Chapter 11: Wanna Trade?
Of all the midterm exams on his docket, Bryan least looked forward to Biology. Dr. Apple was the most detail-oriented teacher he'd ever met, and he figured that out for himself even if all the upperclassmen hadn't warned him of the same thing already. You know when you read a text book and it tells you to check one of those side figures for a detailed example? Dr. Apple was actually asking questions about those figures. That feature alone nearly doubled the amount of information Bryan needed to study and remember.
Thankfully he felt like he remembered just enough for a passing grade. It was a pleasant feeling to look around the room and see everyone struggling as much as he was. The Longshots may be winless as a dueling team, and Bryan may still have a losing record as an individual, but Dr. Apple's exams were a great equalizer. The best duelists still struggled to remember the differences between C3, C4, and CAM plants—Bryan knew it was related to fixing carbon during photosynthesis, but he got fuzzy on the rest of the details.
Just one student was completely relaxed during the exam, and that jerk was sitting right next to Bryan with his feet propped up on the desk and the seat back reclined as far as he could get it. Unfortunately Matt wasn't just slacking off: He had already turned in his test. Everyone else who finished left the room, no longer bound to the class schedule for one day. Matt opted to remain until at least one person he felt like hanging out with was ready to leave. For a while Bryan assumed Matt was waiting for him, but Kasumi had finished her exam a short time before Bryan even got to the last page. After collecting her things and turning toward the door, Matt jumped up and followed her. Bryan still wasn't clear on the relationship between those two, in part because it hadn't blossomed much between Matt's reluctance and Kasumi's coyness. But as long as they enjoyed each other's company, Bryan was more concerned about midterms.
It wasn't until Bryan got to the very last question that he realized why he felt so uncertain about most of the questions. Not only did Dr. Apple expect the students to learn from the examples in the textbook, he expected everyone to remember his anecdotes and one-off comments from lectures, too.
There on the last page right above the empty space was the question, "Why is 'platypi' not the correct pluralization of 'platypus'?"
Bryan grinned to himself as he at least got to finish the exam on a high note. Writing down his explanation about Latin versus Greek linguistics, he thought to himself, Thank you, Matt! He swiftly turned in his exam and dashed out of the room.
Matt and Kasumi were sitting on a bench outside the lecture hall, deep in whatever conversation they were having. Bryan half expected it to be related to fornication, but as soon as he drew near enough to hear Matt's side, he realized the topic.
"There never was any kind of resolution to it. They just disappeared for two weeks, and then as if by magic they came back."
"Freaky," said Kasumi. "Where were they found?"
"I'm going to stop by Dr. West's office hours today and ask. He never said anything to the Guardians about it. Well, he said they were said a package was left in his mailbox, but that's obviously bupkes. It couldn't be that simple."
"You don't think so?"
"Not for a second. Someone goes through the trouble of stealing all nine god cards, he wants something from them. Everyone suffered through room inspections and body checks and the not-fun cavity searches, and no sign was ever found."
"What do you think that means? Maybe they used a hiding spot on the island somewhere?"
Matt offered an uncertain nod. "I can't rule out the possibility, but it seems unlikely."
"Dr. West could have found the hiding spot and that's how he got them back."
"But then why hide that fact? When given the choice of saying you found the hiding spot or that the thief had a change of heart and returned the cards willingly, there's only one reason to choose the latter: You don't know what the hiding spot was."
Kasumi considered the thought for a second. Even Bryan thought she looked adorable when her nose scrunched like that. "He could just lie."
"But he didn't, and I think that's because it's a lot harder to lie about something than you'd expect. Not only do you have to make up something that's legitimately a solid hiding place, you have to be lucky enough that not one of the hundred-fifty students here had been in that spot during the two weeks the cards were missing. And if you really do know of such a hiding place, you run the risk of losing the secret when people start asking questions."
"That's a lot of overthinking," said Kasumi.
Bryan finally chimed in. "Now you're all caught up to where I am on this topic." He had been hearing about the stolen god cards and Matt's wild theories ever since the boy got it in his head to solve the case a year after the fact.
Kasumi smiled at him. "Hey, Bryan. How was the exam?"
"Biology may as well be Greek to me," he quipped. "At least that last question was."
"Funny," remarked Matt.
But Kasumi was in agreement with Bryan's assessment. "Wasn't that such a random question?"
Matt said, "Not really. It came up on Day 1 of class."
"And yet he never mentioned the answer to that question in class," said Bryan. "That's so unfair for a test question."
"You got the answer, didn't you? Then stop worrying about it. The day holds more importance for you. Weren't you going to attempt a few trades after the area duels today? You should get your cards ready."
Kasumi beamed. "That's exciting. Who are you trading with?"
Bryan shrugged. "Just figured I'd start by asking around the Guardians since I've already met them all. It's easier than going up to random people and asking if they have any Hero support cards to trade."
"Do you know about The Outpost? You build a profile and post the specific cards you're looking for. If anyone has one, they can contact you with trade or monetary requests."
With a gasp entirely out of amazement mixed with frustration, Bryan said, "That's sounds amazing and like such a time saver. And almost too good to be true. What if something like that is how people found and stole the god cards?"
"It's an internal Duel Academy forum," said Kasumi, instantly shooting down the theory that some mainlander weaseled his way into a trade with last year's Guardian Duelers and then somehow swindled them out of their god cards. "Besides, not a lot of people post the cards they have to trade. It's like asking for people to bug you about it. Instead, they mostly just post the cards they want and only get bugged by someone who actually has the card."
"I'm okay with it either way. I don't mind meeting people," said Bryan. He reveled in the thought of having people come to him with more Hero cards instead of spending all his time trying to track them down. It's so much harder to figure out what cards are in someone's collection that they don't play. "Finding these Vision Heroes isn't as easy as that library book made it sound."
Matt nudged Kasumi. "Did you hear that? Bryan actually read a book."
"Har, har," Bryan mocked back.
Kasumi smiled but never laughed at Bryan's expense. "Well, check The Outpost, if you choose to. You'll be able to find out if someone has one of the Vision Heroes and is willing to part with it. Since it sounds like they might be cards that work best with other Heroes, you may get lucky and find someone willing to trade pretty cheaply."
"That'd be great."
"Just don't come off too needy," said Matt. "Treat it like buying a used car. You could take it or leave it. Otherwise you might get ripped off."
"Duly noted."
Presently Cary emerged from the lecture hall. Despite taking even longer than Bryan to finish and turn in her exam, she still looked perfectly calm and collected about the experience. Not a drop of sweat on her brow nor a hair out of place. Bryan was a bit jealous. If she held it together that well against the man who gave the hardest tests at Duel Academy, then there wasn't likely to be much that could faze her.
"Hi, Cary," beamed Kasumi. "How was it?"
Cary shrugged, and her relaxed expression said for her, "It was a breeze."
Trying to poke the bear, Matt said, "I notice you took longer than any of us to finish."
"I have better stamina," she replied. Instantly Bryan thought about sex and blushed. Judging from the smirk on Cary's face, it was the reaction she hoped for. "Some of us check our answers before submitting the test for evaluation."
"You only do that if you're not confident in your answers," said Matt.
"Or to ensure you always picked the answer you intended to. No stray marks that can be misread."
Matt pursed his lips briefly. "Yeah. No comeback. That's valid." Cary grinned victoriously.
Bringing her roommate into the fold, Kasumi explained, "I was just telling Bryan about The Outpost. He's trying to find some Vision Hero cards to help improve his deck."
The look of acceptance on Cary's face screamed a dozen comments at once. "I'm glad you recognize that you need help. You've lost every duel with the Longshots. Vision Heroes aren't a bad way to go. You really ought to pick a better theme than E-Heroes, though," and so many similar comments to complete that train of thought.
All she said out loud was, "You didn't know about The Outpost?"
Chuckling, Bryan confessed, "No. I feel oblivious."
"You are. The only way to be even less aware is to say you didn't check the card shop." Bryan thought he held back any visible reaction, but Cary's gaze suggested he failed. "You did know the card shop also deals in singles? And that there was a card shop in this building?"
Matt said, "Huh. That almost makes sense for a school that primarily teaches card games. We should have thought of that."
To counter the intense look of disapproval on Cary's face, Bryan quickly interjected, "Don't listen to him. We did know there was a card shop. We just haven't been there yet."
"Why not?" asked Kasumi. "It's a beautiful shop, and they have so many options."
"Because they want money," said Bryan.
That comment killed the conversation for a full thirty seconds. Kasumi and Cary both refused to make eye contact with Bryan. He wanted to defend himself against whatever conclusions they were drawing, but instead he just let them think whatever came to mind. It was easier than explaining his financial home life. Cary was the first to speak again.
"Then you won't get a lot of benefit from checking the singles. They're a business, so they underpay for the supply and then turn right around to overcharge in resale, especially rare or useful cards. Packs are cheaper because the value isn't guaranteed ahead of time."
Kasumi looked up. "Still, it couldn't hurt to see what's available, right?"
"I do love window shopping," Bryan remarked in a tone that easily be interpreted as sincere or sarcastic, and neither interpretation would be wrong. Oftentimes window shopping was the only kind of shopping he could afford. He shrugged at Matt and asked, "Want to go check it out?"
Matt checked his phone for the time. "We only have thirty minutes until area duels start."
Cary groaned. "Oh, my god. Everything is inside this same building. The card shop is on the second floor right across from the library's emergency exit. It's less than two hundred paces from the arena. Trust me: You have plenty of time."
Chuckling to himself, Bryan said, "That's a hilarious way to phrase that statement. You're a very funny girl. 'Trust you.' Riot!" He quickly changed his tune and patted Cary on the shoulder. "I'm just playing."
She returned a forced smile that implied she would willingly break his bones as a measured response to such treatment.
"I'll go with you," said Kasumi cheerily. Bryan was about to say how nice and polite the offer was when she tempered the effect by adding, "What else have I got to do before the area duels?" So much for sentiment.
Still, it was nice to have a pretty girl go with them. Bryan sometimes felt like Matt needed other people around to help him socialize better. While Bryan may be good at reining in Matt's particular brand of awkwardness, he still needed practice holding himself together around other people, and Kasumi was especially good at drawing out Matt's even-tempered side. Despite his words to the contrary, Matt probably had a legitimate thing for her.
The card shop was a sight to behold. First of all, the door was easy to miss right around the corner from the elevator and kind of hidden behind one of the giant lobby columns that rose all the way from the ground floor to the ceiling. If you weren't looking for it, which Bryan usually wasn't, then you'd miss it, like Bryan usually did. It shared the same glass walls as the library study rooms and the overall size of the shop was about a third the size of a lecture room, adding to its camouflage.
Once you did pay attention, however, it was eye-catching and hard to miss. The posters along the wall were of iconic Yu-Gi-Oh! Gaming tournaments and players, with pictures of the current national champs from across the globe and a few professional dueling teams. Bryan knew some of their names from watching them on TV, but he'd never had the luxury of attending a professional duel in person. He wondered if any of them were Duel Academy alumni who might visit the campus sometime.
Inside, the shop was as colorful as lining all the walls with paint swatches. An angled desk where the register sat nearly barred the door. The wall behind it was covered in wire shelving holding all the available structure decks—themed decks that were pre-assembled by the Kaiba Corporation for instant use by more amateur duelists looking for a decent deck to get started. A few shelving units were spaced out in the room offering books related to dueling and even a few binders full of single cards to peruse. Most of the valuable cards were locked up in the giant, glass cases that marked the wall opposite the counter. Rows and rows of cards so rare—and expensive!—that Bryan simply stared for two minutes straight without saying a word.
"We've lost him," said Matt. He waved a hand in Bryan's field of view with little reaction. "It may look like he's studying these cards in awe, he's really just overstimulated and lost the ability to process external stimuli. Watch this." Demonstrating the phenomenon to Kasumi, he slapped Bryan in the butt, popping the cheek nice and loudly. Bryan was aware of what happened around him, but until it inflicted harm on him, he filtered it out.
"Not the first time we've ever lost someone to that wall," spoke an older lady who stepped out of a back room Bryan hadn't noticed before. "Might be the first time I witnessed the butt clapping, though." She was clearly older but wore a hefty volume of makeup to counteract the effects of aging. No doubt her blonde hair retained that color through unnatural assistance. Her outfit resembled the Duel Academy uniform, but hers was even more relaxed than Matt's. She wore a sleeveless white jacket trimmed in purple over a pink sweater. Instead of wearing a matching skirt, she wore gray leggings.
"Hi, Desiree," said Kasumi. The lady smiled back and offered a short wave. "These are my friends Matt and Bryan. I thought I'd show them the card shop for their first time."
"Always a pleasure to have more students come by," said Desiree. "Feel free to look around. If there's anything you're unsure of or you can't see clearly, just ask. I assume you're here to spend your credits?"
Matt narrowed his eyes at her for a moment before speaking. "Of course. That sounds like the kind of motivator that keeps people operating here."
"You almost sound like you didn't know that you earn credits for this shop when you do well in competitions."
He shook his head. "They mentioned something about winning ten packs of cards when I finished placement exams with the highest freshman score. Since they never gave me anything, I just assumed they changed their minds because I refused to move out of Slifer Red."
Desiree winced. "Well, that's probably never happened before, to be sure. Maybe you did surprise them a tad. But they still should have clarified that your earned packs could be picked up here. You have your ID card with you?" Matt handed it over to Desiree and watched her swipe it through the card reader at the register. After clacking away briefly at the loudest keyboard ever devised by humankind, she reacted with surprise. "Well, now. It seems you've been a productive student so far. You have thirty credited packs built up. You feel like collecting?"
The idea sounded weird to Bryan. It wasn't quite the same as having money, but it was a similar sensation. A feeling of power that came with an upper limit, yet one that was so far away it was undetectable for the time being. But Matt's train of thought went in a different direction. "How do credits work with single cards?"
"That depends on the value of the card," said Desiree. "Are you looking for a specific one?"
"No, my cards actually work together. Maybe when I'm ready to try a different theme."
"We'll be here. Just keep in mind that your credits expire at the end of the semester. If nothing else, you should come by and grab a handful of free packs just for the sake of your collection before you lose them forever."
"I'll keep that in mind." He glanced back at Bryan, who was still focused on the wall of shiny cards. "Trouble, Bryan? Did your brain shut down?"
Bryan swallowed a few times before he found his voice again. "I've just never seen so many beautiful cards all at once before. The game shop back home couldn't measure up to this if it were quadruple the size."
Kasumi asked, "Really? The card shop in my city dwarfs this one. I mean, they sell cards for a wider variety of games, but still." She was obviously from a more affluent region than Bryan was. "Small town" was too grand a term to describe his hometown.
"Pass me your ID card. I'll see if you have any credits," said Desiree.
Bryan was nervous to hand over his card. He was afraid to hear her say what he was almost certain was coming—that his six wins for the semester equated to him owing money instead of getting any free gifts. But for the sake of being certain, he still offered his card. Desiree ran it and typed in a similar sequence to when she checked Matt's balance. Her expression didn't change, and so Bryan thought for a second that maybe he was in good shape after all.
But Desiree dashed that hope quickly. "Well, you have two available pack credits."
"I do?" he asked. Choosing for the moment to focus on the fact that his time at Duel Academy was worth anything at all, he asked, "Can you tell what for?"
"The only information I can look up is who gave them to you, and that's confidential. But typical ways they get earned are by perfect scores on course exams, team shutouts, long-odds placement exams, and participation in external competitions under the Duel Academy name."
Matt said, "There you go. Definitely two of those things describe you."
"Which ones?"
"No idea. But even if it's a bank error in your favor or if you won a beauty pageant we didn't know of or vote in, you get two free packs. If you're looking for Hero support, you should consider taking a couple of packs to see what you get. What's the best booster to help out an Elemental Hero deck?"
Desiree pointed toward the corner of the shop. "There's actually a booster series specifically for Hero cards. You won't know what you're going to get, but they'll definitely be related to Heroes. On the other hand, there's so much support for Heroes and so many different ways to play them partly because they tend to be low-tier cards. The biggest question you should ask yourself is whether you want to stick with the Hero theme or try building something newer and stronger."
Bryan faltered. She couldn't do a better job of asking exactly the soul-striking question that he had wrestled with ever since the cruise ship to the island… even if it technically wasn't a question. He hemmed and hawed briefly as he considered the answer to her question.
"I'll take ten of these," said Matt. He was standing in the corner pawing through the boxes, fishing out ten packages that had the word HERO emblazoned across them using the images from the component Hero Flash! cards.
Matt didn't have the time to wait for Bryan to make a life-changing decision in the moment. He tossed the packs onto the counter and handed over his ID card once more. "Bryan's going to hang onto his credits until he figures out what's inside these packs and what else he still needs." As soon as Desiree swiped Matt's card through the computer, he tossed the packs in Bryan's direction one at a time. Luckily Bryan's football days taught him how to catch. "Hopefully you get something good. Maybe you'll even get one of those Vision Heroes you're looking for without getting ripped off in the trade negotiations."
While Bryan felt a mix of dumbstruck and grateful, Desiree didn't show much of a reaction. "Feel free to come by later and check out the singles if you need something specific," said Desiree. "Hero cards aren't as expensive as the more powerful meta cards so you might be able to find them easily enough." She seemed to take a signal from Kasumi. "Are you on a schedule?"
Kasumi smiled sheepishly. "We're sorry for leaving so soon. It's almost time for the area duel."
"Don't worry about it. Stop by again whenever you have time and want some new cards."
As soon as they stepped out the door, Matt checked the time and shot Kasumi a cross look. "We still have eighteen minutes."
"Okay?"
He shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Never mind. Let's be on our way. If we walk like this, we'll just make it in time." He slowed his pace so suddenly it was like he got stuck in a time warp. Each step was painstakingly slow. A couple of students traversing the walkway had to weave around him while Bryan rolled his eyes. Kasumi shoved him playfully and said, "Shut up! There's nothing wrong with being early." On the other hand, maybe there was too early.
When the three entered the basement arena, they finally split. Kasumi wanted to go say hi to her friends and roommates, but Matt and Bryan were more interested in avoiding personal interaction while they opened some new packs. The arena was still empty by a huge margin. In terms of total capacity, the arena was capable of seating more than eight times the total student population in case of big events like school conventions or Homecoming events or graduation. The catch was that half the arena was blocked off during the semester to save on cleanup work. Even so, offering less than half the total capacity, plus early arrival to the area duel, meant you get an arena where you have to work harder to end up near anybody than to be alone. Matt led Bryan to a corner near the front and slid into the hard plastic seats.
Bryan was hopeful to see Dave, Andy, and Justin come join them, or even Jack and the other Longshots, but even as the arena slowly filled, he and Matt were largely left alone. The closest person in proximity was Mitsuro Itachu, who was sitting alone for the sake of sailing through a notebook, likely cramming in a few last-minute facts before her afternoon midterm. When the Guard Trio did come in, they had bee-lined straight for front and center.
"Catch up with them before lunch," said Matt, reading Bryan like an open pack of cards. "Or better yet, open those card packs so you know whether you still need all the cards on your list."
His suggestion wasn't needed. "For once, I'm actually way ahead of you." While Matt had napped silently for several minutes after sitting, Bryan had already started opening the packs from the card shop. He found multiple copies of Elemental Heroes he had yet to add to his collection, including Lady Heat, Ice Edge, and Voltic. He gathered another copy of Fusion Recovery and a new Miracle Fusion, both good support cards for fusing Heroes together. Pure luck had also granted him two copies of Vision Hero Vyon, which was on the list he eagerly sought. He set aside the Masked Heroes and Destiny Heroes to focus on combining the might of Elemental Heroes with Vision Heroes instead.
Dr. Lankford walked on stage wearing his crisp, blue coat and gathered everyone's attention as the lights dimmed. He gave the usual, generic welcome speech about how area duels are both a relaxed effort to test out one's duel skills and a competitive way to show your fellow duelists what you are capable of. He threw in a short description of how to initiate your own area duel participation—a lot of words that essentially boiled down to telling the faculty who you want to challenge to an area duel. Before exiting stage-left, he introduced the two duelists.
Naoki was a third-year Obelisk student and a leading scorer for the Obelisk Blues duel team. Despite coming up only to Bryan's shoulder back on the cruise ship, Naoki was a good head taller than his opponent. He was challenging Kai Jackson, who incidentally played for the Duel Dragonists team, whose deck focus was on synchro summoning powerful dragons. In the event of a win, Naoki was hopeful to claim one of Kai's rarest cards. Unfortunately Bryan was left guessing which card since Dr. Lankford never clarified.
"What do you think the card is?"
"It's probably not another copy of Vyon," said Matt.
Bryan huffed at him. "How did your sleepy ass know I found one?"
"I peeked." He winked. "Speaking of peeking, check out Mitsuro's two o'clock."
Instead of making a dumb joke about a new watch, Bryan actively wanted to check out anyone capable of turning Matt's head. Looking just over Mitsuro's right shoulder, he spotted a mousy girl who looked like she might still be ten years old. She had dark hair and eyes and wore her Duel Academy uniform perfectly pressed and meeting every minor regulation in the dress code.
"Emily?" asked Bryan. "Is Li a Chinese name?"
"What? Who?" Matt turned full body to take a look, which drew Mitsuro's attention enough to narrow her eyes at him briefly. He didn't notice the glare, but he finally spotted Emily Li sitting in the seat two rows in front of Mitsuro, just a bit to the left from his perspective. "Oh. I didn't even see her, and I spelled peeking with two Es you weird pun-seeker. But I meant Mitsuro's two o'clock, not ours."
"That is Mitsuro's two o'clock. Did you mean her five o'clock?"
Matt tried counting that out on his fingers. "Maybe? What's that in military time?"
Bryan rolled his eyes and turned for another look. Behind Mitsuro a few rows was a girl far taller than Emily, and significantly older. Well, not in reality, but she looked far more mature than the shorter girl. Bryan didn't recognize her, but he could see what got Matt's attention. She left her jacket unzipped about halfway down her torso to reveal a low-cut tank top with ample cleavage. With her extra age, she was filled out noticeably more than most of the girls in school. It took legitimate effort for Bryan to examine her face. She was attractive enough, but her curves caught Bryan's gaze and refused to relinquish until the lights finally fell too dim for him to see.
The two duelists approached and shook hands. Instead of dueling at the duel table, they were armed with personal Duel Disks, so setup took a little bit longer than usual. Bryan whispered, "Would you rather do her or Lucy?"
"Still Lucy," he said. "But she's a close third."
"Oh, yeah? Who's second?"
Matt put his finger to his lips and shushed. "The duel's about the start." Bryan snickered softly and settled back into his seat.
It wasn't the first time an area duel utilized Duel Disks, but it was still somewhat uncommon. More interesting was that Kai used a first-generation Duel Disk with some kind of modifications to it. Probably a Wi-Fi repeater or something to boost its signal to match the speed and quality of the newer models.
Naoki threw down a single card, emerging on the field as a tall and thin robot, like an orange Transformer. The name projected onto the side of the stage was Machina Gearframe (4: 1800|0), and it let Naoki take another Machina monster from his deck to his hand. He set one card before ending his turn.
Kai drew his card, took a look at it, glared at his hand, and then ended his turn without doing anything.
Bryan couldn't understand. "Why would he leave his field completely undefended?"
"Have you not been paying attention around here?" asked Matt. "Cary does that shit all the time. He's obviously building up his hand so he can unleash a one-turn kill."
"Isn't that risky? Machina cards move pretty fast and deal a lot of damage."
"I'm proud of you for knowing that."
First Naoki set one more card. Next he discarded a card from his hand and then moved Machina Fortress (7: 2500|1600) straight to the field. Immediately both of his mechanized weapons of war unloaded explosive bombshells all over Kai's side of the field.
Naoki 8000: Kai 3700
"See? Like that," said Bryan.
Rolling his eyes once more, Matt said, "You know he still has Life Points, right?"
He nodded.
"And what happens when someone still has Life Points?"
"Uh... He gets a bonus pack at the card shop?"
"No, jackass. He gets another turn."
"Oh, right. Obviously."
Matt smirked like he thought Bryan still didn't understand the significance of the duel situation. "Another turn means the duel could end in Kai's favor. Let's watch and see."
This time when Kai drew, he instantly reacted by placing down a spell card and dropping another card to the Graveyard. Twin Twisters kicked up on the field, ripping through the landscape surrounding Naoki's monsters. The two of them endured the high winds without effect thanks partly to their bulky mass. Right before each twister tore Naoki's set cards from the ground, Naoki flipped one of the cards up: Trap Stun sent a jolt of electricity through the backfield for both players.
"Tricky," said Bryan. "Hopefully Kai doesn't need trap cards for his OTK."
"He didn't even set any," said Matt. "Settle down and watch. You might learn something."
Kai was quickly joined on the field by a female card with flowing, white hair, a modest dress marked with dragonic images, and blue eyes shimmering like sapphires. Maiden with Eyes of Blue (1: 0|0) was beautifully rendered and carried a striking familiarity with a card Bryan knew couldn't be coming. He found himself holding his breath even as Kai discarded a man with blue, flowing robes and activated the effect. Sage with Eyes of Blue cast a spell over the Maiden, slowly evaporating her body into a white light that spread in a controlled drift. With the low arena lighting, the light resembled a constellation in the shape of... a Blue-Eyes White Dragon? Bryan immediately shut himself up. That was impossible! The Blue-Eyes was basically just a legend. Everyone back home always insisted it was a real card, but no one ever saw a one in real life, even at international tournaments. There weren't even any professional duelists who played that card. Bryan glanced in Matt's direction to see him equally rapt, his gaze fixed not to the display board but to Kai's physical deck.
The lights in the constellation connected and gave form to a gigantic dragon with pearl-white scales and eyes shimmering like sapphires. It was a real Blue-Eyes White Dragon (8: 3000|2500). It had to be real: The system's card reader actually recognized the magnetic signal and produced the appropriate hologram for that legendary engine of destruction.
"Oh, shit," Matt muttered. A hush of awe swept over the entire stadium. For once, Bryan felt vindicated in his surprise. This was a legitimately weird scenario. He wasn't the only one shocked to see a Blue-Eyes in real life.
The shock wasn't to end there. When the Sage had cast his spell against the Maiden, her own magic had summoned the Blue-Eyes. The magical energy of the spell, however, also lingered, floating like a blue light in the sky as it took the same size and shape - a second Blue-Eyes White Dragon (8: 3000|2500).
Kai ignored the glory showering in the direction of his monsters. Perhaps he was used to it already, or perhaps he didn't care. While everyone marveled, he merged his two dragons into the single body of Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon (10: 3000|2500). Joined into a single body, the dragon retained separate heads as blue markings spread through its sharpening joints. Without a word from Kai, one dragon head unleashed a beam too bright to view directly. Aided by the power of a discarded Honest, the visual display doubled the wings on the Blue-Eyes (+4800), providing a layer of feathered wings to bolster its attack power. The beam incinerated Machina Gearframe (1800) with no resistance.
Naoki 5000: Kai 3700
The second head fired an identical blast at Machina Fortress (2500), met with far greater resistance. Machina Fortress attempted to draw and redirect the attack only to find the Blue-Eyes was unaffected by its own energy. The effort exploded the Fortress, and fragments struck the Blue-Eyes. Grievous wounds sent the mighty creature to the graveyard.
Naoki 2700: Kai 3700
"Holy crap," said Bryan. "That dragon's power was insane! Naoki was so lucky his monster's effect killed it." He thought about what Matt had just said about letting the other player have a turn. This was Naoki's chance to turn it around and knock down a legitimate Blue-Eyes deck.
Suddenly a powerful cry filled the arena. It had the volume and strength of a Blue-Eyes, yet the cry was softer and somehow mournful. It came from Kai's card called Silver's Cry. Within moments, a Blue-Eyes White Dragon (8: 3000|2500) reemerged from the graveyard at full strength, still primed for battle. Bryan let slip an audible gasp, which finally broke the trance of everyone nearby so they could turn to look and laugh at him. But in spite of their derision, Bryan was shocked by the duel's abrupt ending. The fresh Blue-Eyes blasted Naoki directly and captured all his remaining LP.
Naoki 0: Kai 3700
The crowd's murmur reached higher volumes than Bryan had yet heard during an area duel. It sounded like a Blue-Eyes White Dragon was a real attention-grabber no matter what level of duelist you are.
"Who the hell is that guy?" asked Matt.
Bryan shrugged. "How should I know?"
"You're the friendly one."
"Yeah, but that's not a high bar since you actively hate everyone. I don't just walk around campus befriending everyone."
"Does that mean you don't know?"
"That's right." Looking for assistance, Bryan turned around to Mitsuro, who was chuckling to herself so hard she trembled. She was also an Obelisk, even if she lived in a separate dorm, so it seemed logical that maybe she would know. "Hey, Mitsy."
She shook her head. "You two are like an old, married couple."
Assuming the context of her comment, Bryan just rolled with it. "We get that a lot. Do you know anything about that Kai guy?"
"Presumably you're more curious about the Blue-Eyes. I've never actually met him. He keeps to himself and doesn't talk to many people, so I'm a little curious, too. Hang on a sec." She turned toward the busty student behind her while Bryan whispered to Matt, "You guys could be the same person with the Dark Magician and the Blue-Eyes." Matt couldn't argue with that description based on what Mitsuro had said.
"Hey, Syd," she called to the older girl, who responded with a lift of the chin - the universal sign for "What's up?" Mitsuro continued, "You've been around. Do you know anything about Kai or where he got legitimate Blue-Eyes cards you can actually play in a duel?"
"Syd" shook her head. "I don't know anything about him. All I know about the cards is that there are exactly one hundred copies in existence. I thought nobody would ever use them in a real duel. Maybe they're decent cards with a lot of support but their value is far higher as collector's items. You end up painting a target on your back when you play them in public." Now that she spoke, Bryan had an easier time not staring at her cleavage. She had very-white hair—like platinum, maybe—except she shaved the sides of her head, so it was really just the ponytail and wispy bangs that had color. When the lights came back up, he noticed a cut over her right eye, although it might be stray eyeliner or something.
Mitsuro remarked, "Luckily we're on an isolated island. Makes stealing more difficult. How far could a thief go?"
"I heard the god cards were stolen last year," said Syd. Bryan had to surmise from that comment that despite looking older, she was still in her first year at Duel Academy.
Matt grumbled, "Don't be too sure about that."
After sitting quietly by herself for so long, Emily Li seemed drawn by Matt's remark. She slid down the row a few seats until she was close enough not to be a disturbance as the second area duel set up. "I don't mean to interrupt, but did you just say the god cards were not stolen?"
"That's his theory," said Bryan. He added, "I guess. His theory changed a lot in the past few days."
"That's how theories work," said Matt, defending himself.
She nodded. "That's different from all the prevailing theories. Do you have evidence?"
"Different perspective mostly. Facts in this case are easily rotated to be viewed in a new way. When I have something comprehensive and defensible, you'll know it. I wonder if I'll get any bonus card shop credits for solving that case?"
No one really had a response to that. Instead Syd said, "Anyway, I don't know where he got those cards."
Emily said, "Kai claims to be descended from Seto Kaiba." When she received the stare of amazement from the others, she added, "I thought everyone knew that already. The way he tells it, his cards were a gift from Seto Kaiba himself."
Mitsuro laughed. "Obviously not the same Seto Kaiba talked about in legends. Even if he were real, that guy would be, like, 150 years old by now. No one that old has any business having kids."
"The previous president of Kaiba Corp did have the same name," said Syd. "Maybe it's possible he is that guy's son. At least that might explain how he managed to obtain such valuable cards... and then was arrogant enough to use them for dueling instead of keeping them pristine for his collection."
The lights went down again for the next duel and everyone sat back in their seats. Bryan said, "Some people value the cards in different ways from the money," but he received no response because the others turned their attention to the stage where two duelists were setting up their own Duel Disks.
As soon as the area duels finished, Matt bolted out of the stadium ahead of everyone else and took the stairs two at a time until he reached the administrative offices on the fifth floor. That was where he found Dr. West's office. When the school was built, the headmaster's office had been constructed in a domed room that occupied the entire sixth floor. The dome offered a view of almost the entire island, blocked only by the dormant volcano to the northeast. But the woman two headmasters before Corbin West took over had donated the office to the science department as an observatory. Instead, the headmaster took over one of the smaller office spaces on the fifth floor. According to her, anyone who needed more space than that to feel important was just showing off.
Walking into the office lounge, Matt immediately found a wide-open space set up like a hotel lobby with short couches and plush chairs offering a place for folks to sit and wait for their appointments to begin. Six doors lined the walls on either side, plus a passageway on the far wall. On the left side, he saw the mail room, bearing a giant, segmented box where teachers received their mail from outside the island. The next room up was the secretary's office, followed by the registrar's office where students could go to address concerns with their course schedules. Across from there was the vice-chancellor's office. It was locked, given Dr. Lankford was running the area duels. The room to Matt's right was Dr. West's office, and the door to that office was ajar.
The room in between the two chancellor offices was labeled as the Work Room. Matt assumed that was vague code that meant it was where personnel files were housed, but since he didn't care about that at the time, he didn't bother asking why a technological gaming company like Kaiba Corp would bother with hard copies of their files when it was so easy and reliable to upload everything to cloud computing.
Dr. West's current office, while not the size of an observatory, was still notably larger than the other faculty offices. In fact, Matt mentally calculated it had two-point-five times the floor space that his dorm room had for its three residents. Despite that, Dr. West somehow found a way to give an impressive air of chaos and disorganization. Architecturally speaking, the floor plan was basic: The desk sat on the far wall bedside the windows and several fichus plants and cacti, two rows of chairs faced each other surrounding a glass table in the middle of the room, and bookshelves lined the other two walls.
Every bookshelf looked like it had vomited its contents to the floor. Actually, that's not right. Vomiting would leave some of the shelves empty. Every bookshelf was filled to capacity, and yet there were still enormous stacks of books, periodicals, journals, printed manuscripts, reference texts, video media, and classroom papers all over the room. It was more like an episode of Storage Wars, or that episode of Monk where his brother Ambrose had collected all the newspapers for thirty years. Dr. West had made his office out of a storage room owned by a pack rat.
So clearly, people like him were the reason the headmaster needed more floor space.
Despite the mess in his office, Dr. West was very well kempt. His mustache was neatly trimmed to the same length and color as his thinning, gray hair, and although he was twice the man around that he was in his youth, he wore his uniform proudly to near-perfect standards—only the top button on his collar was undone.
As a test, Matt lingered in the open doorway for a moment just to see how long it took Dr. West to break his concentration and notice his visitor. Something on his laptop had him so rapt that the entire world was blocked out for at least thirty-seven seconds. Finally he noticed Matt and put on a broad smile that curled up the ends of his mustache. "Hi. Sorry about that. I was busy with this report and didn't see you, Mr. Luther. Please come in."
Matt was intrigued. The chancellor remembered his name without prompting.
"Sorry to bug you, Dr. West."
"Don't be silly. That's what office hours are for. Bug away." He moved from his desk to one of the chairs in the middle of the office and motioned Matt to the seat on the opposite side of the glass table. "What can I do for you? You aren't in my cognitive psychology course this semester."
With a nod, Matt said, "That's accurate. I wasn't looking for information about your class. I was actually hoping to hear a little bit about the burglary from last year."
"A burglary?"
"Yes, sir. You'll recall someone allegedly stole all nine of the god cards that are granted to the Guardian Duelers on campus."
He furrowed his brow briefly and then returned to his smile. "Ah, yes. I remember. The cards were returned to their owners, if I recollect."
"That's the story."
Dr. West noticed the hesitation in Matt's voice. "You don't agree?"
For once, Matt took a moment to consider his words carefully. He was speaking to the school's headmaster, after all—not the best person to annoy with blunt language. Punishments might be quicker and more absolute.
"It's a mystery. The perpetrator was never caught. Even if the stolen goods found their way back to their owners, I'm still bothered by the events. Obviously you and the rest of the administration found enough cause to build the Guardhouse so the Guardians were no longer readily accessible by other students."
"We can't take all the credit. That was a suggestion brought to us by a Guardian Dueler who graduated two years ago. He had felt threatened by some of his classmates, and so Nashida mentioned that putting them in a separate building might help. After the theft, we simply sped up the timeline."
Matt made a note on his phone. "Who's Nashida?"
"Professor Aseel. Sorry for the familiarity slip. She teaches the computer classes—programming and software, the stuff I could never wrap my head around. She's also the faculty advisor for the Guardian Duelers."
At first Matt moved to scratch out his note. Knowing the name of another professor wasn't that interesting. He stopped himself after two strikethroughs and glanced thoughtfully at Dr. West. "Was she already the faculty advisor before they moved into a new building? Or did they share the Obelisk advisors?"
"She was always their advisor. From the beginning, the Guardian Duelers deserved a separate advisor since their cards are unlike the others. That has been Nashida since shortly after she joined us twelve years ago."
Now Matt left his notes alone and didn't bother to fix the strikethrough. Pr. Aseel's history as a faculty advisor wasn't interesting. Had she been assigned after the Guardhouse went up, it could speak to motive. But if she was always around, why wait twelve years to steal cards and then return them?
"How did you find out the cards were stolen?" asked Matt, continuing with his original line of questioning.
Dr. West huffed. "That's a question better asked to the Guardian Duelers. I only learned after they told Nashida and she passed the word on up to the administration."
"Okay, fair enough. After you heard, what did you do?"
"I stepped back and let Sergeant Stilson do his job. He led the investigation. Have you heard his report?"
"I started there. Most of it was redacted, like he didn't want students knowing all the details."
Dr. West made a note on a message pad he kept on the glass table. "I will check with him. Stilson is detail-oriented, so the redacted segments may pertain less to the god cards and more toward personal items discovered during the room inspections. If he and I agree there is any information previously redacted that is not personal in nature and cannot be traced to specific students, past or present, I will see that you get a copy without the redactions."
That was already more than Matt had hoped to get out of the meeting. "I appreciate that, sir. Were you part of the room inspections?"
"No. I'm getting along in years, so constant kneeling and standing is hard on me. Kevin—Dr. Lankford was partnered with campus police for inspections. Gabby assisted inspections of the girls' dorm. Dr. Houtz, that is. Only those two were involved in order to introduce as little variation in the process as possible. They saw things differently from how I might've."
"Understandable. Last question set: How did you find the cards?"
The chancellor motioned toward the door. "They were left in my mailbox."
"Was there a note?"
"No note. Just nine cards inside an envelope."
"Did you have the police investigate?"
Dr. West made a face like Matt had just suggested the most ludicrous idea possible. "What was there to investigate? I had the cards back. The professors and the Guardian Duelers were all relieved. We handed the cards back to the students and went about our business improving security for the whole campus."
"What if one of those students stole the cards in the first place?"
"Then I would be fascinated to find out the hiding spot that was used. The police combed the entire island and found no sign of them for two weeks. If you don't mind a thought experiment pushed your way to consider for your investigation: What benefit would anyone derive from stealing the cards? They are too valuable and visible to be sold without drawing attention."
Matt shrugged. "In my experience, sir, legality doesn't matter much. If anyone is interested in owning something, then someone else can sell it. A good fence knows how to find discrete rich people who can skirt the law and the authorities."
Dr. West was silent for only a couple of beats, but it was long enough for Matt to assume that he was being judged. He had let it slip that his knowledge of fencing stolen goods was learned through experience. Maybe that kind of slip-up could get him in trouble. Without proof, worst-case scenario was he was given a wide berth by everyone while the teachers kept an eye on him. Enhanced safety measures plus people don't talk to him? Hardly a punishment given the atmosphere of thievery.
But what the chancellor actually said was, "If you are correct, your story suggests the cards were not stolen after all. Or if they were, maybe the thief had a change of heart."
Matt suppressed the urge to make a pun about the spell card called Change of Heart. Instead, he decided that he wasn't going to get anything else out of Dr. West in this meeting on the topic. Especially because he had seen a few other students poke their heads through the door, and Dr. West wasn't going to devote his full office hours to a closed case.
"If you happen to learn anything in your investigation, I'm curious to know," he said as he stood. Giving Matt a sincere smile, he added, "Projects are good for keeping the mind keen without stressing too hard over your studies. Just don't let it affect your schoolwork." That sounded like Dr. West giving his permission for Matt to keep looking into the missing god cards. Once again, the chancellor surprised him with his level of cooperation.
"Thank you, sir." He noted, Mini-mystery: Is Dr. West telling the truth, or is he just that confident that I won't find anything?
"Kasumi told me about The Outpost. I guess people post cards they're looking for and let other people come to them with trade offers. Honestly with my limited supply of spare cards, I've got my fingers crossed that people will just be glad to get rid of their Hero cards and will make me generous offers," Bryan explained as he sat in the sitting room of the Guardhouse.
Mikey shook his head. "The Outpost is a lost cause. People aren't going to give you their best there. If you really want people to give you a good deal, you've got to duel for it."
Erica pointed out, "That's part of the problem to begin with. Bryan's already struggling because of his deck's instability. How is he supposed to duel for better cards like that?" Bryan was glad someone else pointed that out for him. If he had been the one to say it, he would have come off as whiny.
But Mikey didn't seem to buy the logic. "I'm just sayin' the guy who wants it most wins the most."
"That's not a logical argument at Duel Academy," said Dave. "Everyone here wants the win. A lot of people act like each duel is life or death and they still lose sometimes. Wanting it isn't enough. Luck has its place, but you need to control your deck in order to win."
Mikey shrugged. "That's not how I see it. Roll with the deck and let the so-called Heart of the Cards guide you. That's how I've always dueled." His attitude wouldn't be so upsetting if he weren't basically right about that. Mikey Brittle had always been lucky in his duels. Either he would end up with a stellar hand or else his opponent would draw crap. He was similar to Matt in that vein. But Bryan couldn't afford to be outwardly rude or honest about it because Mikey had a copy of Elemental Hero Shadow Mist that he didn't care for and didn't mind letting go. The problem was he wasn't any closer to deciding that Bryan deserved the card.
Justin said, "I'm about to duel you in his place. Don't be such a dick, Mikey. Not everyone was born dripping with luck. Even I didn't get my god card until this year and no one has ever had a deck more perfect for Raviel than I do."
With a wide, toothy grin, Mikey replied, "Can't be helped. When you got it, flaunt it."
"Isn't that from The Producers?" asked Bryan.
Suddenly Mikey was uncomfortable. "Don't know whatcher talkin' about."
"It totally is. The song Uma Thurman sings," said Dave. Everyone got a short chuckle at Mikey's expense. He seemed to absorb it with good humor until his attitude got just a little harsher.
"Tell you what, kid. You caught my pop culture reference. I respect that. Whenever you want to duel me for Shadow Mist, I'll accept."
Bryan replied, "Do I have to win in order to get the card?" Mikey's returned expression gave Bryan the distinct impression that he had just lost whatever respect Mikey claimed to have for him.
Dave said, "Seriously, guys. Bryan's just here to ask about trades. If you don't have what he needs or you don't want to give it up, then you don't have to stick around."
The front door opened and muffled voices made their way to the sitting room. Erica hopped up from the couch to make her way over and catch whoever just entered. She got up too eagerly, though, and her ankle caught on the leg of the coffee table. She tumbled forward, just barely catching herself on the floor, but her skirt had flipped up. Bryan was at her side and only saw how smooth and thin her legs were, but Mikey was in position to catch a full view of the moon. Blushing despite her Euro-Asian complexion, Erica pushed her skirt back down and slowly walked out of the room.
Laughing and smiling widely, Mikey asked, "Why would I leave the show?"
Bryan hadn't spent enough time with Erica to label her as a klutz, so he asked Justin in hushed tones, "Does she trip a lot?"
"Only when I'm around," said Mikey. "It's not just because of my striking good looks, but for those, too." Bryan had to assume it was Mikey bragging more about just being lucky.
"How was it?" he asked.
Mikey shook his head and lied through his teeth. "I didn't see a damn thing." For all the ways Mikey was so lucky, he made the decision to go to Duel Academy far later than most. Being in his third year of school and twenty-one years old, pursuing girls any younger than eighteen could potentially embroil him in legal trouble. Only a handful of the girls currently enrolled were old enough not to carry the word statutory. At least out loud, he would always deny anything that could be interpreted sexually.
When Erica came back, she had another girl with her. Bryan had definitely seen her before, but he couldn't place where. It was a small campus, but a lot went on there. The girl offered a short wave to everyone else in the room before Erica asked, "Jade, have you met Bryan yet?"
"I have not," she said. "Not officially, at least. I have heard about you." He could hear a soft British accent in her voice, but even more noticeable was that her eyes didn't match. One was light brown and one was light blue. He had heard of that odd mutation before, but he couldn't remember what it was called. Heteretina? Chronomaly? Neither sounded quite right. And he wasn't sure if it was rude to mention it in front of her, so he opted not to say anything and avoid offending her.
But when he stood to shake her hand, he realized she wasn't much taller than Erica, leaving him to tower over her. She had looked taller when he was sitting. "Nice to meet you, Jade. I'm a little curious where you heard about me, though."
She laughed. "Nothing to fret over. I read the student directory sometimes. Even if we have never met, I have read every student's name at least once. You are in the Slifer dorm." She gave a half shrug, motioning toward the jacket he wore. "Obviously. But I believe you are in the same room with Jack Hansbury and Matthew Luther."
Bryan forced a smile and nodded. "That's… eerie, honestly."
Jade winced. "Oh, I'm sorry. I forget that bothers some people. Just think of me as an insatiable reader. The student directory just helps me to remember names before I meet someone. It saves the effort I need later to remember who you are. Now I have a face to go with the name."
"Fair enough," said Bryan, relaxing just a bit. Jade had a tendency to keep looking away from him briefly and then glancing back even while she spoke. He remembered a kid from middle school who did that all the time because he had ADHD. At first glance, he assumed Jade had the same issue. Maybe that explained why she bothered to read the student directory.
Erica brought them back to the purpose of his visit. "Bryan runs an Elemental Hero deck. He came here to chat and see if any of us had any Hero cards we'd be willing to trade for."
Joy flashed across Jade's face. "I might just! Let me run to my room and check for you." She bounded out of the room and disappeared. Bryan couldn't help noticing the lecherous look that he would never admit on Mikey's face.
Dave commented, "Kinda surprised she doesn't have all of her cards memorized already since she memorized the student directory." That earned a chuckle from everyone—even Erica, who shushed him for being rude.
Bryan again began mentioning some of the cards he had available for trade. Unfortunately his total collection was rather small. Once his deck was built with the required forty cards plus his extra deck, he didn't exactly have top-grade options left over. Dave and Justin were helping him to figure out the best cards he had and how he could put them to use as trades.
Justin kept coming back to the idea that Bryan should pursue the Masked Heroes, especially if he wanted to focus more on the fusion cards. Bryan had mentioned that he was attached to the Elemental Hero fusions, in part because the cards were around a long time and he was nostalgic. Erica pointed out that xyz monsters could be more versatile for him, but that also meant they were more popular. Most of the really useful xyz monsters could work despite the deck theme, so everyone wanted them, hiking up the trade cost. On that note, Bryan wanted to stick to gathering fusions that people were more likely to trade away.
When Jade came back, she walked in with two more Guardians: Yul Tan and Gima Utamuro, whom Bryan had already met on previous visits. Both guys had somewhat sullen expressions as their default condition, but they were just a little quiet while being generally friendly. Yul had Chinese heritage whereas Gima, from southeastern Japan, was as much a local as anyone could be at Duel Academy.
"Look who I found upstairs," said Jade.
Erica smiled at the other two. "Hey, guys. I didn't realize you were home." Bryan noticed that Erica was a hugger—that is, she enjoyed hugging her friends as a greeting. Yet she didn't hug these two. Considering the size of her smile, he assumed it was their decision, possibly a cultural difference.
Yul nodded in Bryan's direction. "Jade says you want Hero trades."
"That's what I'm looking for," he said. "Unfortunately I don't have a whole lot of stuff to offer, but there is still a chance we can strike a bargain. Have you got any cards you're willing to part with?"
Yul handed over a small pile of cards for review. Bryan leafed through only to realize they were primarily omni-Heroes, the name given to Elemental Hero fusions that required a monster of a specific element instead of a specific name. Bryan already had them all. "I'm sorry," he said as he handed them back.
"It is my apology," said Yul.
"Well, hang on," said Erica. She slid one of the cards from the back to the top of the pile. "You can always use another copy of The Shining. Fusions don't get duplicated unless you have extra cards."
Bryan hesitated. "You think?"
"I'm just saying you should consider it. After you figure out whether you can find all the cards on your wish list or not, then come back to Yul and see if he'll still trade this one. This guy has such a huge collection of rare cards that he'll never miss this one."
Shrugging, Yul said, "Take it for now."
Now Bryan was really overwhelmed. "Are you sure?"
He nodded back. "If you change mind, bring back. We figure trade later. It's like investment."
Justin smiled and pointed at Yul. "I like that. Invest in his deck so that he can get stronger. And then maybe he can use Mikey's strategy to win some of the other cards you're looking for but no one will duel you since you're a Guardian." Turns out Justin had a bit of a devious side to him. Suddenly Bryan felt like he was in a spy movie playing the incompetent, undercover bumbler.
Although Gima understood English as well as anyone could expect of him, he didn't speak it well and that made him a man of few words. He said the words "Elemental Hero" in a thick, Japanese dialect followed by slicing his hand sideways in the air to indicate that he didn't have any. But then he handed Bryan a copy of Gemini Spark. "Neos Alius," he said. Bryan had to read the text on the card before he even remembered that Neos Alius is a Gemini monster and easily served as a catalyst for the destruction effect Gemini Spark offered.
Bryan felt compelled to nod, kind of like a short bow. "Thank you." He noticed Dave and Justin snickering and assumed they were mocking him for bowing to the Japanese guy. Maybe he watched Karate Kid too many times. "I don't know what I can trade you for this."
Gima shook his head rapidly, suggesting he didn't want anything for it. Gemini Spark wasn't a rare card—it just happened to be one Bryan lacked.
"I'll help spot you on the trades, if it makes you feel better," said Dave.
"And how do I pay you back?"
Dave shrugged. "Honestly, there's not much I'm looking for. If anything, maybe you can trade me a couple of card packs from the shop. The excitement of opening a new pack for the sake of collecting might be worth a few Hero cards."
"Yeah, yeah, less yapping," said Erica. She playfully pushed Bryan back down to the couch and wagged her hand like she wanted him to give her something. "You've got some new cards to work with now. Let's get you deck-building and playtesting."
Thanks go to readers Titanic X, Amourenvie, SketchyWolf, Vstriker, and KingofJokers23 for my guest OCs in this chapter. This is yet another chapter where I prove that I don't feel right skipping straight to the main story. A lot of information in here is building up to it, but the continued character growth feels necessary to me. Sorry for all that. The next chapter will bring out an event familiar to GX fans - the School Duel, but with a twist!