Chapter 37: The Creator of Light
"The rumblings were true then," said Cary as she entered the main lobby and found Matt sitting at one of the tables. He was holding a leaf from a nearby fichus between his fingertips, rubbing the veins as if they were fulfilling a nervous habit. He tried to hide his smirk while the professors discussed his fate from the desk next to the turnstile, but the level of arrogance he carried made that a real challenge. "Why didn't you respond to any of my messages?"
"Didn't know what to say," he replied.
"Bullshit. You always have something to say."
"I didn't want anybody reading your messages and coming to look for me."
Cary noticed Sergeant Stilson and Officer Rader carrying Nick Sims—the sixth unconscious person they brought inside since Matt finally graced DA-Rec with his presence. "Sure looks like people found you even without my text messages." She felt her fury starting to bring tears to her face, so she took a deep breath and watched the police for a minute.
"They found Guardian Duelers. I just happened to find them by the time their duels ended." It made sense that Matt hadn't participated in any of the duels against the Guardians. If he had, even as a winner, he'd be battling unconsciousness just like everyone else was.
"Sheer coincidence that you chanced upon five of the nine Guardians?" She knew the odds of that were not terribly slim, but it still felt like an incredible coincidence.
Matt stared at her silently for a moment. In that moment, she couldn't tell what he was thinking. Probably coming up with some lie… or maybe a half-truth was more his style. Either way, he was hiding things from her, and it was pissing her off.
"Duel Disks make lots of noise and lights. I just followed everything that cut through the fog."
Half-truth, then.
"Why did finally call for help?" she asked.
He shook his head. "Just got tired of carrying people to a safe location."
"Where was that?"
"My hideout? Oh, it was this little cove in… Hey, wait a minute. You almost tricked me." His tone was rather flat and sarcastic. He wasn't tricked at all—he just didn't want to tell Cary his secrets.
"Ass. I thought you were in a coma, too, like everyone else. That was the only way to explain why you just suddenly cut me out."
Matt smirked again. "I didn't know you cared."
"Fuck off, care. We were working together to figure out this mystery. Then as soon as things got weird, you fucking disappeared."
After he let a couple of beats pass in silence, he asked, "Did you—"
"I didn't rhyme on purpose," she answered, anticipating his question. She scoffed so hard she nearly spit on him. So goddamn frustrating! Changing the subject slightly, she asked, "Have you at least gone to check on Kasumi yet?"
His expression fell, thank god. She was about to punch him if he made a shitty joke about her condition. "Not yet. Dr. Lankford wants to crucify me for breaking curfew, Dr. Houtz wants me confined to quarters, Pr. Radican wants to give me a medal for my service, and Dr. Kerr wants to wait for Dr. West to return and see what he thinks. Whatever punishment they come up with, I'm not to leave this chair until they decide."
She glowered at him for a minute, staring into his eyes and trying to figure him out. There were times when Cary actually thought Matt could be a friend, albeit a difficult one. They had a lot in common when it came to emotional displays. And despite lying constantly on the surface, Matt was shockingly honest to everyone who could see past his humor. He only really lied to himself.
But hiding away while everyone was in the throes of Shadow Games was a far deeper level of lying. She asked him, "Do you just not trust me?"
He sighed. "I didn't want you to get hurt."
Almost growling, Cary stabbed her finger into the table, imagining it was a knife and the table was Matt's hand. "I found and watched four of the Guardians duel my friends into comas. Five if you count Yul dueling against Dave for me. I was terrified of what would happen to him and even more terrified that I might have to step in and try to duel Dave myself if Yul lost."
Matt said, "I know. You're even more badass than I thought." What really pissed her off was that Matt was struggling to hide a little smirk. He wasn't making fun of her—she could tell. She was angry that he doubted her at all.
"You're an asshole. You shouldn't have doubted me in the first place."
"I know."
"Why did you, then? Haven't I proven myself to you this year?"
"Time and again," he said. "I just made the wrong decision not to partner with you. It feels like Howard and his friends are my responsibility, so I felt like I was supposed to take care of them by myself."
She asked, "You didn't have Bryan with you?"
"He's… a little off." He hesitated, probably battling internally with the same conversation about whether to include Cary or not. "I think the god cards are what affected everybody, and the fact that Bryan beat Yul in an official duel means that he's been a little bit affected by Uria this whole time."
Finally, he said something honest. Cary sat down beside him, the tension in her body dissolving as she finally relaxed. "That explains why Yul wasn't affected, even though he held the Uria card."
"Does he still have it?"
"No. The professors have been handing it around for safe keeping." For a moment, neither of them said anything else. When she did speak, Cary said, "I can't tell if your punishment is better or worse than when I was put in 'solitary confinement'. Really just the upstairs break room but with the doors closed so no one else could visit me."
His smirk returned. "Odd way to celebrate someone who facilitated the defeat and return of four of the nine Guardians."
"I didn't do anything except watch. Everyone else deserves the glory." She propped her legs in another chair, harder than she intended to. By putting her weight on the front, the chair started to tip forward until she shifted, which caused the chair to slam back down. Her disappointment in her performance was showing.
Maybe he noticed. "There's plenty of glory to be claimed for being the one to lead troops to battle. Especially when you consider that your troops won all of their battles. Fuckin' Jack and Nick both dueled someone they didn't stand a chance against."
"Why did you let them?" asked Cary.
"Didn't have a choice. Jack snuck by me while I was detained, and Nick had already lost by the time I got there. Apparently he was trying to be the avenger who reclaimed Kasumi's honor after she lost to Erica."
"Meaning she already lost by the time you got there, too," said Cary.
He nodded. "Any reason you didn't stop her from leaving here to go duel someone out of her league?"
"Reason 1 is that I don't believe Erica is out of Kasumi's league. She's more experienced and knowledgeable right now, but Kasumi is strong, and she'll get stronger. That ties in to Reason 2, I guess: She made her own decision. I wasn't around to try to stop her and probably wouldn't be able to. According to Emily, Kasumi was adamant that she had to be the one to rescue Erica."
Matt nodded as he stared off into space. "Hopefully there's a way to rescue Kasumi, then."
As Cary asked, "So where's your best friend right now?" Dr. Arbus walked over to the table. His expression was stern as stone as he pointed at Matt then waggled his finger. Matt followed the wordless command by standing up and following Dr. Arbus up the stairs. So maybe he was going to learn about the solitary confinement room after all.
Cary had every intention to sneak up there and listen to whatever Matt's guidance counselor was about to tell him, but apparently the professors hadn't noticed her yet. Too focused on Matt, perhaps. She couldn't understand everything they mumbled, but she caught the gist and her brain filled in a few blanks.
Dr. Houtz faced away from Cary as she said something to the effect of "How much longer?"
"Two more days," said Pr. Radican. "Ironic that their squabble bought us the extra time to seal them away again."
"Without the cards?" asked Dr. Houtz.
Dr. Lankford said, "No. We need them back to complete the ritual. Without the cards, their spirits will only be weakened. That'll be our best window to attack."
"What if they attack us first?" asked Dr. Kerr.
"We all build our decks with anti-God Card support." There seemed to be silent agreement over that suggestion.
Dr. Kerr said to Pr. Radican, "Fifty thousand deaths is not beneficial just because it gave us one extra day."
"You're right. I didn't mean it like that," he replied.
Dr. Houtz added, "We all lost to them once already. Will we even have the duel energy to fight back?"
"Of course we will," said Dr. Lankford. "Weeks have passed, and we're no longer supporting the seal. Now we use our energy undivided, at full strength."
"Even though they're the original god cards?" she asked.
He nodded. "Their effects are more potent, but they're just cards. We can win against them like we win any other duel. But if you're worried about losing again, then don't bother challenging them. Leave them for me to clean up." Cary loved Dr. Lankford's confidence. The fact that he was kind of a dick about it was even more exciting.
Cary never got to hear more. Joel and Leon stepped out of the racquetball court and walked through the corridor, which drew the professors' attention just enough for them to look around and see who else might be nearby. They didn't say anything when they saw Cary staring at her phone, but she suspected that Dr. Houtz wasn't fooled by her act. The professors mumbled something to each other and then dispersed.
"Staying out of trouble?" said Dr. Houtz as she walked by. Cary only replied by pursing her lips and raising her eyebrows—the most "I don't want to talk to you" form of acknowledgement that humanity ever produced. She just waited for all the professors to leave, except for Dr. Apple who watched the front desk while the campus police continued to transport unconscious students inside.
Before she got up to leave, Matt re-emerged to come back downstairs. "They let you out already?" asked Cary.
He shook his head. "Dr. Arbus says I'm required to shower. Want to join me?"
"Even if that weren't totally inappropriate while your girlfriend is unconscious, you stink that badly. Get away from me." Matt just smiled as Dr. Arbus escorted him to the locker room.
Cary thought about going to do some homework or talk to her classmates, but ultimately she only cared about what's going on. Obviously she and Matt needed to get outside of DA-Rec so they could investigate, and the professors were too stuck in the mud except to treat them like children. So she stayed in the lobby for a while. She shifted the fichus planter just enough that it obscured her presence to people who entered the hallway.
She knew now that Dr. West had disappeared because he was in the process of completing some ritual to get rid of the kaiju. She didn't know where, but the professors most likely knew. She also knew from eavesdropping that they had all the fake god cards again, now that the other Guardian Duelers were brought in. And it seemed like Dr. Dise, Dr. Nagell, Dr. Arbus, the police officers, and the cleaning staff weren't part of this Shadow Realm magic stuff. All the other professors at least knew about the sealed god cards and their connection to the kaiju.
While Cary was still collecting her thoughts, Mitsuro descended the stairs from the second-floor track. "What are you working on out here?"
Cary had been scribbling notes inside her History of Dueling notebook, hidden in tiny cursive a few pages from the back. Nothing that could be read over her shoulder, but enough to make her look guilty.
"Something else you're not supposed to be doing," said Mitsuro. Instead of respecting Cary's space, she pulled out another chair at the table and sat down.
"Why were you jogging with your Duel Disk on?" asked Cary, attempting to deflect the topic.
"There's no better practice in bodily control than doing vigorous physical activity while trying not to damage sensitive electronic equipment. Plus, this thing is military grade: durable enough to survive a tank shell." She smiled. "Maybe an overstatement, but you get my drift. Are you thinking about sneaking out again?"
"No need. The Guardians are all back. But now I'm just mulling over how we're supposed to fix them. No one knows how to recover from a shadow duel or whatever the hell happened to them." She tried to sound flippant when mentioning the Shadow Realm so that Mitsuro would think she didn't believe in all that.
But maybe she didn't need to hide it. "All of this sounds a lot like the legendary Shadow Games to me. Usually it just takes time for someone to heal, or else you have to cut off the Shadows at their source. I'll bet it's those kaiju."
Cary made a face. "You don't think the Guardians were the source of the Shadows?"
"Of course not. The Shadows possessed them. That means someone else is in charge. Plus, the kaiju are still here." Her gaze drifted upward, lost in space. "I just wish there were something I could do to help out there." She was still thinking about her father's fleet. A dozen other military efforts had been attempted, and all failed to do anything to subdue the kaiju.
Mitsuro took in a deep breath to bring herself back to the conversation. "What do you think all the others were doing outside of DA-Rec? They couldn't just survive on shoots and berries. And how did they hide from the Guardians for so long? And everyone's accounted for now except for Bryan. Matt says he doesn't know where he went—not sure I believe him."
"Same," said Cary, though she hadn't heard Matt's answer about Bryan yet. "How do you know about that?"
"I heard him talking to Dr. Arbus upstairs." She leaned forward. "Want to know a fun fact? Dr. Arbus didn't punish him at all. He says Matt deserves a medal for his participation in bringing back all the Guardians." She winked. "He even said the same thing about you."
Maybe hearing that brought a little bit of warmth inside, but Cary couldn't really enjoy it. At best, she hoped that meant all the professors secretly praised her, even if they only berated her out loud.
Matt plopped into a chair beside them before the girls could separate. His hair was still slightly wet, but he was fully clothed, including his Battle City Duel Disk. "Were you doing something naughty? Don't stop on my account."
"Is it naughty to punch you in the dick?" asked Cary. Unfortunately Matt was just enough of a masochist that he always grinned when she threatened bodily harm. "How are you here? Aren't you supposed to be under house arrest?"
He motioned toward Dr. Apple, who had just stepped through the turnstile. He stared at the floor, then he pulled a marker from his pocket and got down on the floor. "For now, the professors don't want me to be left unattended. It's his turn, but he wants to reinforce the barrier that's supposed to protect DA-rec from the shadows."
"How's he doing that?" asked Mitsuro.
"Alchemy, Ms. Itachu," said Dr. Apple without coming any closer. God damn, he had good hearing. "I've already established five strategic nodes through which flows the natural energy of real space which rejects interaction from imaginary space."
Mitsuro and Cary made faces at each other then looked to Matt for an answer. "The Shadow Realm can't come in here. Energy supposedly flows through the circle at all times, drawing it from the earth itself, but the good professor is over there reinforcing the runes that draw that energy." He rolled his eyes. "But I don't think it's actually safe here. I think DA-Rec will be the next target."
Before Cary could ask why, Mitsuro said, "That's why you came back. You want to be here in case of attack."
"Exactly."
"Who's going to attack?" asked Cary.
As if on cue, they all looked to the front door. Lana Tao, the student who graduated last year to an Ivy league university stepped inside the facility, dressed in Obelisk white as if she were still a student. At first she flinched when she saw three current students staring at her, but after looking around to see no one else nearby, she appeared to settle down and get more confident. She walked up to the turnstile and swiped an ID card, then stepped through like a normal student.
"Hey, guys. No use pretending I'm still a student here, is there?" She nodded to Mitsuro. "I remember you from last year." She nodded at Matt. "I remember you from the Spirit Gates." She made a face at Cary. "You look familiar but I don't actually know you."
"You know me, though, don't you?" asked Dr. Apple as he approached from behind. "How did you get in here?"
"The front door was open," said Lana.
"She used an ID card," said Cary.
Before Lana could even slip the card back into her pocket, Dr. Apple had already taken it from her. "You're most certainly not Chad Isabelle. He hasn't been seen since the Spirit Day Festival. Am I to assume that you somehow swapped places with him on the Philyra before its departure?" In other words, he accused her of taking the place of one of the cleaning staff, maybe having him board the ship under her name the same way she just now badged in with his.
"Doesn't matter now, does it?" She looked to the floor and noticed the curved lines running past the front door. "Still drawing alchemy circles?"
"Quite. Although, I'm perturbed that your entry was not impeded." His expression turned to concern as he dropped back to the floor. "Did I misspell that rune?"
Matt stood up from the table. "She can't be affected by your circle because she's not affected by imaginary space. There's no Shadow Realm possession here: She's under her own free will."
Lana said, "You're intuitive for a Slifer. No sense in delaying any longer, is there then?" She raised her arm with her Duel Disk and activated it. Instantly, Cary felt the air grow tight and heavy. She began to feel sleepy even though she had been wide awake not a moment earlier. Lana asked Dr. Apple, "Are you the one supposed to stop me before I drain the spirit energy of everyone here?"
Dr. Apple looked at the arms of his duster in order. "I don't have a deck with me."
"Pity."
Matt said, "I do." His Duel Disk was already activated, and he seemed to be unaffected by whatever pressure Lana was exerting. Cary followed his lead and slipped her Duel Disk from the table onto her arm. Instantly, the pressure released.
"Me, too," said Mitsuro.
Lana nodded. "Three opponents. I believe that's the maximum for this ritual."
"Ritual?" Cary asked. That's when she noticed that Lana's Main Deck was about a quarter of its usual size. Thinking back to the last time she saw a deck that small, she suddenly guessed that Lana had exactly eight cards in her deck.
"That's right. This will be a Boss Duel." Another wave of energy flooded the room. Cary felt pushed back briefly, but she regained her footing quickly. Not an attack: Maybe just one of those force fields that keeps other people from entering the duel uninvited. The Life Point counters sprang to life, giving 8000 points apiece to Cary, Matt, and Mitsuro, but Lana's points shot straight up to 24,000. Lana almost looked like she had an orgasm just from watching the points climb. "Oh, this feels fantastic! Should we get started?"
Matt said, "I guess so." He looked to Cary and Mitsuro. "Be prepared for the worst. I suspect she's carrying at least three of the original god cards in that deck."
"Original god cards?" asked Mitsuro.
"The versions that were so dangerous that they were sealed off. Expect them to be stronger than anything you've seen the Guardians play before."
Cary knew what to look for. "It's Lana, so she'll have Ra again. She's using the Egyptian God Cards."
"You know me so well for someone I've never spoken to," said Lana. "As a matter of fact, here's my first card: I activate Ra's Disciples." Though the name was strikingly similar to a monster card, Lana's activation was actually for a Spell Card. Instead of summoning a single cultist to the field, this one was supercharged, bringing out three Ra's Disciple Tokens (1500|1500). "Can you guess what I'm going to do with three monsters on my field?"
"Spitroasting?" asked Matt.
She scowled at him. "Gross. You've got a mouth."
"Bit of an attitude problem, too," he said, ragging on himself for some reason. It was hard to tell whether he was keeping himself relaxed or just trying to throw Lana off her game. He couldn't be blamed for wanting to mess with her head: At one time, Lana had been ranked Number 1 at Duel Academy, back before Dave came along to take the spot. And she recently defeated Dr. Kerr in a duel—maybe even other professors. Maybe the only way to beat her was to get inside her head.
Lana appeared to be shaken at first, but she bounced back quickly. "You'll never know what it's like to have this much power."
"And lose it," Mitsuro muttered. Cary wasn't sure what she meant, but apparently that was the comment that really upset Lana. She sneered as she slapped down another card.
"All three of my tokens go away so I can summon Obelisk the Tormentor (4000|4000)." A massive monster began to rise from the depths below the recreation center. Walls rattled as the floor quaked. The chairs and table were shoved aside as Obelisk's form occupied the space they were in. Even the fichus was thrust into the corridor. Just as Matt warned, this Obelisk didn't look normal. Instead of being blue all over, he was black. Only a few blue markings spread outward from his enhanced sternum. Instead of all his horns and spikes protruding from his body, this Obelisk had shoulders that curved inward, toward his head. Only two huge horns grew from the sides of his head instead of four—the other two were replaced by an Egyptian-style headdress that also carried blue markings. His body still rippled with unreal sinew, but his waist was slenderer, giving the impression that his arms were even bigger than before. As always, his wings folded behind his back, only hinting at their true size.
And that's not even touching on how intimidating it was to be in his presence. The air pressure from before the duel was back with a vengeance. Cary felt like she wouldn't even be able to speak without taking a deep breath first. "Feel the terror that comes with the first of the true gods," said Lana. "I'll set one card to end my turn."
Lana: 24,000 LP, 2 cards
Cary: 8000 LP, 5 cards
Matt: 8000 LP, 5 cards
Mitsuro: 8000 LP, 5 cards
Matt looked around at Cary and Mitsuro instead of Lana and Obelisk. "Shit. What order are we going in? Can we still change that?" But it didn't look like an option. For the god-slaying team, Cary was first, Matt in the middle, and Mitsuro rounding out the turn. "Goddammit." He looked at Cary. "You can't attack yet, so all your OTK strategies are kinda useless right now. It would have been better for you to go last."
"So she plays defensively for the first turn," said Mitsuro. "She'll get another turn to try again."
"That depends on what else is in Lana's deck," said Matt. "Two thousand bucks says she's already holding Slifer and Ra. And don't forget, she's playing with Boss Rules. That means she gets to draw a new card from her deck and then reclaim every card from her Graveyard. We're going to see a lot of Ra's Disciples before this duel is over. And she gets infinite Normal Summons, if that even matters. Again, it depends on what her cards are."
Cary knew what he was saying. "So we're going to face Obelisk and Ra or Slifer on the next turn, before we've even had a chance to attack."
Mitsuro said, "But Dave and Justin attacked on their first turn."
"They used direct damage effects," said Cary. "And that's not my style right now."
"No use worrying about what we can't change," said Matt.
Cary made a face. "You just complained about the turn order!"
He shrugged. "It's different when someone else complains. Just take your turn. Follow Mitsuro's suggestion for now and play defensively. But, like, super defensively. If you set a monster, be prepared to defend after she gets rid of it."
She wasn't sure her deck was built for that, but Cary was as ready as ever to find out. She had a few cards to initiate a Dragunity combo, but Matt's suggestion got to her. Instead of milling all the way through her deck to find cards that Lana was likely to destroy in the very next turn, Cary decided to set Phalanx and one other card as backup defense.
Lana: 24,000 LP, 2 cards
Cary: 8000 LP, 4 cards
Matt: 8000 LP, 5 cards
Mitsuro: 8000 LP, 5 cards
"I'm going to push the envelope slightly harder," said Matt. "I'll start with Elemental Hero Prisma (4: 1700|1000). My reflective Hero shows the Dark Paladin in my Extra Deck so that he gains the power of Dark Magician until the end of the turn." He took a Dark Magician from his deck and placed it in the Graveyard. "Two cards face-down to end my turn."
Lana: 24,000 LP, 2 cards
Cary: 8000 LP, 5 cards
Matt: 8000 LP, 3 cards
Mitsuro: 8000 LP, 5 cards
Cary scoffed. She was ready to shout at him for leaving a monster in attack position, but there was no way to have that argument without Lana learning that they didn't trust each other. And if the argument got intense enough, Lana might even learn what Matt's face-down cards were.
But with the silence stewing instead, Lana laughed. "A Dark Magician deck? How in the hell are you even still a student here with that garbage?"
"Mostly because of my test scores," said Matt.
"That figures. No wonder you're still in Slifer with a deck like that. I can't think of a deck that plays more inconsistently or with so much struggle to stay on the field. Have you ever even won a duel outside of the Deck Limitations tournament?"
"That's why Cary and I are here to help," said Mitsuro. She turned toward Matt enough that she would wink without Lana seeing it. "I'll discard Assault Ship from my hand to Special Summon one Assault Ship Token (2: 1000|1000). The Token is a Tribute to summon Destroyer Class - USS Defender (6: 2400|2400). This ship can't be destroyed in battle. I'll set two cards to end my turn."
Lana: 24,000 LP, 2 cards
Cary: 8000 LP, 5 cards
Matt: 8000 LP, 3 cards
Mitsuro: 8000 LP, 2 cards
Matt sighed. "I was really hoping you'd get rid of Obelisk, not just ignore him."
Mitsuro shrugged. "The cards aren't in my hand yet to do that."
Lana drew her card. "It's really too bad for you that I just showed up and you never had a chance to coordinate your strategies. Because here's what I think will be even more fun than throwing another god card at you. I'll summon more of Ra's Disciples." Three more Ra's Disciple Tokens (1500|1500) took the field. "I'll offer two of them as Tributes to Obelisk the Tormentor: Doing so gives him the power to destroy all monsters on the field."
Obelisk took a Token in each of his refrigerator-sized hands and squeezed them until their juices ran clear. Their energy transferred straight into his arms, making them glow with white fire. Obelisk reared back with both arms and thrust them forward, straight into the spots that connected Cary's field to Matt's and Matt's field to Mitsuro's. All of the monsters they had summoned were consumed in the rampaging fire.
"Here's the best part. Obelisk strikes one of you directly." Cary panicked as she stared into the fathomless eyes of an Egyptian God Card, but his sights were set on Matt. Obelisk clapped his hands together with the speed and force of two trains headed straight for each other. The collision rocked the recreation center again. The table and all the chairs were flipped over now. On the other side of the nearest wall, all the cabinets and shelves fell over. A painful creaking sound brought to mind images of the climbing wall teetering.
The only reason Cary stayed on her feet was that the winds had brushed past her, merely whipping her hair and her skirt instead. Matt was blown back into the wall almost hard enough to leave Matt-shaped impression in the drywall. He slid down to the floor before rubbing the back of his head.
"Ow, mother fucker. Fucking hell, that hurt. No one told me Obelisk was allowed to make direct contact in this game."
Lana wasn't laughing at him, though. She was baffled. "How did you get back up?"
As Matt stumbled his way back to the field, he said, "According to my Life Point counter, he only took off half. So that means I'm still in this game.
"But that should have…" She hesitated. "Of course. I haven't unlocked their full potential yet. Two more turns." She seemed to regain her composure. "One more card face-down, then I'll end my turn."
Lana: 24,000 LP, 2 cards
Cary: 8000 LP, 5 cards
Matt: 4000 LP, 3 cards
Mitsuro: 8000 LP, 2 cards
Cary took a deep breath when her turn started. But as she reached for her deck, Matt said, "Wait. There are special rules we can activate before your turn starts." He looked to Mitsuro for reassurance. "I'm not making that up, am I? There are three things we can do: We can double the power of our monsters…"
"Only for one turn," said Lana. She pointed to Cary. "Her turn, specifically."
"Okay, still. You're good at summoning beatsticks. Surely one of your monsters will have at least 2001 points, so double that and it's strong enough to kill Obelisk. Then we get two turns to go to town on her Life Points."
"Aren't there other special rules?" asked Mitsuro.
He nodded. "Yeah, but we don't need an extra 4000 LP right now. I guess we could skip our Draw Phases in order to grab specific cards from the deck. But we're facing down Obelisk. I feel like attack power is the way to go."
Mitsuro shrugged. "I feel like I can maybe take him down this turn without the special effect. But I guess it's Cary's decision."
"It's a team decision," said Matt. He looked Cary right in the eye. "Unless you're sure you can take down Obelisk without double attack points."
Cary looked at the cards in her hand. She had Phalanx in the Graveyard, ready to go, and Dux in her hand along with Mystletainn and Foolish Burial. She started to play through possible combos in her head, seeing if she could land on Shooting Quasar Dragon, which would be just as strong as Obelisk.
"Thoughts?" asked Matt.
Her free hand shot out and almost hit him. She intended to open her palm as if trying to shut him up, but her fingers might have been dancing slightly as she worked herself through her combo. She got so focused that she only vaguely heard Matt say something about being hypnotized and Lana saying something about fear causing people's brains to shut down in front of god cards. But Cary could ignore them because her brain was piecing together the combo exactly as she needed it. She did, in fact, have the cards she needed to summon Shooting Quasar. It would have to suicide against Obelisk, but at least Lana's defense would be gone, and Matt was skilled with near-OTK strategies and could deal a ton of damage. Mitsuro was a more defensive player, but she could also dish out some damage against an empty field.
Then again…
"Ready," said Cary. "Let's do the extra attack points." That way Quasar would be twice as strong as Obelisk, and Cary wouldn't have to lose her best monster.
Cary began her combo. "Field Spell Dragon Ravine. Effect to discard Dragunity Phalanx and pull Dragunity Dux to my hand. Summon Dragunity Dux (4: 1500|1000)."
As her winged monster took the field and brandished his cat o' nine tails, Lana groaned. "I see. A Dragunity deck." Cary wasn't sure that it was good news for Lana to figure out her strategy, but she also couldn't hide it given the combo she was working on.
"Dragunity Dux equips Phalanx from the Graveyard. Phalanx will dislodge from Dux to be a separate monster. Then I'll send Phalanx back to the Graveyard to summon Dragunity Arma Mystletainn (6: 2100|1500). Mystletainn also equips Phalanx from the Graveyard. Phalanx again becomes a separate monster. Phalanx (2) and Dux (4) tune to Synchro Summon Dragunity Knight - Gae Dearg (6: 2400|800). Gae Dearg brings Zephyros the Elite to my hand, but then I'll discard it.
"Now Gae Dearg (6) and Mystletainn (6) overlay to Xyz Summon Hieratic Dragon King of Atum (6: 2400|2100). Atum detaches one unit to summon Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon (10: 0|0) from the deck. Red-Eyes activates to summon Dragunity Knight - Gae Dearg (2400) back from the Graveyard. Gae Dearg brings Gusto Griffin to my hand, but I'll discard that, too. Gusto Griffin activates by discarding, so I summon Gusto Egul (1: 200|400) from the deck.
"Now I play Foolish Burial."
Lana perked up, and Cary's Duel Disk locked in place. "Ah, finally. That's a card I can actually use. Bonus that it disrupts your continual combo there." She pointed at one of her face-down cards. "I activate Bounce Spell: This negates the effect of your Spell Card and then reactivates it as if I were the one to play it. I'll use Foolish Burial's effect to place Holactie the Creator of Light in my Graveyard."
Cary paused to look toward her teammates. She must have looked terrified.
Matt said, "I'm thinking the same thing. She's able to steal our Spell Cards. And with the Boss Rules, she'll be able to reuse that card every turn."
"That's not what I was thinking," said Cary.
"It's The Creator of Light," said Mitsuro. "Think about it: Boss Decks are stacked in a specific order. She already had all three god cards in her hand, which means the last monster in her deck has to be something truly terrifying."
She paused. "What if it's the card form of the kaiju they called Archangel?" Cary knew what Mitsuro really wanted to ask: What if that card was the monster that wiped out her father's naval fleet?
Lana said, "Excuse me, Girl I Don't Know. I believe it's still your turn. I do hope I didn't disrupt your combo too much."
Kind of, Cary thought to herself. But even though she probably couldn't get to Shooting Quasar Dragon the way she had planned to, she still had a few options available. Her turn rule made even Gae Dearg (+4800) strong enough to defeat Obelisk, so Quasar wasn't a necessity. If she could just summon a few more power hitters, she could deal a ton of damage.
"I'll activate Blackwing - Zephyros the Elite from the Graveyard. I return Red-Eyes to my hand and take 400 LP damage to summon Zephyros (4: 1600|1000) to the field. Now I banish Atum to summon Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon (10: 2800|2400) again, but at full strength. Red-Eyes summons Dragunity Phalanx (2: 500|1100) from the Graveyard. Phalanx (2) and Zephyros (4) tune to summon Dragunity Knight - Vajrayana (6: 1900|1200). Vajrayana equips Phalanx from the Graveyard."
She looked over the field. Gae Dearg (+4800), Vajrayana (+3800), Red-Eyes (+5600), and Gusto Egul in defense mode. Not enough for a one-turn kill given Lana's insane LP store, but it should be enough for one turn.
"Before we start the attacks: Vajrayana (+7600) sends Phalanx back to the Graveyard to double his attack points for this turn." Lana didn't even look concerned, which made Cary feel extra paranoid about Lana's face-down card. But she had no options available except to attack and get rid of Obelisk (4000). "Vajrayana goes first."
Her dragon rider and his red-armored mount were tiny in comparison with Obelisk's enormity. But no amount of swatting was able to rid Obelisk of the flying opponent that drove a powerful spear into his heart while the dragon's bladed tail struck his belly. Obelisk shattered and disappeared from the field.
It was only in that moment that Cary heard the whispers coming from behind her. Despite their best efforts, the professors weren't able to keep the students from noticing a duel taking place with monsters the size of Obelisk the Tormentor. The duel being three-on-one with two first-years and a junior against an alumna also drew plenty of attention. But even though she adored the spotlight, she couldn't hear what they were saying. Only their adulation mattered, not their opinions. Besides, Cary's mind was stuck with two nagging thoughts:
One: Dave was unconscious. He wasn't here to see what Cary was capable of.
Two: Why couldn't this happen on the main stage? Her moment of fame was trapped in the lobby of the campus recreation center.
She sighed. "Gae Dearg (4800) destroys Ra's Disciple (1500). Then Red-Eyes (+5600) attacks directly."
Lana pointed across the field again. "Let's see what cards Dark Magician Boy had ready to counteract Obelisk. I activate Reverse of Reverse." Matt released a frustrated string of expletives as Lana activated one of his Trap Cards, stealing the effect for herself. A series of guided chains shot out of the background and tied up her dragon, binding it in place. "Fiendish Chain. Not really what I expected, considering Obelisk can't be targeted by effects."
Matt still looked annoyed, but then he shrugged. "I barely know what I'm doing half the time."
"Obviously. But whatever. This card will do nicely to stop Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon in its place with no attacks and no effects."
Cary shot Matt a look, unintentionally. She knew it wasn't really his fault—who could know that Lana had support cards that just let her steal the opponent's effects at will?—but it still felt like Matt's fault because it was his card that protected Lana from taking another 5600 points of damage. She had to settle for setting one card in her backfield.
Lana: 17,100 LP, 2 cards
Cary: 7600 LP, 2 cards
Matt: 4000 LP, 3 cards
Mitsuro: 8000 LP, 2 cards
Matt said, "I guess the goal is just to hit her hard and fast—stop her from summoning more god cards. So I'll activate the Magicians' Souls in my hand by sending Dark Magician from my deck to the Graveyard, then I discard Magicians' Souls to summon Dark Magician (7: 2500|2000) by the same effect. Then I'll use my face-down Call of the Haunted to revive the other Dark Magician (7: 2500|2000). Now I'll overlay them to summon Ebon Illusion Magician (7: 2500|2000). By detaching one unit, Ebon Illusion Magician brings out the last Dark Magician (7: 2500|2000) from my hand.
"Now I'll attack directly with Dark Magician. The reason he goes first is that Ebon Illusion Magician activates when I attack with a normal spellcaster: I can banish Fiendish Chain from the field, so now Red-Eyes will be free again on Cary's turn. And then Ebon Illusion Magician also attacks directly." So two powerful sorcerers launched nearly identical attacks—massive bursts of dark magic that slammed into Lana and rattled her stance.
"I'll place one card face-down and end my turn."
Lana: 12,100 LP, 2 cards
Cary: 7600 LP, 2 cards
Matt: 4000 LP, 3 cards
Mitsuro: 8000 LP, 2 cards
Cary had hoped he would deal more damage than that, but still, they were doing okay so far. Lana was down almost half her Life Points.
But she could summon a god card on every. Single. Turn…
Mitsuro drew. "I play Air Raid: As long as this card remains active, two of your Monster Zones can't have monsters in them."
Lana wagged her finger in Mitsuro's direction. "See? You're trying to make sure I can effectively never summon two god cards at the same time. Here's a girl with strategy."
"I also banish Assault Ship from the Graveyard so I can set another one on the field," said Mitsuro by way of ignoring Lana's taunts. "Now I summon Submarine - Ohio Class (4: 1400|1200) for a direct attack." Cary would have hoped for more damage against an empty field, but at least Mitsuro was dealing damage, even if it wasn't all to the Life Point counter.
Lana: 10,700 LP, 2 cards
Cary: 7600 LP, 2 cards
Matt: 4000 LP, 3 cards
Mitsuro: 8000 LP, 1 card
Lana looked over the field. "It's a real shame that you couldn't block off just one more of my monster zones, isn't it? I only have three zones, but I only need three zones to summon a god. I'll play Ra's Disciples again, and then I'll tribute all three of my Ra's Disciple Tokens (1500|1500) to summon Slifer the Sky Dragon (+6000|+6000)."
There was no alternative design when Lana played her card. The fake Slifer looked exactly like the real thing: Bright red scales gleaming like rubies, spikes running along its back from tail to crown, and a wingspan that cracked the walls into the stairwell and the janitorial office. Slifer's body snaked through the lobby, around the atrium wall and back, circling opponent and spectator alike until its tail met back up where it sat up like a cobra. All escape was cut off. Lightning flashed across the skylight just before thunder rumbled through the very foundation of the recreation center.
Lana's pressed her eyes closed as she leaned back, soaking in the power. Honestly, it looked like she was having an orgasm. "I can't believe how potent this power feels with the real thing," she said. "This feeling can't even be compared to the Fake Ra that I used to hold. I can't wait to feel the real thing inside me."
"Phrasing," said Matt. Cary mentally smacked herself in the forehead and Matt across the face.
If his goal was to frustrate and upset Lana, then mission accomplished. She shot him a dirty look and then looked over the field again. "Fucking shame that your magicians have so many points. I suppose leaving you on the cusp of defeat is good enough for now." As Slifer reared back, Matt shooed everyone to back away from him as far as they could get. Several students bumped into Slifer's body, even though it was supposed to be a hologram… Slifer unleashed a breath attack crackling with lightning. It shot straight through the middle of Ebon Illusion Magician (2500), leaving a hold in his chest until his whole body shattered.
The energy also struck Matt. He went briefly rigid until the electricity stopped flowing. It was clear he had tried to isolate himself and make sure the electricity had nowhere to go, but there was so much electricity that it overpowered the soles of his shoes and still found the floor.
When his skin stopped smoking, Mitsuro asked, "Are you alright?"
Matt waited a beat, then he offered a thumbs-up. "Feels like it missed my heart, so that's good news, I guess." Cary was frozen until Matt finally opened his eyes. He offered her a weak smile. "Christ. Is this what everyone's been feeling in these Shadow Duels? Fucking Erica's an absolute beast for dueling as many times as she did."
"How are you still…?" Cary started, but she didn't want to finish her question. Obviously a hologram wouldn't have hurt him physically at all, but a bolt of lightning that size should have killed him. Somewhere in the middle, he hit the jackpot that let him survive.
But Lana was even more surprised. "I don't care that you have Life Points left over. But you still shouldn't be standing after an attack like that. That was Slifer's real power. And Obelisk…" She trailed off as she looked up at the towering serpent. "Is it possible that you're still being restrained somehow?"
Matt was ignoring her. "Hey! Can someone who's on the other side of Slifer's body right now go and grab me some aspirin? Or something stronger, like Percocet or Vicodin? Fucking shitsnake, everything is sore right now."
Lana shook her head angrily. "The fucking Guardians must have been interrupted before they could complete their part of the ritual or something. Goddammit." Growling off her frustration, she said, "I'll place two cards face-down and play Summoning Clock."
Lana: 10,700 LP, 3 cards
Cary: 7600 LP, 2 cards
Matt: 500 LP, 3 cards
Mitsuro: 8000 LP, 1 card
Slifer (+3000) was a terrifying opponent, even using only half the power that nearly killed Matt. But at least it was less intimidating than Obelisk. The reason was that Cary had faced Slifer in dozens of unofficial duels. Even though her cousin wasn't permitted to use Slifer in registered duels outside of Duel Academy, he and Cary used to duel tabletop back home. Cary didn't win all that often, but she knew what to expect.
As she reached for her deck, Mitsuro shouted, "Wait! You have to activate our special rules before your turn starts."
In the chaos of the previous turn, Cary had forgotten all about the special rules. "Double attack power. That's exactly what we need against Slifer, right?"
"We can only use each special ability once per duel," said Matt. "All we have left is extra LP or skipping our Draw Phases to grab a specific card from the deck instead. Considering I might not have another turn, I'm in favor of the precious card effect."
"Shouldn't we give you more Life Points?" asked Cary.
He shook his head. "All our opponents are god cards. 500 points is the same as 4000."
Mitsuro nodded. "I agree."
Instead of pointing out how 4000 more points could let Matt survive one more attack by Slifer, Cary just accepted what her friends wanted to do. "For this turn, each of us will add one card to our hands from our deck instead of conducting a Draw Phase." To illustrate the point, she removed her deck without the Duel Disk registering any kind of fault in gameplay.
And that's when Cary realized that Slifer was her biggest weakness right now. Maybe it only had 3000 attack points, but every monster she summoned would be struck by its second mouth attack—the one that reduced her monsters by 2000 attack points. She stared at her deck for an eternity that lasted thirty seconds as she thought about what special card she needed. And then she fingered through her Extra Deck, reviewing the cards she carried with her. That's when she came up with an idea: a card with an effect that could destroy Slifer outright.
"I'll use our special ability to take Return of the Dragon Lords from my deck." As her deck shuffled, she pointed to her Duel Disk. "Gusto Egul (1) and Gae Dearg (6) tune into Clear Wing Synchro Dragon (7: 2500|2000)." It was a gamble to summon anything in front of Slifer, but Cary needed this monster specifically for its negation effect. As her dragon took form, Slifer opened its second mouth, ready to unleash its attack. "Clear Wing has the ability to negate Slifer's effect and destroy it."
But she was wrong. Her Duel Disk never offered the opportunity to activate her monster's effect. Slifer's energy washed over Clear Wing (-500) without resistance. "Why wouldn't the effect activate?"
Lana grinned. "You must be new to Boss Duels. Clear Wing Synchro Dragon can only activate its effect in response to a Level 5 or higher monster, but my monsters have no level! Slifer is just… here. Maybe you got used to the fake Slifer, limited by its mortal constraints to be Level 10. But when controlled by a true Boss, measuring the power of a god is impossible."
Cary couldn't believe that her plan failed so spectacularly. Not only did she fail to do anything against Slifer, but she left herself open for a massive attack. But she didn't have any other combos set up right now. She didn't even have an equip card that could give Red-Eyes (2800) the few points it needed to surpass Slifer (3000). "I'll end my turn."
Lana: 10,700 LP, 3 cards
Cary: 7600 LP, 3 cards
Matt: 500 LP, 3 cards
Mitsuro: 8000 LP, 1 card
Shaking her head, Lana said, "That sounds about right. Pretty clear who the weakest link is here." She looked at the field and jumped. "Or should I say, it's clear who the weakest wing is?"
Matt said, "Fuck. That one was bad enough that even I wouldn't say it."
When Lana scowled, Cary felt it shoot down her spine. For a just a moment, she felt truly scared of Lana and her behavior. So to defuse the situation, she picked on Matt. "You're just upset that you didn't say it first."
Matt stared back for a moment, either confused by her words, struggling to figure out her reason for saying them, or weighing the pros and cons of arguing. Finally he just grabbed his deck and found a card he wanted. "Yeah, maybe you're right. But I have a question: What is that thing counting?" He pointed across the field to Lana's Summoning Clock. Its face was blank when Lana played it, but now it had two hands, counting minutes and hours.
Coyly, Lana said, "Wouldn't you like to know."
"Obviously it's counting Standby Phases. Cary already had one, and I just had mine. But why?"
While Lana continued to be coy, Mitsuro said, "I assume you're being intentionally dense, but think about the name. I'm assuming that she gets to use each Turn Counter to replace a Tribute when she summons a god card."
"I agree," said Matt. "That's why I have Dark Magic Attack." His Dark Magician launched a spell from his staff, targeting Lana's backfield.
Lana said, "I have Bounce Spell." The Eye of Wedjat appeared again, flickering to repel Matt's effect right back at everyone else's backfields.
"I chain Naval Assault." Mitsuro's face-down card rose to summon a small fleet of ships that launched missiles straight at Bounce Spell. "Your Spell is negated."
"Reverse of Reverse says otherwise." Mitsuro's armada disappeared as her card reset itself in the face-down position.
Matt frowned. "It would appear that card can reverse either position of a reverse card. So that means Dark Magic Attack hits one of us instead."
"Excuse me? It hits all of you," said Lana as Matt's Spell bounced back and obliterated all the Spells and Traps on the field, including Cary's Dragon Ravine and whatever Trap Mitsuro was preparing. Lana smiled as Air Raid was removed. "Oh look. I have all five Monster Zones again."
Matt nodded. "That's unfortunate. So if the only Spell Card left on the field is your Summoning Clock, then there's nothing left to negate my second Dark Magic Attack." His Dark Magician launched another attack across the field, right past Slifer, slamming into the dangling timepiece next to Lana.
But when the black magic faded, Summoning Clock was still there. "Too bad," said Lana. "Summoning Clock has a hidden effect: If I remove one Turn Counter, it isn't destroyed."
He snapped his fingers in reply. "I can't believe that card had the hidden effect. I was sure it would be either Ra or whatever your big boss card is. But it makes sense that you would need so much extra effort to protect that card instead. It's the true ace of your deck, isn't it?" He sighed. "I don't have any other moves right now. I'll let her pull together the cards needed to fuck you up."
Lana: 10,700 LP, 3 cards
Cary: 7600 LP, 3 cards
Matt: 500 LP, 2 cards
Mitsuro: 8000 LP, 1 card
Looking straight into the finger Matt pointed at her, Mitsuro said, "Gee, thanks. At least you were right about one thing: I know exactly what card I need to draw to beat Slifer." She pulled a card out of her deck, and then Summoning Clock regained its minute hand. "I'm not sure if you remember the time we dueled last year."
Lana made a face. "I remember your entrance ceremony, but I don't remember dueling you."
"You were the proctor for my entrance exam."
"Oh, sure. I dueled hundreds of losers that way."
Mitsuro ignored the jibe. "You gave me props for my deck specifically because of this card and how it lets me work around all other boons and banes offered by the game."
She shrugged. "I'm intrigued. What is it?"
"I'll show you. First, I'll Flip Summon my Assault Ship (4: 1400|1200). Doing so summons two Assault Tokens (2: 1000|1000) to my field."
"You forget about Slifer?" asked Lana. Slifer's second mouth cracked open, and electricity crackled along his pointed teeth.
"No. Because I'll also chain Re-Supply. By destroying my own monster and my two Tokens, I can draw three cards from my deck. Now Slifer has nothing to attack." To prove her point, Slifer's jowls snapped shut again. Cary wondered if Slifer had to swallow its own electricity like a mouthful of spit.
Now Mitsuro had a smirk on her face. "Maybe I'll give Slifer something to attack after all. First, I'll Special Summon Destroyer Class - USS Guardian (6: -1200|-1250) by its own effect." Lana was utterly confused as Slifer's jowls released again, this time spilling all that electricity straight onto Mitsuro's monster. Cary expected a quick move to save her card, but nothing happened. Instead, the powerful ship disappeared before the electricity stopped falling. "Now I use my Submarine as Tribute to summon Destroyer Class - USS Liberty (6: 2000|2300)." This ship was stronger, but Slifer's attack always reduced attack points by 2000, which was exactly the amount needed to destroy Mitsuro's ship.
"What was the point of that?" asked Lana, taking the question straight out of Cary's head.
"It puts all three of my Destroyer Class ships in the same place," said Mitsuro. "By banishing all three, I can fuse them into USS Liberation (10: 3500|3400)." Her newest ship was gigantic; an amalgamation of three ships, each designed to take down a fleet of enemy ships solo. It started off even stronger than Slifer (3000).
But Slifer's effect didn't have limitations or stamina levels. Once again, Slifer reduced Mitsuro's monster by 2000 points. At least USS Liberation (-1500) wasn't completely destroyed, so that was a slight bonus.
"Ace card. Nice," said Matt. "But I don't remember any special abilities that will take down Slifer."
"Not an ability. A modification," said Mitsuro. "I equip USS Liberation with Hyper Cannon Blast. It gives my ship a powerful boost all the way to 4500 attack points." The sheer size of that cannon looked like enough to sink the ship it was attached to. But in a way, its mouth resembled Slifer's mouth, crackling with energy and anticipation of its upcoming attack.
Lana was outraged. "You're fucking lying! That card just gives a free 3000-point boost?"
"It doesn't boost points: It sets them. If USS Liberation had 10,000 points, this card would set them to 4500. So anyway, that's my big plan here. Now I'll launch an attack." That gigantic cannon did, indeed, have an attack just as large as Slifer's. It was a relief to watch the massive laser blast and burn a hole through the middle of the giant, red snake, though. Slifer shattered into a billion pieces before fading entirely.
Lana: 9200 LP, 3 cards
Cary: 7600 LP, 3 cards
Matt: 500 LP, 2 cards
Mitsuro: 8000 LP, 1 card
Lana grumbled as she grabbed the cards from her Graveyard. "Thanks for making this easy for me. I mean, you're a bitch for knocking out one of my Turn Counters, but two is good enough." Only two? So the Turn Counters only added during her opponent's Standby Phase. "I'll send my Summoning Clock with both Turn Counters to the Graveyard so I can summon two monsters straight from my hand: Slifer the Sky Dragon (+5000|+5000) and Obelisk the Tormentor (4000|4000)." If the atrium had been packed with just one of the Egyptian God Cards, two at the same time was far too much mass. The wall separated the lobby from the atrium collapsed, creating clear visibility all the way from the front door past the toppled climbing wall and into the basketball court. Spectators were forced students to scatter so they wouldn't be squashed by falling cinder blocks. Only the few who had the foresight to go upstairs and watch from the second level were untouched physically, though their heart rates and their underwear probably suffered from being able to look straight into the eyes of each kaiju-sized monster.
"One more thing: I'll use Ra's Disciples to summon three Ra's Disciple Tokens (1500|1500), and all three of them will become fodder for The Winged Dragon of Ra (+4500|+4500)." As soon as the third and biggest god card appeared… Forget it. Where Lana stood was directly under the second floor of day lockers and conference rooms, next to one entrance for the upstairs track. Ra's head broke right through a section of the track, but his wings smacked the underside of the floor so hard that a few of the lockers crumpled. There was a crash on the other side out of Cary's field of vision.
"That's… a lot of gods," said Matt. Apparently the absurdity of his observation was funny to Lana. As she laughed, The Winged Dragon of Ra turned into a firebird and aimed itself at Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon. In no time at all, Red-Eyes had melted and disappeared from the field while Lana's points fell by 1000.
Cary asked, "Are people allowed to play that many gods at once?"
Lana's laughter turned hysterical. "Allowed? What a ridiculous question! Permission has nothing to do with it. It's all about power." Her voice grumbled on that last word. She didn't quite sound like the Guardians when they had been possessed by the Shadows, but it was the closest Lana had come to sounding like that so far. "The power of a single, fake god card is already enough to inflame jealousy in the hearts of students and professional alike. Mother could never even comprehend the level of power coursing through me and my Duel Disk right now. None of you can! I've surpassed all the Guardian Duelers in history."
"Mother," said Matt. "Who's your mother?"
Lana's expression snapped straight to a scowl. "Don't talk about my mother."
"You brought her up. And then compared her to all the historical Guardian Duelers. I'd guess she was one of them once?" She didn't reply, which Matt and Cary both took as an affirmative answer. "Cary, you memorized all the Guardians, didn't you?"
Cary felt flustered. "She'd have to be a student twenty to thirty years ago. I don't remember a bunch of names from that far back. Aren't you the one with the eidetic memory?"
He returned an awkward smile. "I was trying to keep you involved." He looked over to Mitsuro. "I do have a list of names memorized, but there are no other Taos in it."
"Probably need to know her mother's maiden name," said Mitsuro.
He pointed to her. "Brilliant." Looking to Lana, he asked, "Any chance of sharing?"
"No."
"Doesn't matter, I suppose. If she were anyone important, you'd be bragging about your connection to her."
"Binbin Zhang," said Dr. Apple, strafing the front wall near his alchemy circle, just inside where Slifer's body snaked around the room. "I remember her."
Matt made a face. "Shouldn't you maybe get somewhere safer?"
"My students are in danger right here. Besides, where's safe from three god cards that have physical bodies able to destroy the building?"
Cary uttered, "He's definitely not wrong."
Dr. Apple continued, "She was a Guardian for less than one semester. Talented, of course, but she never grasped the strategy required to excel with it. She was your motivation to become a Guardian, too."
"Thank you, Captain Context," said Matt. Looking back to Lana, he said, "So Mom couldn't cut it, which means you had to make up for her deficiency."
"I said shut up!" screamed Lana. Her voice carried Shadow strength with it this time. A wall of sound came out of her and shoved all three of her opponents backward. Dr. Apple was pressed into the outer wall, Mitsuro managed to stay on her feet, Matt kept his feet on the ground but needed a hand to support himself, and Cary collided with the toppled bench.
Mitsuro said, "Her mother died. I remember that from Spirit Day when it was just you, your father, and your sister."
"Sister," said Matt. "I don't remember any other Taos in the list of Guardians, so that means you were the only one who could live up to Mommy's legacy. But just one semester? They say the god cards pick their owner, so what happened to make them change their mind about her so quickly?"
Lana scowled, but somehow Matt's nagging broke through. "It wasn't even a full semester. As soon as she became a ranked student again, she wanted to get that feeling of power back. But she was never good enough to reclaim it. Then she went and died just before finals in my first year, when I became a Guardian Dueler."
"You make it sound like she chose to die," said Dr. Apple.
She scoffed. "Her overdose was ruled an accident."
"But you don't see it that way. Drug overdose necessitates excessive use, which is a choice. So you became Guardian to Ra—your mother's previous ward—but you couldn't share its power with her. But you also lost Ra eventually."
"Ra couldn't keep up with me," said Lana. "Whatever power people think those fake cards have… They're all pathetic. Like holding a switchblade when Excalibur's hidden nearby. I lost the Fake Ra to Andy, but then I learned about the real god cards. None of the fakes mattered anymore. I had to find the real cards so I could find real power."
Matt said, "Howard told you about them, didn't he? Who told Howard?"
Lana shook her head. "It doesn't matter. None of this matters. I only need to feed these cards enough duel energy to awaken them one hundred percent. And the first step is to remove all three of my gods from the field. Let me introduce you to Holactie the Creator of Light (0|0)."
What Lana played wasn't just a card: It was a miniature, holographic form of the Archangel—the giant monster that ravaged the Pacific Rim, flooded thousands of islands including Duel Academy, drowned naval forces from a dozen countries, and marched across much of the Southern United States. Its body looked slightly feminine, with a soft face and a body covered in gold as if its wings and headdress were woven from Ra's feathers. She occupied as much space in the atrium as all three gods together. She held her hand high, and Cary's most base instincts forced her to run and hide underneath the nearest table. She felt heat that filled the room as if the entire rec center had become an air fryer. Even with her eyes pressed closed, light shone through her eyelids like staring into the sun.
But in a flash, it was all over. Except for the afterimage burned temporarily into her retinas, Cary's vision returned to the darkness of closed eyelids, and her skin felt the relative coolness like standing in the shade right after getting sunburned. Hesitantly, she opened her eyes, seeing the wreckage of the atrium behind the table where she hid. Panicked about her opponent, she flipped around to see Lana standing there just as before, except that she was surrounded by light instead of shadows.
"What happened?" asked Cary.
Lana laughed. "Well, congratulations, new girl. You survived seeing Holactie's effect: Holy Light. The Creator of Light can't attack or be attacked, but what she can do is inflict 8000 points of damage to you each turn."
That number didn't make sense. That would be the same as winning the duel. Matt was still standing, so Holactie couldn't have done anything to him. But Mitsuro… She was flat on the floor. Cary was immediately conflicted, both happy that Mitsuro hadn't burned to ash but also terrified that her condition might be even worse than the aftereffects of the Shadow Duels.
"Is she…?"
Dr. Apple was also alive and free to roam. He stumbled his way over to Mitsuro and knelt down beside her. "She's alive. Heart rate is a bit slow but steady. Just one heart, right? Yeah, she'll be alright so long as you can take down this mammoth."
Lana said, "Correct diagnosis, wrong prognosis. You all can't win this. Especially not when I knocked out the only one of you who's capable of strategic thinking."
Matt pointed at Lana's Duel Disk. "That card is the anchor. This monster doesn't belong in this plane of existence. It has all the properties of another dimension but existing in this one, and the reason is that card right there." He stared Cary in the eye. "We have to win this duel and get rid of that card."
"How? How do we beat something that deals an instant victory every turn?"
"First, we bring back Mitsuro. We have one more special ability: We can give anyone on our side an extra 4000 LP. Give them to Mitsuro, and she's back in the duel. And Holactie can't defend or attack, so we go around it. Deal enough damage to eliminate all of Lana's LP right now, before she gets another turn."
With a grin on her face, Lana set two cards quietly, then she ended her turn.
Lana: 8200 LP, 0 cards
Cary: 7600 LP, 3 cards
Matt: 500 LP, 2 cards
Mitsuro: 0 LP, 1 card
Cary immediately tapped the button on her Duel Disk display. "We're restoring 4000 LP to Mitsuro so she can rejoin the duel." The numbers rolled back up on Mitsuro's Duel Disk, but she remained unconscious. It was the first moment that Cary realized Mitsuro's field was empty, too—her giant Navy ship had been wiped away the instant her LP hit 0.
An excited squeal escaped from Lana. "Ooo! It looks like she's completely knocked out! Maybe her soul has already been claimed and fed to Holactie here. I guess the two of you will have to handle me yourselves."
"We can do that," said Cary. But she wasn't quite as confident as she tried to sound. She was upset about Mitsuro being knocked out of the duel, and she wasn't sure whether Lana's face-down cards had any hidden effects that could still fuck things up. It was actually the Bounce Spell that stopped Cary from completing a surefire OTK: She had Soul Charge in her hand and enough LP to revive a fieldful of monsters. But if she tried that, then Lana could steal the effect for herself and use it to revive a fieldful of Egyptian God Cards. Cary spent several minutes thinking through the next best strategy she could come up with.
She looked to Matt. "Do you think you could deal about 5000 points of damage?"
He shrugged. "Should be easy enough."
"Okay. Then I'll summon Dragon Buster Destruction Sword (1: 400|300) and tune it with Clear Wing so I summon Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon (8: 3000|2500)." The dragon on her field grew bigger, stronger, and more sparkly. "You said Holactie doesn't participate in battle, right? That's too bad for you." Crystal Wing charged into a spinning attack, glistening through the air with shining energy, skirting past the gigantic creator goddess and aiming straight for the human who claimed she had the power to control the gods.
"Fantastic," said Lana, dealing with the LP loss as if it were a normal duel without shadow magic. "I'll activate Reverse of Reverse."
"What? Why?" asked Cary.
Lana pointed to Mitsuro. "Because there's a card in her Graveyard that I want to use: Counterattack." It must have been the face-down card that Mitsuro lost after her first turn. A small armada appeared on the field, aiming the cannons of nearly a dozen ships straight at Matt. "You take damage equal to the damage I just suffered." This time, Cary couldn't tear her eyes off of her other teammate being pummeled relentlessly until his LP fell to 0.
But something was wrong… or right… Different. Matt didn't fall unconscious. He winced and grabbed his shoulder as if he had run into a vending machine, but he was clearly awake, grunting and groaning.
Where Cary was bewildered, Lana was incensed. "What the fuck is this?" She was nearly frothing at the mouth. "How the fuck are you still awake? Your Life Points are supposed to be literally your life points. I mean… Come on! What the fuck? Obelisk then Slifer then your literal life… What, are you fucking immortal?"
"Language," said Dr. Apple. "I'm happy to encourage honest discourse between students but have some decorum." He approached Matt and did that thing some adults do where he looked like he would place a reassuring hand on Matt's shoulder, but he didn't know if he had consent, so only the tips of his fingers touched Matt's sleeve. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I ran full speed at a vending machine."
"Sounds rough. But you're conscious and have your wits about you? Do you remember where you are?"
Matt made a point of looking around. "Some kind of giant toilet bowl?" Obviously his snark was intact, although Cary couldn't help noticing how accurate that description was. The walls were mostly white and the tiles on the floor had a pseudo-ceramic appearance, plus the climbing wall looked like a giant turd when lying on its side like that. He nodded at Cary. "I'm fine. Do what you can to finish." She couldn't believe how Matt was still okay. Every duelist in the past week who completed a Shadow Duel was useless afterwards, whether they won or not.
But she couldn't be happy about it. "Figures that of all the people who could survive this mess, it would have to you." He returned that wry grin that was so common from him. "Sucks that we lost your Dark Magician."
"Yeah. Sorry about that."
Now the only question was whether Cary wanted to set a card. Soul Charge wasn't worth the risk of Bounce Spell, but she decided it could be a lot of fun to watch Lana waste her card on a face-down Terraforming. "I set one card. My turn's over."
Lana: 5200 LP, 0 cards
Cary: 7600 LP, 3 cards
Matt: 0 LP, 2 cards
Mitsuro: 4000 LP, 1 card
Matt walked over to Mitsuro and knelt down by her side. "Are you trying to cheat?" called Lana.
"Hey, fuck off. Mitsuro is still legitimately in this duel. I'll only use her cards and her Duel Disk." He sifted through the dust nearby and looked around the tables until he found the card that had fallen from Mitsuro's hand. "One card, I guess. Plus whatever she draws." He took the top card from Mitsuro's deck. "Oh, I really like this card. She'll play Lock On!"
"A Spell Card," said Lana. "I'll chain Bounce Spell. Now the effect belongs to me."
"Oh, damn," said Matt, looking sad. "You're right. I forgot all about that. Now a Spell Card that can be activated by either player is totally useless to… Wait a second. Is it useless to anyone?" He feigned surprise by raising his eyebrows, while Lana growled at her bad luck. "I guess not. If you don't mind, I'll activate its second effect: Holactie's effect is negated."
Lana shrugged. "Only until the end of the turn. What do I care? She'll still be able to destroy you on the next turn."
Matt smirked. "Maybe you're right. I wonder whether Mitsuro's Amphibious Landing card can change anything about this situation." The three Destroyer Class ships (6: 0|0) that Mitsuro had banished earlier to summon her Fusion Monster suddenly returned to her field, all drained of their weapons and armor until they had 0 points. "It looks like Mitsuro's Navy is actually quite versatile. If she were to overlay all three of her cards, then she could summon Amphibious Assault Ship - USS Liberation (6: 3000|3000)." This new ship looked strikingly similar to Mitsuro's other Liberation monster card, but the paint was much darker and the cannons were smaller and more numerous, like the difference between a Fusion Monster and an Xyz Monster. It was sleeker this time and had jets on deck, similar to an aircraft carrier.
When the Liberation assault ship started moving, jets took flight and cannons swiveled until everything pointed in the direction of Holactie the Creator of Light (0). She was bombarded from all sides by missiles, torpedoes, bullets, and bombs. Cary thought it exactly like when the kaiju version of Holactie took on that naval fleet—the one led by Mitsuro's father. But this time, the weapons were useful: Holactie flinched with every attack, shrinking in overall size until the barrage ended and her body shattered, disappearing from the field.
After dusting the area again to be sure, Matt said, "Mitsuro doesn't have any other cards right now, so she says, 'That's all, mate.'"
Lana: 2200 LP, 0 cards
Cary: 7600 LP, 3 cards
Matt: 0 LP, 2 cards
Mitsuro: 2000 LP, 0 cards
Cary made a face. Mitsuro wasn't Australian. No part of her accent sounded even similar to that. Is that really what he heard when she spoke?
Lana was finally worn down. All of her bluster had gone, piddled out by watching all of the Egyptian God Cards fail to protect her. "Slifer, Obelisk, and even Holactie all failed to this buffoon who has somehow managed to ignore the effects of the Shadow Games."
"Not completely ignore," said Matt. "I've got a kink in my neck that feels like…" He twisted his neck until it made a sickly clicking sound. "Well, it feels like that sounds."
She stopped talking, maybe as a wish that he would, too. She played Ra's Disciples again, as always, but her monsters were all fodder to summon the god card she had spent the most time with: The Winged Dragon of Ra (+4500|+4500). Ra's shimmering feathers gleamed like the sun as it absorbed and combined the power of the three Ra's Disciple Tokens (1500|1500). The Lock-On! Card she stole from Mitsuro activated, reflecting off of Ra.
"Excuse me, but Mitsuro wants to activate her monster's effect. By removing one overlay unit, she changes the target of your effect to Amphibious Assault Ship - USS Liberation. So Ra can't attack directly anymore—only Liberation can. Except Liberation can't attack on this turn, so maybe that effect will just be wasted." And it was a monster effect, so she couldn't chain Bounce Spell or Reverse of Reverse.
"Ugh! Will you never stop chattering?" In her frustration, Lana activated Ra's other ability to increase its own attack power by draining the Life Points away from Lana. Now Ra (+6700) was powerful enough that an attack on Liberation (3000) would put Matt… er, Mitsuro… back out of the duel.
Except… "Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon activates," said Cary. "When a monster's effect activates, Crystal Wing negates it and destroys the monster." And the best part: It wasn't a targeting move, so Ra couldn't be immune to it.
And neither was Lana. As her final god card shattered in front of her, she slumped to the floor with her knees bent awkwardly inward. She was defeated both in the duel and in general. "How could this happen? I'm a Boss!"
"Not a very good one," said Matt. "You never should have ignored Cary. She really is the most tactical and strategic duelist at Duel Academy these days."
She never seemed to hear his words. Lana just muttered to herself, otherwise catatonic-like for so long that her own Duel Disk ended her turn without any further action.
Lana: 100 LP, 6 cards
Cary: 7600 LP, 3 cards
Matt: 0 LP, 2 cards
Mitsuro: 2000 LP, 0 cards
Not that there was anything she could do to defend. Cary didn't need to activate any effects for Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon (3000) to attack directly and end the duel.
Lana: 0 LP, 6 cards
Cary: 7600 LP, 3 cards
Matt: 0 LP, 2 cards
Mitsuro: 2000 LP, 0 cards
Cary expected to be witness to the same scene that befell Dave and all the other duelists in the Shadow Games, but what happened to Lana was different. Her Duel Disk shone as brightly as when Holactie attacked. As the light grew ever brighter, it was harder for Cary to watch what was happening. Her last image before she was forced to avert her eyes was of Lana struggling to push her Duel Disk off of her arm. As the light overwhelmed the room once again, Lana screamed.
All the while, Cary never realized she was bleeding.
When she came to, Kimberly Walter was stabbing her in the knee. When Cary tried to jerk her leg away, Kimberly said, "Sorry! I know the ointment stings. Good news is it looks superficial. Rest that leg for a couple of days and you should be good as new. And luckily you weren't out for too long, so you won't have the same recovery period as everyone else."
Everyone else. "Mitsuro! Is she okay?"
"Dr. Nagell's with her. Her symptoms don't look any worse than the others, so odds are that she'll be fine."
"What about Matt?"
Kimberly nodded. "Clearly memory is okay. Matt's fine." She pointed near the turnstiles where Matt was talking to Dr. Apple, Fats, and Leon. He made eye contact with her across the room and offered a slight nod. Unfortunately, she probably returned some sort of grimace. She was happy to see him standing under his own power, but his Life Points had been zero. Literally everyone else that happened to ended up a vegetable. Why not him?
Before Kimberly could finish the questions to determine Cary's immediate health risks, movement in her peripheral vision caught Cary's attention. What looked like wisps of smoke and fire became obvious waves of black fog—the same fog that had infected the island for the past week. And it seemed to be pouring from Dr. Kerr's jacket pocket. Students and faculty in the atrium mostly fawned over the peculiar occurrence. Almost immediately when Dr. Kerr pulled something from her pocket, Lei passed out. That was enough to trigger more flight as the students in the atrium panicked, but it wasn't long before Marcus and the two Joels also passed out. Dr. Kerr dropped whatever was bleeding shadows like it was a grenade.
It was Uria… or the fake Uria: the card Yul had given up and handed to the faculty.
In the entryway, Matt gave Cary one more look—too far away to help each other as the fog wafted into Cary's field of vision. Matt grabbed Fats and shoved him toward the front door while Cary's vision turned black.
I was looking forward to this duel for the entire year I was working on this arc. This was why Dr. West had to win against the Guard Trio: I needed the Boss to look invincible, even when faced with the top three duelists at Duel Academy. Obviously I had to nerf Holactie slightly from the written card effect: It would be utter bullshit for her to win against three duelists automatically, after all, and make her literally unbeatable. But keeping the nerf to an instant win against one player still meant someone had to lose—the decision for that to be Matt didn't come until I actually reached this point in the story. I'm excited to show you where it goes next.
Fun fact: Titanic X has been one of the most dedicated—or at least the most patient—fans of this story. She contributed Mitsuro as a character during my first attempt to write this story, and she was still here years later to contribute Mitsuro once again to my reboot. That's why I was so happy to include Mitsuro in this Boss Duel, both worldbuilding how much of a struggle it is for people to stand against the god monsters, even with Life Points remaining, and also setting up Cary to win the duel.
Of course, I appreciate everyone who contributed an OC. Many of them have had spotlight moments already. If they haven't, keep reading! (Hint: There were two more readers who contributed OCs in the first version of the story. Don't think I forgot about you.)
* Jack Hansbury...same name, with a period
* Tamah "Fats" Fatu...Vstriker
* Emily Li...Amourenvie
* Mitsuro Itachu...Titanic X