Abel Oga was twelve when he developed his fear of heights. As a child, he would run a kitchen chair out onto the balcony of his apartment and dribble down lines of spit until they snapped and sprinkled to the street, twenty stories below. If he got his spit to the right consistency (fast food in particular gummed his saliva to a saline putty), he'd dangle his tongue down and try to measure the sky with spit. His mother made him stop.

Mary Jay Oga afforded the apartment off of a law enforcement pension, and used a cane on account of the bullet in her hip. It caused her terrible pain at night, and Abel knew the doctor's number backwards and forwards, and he never used it backwards but feared, being nine, that he might need to. As soon as he was old enough to go out on his own, he knew the way to the pharmacy, the name of his mother's pain medication (HeartX was easier to say than acetaminophen), and the shake of the candy-blue pills as his mother scrabbled at the canister, and the rain-like sound as it rolled out of her hand. She loved him very dearly, which, like many things, made her sad.

In those years when Abel's mother was well enough to walk and laugh, they would go out on the town. San Domino's subway tunnels ran beneath the streets, constant excavation projects a precursor for what would become the Atrium. For the Ogas, it meant veering around cones and fences on the sidewalk, peering at the sallow-faced workmen climbing up from the earth.

It had been a freezing winter and spring came too quickly, splitting the concrete like dry lips, the cracks bleeding rainwater. Oga would someday learn that rapid soil liquefaction was the term for a street that gives way beneath you and your mother, pitching her into the earth amid boulders of asphalt. It took rescuers hours to free her without triggering another landslide. The city paid a settlement. The pills doubled.

It was when they had to move out of the apartment, descending the complex stairs for the last time, that Oga felt the weight of their descent, and the void beneath them. It was as though these stairs could keep going down and down, and no ground could assure their end. His fear of heights was not limited to balconies and windows; just standing on a crack on the sidewalk was unbearable to him, knowing what lay beneath. Over time, the city would eat away more and more of the earth beneath it. Mary Jay Oga would waste away for years before passing of a heart attack while Oga was in university.

News of her death rattled him with the distinct confirmation that the bottom had truly fallen out of his life. If he fell now, there was no telling how far he could go.

As his grades slipped, and he careered towards a job in the newly developed mining operation, he calmed himself with the slowness of his descent. None of this would be as sudden as the street collapse. His downfall would be guaranteed to him over the course of a million little moments.

Abel awoke from his dreamlike state to find that he had become Oga, hurrier of B-Block. He had made it to the lowest possible point, and the fall had been soft. He laughed as he worked.

He had never much liked Duel Monsters as a child, but suddenly his life was full of it. At the nadir of his life, Oga made a conscious choice to love duradine and covet it fiercely. If you loved the symptoms of your misfortune, nothing could ever hurt you again. His tenacity made him a prime candidate for foreman, surpassing his senior, the diligent but unambitious Clavis Barnes. By now, Oga was familiar and comfortable with his own rung on the ladder of haves and have-nots. He did not balk or expire like the other miners, and so became an institution of the Atrium.

He cheated his subordinates and worked them like dogs. Duradine overflowed inert from his hands. Profits were passed up the ladder, but only he would get to see the moment where a miner turned over their find, when an artifact became an item of trade. Seeing the despair in their eyes soothed him; like him, they had risen on a small wave of hope, and were now returning beneath solid ground.

This continued until one day Clavis, looking unremarkable and unmovable, placed a single card on Oga's table and said "I'd like to buy this."

It was a low-grade card, the glassy surface dulling the light it touched. Dark King of the Abyss. By the competitive standards of Duel Monsters, it wasn't even usable. Even the image depicted - a demonic face and hand grasping at an orb of light - was unremarkable. Still, policy was policy, and if he let Clavis do an on-site buyback, there was a chance that everyone else might start asking for one.

Chief Oga stared into the face of his longtime coworker. There was intent in Clavis's eyes, but no flame. Just quiet heat like a low coal.

Oga decided to make an exception for his old friend. In the same breath, he had decided to despise and ridicule Clavis Barnes for all his dreams were worth. The exact worth of those dreams, they would each find out much later.

The first time Abel Oga dueled, Yuu Tokari was standing across from him, wielding his own dream. At the time, Oga had been furious that his bluff challenge had been answered when Yuu was able to produce a deck. But over the course of his first game, the heat of Clavis Barnes commingled with sparks from the flinty roughness of Yuu's dueling. Oga found himself dueling far better than expected, and loving every moment.

From that point forward, a card wasn't just a symbol of their daily drudgery in the Atrium, nor was Oga's comfort contingent on the fact that he had nothing to fear losing. Now he was a duelist, and these cards were his deck. He wasn't naive enough to think he couldn't fall again, but he'd toss down every sucker in the Atrium to cushion the landing, damn what they think.

And damn what Heart Excavation thinks, too. Looking to pin the blame on him for an accident brought on by the meddling of pro Duelists. Oga would go pro himself, that would show them.

Even within his cruel spirit, something had begun to shift. His cynicism had fled him, and he didn't notice until he finally looked down.

The crowd was in his ears. His hands were braced upon his knees. Oga was having trouble staying awake. His breathing had entered an arrhythmia, pelting light, dry wisps down his throat. Something had just happened, and the lights were too bright to figure out what.

A duel disk was strapped to his arm, a thin cuff of sweat between the metal and his skin. If he'd just slide it over, he could read the numbers on the digital display.

Chief Oga - 0 LP

Ori Yamatano - WIN

So, that was it.

Vague giants of light dissipated on the duel field. Oga could not remember their names; they had stormed the field as Ori Yamatano declared a myriad of effects. She was silent now, parting the crowd with a look and exiting the duel field. Oga barely registered Fey's voice blaring over the speakers, announcing her victory.

How many turns had it been? Two, three? All around him, duelists continued to fight. Above Duel Field C, a warrior clad in blue draconic armor spun its spear above its head and struck down a dragon, obliterating it to particles. Above Duel Field D was that high-grade again: Crime of Prometheus, casting down a hot vanilla light across the plaza. The sun was unbearable today.

He stumbled out of the crowd, piecing the events of the duel back together through the audience's stares. Their expressions didn't begrudge his loss - it had come without warning and without alternative. Yamatano had access to cards that none in the Atrium could ever dream of possessing. At the same time, Oga was pincered by their pity and resignation - the consolatory thoughts towards someone who didn't deserve to go out like this, but there was really no avoiding it if you looked at the facts. This was a greedy duradine foreman against a pro duelist. Their stares told Oga that he'd shown them the best possible outcome for that matchup, and it was still an overwhelming defeat.

He'd fought like hell, then. Humiliated himself with the full reach of his efforts. That was the greatest sting of it - that he'd tried. Knowing the fall that awaited him, he'd jumped. Oga, in his great cynicism, had ridiculed his own desires to justify having them. And he'd let them destroy him, in the end.

Enraged, he began swiping at the faces in the crowd, as though to curb with his own hands the torrent of their perception. They parted, but even more heads turned in his direction. The heat of judgment burned Oga's neck. His Duel Disk weighed like a manacle. Now that his head was clear of dreams, he saw the Atrium as the only thing it had always been - a grave.

Someone moved out of the crowd, grabbed him by the wrists. It was one of Fey's security goons, taking a firm but placative tone with his directions to please sir, do not leave the area until you have returned your Duel Disk.

Oga let himself be led back to the registration table in front of the podium. Fey had stepped down momentarily, dusting his gloves with a self-satisfied smile. He spread his arms, hawking up a rehearsed bit about how close the duel was, what a shame, but as you know, half of all duelists in a tournament never make it to round two. Not to mention that you were seeded against a professional all of which is to say that it was never, ever going to go your way, and you knew that the moment you signed up and the moment you were born.

Oga externalized himself through the motion of removing his Duel Disk. First, the two buttons that clasped the cuff at its current size. Then, a third fastening at the elbow that secured the disk from rotating down the arm. Finally, he slid the machine off of his arm and removed his deck from the duradine slot. His breathing had returned to normal by the time he set it down, his sensibility restored. His ears popped when he spoke.

"Enjoy the rest of your tournament," he said derisively. "When you're done, leave and don't come back."

He didn't get the chance to turn around before Fey's gloved hand attached to his shoulder. "Abel, you really should stay and watch. Not only is such an experience edifying for the spirit of every Atrium resident-" he gestured around the rapt audience to make his point "-but I'm also offering something very special to each of the participants upon their defeat."

"You think I want a participation award?" Oga grabbed Fey's lapels and brought them up to his chin. Around them, security moved to intercept - only waved off by Fey's nonchalant gesture.

"It's not an award. It's an offer." Fey's eyes glittered with the most dangerous kind of promise - the final kind. "And if you want to know more about it, you'll have to wait until after the round concludes."

Oga pretended to think. In truth, there was nothing better to do with his day. With his career at Heart ruined, soon there would be nothing better to do with any of his days. "All right."

He set Fey down and took a position in the crowd. Fey jumped back onstage without a word, calling up a round of applause for the first four winners. When Oga looked back, Yuu Tokari was climbing into the stands, undefeated. The kid had arrived stray, and was still looking lost now. When someone has such lofty expectations, they are already lost without knowing it, never considering what might become a halting impossibility.

The only one who had found a way out, and actually seemed to be walking it, was Clavis. The crowd parted for him as it did for Ori - it recognized his newfound seriousness. Little did they know that Clavis, with his deck of low-grade weaklings, was in for just as much of a beatdown, new outfit or not. Gozu Daimonji was no professional, but she also wasn't one to mess around with duradine for no reason. If she had entered the tournament herself, then the full might of the Monji stood behind her, minus the one of her lackeys who had also signed up.

The pairings for the second half of the first round made their way down to the Duel Fields. After this, there would only be eight duelists left in the Atrium Royale. This number would keep withering until they could all get on with their lives. Oga eagerly waited for Clavis to join him in those ranks.

"Duelists, prepare once more!" Fey shouted, lording over the arena. "Now, once more, fight!"

Duelists exploded into action on all four fields at once. Oga kept his focus on Clavis's match as the old man lifted his Duel Disk and drew his hand.

Clavis - 4000 LP

Gozu - 4000 LP

For a moment, Clavis looked at his cards in a sentimental manner, and Oga was ready to laugh at whatever cheap beater Clavis could muster on his first turn. His face fell as Clavis played his first card.

"I summon Kashtira Fenrir."

A column of red light dropped into the square and plumed dust. It dissipated, leaving only a humanoid creature which was equally flesh and armor. Bright red plating was bound by the sinews of grey-banded musculature, and a scowling muzzle remained motionless as the creature stood and looked across the field, pointing with its tomahawk as though to delineate its dominion.

Shocked whispers rippled through the crowd, Oga with his head above the current. So Fey's tutelage had come with a deck upgrade, one that embedded Clavis straight into the curve of power.

"Fenrir's effect," Clavis said, wasting no time, "will add Kashtira Unicorn."

It was the full Kashtira deck, then. Oga remembered griping about them to a coworker, back in the day; they were, in a lot of ways, a grievous acceleration of Duel Monsters. Each Level 7 Kashtira could Special Summon itself to an empty field, curbing the sacred Tribute Summon cost that the game had been founded upon. Each card also could search the deck another maneuver of Kashtira's blitzkrieg: Fenrir could seek a Monster, Unicorn could advance a Spell. However, it was the third effect of the Kashtira ground forces that made them so loathsome and oppressive. Clavis didn't seem interested in explaining any of this, as his fingers moved to a different card in his hand.

"The Continuous Spell Card, Kashtira Birth. I'll use it to Normal Summon my Unicorn. Then, I'll activate its effect to add Kashtiratheosis from my deck to my hand."

Kashtira Birth / Continuous Spell Card

He was picking up speed now, not bothering to explain his plays to the audience. That was a courtesy reserved for a duel in which you believed your opponent could do something about it.

Giant red canisters rained from the sky, hissing as they hit the ground. In this militaristic advance, another unfleshed beast dropped at terminal velocity, slamming the canister it held into the ground like a flag. Its crimson horn denoted its status: Field Commander of Kashtira, the Unicorn. As it raised its acrylicized hand, wisps of green air began to steam from the gaps in its armor, as though something's breathing was suppressed within.

Kashtira Unicorn / Level 7 / WIND / Psychic / ATK 2500 / DEF 2100

Clavis mirrored the motion, activating his spell. "Kashtiratheosis, when activated, lets me summon a different Kashtira monster from my deck in Defense Mode. I'll choose Kashtira Ogre, and add Kashtira Preparations."

Kashtiratheosis / Normal Spell Card

The spell card's visual effect accreted to his left arm; a deep space indigo that tore up matter like a script and compiled it to a new creature, the third of the Kashtira ground forces, a masked ogre with a segmented steel battleaxe.

Kashtira Ogre / Level 7 / WATER / Psychic / ATK 2800 / DEF 1000

Ogre unleashed a battle cry, its vocal cords pierced with shards of polycarbonate. Like clockwork, Clavis searched his deck for another Kashtira card - this time a Trap card, "Kashtira Preparations" - and added it to his hand.

The crowd's agitation articulated: "His turn just keeps going on and on" - a common complaint that was about to get much more common. "How's Daimonji going to be able to take her turn with all of those monsters out on the field?" - in short, she wasn't. Oga shook his head. Perfect information in a winless scenario was just hell on preview. The fall is just as gruesome if you're looking.

Unicorn and Fenrir had decomposed into green and brown bulbs of light. Oga knew what came next.

"I'll build the Rank 7 overlay network with two monsters," Clavis said, "and Xyz Summon."

Oga resisted the urge to shut his eyes, watching as hexagonal plates began orbiting a sinister crimson light. Clavis was now in command of a card that could end an opponent's turn before it began. It was a Dyson Sphere that captured only cruelty and emitted it to dominate the universe. This was the planet-busting weapon of the Kashtira, the throne and spear of their conquest.

"Kashtira Shangri-Ira," Clavis said, then, on a whim, added, "Consume the world."

Bright fiery plasma poured over his shoulders, as though he were standing in a waterfall. The crowd followed the flow back upwards and gasped; emerging from the ceiling of the Atrium was a great convexity of black metal, surging with the terraforming light of Kashtira. The scattered canisters on the field began to glow harshly, as though totems to its presence. The people of the Atrium cowered beneath Shangri-Ira's scleral dome of geometric plates, bloodshot with the core of a world.

Kashtira Shangri-Ira / Rank 7 / FIRE / Psychic / ATK 0 / DEF 3000

Oga, like everyone else, knew that Shangri-Ira's apocalyptic low orbit was a visual flair from the Duel Disks, but to see Clavis stood within its might was striking, because Clavis was real, more so than he had ever been to them.

"Now, I'll activate the effect of Kashtira Riseheart in my hand." The Shogun of Kashtira, rage incarnate, descended for battle. He waved his hand once more, and the commander Riseheart mimicked his motion.

Kashtira Riseheart / Level 4 / FIRE / Warrior / ATK 1500 / DEF 2100

"Riseheart's effect will banish the top three cards of your deck face-down." Its soldiers rushed forth, tearing back the top three cards of Gozu's deck and imprisoning them within the canisters.

"I'll activate Shangri-Ira's effect at Chain Link 2. Chain Link 1," Clavis said, slotting a card into the banishment zone of his Duel Disk, "will be the card banished as a cost of Riseheart's effect: Kashtira Bigbang."

Chain Link 2 - Kashtira Shangri-Ira

Chain Link 1 - Kashtira Bigbang

Steel welled up like water through the earth of Gozu's field. The sealed zone was interlaced with the feeding pipes that the Kashtira used to extract the planet's resources; and inject it with their homeworld's terrain. The matriarch of Daimonji grimaced as she regarded her field; her available monster zones had gone from five to four. At the same time, Riseheart raised its galactic left arm and made a wrenching motion, closing its fist. Light cohered from Shangri-Ira's glow, reforming the body of Kashtira Fenrir in defense mode.

"Shangri-Ira will lock your one of your monster zones, and Bigbang will recreate my Fenrir from the Xyz Material," Clavis said. The explanation seemed to tire him.

The audience was stunned into silence, staring at Gozu's field, corrupted by the staked claim of Kashtira. Shangri-Ira's overwhelming might would continue forcing her off the board for every card banished face-down. Oga shivered. He had no one to talk to, no one with whom to dread or hope. And so he kept watching as Clavis made his final move.

"In a turn that Shangri-Ira activates its effect, I can build the Rank 7 overlay network with a single monster." Kashtira Riseheart ascended into Shangri-Ira's torrential bombardment. Plated armor began crawling over its body, pulsing furiously as it locked into place. Eight mechanical wings unfolded from its back, a dragon's tail lashing behind it. Riseheart's shogunate robe was pierced by its armor, billowing as it glided back down to the field. This was the damning nail, the final component of a Kashtira lockout. The emperor of scorn folded his arms, flanked by his invasion force.

Kashtira Ariseheart / Rank 7 / DARK / Psychic / ATK 3000 / DEF 3000

"I'll set two cards facedown," Clavis said, "and go to the end phase." It had been a perfect turn. Shangri-Ira, Fenrir, Ogre, and Arise-heart formed a quadrumvirate dominance. Not to mention, this was all just to build the board; the most terrifying moves of a Kashtira duelist came on their opponent's turn.

Gozu didn't move. Maybe she knew there was no point in fighting, that the Monji's hegemony was expressly founded on the Atrium's isolation, a haven that Clavis had torn wide open. Anyone could oust them, given the cards and techniques of the surface.

Shangri-Ira would strip away Gozu's Monster Zones for every card that was banished facedown. Unicorn, Fenrir, and Ogre could all execute this maneuver when a monster effect was activated; Kashtira Birth, when a spell card was used; Kashtira Preparations, in response to a Trap. And Kashtira Ariseheart, lynchpin of their force, would banish every card sent to Gozu's graveyard anyway, harnessing their powers for its own attack.

Abel Oga grit his teeth. It was never fair.

Gozu drew a card, nonchalant to the tension in the audience. "I just had to take a moment to read your cards," she said. "I'm starting with my Continuous Spell card, Call of the Mummy."

Call of the Mummy / Continuous Spell Card

The ground of Gozu's field mushroomed around an ornate clay sarcophagus rising from beneath. Standing vertical, the lid tilted open, unleashing a dusty, breathless voice. A hand appeared on the rim.

"Using it, I'll special summon a Zombie Monster straight from my hand: Ryu Kokki." The mad agglomeration of skulls burst from the coffin, and it was unclear how it had even fit inside to begin with.

Ryu Kokki / Level 6 / DARK / Zombie / ATK 2400 / DEF 2000

"Next, I'll activate my spell card, Zombie Necronize," Gozu declared. "This virus will infect one of your monsters and bring it to my side of the field. I'll select Kashtira Fenrir for the honor."

Kashtira Fenrir doubled over as its machinized flesh gave way to decay. Suddenly, its head caved like a tent, and it slowly lumbered over to Gozu's field.

Zombie Necronize / Normal Spell Card

Oga realized what was happening. Gozu was playing in the Kashtira's blind spots: As long as she didn't activate any monster effects, she wouldn't trip the abilities of Kashtira Unicorn, Fenrir, or Ogre, which would all banish her cards to further Shangri-Ira's conquest. Normally, Kashtira Birth would counter her spell cards, but without any cards in her graveyard to banish, Gozu was free to act with impunity. And the very reason she couldn't have any cards in her graveyard - Kashtira Ariseheart - was now activating its second effect.

"Ariseheart's effect automatically activates upon the banishment of your Zombie Necronize," Clavis stated with a dour expression. Ariseheart spread its wings and thrust a tractor beam from its armored hand. "I'll add that banished card as an Xyz Material for Ariseheart, bringing it to two materials. As a Quick Effect, I can detach three of them-"

"To banish a card on the field facedown," Gozu finished his sentence. "I read the card. So, I can't use any more spells."

Clavis nodded. "Then how will you fight?"

"To win." The new head of Daimonji broke into a wicked smile. "I'll overlay the Level 6 Ryu Kokki and Level 7 Kashtira Fenrir for an Xyz Summon!"

Clavis raised his eyebrows. The audience broke into protests from the dueling faithfuls.

"Hang on, you can't Xyz Summon using two monsters with different levels!"

"You think just because you're the Daimonji means we'll let you cheat?"

"Cheat all you want! Clavis is cheating anyway."

Clavis tilted his head and let the words pour over his shoulder. "So, what rank of Xyz Monster are you summoning? Rank 6, or Rank 7?"

"Rank 6. And when I use a monster owned by my opponent to Xyz Summon this monster, that monster is also treated as Level 6!" Gozu thrust her hand high as Ryu Kokki and the lifeless corpse of Fenrir dissolved into Xyz Material.

"This summon will push me even further beyond!" Gozu declared. "Appear! Dhampir Vampire Sheridan!" A blond half-vampire appeared in a flurry of roses, beckoning them nightward.

Dhampir Vampire Sheridan / Rank 6 / DARK / Zombie / ATK 2600 / DEF 1000

"Unlike with other summoning methods, the materials for an Xyz Summon aren't removed from the field. In other words, it's a perfect counter to Kashtira Ariseheart." Something imperceptible animated the upper half of Clavis's face. "I see. You're strong, too."

"Now, I'll activate the effect of Dhampir Vampire Sheridan by detaching one Xyz Material!" Gozu declared. "I'll detach Kashtira Fenrir, but it'll be banished because of Ariseheart. That'll give Ariseheart the third material it needs to banish Sheridan."

"And you're telling me this, knowing it won't matter, because Sheridan's actual effect will send Ariseheart to the graveyard?" Clavis chuckled. "You're cold, kid."

Impossible amounts of blood burst from the chinks in Kashtira Ariseheart's armor. Dhampir Vampire Sheridan pulled the air with its gloved fingers, as though, like a magician, drawing ropes of blood from its victims body. Ariseheart, now three sizes smaller, sank inwards and vanished. It and its Xyz Materials were slotted into their owners' graveyards.

"Well, good job taking out Ariseheart," Clavis said, "but you had to activate a monster effect to do it. You know what that means, don't you?"

Unicorn and Ogre stood up, wielding the bright red canisters of Kashtira capture. In the crowd, Oga grimaced. As cleverly as Gozu played, she couldn't avoid the Kashtira combo forever. Now, they would erase half her field, putting her down to two zones from Kashtira Shangri-Ira.

"Before that," Gozu said, "Dhampir Vampire Sheridan has another effect. By detaching an Xyz Material when your monster is sent to the graveyard, I can summon it to my field in Defense Mode. Now, I'll take your Kashtira Ariseheart into my control!"

Sheridan tweaked its fingers again, and Ariseheart rose again, this time from the hunch of its shoulders like a poorly strung puppet. Clavis's ace was now in the possession of Gozu Daimonji.

If Clavis was worried, he didn't show it, merely pulling up a tab on his Duel Disk display and perusing it with a finger. "Now, Unicorn will let me banish a card of my choosing from your Extra Deck." He squinted. "Whoa, now. That's a high-grade, isn't it? I think I'll pick your 'Ruin Varudras, the Remnant of End Times.'"

Gozu grimaced as her own ace disappeared into a capsule. Suddenly, Ogre was in front of her, hacking with its ax at the top of her deck.

"Now, Ogre lets me do the same thing, but with the top five cards of your Main Deck," Clavis continued. "The rest go back in order."

The card names flashed to the audience as they flipped over; Foolish Burial, Cannibal Eyes, Shiranui Squire, Changshi the Spiridao, and Nightmare's Steelcage. They dissembled at a whisper, debating which card was the strongest.

Clavis stroked his beard. "I guess I'll get rid of your starters. Shiranui Squire, then." The prodigy of the Shiranui Style vanished face-down; as it did, Kashtira Shangri-Ira began to churn above them.

"I'm not finished," Gozu said, the red sun spilling off of her. "Ariseheart's effect will activate for me, too. I'll use it to add my banished Shiranui Squire as Xyz Material!"

Shiranui Squire dissolved across the armor of Ariseheart, making it shimmer a deeper, pearlescent violet-red. "That's one material," Gozu said. "When it reaches three, I swear to you this."

Her finger pointed straight upwards, in defiance of Shangri-Ira's raining light of terraformation. "I will obliterate Kashtira Shangri-Ira, and you with it!"

Clavis whistled. "Scary."

Two more of Gozu's monster zones boiled over with machinery, bringing her total to three zones sealed. The last two were occupied by Dhampir Vampire Sheridan and Kashtira Ariseheart.

As it stood now, the two of them were almost in stalemate. Sheridan had the power to destroy Unicorn or the Defense Mode Ogre, but with Ariseheart in Defense Mode itself, Gozu wouldn't be able to destroy them both, and the other could continue to banish her cards on subsequent turns. Even if she could attack with both her Xyz Monsters, neither had the power to oust Kashtira Shangri-Ira's 3000 DEF, to say nothing of its ability to prevent its destruction by detaching an Xyz Material.

These thoughts came so automatically to Oga that he forgot he was the one having them. His fingers curled. With his loss, he had converted to a grim spectation, and it felt like another man was having his wife in front of him. Was this what Fey had wanted to show him? What if all of this was just an elaborate humiliation ritual for the Atrium?

They were all at rock bottom, though. There was no need to continue to kick them, if that was all that Fey wanted to do. There was absolutely nothing he could take away from them…except what he could give them.

A chill ran down Oga's spine. Kashtira Ariseheart stood tall upon Gozu's field.

"I'll activate another spell card!" Gozu continued. "Card Destruction! This card forces both of us to discard our hands and draw new ones!"

Card Destruction / Normal Spell Card

Clavis spread his empty hands. "I draw zero cards."

"And I draw two!" Gozu put a hand to her deck and drew two cards in a wide arc. She didn't even look at them. "Now, Kashtira Ariseheart's effect activates again! Another Xyz Material. This time, I'll choose the Jack-o-Bolan that was in my hand!" The pumpkin mage swirled into Ariseheart's essence, invigorating the armored scion.

"So, you're sacrificing your cards to Ariseheart to make use of its effect," Clavis deduced. "You sure that's a good idea? Ariseheart's a good card, but it's just a card. It's got its weaknesses, too."

"It's the only way to win," Gozu replied. "Now, I'll activate the Foolish Burial I just drew! It'll send one monster from my deck to the graveyard, banishing it with Ariseheart's ability! This will be the third and final piece of your demise, Clavis Barnes."

Oga flinched. It was already too late.

Foolish Burial / Normal Spell Card

"'Foolish Burial,' huh?" Clavis said, amused. "Yeah, that's about right. I'll chain activate my Kashtira Preparations!"

Kashtira Preparations / Continuous Trap Card

Chain Link 2 - Kashtira Preparations

Chain Link 1 - Foolish Burial

"I'll use Preparations to get back a card I haven't used yet," Clavis explained. "One you banished yourself: Kashtira Fenrir."

A new capsule plummeted down from Shangri-Ira, hatching with a dry hiss. Fenrir stood up, fresh with moisture. It leveled its tomahawk towards Gozu.

"Ariseheart's effect has already been put into motion," Clavis said. "You can't stop it from activating, which means you can't stop Fenrir, either."

Mezuki howled as it was pulled into Ariseheart's sway, orbiting it as its third Xyz Material. Fenrir readied its canister.

"Now, Kashtira Fenrir," Clavis said, "banish Dhampir Vampire Sheridan."

What? Oga couldn't believe what he was hearing. Not Ariseheart?

Dhampir Vampire Sheridan frowned as it was swallowed up by Fenrir's steel capsule, shuttled into the skies beneath Shangri-Ira. A fourth one of Gozu's monster zones was overwrought with iron, leaving Kashtira Ariseheart alone in her only remaining space.

Gozu laughed. On her command, Ariseheart stretched out its hand, claiming a fourth Xyz Material.

"That's about right," Gozu repeated smugly. "You couldn't banish Ariseheart, because it's your ace card, right? And Kashtira Shangri-Ira only activates when a card that I own is banished. So you couldn't turn that weapon on your own monster."

She shook her head. "You wanted to force me off of the field to make a statement today, Clavis Barnes. But underestimating me will spell your end." She raised a finger to the sky, as though to drill straight through it. Kashtira Ariseheart turned its gaze to the heavens. Xyz Material began swirling in its palm, nucleating to a possessive red plasma.

"Ariseheart's Quick Effect!" Gozu Daimonji roared. "With three materials, I banish Kashtira Shangri-Ira!" Ariseheart drew its hand back and then thrust it up, palming a spiral of light.

"Infinite Impermanence."

Ariseheart's beam flickered and went out. Shangri-Ira's energy poured down uninterrupted, like AC noise. Clavis's Trap Card resolved its effect and was sent, this time, to the graveyard.

Infinite Impermanence / Normal Trap Card

Clavis rubbed his neck. "It's just a card."

The arena was silent. When Clavis drew a card for his turn, not a single person objected.

"I'll head straight to battle," Clavis said. "Kashtira Fenrir attacks, banishes your Ariseheart. My Ariseheart, I guess."

Fenrir bowled its capsule across the field, whisking Ariseheart off to the domain in the sky.

"Since a monster left the field, Kashtira Fenrir gets to redeclare its attack, so it'll attack you directly." Clavis looked embarrassed to still be talking. Gozu wasn't speaking at all, and she made no reaction when Fenrir's axe cleaved across her.

Kashtira Fenrir - ATK 2400

Gozu - 4000 LP 1600 LP

"Now, I'll attack with Kashtira Unicorn, and use its effect. I'll banish your Shiranui Sunsaga," Clavis said. "Not that it matters, though."

Unicorn sealed away Gozu's Synchro monster. Shangri-Ira sealed away Gozu's last monster zone. This all meant nothing, because Unicorn was still attacking directly. Its pike pierced Gozu's neck, and finally she collapsed.

Kashtira Unicorn - ATK 2500

Gozu - 1600 LP 0 LP

Clavis Barnes - WIN

Gozu Daimonji - LOSE

The crowd leaned back at last. Oga leaned with them, stunned.

All around them, three other tournament duels were finishing up. No one was watching them anymore. Clavis nodded in thanks, as was his nature. Then he turned to go, and the crowd broke open at his silent command. Oga realized that he was standing right between Clavis and the stands. And maybe it was he that stood between Clavis and some greater purpose as well. Just as likely, Fey was using Clavis in some sick joke. Either way, he had lost the right to impede. Before Clavis could catch his eye, Oga slunk away.

Fey was standing atop his podium again, gesticulating wildly as the matches finished. "What a treat the first round of this tournament has been!" he proclaimed. "What beasts we've seen, what impacts we've felt! What hearts we've broken." He mimed wiping a tear. "Now, we'll be having a lunch break before the second round! Duelists, please go eat, be merry! And though I can't offer the losers a contract with my agency, I do have an offer for all Duelists of the Atrium!"

He turned and locked eyes with Oga. "Inspector Fey's Dueling Agency will hereby buy your cards from you at a premium! Starting from three dollars per card! No matter how common the card, we want it all! Please come see me at this table, or talk to one of our many staff! Tournament Duelists get a bonus! The more rounds you've participated in, the more your deck is worth!"

Oga was stunned by the shallowness of it all. Fey's only scheme was a business opportunity, buying up the Atrium's exclusive cards.

The crowd, mollified by the last game, moved silently towards the staffers, diverging into separate queues. Miners dug in their pockets and sleeves, pulling out a card or three or half a deck, idly comparing them as they speculated value. A kid trotted toward Fey's table, holding a single card with both hands.

Oga got in line. As he did, he felt a hand on his arm, and, without looking, he swatted Yuu Tokari away. "A double shift for every word you say right now," he growled.

Yuu looked upset, and also like he was actively considering how to phrase himself concisely. "Why?" he asked. "You're a duelist."

Oga laughed loudly, startling the person in front of him in line. "Yessir, and it was good business, wasn't it? Now I can wring Fey for all the money he's worth. Years of collecting, all for this moment! Luck like this isn't naturally occurring, Tokari. It's up to savvy people like me to make it happen."

This thing had propelled him into the sky, and now he had to sell his way back down.

"Get lost, Tokari. You've got more duels today."

Footsteps receded, somehow louder than the defeated march of all these Atrium duelists.

Oga looked ahead. When the line stepped forward, he stepped with it.