First full chapter, let's go!
This is also my first time duel scripting, so I hope the duel in this chapter is good!
Chapter 1: Shark Hunt
"He who opens the door shall obtain a new power."
Michael once again stands in front of the door, watching it with unease as it speaks. This time though, frustration rules over fear, and he steps forward as if in challenge.
"What do you want?! What 'new power' do you mean?!" Michael's questioning goes unanswered though, as the door continues on with the same exact speech it always has.
"However, as the price for this power, you shall lose that which is most important to you."
Another step forward, only for a sinkhole to crack open under his feet, sending Michael tumbling down into earth with a shriek-
-and then he wakes up in bed, in the orphanage dorms. Sitting up, he shakes his head to chase off the memory of the door before looking around in the dim light to see that most of the others are still asleep. A few beds are empty, and when Michael gets up to peek out the window at the end of the room, he can see the sun slowly rising over the frosty rooftops. He stays there, quietly watching the sunrise, until the sound of someone waking up draws his attention.
"Door nightmare again?" Michael turns to see Thomas sitting up in his own bed, blinking sleep out of his eyes as he stares at him.
"Yeah, it was the door again." Michael fishes the key pendant out from under his shirt, toying with it as he recalls the dream. "I yelled at it this time."
"Good, tell it off for giving you nightmares!" Thomas grins, pleased with this development. "How long have you been having this nightmare, three years now?"
"Since I was ten, yes." What was once genuinely terrifying at ten has become more of an annoyance at thirteen, something that stalks his dreams and interrupts his sleep.
In all honesty, he wishes he had some kind of explanation for this.
By now more kids are waking up, and with a sigh Thomas gets up too, digging around under his bed in search of a change of clothes. "Come on Michael, hurry up before all the washroom stalls are taken up. I don't want to get stuck in line to get changed."
"Right, right. No one wants to get stuck in line." Stuffing the key back under his shirt, Michael rushes to get ready for the day.
Michael is picking at his breakfast when a boy with sea glass green hair shoves himself onto the bench beside him, knocking him off the end of the bench and onto the floor with a yelp.
"Sorry, Michael." The boy says, in a tone that suggests he really isn't sorry at all. Michael picks himself up, brushing off the worn hoodie he's wearing before glaring at the boy.
"Oh, I didn't know that's how we were making space to sit now, Mamoru. I could have saved myself the multiple laps to find that seat." The jab causes Mamoru to abruptly stand again, looming over Michael even as he continues to meet his glare.
"Says the boy who's scared of a door. How did that happen, huh? Door kill your parents?" That gets a growl out of Michael, but before he can snap back, Thomas comes up behind Mamoru and claps a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, Mamoru. How about you take on someone your own size instead of picking on my brother?" Thomas holds up his deck as he speaks, the implication clear as he stares him down.
For a second, Mamoru is silent, staring between Michael (who is still glaring daggers at him) and Thomas (who is also still staring him down) before grumbling and backing off to sit somewhere else. "Fine, you're on, Thomas. You better be ready to lose this time!"
"Why would I have to be ready to lose when I can beat you any time I like?" Thomas calls after the retreating Mamoru, before turning back to Michael with a smirk. "Ugh, that guy uses Mermails. It's no wonder I beat him every time, Gravekeepers just shuts half his strategies down. You alright, Michael?"
"I'm alright. I was handling myself fine, Thomas." Michael huffs, finding his seat again before someone else can snatch it.
"You were about to snap at him in the middle of the dining hall. Trust me, you don't need to get in trouble for that." Thomas remains standing, recognizing that there's no room to squeeze in on the bench here.
"He insulted our parents, Thomas! He suggested a door killed them!" Michael stabs at his food as he seethes, only slightly dropping his tone as one of the adults in charge of the place passes by behind him. "He's awful-"
"He's winding you up on purpose. Look, I'll beat him again and then he'll huff off to lick his wounds once I do that." Thomas turns to leave, heading towards the exit before Michael can say anything. "I'm going to go get a D-Pad and Gazer before all the decent ones are taken. Hurry up if you want to watch!"
And then Thomas is gone, leaving Michael to hurriedly finish eating and move his tray and dishes to the dish return before rushing off himself to watch.
The duelling supplies are stored in the game room, in a dedicated closet stocked with roughly a couple dozen D-Pads, a single small box of Gazers, and plastic bins of loose cards, all in varying conditions. Michael's pretty sure most of them are little better than scrap, but with no chance of any replacements coming in any time soon, there's no choice but to put up with it.
"Let's see..." Rummaging through the sad selection of D-Gazers, Michael picks one that looks less beat on and quickly tests it (wrinkling his nose as he balances it on his face), determining that it works (if a bit slow to load in the AR overlay and kind of staticky). Accepting that that's as good as it gets, he takes the Gazer out to the courtyard, where he finds Thomas and Mamoru facing off in the marked out duelling space, with a few other kids and a single staff member milling around the cracked pavement watching. Michael joins the crowd, clicking his Gazer back on and shooting Thomas a wave as the worn out Gazer slowly loads in the LP counters. Thomas waves back, grinning cockily, before returning his focus to Mamoru.
"You ready over there? I've been ready for a while now!" Thomas calls out, drawing a glare and a growl from Mamoru.
"I'm more than ready, you damned Arclight! Get ready to have your monsters stomped into the ground!" The single staff member calls out a warning to Mamoru for his language, but goes unheeded as Mamoru and Thomas start the duel.
The duel itself turns out to be a very quick affair, with Thomas utterly trouncing Mamoru almost from the start. Mamoru doesn't take well to the loss, storming off through the small crowd of onlookers even before the AR effects have had time to fully fade out, leaving Thomas to roll his eyes at the show of poor sportsmanship.
"See? I said I could beat him any time I liked, Michael!" Michael squeaks as Thomas strides over to ruffle his hair, roughly shoving his hand away before glancing in the direction Mamoru left in.
"He sure didn't take well to that. How long do you think he'll sulk for this time?" Michael tucks his hands and his D-Gazer inside his hoodie pocket, dodging around a patch of dirty snow as he and Thomas wander off to circle the edge of the courtyard.
"Hmm..." Thomas pretends to think, running one hand along the chainlink fence edging the courtyard as he does so. "Probably not long, there isn't anywhere private to sulk here. Too many damned kids."
"Way too many kids here." Michael agrees, a tinge of annoyance in his voice as a group of younger kids run past, chasing a ball around. "Pretty much everyone knows about the door nightmares by now because I can't say anything about it in private."
"...That reminds me, how are you holding up with those? You said you yelled at the door last night." Thomas glances back at Michael, by now tucking his own hands into his coat pockets against the winter chill.
"I did. I asked what it wanted, and then I fell into a sinkhole."
"Pfft, door is an asshole then!" Thomas lets off a snort at Michael's description, briefly nodding in acknowledgement as the staff member on duty calls him on his language choice. "Keep pushing and maybe it'll fu- er, shove off!"
"Maybe. It'd be nice to dream about something besides that door for once, then maybe I wouldn't have people like Mamoru taunting me about it." Michael pulls out the key from within his hoodie, squeezing it as he sulks about the nightmares plaguing him.
Thomas blinks at the key, a mischievous smile spreading across his face as he watches Michael. "You got that key right before the nightmares started, right? Maybe that's what's causing it!"
Michael gapes in shock, holding onto the key tightly as he stares up at Thomas. "The key is not giving me nightmares!"
"You don't know, maybe it's one of those OOPArts you go on about! Maybe our father got you an OOPArt!" Thomas smirks down at Michael, only for that smirk to fade as Michael stares thoughtfully at the key. "Hey, you aren't actually considering that, are you? I was kidding!"
"I've thought about it for a while. I don't think it's causing my nightmares, but it'd be neat if it was an OOPArt. Our father was trying to investigate interdimensional portals, you know?" Michael glances at the key as he speaks, his curiosity towards the history of it taking hold once more. He doesn't even notice Thomas rolling his eyes, as focused as he is on his speculations.
"Dad and Doctor Tenjo didn't find a portal on that trip, remember?" Thomas sidesteps around the mountain of plowed snow piled at the edge of the courtyard as he speaks, glancing sideways at the few younger kids climbing up and sliding back down the pile as he does so. "I don't think it's anything more than a neat artifact."
"I know, Thomas." Michael glares up at Thomas, before sighing and looking back down at the key. "It's just..."
"...You don't have much to remember him." Thomas' tone softens up, becoming more gentle as Michael nods silently. "You know it doesn't have to be more than just an ancient artifact to be a nice memento."
"...I know." Michael's tone is soft too, and he glances away, trying not to tear up at the thought of his missing father. For a moment, the two walk in silence, both lost in their memories, then Thomas breaks the silence with a huff.
"...You want to go back inside? It's getting a bit too cold out here and I need to return this Pad to the closet." Thomas holds up the D-Pad in question, watching as Michael tucks the key away under his hoodie and nods. "We could play some tabletop Duel Monsters, too."
"...You know I'll beat you this time." Michael forces a smile, aware of what Thomas is trying to do, but unwilling to point it out to his face. Besides, actually doing something is better than moping around, so he'll take the obvious distraction.
"We'll see, Michael! I don't think you'll be winning today!" Thomas sets off back to the building at a jog, leaving Michael to run after him with a yell.
The day, like all others at the orphanage, passes slowly, and eventually it's night again. Michael curls deeper into his bed, blocking out the sounds of some kid crying down the hall (probably a new kid, older kids don't cry like that), and, with one hand clutching at the key still hung around his neck for safekeeping, drifts off to sleep, where, once again, he finds himself in front of that same door.
"He who opens the door shall obtain a new power."
Michael stares down the door, frustration at this happening again welling up until, suddenly, something in him snaps.
"What do you want with me?! You tell me this almost every night, but you won't let me try! What will happen if I open the door?!"
The door stares down with its unmoving stone face, and Michael clutches the key tight, bracing himself for the door to just continue its speech.
"Open the door. Once you do, you will obtain a new power."
Once upon a time, that single variation in its speech would have excited Michael. Now though, anger at being jerked around is in control, and he pulls the key off over his head, barely registering the soft glow coming from it as he lunges for the stone surface.
"You want me to open it now? Fine, I'll open it!" As if on instinct, Michael's hand, holding the key, plunges into a keyhole in the door and twists, and all at once several things happen.
-A click and massive groan as the door slowly creaks open, sending Michael tumbling to the ground with a shocked cry-
-Light from the other side, with what Michael only barely registers as a humanoid figure exiting directly towards him-
-Numerous cards blowing out the wide open door, too fast for Michael to tell what's printed on them before they vanish into the dark-
-And over it all, the booming voice of the door, as if nothing was happening and this was the same nightmare as usual:
"However, as the price for this power, you shall lose that which is most important to you."
Michael sits up, wide eyed in shock and opening his mouth to question the door-
-Only to snap awake in bed once more, the dream fading away as reality sets in again. Michael rolls over in bed, glancing at the clock on the wall to find that it's currently two in the morning.
"...At least it was different this time." Michael goes to roll back over, trying to get back to sleep, only to freeze at the sight of something pale and glowing in the air nearby. Slowly, not sure if he's perhaps still dreaming, he looks up to see a slim humanoid entity floating in the air just above his bed.
"Who...who are you?" Michael's voice is low, hushed as if, perhaps, speaking louder might scare the entity. It looks down at him, blinking its eyes (one white and one golden) before speaking.
"...Astral." The entity (Astral) looks around at the beds, seemingly unconcerned with Michael's shock at something from his dream apparently being real.
"Are you an-"
"What the fuck, Michael, stop talking and go to sleep." Michael's question is cut off by Mamoru, who stares at him with an unimpressed look. Michael stares back, his gaze flicking back up to Astral briefly before going back to Mamoru.
"Sorry, I was just talking to him." Michael points up at Astral, but Mamoru doesn't even glance at him, instead continuing to stare at Michael with a now slightly weirded out look.
"There's nothing there. Did your nightmares finally fry your brain?" Mamoru raises his voice, a few more kids popping their heads up as Michael stares back at Mamoru in confusion.
"No! He's right there!" Michael gestures up at Astral again, who floats there watching impassively. "Are you blind now, Mamoru? Is that why my brother keeps beating you?"
Mamoru snarls, lunging from his bed, but Michael is already on the move, darting from his own towards the hall. He can hear the sound of someone else getting out of bed, but he doesn't look back, running until he reaches the washroom, where he stumbles to a halt and turns to face Astral.
"Okay, are you an alien? Where did you come from? Wait- are you from the key? Is it really an OOPArt?!" Michael stares up at Astral, wide eyed at the thought of meeting an actual alien and having a real interdimensional artifact. "I can't wait to tell Thomas he was right about the key-"
"...I suppose I would be an alien..." Astral crosses his arms, glancing away as Michael loses momentum on his rambling.
"...Well, I guess we're the aliens to you..." Michael pauses to pull the key out from under his shirt, holding it so that Astral can see it. "I had a dream where you came out from this door after I used this to open it, and the door kept talking about how I'd gain some sort of 'new power' if I opened it in exchange for losing something important. Do you know anything about that?"
Astral stares at the key briefly, then glances away again, expression as neutral as ever as he answers. "I can't say. I suspect that my memories were lost while crossing into this world."
"What?!" Michael shrieks, clinging tightly to the key again as he stares at Astral in confused shock. "What do you mean you lost your memories?!"
Astral, in turn, sighs, drifting across the bathroom like a ghost, seemingly unperturbed by Michael's yelling. "Observation #1: Humans are easily confused."
"What- no, I'm not-"
"Michael, you alright in there?" Michael's head turns in time to see Thomas peeking into the washroom, pausing slightly before letting himself in. "I could hear you yelling from the dorm."
"I'm fine, Thomas!" Michael approaches Thomas, holding out the key again so that Thomas can see. "You were right! The key's an OOPArt, I had the dream again but this time I used the key to open the door and Astral came out-"
"Whoa, slow down!" Thomas grimaces, blinking in confusion at Michael's excitement. "I got the part about the door, but you met someone named Astral?"
"Yeah, he's an alien! He lost his memories though, so he can't tell me anything about where he came from." Michael glances at Astral, who just stares back in return. Thomas follows Michael's gaze, but only frowns in confusion before slowly responding.
"...Right. Maybe you should come back to bed now, I convinced Mamoru to leave you alone if that's what you're worried about."
"Wh-" Michael glances between Thomas and Astral in confusion, not sure why everyone is acting so weird about Astral. "Thomas, he's right there! Can't you see him?!"
Thomas blinks again, concern visibly crossing his face as he starts to herd Michael back out of the washroom, past the row of toilet stalls and back out to the hall. "Right now, I can see you need sleep. Come on, let's hope the door nightmare doesn't come back again."
Michael doesn't fight, instead just letting himself be herded along as he stares at Astral in confusion. Astral floats alongside, glowing faintly in the dim hall as he silently watches Michael be guided along like some sort of confused little kid who doesn't know their way around yet.
The walk back to the boys' dorm is mercifully quick, and Michael steps in to see everyone staring at him. Some at least try to pretend they're sleeping even as they sneak peeks at Michael and Thomas, while others just openly stare, whispering amongst themselves as he passes to go back to bed. And then there's Mamoru, staring with undisguised amusement as Michael climbs back into bed, silently looping the key back over his head for safekeeping as he pointedly ignores the stares and whispers.
"Did you finally snap, Michael? Rich kid finally losing it in the orphanage?" Mamoru calls out, earning a few snickers from nearby. Michael turns to respond, unfazed by the taunt, but Thomas is quicker, his head snapping around to face Mamoru with a cold glare.
"Do I need to remind you of who the stronger duelist is again, Mamoru?" Thomas stalks between the beds, his gaze never leaving Mamoru's as he comes to a halt next to his bed. "Or do you need me to remind you how many times you've lost to me already, in front of everyone?"
Thomas and Mamoru glare each other down for a few seconds, the silence only broken by a few more snickers and jeers at Mamoru's expense as the public opinion turns in Thomas' favour, then Mamoru finally grumbles in defeat and turns away.
"Fuck off, Thomas. Go take care of your crazy brother or something." Mamoru emphasizes his statement with a quick middle finger, Thomas echoing the sentiment with the two fingered equivalent before turning around to return to his own bed.
"Get some sleep, Michael." Thomas calls out to Michael as he returns to his own bed, glancing at him in concern one more time before lying down to sleep. Michael, however, does not go to sleep, instead staring up at Astral as everyone else settles back down.
"...How come no one else can see you, Astral?" Michael whispers, ignoring how the kids nearest him are staring again. Astral glances down, still floating in midair (does Astral need sleep, Michael wonders), before responding.
"...I suspect that only the holder of the Emperor's Key can see me." Astral watches as Michael looks down at the Key on its string, eyes wide with wonder as he takes that in.
"You mean this? That makes sense, I used this in the dream to-"
"Shut the fuck up, Michael!" Mamoru calls out, ignoring Thomas sitting upright to glare at him in return, and Michael sighs before tucking the Key back under his shirt to go to sleep.
"I'm going to sleep, Astral. You do, uh, whatever you need to do." Michael closes his eyes, ready to sleep, but then-
"What is 'sleep'?" Astral asks, prompting a sigh from Michael as he mutters a response.
"It's something I'm going to be doing for the next few hours because if I don't stop talking and sleep now, everyone else is going to either hate me or think I'm crazy. Good night, Astral." Michael closes his eyes again, ignoring Astral's 'observation' about humans being particular about when sleep is.
"Everyone up!"
Michael is awoken the next morning by one of the orphanage guardians coming through to wake everyone up. Sitting up, he turns to see light streaming through the window, and mutters a curse as he realizes he slept way too long.
"Crap, there's going to be huge lines to get changed..." Mood soured at having to wait, he throws himself out of bed and pulls a random choice of clothes out from under his bed, only glancing aside briefly to see that yes, Astral is still there, before rushing out with the remaining stragglers to get his day started.
As predicted, the lines to get changed are long, and the dining hall is no better once Michael finally makes it there. Grumbling under his breath at being so late out of bed, Michael resigns himself to sitting on the floor, back against the plain white wall and tray of food balanced across his lap with a few other straggler kids. The kids he's sitting with double take at him, sliding sideways to put space between them and Michael, and he huffs as he realizes what's happened.
"Is this about Astral?" Michael asks, and the seeming leader of the kids (Michael thinks she looks about eight, and the remaining two even younger) squeaks in surprise before nodding.
"Y-yeah, we heard you lost it last night and started talking to yourself." The two other kids nod in agreement, one piping up with a loud 'We heard you're the weird kid with the door nightmares!", and Michael can't help but tense up, his mood souring further at the revelation.
"Did Mamoru tell you that?" The leading girl nods again at the question, and Michael rolls his eyes. "Mamoru is just jealous that he can't beat my brother at Duel Monsters. Don't listen to him."
The three kids glance between each other, hesitantly nodding, and Michael hears one of them comment on Mamoru being 'kind of weird' that morning before tuning them out to focus on Astral.
"Still no memories, Astral?" Astral doesn't answer, his gaze fixed across the dining hall, and Michael follows his gaze to see Mamoru and Thomas arguing again. He's too far away to make anything they're saying out, but from Mamoru and Thomas' angry gestures...
"They're probably going to duel again. Thomas has got this, he's done this a bunch of times before." Michael returns to eating, but Astral continues to watch as Mamoru and Thomas storm off towards the exit.
"We should follow them, Michael." Astral says, earning a glance from Michael in response.
"I watched them do this yesterday, Astral. They'll duel, Thomas will win, and Mamoru will sulk about it. Besides, I don't like having to wear the D-Gazers, half of them are broken and they feel weird on my face."
"...Something's telling me we should follow them." Astral doesn't look down at Michael, instead just continuing to stare in the direction Thomas and Mamoru left in, and Michael rolls his eyes before hurriedly finishing his food.
"Fine, let's go then. I wouldn't mind seeing Mamoru get beaten again anyways." Michael stands, quickly returning his tray to the dish return, before rushing off to get a D-Gazer with Astral in tow.
And yet, despite his words, Michael can't suppress a twinge of unease as he rummages through the box of D-Gazers in the supply closet. Maybe it's Astral's insistence, maybe it's those kids commenting that Mamoru was 'acting weird' that morning, maybe it's just how angry Mamoru was acting towards Thomas before rushing off. He tries to tell himself it's probably nothing, but the unease doesn't go away as he locates a functional Gazer and, not taking the time to click it off again after testing, rushes off to the courtyard to watch.
"They'll probably still be trash talking each other-" Michael's words, meant more to calm his worries as he pushes open the creaky double doors to the courtyard, cut off at the sight of some kind of massive red monster looming over the field. The AR effects die off before Michael can get a clear glimpse of the monster, but he doesn't get much time to dwell on it before a gap in the gathered crowd lets him see Thomas picking himself up off the ground as though he-
"Thomas!" Michael charges over in shock (Thomas couldn't have lost, he always wins), elbowing and shouldering his way through the crowd, but Thomas doesn't respond, instead glaring daggers at Mamoru.
"What the hell was that, Mamoru?! You didn't have that thing yesterday!" Thomas shouts, ignoring the warning from the nearby monitor as he continues to glare down the snickering Mamoru.
"Aww, you mad I have something your daddy's money couldn't get you?" Mamoru pretends to look sorry for a moment before breaking into a manic grin and stepping right into Thomas' space, meeting his glare dead on. "Oh wait, your daddy and his money are gone!"
Mamoru breaks into a wild laugh, pushing Thomas back down, and the sight of his brother landing flat on his butt in a pile of ice crusted snow is what snaps Michael into action, propelling him across the dueling field to glare up at Mamoru.
"You don't exactly have a father either, so shut up about ours!" Mamoru turns his focus from Thomas to Michael, and with barely an eye roll, abruptly snatches Michael's arm, dragging him forward into his space.
"Look everyone, it's the crazy Arclight! He's gonna get me with his Ancient Aliens deck!" Mamoru laughs again, ignoring Michael's attempt at clawing his way free. "Who wants me to kick some sense into him?!"
The crowd cheers for Mamoru, and Michael growls in anger, barely noticing Thomas pulling himself upright again and storming over until he's abruptly pulled free of Mamoru's grip. He stumbles back, coming to a halt just beside Astral, and he stares wide eyed as Thomas grabs Mamoru by the shirt, pulling him close enough for their noses to touch.
"Touch my brother again and I swear-" Thomas doesn't get the chance to finish before Michael steps up once more, drawing himself tall as he recalls his brother's words about AR dueling.
(It's about presentation just as much as it's about technical skill. It's all about keeping the audience's interest and putting on a good show; that's how it works in the pro dueling circles. Michael had only listened because it was Thomas and Thomas was passionate about breaking into the pro circuit one day, but now?)
(Now it might be important.)
"Sure, I'll take you on since you challenged me so nicely! Maybe my Chronomalies will beat your fish folk!" The crowd whispers in surprise, and Thomas releases Mamoru before quickly pulling Michael aside for a hushed conversation.
"Michael, don't! I don't know how he did it, but he got his hands on some sort of completely broken monster- I couldn't figure out how to beat it! Trust me, you don't want to fight him!" Thomas glances back at Mamoru, who pointedly glances at the nonexistent watch on his wrist while tapping his foot, before returning his focus to Michael. "Just give me time to figure it out and I'll kick his ass later-"
"I have to! If I back down now I'll be both a coward and crazy!" Michael interrupts, shooting a quick glance at Astral before continuing. "Besides, there's something wrong with Mamoru! I don't know what, but Astral said-"
"Astral again...?" Thomas mutters, looking concerned, before sighing and removing his D-Pad from his wrist. Taking a moment to remove his cards from it, he passes it over to Michael, who accepts it with a startled grunt.
"...Fine. Just be careful out there, I don't need you getting hurt." Thomas pauses to ruffle Michael's hair, ignoring his protests, before stalking off to join the growing crowd of onlookers.
"I agree that you should be careful, Michael." Astral finally speaks, watching as Michael attaches the Pad to his own arm and inputs his Duelist ID to get it to load in his profile. "My instincts are telling me we need to win this."
"Don't worry, I've got this." Michael mutters, giving the Pad a moment to auto-shuffle his deck with a loud whir and pulling the Emperor's Key out from under his jacket to let it hang for all to see, before stepping back over to the marked out dueling field and speaking up to draw Mamoru's attention. "You ready, Mamoru?"
"I don't know, you ready to be the second Arclight I beat into the ground today?" Mamoru laughs again, earning some cheers from the crowd, along with another growl from Thomas. Then, from somewhere within the gathered kids, comes a loud scream:
"KICK HIS FUCKING ASS BEFORE I DO, MICHAEL!"
Michael whips his head around in time to see two monitors beelining towards a flash of pink hair in the crowd, and he gives a quick thumbs up in return before returning his focus to the (slightly cowed, but no less cocky) Mamoru.
"You heard her. You ready to duel?" Michael smiles, refusing to let his nerves show, and Mamoru huffs before recovering himself.
"Whatever, let's get this started!"
Michael and Mamoru stare each other down for a moment, long enough for the AR effects to kick in and overlay the field with their respective LP counters (4000 apiece, as it should be), then, both in unison, cry out:
"DUEL!"
Michael quickly draws his opening hand, getting just enough time to glance over it to see what he's got (a couple monsters and some Traps) before Mamoru interjects with a manic grin, green hair spiked out as if he didn't brush it that morning.
"I'll go first!" Mamoru glances over his own hand, picking a card and slamming it into the Spell and Trap slot on his own D-Pad. All at once, the field changes, great ocean waves crashing in to overtake it so that the only visible land for miles is the dueling field itself, plus a patch for the audience to stand on. "As you can see, I've played Umi, which boosts the ATK and DEF of all my Fish, Sea Serpent, Aqua, and Thunder monsters by 200 each! I'm sure you know what it'll do to your Machines, Michael?"
"It'll cut their ATK and DEF by 200 each." Michael responds, holding his ground as an AI wave laps at his feet, almost making his shoes actually feel wet. (Gross.) "It'll cut Pyro's ATK and DEF too, but I don't use Pyro, so that doesn't matter-"
"I didn't need the explanation, I just care that your weird monsters are crippled!" Mamoru cuts Michael off, going for his hand again. "I now summon Mermail Abysspike!"
A second after the card hits Mamoru's D-Pad, an armoured merman bursts from the ocean, boasting a muscular tanned human half and a shining grey fish half. A long metal spike juts forward over the monster's head like on a bayonet, glinting cruelly in the light as it circles the field before coming to a halt in front of Mamoru. As the merman settles onto the field, its stat spread appears over it in purple AR, revealing it to be Level 4 and have 1600 ATK.
"And because Mermail Abysspike is a Fish monster, it gets a boost from Umi!" Mamoru calls out as Abysspike briefly glows a soft blue, the ATK count ticking up to 1800 as a soft murmuring picks up from the crowd. Michael glances aside to see Thomas rolling his eyes, and shoots him a quick grin back before returning his focus to the duel-
"Stay focused, Michael." Astral cuts in, floating nearby as he watches the proceedings. "He still hasn't revealed his ace yet."
"I know, Astral. Let me see what he's doing." Michael mutters back, ignoring the snickers from the crowd as Mamoru rips a card from his hand to stuff into the Graveyard slot. Glancing up, Mamoru smirks in amusement before gesturing at the field.
"If you're ready to stop talking to yourself, Abysspike's effect lets me discard a WATER monster to add a Level 3 WATER monster from my deck to my hand! I discarded Mermail Abyssmander to draw-" Mamoru breaks off to pull a card from his deck, his grin only widening as his D-Pad autoshuffles afterward with the loud whine of worn out electronics, "-Mermail Abyssdine, which I then Special Summon by its own effect!"
Mamoru slams the card into place, the young girl Mermail bursting from the ocean onto the field beside Abysspike. Her stubby blue tail swishes back and forth childishly as she takes her place, the stat counter blinking in to reveal its three Levels and 1000- no, 1200 with Umi, there's the soft blue glow around Abyssdine- ATK.
"And if you thought I was done, you were wrong!" Mamoru crows, sliding a Spell card into his D-Pad with glee. "I activate Foolish Burial to send Mermail Abysshilde from my deck to my Graveyard, letting her effect activate so I can Special Summon Mermail Abyssocea from my hand!"
Another blast of water heralds another mercreature, this one the hybrid of a pale blonde woman and a sail fish. Her translucent back fins catch the light as they paddle in the air, and once again that pale blue glow takes hold as Umi bumps her ATK up to 1300. Michael mentally tracks the Levels on the three monsters, realizing with a cold stab that Mamoru now has two Level 3 monsters on his field. Is he going to-
"Don't worry, Michael. I don't have enough to bring in my new ace yet." As if reading his mind, Mamoru answers his concern, grinning cruelly as he surveys his spread of merfolk. "I end my turn for now, so why don't you go ahead and bring out your fish food!"
"I don't know, I think it'll be my monsters feasting today." Michael retorts, earning a few scattered snickers from the crowd and an eye roll from Mamoru as he settles in for his turn. "I draw!"
Drawing from his deck, Michael turns his new card over to reveal Chronomaly Golden Jet. Nodding, he slots Golden Jet into his hand before quickly picking a different monster to suit his needs-
"I play Chronomaly Crystal Bones!" Astral interjects, arm outstretched as he attempts to call the move. Michael whips around, glaring at Astral in shock at his attempt, even while Crystal Bones hangs in his hand from his interrupted play.
"Astral, I'm dueling! I know what I'm doing here!" Steeling himself against the confused muttering of the audience and Mamoru's 'cuckoo' gesture, Michael huffs before resuming his play.
"First, because you have monsters on your field and I don't have any, I get to Special Summon Chronomaly Crystal Bones in Attack Position!" The card slaps onto his D-Pad, the familiar headless crystalline skeleton abruptly bursting from the earth and taking its position as the stats counter displays its three levels and 1300 ATK. "Then I use Chronomaly Crystal Bones' effect to Special Summon Chronomaly Mayan Machine in Attack Position!"
The strange machine likewise bursts from the ground in a shower of dirt, taking its place next to Crystal Bones as its own stats pop up (Level 3, 1500 ATK). However, Mayan Machine is soon overtaken by a blue glow and it seems to briefly struggle before its ATK drops to 1300, earning a cackle from Mamoru.
"Wow, Michael! Don't you remember what the ocean does to machines? It rusts them out, turns them to useless scrap!" Mamoru gestures wide at Michael's field, smirking as the audience titters at Michael and his monsters. "Why don't you just roll over and surrender now?!"
"I'm not a coward, Mamoru!" Michael retorts, reaching for his Extra Deck with a grin of his own. "Besides, it's not staying on the field. Why don't you look at the levels?"
Mamoru glances at the levels, eyes widening with shock as he realizes that they're both Level 3, but it's too late as Michael plays his special ace.
"Using the Level 3 Chronomaly Crystal Bones and Chronomaly Mayan Machine as material, I activate the Overlay network!" Michael calls out, watching as the swirl of red energy emerges onto the field and his monsters convert into twin beams of energy, twirling through the air before diving into the swirling portal. After a brief pause, a burst of energy blasts out from the portal, cueing Michael for the rest of his chant.
"Ancient explorer of the cosmos, show us your wisdom and knowledge! Come out, Chronomaly Crystal Chrononaut!" In time with the chant and Michael stretching his arm out towards the portal, the alien figure emerges, arms spread wide as it stiffly takes the field. Its stats pop up in time with the crowd muttering in surprise, revealing it to be Rank 3 and have 2100 ATK. Michael can't help but smirk across the field at the stunned Mamoru, his smirk only growing as Thomas lets out a loud cheer from the crowd.
"You ready, Mamoru? Crystal Chrononaut attacks-"
"Chronomaly Crystal Chrononaut attacks Mermail Abyssdine!" Astral interjects, cutting off as Michael whips around again.
"I told you I know what I'm doing! Stop dueling for me!" Huffing, Michael briefly clings to the Emperor's Key to calm himself before refocusing on the duel at hand. "As I was saying, Crystal Chrononaut attacks Mermail Abysspike!"
In time with his command, Crystal Chrononaut generates several beams of light, which streak across the field towards Abysspike. The merman attempts to dodge, huffing from the effort, but one of the beams catches it, causing it to vanish in a burst of light. Mamoru grunts but otherwise holds his ground as his LP ticks down to 3700 from his original 4000.
"Finally, I set two cards and end my turn!" Michael picks two of his Traps from his hand and sets them, the face down cards briefly appearing on the field before vanishing again. Astral watches intently, thankfully not interrupting this time as he crosses his arms.
"Why didn't you attack Abyssdine?" Michael frowns at the question, but keeps his voice low as he answers Astral.
"Abysspike had the higher attack. I know he likes to power up his monsters, so I took out the one with the highest so he has to work harder to overpower Crystal Chrononaut." Astral just blinks, before returning his focus to the duel in time for Mamoru to take his turn.
"Damn you... You think you can get away with an XYZ Summon, and thinking you won, just like that?" Mamoru snarls, an ominous purple glow overtaking him as he glares across the field at Michael. Michael frowns, gripping his hand tighter, but Mamoru plows on. "My turn! I draw!"
Mamoru glances at his draw, his by now manic grin widening at his card before he immediately plays it. "I summon Mermail Abysslinde!" In a burst of seawater, the dark haired mermaid emerges onto the field, her bright red armour and white tail glinting in the winter sun as the boost from Umi kicks her ATK up to 1700. Mamoru smirks, the purple glow enveloping him growing more intense as something red flashes on the back of his hand, and he reaches for his Extra Deck with an unsuppressed cackle.
"You ready, Michael? You ready to see what a real XYZ Summon looks like?!" Unnerved, Michael takes a step back, his foot meeting the AR waves of Umi, and his head turns in time to see Thomas staring in horror, his reddish eyes wide as he gestures at Michael.
"Michael, look out! He's about to summon that thing!" Thomas' warning is drowned out by Mamoru's wild cackling, the XYZ monster flashing in his hand as he gestures across the field.
"First, I banish Mermail Abyssmander from my Graveyard to increase the Levels of all my monsters by one!" The Abyssmander card pops out of Mamoru's D-Pad as his three fielded monsters suddenly glow red, their Level counts popping in to show them increasing from 3 to 4. Mamoru roughly stuffs Abyssmander into his Banished pile, earning a wince from Michael, then with a wicked glint in his eyes, slams the XYZ monster card onto his D-Pad with an audible slap.
"Using the Level 4 Mermail Abyssdine, Mermail Abysslinde, and Mermail Abyssocea, I build the Overlay Network!" The swirl of energy appears as before, but this one is wrong, yellow instead of red. Astral tenses beside Michael as Mamoru's Mermails convert into energy, but doesn't get to say anything before Mamoru continues.
"Feared predator of the ocean's depths! Come to me and rip all your enemies to shreds with your fangs!" The yellow portal blasts out energy in time with the chant, revealing a strange red form floating on Mamoru's field. It doesn't stay in that form though, rapidly growing limbs, fins, claws with sharp cracks sounding through the air until it finally reforms itself into a great red landshark, lethally long claws and sharp teeth glinting cruelly as a red symbol flashes on its chest. Mamoru cackles again, the red symbol (no, an abstract number, the same as the one on the monster) on his hand flashing bright once more as he finishes his chant. "Number 32: Shark Drake!"
Shark Drake roars in time with its name being called out, making a wide eyed Michael take a step back in shock. His foot meets the AR waves of Umi, and he freezes with a wince, staring between the monster and the cheering crowd as his thoughts catch up with what just happened.
"Where in the world did you get that?!" Michael calls out as Shark Drake's 2800 ATK appears in the air, earning another snicker from Mamoru.
"Wouldn't you like to know, rich boy?! By the way, Shark Drake is a Sea Serpent monster, so guess what happens now?" Mamoru gestures at Shark Drake as Umi kicks in, boosting its ATK to 3000. "Shark Drake, rip his alien to shreds!"
Shark Drake roars again, then surges forward, mouth opening wide as it closes on Crystal Chrononaut. Astral calls out a warning, but Michael is already acting, his own arm stretched out as he responds.
"I detach Chronomaly Crystal Bones from Crystal Chrononaut and activate its effect!" One of the materials circling Crystal Chrononaut diverts in its orbit and absorbs into the alien, enabling a bright flash of light that repels Shark Drake back onto Mamoru's field with a low growl. "This turn, Chronomaly Crystal Chrononaut cannot be destroyed by battle or card effect! In addition, the damage that would have been done is rebounded directly onto you!"
The flash of light from Crystal Chrononaut grows brighter, then coalesces into a beam that streaks towards Mamoru. Mamoru braces, but the impact still sends him staggering back with a wheeze, his LP sliding down to 2800 as the gathered audience starts to snicker at his misfortune. Recovering himself after a moment, Mamoru practically snarls in rage, fixing a crazed glare across the field at Michael in reaction to the slight.
"I end my turn. Just you wait, Michael, you won't be laughing for long..."
Ignoring Mamoru's crazed mutterings, Michael stares at Shark Drake again, wondering where in the world that thing came from and how it beat Thomas. Beside him, Astral also stares intently, his heterochromatic gaze fixed on the monster as he surveys the field.
"Take caution, Michael. I get the feeling that it's important we win here." Michael blinks at Astral, tilting his head in confusion.
"How important?"
"...I feel it's important to my memories." Astral crosses his arms again, frowning across the field as Mamoru continues to glare. "However, Number 32: Shark Drake should not be taken lightly. We still don't know what it does."
"I know, he found a way to beat Thomas with it." Michael responds back, before returning his focus to the Duel. "My turn! I draw!"
He draws, revealing Chronomaly Tuspa Rocket. Tuspa Rocket is slotted into his hand and replaced with Golden Jet, which gets quickly slapped onto the D-Pad.
"I summon Chronomaly Golden Jet from my hand!" The 'jet' emerges onto the field, briefly circling Michael like a real plane even as Umi drags its ATK down to 1100, before finding its place beside Crystal Chrononaut. "I then set one card and end my turn!"
The set card briefly appears before vanishing again, and Mamoru once again cackles at Michael's brief turn.
"Not even gonna try to attack?" He smirks, watching as Michael huffs in return.
"I'm not wasting my Overlay Units to attack you!" Michael gestures at the ATK counters, indicating Shark Drake's higher attack. "Stop laughing and take your turn!"
"If you wish!" Mamoru snickers again, that manic light entering his eyes again. "My turn! I draw!"
Mamoru draws, looks at his card-
-and cackles wildly, drawing concerned mutters from the audience as Michael stares in confusion.
"Lucky me...I play Pot of Desires!" Mamoru rips a handful of cards off his deck and jams them into his Banish pile without care, still with that unnerving manic grin on his face, then draws two more cards off his deck. "I banish ten cards from my Deck face down and draw two more into my hand! And look at that; it seems luck still smiles on me! Come out, Mermail Abysslung!"
The Mermail splashes onto the field alongside Shark Drake, taking the appearance of a thickset merman with a dark tail and twin shields on his arms. It, like all of Mamoru's monsters, glows blue as Umi kicks its ATK up to 1400, followed by both Abysslung and Shark Drake glowing red.
"As you can see, Abysslung boosts the ATK of all my WATER monsters by an additional 300 ATK each!" True to his word, the ATK counters appear once more, showing that Abysslung now sits at 1700 ATK while Shark Drake boasts 3300 ATK. "I'm not done yet! I also attach Abyss-scale of the Kraken to Mermail Abysslung, boosting its ATK by another 400! And as long as Abysslung is on the field, it's the only WATER monster you can attack!"
Abysslung's ATK shoots up again as the white and gold armour appears on it, cranking it up to 2100 as Michael watches in shock. Mamoru's grin somehow grows wider, almost predatory, then he flings his arm out towards the field with a single wild bark of laughter.
"Shark Drake, attack Crystal Chrononaut!"
Shark Drake surges forward, but Michael reacts fast, going to remove Crystal Chrononaut's second material. "I detach-"
"Not so fast!" Mamoru gestures again for emphasis, his crazed behaviour startling Michael to a halt. "I detach Abyss-scale of the Kraken from Abysslung and negate Crystal Chrononaut's effect! Shark Drake, continue!"
"What?!-" But it's too late, as Shark Drake tears into Crystal Chrononaut, the alien dissolving into energy as it goes down. The impact sends Michael staggering, his LP sliding down to 2800 all at once, and he wheezes from the shock.
"Ngh..." Before Michael can do anything, Mamoru cackles, taking delight in Michael's pain.
"Not so fun, is it? Not so fun getting beaten senseless?!" Mamoru glances at Thomas on the sidelines, who is being held back by the audience as he screams. "Well, I'm sure your brother can tell you what's coming next! I detach Mermail Abysslinde from Shark Drake to activate its effect! Shark Drake, revive your prey and kill it again!"
Shark Drake roars loudly at the sky, its fangs biting down on one of its circling Materials, then roars again, the sound this time echoing down to Michael's bones. A portal opens on the ground, Crystal Chrononaut emerging, but the accompanying ATK counter can't be right, it says Crystal Chrononaut only has 1100 ATK-
-And Michael doesn't get to ponder this further as Shark Drake lunges, tearing into Crystal Chrononaut once more. The alien dissolves again, Michael blown back by the force of 2200 DMG, and he rolls to a stop halfway in the virtual ocean just as his LP finishes ticking down to a mere 600.
"Ow..." Michael wheezes as he props himself up, his red jacket and cargo pants dusty from being thrown around, and he goes to stand up only to freeze at the sight of Astral.
Astral too is on the ground, his pale form flickering in and out.
"Astral!" Michael scrambles over, ignoring everything else (Thomas' screams of rage, Mamoru's cackling, the crowd jeering and cheering for Mamoru) to check on him. "Are you okay?!"
"Michael, I will vanish if we lose this duel." Astral says as he observes his flickering arm. "We must win this."
"What?! I-I'm trying!" Michael scrambles up again, standing in front of Astral as if that would protect him from further attack. Mamoru, in the meantime, has been waiting impatiently, taking the chance to draw from his deck once Michael seems to be ready again.
"And since Abysslinde went to the Graveyard, I get to Special Summon Mermail Abyssturge from my deck! Get out here!" The summoned Mermail, a long haired creature with a purple and white tail and holding a spear, surges from the ocean, taking the field alongside Shark Drake and Abysslung as its ATK clicks up to 2200 from the combined effects of Umi and Abysslung. "Now, Abysslung, attack his stupid plane thing!"
Abysslung lunges as its ATK counter appears (1700 now that Abyss-scale of the Kraken is gone), aiming to slam its shields into Golden Jet, but Michael (and Astral, apparently still trying to backseat duel) gestures out towards his set cards with a cry of "I activate Stone Bola!". The card in question appears, flipping upright to reveal the Trap, then flashes as the chained balls appear and wrap themselves around Abysslung. The Mermail crashes to the ground with a solid thump, thrashing around but unable to get free.
"If your monster attacks, I can activate Stone Bola to negate it. Your monster is then unable to attack until the end of your next Battle Phase." Michael explains, recovering his smile as Mamoru seethes. "It's not a fishnet, but it'll do, don't you think?"
Mamoru screams incoherently, then, still seething, grunts through gritted teeth: "Fine, drag your misery out. Abyssturge, bring down the plane!"
Abyssturge lunges with its spear, ready to stab, but once again Michael and Astral activate a Trap card.
"I activate Chronomaly Ley Line Power!" The card flips up just as Stone Bola did, flashing briefly as bright lines trace across the field to both Abyssturge and Golden Jet. They surround the monsters, flashing once, twice more-
-Then the ATK counters fly up, briefly showing Golden Jet's 1100 ATK and Abyssturge's 2200 ATK before the numbers switch, inverting the scores. Mamoru screams, but the attack goes through, Abyssturge destroying itself on Golden Jet and inflicting 1100 DMG on Mamoru. Mamoru snarls, a practically feral sound ripping from his throat as his LP ticks down to 1700.
"Chronomaly Ley Line Power inverts the attacking monster's ATK for the duration of the Damage Step." Michael explains as Golden Jet's ATK reverts to 1100.
"I know what Ley Line Power just did!" Mamoru snaps, still growling. "I end my turn! Enjoy struggling with nothing to beat my monsters!"
"My turn! I..." Michael trails off, realizing that Mamoru, for all his unnatural rage, is right. He doesn't have any more Extra Deck monsters to work with, and certainly nothing that can outstrip Shark Drake. He falls silent, hesitating to just surrender, but unsure what he can do at this point.
"Draw." Astral speaks, as level voiced as ever, and Michael flashes him a guilty look in response.
"I can't-I don't have any more Extra Deck monsters! Crystal Chrononaut was my best!" He tenses, aware everyone is listening, but not caring anymore. "I've been trying to get Vimana, but..."
But he doesn't have the money for new cards. He can only supplement his deck from the random assortment of cards in the supply closet, none of them particularly good or useful.
And now Astral is going to die, and he can't do anything about it.
"I'm sorry, Astral-"
"You do have something." Astral interrupts, apparently not listening to Michael, and Michael goes to gesture at his empty Extra Deck only to freeze.
Somehow, unexpectedly, there's something glowing in his Extra Deck.
Michael slowly pulls it out, eyes widening at the card, and he quickly scans the text before steading himself with one hand gripping the Key.
"...Let's do this." He releases the Key, turning to face Mamoru again, then quickly draws from his deck. "I draw!"
Turning his drawn card over reveals Chronomaly Pyramid Eye Tablet, exactly what Michael needed for this wild plan. He grins, trying to look more confident than he feels, then pulls Chronomaly Tuspa Rocket from his hand.
"I summon Chronomaly Tuspa Rocket!" The 'rocket' lowers itself down onto the field in a burst of flame, settling alongside Golden Jet as its ATK of 1000 appears. "I then discard Chronomaly Moai from my deck to activate Tuspa Rocket's ability against Shark Drake!"
Michael sends Chronomaly Moai to the Graveyard, and Tuspa Rocket blasts off, launching towards Shark Drake. Shark Drake tries to crunch down on the rocket, but it slips away, sideswiping Shark Drake's face and dropping its ATK to 2300.
"If I discard a Chronomaly from my deck or Extra Deck, Tuspa Rocket can reduce one monster's ATK by the Level of the discarded monster times 200. Chronomaly Moai is Level 5, so 5 times 200 is...1000, right?" Michael keeps his easy grin up, hiding how uneasy he is, and barely gives Mamoru time to snarl again before continuing. "Now, I activate Chronomaly Golden Jet's effect to boost both it and Tuspa Rocket's levels by one!"
Golden Jet glows, and both it and Tuspa Rocket's Level counters appear, indicating the new boost from Level 4 to 5. Satisfied, Michael pulls out his new XYZ monster, slapping it onto his D-Pad before anyone can react, and acting on instinct, launches into an improvised chant.
"Using the Level 5 Chronomaly Golden Jet and Chronomaly Tuspa Rocket, I activate the Overlay Network!" The yellow portal spirals out across the ground, Golden Jet and Tuspa Rocket dissipating into energy that feeds into it, and Michael continues on. "Mysterious ancient ruins of legend! Come forward now and share your secrets!"
The yellow portal explodes out, and a mass of stone and metal appears. Just as with Shark Drake before it, it rapidly expands outward, growing and forming itself into a great floating ruin, a blue sphere flickering to life at its core. Finally, a purple number appears on the hanging stone base, branding the massive structure as something like Shark Drake, and Michael pulls himself tall, the final words of the chant coming as it looms over Shark Drake, over the whole field.
"Now! Number 33: Chronomaly Machu Mech!" The audience, monitors included, erupts into confused chattering and cheers, above which Michael can barely hear Thomas screaming "Where the fuck did you get that, Michael?!", but he doesn't care.
He has a duel to finish before Mamoru snaps out of his own shock and comes up with something to counter.
"I activate Chronomaly Pyramid Eye Tablet from my hand! This boosts all my Chronomalies by 800 ATK!"
The card appears on the field, glowing as Chronomaly Machu Mech goes from its Umi eroded ATK of 2200 to 3000. Mamoru growls, but Michael doesn't let that stop him, briefly glancing at Astral before plunging on.
"I now detach Chronomaly Golden Jet from Machu Mech to activate its effect and target Shark Drake!" Michael points, and one of the materials circling Machu Mech diverts and absorbs itself into the metal ring encircling the floating ruin. "Machu Mech does direct damage equal to the difference between Shark Drake's original ATK and its current ATK! The original ATK was 2800 and its current ATK is 2300, so that means you should take 500 DMG!"
One by one, a series of cannons emerges from Machu Mech's central ring, bristling outward as they all fire off at once. Mamoru flinches, briefly stepping back, but the cannon fire homes in on him, knocking him back into the ocean of his own creation with a splash and sending his LP down to 1200. Sitting up, Mamoru barely has a chance to curse before Michael steps forward and, in sync with Astral, calls his attack.
"Machu Mech now gains 500 ATK!" The ruin glows again, shooting up to 3500 ATK. "Now, because I have to attack Mermail Abysslung due to its effect, that's what Machu Mech is going to do! Machu Mech, attack Mermail Abysslung!"
Machu Mech fires again, the shots raining down on the Mermail and destroying it in a flash of light. Mamoru is knocked back again, splashing through the shallow ocean water until he comes to a halt, his LP sliding down to zero with the final airhorn sound effect signalling his loss.
Michael barely pays attention to the final display of his info as the winner, instead standing in place for a minute before it clicks that he won. The audience seems just as surprised, murmuring in shock for a few moments, before Thomas finally breaks it with a loud whoop.
"That's my brother for you, Mamoru! You're officially worse than both of us!"
Michael is about to reply when he spies Astral gliding over to where Mamoru lies amongst the fading AR on what is now clearly just hard packed snow. Blinking as he takes off the D-Gazer, he steps over in time to see Astral holding out a hand, drawing out something glowing from Mamoru that he holds for a moment before it just as quickly vanishes again.
"What was that, Astral-"
"Okay, show's over! Out of the way!" Thomas interrupts, elbowing through the milling crowd to get to Michael's side. "Hey, Michael, come on. We need to talk."
"Alright." Michael follows, Astral trailing after, and the little group of three heads straight back inside. Michael barely has time to get his outside shoes off before Thomas beelines for the boy's dorm, walking straight in and sitting down on the edge of his bed to face Michael.
"...What. Was that?" Thomas stares at Michael in confusion as he deliberately switches to English for some semblance of privacy, clearly unsure what to make of the duel. "Mamoru didn't have that Shark Drake thing yesterday, and I know you didn't have that Machu Mech thing yesterday, so explain."
"...I don't know myself. All I know is that I didn't have it before the duel either, but then Machu Mech showed up in my Extra Deck-"
"The Number Cards hold my memories." Michael turns to look at Astral, who seems to be thinking. "We need to collect all ninety nine of them if I'm to get my memories back. Right now, we have two: Number 32 and Number 33."
"What Astral said." Then, when Thomas stares blankly, Michael sighs. "Right, you can't see him. Astral said that there are ninety nine Number Cards that hold his memories and I need to get all of them back."
Thomas blinks, mutters something, then buries his face in his hand, before finally sighing. "I don't know what's going on with you and this 'Astral', but something's definitely up with those cards. Powerful cards I've never heard of that can't be touched by normal cards, Mamoru went off the rails after he got one, and you're insisting you met an alien in your recurring door nightmare who needs you to gather them. I'm just gonna go with all that at this point."
"If it helps, Machu Mech's card text says it can only be destroyed by another Number. And why did Mamoru go nuts today?" Michael turns to Astral, who quickly answers.
"Numbers will try to control whoever holds them unless they can resist it. I suspect the Emperor's Key is protecting you, but Mamoru had no protection." Michael nods before relaying the info to Thomas, who sighs again.
"Okay, mind controlling cards that the pendant our father gave you happens to protect you from. Got it." Thomas buries his face in his hand again, fingers lacing amongst his shock of yellow bangs, before very loudly sighing. "You know what, this is a lot and you just got thrown around. How about we play some tabletop Duel Monsters, no Numbers or whatever allowed, and try to relax after that?"
Michael snorts. "You just think best when playing and want to figure out how to beat a Number."
"Damn right I do! I have to be able to beat anything I come across, now come on!" Thomas leaps up, charging off to the common area while Michael and Astral rush to keep up.