it to fail repeatedly.
A big red "X" in a circle appeared, indicating the usual negative result. He input a command, starting an upgrade.
If my hypothesis is correct, he thought, a surge of bio-energy from a duel of sufficient magnitude should upgrade the program sufficiently.
Then I should have no further need for the gautiere, and can be rid of her. Whether she is banished to the Void or handed over to the Shadowchasers is unimportant. Either way, I will have at least part of what I require.
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Stonehenge. It was a structure ancient even by elven standards, and Shadows had come no closer to discovering its authentic original purpose than humans had.
Still, they were far less ignorant about its power than most humans were. The stones were either a generator or conduit (or both) for potentially limitless eldritch power. Of course, this raised even more questions than it answered, and put the "how was it built?" question less of a concern than "why was it built?"
It may have been a thousand years ago, but Jalal remembered being here the first time. He was ten years old, as curious and naive as any boy that age, and had been brought here by his parents. It was summer, warm, sunny, and bright, and even then, he remembered the stones as ominous and looming. The overcast, dark sky over it now did little to calm his nerves.
As he approached on foot, Karl and Wells were close by, Wells keeping tabs on Memory Crystal Alpha, kept in a special container. But they were far from alone. He winked, activating one of the functions of his Google Glass.
"Everyone in place?" he asked.
Half a mile to the east, an ambulance was parked, with Maddie and Philip inside on stretchers. Sofia was inside too, sadly watching over Philip. Dolores was in the driver's seat with Jabels as passenger, while Edgar was standing in front of the back door.
"We're good here for now," responded Delores.
On the west end, Viola and Prospero were watching from an open-air cafe outside the visitors' center. Viola was holding Beta in a similar container, and Jennifer was watching indiscriminately from another table. "Everything's fine here," added Prospero.
On the south end, parked at a rest stop on A303, was a rented luxury car, with Fanciullo in the back seat, firmly holding onto a third container holding Gamma. Draco was in the driver's seat, the engine was still running, and he was ready to slam on the gas at the first sign of trouble. Nitro was next to their boss, Uomo was in the passenger's seat, and Tormento was outside the car, all of them armed. "Yeah, we're here," he replied, "for now."
"Glad to have your approval," said Jalal, before turning it off. "You absolutely sure you're ready for this Karl?"
Karl was about to answer in the affirmative, but SAL interrupted. "Let's hope so, because I think this is them."
The eerie green smoke that preceded the arrival of Antisthenes' henchmen started to rise.
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Unbeknownst to the Shadowchasers, someone else was at the visitors' center. Terra (concealing herself with a long coat and large hat) was watching what was happening with binoculars, casually finishing a BLT and a bottle of Tyskie Gronie.
"They're here," she said, to someone nobody else could see.
"Excellent," said a voice. "Report back if anything unusual happens, and try to stay inconspicuous."
"Uh-huh," she said, as the transmission cut off, "not like anyone's gonna notice a minotaur at the most popular photo-op landmark in Wiltshire, right?"
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"Nice of you all to come," said Beatrice.
She wasn't alone either. Behind her, where the cloudy portal was still emitting green fog, three of the odd medical droids were standing next to Eden, still unconscious and now in a wheelchair. Jalal tensed.
"Let's skip the pleasantries," he said.
"Okay, fine," she answered. "Know what this is?"
She turned slightly, indicating something hooked to her belt. A small, ivory statuette likeness of herself, inlaid with gems and runes scrawled on it with gold paint.
"A Contingency focus," he answered.
It was easy to recognize, as it was a common device used for a common spell. Quite simply, it let a wizard "store" any other spell - or in some cases, more than one - to be triggered when some event - as in any event - he specified occurred. You could cast a Fireball to be triggered on the first creature to come within ten feet of you, or the first goblin to come within ten feet of you, or on the first 70-year-old goblin with an eyepatch, Red Sox baseball cap, and a pet dachshund to come within ten feet of you. The condition could be anything you required.
"Good, good!" she replied. "I've directed the nanomachines to halt the progression of the Curse of the Void afflicting Eden, but I can still finish it myself. The Contingency in question will, if triggered, do exactly that. I'm sure Karen described how that works. Know what this is?"
She lifted her hand, showing she was holding a small sphere.
"It's a croquet ball," interrupted SAL.
"Actually, the sport it belongs to is cricket," she answered. "It's important because one of the Contingency triggers that I've set occurs if I let go of it. That means if I'm shot, tackled, gassed, or do it myself for any reason, she's had it."
"A magical 'dead man's switch'," remarked Wells, "rather clever."
"So, tell the small army you brought to keep their distance," she added. "We can see them just fine."
"I fully intend to keep my end of the bargain," answered Jalal, "they're here to prevent any double-cross on your part. Karl, you sure on this?"
Karl nodded in approval, and SAL chimed in again. "Going to be awfully hard for her to duel without both hands free."
"Never said I'd be the one dueling," replied Beatrice. She cleared her throat, and then spoke up in a more cheerful voice. "I am proud to present that incomparable duelist - a word I use because I cannot, for the life of me, think of a duelist to compare him to - Antoine Fisk!"
The green smoke got thicker, and a rather familiar - in more ways than one - instrumental tune started to play over the stones.
"Is that Beethoven on a synthesizer?" asked Wells.
"Afraid so," said Jalal, nodding. "It's called 'A Fifth of Beethoven', a rather popular tune from a type of music that isn't very popular now."
"Speak of the devil," said Karl. He pointed up, where Antoine was standing on one of the stones, posing bow-legged and pointing upward in the same manner a John Travolta did in the movie that launched the biggest fad of the 70s, which was since then known for its disastrous crash, only to become popular again as a parody of itself.
It was, of course, not the time to rehash nostalgia.
"Yo, Daddy-o!" he smirked, pointing to Jalal with fingers and making a clicking noise. He spun on his toes, then leapt from the stone, landed, spun, and made a split while pointing upward again.
Beatrice sighed, and answered their question before they could ask it: "Yes, he's serious."
"Lord, we should arrest him just for wearing that ridiculous outfit," said Wells.
"Are you completely sure you're up to this Karl," asked Jalal.
"I'll be fine, chief," he answered, "I've dealt with worse."
Antoine leapt to his feet again, lowering his shades to look at Karl. "Everyone calls Disco dead," he chuckled, "but hey, I hear that bein' dead ain't always a problem for the guys you deal with."
"Oh, Antoine?" said Beatrice, sweetly. He turned to her, and she made a slashing motion across her neck with a death glare.
He gulped, then turned to Karl.
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"So just what is stopping her from dropping it to cover her getaway if this guy loses?" asked Dolores.
She and Jabels were watching via an iPad with a closed-circuit link, Jabels rubbing his chin as the Duel Disks and D-Gazers activated.
"Nothing," he replied, "and I'm starting to wonder if that's her plan. After all, if Eden is, indeed, 'purged' from memory, everyone here would forget why we're here."
"I don't follow," replied Dolores.
"Think about it," replied Jabels, "every crime Beatrice and Antoine have committed has something to do Eden. If she uses Eden as a hostage here, but goes back on her word and kills her, say with a gun, what's the most likely result?"
"She wouldn't get far, and would be arrested for murder."
"Exactly," replied Jabels. "But if Eden falls victim to the Curse of the Void, everyone forgets why we even came here, and Beatrice is perceived as nothing but an eccentric cosplayer. Not a murderer or criminal."
As chilling as that sounded, it was spot on. If her plan went south, Beatrice could escape using the best alibi ever conceived - erase the entire crime.
"We can just hope for now that she wants the Memory Crystals too much to do so."
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"All RIGHT!" exclaimed Antoine. He made a draw, the momentum (more or less) causing him to spin 360 degrees.
(Karl: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - - (Antoine: 8,000)
"So why was this popular in the 70s?" asked Wells.
"I have forgotten," replied Jalal.
Antoine took a monster card from his hand and set it. "You two squares are gonna see why soon, but for now, I'll put this guy flat, and end my turn."
Karl drew in a more dignified manner, then used a card. "I'll summon Mathematician."
Playing the card caused a small, dwarfish man to hop to the forefront. He had a big nose, thick glasses, a beard that reached to his feet, an academic robe that seemed too large for him, and a mortarboard for a hat. (1,500 ATK)
"Really?" asked Antoine. "What's he gonna do, lecture me to death?"
"He can do much more than that," replied Karl. "First, his effect sends one Level 4 monster from my deck to the Graveyard." The Mathematician gestured with his scepter, causing the images of the available cards to float in front of Karl. He quickly tapped one with his finger, and it vanished. As the rest faded, he used an Equip Spell.
"Battle Curriculum lets me summon a monster from my deck with the same Level and Attribute as Mathematician, with up to 1,000 Attack Points. And seeing as you have only a monster defending…
With a loud WHOOSH! Rocket Jumper soared onto the field. (1,000 ATK) Then it rocketed at Antione, over the set monster, and slammed into him with a crash.
"Assuming you're still listening," he continued, a justified concern, as the blow had knocked Antoine flat on his back, I'll set this, and activate the Spell Card, Supply Squad."
(K: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - - (A: 7,000)
Antoine swaggered a bit as he got up. "Okay, guess you're not kidding," he mumbled.
"Yeah, I kind of act that way when three folks I know are near death," replied Karl.
"Well, pardon me for bein' pragmatic," responded Antoine. He drew a card, then smiled. "Hey-hey!" he laughed.
He used it, causing Bokoichi the Freightening Car to appear, then quickly activated Machine Duplication, creating a link of three of them. (500 ATK x2)
Karl knew what was coming, of course, but didn't say anything as Dekoichi flipped face-up causing Antoine to grab four more cards. (1,400 ATK)
"Time to bring my star out," he said. "I'll pay 1,000 Life Points to use Instant Fusion, here we go!"
Much louder music started to play, and Karl looked a little puzzled, watching Musician King rise onto the field. (1,750 ATK)
"Uh," he started, before Antoine interrupted him.
"Nah, this guy ain't my star," he answered. "To do that, I'll use Polymerization, and fuse Musician King with Cyber Phoenix."
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With a combination of bemusement and disgust, Fanciullo and his men were watching, with a serious case of Deja vu, as the two monsters fused into same one Antoine had summoned the last time they had met. Tormento was about to say something, until a death glare from his boss shut him up.
One good thing that will come out of this, thought the don, no matter who wins, the loser will be someone I hate.
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"I see you upgraded the style by a decade or so," said Karl, with the flaming, menacing form of Psycho Musician - Lord of the Wasteland. (2,500 ATK)
"I activate the Trap Card, Nitwit Outwit!" he shouted. He flipped his Trap, and discarded his Interplanetarypurplythorny Dragon, and the Fiend tumbled to an ATK of 1,400. "Your Psycho Musician just hit a sour note."
"Jumped the gun a little, didn't ya, daddy-O?" laughed Antoine. "I use Ego Boost! So, my Musician is still Hotter than Hell!" He threw the Quickplay into his Disk, and the demon musician shot up to 2,400 Attack Points.
"Torch that geezer with Thunderous Bloodfire!"
Fanciullo watched stone-faced from his vehicle, feeling a twinge of fear as he watched the Fiend's fiery attack blast towards Karl's monster, an experience he remembered too well…
Karl coughed slightly from the blow that had just incinerated Mathematician.
(K: 7,100) - - - - - - - - - - - (A: 6,000)
"Thank you," he said with a grin, "because not only do I get to draw once from Supply Squad, I get to draw one for Mathematician's effect."
"Well here's a little encore for ya!" laughed Antoine. Dekoichi blew smoke from its stack and then belched scalding steam from its front, blowing Rocket Jumper to little gravel.
"And now I can Special Summon that monster I discarded!" replied Karl. He waved his arm, and the hulking, purple Beast with a mane of spines leapt from the ground below. (1,100 ATK)
"Meh, I'll set this card and I'm done," muttered Antoine. He fit one card into his Disk, setting it in his Spell Zone.
"Humph, hotter than hell, huh?" said Karl. He drew, looking hard at Lord of the Wasteland. "More like lukewarm. My folks told me once how their folks warned them that K.I.S.S. was a cult whose name stood for Knights in Satan's Service. Nowadays, I think someone is using their songs to advertise granola bars. I summon Card Trooper."
The small, cute robot rolled in front of him. (400 ATK) As he discarded three cards from his deck, it went "BEEP, BOOP, BOP!" as its lights flickered and flashed. (1,900 ATK)
"Derail that train with Shock Rocket Barrage!" he shouted.
Missiles launched from the robot's two arms, striking the Battlechanted Locomotive and blowing it to scrap. Interplanetarypurplythorny Beast followed, a blizzard of spines shooting from its mane and jabbing into the Bokoichi in Attack Mode, its eyes bugging out before it blew to pieces.
"Sonuva bitch!" shouted the Disco man.
(K: 6,700) - - - - - - - - - - - (A: 5,000)
"I'll end my turn, which means Card Trooper's Score goes back to 400."
"But my Psycho Musician is still here," answered Antoine. He drew, then pointed at the Beast. "I'll teach you to upstage the star. Attack!"
But as Lord of the Wasteland belched fire again, a large, robotic turtle appeared in mid-air. It withdrew into its shell and the flames bounced off the shiny surface.
"Oh, nice move," said Antoine, sarcastically.
Karl pocketed the card as Electromagnetic Turtle disappeared. "That's it for your Battle Phase this turn."
"But not my turn," answered Antoine. "This might take a while, but I got nowhere to go. I activate The Shallow Grave."
Seriously? thought Karl.
It seemed he was indeed serious, as the card was a familiar Spell. He shrugged, and chose a monster from his Graveyard to set as Antoine set his.
"Now I'll shine the spotlight on this card with Book of Taiyou," continued his foe, causing Dekoichi to appear again. (1,400 ATK) "I only get three more cards this time, but I think this should do it if I want to bring out my special guest."
He keeps drawing cards at this rate, he's going to run out, thought Karl. What in the world is he looking for?
Then Antoine used a card, a Continuous Spell, that nobody recognized. "Unsettling Dreams?" he muttered, looking at it. "SAL, see if you can look that up."
"The first thing this card does is let me treat one of my Normal Monsters as Level 1," continued Antoine. "So, it's gonna be that Bokoichi. It's seems a little lame, yes, but…" He turned a card in his hand. "Know what this is? In a few more rounds, it's gonna be the biggest thing to hit this town since Brexit."
Karl almost laughed when he saw it. "Zushin the Sleeping Giant?" he asked. "Well, biggest maybe, in a literal sense, but actually pulling it off is a different story".
"What in the world are they talking about?" asked Jabels.
"Well, that card isn't exactly hard to find," answered Dolores. "Before Team Taiyou nearly won the Grand Prix with it, that card and two pounds would buy a cup of coffee. It was released later as a Normal Rare with some, well, errata modifications."
"Such as?" asked Jabels.
They watched, and a small shimmer appeared on one of the Bokoichi. Antoine returned the card to his hand, and used an Equip, which everyone recognized as Heart of Clear Water.
"Each of his turns, the card's effect puts a Counter on that Bokoichi, and he has to do it ten times," continued Dolores.
"Ten of his turns?" asked Jabels. "How does he plan to draw it out that long?"
"Well, guess we'll find out," she answered.
"I end my turn," said Antoine, his tone far more devious than before.
Karl looked at the Bokoichi as he drew, considering what to do. Heart of Clear Water protects it from attacks and a few effects, he thought. Then he turned to the Fusion Monster. But I think his big plan may have something to do with that guy.
"I'll flip summon my D.U.C.K.E.R. Mobile Cannon," he said. The card flipped and revealed a small armless droid with strong mechanical legs and a twin-gunned turret for a head. (500 ATK)
"This effect gains me a Level 4 monster from my Graveyard, like the one I discarded earlier. But I'll save it for now, and sacrifice DUCKER and Beast…" The two monsters burst into tiny pixels of energy. "...to summon the Dragonic Automaton!"
The pixels recombined and reformed into a much larger Machine, a robotic dragon with shiny armor and bladed horns on the sides of its neck, clawed forearms, and tank treads in place of rear legs. (2,600 ATK)
"Hey, wait a minute," said Antoine.
"No more waiting," interrupted Karl. "When this one is summoned, I can take a Level 8 monster from my deck and banish it." He deposited the card in his shirt pocket, and Dragonic Automaton opened its jowls, power starting to charge up. "Time for Lord of the Wasteland's curtain call!"
Dragonic Automaton roared, and orbs of burning, crackling lightning thundered down upon Psycho Musician - Lord of the Wasteland...
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"All right!" cheered Drago. "See that, boss? Karl really let that guy have it!"
"Mmm-hmm," said Fanciullo. "So why doesn't Antoine seem worried about it?"
They looked again, and saw what he meant. Antoine had used a facedown card…
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"This little number is called The Music Never Dies!" laughed Antoine, pointing to the Continuous Trap. "I can use this whenever a Fusion Monster that's part Musician King is clobbered, and bring the main man back! Encore time, Musician King!"
The familiar strum of the electric guitar sounded again, and the odd Spellcaster returned. (1,750 ATK)
He held a Spell Card forward, one he had just gained from his deck. "This Trap also lets me get this, a little number called Power Ballad."
Card Trooper folded its cannon arms to defend. (400 DEF) "I end my turn," said Karl.
"Okay then, let's give this a whirl," said Antoine. He drew, then flipped Zushin's card forward again. "I'll put a second counter on Bokoichi, then I'll use Power Ballad. Time to turn the amp up on this duel!"
Musician King slammed on his guitar and green pyrotechnics erupted to either side, that seemed to literally consume him. Then a new monster appeared, a head and a half taller.
He wore a more streamlined version of Lord of the Wasteland's outfit, with more of it black in than silver. At first it seemed like the black part had sequins sewn on it, but then Karl realized those were stars. It was like a night sky full of shimmering stars in a humanoid shape. His face had the same style of makeup as the Lord's did, but calmer, and starburst symbols around the eyes. (2,500 ATK)
"He had an Ace up his sleeve, literally," snarked SAL.
"Meet Psycho Musician - Scion of the Cosmos," continued Antoine. "Now I'll use his effect."
The Scion turned to Dekoichi, and a glowing blue cone of energy exuded from his chest, causing the Battlechanted Locomotive to slowly break into pieces that were drawn to the Fusion Monster like a tractor beam, his Attack Score edging up to 3,200. Machine monster."
"It gives him a boost equal to half that monster's score. Attack his Dragonic Automaton with Frehley's Comet!"
Karl groaned - mostly due to the bad pun - as twin blasts of green fire shot through his monster and blew it to scrap iron.
(K: 6,100) - - - - - - - - - - - (A: 5,000)
"I activate the effects of Interplanetarypurplythorny Beast and Interplanetarypurplythorny Dragon!" he said with a shout, causing the Beast and its Dragon counterpart to pounce in front of him. (2,200 ATK, 2,200 DEF) "Oh, and I draw once for Supply Squad too."
"Nice trick, can you do this?" asked Antoine. Scion of the Cosmos was preparing another blast. "This guy can attack a second time, so long as I cut his Score in half." (1,600 ATK)
The third comet struck Card Trooper, crushing it. Karl drew one more time, looking over his new acquisitions quickly.
"So, uhm," he asked. "I guess the general message here is, embracing the power of Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n Roll brings about ultimate power?"
"I'll set one monster and one other card and end my turn," continued Antoine, "which means Scion loses the boost from his effect, and his score is dropped by 500." (2,000 ATK)
"Well then," said Karl. He opened his arms wide. "That means you triggered Dragonic Automaton's true effect! Namely, I get to summon the monster I banished when I summoned him…" A dark, shadowy orb started to form next to him. "A true scion of the cosmos…"
Two female hands with long, silvery nails reached from the orb, then from within, grabbed hold of the edges, pulling it apart and lengthening it to portal size. Then, Cosmo Queen casually stepped out, her eyes fixed on the other Spellcaster. (2,900 ATK)
Antoine was a little nervous now, but Karl wasn't done. He drew his card for his turn, then switched cards on his Monster Zone, causing Interplanetarypurplythorny Beast to turn into a glob of purple ectoplasm, which pulsated and churned before bursting, leaving a far larger reptilian beast. It looked like a gigantic snake with one big, glaring eye, and a huge mouth with two rows of teeth. It hovered in the air, behind and above Karl.
"Now that is one whack monster!" cheered Antoine.
"Okay, I… think that's a compliment," said Karl. "Ahem, Cosmo Queen, destroy the Scion of the Cosmos!"
The Spellcaster's eyes flashed, and the Psycho Musician broke his stoic look momentarily. Meteors fell from the sky around him as he howled, them burst in a flux of sparks.
"Yeah, yeah, I still get to use the effect of The Music Never Dies!" shouted Antoine, waving his arm and causing Musician King to appear again. (1,750 ATK)
"Well he dies now, because my Bitelon still has an attack," replied Karl.
"Whuh-oh," gulped Antoine. "Can't have that, I activate Staunch Defender." His Trap lifted as the giant lizard creature started to power up a bolt of blue energy from its huge jowls. "I'll draw your attacks towards my defending - and invincible - Bokoichi!"
"Fine with me, seeing as Bitelon does damage to you anyway!"
The blast fired, deflecting off the face of the Freightening Car, but the impact tearing through Antoine himself, evident by the shriek.
(K: 6,100) - - - - - - - - - - - (A: 2,200)
"If you really want to try to keep this up for eight more turns, be my guest," he added. "In the meantime, I'll end my turn."
Antoine held his ribs and coughed a little as he stood up and drew another card, straightening his shades as he looked at it. Then he smiled broadly. "Yeah?" he said. "This will give me some breathing room!"
The card he played was a familiar and old one, but still one of the most useful. Shearing, glimmering blades flashed from the Swords of Revealing Light, and Karl's three monsters froze solid. "Super," said Karl.
"I've got three turns to bolster my side now," clucked Antoine, "so I'll give Bokoichi another counter, and then use Fusion Recovery."
He took Polymerization and Cyber Phoenix from his Disk, then flipped his face-down monster up. "Presenting Symphonic Warrior Synthess!"
Music started to blare as the card flipped, which could be described only one way: loud. The monster was a cute robot made from a sound synthesizer, playing a keytar, plugged into its own system. Not very well, however. (1,200 ATK)
"This little guy gains me another Symphonic Warrior, and I'm bringing him out now, Symphonic Warrior Drumss!"
Another cute robot formed next to Synthess, the off-key music gaining a rhythm section that made the overall noise even worse. Naturally, it was a drum, "armed" with drumsticks that it clashed against its own body to make the sound. (700 ATK)
"I'll use its effect to turn its Attribute from Wind to Water, then use this Polymerization I got back to fuse it with Musician King again!"
"This is getting tedious, Antoine," stated Karl.
"Hey, why change what works?" he asked with a shrug. The two monsters combined into golden and blue swirls of energy. "Now let's give it up for Psycho Musician - Prince of Hearts!"
Hearts - along with stars and moons - were indeed part of the flourish that came as the new monster stepped out, a dark version of Paul Stanley. He was muscular with no shirt, odd, bony spires jutting from his shoulders. His gloves and trousers were leather and each had silver stars etched on them. The same design covered his right eye, but that eye itself was opaque and green, leaking an odd vapor. (2,500 ATK)
"This is getting out of hand," said Wells. He was about to say something else, but Jalal gestured as to brush him off, clearly thinking hard while watching something.
"First I'll use this guy's effect to place a Psycho Counter on one of your monsters. I think… Her."
The Prince of Hearts glared hard at Cosmo Queen, and she swooned a little, covering her chest with one hand and bowing her head as she closed her eyes.
"We'll deal with that later. For now, attack Bitelon with Soul Breaker!"
Prince of Hearts made an attack that was almost exactly what Karl had expected, with an energy beam from that right eye. But rather than a straight laser, it was a jagged one, zig-zagging across and then cleaving through Bitelon like a sword. It hurt too, despite the minimal amount of damage.
"I draw once due to Supply Squad," he said.
(K: 6,000) - - - - - - - - - - - (A: 2,200)
"Whatever," said Antoine. "My major surprise comes next turn."
He stabbed his thumb down to show he was ending his own. Karl drew a card, and felt like slapping himself on the forehead in frustration when he saw it.
"Disappointing, huh?" asked SAL.
As witty as she was, she was spot on. He drew this one a round too late. He put it aside, then set a card behind his two monsters. "You two can't attack, but at least you can defend," he added. Cosmo Queen knelt, and the Dragon coiled on the ground around her. (2,450 DEF, 1,100 DEF) "I end my turn."
"Well, they won't be in a minute," added Antoine. He drew a card, and like before, Prince of Hearts stared without blinking, this time looking at Bitelon. Then the eye turned pale red, and to Karl's utter and complete shock, both his monsters were yanked over to Antoine's side of the field!
"You gotta be kidding me!" he shouted.
Antoine smiled smugly, then pocketed two of the cards he had pulled from his Graveyard, Dekoichi and Bokoichi. "Fraid not, brainiac, this was the major surprise."
Expressions on the faces of everyone on Karl's side watching turned to sheer terror. Sofia held Philip's comatose body and turned away, unable to watch.
"See? Now your monster is my bitch," said Antoine. "I'll move them to Attack Mode so they can let you have it!" (2,900 ATK, 2,400 ATK) "You first, babe."
Cosmo Queen scowled at him, but complied anyway, her Cosmic Nova blasting towards Karl and hitting him hard.
(K: 3,100) - - - - - - - - - - - (A: 2,200)
"Sorry, that's all you get!" shouted Karl. "Call of the Haunted!"
His Trap opened, and a rumble of dirt and dust caused Dragonic Automaton to, again, rise to the surface.
"I'm safe for now," he said.
"Well, I'll just boost Bokoichi a little more," chuckled Antoine. He turned Zushin's card around, and the Freightening Car shimmered again. "That's four, by the way. Just to be safe, I'll move Synthess to Defense Mode."
The small robot knelt, using its keytar like a shield. (1,900 DEF)
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Jalal was paying very close attention to Damned Magician Girl. She had noticed him a few times, and had acknowledged it by wagging the cricket ball slightly, all the proof he needed that it was not a bluff.
Still, there was something else he was more focused on. The ivory focus on her belt.
He had seen many powerful sorcerers use the Contingency enchantment before. Rayearth herself had a pretty nasty one prepared that protected the Bag of Holding she used in case an enemy tried to swipe it. If anyone dared, it would first unleash a Chain Lightning (guaranteed to make the would-be thief drop it), followed by Cause Fear, causing even the hardiest of foes to run in panic.
But if a thief had the smarts to swipe the focus, well, that would be different. For the Contingency to activate, the focus had to be carried in very close proximity. This gave Beatrice's defense a rather obvious flaw.
But he also knew Rayearth usually had some other magic in use to prevent that. Jalal was trying hard to deduce what sort of protection, if any, Beatrice was using to guard against that flaw. As it seemed the one way to truly defeat her now.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
"Listen, Antoine, maybe you have the patience," said Karl. He forcefully made a draw. "But you're getting on my nerves. See this?" He flipped the card forward to show an odd-looking Warrior. "This is half of the combo that's gonna break through yours, and his name is Spell Strider."
"Eh, you mean Spell Striker?" asked Antoine.
Then he was startled as the Swords and Karl's Supply Squad card disappeared. The monster that appeared wore a uniform that vaguely resembled Spell Striker's outfit, but he was much older. Now a handsome adult with a boyish face and shaggy, white hair, he held a long knife in his left hand and a long magical staff shaped like a key in the right. (1,800 ATK) Beatrice made a slight squee sound, but quickly caught herself.
"Now for part two of my plan," said Karl. "Since I Special Summoned him by banishing those two Spells, I can summon…. Nanobreaker!"
Beatrice suddenly became much more serious, even as the clashing sound of steel heralded the arrival of the armored brunette woman holding the nano-blade. (1,600 ATK)
"Uh… oh…" said Antoine.
"I take it you know she can destroy any Level 3 or lower monster. So…"
As Nanobreaker rushed for the countered Bokoichi, everyone supporting Karl cheered. One swipe of her sword cleaved the Freightening Car in twin.
But Karl wasn't done yet Spell Strider called lightning bolts to his staff, and they crashed from above, blowing the final Bokoichi apart. Then, Dragonic Automaton spit flames from its jaws, striking the Prince of Hearts, stars fizzling and dissipating from his remains.
(K: 3,100) - - - - - - - - - - - (A: 2,100)
Interplanetarypurplythorny Dragon and Cosmo Queen disappeared in two puffs of smoke, quickly reappearing on Karl's side, and looking just as angry as he was.
"Look, about that bitch crack," he said. Cosmo Queen's eyes burned in rage.
"Ah, spit," he said. "I use the effect of The Music Never Dies!"
Like before, Musician King appeared, but didn't look quite as energetic as before. (1,500 DEF)
"Immortal as he is, he's worn out his welcome," stated Karl.
"Karl, WAIT!" shouted SAL.
Unfortunately, Karl was in no mood for waiting. Powerful blasts of magic from the Dragon and Cosmo Queen hit Musician King and Synthess, reducing them to smoking piles of ash.
"You're lucky they were in Defense Mode," he said. "With that, I end my turn, and -"
"Uh, Karl?" interrupted SAL, sounding annoyed.
Karl stopped. "Uhm," he said.
"In case you were wondering," she said, "I finally found something about that Continuous Spell. It might not have been a clever idea to do that just now…"
"Wait," said Karl.
"Sorry, no backsies!" laughed Antoine. He drew, then pointed to the Unsettling Dreams card. "See, this card cost some serious bread, but -"
"AHEM!" interrupted Beatrice.
"Okay, okay, it cost Antisthenes some serious bread, but this ain't some old card you can get at the five and dime."
"It was a card proposed after the Grand Prix made every duelist watching realize they had a potential God Card in their binders and bins," added Beatrice. "But once the prototype was designed, they realized it wouldn't be such a clever idea to let everyone have access to it. Still, getting the folks at I2 to, ahem, lend us the prototype wasn't all that much of a chore."
"What exactly does it do?" asked Karl.
"Wanna see?" asked Antoine. "Every time I put a counter on that Bokoichi, this card gained two of them. With no monsters, I can get rid of it," the Spell Card dissolved and faded away, "then summon a Level 1 Normal Monster from my deck, and then put all those counters on it!"
Karl recognized the monster that appeared quickly, the Coach Goblin riding on D.D. Crazy Beast, a pair collectively known as D.D. Trainer. (100 ATK) Thunder started to roll, and the stone monoliths around them started to hum and throb.
He was far more nervous now than he was a minute ago, but he noticed something. "Don't panic everyone, that gives it eight counters, he needs two more turns."
"Well, look who knows so much!" laughed Antoine. "I'll use the card to bring it up to nine, then use Monster Reincarnation."
"What's he doing?" asked Viola. She and everyone else watched Antoine, who used the Spell, then discarded Zushin's card.
"Exploiting a loophole," replied Prospero. "You can only use that card once per turn, but nothing says you can't use two copies of it in one turn. So, if he discards it for the cost of and Monster Reincarnation and then uses its effect to recover it, it counts as a second copy."
Unfortunately, he was truly on the ball. Antoine withdrew the card, and as another glimmer appeared on D.D. Trainer, the monoliths around them quivered as the sky above darkened. A column of blue fire stabbed from the heavens, consuming D.D. Trainer.
"Okay, start panicking," said Jennifer.
Karl stepped away slowly as the ground cracked and a giant mass broke free, looming twenty feet over him. Then he dove for cover as he realized that was just a hand. The behemoth struggled at first as it pulled itself free, toppling the standing stones around them as it did so along with the trees on the outskirts.
The storm raged harder, and Karl got a good look at the titan, a colossal, muscular, potbellied brute wearing a hide skirt and a fancy jade necklace. It had a topknot of red hair and carried a short - for its size - cudgel.
Zushin stretched and cricked, and then its roar shook the landscape, its beady eyes on Karl.
"The slumbering giant has finally awoken," said Beatrice. "And it's cranky."
"You fuzz all think you're hot stuff?" laughed Antoine. "This is real power! Antisthenes has given me more power than I could ever dream of!"
Zushin crouched as its giant hand thundered towards Karl's Dragon, its Attack Score soaring to 3,400 before it crushed the smaller monster with one smash. The impact threw Karl off his feet and caused him to skid back from Antoine before landing on his face.
(K: 2,100) - - - - - - - - - - - (A: 2,100)
Karl's reaction, however, was not what Antoine had expected.
"Heh-heh," chuckled the Shadowchaser. "Heh…. HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!"
"What's so funny?" demanded Antoine.
"You are," replied Karl. He stood up, dusting himself off. "Power? You think that big galoot is power? Powerful, maybe, but what do you plan to do when Antisthenes tells you to pay the bill?"
"Huh?" said Antoine. "Bill?"
"You think he gave you this power for free?" asked Karl. "I've seen this a lot, you know, some powerful being from another world appears, finds some down-on-his-luck slob like you, and offers some powerful weapon, and you never assume a string might be attached. Nothing is free, Antoine! You make a deal with the Devil, sooner or later he comes to collect."
"Keep dueling Antoine," said Beatrice, sternly.
"I mean, look at her!" added Karl. "I'd compare guys like you to lambs being led to a slaughter, but lambs will flee from an obvious wolf. Seriously, if a woman dressed like that who calls herself 'Damned Magician Girl', offers you something, the smart thing to do is run the other way, fast. Thing is, guys like you just aren't very smart."
Antoine turned slightly to Beatrice, who was impatiently tapping her foot. He quickly used a card and a set monster appeared in front of him.
"Guh, I'll set this just to be safe," he sputtered out.
"Powerful, right," he muttered, making a draw.
Still, for all his bravado, he wasn't sure what to do. His hand now consisted of Moisture Creature, Tribute Burial, Weapon Change, and Schwarzschild Limit Dragon.
"In case you need reminding," said SAL, "that 'big galoot' has an Attack Score that changes to 1,000 more than that of the monster it battles, and its impervious to effects."
"Calm down, I have an idea," replied Karl. Then he thrust his hand forward as the Overlay Network opened again. "I'll Overlay my Level 8 Cosmo Queen and Dragonic Automaton! Xyz Summon Aegaion the Sea Castrum!"
Lightning flashed again and the sky turned truly dark. There was a loud rumble as a huge Machine started to rise behind him with thunderous footsteps. It was as big as Cloudcastle but fat more modern, with twin buttress towers to either side of a cylindrical body with a red energy core in front and a spanning arc overhead. Jalal and Wells moved aside as it trod towards the still-larger Zushin. (3,000 DEF)
"Woo, three-thousand Defense Points!" snarked Antoine.
"That's bad, stupid," growled Beatrice. "It's Attack Score is zero."
"So long as I don't use the effect, that is," added Karl your monster can't defeat it."
Spell Strider and Nanobreaker knelt, and moved to Defense Mode. (800 DEF. 1,800 DEF)
"It's your move."
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"Okay, Terra, I've seen enough. You know what to do."
Terra quickly gave an aside glance towards Jennifer, Viola, and Prospero, then as customers at cafes often do, placed a five-pound bill and two one-pound bills on the tab, and then her glass on them both. The only difference was the game card between the bills and the tab. Then she nonchalantly walked away.
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"You wanna play dirty, old man?" asked Antoine.
"Old man?" asked Karl. "I'm barely three years older than you are."
"Then this card here is much older," replied Antoine. "I'll pay 800 Life Points to use Re-Fusion and bring Musician King back for an encore."
His Life Points edged down, and the Spellcaster appeared, but looked kind of bored now. (1,750 ATK)
"Now, I'll use Power Ballad again to summon Psycho Musician - Master of the Hunt!"
Karl had expected a monster based on Peter Criss to appear by now, so the one that took the place of Musician King was hardly a surprise, a muscular, savage-looking version of the K.I.S.S. drummer with long talons, predatory fangs, and feral, cat-like eyes. Thick chains crossed his otherwise bare chest, and his trousers were ragged and torn. (1,000 ATK)
"Yeah, I know, he's not all too strong, but since all your monsters are in Defense Mode, this guy can make a direct attack!"
Karl barely saw it coming, the monster turning to a blur and slashing across his back. He fell on one knee, the wound burning.
(K: 1,100) - - - - - - - - - - - (A: 1,300)
"Even better, once he does that, he moves to Defense Mode. Next turn, he'll be able to do that with 400 more Attack Points."
Damn, thought Karl, watching closely as the Beast-Warrior knelt in a squat. (2,100 DEF)
"I can't make any other attacks that turn, so I'll set one more card, and you're up," continued Antoine.
"So, how should we lose," asked SAL, "from the big galoot or the crazy punker?"
"You're not helping, SAL," said Karl.
He drew, then considered the situation. The new card was Trade-In.
"Only way we have a chance now is with my copy of Enemy Controller. It's a long shot, but it's the only chance we have."
He activated the Trade-In, discarding Schwarzschild Limit Dragon, then drew twice.
Now, had he drawn Enemy Controller, he'd have reacted with relief. Had he not, he might have reacted with fear or anguish.
This… This only caused confusion.
"Well?" asked Beatrice.
Karl cleared his throat, then used that card, and to Antoine and Beatrice's incredible shock, Zushin groaned, looking sick and nauseous. Then he started to fade away and discorporate.
"What's happening?" demanded Antoine.
"I'm sacrificing your monster to summon this one," replied Karl, "Satan Claws."
This came as a shock to everybody watching, especially Jennifer, as the card appearing in Zushin's place was the demonic version of St. Nicholas that lived in her deck. She grabbed it from her Disk and started to look through the cards. How the hell, she thought.
It wasn't there. How did Karl get it? she mused.
Karl would be the first person to ask that right now, but he wasn't complaining. He just kept going.
"I activate Tribute Burial," he declared. "I'll banish Card Trooper from my Graveyard and Psycho Musician - Scion of the Cosmos from yours. And in return…"
Moisture Creature appeared, brandishing its blaster pistol. (2,900 ATK)
Antoine couldn't help but laugh a little as he placed the card in his jacket. "Pretty dumb there, pops. Those guys are NOMIs, it's not like I could have summoned that one from there anyway."
"I have my reasons," said Karl.
Then Spell Strider stood up, making a dash for the set monster. Cyber Phoenix briefly appeared, only to be sliced in half.
"I draw one card," snarled Antoine. Then he covered his head with his wrist to block the little pieces of Psycho Musician that scattered as Moisture Creature fired his blaster pistol.
"Screw this, I'm -" he started. He was about to run in the other direction, only to see the very angry Damned Magician Girl about to use her staff.
"You even think about it," she warned, "you'll be even deader than anything they claim is deader than Disco. Finish the duel."
"Better do what she says, Antoine," ordered Karl. "Like I said, she's the named benefactor on your contract. The one you owe."
"I can still use The Music Never Dies," he said with a scowl, again causing Musician King to appear. (1,750 ATK)
"Yeah, pretty accurate name there," said Karl. "You'd think that guy was a Zombie. So, I'll set two cards, and it's move."
"Yeah, well, thanks to this guy, I get one draw," said Antoine, indicating Satan Claws.
He did so, and looked a little dumbfounded. Whoa, he thought. He opened his Trap. Karl recognized it quickly - Metalmorph.
"Well, that's a surprise," he said with a shrug.
The change this time wasn't as drastic, as the Trap changed Musician King's jeans to leather pants, added a matching jacket and face paint, and a hairstyle with a long ponytail. (2,050 ATK)
"Heavy Metal King? Okay, at least now you're up to the mid-80s."
"Well, how about going five more years?" replied Antoine. "I activate Wiseman's Chalice!"
"What the," said Karl.
"It's not a very widely used card," answered SAL. "It lets the user summon a monster from his opponent's Graveyard for one turn, but not to use as Tribute or Synchro Summon."
"But Fusion Summon is a different story," replied Antoine, "and I think that uhm, uh, crud, how do you pronounce this?"
He shrugged, and Schwarzschild Limit Dragon appeared in front of him. (2,000 ATK) See, cause this guy is Dark and Level 8, it's just what I need." He flashed a Polymerization card, and the Dragon and Heavy Metal King merged into a shimmering, dark swirl.
"Let's give it up for the rip-roaring Death Metal King - Goth Zombie!"
Then the Spellcaster appeared again, becoming darker and demonic. He was muscular to the point of hulking, with an iron mask and a barbed harness, a belt with a skull buckle and torn trousers. His guitar was neither more nor less an "axe" now, with one side of it straight-bladed, and the other with a serrated blade. (1,750 ATK)
"Impressive," said SAL, "You updated his style five years while going back about 5,000 on the evolutionary ladder. He's not even a real Zombie."
"Laugh all you want," snarled Antoine. "Maybe he's not, but he can create them. By sending this guy to the Graveyard, I can use Death Metal King's effect."
The demon rocker started to play a loud, off-key tune that Karl would later compare to cats being tortured. Bony, decayed claws ripped out of the ground and grabbed Satan Claws, pulling him under.
The ground kept churning, until finally, the regular Musician King pulled himself out of it. Karl's previous claim had been prophetic, as he was undead and decayed, his torn clothes covered with mold and his guitar dented and broken.
"In return for this, he loses his effect, but his Attack Score becomes 3,000, while his Defense Score becomes zero. Attack with Requiem Purge!"
"I activate Emergency Provision!" shouted Karl.
The Quickplay flipped up, and the inert Call of the Haunted and his face-down Weapon Change disappeared.
And just in time. Whether the undead Musician King did so by screaming or vomiting was hard to tell, but the horrid sound that came from its mouth chilled Karl and every spectator as it literally consumed Spell Strider.
(K: 1,900) - - - - - - - - - - - (A: 1,300)
Antoine looked at the scores, and seemed a little disappointed. He set a card - the one which, a second ago, he seemed about to play - and waved his hand.
Behind him, Beatrice was clearly frustrated. She had considered, several times since Karl had beaten Zushin, simply dropping the ball and making a run for it, but figured she'd wait it out. Karl would obviously attack Death Metal King; destroying him would destroy Musician King, and Karl clearly knew that. But she knew that Antoine's set card was Battle Fusion, which would make Death Metal King 1,750 points stronger than anything that attacked it. Now it was just a matter of waiting for Karl to make his move.
Karl closed his eyes, and made a draw. "I activate the effect of Aegion the Sea Castrum. By ditching an Overlay Unit, I can send one of your banished Fusion, Synchro, or Xyz monsters back to your Extra Deck, and then vaporize a monster of the same type."
"Hold the phone," started Antoine, "you never banished any of my -"
Then he stopped. He thought back.
"I activate Tribute Burial. I'll banish Card Trooper from my Graveyard and Psycho Musician - Scion of the Cosmos from yours."
"Oh… yeah…" he stammered.
Missiles and guided lasers crashed upon Death Metal King - Goth Zombie, blowing it to atoms. Musician King collapsed into a pile of inert dust and bones.
"Screw it, I'm pulling the plug," cursed Beatrice.
It was only too clear what she was about to do. But before she could let go of the ball, she felt someone's fingers jab a soft spot between her shoulder blades causing her whole body to seize up until she was gripping the ball like a corpse under the effects of advanced rigor mortis.
"Merk?" Was about all she could get out through clenched teeth before she toppled back and would have hit the ground were it not for Voltaire catching her at the last minute.
"Apologies my dear," he said, leaning his head over her and sporting a grin. "Normally I'm not one to be this forward with a woman I just met, but there are lives on the line and besides, nobody likes a sore loser." It was hard to tell what she started to say when she didn't have full control of her jaw muscles or lips, but it was unlikely any of it was fit for print.
Jalal reacted quickly, charging past both duelists, tumbling, and then snatching the ivory focus from her belt. Once he was sure he had it, he turned to the androids guarding Eden, who as he guessed, had bladed weapons they were about to use. But so did he. With his free hand, he drew his sword, made two quick swipes, and each robot fell in two broken pieces.
Fortunately for Beatrice, Voltaire caught her before she could hit the floor and gently lowered her down the rest of the way, before he looked up and noticed everyone was looking at him with mixtures of impressment and alarm. "Oh come off it, it's not permanent. What was I supposed to do, break a vase over her head?"
"Cutting it a little close, huh Voltaire?" asked Jalal "Why didn't you tell us you could do that?"
Voltaire's eyes took on a dull edge. "And how, pray tell, am I supposed to bring that little detail in casual conversation hmm? 'Hello, my name is Voltaire, did you know I can inflict short term paralysis on you faster than you can react?' Oh yes that's going to go over so well the next time I talk to the girl behind the counter at Starbucks."
"I didn't know Voltaire drank coffee," said Karl.
"He sees coffee as less a beverage and more an excuse to use every cup of cream and sugar packet within arm's reach," said Jalal with a nod. "He'd probably get less of a sugar high eating chocolate covered coffee beans."
Antoine was about to make a run for it himself but Karl didn't care, nor did Moisture Creature. He aimed his ray gun at the fleeing duelist and fired, hitting from behind on the seat of his pants and causing him to stumble forward.
(K: 1,900) - - - - - - - - - - - (A: 0)
Still, he didn't stop, but didn't get far. Barely looking where he was going, he didn't notice Wells until a second before he was slugged in the face and was down.
Karl looked around. Stonehenge was back the way it was. Either the destruction caused by Zushin was just an illusion caused by the Solid Vision system, or they had magically repaired themselves. It was impossible to tell.
They gathered around where Damned Magician Girl was still laying on her back as stiff as a board. More than a few of them were giving Voltaire odd looks.
"So, uh, that is going to wear off at some point, right?" Karl asked.
"Oh, I only hit that pressure point hard enough to paralyze her for a few minutes, she should start getting control of her motor skills any second now," Voltaire said, idly leaning against one of the rocks and looking at a silver pocket watch.
Then he snapped his fingers under the Damned Magician Girl's nose, and she slowly started to come to.
"Ahem, now then," ordered Jalal. "The cure you promised?"
Beatrice let out a long, tired sigh. "Fine, fine. You need to use your Disks, and create a double-layered boost."
"Pardon?"
"Ugh, five monsters with different names, the one in the center of the Monster Zone the Attribute corresponding to the victim's, place monsters in the second and fourth slots that the one in the center would trump in Attribute, and monsters in the first and fifth that would be trumped by the second and third!"
"Uh…" said Wells.
"Wait, I think I've got that," said Jalal. He activated his Disk as he turned to Eden.
Here goes nothing, he thought. He placed Vanguard of the Dragon in the third slot, then Blizzard Dragon on the second and Powered Tuner on the fourth, then Masked Dragon on the first and Dread Dragon on the fifth.
One by one, the five Dragons appeared around them. As he watched, Eden started to stir, and tears dropped from her eyes. Which started to slowly open.
"Get Maddie and Philip here, NOW!" he ordered. "It's working!"
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In his control room, Antisthenes watched the screen. The progress bar turned to 98%, then 99%.
UPGRADE COMPLETE.
He ran the program again. This time, a large, green "+" appeared on the screen as it completed.
A communication device clicked on. "Mr. Dunstan," he announced.
"That's my name," replied Dunstan's voice.
"The final dry run is complete, and successful. Bring the Device at once."
As he switched it off, he turned to another monitor. It was time to handle a completely different problem...
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It was hardly a time to celebrate, but the cafe staff insisted on feeding them, especially since Philip and Maddie couldn't feed themselves yet, and the duel had attracted a large crowd of customers. Still, it seemed like the nanos inside them were dying, and fast. Beatrice had actually given them the cure.
"I think this is yours," said Karl. His statement was directed towards Jennifer as he handed her the card.
"Thanks," she said. "No idea how the decks got mixed up."
"It didn't," said Jalal.
Everyone turned to him. He had found the card Terra had left.
"What's that chief?" asked Karl.
"I have no idea how the cards were switched," he said grimly, "but I think I know who did it."
"You don't seem happy," added Wells.
The leader of the Shadowchasers stuffed it in his jacket pocket. "Jabels, you're in charge until I get back. I have some personal business to see to."
They watched him walk away, none of them having the slightest idea what he meant.
Eden, meanwhile, was able to feed herself, being a lot tougher than the others, but still felt weak, the hot cocoa she was drinking doing very little to help the splitting headache. "Amazing," she sighed. "I specifically told Karen not to rescue me, and then this happens. I can't even die right."
"Don't talk like that," said Sofia. "We've finally turned the tables on them, and once we convince Beatrice to sing, it will be over."
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However, Beatrice had made up her mind on that already.
Never had she been this humiliated. She was sitting on a bench about fifty yards from them with Dolores watching her and the typical restraints for a spellcasting prisoner, her hands tightly shackled to a chain on her waist and her mouth muzzled.
Still, the offer the Chasers would give her if she snitched was likely a lot better than what Antisthenes would give her. She intended to talk as soon as the muzzle was removed.
She looked slyly at Antoine, who seemed to have lost what was left of his pride, angrily cursing and struggling with his bonds. At least she was finally rid of him.
Unfortunately, due to his ranting, Dolores seemed far more concerned with him than with Beatrice, and as a result, didn't see the smoking, green portal when it started to open. Beatrice was unable to scream as the robotic hands and metal tendrils reached from it to grab her and drag her away. By the time Dolores noticed something was wrong, it was too late…
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At Copek, it didn't take Dunstan long to convince Oswald to help him bring the Pan Dimensional Homing Device to the showroom. The thing was starting to make them all rather antsy.
"So, you're saying he can fix this thing now?" asked Oswald. "Without that dumb journal?"
"He said so," replied Dunstan.
"What if he's wrong?" asked Oswald. "What if he makes a mistake and tries to ram an unstoppable force into an immovable object, and creates a reality breaking paradox that causes the universe to implode?"
"I try not to think of such things!" exclaimed Dunstan.
He turned to the robot. The huge, intimidating dreadnaught in the display case.
As the case was lifted into the ceiling, a hatch on its chest started to open. A glowing, green core inside filled the whole room with a sickly, eerie glow...
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Heavy Metal King - (Fusion Monster)
Spellcaster/Light/Lvl6/2,050ATK/1,700DEF
"Musician King" + 1 monster equipped with "Metalmorph"
This card can also be summoned from your Extra Deck by Tributing a "Musician King" that is equipped with "Metalmorph". (If you do, it counts as a Fusion Summon.) If this monster attacks, it gains ATK equal to half the ATK of the attack target, during damage calculation only.
First appeared in episode 053, some liberties taken.
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Psycho Musician – Prince of Hearts (Fusion Monster Card)
Warrior/Water/Lvl7/2,500/1,200
"Musician King" + 1 WATER Machine-Type Monster
Effect: Cannot be summoned except by Fusion Summon and only with the above-named Fusion Material Monsters. You can only control 1 "Psycho Musician" monster. Once per turn, you may select 1 opposing face-up monster and place 1 Psycho Counter on it; you may banish any number of Machine-Type monsters from your Graveyard to take control of 1 monster with a Psycho Counters per monster banished. Monsters you control with Psycho Counters cannot be Tributed or used as materials for Synchro or Xyz summons and cannot use their effects. If "Psycho Musician - Prince of Hearts" is destroyed, control of monsters with Psycho Counters switches to your opponent.
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Psycho Musician – Scion of the Cosmos (Fusion Monster Card)
Spellcaster/Wind/Lvl7/2,500/1,200
"Musician King" + 1 WIND Machine-Type Monster
Effect: Cannot be summoned except by Fusion Summon and only with the above-named Fusion Material Monsters. You can only control 1 "Psycho Musician" monster. Once per turn, you may select a Machine-Type monster you control and equip it to this card like an Equip Spell. This card gains ATK equal to half the ATK of the equipped monster, and may attack twice during the battle phase. If this card attacks a second time in a battle phase via its own effect, its ATK is reduced by half for its second attack and may not attack directly. At the End Phase of a turn the effect of this card is used, send the monster equipped to it to the Graveyard and reduce the ATK of this card by 500.
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Psycho Musician – Master of the Hunt (Fusion Monster Card)
Beast-Warrior/Earth/Lvl7/1,000/2,500
"Musician King" + 1 EARTH Machine-Type Monster
Effect: Cannot be summoned except by Fusion Summon and only with the above-named Fusion Material Monsters. You can only control 1 "Psycho Musician" monster. If the monsters your opponent controls are all in Defense Position, this card can attack your opponent directly; if this card attacks directly via its effect, switch it to Defense Mode until the End Phase of a turn. If this card does Battle Damage, place 1 Psycho Counter on it; for each Psycho Counter this card has, increase its ATK and decrease its DEF by 400 each.
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Power Ballad (Normal Spell Card)
Image: Musician King performing in front of the Amplifire, with Thunder Nyan-Nyan and Sonic Maid - playing a bass - behind him.
Effect: When you activate this card, target one 'Musician King' on the field; Tribute that monster and then Special Summon one Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck that lists 'Musician King' as its Fusion Material, disregarding its summoning requirements. (This Special Summon is treated as a Fusion Summon') You can only activate each effect of 'Power Ballad' once per turn and only once that turn.
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The Music Never Dies! (Continuous Trap Card)
Image: Like "Power Ballad" shown from the side, with Spirit of the Harp and Water Omotics added as backup bass.
Effect: Once per turn, if a Fusion Monster that lists 'Musician King' as a Fusion Material that you control leaves the field, you can Special Summon one 'Musician King' from your Graveyard or that is banished, ignoring the Summoning Conditions. If you do, you may add 1 "Power Ballad" from your deck to your hand. If a 'Musician King' would be destroyed as a result of battle, you can send one card from your hand to the graveyard to negate that destruction.
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Death Metal King - Goth Zombie (Fusion Monster)
Spellcaster/Dark/Lvl6/1,750ATK/1,500DEF
"Heavy Metal king" + 1 Level 8 or higher DARK monster.
Must first be Fusion Summoned. Once per turn, you can Tribute 1 monster you control; Special Summon 1 monster from your Graveyard. The monster special summoned by this effect has its effects negated, its ATK becomes 3000 and its DEF becomes 0. It cannot be used as a Material for an Xyz or Synchro Summon and cannot be Tributed. If this face-up card leaves the field, destroy all monsters summoned by its effect.
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Unsettling Dreams (Spell Card)
Continuous Spell
Image: A stone statue resembling Rodan's The Thinker, on a desert scape below a sky resembling the Different Dimension.
Effect: Upon activation, you may select 1 Normal Monster you control; that monster is considered to be Level 1 while this card is face up on the field. If you use the effect of "Zushin the Sleeping Giant" to place a Zushin Counter on the selected Monster, place 2 Zushin Counters on this card. If you control no monsters, you may banish this card to Special Summon a Level 1 Normal Monster from your hand or deck, and then place a number of Zushin Counters on it equal to the number this card had. You may only control 1 "Unsettling Dreams".
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Battle Curriculum (Spell Card)
Equip Spell
Image: Cyber Tutu delivering a powerful kick to a duelist in a blue blazer; in the background, Cyber Blader is watching.
Effect: Equip to a Level 3 or higher monster. When this card is equipped to a monster, select 1 monster from your deck with 1,000 ATK or lower and Level 3 or lower, with the same Attribute as the Equipped monster. The turn you use this effect, only the summoned monster can attack.
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Dragonic Automaton (Effect Monster)
Machine/Earth/Lvl8/2,600ATK/1,700DEF
When this card is normal summoned, you may select a Level 8 monster from your deck (except for a "Dragonic Automaton") and banish it face-down. If this card is destroyed, you may Special Summon that banished monster during the next End Phase.
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Jemorille: In my line of work, you encounter a lot of doomsayers, prophets, and madmen who rant about absurd beliefs. Normally people would not trust the opinions of a man named after a notorious killer who claimed to willingly serve an abomination.
Still, as a rilmani, I often must think in ways that aren't "normal" and look at things from angle most would not. After all, Cassandra was believed to be a raving madwoman, but she predicted the Siege of Troy with frightening accuracy and recognized the Trojan Horse for the ruse it was. Ignoring her was what doomed the city.
Now, Oswald was nothing like Cassandra, but as we were to see, he had a point about the dangers of misusing that thing.
"Snakecharmer" is coming soon.