Chapter 15: Dueling with One Hand Tied
The next time Bryan opened his eyes, all lights in the room were off except for the big TV. Matt lounged upright in his bed. Bryan bolted into the bathroom for a long pee in the dark and then stumbled back into the bed, barely aware of the events that just passed.
When he woke again, it was still dark outside, but now Bryan felt fully rested. Matt was asleep this time. No telling how late he had been up. Bryan wasn't sure whether his awkward schedule was because of jet lag or tournament anxiety. Bryan had assumed the unplanned nap that afternoon would ruin his ability to sleep, but clearly that wasn't the case.
No matter. They still had a few hours to get the day started. Bryan stepped into the bathroom to get a better look at the amenities he didn't get to enjoy before. He was drawn to the Jacuzzi tub in the corner, but the shower chamber behind it was more his usual fare. Then again, why go on a vacation if not to do something outside the norm? The marble vanity was huge and offered a variety of free hotel amenities that Bryan was all too happy to take advantage of. He checked for the shampoo and conditioner, but they were missing. A quick glance in the shower stall showed them on the shower shelf beside a bar of soap. Apparently Matt had already taken a shower before he went to bed. Bryan grabbed a quick shower to clean himself off before starting up the tub. A nice soak was a perfect way to relax after all the additional stress he felt. He plugged his phone in to the wall outlet by his head since he forgot to do so before bed, and then he let these jets transport him to the Comfort Inn.
Actually, scratch that joke. The Comfort Inn couldn't compare to the Denkard.
When he felt sufficiently Jacuzzied, he drained the tub and climbed to his feet. Minutes later, he was dressed and stepped into a bedroom far brighter than it had been when he began his soak. Matt was awake and on the floor in his boxers.
"Did you fall out of bed?" asked Bryan.
"I'm doing planks."
"Didn't that trend end years ago?"
"Not the stupid, suicidal trend used by preteens to prove how little they understand physics."
"It was a joke. I get it. Sit-ups aren't good enough for you?"
"Only in moderation and when joined by other core exercises. You understood that for two years when you used to play football, Tubs."
Bryan patted his belly. He felt slight movement where there used to be taut muscle. "They call me Mister Tubs. Besides, school's hard. So is deck-building. I get stressed out."
"You know what's good for stress?"
He meant exercise, but Bryan wasn't feeling it at that moment. Bringing it up, however, made him feel guilty. He had started out the school year certain he would remain in great shape throughout Duel Academy, but in reality he hadn't completed a single push-up since the second week. Between studying, lagging behind in duel skill, and being a giant next to other kids in his year, his earlier discipline had faded. "Yeah, I know. I'll start up again next term."
"Sure you will."
As Matt flipped over to do some other exercise, a rapid series of knocks came from the door to their suite. Bryan cocked an eyebrow and looked to Matt. "Who do you think that is?"
"No clue," said Matt in between leg raises. He paused to look pensive. "I honestly can't think of a single way we can find out."
"Smart-ass," said Bryan. He left Matt on the floor and went to go answer the knocking.
"Let me know if I need to put on pants," said Matt.
"Do you need to do that if it's a girl or a guy?"
"Not necessarily."
That wasn't the response he expected. Without more guidance, Bryan swung open the door to see Dexter, looking as pressed and professional as always. "Good morning, Mr. Knight. Was everything to your satisfaction last night?"
"Uh… I slept well, if that's what you mean."
"Wonderful. I have here the breakfast you requested." He held a serving tray with one of those fancy-looking, chrome lids covering the contents. "Additionally, Miss Moxley has expressed an interest in seeing you both wear your Duel Academy uniforms today. Will that be an issue?"
"No," came Matt's voice from the other room.
Bryan shrugged. "I guess that's a 'no.'" And honestly, it was a relief. Aside from those polo shirts, they didn't have a lot of other clothing options.
"Charming. I'm pleased to hear Mr. Luther is awake. Is there anything else I can do for either of you at this time?"
Shaking his head, Bryan said, "I don't think so. We'll definitely call if we need something."
Bryan accepted the food tray with greater reverence than he had treated the Duel Disk last night. The door closed behind him with a soft click. As he lifted the lid, he enjoyed the aroma of the warm eggs and sausage. "Assuming we lose the first round and we're stuck here for a week with an expense-paid hotel room and free room service, that's not the end of the world."
Matt grunted and said, "Still better not to lose." He quickly pulled on a shirt and his black pants before grabbing one of the jam-filled pastries. "You want to sightsee so badly but you're eating American breakfast. Try a cornetto. They're really good. This one had chocolate in it."
"It's almost like Dexter listened when you said chocolate was your favorite thing in the world," said Bryan. Personally, he'd usually avoid breads and starches for breakfast, but the croissant-looking pastry with the powdered sugar on top was pretty appetizing. It was light and flaky, pretty much like Bryan expected it to be.
His expression must have been unappealing. Matt rolled his eyes and said, "I didn't say it was life-changing. Just that you should take advantage of the culture while we're here."
"Bread isn't that filling to me."
"On the contrary, bread is the most filling, which is why the food pyramid was artificially constructed to put bread on the bottom. It's the relative lack of taste that bothers you, which is what the jams are for."
"The eggs are good, too. And sausage is spicy."
"Put some hot sauce on your cornetto and call it a day. You eat the sausage. It gives me gas."
"Yes, I remember that. I will always remember that."
Matt chomped down two more pastries, then he sucked down one scoop of eggs and a single sausage link with a smirk. Appropriately hypocritical. After chugging his orange juice, he went back to the bathroom and left the door open. The sound of teeth-brushing echoed surprisingly.
Bryan asked, "Seriously. You think you have any kind of shot at this?"
Matt spat. From the bathroom, he said, "I think even someone who doesn't understand the rules has a chance at success. That's how probability works." Before Bryan could take that as an insult, Matt added, "Luckily we understand most of the rules already. That gives us a fighting chance and not just a lucky chance."
"Isn't it all luck?"
"No. At least, I don't think so. But thank you for reminding me about the duel formula."
"The what?"
Matt came out of the bathroom and made a face. "Remember after the School Duel, I mentioned that it would be fun to figure out a formula that could perfectly predict who was going to win any given duel?"
"I remember you saying something generally crazy and impossible, yes."
"Fair enough. I was about to say this tournament would be a great place to start collecting data, but come to think of it, I'm sure the Limitations will throw too many confounding factors."
"Does that mean it wouldn't work?"
"I won't know until I develop the formula." He pulled on his Slifer Red jacket. "Round 1 Limitation will be announced in ten minutes. I'm heading downstairs to hear it in person. You coming?"
"Hell yeah. I want to know what this tournament is all about."
As soon as the elevator doors opened, Dexter was ready to escort Bryan and Matt to the ballroom where orientation had taken place the previous night. "I see you both dressed for the occasion," he said.
Matt said, "Yep. We're twins, just like Schwarzenegger and DeVito."
Whether he actually understood the reference, Dexter recognized the humor in stating that two vastly different body types would be twins. "I see the resemblance. Shall we?"
Outside the ballroom, Bryan's attention was drawn by noticing Matt's name on a list of numbers. "I want to check this out real quick," he said.
Matt said, "Fine. I'm going to learn how I win this tournament."
"Loving the confidence," said Bryan. As he approached the board, Dexter appeared beside him.
"Do you wish to bet on the tournament?"
Bryan's eyebrows popped. "Is that what this is?"
"As one might have anticipated when the venue is a casino, we host legalized gambling on the outcome of the tournament. You have a variety of options available to you."
That might be true, but Bryan didn't actually know much about gambling. To gamble, you had to have money or at least be comfortable with debt. Bryan had neither. On the other hand, he did suddenly receive a thousand dollars out of nowhere last night. It was totally free, so he could theoretically use some of it and not really lose anything.
"Do I just pick who I think will win?" asked Bryan.
"That's one option," said Dexter. "You can also bet on a duelist to place—not necessarily win but to finish within the Top 4. There are also a number of over/under bets available. This one here, for example, allows you to bet on the number of duels that will end through non-Life Point means, such as running out of cards or some special effect. In this case, the number is 4; you bet on whether the reality will be more or fewer duels ending that way."
Bryan was blown away by all the numbers on the board. "I never realized there were so many options."
Dexter said, "Perhaps the simplest bet is to choose the outright winner. You can see the odds that have been placed on each competitor."
More numbers. Bryan found the header that said "Outright Winner" just like Dexter said. In that section, Matt's name had 40:1 beside it. "Matt's odds are 40 to 1? What does that mean?"
"Means he's actually expected to perform quite well considering his amateur status," said Dexter. "You see, there are sixty-four duelists participating. Each one is ranked in advance based on their experience levels, their recent history, and several other factors that no one fully grasps except the odds-makers. Ultimately, their goal is to make money, so they stack the odds in a way that people would spread the bets around. If everyone were purely even, the odds would be 63:1 because, in theory, all the bettors would place bets equally on all duelists. If someone were guaranteed to win, odds would be 1:1 so the house wouldn't lose on the bet. That Matt is nearly in the middle supposes that he is estimated to be a strong contender."
"He'll definitely be a contender," said Bryan. But as he looked around the board and saw all the names with smaller numbers—better odds—he wondered whether Matt truly had a chance of going all the way.
Music started in the ballroom. "Better hurry. The odds change as soon as the Round 1 Limitation is announced," said Dexter.
"Will they get better or worse?" asked Bryan.
"Depends on the limitation. Most likely, this is the highest payout you'll see. You can place a small bet if you are more comfortable, then place another bet in a later round."
That idea did sound comforting, but a feeling nagged at the back of Bryan's head. "Do two-fifty on Matt to win it all."
"250 US dollars?" asked Dexter, catching the bookie's attention.
"Ah, make it five hundred." Internally, he thought, Two-fifty for me, two-fifty for Matt. And we still have five hundred left to blow on souvenirs in case Matt loses.
Turned out Bryan didn't technically need Dexter to place the bet for him. By paying for the ticket in cash, he didn't have to associate his name or his age. Bryan pressed the ticket to the palm of his hand and shoved the hand into his pocket. He became immediately paranoid about losing it.
The ballroom was lined with rows of chairs this time. It looked like every seat was packed toward the front, but Matt was seated in the back corner, so it was easy for Bryan to slip in beside him just as Leona Moxley started talking.
"Thank you all for coming back so early this morning. Your eagerness to begin this tournament will no doubt be matched by your preparedness. Before I announce the Limitation and lose your attention completely—" The crowd chuckled softly. "—please remember these few tips and rules to make this tournament flow well. I will always announce the Limitation from here, but you can choose to stream the announcement from the Denkard app on your mobile phones or just follow any of our social media pages. After each announcement, you will have one hour to prepare your decks. During that time, we'll randomly assign competitors and post the schedule. You are free to use your time however you wish, but you must be ready to duel at your scheduled start time or you will be disqualified, so plan carefully.
"Now, here is the reason you all came." No chuckling this time. Just palpable anticipation. Bryan was so anxious to know what Matt was up against that he couldn't imagine being less than catatonic if he were competing. "Your Main Deck may only contain spells, traps, and normal monsters. The presence of any effect monsters, including Gemini monsters, will invalidate your deck and result in immediate loss. At eight o'clock, all duel equipment using the ballroom Wi-Fi will recognize this Limitation and will malfunction if your deck is in violation."
The rule had projected onto each of the four walls in the room, written in plain English alongside additional translations that ensured no one could attempt to plead ignorance of the rule. This first round already placed a really tough limiter on their decks. No effect monsters at all? Lightsworn decks were screwed. Then again, anyone running a burn deck like the one Kenny used at school wouldn't suffer much. Bryan felt the limitation hurt his deck's true potential a lot, but then again, the classic Elemental Heroes did not rely on effects to be powerful.
He asked Matt, "Does that mean you need to take out your Timaeus cards?"
"Read it slowly and sound it out," Matt said calmly. "In a tournament like this, semantics counts for everything." He leaned in to speak the next part softly, not that anyone was crowding them close enough to eavesdrop. "Neither Leona nor the wall-sized rules banned effect monsters from the Extra Deck. That means Dark Magician Girl is off limits, but Dark Paladin is still fair game."
Despite the insult, Bryan had breathed a sigh of relief. "So your ace monster isn't affected by the ban. But what about your support cards?"
Matt just waved him off. "I'll figure it out. I have an hour, right? So that's time to put my deck together plus fifty-five minutes to go back to Ponte Vecchio for a souvenir."
"Funny," said Bryan. "Seriously. Do you have enough cards to make a valid deck without any effect monsters?"
"Shit. That's a good point. Let me borrow some E-Heroes."
"Really?" Based on the expression covering Matt's face, Bryan assumed the answer was "Not really". So Bryan had to ask, "Shouldn't your deck be your top priority?"
"Fine." He pulled the corner chair away from the pack, then pulled the next-closest chair to face him like a makeshift table. He removed his deck from his new Duel Disk and started sorting through the cards.
Bryan watched for a moment before he noticed someone approaching them—like an older teenager, probably the youngest guy here who was old enough to gamble legally. He was no taller than Matt though much more stout and absolutely covered in hair. Bryan almost envied how long and thick his beard was. There was a glint of recognition in the guy's eye, even though Bryan had never seen him before.
"Hey. Just wanted to introduce myself real quick," said the guy as he shook Bryan's hand. His voice was soft. "My name is Howard Urizar. I just graduated Duel Academy last year and wanted to come meet the duelist who managed to earn an invitation to this tournament."
"I'm Bryan, but this is Matt, the one you're here to see." Matt scrutinized Howard for a moment, ignoring his separated cards. "He's not… great… at social cues."
Howard chuckled. "Neither am I. That was a common trend throughout Duel Academy, to be honest. To survive in such a competitive environment, you frequently have to skip social gatherings so you can study. But you know that."
"Right," said Bryan, feeling guilty that he didn't lock himself away to study all that much. Maybe if he did, he'd be the one participating at this tournament instead.
Howard also looked Bryan over and shook his head. "I was sure I'd recognize you if you came from Duel Academy, but I don't think I've met either of you. And you're both wearing Slifer colors, so I have to assume you're freshmen?"
"We are," said Bryan.
"Wow. I expected to find a Guardian here. This is a real shock." For just a moment, his face froze.
Bryan said, "We know about the Guardian Duelers already, if that's your concern."
"Green jackets, house in the woods, co-ed dorm, rarest cards you can think of," muttered Matt. He was back to looking at his deck, although he had already combined the Trap and Spell piles, suggesting he was halfway done putting together his updated deck.
Howard asked, "So what spectacular feat earned you an invitation here? Did you win the Kaiba Corp Grand Prix or something?"
Matt shrugged. "Case of mistaken identity, I'm sure. The guy who should have come here was Luther Matthews. But finders-keepers, am I right? I mean, who would pass up such a glorious tournament as this one?"
Bryan smacked him on the shoulder. "He's joking, of course. "
"No, really. Can anyone say no to this invitation?"
"About the mistaken identity. I think he got the invite because he won the School Duel Festival in the solo tournament."
"Wow. I had no idea that kind of thing would get international attention. Must have been a hell of a duel. I'm trying to remember the last time a Slifer won that tournament."
"Twenty-two years ago," said Matt. Bryan couldn't believe he knew that, but then again, of course he would know that. Big nerd probably looked it up as soon as everyone started making a big deal about his victory. "And that victory probably had something to do with the senior and junior duelists ignoring him for most of the match until he snuck in there with the upset."
"Is that what you did?" asked Howard.
"No, it was legit," said Bryan. "All three of them shifted focus depending on who was ahead at the time. Then Matt pulled this massive one-turn knockout so that he would be the last duelist standing. It was bad-ass."
Howard whistled and shook his head. "I'll have to look up a replay of that. Everyone else here is a member of big companies with international clout and dueling acumen, although no professional duelists here."
"That's a relief," said Bryan, thinking that Matt's odds of winning just went up. "Are you a participant?"
Matt said, "He's here as a junior associate for Cross-Platform Chemistry."
Howard said, "That's exactly right. How did you know?"
"Darcy Purves gave us your name yesterday."
Bryan had forgotten all about that. "So you're here to support her like I'm here to support Matt?"
With a nod, Howard said, "She's a consulting analyst and smarter than anyone I've ever met, but the company decided they'd be foolish not to support her with a Duel Academy graduate. I'll help her put together decks that meet the Limitations and still work consistently." He checked his watch, which appeared to be a particularly fancy brand of smart watch. "Actually, I should go and meet up with her. I don't know that she's as fast as you are," he nodded to Matt, who had already stuff his new deck into his Duel Disk, "but she'll be ready for play testing soon."
"Gotta be ready for Round 1," said Matt.
"Exactly. It was great to meet you both. I look forward to seeing your first duel." He left the conference room, which is when Bryan realized the room was mostly empty. Only a handful of people were milling about, but none of them wore Duel Disks, so they were probably just spectators.
Bryan asked, "That was cool, yeah? You think there will be more Duel Academy grads here?"
"No. Not recent grads, at least. Most graduates duel professionally, and it looks like Leona Moxley avoided inviting any professional duelists. If anyone else is associated, they're probably programmers or something."
"Why not invite professionals?"
"Who knows? Maybe to keep things interesting with less-experienced duelists. Should we go for a walk?"
Bryan made a face. "Don't you need to play-test your deck?"
"I probably should, but there's not a whole lot I can do to change it if it's unbalanced," said Matt. He shook his card box. "Mostly just effect monsters left. Next, I'd have to start putting in excessive numbers of Spells and Traps."
"Um… Should we test it to see if that's what you need to do?"
Matt said, "No," but his attention was drawn to an elderly lady who had placed a stool by the wall. She stepped up so she could reach an ornamental lantern on the wall. Light flickered from the lit lantern as she lifted the lid and tapped the side. Then she reached into a satchel she had slung across her shoulder and produced a small container. She dropped the contents of the container into the lantern, lit and watched the flame for a moment, then closed the lantern. She folded up the stool and walked away only to stop at another corner of the room to repeat the process on another lantern. Bryan looked ahead of her to notice there were lanterns in every corner.
The only thing weird about it was how intently Matt stared. "Something wrong?"
Pointing with his chin, Matt asked, "What do you think those lanterns are for?"
"Uh, light?"
Matt nodded. "That must be it." He turned his gaze upward, which Bryan followed to find strings of soft ceiling lighting. They were bright enough that Bryan wouldn't notice the lanterns were lit if he hadn't watched the old lady light one.
"Okay, smartass. Maybe it's just for decoration and not a real lantern. Probably something like an incense diffuser."
"I like that suggestion better. From a practical perspective, something so small would have no effect on the light in this room. But influencing the scent is different." He breathed in deeply. "I kinda like it."
Bryan didn't notice a change. "Okay. So, quick duel?"
"Damn, you're pushy. I'll do it just to shut you up."
From the moment the hologram projectors hummed to life, Matt felt odd. Apparently he could actually feel the change in air pressure brought about the light show. He never felt that sensitive to it at any of the duel stations at school, so this was especially uncomfortable. Almost itchy, but not quite. Just… not right.
Luckily his was actually the very first duel. As soon as Bryan read the schedule earlier, he had claimed going first was a bad omen. Matt thought he was being ridiculous, but his new discomfort sapped a lot of his earlier eagerness to show off.
Matt's opponent was Biljana Jovan, a socialite who worked for a gaming company in Serbia. As far as a Google search could tell, her entire job was just to draw attention to her company by being glamorous. She did have a strong record of participating in amateur dueling competitions, though; she even placed in the top half of the Serbian Nationals in the previous year, which was far better than anyone expected her to.
"You look familiar," she said to him. Surprising she could see him at all with her nose turned up so high.
Matt said, "You were at my Blackjack table last night." They never spoke, but it was hard to ignore how gorgeous she was. Especially with the type of plunging neckline she seemed so fond of.
"Yes. Underage but still quite the gambler. Duel Academy, no?"
"That's correct."
She forced a smile. "Go easy on me, ya?"
"No promises."
Maybe he was annoyed that she would even ask. Like any of her simp followers would think any less of her for losing a duel. Much more likely that Matt would be dragged through the social media mud just for beating her.
Or maybe he was nervous that his deck was going to struggle a lot because he had a severe shortage of backup cards. He had actually joked to Bryan that for Round 2, he might just have to make as much of a deck as he could then fill the rest of the space with blank cards. He hated having that kind of fear about the tournament. He was only supposed to worry about the duels, right? Being poor shouldn't determine who wins and loses!
Who knows? Maybe there was a third, untapped reason why he crushed Biljana so hard.
To start the duel, Biljana played Alexandrite Dragon (4: 2000|100). Probably proud of herself for playing a card that was decadent both in value, attack points, and pretend shininess—like an amethyst with color enhancer and extra wax.
In response, Matt played Dark Magical Circle followed immediately by Dark Magic Curtain. In exchange for half his Life Points, Matt's curtain opened to reveal Dark Magician (7: 2500|2100). Drawing on the magician's energy, the Dark Magical Circle emitted a shockwave that shattered Alexandrite Dragon and removed it from the game.
For bonus damage, Matt summoned Gemini Elf (4: 1900|900)—really "elves" was more accurate since they were twins with artistic license. The elves joined Dark Magician in blasting more than half of Biljana's Life Points off the board, more than making up for the toll taken by Dark Magic Curtain. Matt's turn ended with one card face-down.
Matt: 2 cards, 4000 LP
Biljana: 4 cards, 3600 LP
"That was so dramatic, but we're still evenly matched," said Biljana.
"Give it one more turn," said Matt.
That plastic smile of hers cracked. "Dark Magician is an interesting theme to use. Classic." When she said the word, it sounded like an insult.
She activated Smashing Ground and watched the holographic floor open up underneath the Dark Magician. But Matt activated Eternal Soul. Borrowing the power from the Dark Magician's towering stele, Matt took Thousand Knives into his hand, plus his Dark Magician was now immune to all of Biljana's card effects. She slapped a monster in defense mode and two other cards face-down.
Matt: 3 cards, 4000 LP
Biljana: 1 card, 3600 LP
Most likely she put down Mirror Force or something else to prolong the duel. But Matt drew on Eternal Soul once again to move Dark Magic Attack to his hand. "I'll never understand why so many people hate the Dark Magician," he said. "He's so powerful! See how Dark Magic Attack lets him wipe out your backfield?" An explosion of black magic removed both of Biljana's face-down support cards. "He even has a hell of a throwing arm." So maybe Kaiba Corp programmed Thousand Knives to act more like a psychic trick than a physical one, but there was no denying its usefulness when Biljana's monster disappeared without even revealing itself. "I'm sorry I couldn't go easier on you, but we do have a schedule to keep." One more attack from Dark Magician (2500) and Gemini Elf (1900) was enough to end the duel.
Matt: 2 cards, 4000 LP
Biljana: 1 card, 0 LP
To show good sportsmanship, both duelists shook hands and smiled at the conference room before they departed back to their designated seats. Actually Biljana grabbed her attendant and stomped elegantly out of the conference room. Matt wasn't sure whether she'd be back or not.
Although no one spoke directly to him on his way to the back of the room, several people did make eye contact. Some of them even nodded. A few even signaled some level of respect.
Bryan said, "I guess you didn't need the play-testing after all."
Matt scoffed. "You can't predict my opening hand from play-testing. I could have lost every single test duel against you and still beaten Yugi Mutou himself with an opening hand like that."
He said, "Good point."
Not even fifteen minutes passed for that duel. Matt asked, "We have a few hours before lunch. Do you want to go get some sightseeing in?"
While Bryan answered that question with another question—"Don't you need to watch the other duels?"—Matt noticed someone standing by one of the ornamental lanterns hanging from the wall, only for an instant, though. Or maybe it just his brain imagining that the guy walking down the hallway, past the ballroom door was actually inside the ballroom.
He blinked a few times and looked around to check out the other lanterns, but there was no one in any of the corners of the room, except one of the duelists who was still panic-building his deck.
To Bryan, he said, "Everyone's deck will change in every round. There's not really a lot of benefit to be gained from watching everyone else duel."
Bryan didn't seem convinced. But maybe that's because he also wasn't sharing his real motivations.
"You want to want the other duels," said Matt.
"It's an interesting tournament. I want to see what everyone does. Curious whether Darcy Purves will last long enough to duel against you, for one."
Plus, Erica had told him that serious students spent their vacations watching duels and learning more strategies.
Matt shrugged. He was only sightseeing because it's what Bryan wanted to do. As far as Matt was concerned, the experience could actually spoil future vacations. He'd never be able to afford a trip like this again—not for a long time, anyway. Not unless more companies were in the habit of granting all-expense-paid vacations for amateur duelists. As long as he saw a couple of major landmarks, that's all he needed.
Speaking of major landmarks, a pretty woman wearing a blue jacket atop a black skirt "crept" into the ballroom, either auditioning to be the world's least subtle prowler or just embarrassed that she was late for the beginning of the tournament. She grabbed the chair next to Bryan because it was open and in the back row.
Before Matt even finished nudging Bryan in the ribs, Bryan said, "I know. I see her."
"Speaking of major landmarks," said Matt, making his joke out loud this time, but still in a whisper. Maybe not enough of a whisper because the lady blushed and placed her hand over her chest.
"Dude. Be cool."
The lady looked over and asked… not the question that Matt thought was coming. "How many duels are complete already?"
"Two," said Bryan.
The lady looked shocked. "Wow. So fast. Was I so slow getting here?"
"I don't dawdle," said Matt.
He thought that was cryptic, but the lady somehow understood him immediately. "You already dueled? So sorry I'm too late."
Bryan said, "Don't worry about it. He won in two turns."
"Technically it was four turns," said Matt. Two for him, two for Biljana. "Also a great opening hand. Far above average. Makes me think that having effect monsters in my deck just slows me down."
"He's Matt, by the way. I'm Bryan."
The lady smiled. Were those teeth or actual pearls? "I'm Katerina. Nice to meet you."
When Bryan turned to Matt with an expression that combined luck and joy, Matt said, "She seems nice."
Bryan's expression soured slightly. "You have a girlfriend."
"Well, maybe. Kind of, I guess." Whether Bryan was talking about Kasumi or not, Matt had had zero conversations with any girls about being their boyfriend. He didn't have a "good luck" text message from Kasumi on his phone. He made sure he was still connected to the hotel Wi-Fi network, considered sending Kasumi a message first, then decided to just put his phone away.
After two more duels, Katerina looked at her phone and then stood up. "Excuse me. I'm going to the other ballroom."
"The other ballroom?" Bryan repeated.
Matt said, "Did you see the room numbers on the schedule? They split everyone up for Round 1 so that it only takes half a day instead of a full day. Literally the only way we get this whole tournament to fit into a single weekend."
From his reaction, it was safe to say Bryan did not notice the separate ballrooms… or the fact that the ballroom they were in was only half the size it was yesterday. The wall panels could extend or retract to divide the space into two smaller rooms.
"We should check that out," said Bryan. Matt just shrugged and followed along. Needless to say, the second ballroom was identical to the first except maybe it was mirrored in terms of setup—like it would have been symmetrical if it were one big room, but dividing it set it askew.
Katerina was excited to see one of the duelists amble on-stage. "This man is, um… a computer person for a big company."
"Fasheng Qiu is a systems engineer for Kaiba Corp," said Matt, reading from a quick search of the guy's name. "Yep. I'd say that's a big company." He noticed Bryan go rigid. "What?"
Bryan said, "I remember that name. I think this guy has some of the best odds for winning the tournament."
"How would you know what the odds are for someone to win the tournament?" asked Matt. "Did you place a little bet on me? Or better yet, did you place a bet on one of these other people?"
"That's not important. Only he and one other guy had odds better than 20:1. That's why I remember his name. And also because it's the sound a sword makes when you unsheathe it real quick." Matt rolled his eyes, but he didn't mock because Bryan wasn't wrong about that.
Fasheng's opponent was Henry McNally, a coach for European football who somehow claimed that dueling was where he found inspiration for field strategies. Matt expected him to get stomped within four turns.
"You know it's not like a birthday wish, right? You can say who you bet on and it will have no effect on the outcome," said Matt.
Bryan said, "Shut up."
Henry received the first turn. He took almost five minutes to review his options before setting two cards in the backfield and playing Ojama Country as a Field Spell. The field filled with tiny houses, each sprouting antennae. It looked like a village for yellow Smurfs.
Fasheng: 5 cards, 8000 LP
Henry: 2 cards, 8000 LP
As soon as Fasheng started his turn, he played Dark Magical Circle. As the familiar ring of glowing runes appeared on the field, Bryan smacked Matt's wrist.
"Dude!"
"I see it. Jackass."
Because of Dark Magical Circle's effect, Fasheng looked through his top three cards and kept Dark Magician in his hand, returning the others to the top of the deck. Henry responded with Ojama Duo, which put one red alien and one blue alien Ojama Token (2: +1000|-0) on Fasheng's field. Each of them was the right size to use the tiny houses that littered the field, although they had to have neck muscles like Stallone's biceps to hold up their giant heads.
It was hard to tell whether that move did anything to Fasheng's strategy. He couldn't use the Ojama Tokens to summon that Dark Magician, and each of them had their attack and defense points swapped because of Ojama Country. So he just set three cards on his field.
Fasheng: 3 cards, 8000 LP
Henry: 2 cards, 8000 LP
For his turn, Henry banished Ojama Duo from the Graveyard so he could summon Ojama Green (2: +1000|-0) and Ojama Black (2: +1000|-0) from his deck. Then he activated Dark Factory of Increased Production, which was supposed to let him send Ojama Black as Tribute to draw a card.
In reply, Fasheng played Magician Navigation. He used this new runic circle to summon Dark Magician (7: -2100|+2500) and The Illusory Gentleman (4: +1600|-1500), both with their attack and defense points swapped. Henry was still able to draw his card, but the Dark Magician's presence caused the Dark Magical Circle to activate and banish the Dark Factory from the field.
Ojama Country had another effect: Henry discarded a copy of Ojama Country so he could revive Ojama Black (2: +1000|-0) from the Graveyard. He sent each of his Ojamas to attack and destroy Fasheng's Ojama Tokens (0). Apparently they were a bit explosive because they dealt him 300 points of damage just for being destroyed.
Henry set one more card to end his turn.
Fasheng: 2 cards, 7400 LP
Henry: 2 cards, 8000 LP
When Fasheng drew, he activated Eternal Soul. It was basically Matt's ace card, so it felt weird to watch some dueling expert play it. Especially because the guy could have played it during Henry's turn and used an extra effect, but he decided not to.
Henry responded with another copy of Dark Factory of Increased Production, sending Ojama Black back to the Graveyard in exchange for another card. Meanwhile, Fasheng summoned another Dark Magician (7: -2100|+2500) and used Dark Magical Circle to banish this Dark Factory, too.
At this point, only one Ojama card was left to force attack and defense to swap, so Fasheng attacked Ojama Green (1000) with The Illusory Gentleman (1600). After the little green guy left the field, both Dark Magicians (+2500) returned to their normal attack and defense power for a whopper of a direct attack.
Fasheng: 2 cards, 7400 LP
Henry: 3 cards, 2400 LP
Henry set one monster and one more card. Despite the confidence in his smirk, Matt also noticed the tremble in his elbow. This guy had already lost the duel, but he didn't want to give up.
Instead, Fasheng sent The Illusory Gentleman (-1500) to attack the face-down monster. Henry was jovial as he activated Ojama Duo again, but the extra Ojama Tokens changed nothing. Fasheng only needed one Dark Magician (2500) to end the duel.
Fasheng: 3 cards, 7400 LP
Henry: 2 cards, 0 LP
Bryan whistled. "That was cool to watch. I thought you were the only person crazy enough to play the Dark Magician."
Matt said, "Well, when we're blocked from using Effect Monsters, it makes more sense. It has a lot of support cards… that Fasheng didn't play."
"Maybe it's just a backup deck. Maybe he didn't think to bring all of his support cards. You just got lucky that you had what you needed for a strong deck, after all." Admitting that Bryan was right in that comment, truly sucked. Matt returned to his seat to watch all the rest of the duels thinking about how much better these other players might be if they had brought their entire collections with them.
In both ballrooms, Katerina was somehow familiar with most of the duelists, but it wasn't until near the end of Round 1 when one really caught her attention was also familiar to Matt. Ash Staotar was an investment banker. The ability to monitor market trends and analyze numbers apparently gave him a lot of practice with strategy and pieces around to meet flexible needs. Matt wondered whether the thousand dollars Ash had bet on Blackjack was actually his or if he took it from his bank.
"That's the guy from last night," said Bryan.
"I remember."
"Well, did you also know that he's the favorite to win the whole tournament?"
"No. But now I'm curious to see how his duel goes."
Ash's opponent was Denise Verdin, an imaging consultant for a Canadian company. She was the kind of person who taught women like Biljana Jovan how to maintain her image, always thinking about how every possible move could be interpreted in every possible way. Denise started the duel by playing Red-Eyes Fusion, combining two Red-Eyes Black Dragons from her deck into Meteor Black Comet Dragon (8: 3500|2000). The dragon's black scales shone fiery-red as it threw another Red-Eyes into the Graveyard and spewed 1200 points of fireball damage onto Ash's side of the field.
It was almost like watching Kasumi duel if she were a professional, playing at the top of her game.
Ash: 5 cards, 6800 LP
Denise: 4 cards, 8000 LP
"Looks like that lady also figured out the loophole in the effect monster rule," said Bryan.
Katerina asked, "What loophole?"
"The rule was only that you couldn't have any effect monsters in your Main Deck. The rule didn't say anything about the Extra Deck. Plus, Leona said the dueling system was programmed to recognize violations, and this Denise lady didn't set off any alarms, so they must have left that loophole on purpose."
Bryan pointed to Matt. "He ended up not needing the loophole, but he had a few fusion cards ready to play."
"It's a combination of what's in your deck and also what you draw," said Matt.
Ash kept shuffling his cards around as if he couldn't decide what to do, but it was clearly all for show. His eyes never moved except to blink. Finally he played Hinotama, a super-basic Spell card that did nothing other than rain fire down on Denise for 500 points of damage. He followed up with Ookazi, a similar card that sparked 800 points of flame damage. Sure, he had the lead now, but his field was empty. Was this really the tournament favorite?
That feeling intensified when he played another copy of Ookazi for more damage. It was a sort of strategy, perhaps, but Ash finally showed some sign of complex thinking when he played Wave-Motion Cannon. That massive cannon was going to build up energy every turn and strike Denise directly for a lot of damage if Ash could protect it long enough. Then again, he needed to protect himself, too.
His strategy for that turned out to be Mask of the Accursed. It was a spooky equipment card that covered the Meteor Black Comet Dragon's face and sealed its body so it couldn't attack. Denise looked visibly flustered to have such a huge monster knee-capped like that. Ash used up his last card—Chain Energy. Matt whispered to Bryan that it forced both players to give 500 LP every time they wanted to play a card.
Six cards, all spells. Ash clearly had a specific theme going.
Ash: 0 cards, 6800 LP
Denise: 4 cards, 5900 LP
On her turn, Denise didn't have much option put to pay for the effect of Chain Energy. She set one card face-down in her backfield, then she paid again to play Allure of Darkness, probably hoping the card she would draw would be something to give her giant dragon back its agency. The look on her face said that wasn't the case but she tried to be amused by the situation. She probably felt ridiculous having one of the biggest monsters in the game on the field and being unable to do anything with it. She gambled on Chain Energy one more time to set a second card face-down.
Ash: 0 cards, 6800 LP
Denise: 3 cards, 4400 LP
During Ash's Standby Phase, his Mask of the Accursed activated, siphoning some of the energy off of Denise's monster and blasting Denise with it directly. She responded by activating Red-Eyes Spirit, a Trap that let her pull one of her Red-Eyes Black Dragons (7: 2400|2000) out of the Graveyard and to the field. Finally she had an attacker that wasn't pinned down by card effects, even if it didn't stop her from losing 500 LP to Mask of the Accursed.
Ash weighed his options with his last card and decided to end his turn there.
Ash: 1 card, 6800 LP
Denise: 3 cards, 3900 LP
Denise somehow lucked into Monster Reborn. She paid for Chain Energy, pulled another Red-Eyes Black Dragon (7: 2400|2000) to the field, and used both of them to bum rush Ash directly. Then she ended her turn.
Ash: 1 card, 2000 LP
Denise: 3 cards, 3400 LP
Bryan said, "There's no way he wins this, right?"
Mask of the Accursed took another 500 points off of Denise. She now had fewer than 3000 points left, so Ash decided it was time to fire the Wave-Motion Cannon he had charged up. Blasting it off the field only hit her for 2000 points, but now she had only 900 points left. And Ash had two cards in his hand.
They were Hinotama and Final Flame. Even though they cost Ash 1000 LP to play both of them because of his own Chain Energy card, they dealt a total of 1100 points of fireball damage.
Ash: 0 cards, 1000 LP
Denise: 3 cards, 0 LP
Matt was almost as much in awe as Bryan was. "You've gotta be shitting me." He decided that a deck with no effect monsters was too restrictive, so he was going to play a deck with no monsters at all. And for whatever reason, he decided not to play any traps, either. And most of those spell cards were the most basic cards found in the cheapest starter decks. Was that his point? To win with cheap cards? Matt wished he could tell what Ash was saying to Denise and the judge and every single person he spoke to on his way back to his chair.
"That guy used the simplest deck I've ever seen, and he won against one of the biggest monsters I've ever seen," said Bryan. "Do you think you can beat him?"
"I wouldn't bet on it."
Another chapter published within the same calendar year. That's two in row!
It was harder than I thought it would be to write some of these duels. I actually changed some of my ideas about the Deck Limitations just based on how hard it was to write the corresponding duels. If you did the math, you'll know there are six Limitations to get through. I hope you enjoy these variations on deck building!