In a pitch-black room, on three sofa cushions on the floor, Yuu tossed and giggled in his sleep. He loved to dream every time he slept, rolling the dice on whatever his mind could picture. Scenes from the street where he grew up, laughing. The feeling of rough hands shoving him into a truck, shuttling him into the dark earth. In truth, it was starting to all be the same dream.
He woke up a few minutes before the streetlights came on, and stood up woozily. Dreaming so much meant he never got a good night's sleep. Some coffee would settle that, though. In the meantime, he fumbled around his living space, quickly finding the wall, then the corner, then the shelf which served as his only piece of furniture. Yuu reached around behind it and felt for a leather strap. He retrieved Clavis's duel pouch, ratty and fraying, and undid the clasp. There, softly glowing in the dark, was the rectangular duradine crystal, his dueling deck. Yuu strapped it to his side, marveling at its weight. The hue was tinged blue from his newest card, his impossible find: Crime of Prometheus. The high-grade duradine card had changed every possibility and little reality. With or without it, he was going to work today.
A low buzz started to sound through the wall as the Atrium's generators kicked in. A line of light appeared on the floor across the room. Yuu pulled on his work coveralls and stepped outside, looking down the block as lightbulbs on strings juddered awake, casting sporadic orbs of light down the shantytown street. By Heart Excavation's temporal standard, a new day had just begun. Yuu now had fifteen minutes to get to work.
He walked across the street and knocked on Clavis's door. The old man was already fumbling around inside; any offer or entry by Yuu to assist him would be met with a thrown shoe. Then Yuu would have to go find that shoe, because it was half of all the shoes Clavis owned.
"I'm leaving without you," Yuu called in a singsong voice.
"The devil you are," Clavis growled, and ten seconds later he walked out. "Shall we get going?"
"We shall. Try to keep up," Clavis said, smiling as he took the lead.
Yuu followed Clavis into the somber swell of the morning foot traffic. Miners rubbed sleep out of their eyes and dirt into them; kids played around the algae respirators, making scary faces in the green light. Mothers and soon-to-be stood in doorways and watched, chewing on fruit rinds that had long lost their flavor.
There were independent groceries and shops in the area; the Atrium was legally considered a town, after all. In practice, though, Heart Excavation provided its employees with complimentary breakfast, so the entire town converged on Heart HQ in the morning. The neon pink sign was the one constant light of their town, its pulsing heart. Yuu found himself energized by it, walking through the steel gates towards the mining site.
The workers had separate lines for the coffee and bread, each of them already twenty people long. Yuu rushed to the coffee line; Clavis opted for the food. Each of them would snag a double helping and split it with each other.
Miners from different dig teams chatted together. Yuu got some arm-punches and approving nods from people he'd never spoken to. "You're the big-shot duelist who took down the chief," Clavis said, soaking his crust into the coffee to break it up. "Humiliated him, in a sense."
"I think they're laughing at both of us," Yuu said, smiling politely at the newest congratulator. "Just two idiots who built a deck with the duradine they're supposed to be selling."
"Well, you're the idiot who won. Be proud of that, at least." Clavis frowned. "Why so mopey now? You finally found your high-grade."
"I know. But what do I do with it?" Yuu finished his coffee and stood up to return the cup, and Clavis walked with him. "Either I try to make it to San Domino and get sponsored as a Duelist, or I sell the card now and that's that."
"Big decision," Clavis agreed. "So, do you want to sell the card?"
Yuu's hand went to his waist defensively. Clavis chuckled. "See, it's not a hard choice. Besides, who said anything about San Domino?"
"It's the only way to make anything of this!" Yuu said, grabbing his helmet from the rack on the wall. "We live in the Atrium; professional dueling is way out of our league."
"Who said you had to make anything of it?" Clavis was walking ahead of Yuu, not looking back, walking down the green-lit tunnel.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, would it be so bad if you just kept it as something special to you?" Clavis said, turning around.
"I don't know," Yuu admitted, clutching his deck. "I…"
"You want to use it to help people. That's in your nature. Then you don't have to worry about when you'll get a chance to do good. It'll come in time."
"Alright," Yuu mumbled.
Clavis grabbed his wrist and pulled him along. "Look, I didn't give you my cards so you could defeat the Chief. I gave them to you because I wanted you to have them. It's not a debt to repay or justify. You don't have to trouble yourself with being this great potential, Yuu. Just be who you want to be."
"It's that simple, huh?" Yuu still wasn't convinced, but there was nothing more he could say about it. The other miners were gathered in front of the tunnel to B Block, where they worked under Oga's supervision. Only, Oga was nowhere to be seen. Zato was stepping to the front of the pack, doffing his helmet to let his bald head shine.
"Looks like Oga's late today," Zato said. "As deputy chief, I'll handle the operation from here on out!"
"Zato's the deputy chief?" Yuu whispered to Clavis. "I had no idea."
"Neither did I," Clavis remarked. "Oga's never missed a day."
Yuu felt a chill run down his back. "Should we look for him?"
"No…no." Clavis shook his head. "He could just be running late."
Zato marched into the darkness, the miners falling into step behind him. Yuu kept close to the glow of his deck.
The morning passed without event. Yuu's crystal detecting skills yielded nothing but low-grades, which he gathered with strange satisfaction.
I just got lucky the one time, he thought to himself. Doesn't mean I'm destined for anything. Doesn't mean I should drop everything and go pro. That thought gave him comfort, that he could just go back to hunting for high-grades in the simple life. He regarded the possibility of getting a second high-grade with a mixture of hope and dread.
The lunch bell rang again, and Yuu was delighted to find that he was back to having average mornings. Only the blue light of duradine at his belt said otherwise.
At lunch, Yuu and Clavis split the deck again to play again. Clavis insisted on checking out Crime of Prometheus, tilting the card and looking down the length of it. "This is incredible," the old man remarked. "Could I use it for a game?"
"Of course," Yuu said, eager to see what the high-grade would look like in Clavis's hands, like he'd originally intended. They started a game, but Crime of Prometheus never made an appearance. After Yuu attacked Clavis directly to win, the old man sighed and dropped his cards, revealing the high-grade in his hand.
"I couldn't even bring it out," Clavis said grumpily. "It's Level 7! How am I supposed to get two monsters for the Tribute Summon?"
"That's why I special summon it," Yuu said, picking up the high-grade card. Prometheus was able to summon itself from the hand whenever a card on the field was destroyed by an effect.
"Right, right. I'll get the hang of it someday." Clavis pushed his cards back toward Yuu, ending their experiment. His gaze wandered to the head of the cavern as a man in a blue button-down shirt walked in and made a beeline for Zato. Zato's face was still as stone while the button-down man explained, then walked away. Zato watched him leave for a moment, then spun on his heel and made straight for Clavis and Yuu.
"Yuu there," he said, his face gravely serious. "Come with me. It's paid time."
Yuu stood up, curious. Clavis struggled a bit to follow.
"It's paid time for the duelist," Zato sneered at Clavis. "Not for you."
Clavis hesitated, but stood up anyway, burning with hatred. Yuu rested a hand on his shoulder. "It's fine, Clav. I can take care of myself."
Clavis looked at Yuu, and for a second Yuu wondered if his friend really believed that.
The old man turned back to Zato. "He doesn't go until you tell us what this is for."
"They found the chief," Zato said. He didn't need to say anything else.
Yuu breathed a sigh of relief when they arrived at the hospital instead of the morgue, though there were certainly some patients who would call it the same thing. This building was one of the more substantial in the Atrium, four stories of on-demand medical attention to get the miners back in action as quickly as possible.
Zato entered, enquired at the front desk, and was directed to the second floor. Every now and again he would glance back at Yuu, his expression unreadable. Yuu wasn't in a state of mind to ask about it, though.
Chief Oga was being held in the recovery ward, which also served as the palliative care ward, so the only indicator that Yuu had for his health was the hunk of spit and blood that the big man heaved out into a tin can at his bedside. His face and chest had been bandaged, and a resealed plaster cast covered his leg. Only one eye was visible, which narrowed when it saw Zato and Yuu. "What are you two slackers doing here?" Oga growled.
"I could ask you the same question," Zato replied.
"Oh, does it not look like I've been beaten within an inch of my life?" Oga retorted. "But you were asking why that is. It's nothing. I was just at the pawn shop recovering something of mine."
"What was it?" Zato asked.
Oga's brow scrunched, and he looked away. Yuu watched the way his fingers twitched at his side.
"It was a card, wasn't it?" Yuu said.
Oga harrumphed and didn't turn around. "I should have just sold it. But pawning it was easier; when I went in to pay, they said I didn't have enough to get it back. I had the ticket and everything, but they wouldn't budge. Wouldn't let me see it either - so I barged into their storeroom."
"You tried to steal from the Monji?" Zato shook his head in disbelief. "You're lucky to be alive."
"There's no luck about it!" Oga shouted back. "Jormungand Turtle is mine, and they sold it, those Monji rats! And then they put me in here, and now I have to pay the doctors." He reached beneath his bed and pulled out a red, glowing duradine card: the high-grade Junk Jailer.
"The irony of it is, I'll have to go back to that same damn pawn shop to sell this card," he said.
Yuu stood back for a moment, stunned. There was no anger in Oga's words anymore, just resignation. Oga put the card down and went back to staring out the window. There was no rain, no sun, no weather. Just the ever-dark underground.
"There may be a way," Zato began, "to get it back."
"Get my card back?" Oga laughed. "Well, it'd be a cold comfort. But if you can stick it to those Monji, I'd be satisfied."
"We'll see if it comes up," Zato said. "Yuu, you brought your deck with you?"
Yuu nodded. "Wait, what are you thinking?"
"It's simple, really. We're going to challenge the Monji crime family to Duel Monsters."
Oga groaned. Yuu started to voice his agreement with the chief's disdain, but then he realized that the groaning was actually from a medical thing and had to call for a doctor.
"Okay, that explanation makes more sense," Yuu said, walking side by side with Zato into the Atrium badtown. "Just to make sure I have this right. You're going to take me to the pawn shop, and then we'll ask to see the head of the Monji clan."
"Who should agree to see me, given that I've worked with him several times."
"Okay. Just gonna gloss straight over that. They take us to meet Mezu Daimonji, the most powerful man in the Atrium. We walk in, and present ourselves to him as guests and businessmen."
"You've got it," Zato said, hanging a left around the corner, stepping around cracked pavement and an ongoing pothole repair project. "One hundred percent."
"More like twenty-seven percent," Yuu corrected. "Because the last step, without abridging or paraphrasing, is that we challenge Daimonji to a card game."
"Close. You're going to challenge him." Zato smiled at the children who leered from the alleys. "You've got that high-grade, after all."
They were in the middle of Badtown now, where the concrete houses of the Atrium decomposed into cardboard constructions with plastic-bag roofs. There was no weather in the underground, so they didn't have to worry about the rain, or snow; as Yuu passed some people sitting on the ground, he was keenly aware that most of them only owned the space their body could occupy.
"What makes you think any of this will work?" Yuu asked Zato.
Zato pondered for a moment, hand to chin. "Yuu, do you know how people justify wealth?"
"I didn't know that they had to."
"Well, sometimes they try. They justify it by saying it's used for the good of the whole community. That they, with their utilitarian skill, have earned and properly used it."
An old man jerked awake and sat up, having passed out against a storefront. Yuu thought of when he'd first completed Clavis's deck, wielding it in battle.
Zato continued, "That applies to duradine, too. If you have a rare card, you've got to be the best one to use it. Mezu Daimonji is a man who's got a lot of that sort of pride. He's pretty old school. Just plain old, too. You'll beat him, no problem."
They walked into the pawn shop. Zato strutted up to the cashier and leaned an elbow on the counter. "Afternoon, honey. I'm looking for Mezu Daimonji. Tell him Zato wants to do business."
Thirty seconds later, they were in chains and blindfolds, thrown into the back of a van. Zato landed on his stomach and tried to bunch himself to his feet like an inchworm, losing his balance when the van drove off. Yuu was seated against the wheel hub, sliding across the floor as the van made turns.
"I swear this doesn't usually happen," Zato said.
"Yeah, that's not really comforting!" Yuu snapped.
Zato was silent for a while. "It's been a rough day," he said eventually, without direction.
Yuu didn't reply. He wished he'd stayed at work.
The van ride was bumpy, some of it traveling across the cavern floor. Yuu jostled listlessly with Zato and what felt like some metal tools scattered around the van space. Eventually, the van pulled to a halt, and the doors opened. Yuu felt arms corral him like a dog, placing him upright and marching him forward.
He only realized that he'd stepped inside by the change in air quality. When the thugs forced him to his knees, he felt the carpet through his coveralls. The lowing winds of the cave system were replaced with a gentle electric hum. The blindfold came off.
"Zato Sanada," the woman said. She sat at a desk of lacquered wood, her hands clasped as she calmly looked down at them. She was dressed in a suit, with short, spiky black hair. To Yuu, she didn't look old at all. "You may speak."
Zato squirmed in his bindings. "I don't believe I've yet had the pleasure of meeting you?"
"My name is Gozu Daimonji," the woman said, standing up and walking around the desk. "I was venerated recently as the head of the Daimonji clan." There was a hint of sadness in her eyes.
"I'm sorry for your loss." The words had escaped Yuu's lips before he realized it.
Instantly, a knee crashed into his back, driving him to the floor. "Did she say you could speak?" a man with missing teeth shouted.
Gozu raised a hand for the action to cease. "Matsu. Help him back up." As Yuu was brought back to his knees, she continued. "My predecessor, Great Mezu Daimonji, abdicated power and left the Atrium."
"He retired to San Domino," Zato translated. "Good for him."
Gozu's eyes narrowed.
Zato laughed. "What, did you want me to think you forced him out? Not a chance, kid. You're his granddaughter, aren't you?"
"Matsu." Gozu tilted her head. Zato's chin hit the carpet hard as Matsu landed on top of him. Things were already going poorly, and they hadn't even gotten to the card game yet.
"Miss Daimonji. Great Miss Daimonji." Yuu stumbled over his words. "We're here to apologize and straighten out something that happened this morning."
"You're talking about the man who came looking for a card," Gozu said. "Yes, we have it."
"Amazing!" Yuu said. "I can pay for it, so maybe we could get that back?"
"I'm afraid not," Gozu said. "His actions today insulted the dignity of the Monji clan."
"But…!" Yuu bit his tongue before he could say anything that would get his face shoved into the floor again. It was patently unfair, but the new Daimonji must have known that. That was the whole point, after all. The Monji had the power to decide what was fair.
"Shouldn't you be worrying about a bigger insult?" Zato asked. His voice was strained as he lifted his head up from the floor.
Gozu regarded him coldly. "And what exactly would you be referring to?"
Zato smiled mockingly. "My Great Miss Daimonji, I speak of 'incompetence of resource.'"
Gozu's eyes flared with anger. "Explain, Sanada."
"Mezu Daimonji had nothing to prove. You, on the other hand, have to worry about everyone inside and outside your household questioning your judgment. On how to use food, money. And duradine."
Matsu's knee pressed harder into Zato's back, making him groan. Zato put his hands against the carpet and pushed himself upwards. "The way I see it, Miss Daimonji, you have an opportunity here! You can take that card and prove that you are enlightened to the stewardship of high-grade duradine. Otherwise, this incident could embarrass the Monji clan as petulant thugs, furious that someone would dare to question them."
Gozu hit the edge of her desk, splintering the wood. "I see your cheap words, Zato Sanada," she seethed. "I see your feeble challenge. Well, I accept! And when I prove the valor of Daimonji, you will be punished all the more for having wronged it."
"Cool beans," Zato said, the venom gone from his voice. He tilted his head to look sideways at Yuu. "You're up, kid."
"Right!" Yuu stammered. "Um, I'm the one! The duelist, I mean. I'm going to duel you!"
Suddenly, Gozu's hands were gripping the collar of his coveralls, lifting him up to her eye level. "Then let us duel," she snarled, her lips curling.
Yuu stared, unable to get a sentence together. "Um, okay."
He watched the rage subside from Gozu's face as she remembered he wasn't the one she was angry with. "Right," she said, blushing and standing him to his feet. "What was your name again?"
"I'm Yuu Tokari," Yuu said, unsure what had just happened.
"It's…nice to meet you," Gozu said, hurrying to the door. "Follow me."
They kept Zato in chains the entire way to the dojo. Yuu craned his neck as they walked, stunned at the brick fires that lit and warmed the house. Carpet stretched upon their path in an unbroken road, and Gozu led them down a banistered staircase beneath an electric chandelier. Somewhere, Yuu knew, the Monji had their own generator.
"Where are you from, Tokari?" Gozu asked as they descended.
"I've lived on Utopia Street for a while," Yuu replied. "But I was born in San Domino."
Gozu sideyed him. "Is that so? I've never been."
"Feels like I haven't either." Yuu decided to concentrate on his feet. "Does your grandfather like it there?"
Gozu shook her head. "I don't know. We decided to sever contact upon his departure."
"Why?" Yuu asked, alarmed. "Did he suggest it?"
Gozu nodded. "He told me that people are capable of crossing that divide. Feelings, however, are not."
Yuu stayed quiet. He didn't want to believe that, but the words of the absent patriarch seemed to weigh with the force of the entire household.
"We're here," Gozu said, pushing open a door.
After his first year underground, Yuu had tried to learn karate for self-defense on the streets. It hadn't worked at all, but he was reminded now of that old dojo, its wooden floor and uncompromising pine scent. What he saw before him was as though that room had died and gone to heaven. Bright overhead lights reflected fivefold off of the polished floor. Wooden swords sat with their handles against the floor and their rubber tips against the wall. Zato whistled as his chains were removed. "Nice place."
"My grandfather trained in Kendo," Gozu explained. "He and I have proved ourselves countless times in this room."
More people were entering the room behind them; thugs of the Monji. One of them brought two hard metal shells, handing them to Gozu. She placed one in Yuu's arms. "This is a Duel Disk. Put it over your arm." In one fluid motion, she sheathed her arm into the shell, holding it above her head as it expanded, deploying a saber-like attachment with a flat surface, wide enough for five cards. She held it out, showing Yuu the front and back.
Yuu rotated the Duel Disk in his hands hesitantly, finding the hole for his arm and wiggling it through. He yelped as the metal parts unfolded, changing the balance of his arm. Zato jerked his head out of the way as Yuu stumbled over, grappling with the ungainly Disk. Embarrassed, he looked at Gozu, who just nodded and started walking to the far side of the dojo.
"Didn't I tell you this would work?" Zato said. "Now get out there and show her why you're Yuu."
"Shut up," Yuu replied. He was exhausted with Zato's antics. "Just start this thing."
"But of course," Zato said, throwing his bindings to the floor and spreading his arms. "Now, people of Monji! It's time to Duel!"
Zato stood behind Yuu at the back wall of the dojo, watching how the Monji thugs eyed their new leader. They had the curious gaze of a predator, wondering at the strength of their prey. Gozu herself stood solid against all of it, making no acknowledgement as she pressed a button on her Duel Disk. "Start the holographic overlay!" she called to Yuu.
"Right!" Yuu mirrored her motion as best he could. The bottom of the Duel Disk lit up like a sunstone, rays shooting out and affixing themselves to ten rectangular spaces on the floor. Yuu slotted his duradine crystal into the slot at the top, and iridescent light flowed through the electric veins of the Disk. An LED digital display appeared on each of their disks.
Yuu Tokari - 4000 LP
Gozu Daimonji - 4000 LP
"As the challenger, you may choose to go first," Gozu said.
"I'll take you up on that," Yuu replied, swiping his hand across his duradine. The crystal split off into five cards, and Yuu scanned each one. "I'm summoning Obnoxious Celtic Guard in face-down defense mode!" he said, placing a card on the wing of his Disk. The back of the card, opaque with sheet crystal, appeared in one of the ten holographic zones on his side of the floor.
Zato turned around and slammed his forehead against the wall as hard as he could. Gozu coughed. "You don't have to tell me what card it is when it's facedown."
The Monji goons erupted in laughter. Yuu turned bright red. "Well, I'm setting my Trap card, Blazing Mirror Force, facedown! And that ends my turn."
Did he make the same mistake again? Zato wondered. No, of course not. Blazing Mirror Force belongs to the chief, not Yuu. So is he trying to trick her?
Gozu seemed to be considering it too, but began her turn anyway. As she looked at the card in her hand, a thin smile appeared upon her face. "My spell card is Card Destruction. We'll each discard all the cards in our hand, and draw the same amount we had."
Yuu looked pained as he placed the three cards from his hand into the graveyard slot of the Duel Disk. Gozu gathered all five of her cards in a neat stack and slotted them in. She drew the next five in a swift, ergonomic motion. "Now, I summon Goblin Zombie."
Goblin Zombie / Level 4 / DARK / Zombie / ATK 1100 / DEF 1050
As opposed to the sunstones where monsters dropped from the shadows cast above, this one appeared straight from the holographic surface on the floor, as though printed into existence. Zato spied bulbous ruby eyes and a tendrilled, insectoid mouth first, and then came the lanky human limbs mottled with strange chitinous crust. The creature held, against all odds, a shortsword in its hands, which it leveled at Yuu. It wasn't Zato's first time seeing a Duel Disk in action, but it never ceased to impress him.
"Now, I'll activate the effect of Mezuki in my graveyard. By banishing itself from play, I can raise a Zombie-type monster from the dead. The monster I choose is Ryu Kokki."
A horse head appeared from Gozu's graveyard, shimmering in yellow light. It vanished; soon after, the field began to shake. Burnished skulls, bleached an unnatural white, began piling in Gozu's monster zone. They were fused together, the jawbone of one articulating the eyehole of another. All of them were locked together in a grimace, except for the largest skull, whose teeth parted in a smile. It rose to full height, the main head accentuated by the horn of a unicorn. Only now could Zato discern the limbs of the creature, which sat languidly and grinned across the field.
Ryu Kokki / Level 6 / DARK / Zombie / ATK 2400 / DEF 2000
"Entering the Battle Phase," Gozu said. "Ryu Kokki will attack your facedown Obnoxious Celtic Guard." Eyeless sockets lit up red all across the abomination's body as it loped forward, its massive arms swinging.
Yuu's facedown monster flipped over; sure enough, a warrior in green armor raised its sword to parry the attack, meeting the conglomerated fist of skulls as it crashed down.
Obnoxious Celtic Guard / Level 4 / EARTH / Warrior / ATK 1400 / DEF 1200
"Obnoxious Celtic Guard can't be destroyed by battle if the opponent's monster has 1900 or more ATK!" Sure enough, Celtic Guard's grip on his blade did not falter, and Ryu Kokki retreated, still smiling eerily. All of a sudden, Celtic Guard doubled over in pain as something bulged beneath its flesh like pustules of plague. "What's going on?"
"A monster effect," Gozu said matter-of-factly. "When Ryu Kokki battles a Warrior or Spellcaster monster, that monster is automatically destroyed after their fight."
Celtic Guard's skin burst open to reveal dozens of miniature skulls, all laughing madly as they chewed bloody holes in his body. The warrior collapsed into a heap as the skulls continued their feast.
The Monji looked slightly queasy. Gozu continued, heedless of their reactions. "Goblin Zombie will attack you directly." The creature let out an ear-splitting screech as it raked its shortsword across Yuu's chest. Yuu winced as he saw the LED screen change.
Yuu Tokari - 4000 LP ~ 2900 LP
"Goblin Zombie's effect activates when it deals damage," narrated Gozu. "It sends the top card of your deck to your graveyard."
Holographic blood spurted out of Yuu, taking the humanoid form of a card Zato recognized. Crime of Prometheus! The robed scion of light peered out from the maelstrom of red. Yuu reached his hand out, before Prometheus vanished, the blood being sucked into the graveyard slot of his Duel Disk.
That's not good. Zato's hand twitched at his side.
"I'll set one facedown," Gozu said, the card materializing in front of her. "Your move."
Yuu exhaled as he drew his card, then frowned at it. Zato could tell he was in his own head already, and the game had just started. If Yuu lost, then Gozu could order Zato be stripped and beaten until his skin scabbed over into new clothes. Needless to say, it would negatively affect his business plans.
"I summon Man Eating Treasure Chest in Attack Mode," Yuu said, placing the card onto his Duel Disk. An ornate and delicate box appeared on the field, looking almost like a perfume bottle. All of a sudden, the lid popped open on a hinge, revealing gnashing teeth with a tongue of pure jade and pearlescent saliva.
Man Eating Treasure Chest / Level 4 / DARK / Fiend / ATK 1600 / DEF 1000
"Now, my monster attacks your Goblin Zombie! Man Eating Treasure Chest is now the Goblin Gobbling Treasure Chest!" The treasure chest lunged forward, its jaws clamping around the head of the Goblin Zombie and biting down until an exoskeletal crunch was heard, and blood squirted from the zombie's pulpy interior.
Gozu Daimonji - 4000 LP ~ 3500 LP
"Goblin Zombie's effect activates upon death," said Gozu. "It allows me to add one Zombie from my deck to my hand. I select the Zombie Master." This time, Goblin Zombie's blood flowed out and took the shape of a monster, but this one grinned and jumped into Gozu's hand.
"Zombie Master has an effect that raises even more monsters from the dead," Zato mused. "Yuu! You've got to stop this one!"
"Not to worry!" Yuu said. "I'll activate a spell card! Nightmare's Steelcage!"
"Ah." Gozu's eyes flashed with interest. Black iron bars rumbled up from the earth like trees, surrounding her entire field in a steel lattice. The Nightmare's Steelcage card glowed face-up on Yuu's field.
"As long as this is on the field, neither of us can attack!" Yuu said. "Though, it's only on the field for two of your turns. Go ahead and take one!"
Gozu drew without comment. Her hand immediately went to the facedown card on her field. "I activate my Trap Card, Soul Absorbing Desecration. It banishes up to five cards in my graveyard, and sends the same number of cards from your deck to your graveyard."
Five crystal cards flew from Gozu's disk, dissolving into yellow light as the horse-head had. Only this time, tortured faces began to appear in the light, making it bulge as though it were a sack pulled around too many heads. The faces noticed Yuu and swooped down towards him, striking his deck. Five crystal cards broke away, carried by the spirits to the afterlife.
Yuu checked his graveyard and looked relieved. Looks like nothing else important got milled through, Zato thought. Something doesn't feel right, though. He didn't have time to think about that, because Gozu had dropped a card from her hand straight onto the field.
"I normal summon Zombie Master," she declared.
As though called forth by a full moon, a crazed assemblage of flesh and cloth arose, grinning with wide, bloodshot eyes. It raised its hands in adulation of the necrotic energies that surrounded it, graves yawning open like cradles before it.
Zombie Master / Level 4 / DARK / Zombie / ATK 1800 / DEF 0
Yuu chuckled. "Hook, line and sinker. I activate Trap Hole!"
The "Blazing Mirror Force" card flipped over; Zombie Master's grin was wiped away in shock as the grave beneath it yawned wider and wider. It slid from the edge and tumbled down, sending up a plume of dust as it hit the bottom, as though the earth were burping as it sealed back shut.
Yuu smiled. "How's that, Daimonji?"
Gozu regarded him carefully. "Are you often a champion, Tokari?" she asked.
Yuu frowned. "What do you mean?"
"You're here fighting the Monji on the behalf of others. If their dishonor is proven, you won't go unscathed. Is it your choice to take that risk?"
Zato saw Yuu turn and look at him, then make a face and turn back around. "Um…no. This is just how it ended up. But I might as well do what I can, right?"
Gozu pondered this for a second. "Then do you think you can defeat me?"
"On a good day, no doubt about it." Yuu grinned and patted his deck.
A faint smirk pulled at Gozu's lips. "I hope you have a good day, then," she said as she pulled a card from her hand and thrust it upwards. "This is the effect of my Skull Conductor. By sending it from my hand to the graveyard, I can summon two Zombie monsters whose ATK add up to 2000."
A rot-blue ghoul appeared in a maestro's tuxedo, waving a baton to conduct a misty chorus of anguish. Two faces pulled away from that miasma, growling as they hit the field. A sickly azure bat spread its wings, the veins visible pulsing in the webbing. A black wolf panted, its tongue lolling out of the decayed side of its face. "Blue-Blooded Oni and Plague Wolf," Gozu declared.
Then, just as quickly as they'd hit the field, the two monsters were engulfed in white flame. Gozu was reaching into her graveyard. "With these two sacrifices, I call the great fox spirit back from death: Nine-Tailed Fox."
A wicked white muzzle appeared from the flames, which dyed its fur in blood-like streaks of red. Golden irises set in pitch-black sclera scoured the audience as the fox spirit snarled.
Nine-Tailed Fox / Level 6 / DARK / Zombie / ATK 2200 / DEF 2000
Gozu reached for another slot on her Duel Disk. She drew out a thin violet crystal. "I hope you can make good on your word, Yuu. With two monsters of the same level, I build the Rank 6 overlay network!"
The bodies of Ryu Kokki and Nine-Tailed Fox began to shimmer, morphing into a maelstrom of glittery, paste-like lightning. The mixture churned at the center of Gozu's field, shedding particles like a galaxy shedding stars.
"It's an Xyz Summon!" Zato shouted to Yuu.
"An Xyz what?" Yuu shot back.
"I Xyz Summon!" Gozu shouted, answering inadvertently. "Pilgrim Reaper!"
A hooded figure ascended from the hologram, wings flexing at its back. One was raven black and curved like a claw, and the other was white and thick with feathers; even these, though, had begun to blacken at the roots. Its face was completely hidden, until it looked up at Yuu - it's face was completely gone. A rotten skull stared back at him, impassive as it lifted an ebon-bladed scythe, sharp and cruel as a biting gust. It made no sound.
Pilgrim Reaper / Rank 6 / DARK / Zombie / ATK ? (1400) / DEF ? (1400)
"Pilgrim Reaper gains 200 ATK and DEF for every DARK monster in our graveyards," Gozu explained. "Right now, there are only seven. But that's about to change. I detach one Xyz Material from Pilgrim Reaper to activate its effect: Soul Harvest!" The reaper swung its scythe, raven feathers detaching from its back. They separated into fleets of white and black, crashing into Gozu and Yuu's duel disks. Each feather ferried a card into the graveyard, consigning their spirits en masse. Gozu looked satisfied by the gruesome display.
"For every fallen soul, I gain power. This is the inexorable strength of the Monji." Only now did her eyes flick to the audience, some of whom were murmuring approval. Gozu's gaze was powerful and calm, like an unstoppable wave set in motion from far at sea. "Yuu Tokari, do you now see your enemy?"
Pilgrim Reaper opened its mouth, and Zato couldn't tell whether it was eating or screaming. Its body radiated with a murk of ultraviolet light and black tar, and its attack points rose to 2000.
If Yuu could attack, he could destroy Pilgrim Reaper before it got any stronger! Zato cursed. He began walking towards the field. She's turned the Steelcage against him. And if she's doing what I think she is, she won't even need to attack.
Zato tried not to smile as his hand twitched to his pocket. Time to activate a Spell of my own.