Chapter 6: Finding What's Hidden in Plain Sight

Matt was just about finished with the first draft for his stats final project when Bryan spoiled his train of thought. Playing a game on his computer, he said, "Mario runs from one end of the world to the other eight times per game and still can't lose the beer belly."

"What?"

Bryan laughed. "Hey, it turns out you haven't merged your consciousness completely with your paper."

"Seriously, though. Are you playing the original Mario Bros.?" That's the only one he could think of that measured progress through eight worlds, except for the version on Wii U, which they didn't have in the dorm.

"Yeah, I downloaded an NES emulator."

"Why?"

"It's a classic."

"It's only eight-bit graphics."

"Mutually exclusive points. How does this plumber never lose weight?"

"Those mushrooms are obviously fattening," said Matt. He turned back to the paper. Struggling with resuming his earlier thought process, he cranked out a few closing sentences that didn't feel up to the same quality as the rest of the paper but still got the point across. It would do for a first draft.

As Matt closed the computer, Bryan asked, "How far did you get?"

"Finished."

"Are you shitting me? You get a whole semester to work on that paper and you finish it before Week 2 even starts? Jesus Christ, dude."

"It's a paper for a statistics class. As long as you understand the concepts before moving on, it's all just an extension of what you've already learned. There's nothing impressive about knowing how to perform an analysis of covariance as long as you read the textbook. Maybe supplement the knowledge with some online forums."

Bryan shrugged. "Whatever. As long as you can explain it to me, I'm fine." A part of Matt hated the fact that Bryan was willing to do the bare minimum to get by when he should be working his ass off instead, but another part also liked being the smart one everybody went to for help.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

Joking, Bryan asked, "Did you order a pizza?"

"I always tell them to deliver it next door so we don't have to get up."

Matt opened the door to find Cary standing on the breezeway in her Duel Academy uniform. She winked at him. "Hey, stud. Bull around?"

"Why am I Bull?" asked Bryan from his desk.

"Because your ridiculous hairdo makes you look like you have horns." She leaned into the room to take a look around. She appeared unimpressed—nay, disgusted. "You really do have three people to a room, don't you?"

Matt said, "Yep. Our accommodations are far less than you Blues get."

"Don't envy me too much. I still have a roommate. Only the Obelisk boys get a room to themselves. Our dorm is more like Ra Yellow. Just not a large enough female student body to justify a second girls' dorm, so we all get to be Obelisks."

Bryan chimed in, "I guess the idea of co-ed dorms is ludicrous in the eyes of the school administration here."

Cary stared down Matt as she said, "They're probably worried that a boy and a girl sharing a room will make unwise decisions." Matt couldn't figure out what he did to deserve that look.

"They don't have to share rooms," continued Bryan. "But they could split the floors or even just the suites. No girls next door, for example, since we share a bathroom, but the next suite over could be girls with no problem."

Cary shrugged. "Ultra-conservative foundations, perhaps. Do you want to know why I'm here or not?"

"Isn't it just to enjoy our warm company and witty repartee?" asked Matt.

"As if." Cary was all the way in the room by then, looking from wall to wall. She leaned over to touch the bathroom wall and then reached with her other arm to see how close her fingers would come to touching the other wall. If there were two of her, she could touch it while leaving all four wrists limp. "This room really is quite tiny. I'm surprised you spend so much time here."

Bryan laughed. "Matt likes to wall himself off from other people. He hates the library here, though, because it's too open. Back home, he could go early when only the volunteers were on-site, or else he could lock himself away in a private research room. The study rooms here have glass walls."

Cary smirked as if to say, "Doing something in the study rooms that requires privacy?"

Cutting her off before she could put words to her lewd expression, Matt explained, "I don't like other people to be around when I'm reading. This is the only room where I have a modicum of control how many people are nearby."

"Whatever tickles your fancy," she said. "Grab your jackets. We're heading out. Someplace plenty private for those privileged few with authorized access." She shot them both looks that implied the trip was not optional.

Both guys were baffled yet intrigued. Matt temporarily entertained the notion that she'd want a threesome, but if that were the case, they'd be better off staying in the room and putting a sock on the door. And anyway, regardless of how shapely Cary might be, he had no intention of being naked with Bryan. So for the sake of his own sanity, he assumed her goal had nothing to do with sex. Collected and fully dressed, the three exited Slifer Red.

"Where are we going?" Bryan asked as he locked the door behind them.

Cary didn't answer verbally. She only walked to the end of the breezeway and descended.

Matt answered for her. "We're going that way."

Mostly in silence, Cary led the boys through the Crossroads, past the harbor and beyond Ra Yellow. It was the first time they ventured down the path beyond the main Duel Academy building. As with most of the island, foliage in the trees limited deeper visibility, but Matt could just barely make out the appearance of a blue roof in the distance.

"Are we heading to the Obelisk dorm?" he asked.

"No," said Cary. It was an unhelpful answer but it was something. At least she finally broke radio silence.

Technically, the answer should have been "yes." Even though it was not the destination, the path crossed in front of Obelisk Blue. It was three stories high in white walls across the length of the dorm, plus an extra story inside the blue roof of each tower. Many spires sprang from the top of the conical roofing. Considering the rumblings there was only room for twenty-eight students inside, Matt wondered what all the extra space was for if not housing students. If the rumors were true, they had their own gym, a pool, a pool room, and about a dozen other luxurious amenities not privately afforded to the Slifer students.

"One day," he muttered.

Bryan, unable to abate his growing curiosity, asked, "Is there a clubhouse in the trees or something?"

Cary pointed across the lake that sat in front of Obelisk Blue and into the trees on the other side. "It's kind of hidden in the south woods just past the girls' dorm."

Bryan smirked. "The girls' dorm sounds like an excellent place to study." Notice how he didn't specify the subject he'd like to study there. Not hard to guess, though.

"Only if you want to get kicked off campus," said Cary. "Dave told me about a guy who got caught in the sitting room and still got suspended. Not even in the residence—just the sitting room."

While Bryan frowned at the unfairness of being so strictly blocked from visiting the women of Duel Academy, Matt asked, "Who is Dave?"

Cary didn't answer.

"Is it the same Dave who participated in the first area duel of the year and wore a green jacket?" The memory of that duel and the ensuing conversation about family came back to Matt after he mentioned it. "That's your access, isn't it?"

"We're almost there."

After they crossed the lake bridge directly in front of the fabled Obelisk Blue, Matt caught sight of the girls' dorm hidden in the trees to his left. In some ways, it was difficult to see except that he knew to look for it. As soon as the bridge ended, the boys were back into the woods where the trees were just barely spaced enough to spot the dorm beyond another section of the lake. It was a bigger building than Obelisk Blue, surprisingly, but not as fancy. Whereas there were eight turrets in the boys' mansion, the girls' dorm was built more like a tiny castle, with a towering keep in the back and a courtyard in the middle walled-off by extended residential halls. Rumor had it the girls' dorm also had a private swimming pool despite their easy access to the lake.

"You couldn't even see much from here," said Bryan.

"Couldn't and shouldn't," said Matt with a snicker. "Probably get in trouble for that, too, depending on whether there're binoculars and popcorn involved."

Bryan shook his head in disgust. "You're a horrible person."

"And you stick with me, so what does that say about you?"

"I'm a glutton for punishment."

"Punishment is relative. I'm your lucky charm." Although Matt said that with a jocular expression, it was actually something he wondered sometimes. No matter how negative or caustic Matt was, things generally seemed to go his way. Bryan had commented how he benefited from Matt's surprising luck ever since they met, with one distinct exception.

"See it yet?" asked Cary.

Peering into the woods, Matt was afraid he'd have to admit defeat until the moment he realized there was a small footpath hidden in the underbrush. The paved walkway continued to curve around the island toward the beach on the southeastern side, but the path trodden in the dirt implied something else concealed from view.

"The clubhouse idea sounds more viable by now," said Matt. He lifted a fallen tree limb to show Bryan what he had found. Cary suppressed a smile, possibly amused that Matt was getting excited about this secret or maybe even just proud of him for having the observational skills to find it, although she did lead him to the spot. When he dropped the tree limb, it bounced right back into place.

At the end of the footpath was a small, two-story house either built from some type of limestone or a more common stone painted somewhere between a light green and a tree-bark gray. The gabled roof was painted darker green to give the whole building the general color scheme of a literal treehouse.

"Is this a dorm?" asked Matt.

Cary shrugged as if to say, "Who knows?" She was being facetious, of course, seeing how she was the navigator who brought them to this location. She walked up to the tall, double doors and knocked. Maybe she had the secret knowledge of this place, but she didn't possess the super-special access she had mentioned earlier. Matt did notice a card-reader by the door, but he suspected his student ID would have no effect on it, leastwise not a beneficial one.

Bryan said, "I thought you had access to this place."

She motioned to the card reader. "You're welcome to try."

"Yeah, right. And send some kind of electronic signal to the administrators that I'm out in the woods trying to get inside a secret clubhouse? I think not!" He could be right about the consequences of trying to access a door without proper authorization.

Shortly thereafter, the door opened to a petite girl with tanned skin, long hair, and the face of an angel. Bryan uttered, "Hello," before stepping up right beside Cary so he was all the gorgeous lady could see in front of her. Luckily for him, she chuckled at his enthusiasm.

The girl leaned around him to see Cary and smiled. "Hi. You must be Cary."

"Strickland, yes."

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Erica. Who are your friends?"

Matt immediately flinched. "That's a little strong. Can we not put a label on it?"

He bemused Erica. "Which word is too strong? Friend?"

"Ignore him," said Bryan, extending a hand to take hers. He knelt in front of her and held her fingers as if to kiss her knuckles, but not actually taking that last step. It amused Matt to see that when kneeling, Bryan was only a head shorter than she was. "I'm Bryan Knight. You cannot know the depths of my praise to all that is good in this world that I was able to find you. The level of beauty which captivated me the very instant the light kissed your skin was overwhelming, and I knew I must meet you."

For a moment Erica tried to back away from her own hand like it was radioactive, but then her horror gave way to wild laughter. Matt was pleased to hear her voice retain its musical tone. Bryan could be intense when first meeting particularly attractive women, so that interaction could easily have gone very differently.

"I'm sorry for laughing," she said. "I've been hit on before, but that was new."

"And ridiculous," agreed Cary. "Feel free to slap him around a bit. It won't bother me a bit." Plus, it'd be funny considering that if she reached all the way up, she might just graze his chin.

Erica waved off the comment like it was unnecessary and Bryan relinquished her hand. "Come inside. Dave is waiting for you."

No sooner had Matt stepped through the door than he realized where the largest chunk of luxury accommodations went on campus. The walls were as clean as brand new, decorated with a few duel-themed tapestries, each one appearing in the style of Egyptian murals. Tables dotted the hallway with statuettes, fancy lamps, and potpourri. Looking up, he spotted a second-floor bridgeway connecting one side of the house to the other. The end of the foyer opened directly into the dayroom, which was, on its own, as big as the entire dorm suite Matt shared with five other guys, without the dividing walls. Couches and chairs of varied sizes and similar plushness implied that visitors were not forbidden, but they must prove invitation via being invited in by someone with front door access.

While Matt was still taking in the sights and preparing a few quips regarding the posted pictures of landscapes and monuments, he heard a toilet flush, a sink turn on and off again, and a door squeaking open as the sound of running water grew in volume.

Dave Strickland entered the dayroom with an expression of disappointment. "Dangit. I knew that would happen. I waited this whole time for you, and you show up the second I go to the bathroom."

Bryan replied, "When you gotta go, don't squeeze the Charmin." It prompted a point-and-grin from Dave, who approached Cary with open arms. She seemed reluctant to give him a return hug, but she didn't resist. "What's wrong, Cuz? Am I embarrassing you in front of the cute, freshman boys?"

"No, just these two lug nuts," she retorted.

Dave laughed at her subtle insult. "You have to be Matt and Bryan."

"Other way around," said Matt, clarifying that he was the short one and Bryan was the giant.

"Ah, right. Glad you guys could make it. Honestly, I'm glad Cary actually brought you. Considering Slifer is so far out of the way from the girl's dorm, her agreement to retrieve you shocked me. I thought she might prank you somehow."

Cary shrugged as if to say, "It could happen."

Bryan chuckled. "Don't worry about Matt. He's the Prank King. He'd spot a trick coming a mile away."

Every eye turned to Matt, but he didn't flinch. "We all did immature things when we were kids."

Under his breath, Bryan muttered, "Four months ago…" Dave smiled at the banter between the two freshmen.

Erica repeated her earlier suggestion. "Why don't you guys take a seat? Get comfortable while we get to know each other." She grinned, indicating she was fully prepared for the overly flirty wordplay Bryan was about to send her way. Her smile was quite radiant, even if she was just messing with him. Bryan plopped down on the love seat right next to her while Matt sat on the couch. Cary sat on the opposite end. Dave took a single-person armchair.

For a few minutes, nothing of substance was spoken. It was all small talk. Bryan appeared to have the time of his life, chatting while sitting beside a gorgeous senior, but small talk was never Matt's thing. He'd rather get to the point and move on. The opportunity presented itself when Dave mentioned roommates.

"The other students in the green jackets," said Matt, more a statement than a question. "Like Justin. Considering the timing of the invitation, I'd guess this visit was his idea."

Dave beamed. "He said you were the smart one." Ignoring Bryan's "hey!" he continued, "Everyone figures out eventually why we wear green. We figured you could hear about it in person from us—save yourself the detective work."

Bryan's feigned disappointment shifted quickly. "Ooo, intrigue."

"The top-ranked duelists of the school are given these green jackets and put into a group called the Guardian Duelers. Whereas you and all the other students in the school complete testing and tournaments to achieve your rank, the only way to become one of the Top 9 is by defeating the previous members before they graduate. At the end of each school year, membership is always passed on to a new duelist. If no one is strong enough to earn the jacket, the faculty vote on the successor."

"That's it? You get ranked among the Top 9 and you get to live in a secret Guardhouse in the middle of the woods with girls in the house?"

Erica stated, "Rules apply to everyone. But we're trusted with Duel Academy's reputation. It's fitting that our intelligence gets respected, too. This way all the Guardians stay together instead of splitting between dorms. Besides, all our doors have unique keys, just in case."

"Nine duelists…" Matt muttered, trying to put together the few clues he had and determine why they had to be secluded. He had noticed a fleeting expression of despair from both Dave and Erica when she mentioned splitting between dorms. If anything, that suggested the Guardhouse was a new addition. So something happened recently to change their location from common dorms to the secret dorm.

Dave watched for a moment as Matt struggled, not having enough information to make the leap. "In addition to the dorm, we get immunity from having to reapply to attend Duel Academy next year."

"We have to reapply?" Bryan shouted. He nearly jumped to his feet, jostling the cushion enough to make Erica grab the frame to stabilize herself.

Cary scoffed. "It's like academic review. If you do well enough in classes and manage to win a lot of duels, you'll be fine. They only kick out slackers, plus there are always a few dropouts. Don't let your grades slip or your dueling slack too hard."

She made it sound nice and easy, but Matt noticed the panic in Bryan's eyes. He was struggling so far to prove himself among the other students. "Immunity from scrutiny is nice, though," Matt insisted.

"The downside is we are ineligible for prizes each semester," Dave added. "Which is the more valuable reward is subjective. Some people are just as willing to trade prizes for the immunity, especially if they don't care about changing the cards in their deck. But along with our immunity, we get to keep our rare cards through the summer session."

Rare cards. Another clue. "How rare? Like out-of-print cards?" asked Matt.

"Rarer than that." Dave reached to his belt and retrieved his deck box, pulling from it a specific card. "Ownership of one of these cards is the same as membership to the Guardian Duelers. You've heard of the Egyptian God Cards?" Dave asked.

Bryan almost jumped again. "You've got to be kidding me. You have one of the most powerful cards in the entire friggin' game?" Dave nodded, so he looked to Erica for additional confirmation. She also smiled and nodded.

Dave handed his card to Matt first because he was closest. "Slifer the Sky Dragon," Matt read. It was unique, with a fully red background instead of the usual orange hue for effect monsters. There was something unsettling about it. Matt felt a chill—something ethereal. "Clearly this card is one-of-a-kind. But what's the big deal? And don't recite the effect to me: I can read."

Cary quickly responded to his request. "The story goes that Yugi Mutou and Seto Kaiba fought over the god cards constantly because of their power. There's also a rumor that they tap into dark magic and can kill anyone who loses a duel to one." She shot Matt a mocking look.

"Sounds pretty spooky when you leave out the part where they're just playing cards," Bryan remarked. To Matt, he said, "I think she's making fun of you because of what you said in Dr. Houtz's class."

"I got that." He handed the card off to Cary, who immediately slid it to Bryan. As Dave's cousin, she had already seen it.

Erica didn't laugh at him. With sincerity, she explained, "Yugi and Seto are urban legends, but the mythos surrounding the cards is fun to explore. Dr. West has an upper-level course that goes deep into duel history and mythology, if you enjoy that kind of thing."

"I might. There are nine duelists in this house, so there are nine Egyptian God Cards?"

Dave said, "No. There are three: I have Slifer, Andy has Ra, and Lucy has Obelisk."

Erica chimed in. "I have a card known as a Sacred Beast." She showed them her card, which was yellow and titled Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder. Holding the card made Matt shudder the same way. They were just cards, but he didn't like them. He decided that must be because their effects were almost unfairly powerful. Erica continued, saying, "Justin also has a Sacred Beast, and I'm not sure if you guys know Yul, but he also has one. Once upon a time, they were an attempt to remake the Egyptian God Cards for common play, but they ended up being one-of-a-kind just the same."

"Our other three roommates have Jashin, or Wicked Gods," said Dave. "The mythology describes them as evil versions of the Egyptian God Cards."

Bryan wasted no time in declaring, "I totally want to join."

Erica said, "You won't likely be able to. No freshman has ever gained membership. Before you even get to duel one of us, you have to be screened. Not like a drug test or personality test or anything, but the faculty still have to approve of your attempt. And like Dave said before, you'll have to be good enough to defeat one of us in a duel." She winked at Bryan, which almost made him melt. "Even if some of us seem harmless, we're pretty good with a deck."

"So why are you in hiding from the rest of campus?" asked Matt.

Bryan rolled his eyes. "Real subtle."

Footsteps moved behind the dayroom, likely nothing more than one of the roommates. Erica and Dave seemed to exchange a nervous glance, which was where Matt knew the real mystery lay. While they figured out their story, Matt craned his neck to see who walked by. She was female, wearing a Duel Academy sweatshirt and black leggings. She looked a bit top-heavy with the shirt looking like it would be two sizes too big for the average person with her head size. Considering how well it fit, especially in the chest, Matt assumed her to be overweight but balanced.

"Who is this?" he asked before Dave and Erica could answer his earlier question.

They all followed his gaze, which led to the awkward moment where one of the Guardians found herself with all ten eyes from the dayroom fixed on her. At first she flinched, but she forced a smile and walked a few steps into the room. "Hey, guys. You have company." Her accent was British, yet her skin was darker than most. Matt couldn't place her ethnicity outright.

"Hey, Lucy." Erica led the introductions. "This is Dave's cousin Cary, and her friends Bryan and Matt."

Cary tilted her head and winced as if to say "'Friend' is too strong to describe these boneheads."

"Nice to meet you all," she said, producing an awkward wave.

Matt decided to continue the awkward feeling. "Please come join us. We were just curious why you all have luxury accommodations out in the middle of the woods in a location kept as privileged information."

Lucy tilted her head and nodded, baffled by how that conversation would entice her to sit down. Matt made the scenario even more awkward by sliding into the middle of the couch and making a big show of the space now reserved for Lucy to sit down. Cary shook her head at him without a word or change in her expression, but he was busy staring at Lucy and wouldn't have known about Cary's reaction if Bryan hadn't told him later.

Bryan immediately caught Matt's attention, attempting to communicate telepathically. It wasn't loud and clear, but it was safe to assume he wanted to know why Matt wanted to get Lucy involved when he was already flirting with Kasumi. He didn't have a good answer for that outside of, "Lucy's probably hiding giant knockers under that sweater," and he could only think to convey that with a subtle tilt of the head in her direction.

"Thanks," said Lucy. She sat on the edge of the couch at an angle where she could keep her knees as a barrier between herself and the new guy. "So if this place is privileged information, how did you get it?"

"Family," said Matt, pointing at Cary. After a silent beat passed, he added, "Also Justin invited us. He's part of our study group for Stats. We have the same sense of humor."

Now Lucy put on a bigger smile, more genuine than before. "Oh, wonderful. So it'll be like having two Justins here." Suddenly a look of recognition crossed her face. "Of course. You're the intelligent guy Justin mentioned. He said you seem to know everything about statistics already and couldn't figure out why you're in the class."

"He's not wrong," said Bryan. Pointing vigorously at Matt, he said, "That guy already finished his final project for the semester. And he's going to be a smartass and hand it in piece by piece throughout the semester as if he's struggling to learn it just like the rest of us are."

Dave laughed. "Is that so? Maybe you should talk to your counselor about testing out of the class. That way you get course credit but you don't waste your time hearing a bunch of lectures you already understand."

Neither of the boys realized that was an option. Statistics carried such a stigma with it that the professors never thought to ask if anyone wanted to try testing out. Bryan shot Matt a look. "Please don't leave me."

Matt frowned back at him. "You have a study group. And I'll still be your roommate." Looking back to Lucy, he asked, "Can I take another class if I test out successfully?"

"Um…" She shrugged and looked to Dave for help. "You can take Stats II if that really interests you. Maybe a psychology class. Abnormal Psyc seems like a good fit." Matt smirked at her subtle joke-insult.

Dave added, "If you already know what concentration you want to pick, you can start focusing on the required curriculum for that, too."

Matt did not know which concentration he would assume. All he knew at the moment was that he wondered what Lucy looked like underneath the sweatshirt. In order to abate the social discomfort, Lucy asked a handful of superficial, icebreaker questions, which Bryan answered to avoid letting Matt overwhelm her with sarcasm. She was a junior, originally from London before her parents moved her to New York at a young age, and in charge of Obelisk the Tormentor—one of the Egyptian God Cards.

"Did you earn it or inherit it?" asked Matt, showing off his memory for tidbits Dave and Erica told him only minutes earlier.

"Earned it." She looked to Erica for confirmation, saying, "I think everyone here right now actually earned their god cards. Dr. Hibiki said it was the first time that ever happened, I think. With nine cards, there's always at least one person who graduates without losing it in a duel."

"Almost always," said Matt.

She nodded. "Right. Maybe you are too smart for the basic stats class." He winked back at her, and then he regretted it because winking is almost never sexy when a guy does it. She continued to maintain her distance from him on the couch.

The front door opened in the foyer and promptly closed. Two male voices were audible down the hallway. Either they made a habit of poking their heads into the dayroom when they walked by, or they saw someone sitting and decided to find out why because two guys walked by the door and paused long enough to look inside. Both wore their green Duel Academy jackets and carried backpacks, but that was where the physical similarities ended. One guy was white and tall with bushy blond hair, and his friend was short with dark hair and from eastern Asia. There was a minor resemblance to Bryan and Matt between them.

"Hey, guys. Sorry I'm late," said the white guy. That was Justin, whom they had met in class and study group. "Orientation took longer today than normal. A bunch of revised rules and regulations based on changes coming down the pipeline from Kaiba Corp." He stepped into the room and shook hands with Bryan and Matt, and then he introduced himself to Cary. "I'm Justin. Are you Dave's cousin?"

She nodded. "I'm Cary."

"Nice to meet you. Are you here with these guys?"

"I don't swing that way," she replied.

He laughed. "Funny. Have you guys met Andy?"

Andy had remained close to the doorway until that moment. He gave a short wave, but then he pointed at Matt. "Hey, you're in my biology class." Pointing at Bryan, he said, "You are, too." He pursed his lips for a second while staring at the larger of the guys. "Did I also proctor your application duel?"

Bryan blurted out, "That's why you're so familiar! God, that's been driving me crazy since Monday." Matt ignored the fact that he and Bryan already had that conversation. Pretending not to remember must be some kind of conversation starter.

Andy chuckled. "Well, it's great to see you got accepted. Elemental Heroes, right?"

"That's it."

"Wow. Congrats. How do you like it so far?"

"I kinda wish there were more girls."

Erica laughed. "Unabashed honesty. You get points for that, Freshman."

He perked up. "Ask me anything. I have tons of honesty left." She patted his arm and left it at that.

Andy said, "Sorry, everyone. I have to go." He waved again and left the dayroom.

Justin explained, "His girlfriend is about to call. They won't see each other in person until dinnertime because their schedules don't line up today. How long have you guys been here?"

"Not long," said Bryan.

Matt asked, "What orientation did you attend?"

"Duel teams," he answered.

Dave added, "The school allows students to form thematic teams and compete in intramural contests. Depending on scheduling and budgets, they even encourage interschool tournaments, although your team has to be one of the best for that to happen."

Bryan admitted that sounded cool, but Matt was already bored. "What god card do you have?"

Justin beamed. "I have Raviel, Lord of Phantasms."

Matt was silent until Erica added, "It's basically the Sacred Beast form of Obelisk the Tormentor."

Cary asked, "Is there any chance someone wants to demonstrate their god card? Seeing it in a duel might help these guys understand the appeal a bit better."

"Of course. You want to follow me upstairs to the simulator?" Justin offered.

"What?" Bryan was tensed up like he was ready for a fight, except his eyes bulged the same as if he were ready to run away instead. "What kind of simulator?"

"Come upstairs and see."

Dave and Erica begged their leave from the group, as did Lucy, much to Matt's chagrin. But Cary stuck with the group as they left the dayroom and turned right. The stairs were almost directly beside the dayroom. Justin didn't give them the full tour on the way because he wanted to respect his roommates' privacy, but he pointed vaguely toward landmarks. The room across from the stairs (on the outside wall) was the faculty office where their advisor would sometimes hold hours. Next to that was Dave's bedroom. Back across the hall, down from the dayroom, was the kitchen and dining space. Beyond them was Andy's room. If they had gone the other way when coming out of the dayroom, they would reach the corridor between Erica's and Lucy's rooms.

On the second floor, he pointed out his own bedroom right in front of the stairs. Two rooms sat at the ends of the hall in either direction for the other four roommates. Most hallways were somewhat plain, save for the tapestries and potted plants. But the paint was fresh and scuff-free, suggesting the Guardhouse received much more meticulous janitorial attention than Slifer Red did.

Entering into Justin's room was even weirder than Matt had expected. Instead of posters with buxom women in swimsuits and hand-bras, the room was wallpapered with posters from video games and TV shows. Xenoblade Chroniclesand Supernatural seemed to be his favorites. There were Legos everywhere in lieu of alternative decorations, such as books or pictures of family. And standing beside the desk like a hefty arcade game was a device that resembled half a duel station with a large monitor on the other side, kind of like a game of Battleship.

Bryan couldn't handle the excitement-slash-indignity. "You guys get your own simulator? No wonder you remain the best duelists in school!"

Justin grinned, beaming proudly at his accomplishment. "It's something I'm programming as part of a capstone project. One of the previous guys in Duel Programming class actually created the basic concept for the program. I'm working on improving the functionality. Right now, the system works great, but the AI isn't really at the level you'd need to prepare yourself for strong opponents."

"Still!" Anyone could guess that Bryan wanted to steal the thing and take it back to the dorm with him. Or else he wanted to move into the Guardhouse and use the simulator often. Matt was likewise impressed to see such a device developed, but he didn't care as much about getting the extra practice. What he saw was a chance to build a slightly different deck and then test it out by seeing how the machine played with it and making adjustments from there.

Justin started the computer, placed his cards into the recessed deck scanner, selected the default deck for the computer to use, and initiated the duel. Everything moved automatically on screen, first showing the image of two decks being shuffled and then providing a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors to determine who goes first. Selecting scissors, Justin beat the computer's randomly-selected paper and earned the first turn.

When Justin drew his cards into his physical hand, Matt noticed that the computer's virtual cards were turned to face the group. Its card assortment looked like a basic beatdown-style deck.

"How come you can see the other guy's cards?" asked Bryan.

Matt agreed, "It doesn't seem conducive to making yourself a stronger duelist."

Justin winced. "It's a troubleshooting thing rather than part of training. By watching the plays the computer makes, I can see where improvements are needed in decision making, plus if there's a crash from any specific card, I'll know what it was. It gives me a place to start looking in the code."

As he spoke, Justin set four of his cards and then played Dragged Down into the Grave. His opponent picked a card for him to discard, but Justin made sure he only had one card, which meant he discarded a monster called Beiige. Upon doing so, Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World (4: 1600|1300) summoned itself to the field. The screen registered the card on the tabletop and summoned a virtual fiend in blue and beige to match. Matt was impressed to watch the synergy between the computer game and the card reader. It was actually like playing a card game against the computer using your own cards.

To finish Dragged Down into the Grave, Justin drew a new card.

Bryan commented, "There are no battle effects here."

Justin shook his head. "Still too much to program at the moment. It took enough time to program the correct effects of all the cards, and now I'm trying to make the computer smarter. One day, when I work for Kaiba Corp, I'll have access to the effect code and I can just slide it into this one."

"You can do that?"

"Yeah. Half of this program was writing the code once and then copy-pasting it with edits later."

Justin continued to play his cards, this time activating his second Dragged Down into the Grave. Again, he only had a single card in his hand, so he discarded a monster called Grapha. He drew another copy of Grapha as part of Dragged Down into the Grave. This monster didn't summon itself, but Justin pulled Beiige back into his hand and was then able to summon the copy of Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World (8: 2700|1800) that was in the graveyard. Justin flagged the end phase button to signal the computer player's turn.

As soon as the turn started and even before the computer picked up its first card, the screen asked if Justin wanted to activate a card effect. He selected "yes" and activated Eradicator Epidemic Virus, dropping Grapha from the field into the graveyard as the cost for activating it. "I'm going to knock out all of the computer's spell cards," he said as he clicked the button onscreen. It wasn't a brilliant, tactical decision on his part. Since he could see the computer's cards, he knew the computer was holding four spells and only one trap.

Before the effect resolved, the computer asked him if he wanted to activate his other card effects. He did: Mind Crush. At his request, the effect forced the computer to discard Chiron the Mage. Matt couldn't help noticing that Justin wouldn't have known which card to declare if he had hidden the computer's cards from view.

With nothing left to do, the computer set one card and shifted the turn over to Justin.

To give himself a monster, Justin summoned Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World (4: 1600|1300) again. To make his monster bigger, he returned Beiige to his hand to summon Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World (8: 2700|1800) from the graveyard. Instantly he had the dragon attack. The computer's trap was a Deck Devastation Virus, which it couldn't activate and would offer no defense anyway. So the attack went through uncontested.

Justin 8000: AI 5300.

The computer drew a spell card, forced to discard immediately because of the lingering effect of the Eradicator Epidemic Virus trap Justin played earlier. With no cards, it could make no moves and ended its turn.

Bryan laughed. "Hah, you got that stupid computer pinned!"

Justin smiled and shook his head. "I know. That's part of why I'm working to make the AI smarter."

For his turn, Justin played Allure of Darkness, drawing two cards and banishing Broww, Huntsman of Dark World from his hand as the cost. He summoned Trance Archfiend (4: 1500|500). Trance let him discard Grapha, activating the dragon's effect and destroying the computer's face-down trap. Grapha (2700) on the field attacked again, but Justin chose not to attack with Trance.

Justin 8000: AI 2600.

"You're not going to wipe him out?" asked Bryan.

"The whole point of this exercise was to show you a god card," said Justin. Looking at Bryan, he said, "You still want to see it in action, right?"

"Of course." It was easy to see how disappointed Bryan was to realize Justin had to go easy on his opponent if he wanted to summon a god card. Even Matt had hoped summoning one of the gods would be more natural and fluid.

Once again, the AI couldn't make a play. The only card in its control was a high-level, normal monster. It ended its turn instantly.

"What do we get this time?" Justin asked as he drew his next card. He frowned. "Rats. Not yet." He played Upstart Goblin, giving the AI another thousand Life Points so he could draw one more card. "Still not yet. Let's just start loading more on the field." He activated TranceArchfiend again so he could discard Broww, Huntsman of Dark World. As a result, he got to draw a new card, which was a third Grapha. Next he summoned Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World (4: 1600|1300) back to the field. Like before, he returned Beiige to his hand to summon his second Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World (8: 2700|1800) from the graveyard. He landed another direct attack with Grapha and then ended his turn.

Justin 8000: AI 900.

The AI finally drew a usable card. It set Silent Swordsman LV3 before ending the turn.

Justin failed once more to draw Raviel. He activated Trance Archfiend again to discard Grapha from his hand, which destroyed the Silent Swordsman on the way. Once more, he summoned Beiige and returned it to his hand to summon the third Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World (8: 2700|1800) to the field. He skipped all battles to avoid ending the duel too soon.

"Want me to shift the cards in your deck a bit?" asked Bryan.

Justin shook his head. "You can't or else the alarm sensors will trigger a foul and auto-forfeit the duel for me. Don't worry. I'll get it soon enough."

The AI drew a spell. For good measure, Justin activated his face-down Deck Devastation Virus, using one Grapha as the cost. For three turns, the AI would be unable to summon a low-level monster. With only a level-seven monster and a Mage Power, the AI had no moves to make.

Matt asked, "How come you guys live secluded out here in the woods?"

"It's a security precaution," said Justin while he drew Dark World Dealings, which disappointed Bryan again. "Last year someone stole all of the god cards from their owners. The cards were eventually recovered, but the admins and campus security decided to take additional measures to prevent it from happening again. So they repurposed this old storage building into a private dorm."

Cary scoffed. "That's the story Dave and Erica were too nervous to tell?"

"You caught that, too, did you?" said Matt.

Justin shook his head. "It's not that big a deal. No names were ever revealed, but the cards were returned and Dr. West assured us the perps were caught and prosecuted. No one disappeared from campus since then, except for the graduating seniors, so the rumor is that someone from a visiting school lived secretly in the woods for a while so that he could steal them."

"Yeah, yeah," said Bryan. "Get to your god card already!"

Dark World Dealings let Justin and the AI each draw a card and then discard one. Bryan let out a "yeah!" when Justin finally drew Raviel. He moved all three of his fiends to the graveyard to summon Raviel, Lord of Phantasms (10: 4000|4000) to the field. On the computer screen, the shape of the monster card emitted additional lightning bolts to indicate how much power the card had beyond regular monsters.

Matt stared at the card. He was uninterested in the shining picture and the ten stars lined up to indicate the card's extreme power. There was some feeling of unease he felt when he viewed the image. Then again, he could hear Lucy's voice downstairs, so maybe he was just feeling horny.

One attack was all it took for Raviel to clear out the AI's Life Points.

Justin 8000: AI 0.

Cary said, "I see what you mean about the AI. That was a little on the easy side."

"It's a work in progress," said Justin.

The grin plastered to Bryan's face couldn't have been larger if he had a coat hanger installed inside his cheeks. "That was awesome. I so totally want one of those cards. How do I get one?"

Matt chided, "Stealing won't work, apparently."

"He's right," said Justin. "You'll just have to become good enough to beat one of the gods in battle. You think you can handle that?"

"Not even kind of. But I'm willing to give it a shot."

Finally we bring in the first plot device of the story: God Cards. They won't take over the story like in so many anime, but it would be weird not to have any gods at all in a Yu-Gi-Oh! story, right? Not only that, now we learn a few more details about the rigid life of studying required to remain at Duel Academy.

Regarding OCs: I'm always accepting more for a story like this. The basic form is in my profile, and I have a longer one if you want to include a lot of details. To Amourenvie: Your OC is coming. I've made notes and she has a role. It's just not time to bring her in yet. The characters I received last time are being added into my outline now and will be revealed soon. Just a reminder that I have to space out introductions so you all have time to remember a character before I throw more at you.