Keane LP: 2100
Number 94: Matrix Golem: Machine-Type/Xyz/Gemini/LIGHT/Rank 4/ATK 2000/DEF 2000 - 1 OLU
Katie LP: 1700
Solstice Armoured Mage: Spellcaster-Type/Gemini/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 700/DEF 2900
Spell & Trap Card Zone: Solstice Zone of Aphorism [Field Card]
"I Set one card and end my turn." Keane's face-down appeared. He didn't know what Matt had meant and he didn't care. All that mattered was hurting the girl in front of him. It wasn't enough yet, he had to keep going...
Leah and Dan looked at Matt, confused. "What do you mean? What promise?" Leah asked him.
'Of course,' Matt thought, 'they weren't there when it happened. They don't know what I'm talking about.'
James and Katie, however, had been there. They knew exactly what Matt was talking about, and to Katie, it was like she was seeing the duel clearly for the first time.
When Matt had been saved from his Number, he had made a promise to himself. He had sworn to redeem himself of his actions by saving other people from the Numbers, so that they would never have to live through the suffering he had. That was why he fought. That was what allowed him to live with himself.
And now, Katie was facing just that. A Number holder who was causing suffering all around him.
Katie rose to her full height. Now things were different. She truly had a reason for fighting. She truly had a way to at least partly make up for what she'd done to Esta. She could save Esta's brother from the Numbers. She owed the siblings that much.
"My turn, draw!" Katie looked at her drawn card. She understood perfectly that fighting back would cause her even more pain. But right now that didn't matter. Nothing mattered, except saving Keane. "I Summon Solstice Æthermage!" The monster that appeared was a bald necromancer dressed in a red robe.
Solstice Æthermage: Spellcaster-Type/Gemini/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 1600/DEF 1300
Solstice Æthermage: ATK 1600 → 1900/DEF 1300 → 1600
Without any warning at all, Matrix Golem set off its lasers. Katie had been expecting them, but that didn't make them hurt any less. This time, she bit her lip and kept defiantly silent, despite the lasers burning excruciating tracks across her body.
Katie LP: 1700 → 1300
Doing her best to ignore the pain, she pressed on. "I activate the effect of my Field Spell, Solstice Zone of Aphorism! Each time a Gemini monster is Summoned, its controller can add a FIRE Gemini monster from their Deck to their hand, then discard one card. So I'll add Blazewing Butterfly to my hand, then discard it immediately." Her duel disk extracted the card, which she placed straight into her Graveyard.
"That move had a purpose last time..." Keane snarled, suddenly suspicious. "What're you up to?"
Ignoring him, Katie continued. "Next I activate the Equip Spell, Supervise. Equip to Solstice Æthermage!" Like the Blazewing Butterfly from earlier in the duel, Æthermage was surrounded by a blazing aura. The necromancer spread its arms, and between them appeared a fiery eye. "This grants Æthermage its effect. And I think I'll activate that effect now. So by Tributing it, I can Special Summon any different Solstice monster from by Deck." Æthermage distorted and faded away, but the flaming eye remained. The eye expanded into the likeness of a portal. "Appear, Solstice Armed Mage!" The monster that leapt out of the portal bore a striking resemblance to the Armoured Mage standing next to it, although instead of a shield, it carried a long staff.
Solstice Armed Mage: Spellcaster-Type/Gemini/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 200
Solstice Armed Mage: ATK 1800 → 2100/DEF 200 → 500
"And due to the effect of Supervise, when it's sent to the Graveyard, I can Summon a Gemini monster back from my Graveyard. Revive, Solstice Æthermage!" The bald Spellcaster reappeared.
Solstice Æthermage: Spellcaster-Type/Gemini/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 1600/DEF 1300
Solstice Æthermage: ATK 1600 → 1900/DEF 1300 → 1600
Keane gritted his teeth. "Three monsters... it's fine, none of them are Numbers, so none of them can destroy a Number."
Fortunately, Katie wasn't finished yet. "Next I activate the Spell Card Double Summon, which grants me an extra Normal Summon this turn."
"Katie, don't!" James cried out, suddenly afraid. "If you keep Normal Summoning, you'll keep taking damage! Stop!"
"Calm down, James," Matt said. "She doesn't care about the damage anymore. Her duel has a new purpose now."
"How do you know that?" James said, rounding on him.
Matt smiled. "Because her purpose is the same as mine."
"Same here." Dan added. He had finally worked out what was going on, and was smiling at Katie. "She's dueling out there for the same reasons we all are-"
"-to rescue people from the Numbers." Leah finished.
James opened and closed his mouth several times, then nodded. 'At this point, there isn't a damn thing I can do to help her,' he thought. 'All I can do… is be here for her.'
"Using my extra Normal Summon for this turn, I Second Summon my face-up Solstice Æthermage!" Once again, the mage formed the flaming eye, signifying its effect's activation.
Solstice Æthermage: Spellcaster-Type/Gemini/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 1900/DEF 1600
"What's this all about?" Keane demanded. "Second Summoning a Gemini monster still counts as a Normal Summon, so Matrix Golem still inflicts damage!" The lasers fired again. The spectators dropped low, avoiding the wicked things. Katie took the full force of them yet again. Despite herself, a small whimper of pain escaped her lips.
Katie LP: 1300 → 900
James couldn't bear to watch much more of this. But he knew he had to. It was his duty, no matter how hard.
Katie stopped and took a deep breath. With any luck, that would be the last time she took damage from that effect. "I activate the effect of my Field Spell again." Just like before, her duel disk extracted a card which she sent straight to the Graveyard – it was her third and final Blazewing Butterfly.
Leah was confused. "Hey James, what's Katie doing? She just seems to be looping through the same moves over and over."
"Well," James said, "that's what it looks like, yes. But it was like this before."
"Before?"
"In her last duel," James' eyes misted over, as he thought back to that day. "She was doing exactly this right before she Summoned it..."
"Now I activate Solstice Æthermage's effect again." Katie shouted. "So I'll Tribute it to call out another Solstice monster. This time, it'll be Solstice Guru!" Æthermage disappeared, and a new monster appeared to take its place, this one being a Normal Monster. It was an extremely old and bearded wizard, who wore a similar red robe to the others, and carried a katana.
Solstice Guru: Spellcaster-Type/FIRE/Level 7/ATK 2900/DEF 2750
Solstice Guru: ATK 2900 → 3200/DEF 2750 → 3050
Katie took two deep breaths to calm her nerves. She knew that what she was about to do was incredibly risky. But she couldn't see another way.
"Level four Armed Mage and Armoured Mage, Overlay!" The two monsters turned fully red and shot into the orange sky. A galaxy portal opened ready for them "I use these two monsters to construct the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon!" The two monsters sailed into the portal like little red comets. The portal exploded, and a column of fire shot out of it. "Be born! Number 91: Flarestormer!"
A bright red number ninety-one flashed above the field. Out of the column of fire rose the Number's sealed form – it resembled a piece of rock in a V-shape, with volcanic veins pulsing over its surface. A massive crack rent the stone in two. Then another split, and another, each one revealing more of the monster hidden within. It was a centaur, with a burning body. With a roar, the creature freed itself from its shell, and stretched its arms to the sky, as though trying to embrace the sun. Its entire body seemed to be made entirely of magma, with only a few black strips of armour and its orange bat-like wings deviating from that. Two red Overlay Units orbited it.
Number 91: Flarestormer: Pyro-Type/Xyz/FIRE/Rank 4/ATK 2000/DEF 200 – 2 OLU
Number 91: Flarestormer: ATK 2000 → 2300/DEF 200 → 500
The red symbol etched itself onto the back of Katie's right hand. She clenched her fist and prepared for the worst, but nothing happened. The protection held. She breathed a sigh of relief.
For the first time in the duel, Keane was starting to feel scared. "This thing... this is what did it... this is what hurt my sister!" Matrix Golem took a step back, sharing in Keane's fear.
James nodded, smiling. "I knew she could do it. Nice one babe."
Katie didn't waste another moment. She'd had enough of this duel, and wanted nothing more than to be out of it. "Go, Flarestormer, attack Matrix Golem!" Number 91 roared again, and its body became wrapped in flames. With its blazing cloak, it galloped towards Matrix Golem, who opened its arms wide as if welcoming it.
"I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card, Ego Boost!" Keane responded. The Spell Card opened. "This gives a monster I control 1000 extra attack points!"
Number 94: Matrix Golem: ATK 2000 → 3000
"This is it!" Keane roared. "You've failed. Your Number is doomed. That thing might have injured my sister, but it will never work on me!" Matrix Golem howled in triumph, and began charging its counterattack.
Katie smiled sadly, the tears starting to prick the corners of her eyes once again. "I'm sorry, Keane... you have no idea how sorry I am... but I can redeem myself. I couldn't save your sister. But I can save you." Keane's eyes widened in shock. Katie dried her eyes, hardened her heart, and made her move. "I activate the effect of Number 91: Flarestormer!" One of the centaur's Overlay Units flew into its chest. The monster didn't slow its charge, but the aura from it seemed to burn brighter than ever. "By using one of its Overlay Units, I can increase its ATK by 100 for every monster in my Graveyard."
Number 91: Flarestormer: 2 → 1 OLU
"What?" Keane gasped.
Katie looked at her duel disk. "Let's count them: I have three Blazewing Butterflies, one Phoenix Gearfried, one Solstice Æthermage, one Evocator Chevalier, plus the monster I just detached, Solstice Armed Magician. That's seven monsters, so Flarestormer gains 700 ATK."
Number 91: Flarestormer: ATK 2300 → 3000
"So that's what you were doing" Keane cried out, and there was real fear in his voice now. "You were filling your Graveyard with enough monsters to power up that thing!"
Katie nodded. "Do it, Flarestormer. Take down that Number!" With a huge crash, Flarestormer slammed into Matrix Golem. The cyclops howled with pain. It tried to push the centaur away, but found the heat from its body too much. With a huge effort, Flarestormer pushed itself forwards one more time. The golem overbalanced and fell backwards. It was only once it hit the ground that it gave up the fight, and the two monsters exploded together.
The explosion was colossal. Flames erupted behind Keane, sending him flying forwards. He landed on the ground and turned to see the fiery remains of both Numbers, now fading away. Both duelists clutched their right hands in pain, their respective numbers flickering erratically.
Keane turned back to scream abuse at Katie, but was instead greeted by Solstice Guru, who was now standing over him with a look of finality on his wizened old face. Keane's eyes widened in shock. He opened his mouth to scream-
"Solstice Guru, direct attack!"
-but never got the chance.
With deft, well-practised movements, the wizard raised its sword above its head and whipped it diagonally downwards. It never came into contact with Keane, but instead conjured a wall of flames that surrounded him. He thrashed around in the flames, trying to escape their clutch. But it was too late.
Keane LP: 2100 → 0
Katie LP: 900 [WINNER]
Keane collapsed onto his back, drained, exhausted, and more upset than he'd ever been in his life. He felt the first tears trickle out the corners of his eyes.
'I… I'm sorry, sis… I couldn't do it… I failed you…'
That was his last thought before he lost consciousness.
Author-made cards:
Solstice Guru
Spellcaster-Type/FIRE/Level 7/ATK 2900/DEF 2750
A Spellcaster that casts waves of fire to confuse and frighten its enemies before attacking. He is the only one left alive who is familiar with the lore surrounding the disappearance of the Solstice magicians.
Solstice Armoured Mage
Spellcaster-Type/Gemini/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 400/DEF 2000
This card is treated as a Normal Monster while face-up on the field or in the Graveyard. While this card is face-up on the field, you can Normal Summon it to have it treated as an Effect Monster with this effect: ●This card's original DEF becomes 2600.
Solstice Æthermage
Spellcaster-Type/Gemini/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 1600/DEF 1300
This card is treated as a Normal Monster while face-up on the field or in the Graveyard. While this card is face-up on the field, you can Normal Summon it to have it treated as an Effect Monster with this effect: ●You can Tribute this card you control; Special Summon 1 "Solstice" monster (except "Solstice Æthermage") from your Deck.
Solstice Armed Magician
Spellcaster-Type/Gemini/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 200
This card is treated as a Normal Monster while face-up on the field or in the Graveyard. While this card is face-up on the field, you can Normal Summon it to have it treated as an Effect Monster with this effect: ●This card's original ATK becomes 2400.
Number 94: Matrix Golem
Machine-Type/Xyz/Gemini/LIGHT/Rank 4/ATK 2000/DEF 2000
3 Level 4 monsters
This card is treated as a non-Effect Monster while face-up on the field or in the Graveyard. While this card is face-up on the field, you can Normal Summon it to have it treated as an Effect Monster with this effect: ● This card cannot be destroyed by battle, except by a "Number" monster. Once per turn: You can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card; you can Normal Summon 1 monster in addition to your Normal Summon or Set this turn (you can only gain this effect once per turn). When a monster is Normal Summoned: Inflict 400 damage to your opponent.
Number 91: Flarestormer
Pyro-Type/Xyz/FIRE/Rank 4/ATK 2000/DEF 200
2 Level 4 monsters
This card cannot be destroyed by battle, except by a "Number" monster. Once per Damage Step, when a face-up monster battles: You can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card, then target 1 of the battling monsters; that target gains 100 ATK for each monster in your Graveyard until the end of the Damage Step.
Solstice Zone of Aphorism
Field Spell Card
Face-up FIRE monsters gain 300 ATK and DEF. When a Gemini monster is Normal Summoned: Its controller can add 1 FIRE Gemini monster from their Deck to their hand, then discard 1 card.
Fun Fact #14: This chapter was hard to write, but for very different reasons to Chapter 4. Mostly due to the complex nature of Katie's turn. It was surprisingly hard to design a turn in which such a large amount of things happen, as well as making these things logical and believable, even though a turn like this would be considered quite simple in real life.
Fun Fact #15: In case you're wondering how Evocator Chevalier got into Katie's Graveyard, it was discarded to activate Solstice Supernova last chapter.
Fun fact #16: Gemini monsters really need an archetype like this to come along and give them a boost. They've been kind of forgotten as of late.