Chapter 15: A Duel Before Dawn
Loss is a tough blow for everyone, but it is often inevitable in a tournament setting. Some participants become distressed over the thought of anything less than first place, but some are humble enough to feel acclaimed with a Top 16 rank. Darius and Ellie were examples of such people. Well, Darius was, anyway. Their final duel was a late one; when it ended, they decided to take a short walk around the campus and just enjoy the crisp, night air. They were going to keep it pretty brief, though, because it was getting pretty cool outside. As they walked near the Marufuji building, Ellie spent a few minutes discussing the rest of the tournament. They spoke to one another in Greek, but for the sake of the reader's sanity, the conversation is presented here in English.
"We were so close," Ellie started. "Two hundred points! One card and the game would have been ours."
"Dueling is three parts skill, two parts luck, and only one part will. Wanting it is not always enough."
Ellie just smiled at him. "You know what this means, right? We have to root for them to win the whole tournament now. That's the only way to vindicate our loss."
"I'm sure they will do well," Darius agreed. "But we should be proud to have made it this far. The tournament began with more than two hundred participants and we are among the top sixteen duelists."
That the only sound around them was the slight rustling of leaves as a zephyr blew by made Ellie jump when she heard a third voice begin speaking: "Imagine how the people feel who lost in the first round."
The voice belonged to someone standing directly under a nearby tree. It was a young man's voice, but the owner didn't move at all. He wore a Duel Academy jacket, but with so few lights that far out, it was difficult to make out the color. Darius deduced from the fact that no light reflected off the jacket that it must be either red or blue.
But the man already displayed one extremely rare characteristic of Academy students: He understood Greek.
Ellie thought she recognized him, though. "Geez, Matt. You scared the crap out of me. Why are you skulking around the bushes?"
"I don't skulk," he replied. "Ouroboros skulks. I'm just waiting here quietly in the dark."
"Why? Shouldn't you be with Kasumi during your free time?"
He began shaking his head rapidly. "No way. I can't go anywhere. He'll get mad at me if I do. And Ouroboros doesn't like to be seen unless it's during a duel."
She wondered if maybe her English was a little lacking because she could hardly figure out what Matt was saying. Ellie looked to Darius to see what he thought about Matt's odd behavior. The look on his face was also one of puzzlement. Considering his English was worse than hers, Ellie just assumed Darius was having trouble following the conversation, too.
"We can see you," she pointed out dryly. "You might want to find a better hiding place… like in the dorm room with Kasumi."
"I'm supposed to wait right here for Darius. The Gravekeeper's Visionary keeps calling. Ouroboros wants to see him."
Ellie leaned into the Darius and whispered, "What's he talking about?"
Darius wasn't sure what the man was saying, but he did know that The Gravekeeper's Visionary was a card in his deck. "I do not believe this is the same Matt with whom I shared a room last year. I believe this may be the same man who Maikeru and Sean described."
Maikeru described the situation when he and Sean dueled against Matt, or someone who looked exactly like him. The only physical difference they could see was this guy wore a brown jacket instead of a blue trench coat like Matt did. He seemed like a total lunatic. He didn't make much sense when he spoke, as if maybe he was having a completely different conversation without the people around him. He also went from being an excitable, laughing guy in the first half of the duel to being an angry guy who sneered all through the second half. Maikeru suspected at the time that Matt may have split personalities; Darius wasn't sure it really was Matt, but an illusion of some sort.
Now Ellie remembered. "He stole their cards?"
"He didn't steal them," the Matt look-alike said. "They were costs to activate the Ouroboros. He won them fairly."
Who is "he"? Darius wondered. "Do you want to duel?"
"We already are. At this school, everything we do is part of a grand scheme duel." He pushed himself away from the tree and flipped open his Academy Duel Disk. "But when you mention it, a duel does seem like the best way to see the Gravekeeper's Visionary."
As Darius activated his Duel Disk, Ellie whispered to him, "Remember what Maikeru said? This guy has a lot of weird cards with crazy effects."
Darius nodded and stepped up to set the duel grounds, here among the woods at the corner of the campus where no one could see the duel. It didn't surprise him when a guy as out of it as Ouroboros claimed the first turn.
"I'll start with the permanent card Basic Rules," he laughed. Ellie touched Darius's arm with concern. "As long as this card is on the field, we can each only draw and play one card per turn. Nothing extra."
Darius nodded as he drew. "Okay." He considered the field and his hand for a moment. Necrovalley was his key card, but playing it right now had disadvantages, including the fact that he would leave his field wide open. He decided instead to take advantage of his opponent's wide open field. "I'll summon Gravekeeper's Commandant (4/1600/1500)." The summoned monster was a man wearing light clothes, a gold breastplate, a black jacket, and a mask shaped like a jackal. He carried a black staff in his hand. "Gravekeeper's Commandant will attack you directly!" His monster darted across the field and struck the opponent directly.
Darius 8000: Ouroboros 8000 – 1600 = 6400.
"Why is that guy dressed like a jackal?" Ouroboros asked regarding Darius's monster. "Was he burned by acid or something?" Darius didn't understand the question. "Your guy looks ridiculous," Ouroboros clarified, then he started snickering to himself. Suddenly he stopped and said, "I know! Geez."
Ellie, who was starting to feel less threatened by this guy who looked like Matt, told Darius, "I don't think this guy is all there."
"Where else is he?" he replied, not grasping the meaning of the idiom.
Ouroboros grudgingly drew a card and grumbled as he threw it on his Duel Disk. "I'll play Draw 3, Play 2 of Them. As it says, I draw three cards, play two of them, and discard the third." He picked up three cards from his deck and selected the ones he wanted to play. "First it's Draw 5; now we'll each draw five cards during every Draw Phase. Of course, I have to draw four more right now in order to make sure I drew five this turn." He slipped four more cards from his deck. "And then, I'll play The Sun (6/2500/1500)." Not much of an imaginative design, The Sun looked like a bright, yellow ball with petals intended to represent the rays of light.
"You did not Tribute," Darius said—more recognizing than asking.
"I don't need to. I was forced to play that card by the effect of Draw 3, Play 2 of Them. Now I'll melt that Commandant (1600) of yours with my Sun (2500)." The Sun's rays grew longer and brighter until they encompassed the Gravekeeper's Commandant and sent it from the field. Then Ouroboros discarded until he held six cards.
Darius 8000 – 900 = 7100: Ouroboros 6400.
Darius drew, and then the Duel Disk spat four more cards at him than he was used to. This man's deck is clearly built to play off of itself, he deduced. He plays a card to limit the number of cards per turn to one, and then he plays another card that lets him play two. My deck does not have that capability.
"I will set a monster and end my turn." He also discarded three cards.
Ouroboros snickered. "You have to because you only get to play one card." He drew, and his enthusiasm died down. "Well, it looks like my turn is over. Ouroboros gets to take over from here." As he held the card over his Duel Disk, he added, "Try not to lose, okay? You're too important." With that, he laid his card in the Field Zone of the Duel Disk.
His bright eyes and boyish smile turned rapidly to a slight sneer and a devilish grin. His voice also lowered and his words were more drawn out as he spoke: "Transmutation Circle – Ouroboros," he said. A brown ring of light appeared around the field; it resembled a snake that wrapped around the field until it started eating its own tail.
That's the card Maikeru mentioned, Darius remembered. Does this mean his personality has changed?
"You pick up one card, and that card becomes a sacrifice for this duel." He picked up his own top card and showed one called Jackpot! Darius picked up the top card on his deck and revealed Gravekeeper's Visionary. "I knew it," he laughed. "Now you remove it from play. If you lose the duel, you lose the card."
How was he able to locate my Gravekeeper's Visionary? Darius wondered. Of all the cards in my deck, he just happened to find that one for his card's effect? The probability is very low. Does it have to do with that card he just played?
"Now The Sun (2500) will attack your monster." The light rays expanded until they consumed Darius's monster, a dark-skinned man wearing black clothes.
"When you flip Gravekeeper's Spy (4/1200/2000)," Darius explained, "I summon another Gravekeeper: Gravekeeper's Curse (3/800/800)." This man wore a heavy robe and gold jewelry around his neck and wrists. He carried a hooked cane, and by focusing his energy into it, the air around him began to turn green. "When Gravekeeper's Curse is summoned, he deals 500 points of damage to my opponent." The energy erupted from Darius's side of the field and struck Ouroboros.
"Not bad." He discarded his extra cards and ended his turn.
Darius 7100: Ouroboros 6400 – 500 = 5900.
Darius drew five more cards and looked at his hand for a moment. He could only play one card, and then he would have to discard four more. If the duel didn't end soon, he would run out of deck; Ouroboros, on the other hand, seemed to have plenty of cards leftover. Perhaps his deck was bigger to begin with.
"I will set one card on the field," Darius decided. "I will also switch Gravekeeper's Curse (800) to defense mode and end my turn."
"Excellent," Ouroboros said as he drew. "I'll activate Play 3, meaning now we get to play three cards per turn. For my second card, I'll play Chocolate (3/1000/1200)." This monster looked like a simple chocolate bar with a wrapper around the bottom half and a single bite taken out of one corner. "And for my last card, I'll play Let's Do That Again! This lets me go through my Graveyard and replay one card in there: I choose Draw 3, Play 2 of Them."
As he drew his cards, Darius thought, There he goes again, using a card that gives him a significant advantage over the stated rules. How can I compete with that?
"I'll play The Moon (6/1200/2500)." Just as with Ouroboros's other monsters, The Moon was a simple drawing of a gray circle with the Sea of Tranquility shaded on the face. "I'll also play Rules Reset: This eliminates the excess Draw and Play rules and returns us to the basic Draw 1, Play 1 style. Now I'll attack with Chocolate (1000)."
"I discard Charm of Shabti from my hand," Darius declared. A golden statue that resembled a scaled-down sarcophagus flashed on the field; two eyes appeared and began emitting light over Gravekeeper's Curse. "Until the end of this turn, my Gravekeeper's monsters cannot be hurt by battle." Darius was proud of himself; he found a way to make things a little easier despite the weird rules, even if it was only for one more turn.
Ouroboros chuckled. "He might have been right about you, but I still have two more turns to win this."
"Two?" Darius repeated. "Why do you think two turns?"
"You'll see."
Darius nodded. "I suppose I will." He drew his one card and figured which card to play this turn. "I will set another monster. That will end my turn."
Ouroboros looked surprised. "What? No attack?" Darius just shook his head. "Very well. I activate the Goal: Chocolate Milk." A Continuous Spell with the images of a chocolate bar and a glass of milk showed on the field. "A Goal card changes the conditions for winning a duel. You can still try to reduce my Life Points to zero, but it is not the only way to win.
"Now I'll have The Sun (2500) attack your facedown monster."
As the rays grew, Darius countered, "I will activate Negate Attack. Your attack is negated and your Battle Phase ends."
"A lucky move for a man who is out of options," Ouroboros declared. "On the next turn, I will win. If you wish to keep your Gravekeeper's Visionary, you need to figure out how to win on this turn."
Darius wasn't sure he could. The Sun (2500) was a big block against Ouroboros's Life Points, and Basic Rules made things really difficult by limiting the cards played each turn to one. Even if he had a field full of his most powerful Gravekeepers, hitting Ouroboros hard enough to end the duel in one turn wasn't possible.
But that goal card… If Darius read it correctly, then Ouroboros would win next turn if he summoned a card called Milk. If that was indeed the case, then he must have that card in his hand already. Getting rid of Chocolate was probably not good enough; The Sun and The Moon had to have some connection, and perhaps another Goal card linking them. If Ouroboros drew that, then the duel was still over.
What he couldn't figure out was: Why me? What is his relationship to Matt?
"When Gravekeeper's Chief (5/1900/1200) is summoned, I can Special Summon the Gravekeeper's Visionary (8/+3200/1800) from the Graveyard." He perused the field. "Unless my math is incorrect…"
"Aw, man," Matt moaned. He picked up his last remaining defense monster—the Shadowpriestess of Ohm—and spoke to it. "You are not quite as useful without the Dark Magician of Chaos."
"That's what you get for giving your deck away to some cute girl," Bryan cracked.
Kasumi quickly scowled. "What cute girl?"
Matt put on that "calm down" face and said, "My sister. I taught her how to duel, and then I gave her my deck as a gift." He clarified that he gave away his competitive deck, not the one-turn deck he used against Dave. "I'm still adjusting that one."
"And it obviously needs work," Ellie said. "I know Darius is amazing, but it takes a lot to beat you in a duel."
"That definitely puts you in the minority," Bryan agreed. "Only Cary and I have ever done it. But then, only I've ever beaten his competitive deck, and multiple times, by large degrees."
"I'm only a genius," Matt admitted with false modesty. "And a future co-King of Games needs a rival capable of beating him."
Darius said, "I think Bryan is best suited for that role."
"No way," Bryan argued. "I'm going to need my own rival when Matt and I are both King of Games. You and Cary will have to fight over Matt."
"Are you okay?" Ellie asked Darius.
He kept his expression steady as he nodded. "I will be fine." He placed his hand on his deck and felt powerful warmth in his fingers. He looked at the card, and even though it was one he never saw before, he felt like it was familiar. He read the effect of the card, and, when coupled with the cards he already had, he knew immediately what to do.
"I will Flip Summon my Gravekeeper's Descendant (4/1500/1200)." This monster was a blond man wearing black robes and carrying a gold scepter. "When I send Gravekeeper's Curse to the Graveyard, Gravekeeper's Descendant will destroy Basic Rules." The smaller monster became as blue energy, which the Descendant used to dissolve the Basic Rules card. "Now I may play as many cards this turn as I wish. I will start with Brain Control." A pair of green hands appeared on the field and reached over the brain transposed overtop of Chocolate (1000). "I pay 800 Life Points, and until the End Phase, I control your monster."
Ouroboros looked slightly concerned, but he knew Darius needed two cards before he could automatically win the duel. Then again, if he wanted to muscle out the victory, he would have taken The Sun instead of Chocolate. What was the plan?
"Now I will play Chrysopoeia!" When the card touched his Duel Disk, the field was covered in a golden light. It was so bright everyone had to look away for a moment.
"What in the world? What is that card?"
"It is somewhat complicated, so I will speak slowly," Darius offered. "First, I select one monster on the field, like my Gravekeeper's Descendant. Second, I name one card and we search both your deck and hand and my deck and hand; if either of us has that card, we discard it to the Graveyard. I choose the card Milk."
Ouroboros growled as he dropped a card from his hand into the Graveyard.
"Now, my selected monster becomes the discarded card until the end of the turn." His Gravekeeper's Descendant transformed into a cylindrical glass filled about three-quarters with milk. "If I am not mistaken, your card Chocolate Milk indicates that whichever player has both Chocolate and Milk on his side of the field is the winner of this duel."
The brown ring set by the Transmutation Circle – Ouroboros card began to shine and spin rapidly around the field until it abruptly burst, and then disappeared with the rest of the holograms. But somewhere in the spinning lights, Ouroboros disappeared, too.
"He just ran off?" Ellie wondered.
"No." Darius saw what happened when the Ouroboros ring burst. The man who looked like Matt and called himself Ouroboros appeared to dissolve into thin air. Somehow, he disappeared at the same time as the card bearing his name. Darius remembered what happened to Maikeru and Sean after their duel, and so he checked for his Gravekeeper's Visionary. He still had it; maybe winning the duel meant he didn't have to lose the card.
"I wonder who he was."
###
In the morning, Darius told the incident to Professor Baker. At the time Darius approached, Baker was having lunch with Captain Frank Rader of the campus police department. Rader was a big man with sparse hair and a thick moustache. Although he agreed with Baker about cutting students some slack sometimes, this incident may have gone too far.
"Luther tried it again?" Rader asked. "That makes at least two theft incidents involving him."
"I'll go talk to him again," Baker said.
"Talking may not be enough this time. With two reports, we're gonna have to bring 'im in."
Darius interrupted, "Pardon me, but I do not believe the man I saw was Matt. I believe it was someone who looks like him." Needless to say, Rader and Baker were a little confused. "Matt was my roommate for a while. I believe I know him well enough to recognize that man was not him."
"Are you sure?" Rader asked. "It was late, and maybe you were still a little dazed after losing the tournament duel."
"A loss does not affect my mental state," Darius assured him. "It was not Matt. I am not certain who it was, but I saw him disappear into thin air when I defeated him."
Rader just groaned. "Oh. Another magic story. We get a lot of those at this school."
"Sometimes they're true," Baker noted. "We may have to give this case a little extra effort. If this guy looks just like Matt, talking to him will still be our starting point."
"You know something?"
Baker shook his head. "Matt grew up in foster care. There's no record of his parents anywhere. He probably won't know if he has a brother, but he might still be able to help. That's why we'll start with him."
I know I've been kinda slow with updates. I'll try to correct that.
This chapter took the story forward another step. The next one will decide what happens to Bryan for the foreseeable future. After that, I'll try to finish the semester in one chapter, but it might take two if the duels come out too long. (I planned another chapter, but I've decided to cut it because it would just be filler material and doesn't change the course of events at all.)
Credits:
Darius Mantzios...tiramisu19
Jason Maxim...Maxim and Knight
Nathan Zislaw...Mavrik Zero
Hillary Delaney...Nodqfan144
Lili Von...Happy2BMe
Carter Jade...Jaden2010
Mitsuro Itachu...Titanic X
Sean Bivins...DarkVestroia2
Naoto Kurotsuki...Kurotsuki Haru
Hayley Wilson...TeamRocketDiva
Maikeru Stone...onyxshade7
Victor Rocks & Abel Shinzou...Iron-Arm-V
Alister Kazama & Jessica Parks...ZaneKazama001
Synthia Spencer...Madly Chessur
Leila & Linear Lockhart...Windraider
Romulus Malligan...Maximus1
Everyone else so far...YamiRuss