Chapter 26: Awakening Logic
Once upon a time, a small apartment house Takato—two stories tall with six bedrooms and named for the man who designed it—was built at the edge of the Duel Academy campus. Its original purpose was to act as temporary housing for construction workers and contractors who helped to build Duel Academy and implement its many innovations. As time passed, Duel Academy expanded and the town of Kazuki grew into a small city. The Takato building was essentially abandoned as contractors began to use more lavish hotels, or even settled into homes of their own.
One day, after countless mystical events surrounding the Egyptian God Cards and the Sacred Beasts, Seto Kaiba decided not to hide the cards, but to put them to use somewhere he could keep an eye on them. He chose to give them to the strongest students in his recently founded Duel Academy. But any students who deserved that kind of praise deserved corresponding luxury, like living in a quieter place outside of the main dorms. Ultimately, he took that small contractor house and renovated it, turning it into the Guardian House for the six Guardian Duelers who possessed god cards.
Lucy Mercer lived in the Guardian House for one full year as a sophomore. She earned herself Obelisk the Tormentor, but a series of events surrounding the Shadow Realm caused the god cards all to disappear from the campus. As a result, the Guardian House was closed once again and now sat on the edge of campus as an abandoned building. And Lucy was always cautious whenever she received anonymous notes calling her out to abandoned buildings.
"Why ask me?" Matt argued with her. "The note says to come alone, and I have no interest in finding some Freddy Krueger wannabe out there."
"Freddy Krueger attacked kids while they were asleep," she pointed out.
"Even worse. When I'm defenseless like that?"
"No. He attacked in their dreams."
"All the more reason to avoid this guy."
Lucy knew Matt was just using playful banter as a way to talk her out of following the request written on the note. So many apparent reasons sprang to mind explaining why going to the Guardian House at all was a bad idea. If it was the same guy who attacked Lucy a few weeks ago, he might do something worse than request a duel.
"I really don't like this idea," Matt repeated to her. "Who knows what that guy would have done to you if Potter hadn't been there last time? And I hear he attacked Rory and Synthia, too. He's obviously a maniac. He has everybody on edge these days. And you're submitting to a personal favor."
"But I don't think it's the same guy," Lucy explained. She showed him the note again. "Something about this strategy just doesn't seem like that guy's M.O."
Matt reread the note quietly to himself while Lucy repeated it to herself. She already memorized it during her many attempts to analyze the words and determine who wrote it:
Lucy,
Meet me at the Guardian House tomorrow after curfew. Please come alone.
"There's no real menace in the note. He asks me to meet him; he calls it the 'Guardian House' instead of Takato; there's no threat of what happens if I'm not alone…"
"All good points," Matt agreed. "Plus, that 'please' in there is a little out of place."
"Exactly. So I don't think it will be that bad."
"Then why do you need me?"
She pouted in an effort to think of a less girly way to say she was still scared. "Maybe someone will attack me on the way over there or on the way back. Didn't you say you were a big fan of the buddy system back in high school?"
"Yes, when that meant being paired up after dark with Lauren Montgomery." He put his hand gently on Lucy's shoulder and added, "No offense. You are perhaps the most perfectly symmetrical woman I've ever met. But there's enough drama in your dating life without trying to pull my drama in, too." As an afterthought, he added, "Speaking of drama, why not take Jason? Isn't he tall and lustful? I'm sure he'd trip over the chance to protect you in the dark."
"I'm sure he would. But I need someone to keep me safe—not try to seduce me. Jason is definitely eager for the next step. I am not there yet." She smiled at Matt and said, "And I've heard your sexy talk. It's like being on an episode of FRIENDS." He wouldn't argue with that.
Ultimately, Matt agreed to go with her; he had no desire to leave her out on the edge of campus by herself, after all. It was bad enough she was sneaking out after curfew, although Matt found little difficulty doing that on a regular basis. Maybe after he took Lucy to and from the Guardian House, he would chance upon one of his look-alikes running around the island.
As always, the Guardian House was dark. No one was allowed inside, so why bother turning the lights on?
"It's locked," Lucy said as she tried the door. "I guess we wait out here."
"I'll get it." Matt stepped up to the door and produced a key.
"Why do you have a key?"
"Why don't you have a key?"
"Because they made me give it back when I moved out. Why didn't they make you give your key back?"
"What key?" Matt asked playfully. "I never lived here, and so officially, I do not possess a key to this building." He pulled the key away from the door and turned the knob. "Besides, it's not locked."
He slowly pushed the door open and peered into the dark room to see who or what might be waiting. Lucy followed closely, but by the time she stepped through the door, Matt already disappeared into the shadows. She tried whispering after him, but being in the dark suddenly rendered her voice nonexistent.
She could barely make out a silhouette in the living room area; it stood up where the couch used to be. "Lucy?"
Lucy gasped when suddenly there was a loud yell followed by a loud crash. She heard Matt's voice laugh and taunt, "Tackling a stalker over a couch? I used to be a star defensive end."
"Then I'll have to call 'roughing the passer,'" another, very familiar voice countered, "because I don't even have the ball!"
Lucy recognized that voice, and apparently Matt did, too. "Bro?" When she moved the curtain from the window and let in the moonlight, Lucy could see clearly that Matt had just tackled Bryan and was now helping him to his feet.
"I just wanted to talk to Lucy," Bryan complained. "I didn't know she was going to bring Sergeant Sack with her."
"You invited me out to the woods alone at night," Lucy pointed out. "And you didn't even sign your name." Suddenly she felt very shy. "What did you want to talk about?"
Bryan was silent for a moment as he put his hands in his pockets and stepped closer to Lucy. "Are you really in love with that bird man?"
"You mean Jason?" She shook her head slightly. "Are you in love with that biker chick?"
Lucy and Bryan stood there staring at one another in the moonlight for a moment. She felt like it was forever since the last time she felt that look of longing from him. She'd forgotten how tall he was, too. She suddenly found herself pressing into his chest, feeling his heart beat quickly as he wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her back.
"God, I've missed you," he said.
"I forgive you," she told him and turned up to kiss him. It was the first time in a long time she could remember feeling so happy.
When she and Bryan finally came up for air, she turned to tell Matt she'd be okay on her own now, but Matt already disappeared. The door was locked and she and Bryan were all alone.
"I've always liked that guy."
Matt wasn't going to be a third wheel while Bryan and Lucy finally addressed their issues. As far as he could see, those two were finally getting over themselves and getting back together. Maybe absence does make the heart grow fonder sometimes.
Seeing them look ecstatic as they gazed into one another's eyes made Matt feel a little bit lonely. Technically, he and Kasumi hadn't broken up or anything, but he also hadn't seen much of her in a while. Lately, she'd been focused on dueling all the time. Matt never accepted her requests because the outcome would be a lose-lose situation for him—whether he lost credibility for losing a duel or lost her affection for beating her in an official duel—but everyone else in school did.
And everyone else lost. Badly.
Ever since Kasumi got in that fight, she'd been different. She was angrier and a much more powerful and aggressive duelist. And even though she still sent Matt text messages all the time asking where he was and who was with him, she always declined his offers to get together. Matt hardly felt like they were dating anymore—more like one of those couples who only stay together in name to avoid paying taxes or something.
Rather than going to see someone who always sounded angry when he called, Matt decided to drop in for a visit with someone who pushed for more face time.
That meant heading for the Red Dorm.
Ten o'clock was curfew for a number of specific events. All students had to be inside their respective dormitories, and young men and women could not create any co-educational floors; in other words, the guys could not be on the women's floor, and vice-versa. But the lobby and the basement were still fair game. Some students gathered in the sitting room to watch the big TV while others went to the basement to use the duel station. Multiple students ridiculed the technology of the duel station, but the fact remained that only half of the incoming freshman class each year possessed personal Duel Disks upon enrollment; they weren't required during the first year because of the high attrition rate.
But Rory enjoyed the duel stations. Because of the smaller space, the holograms were finer and had higher resolutions, plus it was nice to sit during a duel. She and Lili were closing up a for-fun duel in which Lili wanted to test play a new strategy for her deck. Rory enjoyed helping her roommate become even stronger, but she found herself constantly glancing back at Synthia and Clinton, who were being all cute and flirting through the use of a ring.
"It's a mood ring," Synthia said with a grin as she put the ring on Clint's finger. "It changes colors depending on your mood. Like now…" She grabbed his hand and watched the ring shift from yellow to blue. "That yellow meant you were anxious, and the blue means you're thinking about sex."
"In other words," Ivy suggested while in another pose, "it's a blue ring."
"I am not thinking about sex," Clint insisted while trying to suppress a flirty grin.
Synthia laughed. "You're totally blushing!"
Rory hated watching Synthia put her hands all over Clinton, but she continued to watch anyway. She felt a little lonely, partly because she had a chance with Clinton and passed it up. "Sex isn't a mood," she muttered to herself. Lili pretended not to notice.
In the other corner, Ivy was also watching the duel while multitasking. As far as Rory could tell, Ivy was trying to tie herself into a pretzel, possibly in an attempt to disconnect her torso from her lower body. "What are you doing?" Rory asked.
Ivy grunted and strained to say, "Pilates." She held her stretch for a moment longer and then straightened herself out again. "You should try it out."
"What is it? It looks like painful stretching."
"It is," Lili said curtly.
Ivy grinned and ignored Lili's snide remark. "It's a way of unifying one's mind and body."
"Not interested," Rory immediately decided.
"Come on," Ivy urged. "You don't want a unified mind and body?"
"No way. I'm not putting all my eggs in one basket."
Watching the duel again for a moment, Rory said, "Hey, here we go." She placed a card on the console. "Cyberdark Impact! It fuses my Cyberdark monsters by returning them to the deck." Three metallic monsters appeared on the field briefly and fused into a skeletal dragon that reached into the Graveyard and closed its ribs around a red dragon with a big, white horn. "All in all, Cyberdark Dragon (8/+4200/1000) is stronger than Chaos Goddess (8/2500/1800)." Her machine released a stream of energy at the white-haired woman with the black dress. "I guess I pulled out a bigger monster after all."
"Not the first time," Lili replied dryly. She grabbed her cards and began to thumb through the pile while muttering to herself. "I think I figured out part of the problem that time. I don't think Treeborn Frog was all that helpful once you got Cyberdark Horn on the field; piercing damage was probably the big weakness that time."
Suddenly everyone heard clapping from the corner of the room. Rory reacted with a start until she saw Matt sitting up there… wearing a yellow jacket? And his hair was blond. He stood up and walked down the stairs to the floor of the room.
"That was an effective display of dueling prowess," he suggested. Looking to Lili, he added, "From both of you. But I wish to request a duel with the winner if she will accept my challenge."
While Rory considered why Matt would challenge her to a duel near the middle of the night, Lili simply asked, "What happened to your hair? It looks like you took a crayon to it."
"I was born like this," he answered. "Well, actually I wasn't born with this much hair or with teeth or with any clothes, but my appearance is based on a purely natural progression of the genetic code with which I was born."
Rory wanted to say that didn't sound like Matt, but the truth is it sounded a bit like him, especially if he were trying to sound pretentious. "Are you feeling okay?"
"I feel somewhat awkward," Matt answered. "My heart rate has increased since I witnessed the end of your duel. I believe the Cyberdark Dragon is calling me. Figuratively, of course; it's quite impossible for a card spirit to speak on any sort of level interpretable by human ears. It may be possible for you to detect the call of the spirit with suitable study and skill, however. One day, perhaps."
"What are you saying?" Lili asked.
"He's not Matt," Rory concluded. She remembered hearing the rumors of Matt's look-alikes. All of them bore a very strong resemblance, although there were subtle differences in appearance and behavior aside from their differing hair colors. This guy used words much more complicated than Matt usually did, and he wasn't even trying to be funny. Clearly, this was not Matt. "Is there a better name I can call you?"
"My name is Citrinitas," he answered her.
"A bit girly name, don't you think?" Lili asked.
"Leave him alone. I'll duel him." Rory narrowed her eyes for a moment. "According to the rumors, I'm going to end up wagering my Cyberdark Dragon on this duel, won't I?"
"Perhaps. Only the draw of the cards can foretell the sequence of events."
"Fine. Let's see what the cards tell us, then." She held her deck up to Citrinitas and asked, "Care to cut the deck?"
"The act of cutting the deck does little to affect statistical possibility for a duelist of integrity. The custom began as a counter against untrustworthy opponents who would cheat by arranging their cards in a strategic sequence in order to gain an easy victory."
Rory actually found that explanation amusing—not because she didn't know that, but because Citrinitas thought the explanation was necessary for her to understand cutting the cards.
"Let's just duel."
As the two drew their opening hands, Rory offered Citrinitas the opportunity to make the first move. He shook his head slightly and said, "Luck does not favor you tonight, does it?"
"How's that?"
He slapped his card down on the duel station and announced, "Transmutation Circle – Citrinitas!" A bright yellow circle appeared on the ground, expanding beyond the borders of the duel station. An elaborate design connected on five points of the circle's border and shone brightly against the gray floor.
"What in the hell?" Lili asked. She leaned forward to get a closer look at the circle. "What happened to the hologram? How'd it stick so far out here?"
Clint looked around the ceiling as if trying to spot some other projector. "It must be some kind of malfunction. Maybe the projector connected to some display equipment and accidentally lit the floor."
"There is no display equipment in this room," Citrinitas argued. "This room was designed only for dueling on this machine or with Duel Disks. This room is not even equipped with a simple chalkboard, let alone any other computer or projector. The circle you see on the floor is made of energy given off by duel spirits. Just look at the requirements for continuing play: We both need to remove from play the top cards from our Extra Decks." Citrinitas picked up and removed Chimeratech Overdragon.
"Like this?" Rory removed Cyberdark Dragon from play.
"Exactly. Now those two duel spirits can power the Transmutation Circle through the rest of the duel. And I'll start it with Kuribon (1/300/200)." The little fluff that hit the field had big, sparkly, green eyes and a short tail with a ribbon tied around it. "And two facedown cards."
"Two traps is more like it," Rory suggested. "If Kuribon is going to increase my LP, you probably set Bad Reaction to Simochi or something like it to take them away instead. In case I'm right, I'll summon Cyber Dragon (5/2100/1600) straight from my hand." A silver, serpentine machine slid onto the field and coiled itself for a strike. "And as much as I love my Cyber Dragons, I think I'll send it to the Graveyard in order to summon Jinzo (6/2400/1500)." A very tall, lanky, man-shaped machine wearing a green coat appeared on the field. His eyes shone red for a moment before he released a burst of electricity toward Rory's opponent.
"An effective use of logic to form a strategy," Citrinitas claimed. "But you overlooked something. The Transmutation Circle gives me special abilities." Kuribon sparkled and disappeared, but the energy left behind was altered by the Circle. "Bad Reaction to Simochi still activates," he explained as his Trap rose from the ground, "and counters Kuribon's effect. Instead of gaining points equal to your monster's power, you lose those points." The energy showered Rory's field like acid rain.
"Your card stopped Jinzo's effect from activating?" Rory asked.
"Your conclusion was much too specific for the level of information you have," Citrinitas scolded. "Jinzo's effect did activate. You will find your own Trap cards will not activate if you try. But my Transmutation Circle prevents any effect from negating the activation of my personal Trap cards. Worded another way, Jinzo prevents you from using Trap cards, but it creates no such impediment to my field."
Rory chuckled. "That's good for you. I'd win too easily if you didn't set up something like that."
"Quite. Given your current inability to activate Trap cards and the relative ineffectiveness of Quick-Play Spells in a Cyber Dragon deck, shall I assume you have completed your turn?" Rory nodded and said he could.
Rory 8000 – 2400 = 5600: Citrinitas 8000.
"Wonderful. Then allow me to activate Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen." A great hall, decorated with a brilliant red carpet and supported by powerful, white pillars, surrounded the field and transported the duel to another location. "This card enables me to summon back to the field Kuribon (1/300/200) as a Special Summon. That means I can summon Kuriboh (1/300/200), as well." The first fluff had feminine eyes and a red ribbon tied around its tail, but the second looked expressionless and had no tail—only four green feet with short claws. "I'll set a card."
"What an odd play," Rory commented. "It seems a lot like something Matt would do."
"Oddly enough, it does."
Rory turned at the sound of the familiar voice that didn't belong in the room, and her eyes lit up at the sight of the blue trench coat. "Matt!" Understandably, he looked confused, though he did smile sincerely at Rory when he looked at her. His eyes remained primarily focused on Citrinitas, however.
"Brother!" Citrinitas said with a start.
"Brother?" Lili repeated.
Matt walked into the arena toward the ongoing duel. When he passed the seated spectators, Clinton asked, "How did you get in here?"
"Really, Clint? There's two of me in the room and that's the question you want answered?" He stepped up to the duel and said, "I'm more interested to know who—" He stopped suddenly when he bumped into something unseen. "What the?" He tried poking the air a few times, each time hitting something he couldn't see. He tapped it a few times with the tip of his shoe to the same result.
"It's some kind of force field," Lili told him. She pointed out the Transmutation Circle on the floor outside of the duel station and explained, "It appeared when he played that card."
"What card?"
"It's called Transmutation Circle – Citrinitas," Ivy told him. "Apparently it lets him avoid any effects that negate Trap cards."
"And the weird thing," Synthia added, "is that he calls himself Citrinitas. It's like he named himself after the card."
Matt shook his head. "I think the card is named after him," he mumbled. "Who are you, really? And what is this circle that can't be penetrated?"
"I can't tell you that. Father doesn't want me to talk to you."
Matt looked confused. "Father? Whose father? Our father?" Citrinitas closed his mouth and clamped down, refusing to say anything else.
"Fine. You want to play like an apprentice? Let's see if I can figure it out." He closed his eyes for a moment and began pacing to get started.
Rory was concerned about Matt and wanted to help him get answers. She glared at Citrinitas and asked, "How about I win and you have to tell him everything?"
"No, that won't work," Matt told her. "Every time one of them loses a duel, he or she disappears. Why is that?" As he paced, he really stopped talking to anyone in particular; it was just a way to get words out of his head. "Duel Alchemy 101. A Transmutation Circle alters energy at a fundamental level and turns it into a completely different form of energy but it needs some kind energy in order to activate in the first place. You wouldn't use your own energy because that would be counterproductive. Where, then, would you get that much energy? You can't just take it from your opponent because you would have to connect them physically to the Transmutation Circle in order to do so, but then you risk the opponent drawing energy from the circle, am I right?"
Citrinitas made no attempt to respond. He even kept a blank, expressionless visage.
"I can see you won't respond to little truths, so let's see if I can come to a bigger one." He looked to Rory and said, "And Rory, please, feel free to help push me if you feel I'm getting off in the wrong direction."
"Okay," she agreed, not sure she could help.
"Alright then. So where was I? Ah, an energy source." He tried to think back to his Duel History class in which they covered Alchemy among other ancient duel techniques. "People are an obvious source of energy, but we've already decided people are not the source." Remembering the story Darius told him, he said, "But there is another abundant source in a duel. Card spirits. It's a totally ridiculous notion, I agree, but if there really is such a thing as the Shadow Realm, then maybe it is possible for other spiritual energy to be sealed inside playing cards."
Excitedly, he shouted, "That's why your card versions of the alchemy circles require rare and powerful cards as sacrifices. When you and your siblings win, the energy is drained from the cards to give you power. But when you lose, the cards are spared and your energy is taken instead. That's why you keep disappearing, isn't it?
"But what I can't figure out is how many of you people there are. It just doesn't make sense. There have been three men and one woman who people say looked almost exactly like me. Dizygotic twins don't look that much alike. A familial resemblance, sure, but they are never described as being 'identical.' And it is impossible for all of us to be monozygotic twins because monozygotic twins cannot be cross-gendered."
Noticing the look on Synthia's face, Ivy repeated Matt's words, but replacing the word 'dizygotic' with 'fraternal' and 'monozygotic' with 'identical.' "Basically, Matt's saying they can't all be related because it's biologically impossible."
"So what's the deal?" Rory asked Citrinitas. "If you aren't legitimate siblings, does that make you clones?"
"Clones!" Matt realized. "Of course. Albedo told Cary that she was only two months old. That might make sense if she were some sort of clone." He shook his head and waved his hand quickly in the air to say, "Let's forget the debate over a clone's development speed. Instead, let's focus on the fact that Mitsuro remembered Albedo claiming to be eight months old. Now why would she claim to be two different ages at the exact same time?"
While he scratched his chin, Rory looked at Citrinitas and asked him, "How old are you?"
"Two hundred eighty-four days," he answered.
"That's interesting…" Matt muttered, taking in the information. "You are only a month older than Albedo. But how can you be the exact same age as a female clone? And why was there a female clone in the first place? Forgetting the fact that I can't even begin to figure out your father's master plan, what is the point to altering the genetics of a clone in order to make it a woman? Was it some sort of mistake? A fluke mutation?"
"Hey!" Lili shouted.
"Sorry. I didn't mean women in general are mutations. I am a big fan of women, in fact. I find myself thinking about them constantly." But that didn't stop him from rambling more on a different topic.
"Why make a small army of clones and then send them out just one at a time? They've never been seen together, and they each have a different Transmutation Circle card." He started hopping up and down as if to force the ideas out of his head. "What does it all mean?"
"Jumping up and down won't do anything for you," Citrinitas commented. Matt stopped and stared at his alleged clone. Citrinitas realized he just spoke despite claiming his father prohibited it. He looked guilty for a moment, but then he announced, "You look foolish and are acting illogically. Jumping will not help you answer questions you cannot possibly know."
Quite surprised that Citrinitas said anything, Matt asked him, "Then tell me a more logical way to find the answers I seek. How can I figure out your past?"
"You can't. These answers are beyond the scope of your knowledge and understanding. Dueling energy made my development much quicker than any human's ever was. Duel spirits make it easier, losing speeds my development, and only duelists with a certain level of power are capable of sending me to the next stage, which is exactly why I chose this opponent! Now let's finish this duel!"
Rory was surprised by Citrinitas's sudden outburst, but Matt couldn't reach past the circle to calm her. He simply pressed his hand against the force field and hoped his gesture would encourage her.
"Losing speeds your development?" Rory repeated, suddenly finding her own strength. "Then let's speed it up." She drew her next card and slapped it down. "Heavy Storm!" A powerful wind kicked up on the field. "It destroys every Spell and Trap in play."
"I'll chain Imperial Custom," Citrinitas replied. His Trap rose, and moments later it shattered. "That specific Trap protects my other Traps from destruction, and the Transmutation Circle can't be destroyed at all. You still have to contend with Kuribon and Bad Reaction to Simochi."
"I'm sure I'll figure a way around it," Rory suggested. "I'll end my turn."
"No, you won't." Citrinitas pointed to the field where a Trap might be, but there was nothing there. "What you don't see right here is the Trap I activated during your Standby Phase when you were too excited to see it; Battle Mania forces your monster to attack."
Rory looked from Jinzo (2400) to the two monsters on the other side of the field. "Kuribon (300) is obviously the wrong choice, so I guess I'll attack Kuriboh (300)."
"Sound logic, but flawed by unknown information," Citrinitas told her. "By sending Kuriboh on the field and Wretched Ghost of the Attic in my hand to the Graveyard, I summon Darkness Neosphere (10/4000/4000)." The monster that hit the field was more than twice Jinzo's size; its entire body looked like a monster formed from corroded bone, with one side marked by claws and a bat-like wing and the other side marked by a bandaged arm and a white-feathered wing.
"I've seen bigger monsters," Rory scoffed confidently. But still, she didn't want to attack it with Jinzo. The alternative, on the other hand, was to attack Kuribon and suffer from Bad Reaction to Simochi. "Jinzo will attack Darkness Neosphere." The tall machine charged another electrical blast and unloaded it at its giant opponent. The blast dissipated on Neosphere, and it responded by reaching back and crushing Jinzo within its clawed hand. "I lose fewer LP that way. I'll set two cards and end my turn."
Rory 5600 – 1600 = 4000: Citrinitas 8000.
"We will see if it is a good one. I summon Winged Kuriboh (1/300/200)." This aptly-named fluff looked exactly like Kuriboh with two wings on its back. "I will attack, starting with my two Kuribohs." Kuribon (300) and Winged Kuriboh (300) both whipped across the field and scratched viciously at Rory's LP. "That will end my turn."
Rory 4000 – 300 – 300 = 3400: Citrinitas 8000.
"Really?" Rory asked. "You're not going to attack with the big guns?"
"You will need to find something cleverer than Sakuretsu Armor to destroy my ultimate creature."
She wasn't surprised he guessed her strategy. "Fine. Then let's see if I can find my big guns."
Rory drew her card, but then she got confused; the card she saw was one that she never put into her deck. "What is this?" she asked no one in particular. "Elixir of Life?"
Matt recognized that name. "An alchemy card… It's the same one Naoto used to defeat Nigredo. Darius drew a similar one, and so did Cary. But what does it all mean? Where did those cards come from?"
Letting him go off on another word-spilling rant, Rory simply looked back at the field and came up with a new strategy. "I'll activate Future Fusion with Chimeratech Overdragon as the target." A green time warp appeared on the field, and its gravity pulled in two copies of Jinzo and three copies of Jinzo – Returner. "In two turns, all those machines will fuse into Chimeratech Overdragon, but right now, Jinzo – Returner's effect activates; it brings Jinzo (2400) back to my field from the Graveyard." The tall machine with the green coat reassembled and stood on the field again, but this time, there were three of them.
"Jinzo again? The effect of Jinzo – Returner will destroy him at the turn's end."
She shrugged. "Yeah. So why not throw a Limiter Removal into the mix?" Jinzo's (+4800) power doubled as the limiting chips inside his machine body cracked. "It'll destroy him at the end of the turn, but not before he removes Kuribon (300) from the field."
Citrinitas seemed surprised by her attack. "That was a stupid choice. I admit attacking Darkness Neosphere does only limited good because it is not destroyed in battle, but attacking Kuribon was simply illogical. When she returns to my hand and combines with Bad Reaction to Simochi, you will lose the duel."
"Unless this happens," Rory countered. She pointed to a swirling cloud that appeared on the field. "Spell of Pain takes any effect that would damage me and damages you instead." The leftover energy from Kuribon's effect was absorbed into the whirlwind as it too the shape of a demonic skull over Citrinitas's field.
"Now my other two Jinzo's (4800) can attack Neosphere (4000) and dent his armor a bit." The two machines each released electrical discharges at the massive demon, who simply recoiled momentarily; it was not destroyed in battle. "Before I end this turn, I'll equip one Jinzo with Elixir of Life." The machine man consumed a red liquid from a beaker, and the mechanical body began to shine with a red aura. "For three turns now, he won't be destroyed."
Rory 3400: Citrinitas 8000 – 4800 – 800 - 800 = 1600.
Citrinitas nodded slightly. "You took the lead in this contest, and you managed to keep a Jinzo (2400). But you have also left me with my Darkness Neosphere (4000). I'll activate Eradicator Epidemic Virus and use Darkness Neosphere as a Tribute to destroy all Spells and Traps you have or will have for the next three turns."
As a huge, floating virus that looked like purple skulls covered her side of the field, Rory asked, "How did you activate a Trap without setting it first?"
"It is part of the Transmutation Circle – Citrinitas. Traps cannot be negated or restricted as long as they are on my field. And now you are unable to support your monsters in any way until the effect of Elixir of Life wears off. Unfortunately, I cannot negate the Elixir's effect with my Virus. Given the Elixir renders Jinzo temporarily immortal and reduces all Battle Damage to zero, it is frivolous to attack." Winged Kuriboh (200) shifted to a defensive position. "That will end my turn."
"Maybe your attacks would be frivolous," Rory suggested, "but mine won't. Jinzo (2400) will destroy Winged Kuriboh (200)." Her machine man released another electrical discharge that connected with the fluff and destroyed it. "Now my turn ends."
"I suppose to keep this duel interesting, I could summon Kuribon (1/300/200)." The fluff with the ribbon around its tail appeared once again. "With Bad Reaction to Simochi still activate, an attack would be foolish."
"Sacrifices are part of the game," Rory said. "I'll summon Exploder Dragon (3/1000/0)." Her dragon had blue scales and spikes all the way down its back, and it carried an explosive egg within its forelegs. "Maybe your propensity for logic somehow missed the possibility that I could summon another, weaker monster." The blue dragon flew kamikaze-style toward Kuribon; when Kuribon disappeared and left behind its residue energy, Rory simply grinned. "Jinzo (2400) still gets to attack." With one more electrical discharge, this time unencumbered by a defending monster, the immortal Jinzo attacked Citrinitas and ultimately caused the holograms to shut down.
Rory 3400 – 1000 = 2400: Citrinitas 1100 – 2400 = 0.
The yellow ring around the arena began to shine brightly, and even though Matt tried to squint just enough to see what was happening, he couldn't keep his eyes open. Matt felt the energy surge through the circle, even though he still couldn't penetrate it. He could feel the way the energy circulated; it started on the far end, cycled through the entire design, and then went straight back into Citrinitas with more power than when it left.
When the light faded and the Transmutation Circle's barrier disappeared, Rory got up and charged into Matt's arms, enjoying the warmth and comfort his chest offered. He held her tightly for a moment, happy to see her safe.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she replied. "Are you?"
He was slow to respond to that. His head was still spinning from all that speculation, and he was still a bit surprised by actually seeing one of his look-alikes up close.
"I felt something in that circle," he said. "I think Ouroboros, Nigredo, Albedo, and Citrinitas were all the same person."
I hope both of you had a Merry Christmas or a happy Saturday-whatever your preference was this weekend.
It is not my intention for each chapter to be longer than the last; it just works out that way. The next one will help to wrap up the whole Citrinitas cycle and set up the finale of the arc. This feels a little like the last season of Inuyasha-everything is being squeezed into short space and makes full chapters.
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
Logan Wilson...MercWithTheMouth13
Everyone else so far...YamiRuss