Chapter 5: Break My Heart, Break Your Heart, Part 1

Leet drew a card.

Unfortunately, that didn't improve his chances. He had nothing to help him overcome this situation. That didn't mean he was going to give up, of course. At least he could buy time.

He placed Alexandrite Dragon in defense position. He didn't say anything at all. The game had stopped being fun, there was no point in being dramatic. There weren't any cameras recording them either.

The most important thing was that he could still feel the pain, even though that woman hadn't even blinked. If he hadn't been sitting, he would have fallen to the ground. He was doing what he could to hide his weakness, but his legs were shaking. That woman's penetrating gaze made him feel like they were nothing but childish attempts.

"What's your name?" Leet asked suddenly.

Maybe knowing her name would help him stop thinking she wasn't even a human being. She's as human as I am, which doesn't make her much less terrifying, but surely she's not a monster. Monsters don't exist. Not that kind of monster, at least. Even Nilbog, to say something, was nothing more than another parahuman.

"It has nothing to do with the game, but as you wish. My name is Taylor."

"Taylor. A surprisingly normal name."

"I don't know what you were expecting."

Yeah, actually he was asking himself that question. Not to mention that nothing had changed. Now he had a name to refer to her by, but she didn't seem any less terrifying at all. Or more human. Nothing had changed.

"Me neither. Anyway, let's continue."

He placed a magic card face down on the field and ended his turn.

Taylor attacked his dragon without fear of his bluff. Summoned Skull, the demon that brought a storm with it, effortlessly destroyed his monster.

Leet felt no pain. It made sense. Since it was in defense position, no matter how weak his monster was, he wouldn't receive battle damage. But he had been afraid that he had assumed too much in thinking that the pain had something to do with the damage suffered in the game and not just with the destruction of his monsters.

He had saved himself for now. That was all he had been able to do with his hand, buy time.

Leet gritted his teeth.

Luck was also a factor in any card game, unless you were cheating. So even the most experienced player could lose to a beginner due to luck. Not that it happened very often, but it could definitely happen. It was one of the realities of the game.

So this situation didn't necessarily speak badly of his skills, but it was still frustrating.

The ease with which she controlled the game despite being a mere beginner.

The arrogance that seemed so natural, as if she didn't even know the meaning of the word defeat.

Leet wasn't the best player. Not the worst either, no doubt, but the point is that at least he had tried. Studying the rules, collecting cards, developing strategies.

Much or little, he had made an effort.

She hadn't.

She hadn't, and yet it was so easy for her.

He wished he could think she was lying about never having played Magic & Wizards before, but as much as he wanted to, he knew she had told the truth.

That was the worst part. He couldn't even cling to the interpretation that suited him best.

He was almost more worried about that than the Penalty Game that hung over his neck like the executioner's ax. It might be silly, but it was a matter of pride. There was no point in living without pride. Arrogance was another story, but a human being without pride wasn't human.

It wasn't a life worth living.

After destroying his only defense, Taylor ended her turn. Leet drew another card, hoping this would be what he needed to turn the tables. And it was. It wasn't the best possible solution to the problem, but it was enough. It was about time luck smiled on him.

He wanted to wipe that fucking smile off her face.

He summoned Lava Dragon (ATK 1100/DEF 1000) in attack position. Then he activated the magic card he had just drawn.

"I can use Limiter Removal to double the attack of one of my monsters. Of course, I choose the only one on the field. I attack Summoned Skull."

"Looks like you're not very good at math."

The demon destroyed this dragon as easily as the previous one, only this time Leet received three hundred points of damage. It felt like a stab in the heart. He fell forward and almost dropped the cards, losing strength in his fingers. It was an even worse pain than the previous time. Of course, three times worse. Before he had only suffered one hundred points of damage.

If he lost the game, would he be able to bear it? Would he be able to remain standing?

Was he actually playing for his life, rather than a vague and unknown punishment? He swallowed hard. In that case, he was a condemned man approaching the guillotine with each attack.

"You are a weak being," Taylor said. "If you have the determination to harm others, you should be able to endure the same pain. Now my father lies in the hospital with several broken ribs, a perforated lung, and I don't know how many other things. You're not experiencing even a fraction of this and it seems like you want to complain about how unfair your life is. This is not unfair at all. I'm delivering justice. I'm giving you what you deserve. The Shadow Games... are nothing more than the mirror of the human heart. You are doing this to yourself. Not me."

"Shut up already," he managed to spit out.

Summoned Skull disappeared, along with the image of its card. Taylor frowned.

"What happened here?"

"Anyone who destroys a monster affected by this card... is also destroyed." Leet tried to regain control of his breathing. "And receives half of the destroyed monster's attack points as damage."

In other words, twelve hundred and fifty points.

With a single blow he had turned the tables, now Taylor was the one losing by a large margin, she only had six hundred and fifty life points left. But deep down that wasn't what mattered to Leet.

He actually wanted to see her suffer, to return every blow.

Upon declaring that, he confirmed that the game was fair after all. He saw the girl's face contort in pain, quickly covering with sweat as she gripped the edges of the table tightly.

Part of him shuddered thinking about how terrible the pain must be to make her react, when she hadn't flinched at a level of pain that had almost made him pass out.

But only part of him.

The rest licked his lips and laughed as if he had lost his mind.

"Not so fun now, huh?"

The satisfaction didn't last long. Forced or not, Taylor managed to return to that expression of superiority that annoyed him so much. Leaning back in the chair, relaxing again.

"You think so? A game where your opponent has no claws is no fun at all."

She was still mocking him, despite being one step away from defeat. Leet clicked his tongue. At least he had been able to wipe that smile off her face for a few delicious seconds.

"I end my turn."

Taylor drew a card. And smiled even more. It's not like you often needed to have a poker face in this game, but... If she had drawn such a good card, wouldn't she have hidden it instead of making it obvious, just in case? Unless it was something that guaranteed her victory in one turn.

I don't want to die in a place like this. I don't want to die at all.

Although he was trying to convince himself otherwise, convince himself that that wasn't what was at stake in this game, the fear of dying had followed him from the first moment.

He was realizing that and that he couldn't escape.

No more than an animal could escape the fear of fire. It was instinctive, rooted from the beginning, before the beginning. It was obvious that what was staring back at him wasn't a human being. Although it didn't make sense, he had to accept it if he wanted to get out of this.

Taylor placed two cards face down. What could they be? He had built that deck himself, along with the others, but that wouldn't help him guess.

"I summon Mystical Elf in defense position and end my turn."

Was that all? Leet raised an eyebrow. He had expected a crushing offensive. Well, there were no monsters on his field. It wasn't like she could attack him directly or anything. But still he had expected... Well, more.

Because he felt intimidated by her. Because he felt cornered despite being the one with the advantage in terms of life points. That was clear.

"My turn." Leet drew a card.

The two face-down cards were a much bigger problem than the Mystical Elf, despite its high defense of two thousand points. He didn't have any card or cards to protect himself from their possible effects. He knew every magic card in that deck. He could get an idea. Actually, he was the one playing with an advantage in every sense, not Taylor.

Should he attack carelessly, trusting it would be a bluff? But if he was wrong, it could be his end. At the same time, with each passing turn Taylor would summon another monster. Each turn without destroying the Mystical Elf would bring him closer to defeat. He had to break through that barrier.

Yes. Doubt was defeat. It was time to show he wasn't afraid.

"I summon Fire Guardian (ATK 2100/DEF 400) in attack position and..." Was it really the right thing to do? To hell with it. "I attack Mystical Elf."

His Guardian spat a firestorm, effortlessly erasing Mystical Elf from this world. Unfortunately, Taylor's monster was in defense position, so she didn't suffer any damage. Of course, Leet wasn't referring to damage to life points. That wasn't what mattered to him. He wanted to see her suffer as she was making him suffer. He wanted to see her face contort in pain again.

In any case, nothing happened. Had it been a bluff after all? Leet also placed two cards face down. For now, they wouldn't be of any use to him, but well, they could be. Besides, this way it seemed he had more defense than the attack power of his only monster on the field.

What would Taylor do now? What could she do with the cards she might have in her hand? He remembered the cards that had appeared so far. He knew exactly how many copies of each card were in the deck. His memory was good. Once again, that didn't matter, but he couldn't help dwelling on it.

Taylor drew a card, then very quickly flipped one of the cards she had placed in her previous turn. Ah, thought Leet, so that's what it was.

"I use Monster Reborn to bring Summoned Skull back to the field. In attack position, of course."

Leet clicked his tongue. That monster again. He could endure the four hundred points of damage, the real problem was how to get rid of that monster again. At least he knew this couldn't happen again. There was only one Monster Reborn in that deck and all of them. It was a limited card due to its power.

"There won't be a next time."

Leet shuddered.

"This ends here and now." She flipped the other card. "I use Sacrifice to the Devil to remove Mystical Elf from the game and add her attack points to Summoned Skull."

Leet's eyes widened.

"What?"

He couldn't process that everything was over. Moreover, it was his fault. If he hadn't destroyed Mystical Elf, he would still have a chance. He had stupidly thought that if the consequences didn't come as soon as he attacked, then there was nothing to worry about.

Summoned Skull shattered Mystical Elf's corpse, bathing in her blood. And in this way it became twice as large, and the electricity surrounding it transformed into a real storm. Leet trembled, but didn't move from his seat. It was as if his feet were nailed to the floor.

When the attack came, shattering his monster...

—

"It's over."

Leet regained consciousness suddenly. He was lying on the table and felt half dead. Yes, in the end he had passed out from the pain. But only passed out.

Although he felt like he was going to die, it wasn't real. It wasn't a wound, so he couldn't die. He vaguely understood that it was actually only in his head.

However, now...

"Now it's time for you to face a Penalty Game."

Taylor stood up from the table, her gaze fixed on him. She didn't even turn away despite Uber pointing a gun at her. How could she be like this even in these circumstances? As soon as Uber pulled the trigger, she would die. Uber couldn't miss and she couldn't dodge.

"At first I thought about making you experience the illusion of dying, but that would only give you pain and all you've learned from your pain is to spread it through the world. To make it darker, uglier. So..."

Yes... Probably yes, but... That didn't matter to him. Because one way or another he would receive his punishment.

"I'm going to make you see the world in a different way. Penalty game..."

Uber pulled the trigger, but the bullet didn't even come close to Taylor. Not that she had dodged it. Somehow Uber had missed at a distance where it should be impossible for him to miss. However...

"Pixel vision!"

He knew he couldn't blame his friend. That something had happened.

And now, he had to experience his sentence. Like a dark tunnel. How would he be when he came out the other side, and what would he see? When it started affecting him, he realized that dark tunnel had been a poor metaphor. There was nothing dark about it, in fact, the world filled with vibrant colors. And, of course, pixels. It hadn't been any metaphor. The world resembled games from the time of the first Super Mario. In the blink of an eye everything had changed in that way.

Certainly, it wasn't pleasant, especially if he had to suffer it for the rest of his life. But to call it a punishment, well... After all, it could have been worse. He could have never seen anything again, for starters.

Of course, he should have known it couldn't be just that.

Uber extended a hand towards him. His hand transformed into one of the piranhas from Super Mario, perhaps because he had been thinking about that recently, before the hand made contact with his face. Of course, Leet quickly moved away, stifling a scream. Deep down in his mind he knew it wasn't real.

That it was only in his head. But very deep down. He wasn't going to risk it, in any case.

"Take it off! Take this shit off me!"

Taylor...

She wasn't there. Where had she disappeared to? In her place, in any case, there was a door. It's like the ones in Princess Peach's castle in Super Mario 64, he thought. He approached the door.

Before he knew it, Uber had disappeared too. Not knowing what else he could do, he opened the door. On the other side he found himself on a beam that floated magically over a bottomless void.

He didn't have any coins to throw to check, but he had no doubts either. And, of course, he should have known... Of course, from above there was a giant monkey throwing barrels at him. They rolled down the beams, coming for him. I want to go back, he thought. Leet began to laugh.

Completely hysterical.

—

"Leet! Wait, wait, where the fuck are you going, wait!"

But he didn't listen. Leet ran out of the base, laughing. Uber shook his head. Anyway, he couldn't do anything for his friend even if he ran fast enough to catch him and knock him unconscious. The source of the problem was right in front of his eyes.

Uber pointed the gun at her.

"Undo what you've done to him."

"Play a game with me, then," that monster said. "This curious card game, or anything. I'm willing to let you decide the game and the rules."

"Do you think I'm crazy or stupid? Why would I play, entering your territory? Undo what you've done or I'll shoot, and this time I won't miss."

He had plenty of bullets. One of them had to hit her. It was simply impossible for him to miss all the shots, and he doubted she was one of those immune to bullets. That would explain her strange confidence, but no. Impossible.

So why would she bother with this nonsense of...? What had she called it? Ah, yes. Shadow Games.

"If that's what you think you have to do, shoot."

Uber pulled the trigger without thinking twice. However, no shot was fired. He looked at his weapon, stunned. Had it jammed, right now? He had only fired once. There was no doubt that the weapon had been fully loaded, so he should have plenty of bullets left!

Something did come out of the gun barrel after all.

But what came out...

Wasn't a bullet.

Uber screamed. His legs gave out, and he fell on his backside to the floor. A huge snake. That's what crawled out of the barrel. A huge snake with fangs dripping venom.

"The door of darkness... has been opened."

Uber screamed and screamed, but there was no one to hear the screams. In any case, they quickly ceased. Because the snake destroyed the gun to get out and coiled its huge body around him, squeezing. In a matter of seconds he had no oxygen to gasp, much less scream.

All that could be heard were the sounds of him choking in the snake's lethal embrace.

No, one more thing.

Just one more thing.

A laugh with a masculine touch, though it undoubtedly had to be a woman's voice.

A deep and evil laugh.

Yes.

From the depths of a darkness that no one knew.

—

Taylor returned to the hospital. To the room where her father was fighting between life and death. Unlike all the other times, she remembered every second of what had happened, and...

"Thank you," she murmured, her voice barely audible, looking at her father's pale face. "Thank you, other self."

She couldn't be happier.

Break My Heart, Break Your Heart, Part 1: END

I hope this chapter has been an improvement in more than one sense. I put a lot more effort into editing and translation (all my stories are originally written in Spanish, my native language, because no matter how good my English is, it feels more natural for me to express myself writing in my language). Which isn't to say I didn't do it before, ofc. Just, you know, more.

Anyway, a couple of points:

- Yes, I invented a few overpowered cards for Magic & Wizards, but well... I don't know, it seemed interesting to me and I couldn't find any real cards that suited me.

- Yes, what Atem does with Uber's gun is a completely canonical application of his powerset. Both in the manga and the anime, he does something similar. Converting, without the explicit consent/participation of a teacher, a love letter she was putting together piece by piece to punish the student who had written it into a Shadow Game and applying a Penalty Game as soon as she reconstructed it. Just because. Because he felt like it. So when Atem bothers to sit down and play a game with you, that's exactly what it means. He's playing.

A power so OP that, of course, wasn't seen in the rest of the series.

But it does exist.