Chapter 21: Right In Front of Your Eyes

The stale smell was the same as she remembered. It had been a while since the last time Erica attended one of the Duel Club gatherings, but this time she had a goal in mind. With her promise to help Bryan, she discovered the next of the migratory meetings. The next step was to locate the card Bryan described to her. That was the easiest part; she suspected that any card resembling a god card would not remain hidden for very long. The only hard part was finding a way to participate in an amateur league.

Leila Locklear noticed her right away. It wasn't very often the type of woman who would wear a pantsuit presented herself in the Duel Club. "Ms. Dawkins! What are you doing here?"

Erica had considered how she would answer that question. Initially, her goal had been to slip inside and try to remain unnoticed. After all, being present in an ill-reputed organization like this one could hurt her reputation in academia before it fully began. But the probability of going undetected in a club that prided itself on strictly amateur duels seemed remarkably low, and so she had determined a fallback position.

"I heard a rumor that this organization ignored the wishes of Kaiba Corp. and failed to disband."

The excitement of seeing a professor and former classmate outside of school faded quickly. "Are you going to punish us all with academic probation?"

In reality, being out past curfew wasn't that big a deal. It was officially a rule at Duel Academy for all students to be in their dormitories no later than 10pm, and that rule was enforced whenever administration staff was presented with indisputable proof. But curfew was often a self-policing rule for the students. Anyone failing to achieve a sufficient amount of sleep would find morning classes much more challenging, and suffering grades was a much more severe crime in the administration's eyes.

If anything, Erica was impressed with what Vic and his gang of misfits had managed to do with this duel club. For a student who never put forth more than the minimal requirement, he certainly excelled at this business venture—finding a niche in the market where he could provide immense entertainment without needing to expend more effort himself. It fit Vic's style perfectly. He even found the funding to provide functional Duel Disks that were not electronically connected to any student's account. What purpose would the professors serve if they took away the things that helped students grow?

Besides that, how would she find this mystery card if she sent everyone to their rooms?

"I'm not here to end the festivities. I just want to visit one time to make sure everything is safe."

"We don't do anything crazy here," Leila insisted. On second thought, she added, "Except for the possibility of one of the townsfolk getting a little too angry when he loses. But that's why we have Logan as our bouncer." Leila bit her lip for a moment. "Um. Gambling is illegal, isn't it?"

"No, gambling is not illegal. There are restrictions. I'd better not see that you allow the winner of a duel to punch his opponent for every thousand Life Points taken or anything like that." She forced a smile and a somewhat teenage giggle in order to put Leila more at ease. It worked; the platinum-haired student smiled and promised that was the type of behavior Logan was there to stop.

More relaxed, Leila asked, "So is that all you're here for?"

"Yes. I'm just checking on things. No reporting back to Dr. West or anything."

"Cool! I think you'll really enjoy this. We've got our current champion here tonight. He's won every duel he played for four weeks straight."

"Really?" Erica found it curious that an amateur league would have a champion. "At what point does he stop being considered an amateur and have to stop participating?"

"Um, I don't really know. Vic probably has a rule for that." Or else maybe he was coaching the guy in order to manipulate the championship in whatever way brings in more money. If a lot of horrible turns were played, then Vic could be buying off the participants to provide entertainment. "But the guy still makes a lot of really amateur moves. There are so many times when he could win many turns sooner, but he either doesn't realize he can make a play or he screws it up."

Erica peered through dim lighting into the crowd, but it was a trick just to distinguish one person from another with a crowd this size. The majority was male, though there was a reasonable number of women present at the event, ready to fulfill their own wishes of looking like a star duelist for even a fleeting moment. "Which one is the champ?"

"Right there!" Leila pointed past the crowd toward where Logan stood like a tower of muscle near the exit. His eyes darted this way and that around the room, ever-vigilant in case of trouble, but he spoke to an old man who hunched as he stood. He was not a large man, and he had the type of receding hair that wrapped around the side of his head, like ear muffs that he never bothered to correct.

"The one talking to Logan? Tell me about him. Is he some kind of prodigy?"

"His name is Spencer, and he's far from a prodigy. He's as much an amateur as anyone I've seen here. But he does pick up a few things pretty quickly. He spent most of his life as a truck driver. All the heavy lifting and bad posture gave him that hunchback look. He's such a nice old man, too. I think he's sixty-something. He moved here to work as a dispatcher for the Kazuki police."

"Pretty sweet gig to go from a truck driver to a police dispatcher."

"He might have done some security work in between. I don't remember his whole story. I just know he's not a truck driver right now. Where would he drive on this island, right? Anyway, he's the first guy who achieved a significant winning streak here." That fact alone was reason enough to convince Erica that Vic was in control of Spencer's reign.

Continuing her thought process, Leila mused aloud, "I wonder who his challenger will be tonight."

Erica was sure she could tell through body language who the challenger was. Vic stood by the side of the stage speaking with a young man with perfectly slicked-back hair and dressed all in black. But the black clothes were strictly his fashion choice in underground dueling and no indication of his attitude.

James Flores was a positive and lively person known in the business world for having an invigorating and inspiring effect on others. Being anchored in old habits and stale hobbies was never an issue in his life, possessing the energy and the money to pursue whatever held his interest. Though smiles didn't spring naturally to his lips, his visage was always friendly with that kind of smile that wanted to come out but didn't quite have the strength. Being president of his own company in the city and being friendly at the same time made him a target for people who wanted favors, and so he adopted a middle-of-the-road strategy for how approachable to be.

But to Vic Rocks, James Flores was money. The only thing people wanted to see more than the fulfillment of their own dueling dreams was to watch a rich tycoon get taken down-even one as likable as James. After all, everyone worked for Kaiba Corp. in one form or another.

"I am always happy to see you grace our humble environment with your ethereal presence," Vic told James. "My only disappointment is that you don't show up more often."

"Dueling was never really my thing," James explained, "but once in a while, the bug bites and I need to know if I could have made it."

"Of course I understand! We're going to get you in the first duel of the night. Why don't you get fitted for a Duel Disk and grab a deck while we get everything set up?"

Vic turned away and hurried himself with driving Ty and Clyde to finish programming the Duel Disks and the hologram projectors for that night's use. He always made a point to speak with his patrons directly, but Vic kept his hands in every cookie jar. James thought about advising him against micromanaging, but instead he left it alone and approached Abel Shinzou standing front of a black trunk. The trunk itself was unimpressive-faux leather torn and faded-but it was adorned with three very heavy locking mechanisms. There was no fooling around in this organization when it came to deck security.

Abel was a tall guy of average girth. Few would admit that his dark skin helped him blend with the shadows in this dimly-lit basement, yet maybe that was what aided him in his sleight-of-hand. In order to ensure deck security, he would shuffle keys around in such a way it was impossible for anyone to figure out which was which. Furthermore, he was able to shuffle entire decks smoothly whenever a patron wished for a random deck to use.

"Good evening, sir," he spoke to James with a professional tone of voice. "What can I get for you tonight?"

"What deck does your champion use?"

"Oh, you'd like to mirror him with another X-Saber deck?"

"No. I want a deck that will form a good counter to it."

A smirk crossed Abel's lips. "Well, sir, any deck played well enough can counter the X-Sabers. You're looking for a deck that has some strong monsters and can move quickly." His suggestive tone did not escape James's ears.

"What do you suggest?"

Shifting a few decks around, Abel presented him with one of the larger decks. It wasn't an excessive number of cards, but it did appear to hold a few extra cards compared with the majority of the decks. "Give this one a try. I think you'll appreciate the possibilities. Best of luck to you tonight."

"Thanks." James left his money and took the deck aside. He didn't head straight to the stage. He stepped back and opened the deck box in the corner where he found the most light. Shuffling one at a time, he moved painstakingly through the deck and read every single card he had just rented, often returning to a previous card to reinterpret it in light of a new card.

Vic stepped up and announced, "We are ready for you now, Mr. Flores."

"I need a few more minutes to review the deck. I like to know what I have to work with."

"Smart man," Vic replied enthusiastically. He gladly gave an extra ten minutes for deck review before beginning the show. Even the reigning champ Spencer decided to take the time to review his cards as well. Finally James was satisfied with his understanding of the deck. Abel took the deck from each duelist and shuffled them while the players were equipped with Duel Disks. Decks were loaded while Vic gave the introductions to the crowd.

James extended his hand to Spencer. "I'm James. It's nice to meet you."

"I know who you are, sir," Spencer said. His hand was clammy and his handshake was erratic. In his mind, he was meeting a celebrity. "It's my honor to play this game with you."

Smiling, James said, "I hear you have a pretty powerful card."

"Yes, sir. It's pretty rare. Maybe I'll get the chance to show you."

"I look forward to it."

Vic didn't even pretend to be a neutral adjudicator for the duel. He gave Spencer the first turn owing strictly to his current reputation as the reigning champion of the Duel Club. At least the treatment he received gave the old man confidence. A number of young duelists didn't carry themselves as high as he carried himself.

"First I'll use my Summoner Monk (4/800/1600) in defense mode. I mean, he automatically goes to defense mode when I summon him in attack position, because that's his effect." As he stumbled over his words, the field was graced with another old man, whose skin appeared with a pale blue tint beneath his large, baggy robes.

Erica couldn't help thinking the man's confidence was a bit conflated by the way Vic promoted him as a champion duelist. Everyone present was an amateur, but Spencer seemed inexperienced to the degree that he should be called "novice" instead.

"Summoner Monk's other effect," Spencer continued, "lets me discard Monster Reborn to summon a low-level monster from my deck." He dropped his card into the Graveyard on his Duel Disk and began to search his deck. After a moment, he placed another card on the Duel Disk. "I choose Rescue Cat (4/300/100)." It was a small, white cat with adorable green eyes wearing a tiny hard hat and a whistle necklace.

Abel stepped forward to shuffle Spencer's deck for him, but the duelist waved him off for a moment. "Don't bother just yet. I'm also going to use Rescue Cat's effect to sacrifice himself so I can summon two low-level beast monsters." He searched through the deck again, retrieving two lion-headed warriors armed with sharp fangs and powerful claws protruding from their knuckles. He held out the deck before Abel. "Now I'm done searching." Abel took the cards from Spencer and shuffled thoroughly, returning it to the champion's Duel Disk.

"I just got myself a tuner monster," Spencer pointed out. "In case you don't know, it means I can combine one of my Airbellums (3) with Summoner Monk (4) to summon a Synchro monster as long as it's the same level as the two monsters combined. Um, in that case, I have a Level 7 monster called X-Saber Urbellum (7/2200/1300)." The two monsters turned to light and merged into a single warrior, clad in ragged pauldrons and hip guards and armed with dual long swords.

When Spencer paused, James acknowledged his level of play. "You've played a lot of monsters in one turn. I'm impressed."

"Thank you, sir. It pleases me to hear such praise from someone as esteemed as yourself."

"Would you care to see my counterattack?"

"Um… I beg your pardon, but I still have cards to play. Since there are two X-Saber monsters on my field, I get to summon XX-Saber Faultroll (6/2400/1800) without making any sacrifices." His new monster was the biggest one yet, standing just taller than Urbellum and wielding a broadsword bigger than both long swords combined. He brought with him the same Airbellum (3/1600/200) that was already sent to the Graveyard.

James said, "I'd guess your new monster also revives one when you summon it."

"Yeah, it does, sir! Except that it happens each turn and not just when I summon it."

"How enticing."

Spencer was invigorated by James's kind words. To be in agreement with a tycoon was a big deal for a simple man. "Yeah! So, I'm going to combine that Airbellum (3) with that Faultroll (6) so I can summon XX-Saber Gottoms (9/3100/2600)." This monster that took Faultroll's place was even bigger than the bionic man had been. Covered from head to toe in silver armor and dotted with a red cape, Gottoms wielded a sword that left the hilt with dual blades, meeting at the tip to form a single, wide-bladed weapon.

"I have one more move," said Spencer with a chuckle. "I can summon another Faultroll (6/2400/1800) from my hand, which means I can bring back another Airbellum (3/1600/200)." His bionic man and the claw-bladed lion reappeared on the field, giving Spencer a total of five monsters on the field!

Erica fidgeted in her seat. Maybe Spencer wasn't quite as inexperienced as he seemed initially. X-Sabers were known for speed, and this man wielded them like any of her students ever did. As if it were tough to guess which student's deck he rented for this competition.

"I'm impressed," James said excitedly. "That is a lot of monsters."

"Yeah. Sometimes my turn takes a really long time, but it usually comes out with me having a lot of monsters."

"It works for you." James was legitimately surprised with his opponent tonight. Himself, he had only participated in two other duels at the Duel Club, but Spencer was dueling completely without assistance and made moves even Valerie Sheehan couldn't make. "I can't match the grandeur of that turn. But what I can do is set this monster," he firmly placed a card on the monster plate, "and two cards face-down." Two cards appeared flat on the floor in front of him. That was one strategy Spencer didn't try. Maybe a couple of Traps could help deter the X-Saber onslaught.

Spencer wasn't at all surprised that his opponent couldn't fill the field with monsters as quickly as he did. But even a couple of face-down cards couldn't obstruct his confidence. "I will make my monsters stronger by activating Saber Vault." Swords rained from the sky, striking the ground like posts of a fence and locking the duel field as a vault between sharp blades. And the attack power of each of his monsters did rise—by 100 times each monster's level.

"Is that pretty cool?" said Spencer. "Look at Gottoms (+4000/-1700)! He's so strong!"

"He is powerful," James agreed. "As powerful as Obelisk the Tormentor."

Spencer's jovial attitude withdrew some. "Yeah? Well…" Not completely sedated, he was still eager to show the other card in his hand. "I'll sacrifice both Airbellums to summon my favorite card: the Earthbound Immortal Cusillu (10/2800/2400)." The two lion-headed warriors disappeared in a flash of blue flame as a lanky golem erupted from the ground. With a body like onyx and lined with gold, the monster resembled a slender monkey with its tail twice curled.

The cheers from the spectators drew all attention to the new monster. Everyone obviously expected to see this card from this duelist. It had to be the card Bryan was looking for. At first glance there was nothing especially notable about it, but Erica could sense some potential within it. It only lacked the certainty of the god cards. The spirit within the card was the only difference. It didn't seek souls for nourishment. It simply existed.

"How curious," she uttered.

"That's a card favorite here," Leila said.

"Is it?"

"A lot like how people would go to a coliseum to see an unbeatable gladiator, that card is what people want to see."

"It does seem intriguing. I've never seen another card like it. But, what exactly is an Earthbound Immortal?"

Leila shook her head. "We're not sure what it means. As far as I know, each one of them is completely unique. Bryan seems to think it's as powerful as a god card."

"Wait," Erica said. Repeating Leila, she said, "Each? What do you mean?"

"Oh. Well, we play this one all the time, but about two weeks ago, another guy came in and played a card just like it. Well, that one had blue marking instead of these gold ones, but it was pretty clear they were related. They were both Earthbound Immortals."

"Blue markings," Erica noted. That meant Bryan wasn't crazy. It might be going too far to suggest he was prophetic, but somehow his consciousness was able to connect with that other card when it was played. That made a second monster that was necessary to locate. "God cards do tend to come in threes. I suppose that's no surprise. Any idea who the guy was?"

"Nope. Vic kicked him out for breaking the rules. We haven't seen him since."

Of course not, Erica thought to herself. Vic isn't the one thinking about how dangerous god cards can be.

"You said it was unbeatable. I hope James finds a way to break that trend."

"Oh?" Leila gave her a guilty smirk. "You bet a lot on the underdog?"

Erica returned the smirk. "Something like that."

At the small arena, Spencer had already sized up his competition and took a calculated risk. Cusillu had taken the first attack, as the weakest of his monsters, to test James's Traps. The surprise was that the giant monkey reached over James's face-down monster and struck directly against his opponent.

"You didn't activate any Trap Cards," Spencer noted.

James let slip a smirk that portrayed both inspiration and frustration. "I wasn't ready for your monster to attack directly."

"That's one of his special abilities. But I'm thinking now you don't have any Traps that can stop my attacks. If that's the case, then I'll let Urbellum (+2900/-600) take care of your monster." The warrior drew his twin blades and swiped at the field only to find his prey had evaded the strike. Even though he clearly saw bug guts explode across the field, there was still a bug standing there before him. "That wasn't supposed to happen."

"Actually, it was," James argued. "You destroyed my Howling Insect (3/1200/1300), but doing so allows me to summon a second one from my deck to the field in defense mode."

"Oh, that's kind of a shame, no offense, sir. I thought maybe I had achieved one of those one-turn-kills. Better luck next time, am I right, sir?" He continued his turn by having Faultroll (+3200/-1200) destroy Howling Insect again, and then Gottoms (4000) destroyed the third and final copy of Howling Insect present in the deck.

This time, James summoned a wicked-looking, purple worm with several sharp hairs growing from its body. "This is the Ultimate Insect LV3 (3/1400/900)," James introduced. "Do you have anything more to your turn?"

"No, sir. The field is yours."

Spencer 8000: James 8000 – 2800 = 5200.

"I appreciate it. First, my Ultimate Insect activates its ability to level up into Ultimate Insect LV5 (5/2300/900)." The little worm sprouted a steely exoskeleton with six, blade-like legs stabbing into the ground. Its mandibles and even its very frame also appeared to take on the characteristics of a sword.

Spencer was so enthralled in watching insect evolution before his eyes that he temporarily missed the way each monster was affected by the Ultimate Insect. "That was amazing. You summoned a big monster so quickly and without even starting your turn."

"Unfortunately, I can't do much to attack. So I'll just play Insect Barrier and end my turn." Yellow gases arrayed in a grid along the ground of Spencer's field. In response to the look on his opponent's face, James explained, "Insect Barrier prevents any insects on your field from attacking."

"Um… I don't have any insects."

James said nothing for a moment as he smiled at the opponent. "You do now." He pressed a button and DNA Surgery activated. An elfin surgeon appeared on the field accompanied by two nurses and performed a spontaneous and abrupt operation to insert insect DNA inside each of the creatures on the field. James's monsters were already insects and, thus, remained untouched. But Spencer's monsters all took on insectoid characteristics.

"Does that mean my monsters can't attack?"

Again, a smirk of amusement touched James's lips. "Yes."

"Oh. Even Earthbound Immortal Cusillu (-2300)? Hey! Why did his attack power drop?"

"I was wondering when you'd notice. That's the effect of Ultimate Insect. Because I summoned him using his monster effect, every monster on your field loses 500 attack points."

"Oh, wow. That's exactly the kind of effect I'd expect from an entrepreneur such as yourself." James appreciated that Spencer spent much of his life working for "the man," but his constant humility and sucking up was getting irritating. "I guess I have nothing else to do this turn. Why don't you take another, sir?"

"Thank you. First, I'll send my Ultimate Insect away to summon Ultimate Insect LV7 (7/2600/1200)." His cocoon-hardened monster suddenly sprouted into an enormous moth: six legs, almost like tentacles; three huge mandibles; and a poisonous powder scattered through the air from four bladed wings. "And like its lower-leveled form, this Ultimate Insect again lowers the power of your monsters—this time by 700 points. And since my monster is stronger than yours now, I think I'll attack your Earthbound Immortal." But he was confused as he attempted to initiate the attack. "That's odd. The Duel Disk won't allow me to select Cusillu as an attack target."

"Uh, that's one of his effects," Spencer explained. "He's like a ghost in his ability to attack you directly and avoid being attacked."

The look on James's face was again one of veiled anger. "I see. How unfortunate for me." He gave a one-handed shrug. "I suppose I'll settle for attacking XX-Saber Faultroll (-2500)." The Ultimate Insect fluttered across the field with the speed of a swarm. Faultroll swung his sword in self-defense, but the spores in the air blinded him to his target. Swinging with full force and missing, he spun around, presenting his backside to the giant moth. It attached its six legs to the bionic warrior and compressed the joints until the hydraulics burst. "I'll set one monster and one other card face-down and end my turn."

Spencer 8000 – 100 = 7900: James 5200.

When Spencer drew, he reacted with visible excitement. "I'm sorry to do this to you, sir, but I have Mystical Space Typhoon to play on Insect Barrier." A swirling storm raged on the field for a moment. A single bolt of lightning struck and shattered the barrier on the field. "That means Cusillu (-2100) gets to attack again. This time, I'm choosing to target the Ultimate Insect (2600) for attack." Cusillu reached out to attack, but the Ultimate Insect bounced off the giant hand and fluttered harmlessly into the air. In retaliation, the stingers on its thorax dribbled with poison as it darted through the air. Urbellum turned into a gold stream of energy and disappeared inside the monkey's body. The Ultimate Insect's attack stopped abruptly.

Cocking his head to one side, James asked, "What happened?"

"Cusillu was about to be destroyed in battle by your Ultimate Insect, so I activated another ability. By sacrificing one of my monsters, I can save my monster and cut your Life Points in half."

James watched his Life Point counter fall with a look of incredulity on his face. "You could have inflicted more damage than that by destroying my monsters and attacking me directly."

"I could… um…" Spencer was perplexed. In reality, he had experienced many such plays during his championship that were strategically ill-advised, but this was the first time his opponent was skilled enough to call him out on it. "Maybe you're right. I just wanted to show off Cusillu's abilities for you."

"I see."

"Yeah, so now Gottoms (-3300) can destroy Ultimate Insect LV7 (2600)." The silver warrior drew back his dual-bladed sword and pulled it heavily down on top of the moth, splitting it in half and removing it from the field. "That ends my turn. What did you think?"

Spencer 7900: James 5200 – 2600 – 600 = 2000.

"I think you're not bad at this. But every reign comes to an end sometime. For my turn, I will simply flip over one of the most basic cards in this game: a Man-Eater Bug (2/450/600)." A tiny green bug with clawed legs and rows of sharp teeth hopped across the field and climbed up the body of Earthbound Immortal Cusillu. A moment after sinking the mandibles set in, the monkey giant disappeared from the field. With a smirk, James said, "What do you know? Apparently 'Immortal' is a flexible term."

"You destroyed it…" Spencer uttered. He was purely aghast at the sight. In all his nights as the Duel Club champ, he had never faced an opponent who managed to destroy his most powerful monster. Even by such a simple monster effect.

"Even the most powerful of men can be brought down by a simple opponent," James confessed. "As further proof, I'll offer my smaller bug as Tribute to summon a bigger Millennium Scorpion (5/2000/1800)." Although inaptly named, the new "insect" card was a large creature with a blue exoskeleton, four claws on each pincer, and a large Eye of Wedjet on its back. "I'll use the card Megamorph to double its ferocity, and then I'll play Burden of the Mighty to reduce your monster's power by 100 times its level." While the scorpion grew even larger, the steely warrior appeared to shy away from the confrontation. "Now it's time to attack." Millennium Scorpion (+4000) used its powerful claws to hold Gottoms (-3100) still while it stabbed fiercely with its tail.

When the field was clear, the scorpion grew even more. "With every monster destroyed, Millennium Scorpion (+4500) gains 500 points. Think about that before you play your next monster. In the meantime…" He signaled to the drink vendor beside the stage. "…I'd like a Scotch." He glanced at Spencer, who still looked incredulous at the loss of his god card. "It looks there's plenty of time."

The combination of Millennium Scorpion and a swarming army of powerful insects, plus a slightly frustrated effort from a discouraged god card holder, gave James what he needed to take the wind out of the X-Saber sails and achieve a narrow victory in the end. He congratulated Spencer on a duel well played and reminded him that all men at the top get toppled at some point. The true test of his mettle would be how he recovered.

With the hour still early enough for another display, Vic and his crew began a second match while James stepped away. He suffered several accounts of how much money he earned or cost people, and how he simultaneously provided the greatest spectacle ever seen and "just got lucky," before he finally caught a reprieve at the side of the room. There he was approached by one more spectator, though Erica was significantly more welcome company than drunken gamblers.

"You played well," she said. "It's hard to believe you don't study in your free time."

"Any good businessman knows to read the fine print before signing anything." That was his explanation for reading through every card in his deck before beginning the duel. As an intelligent man who knew what he was getting into, winning a strategy game against another amateur was no tremendous feat.

Repositioning herself to face James just a bit more directly, she said, "You didn't offer to buy the card from him."

"Your friend told you Spencer was the man with the card he needed?"

"That's what he said."

"Then I have bad news for your friend. He forgot one important detail about the way this organization is run."

BUMP! BUMP!

He could not have been studying more than thirty minutes at his maple desk when Darius suddenly became aware of a light knocking on his wall. It was a rhythmic rapping, always tapping twice—once softly and then once more loudly. The louder one was obviously against the wall directly. Standing, he could orient himself better toward the source.

BUMP! BUMP!

The sound seemed to come from the front wall, where his room exited into the suite walkway. That was the same wall he shared with suitemates Bryan and Matt—one on each side of the door.

BUMP, BUMP!

That one was faster, off beat from the established tapping. But it reverberated from the side connected to Bryan's room in the dormitory. Perhaps the noise was minor and could be ignored, but Darius already felt the onset of study fatigue and desired a temporary change in procedure, anyway. He opened the door and stepped into the junction between the three rooms, noting that while Matt's door was shut tightly, Bryan's door was set ajar.

BUMP! BUMP!

Darius gently rapped his knuckle against the door, pushing it open just a bit more. The room beheld Bryan, seated on the floor with his backside slumped against his own maple desk. In his hand, he held a felt tennis ball. Momentarily he did, at least, for he pulled the ball behind his shoulder and hurled it on a downward trajectory ahead of him. The ball hit the floor first, perhaps a foot in front of the wall dividing Bryan from Darius's room. It bounced to said wall and rebounded through the air back to Bryan's hand. This process repeated many times until Darius opted to speak.

"Excuse me, Bryan. Are you alright?"

BUMP! BUMP!

"I'm super," was the reply. "I've got, like, a hundred and fifty bounces in a row." Enthusiastic as the words may have been, the expression on Bryan's face betrayed the frustration he truly experienced.

"Why have you chosen this particular activity?"

BUMP! BUMP!

"Because Lucy's at class."

"Do you not have to study?"

BUMP! BUMP!

"Not really. I read before bed every night and review my notes before each new lecture begins. Works pretty well for me." Suddenly Bryan held the ball tightly, realizing why Darius asked about the noise and studying. "Am I disrupting your study session?"

"Somewhat," Darius acknowledged. "I had not noticed when you began. The noise did not disturb me until after I noticed it the first time, and then it became something unbearable that I could not ignore."

"I understand the problem," Bryan said, pushing himself off the floor. "That happens to every after staring at the books for an extended period. It sounds like you were studying for too long and needed a break. Fixating on the noise was just your brain's way of looking for something else to do for a little while."

With a nod, Darius accepted, "That feels accurate."

"Of course it does!" Bryan handed over the tennis ball. "Feel free to slump for a while, my friend. It does wonders for killing time." Leaning in close enough to whisper, he said, "Just make sure you limit any wall bouncing runs to an hour, tops. Otherwise, you'll go a little cuckoo!"

Puzzled, Darius replied, "I will be a clock?"

"What? No. That means 'go crazy.' It's like watching Real Housewives for more than ten minutes. Your eye will start to wander and look for the nearest cutting implement just so you can remember what it's like to feel something real. So what have you been up to, other than procrastinating when you should be studying?"

Sometimes Darius found it troublesome trying to keep up with Bryan's train of thought. He had come to learn that conversation with Bryan became more of a challenge when he was stressed. Rumors were that he was searching for a new god card. Darius concluded that may be the source. But as a friend, he decided to continue the small talk in order to help Bryan calm. "I am finalizing my plans to return home for our spring break."

"Nice. But, uh… Doesn't it take a week just to fly back to Greece from here?"

"No. The flight home and the return flight will each require a majority of one day, but I will retain a full five days of time to visit with my family members and Eldina."

"Oh yeah! How's Elly doing?"

"She has recovered from the shock of that semester," said Darius. "She continues to wish I would stay home without returning, though I assure her Duel Academy is likely to be safe enough at this time."

Bryan agreed. "Yeah. You've handled yourself pretty well when the need arose."

This segued well into the burning question Darius held in remembrance of the time the Shadow Realm threatened the campus. "Do you believe this new god card you encountered will achieve the same threat level?"

"I don't have any idea what to expect," Bryan said. "I don't know anything about the card, but by the same token, I haven't heard anything about droves of people winding up in comas. If that card is dangerous, then it's in the hands of someone who is not."

"Have you searched only coma cases? There have been other injuries on campus recently."

"Last I saw, the card wasn't on campus. It was in the city."

"Surely Kazuki has a hospital, as well. Have you learned of any other injuries than comas? An unexpected bruise or an unexplained accident could result from Shadow Realm interference."

Tilting his head to the side while shrugging, Bryan said, "I guess there's no harm in checking the unexplained stuff. You're right; maybe there's something different happening this time." Thinking to himself, he added, We did recently open all seven seals between us and the Shadow Realm, after all.

Before he could even find the hospital website to search for recent admissions, Bryan's homepage, which offered local and national news items, had mention of a late-night mugging in Kazuki. Names were never mentioned as the old man in question was unidentified at the time, but Bryan knew the face.

"Do you see something?" Darius asked. He was unsure why Bryan opened this article instead of continuing to the hospital website.

"This is the old guy who had that god card," Bryan commented. He proceeded to read the article aloud:

[[Downtown Kazuki, January 26 – Kazuki Police Department detectives are investigating a robbery that occurred near the corner of Worth and Juxtapose on Tuesday, January 25 at 1:30a.m.
According to detectives, a male victim, 64, while walking on Worth Ave. was approached by a male subject who demanded his stuff. The victim complied and handed over his cell phone and wallet containing credits cards and his Kazuki driver's license. The subject demanded the Duel Monsters cards seen with the victim earlier that night. The victim was not carrying any cards. After a brief scuffle, the subject fled on foot in an unknown direction.
The victim reported that he was beaten when he failed to provide any cards, sustaining severe wounds to his left arm and ribcage in the process.

The subject is described as a male—white, approximately 40 years of age, 6'2" tall, stocky build, and dark hair. No further description is available.
Detectives ask anyone with information regarding this crime to contact Crime Stoppers. All callers will remain anonymous.]]

Darius saw the look of despair pass Bryan's face. He reassuringly placed his hand on his suitemate's shoulder. "How unfortunate for that man he suffered. How unfortunate for the rest of us that a god card is now held by someone else with possibly darker intentions."

"He didn't have it," Bryan uttered. But Darius didn't follow his comment. "The article says he didn't have any cards. That because he never did! Geez, I can't believe I forgot that one little detail about the stupid Duel Club… Everyone has to rent a deck! That means the card I'm looking for is already on campus somewhere. And Vic Rocks knows where."

Thanks go first to kazikamikaze24 and MethLabWorker for encouraging me to continue this story. You two got me through a chapter that ended up much longer than I intended.

In the next chapter, we'll finally put this extended section on Cusillu to bed and move toward some other Earthbound Immortals. It's actually going to be a chapter I've looked forward to for quite some time, and one Titanic X won't want to miss.