Chapter 28: In God's Shadow
Bryan had grown accustomed to meeting with Dr. Arbus once a month. The goal of the Duel Academy guidance counselors was to mentor the students toward their career goals. Sometimes that meant suggesting which classes would look best on a transcript, other times it meant practice interviews for students who had upcoming internships, blog posts, and tournaments. In Bryan's case, it usually meant mini therapy sessions, discussing his feelings of duel inadequacy and steps he should take to address those feelings.
But those meetings were always on the calendar two weeks in advance. This one sprang up just yesterday. And at this point, Bryan had a complicated relationship with inadequacy. On the one hand, the verbal bullying had grown intense. Thomas in particular had ramped up his efforts to let Bryan know what the Obelisk students thought of him. Every duelist who ever lost to Yul Tan in an official challenge came out of the woodwork to express how they couldn't believe someone as untalented as Bryan could pull off a win like that. More than ever, Bryan felt like the entire student body hated him.
On the other hand, he had beaten Yul Tan in an official challenge! Yul was an amazing duelist whose victories were as numerous as Dave's. He had earned his god card in his junior year and never let go. Sure, he lost a duel here and there during league play, but he held on to Uria through every area duel and direct challenge… until Bryan managed to win.
Bryan looked over to his usual cohort and asked, "The only way I could've possibly won that duel was if I had some redeeming duel talent, right?"
Matt made a face. "Sure. Or if Yul threw the match."
With a sigh of defeat, Bryan asked, "Why would say that? You know I'm going to start thinking that's true now."
"Of course it's not true. Yul dueled hard and you dueled harder. I was speaking to simple probability."
Bryan had to shake his head to clear the fog that Matt always generated when his comments spun in circles like that. "So now I'm confused. This meeting has to be about Yul and Uria, right? It's been three weeks since I won that duel and they haven't said anything about Yul still wearing green. But Dr. Aseel is the advisor for the Guardian Duelers, and Dr. Lankford is the gatekeeper for area duels. So why is Dr. Arbus suddenly part of this?"
"That's what I'd like to find out. I suspect it might partly be a way to soften the blow. Dr. Lankford isn't known for being squishy on the inside. Or maybe it's about the logistics of switching dorms. That seems like it would be in the purview of a guidance counselor."
"You think?"
"Oh, for sure. Dormitories, uniforms, class schedules, all in their scope of responsibility."
Bryan sighed again, this time in realizing it was his own fault for leaving that modifier dangling. "And you think this meeting is about moving me into Yul's room?"
"It's possible. Maybe they delayed three weeks because they had to clear out one of rooms in Obelisk for Yul to move in to. I'll miss having you around, and I'm not looking forward to living with Jack without you as a buffer, but I'll acclimate quickly enough to having one less roommate who contributes over half of the sleep farts."
When Dr. Arbus's door opened, Mitsuro stepped out. Bryan couldn't stop himself from saying, "Hey, Mitsuro. Why are you here?"
She made a face. "Dr. Arbus is my guidance counselor. I'm trying to think of a good way to explain why I'd come talk to him." Bryan got the feeling she was being sarcastic. Her eyes also looked mildly puffy, as if she had been crying. Bryan knew better than to ask about that, though.
Apparently Matt didn't. "Were you crying in there? Did you get a bad grade?"
"I found out I might have to put up with a bunch of questions that are none of your business. It's heartbreaking."
"Touchy," said Matt, grinning like an idiot.
Bryan said, "It's pronounced touché."
Dr. Arbus said, "Bryan, are you ready to chat? Is Matt waiting out here?"
The former question was expected, but the latter gave him pause. "Why? Is he allowed in with us?"
"It's your choice. This discussion is about you. If you're going to tell him anyway, he might as well join so you don't have to email me a bunch of his questions later. If you'd prefer to tell him in your own words, then he can wait outside."
Matt huffed. "I never really understood that expression, in your own words. I don't have my own words. I've been using the same words everyone else has."
Bryan chuckled as he entered the office. "Yeah, he can come. This probably affects him, too, anyway."
Seating himself on Dr. Arbus's leather couch, Matt said, "Py mor brimarc rexdro roc rex kidor."
Dr. Arbus's expression was neutral all the time, almost like a birth defect prevented him from smiling or frowning. But the corners of his mouth rose slightly at the sound of Matt's scat. "An attempt to use your words?"
"Indeed."
"Quite." Dr. Arbus closed the door to keep the meeting private. "This won't take long, but I expect you'll have questions. I'll be blunt, Mr. Knight."
Uh oh. Mister Knight? Dr. Arbus stopped speaking so formally during the fall semester. For him to revert meant he was being official, which meant it was bad news.
"Your petition to join the Guardian Duelers has been denied."
Bryan shot to his feet. "What?"
Dr. Arbus briefly looked tense, but he relaxed when Bryan didn't lash out. "The faculty voted to allow Yul Tan to retain his possession of Uria, Lord of Searing Flames at this time. For now, you will remain a resident of the Slifer dormitory."
"But why?" asked Bryan. It took everything in him not to shout. For all the time he spent feeling like he didn't deserve to be at Duel Academy, he finally won the type of duel that filled his confidence higher than it had been in a long time.
Somehow Matt remained calm. "What was their reasoning?"
With a sigh, Dr. Arbus explained. "The Guardian Duelers are automatically assigned the ranks of 1 through 9 among the student body. Normally, it doesn't matter how much lower than that your rank is so long as you can defeat a current Guardian in an official challenge."
"But I did that. I even beat him in a league duel just the other day. I beat Yul twice!"
"Given your rank and your success ratio outside of those duels, the faculty believes you would not hold Uria for long. Yul has succeeded in all official challenged save yours. You, on the other hand, have lost eighteen out of twenty-two official challenges so far. That is on par with your overall win ratio this semester so far, quite low for a Top 9 student."
Matt made a face. "That's not the whole reason, though. It has to do with god card magic, doesn't it?"
Dr. Arbus paused, almost grinning once more. Waiting for him to decide on a response gave Bryan plenty of time to realize his vision was blurring because he stopped breathing a minute ago.
"Why have you waited so long without asking about your results?" he asked.
Bryan frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Three weeks have passed. Mr. Luther has complained to Dr. Aseel no less than four times, plus another half-dozen to other members of the faculty. Yet you have been silent since your duel against Uria. Why?"
Matt grabbed Bryan's arm. "Don't answer that. It's a trap."
"I just… figured there were details that needed to be worked out," he said.
The guidance counselor was unimpressed with that response. "Do you believe you deserved to win?"
Nervous laughter erupted from Bryan's lips. "What? Sure, I did. I won, didn't it?"
But Dr. Arbus remained serious. "I know you come from a low-income home. You both did. But where Matt has shown relentless effort against those ranked above him, your behavior tends to fall short. To some spectators, it appears as though your losses often occur because you lose momentum."
Bryan dropped his head and pressed his eyes closed. Not that he was about to cry, but he felt like shit the first time he heard this, when it only came from his best friend. Hearing it from his guidance counselormade it really real.
"He knows," said Matt.
"He knows what?"
"About his mental block. He accidentally settled himself mentally into a perceived hierarchy, where he's the bottom-ranked student. He hates it, but part of his brain keeps pushing to keep it reality. He's never had three wins in a row because he holds himself back if he ever reaches two."
"I'm working on it," said Bryan as he forced himself to look up. With a deep breath, he said, "I promise that most of my issues are not because of my mental health. I'm just…" He wanted to pick the right word here—something that said he was a bad duelist while implying that he could get better. "…inexperienced."
Dr. Arbus nodded. "Perhaps we can hold regular sessions to work on that. That aside: There is one ongoing issue related to your Deck Limitations Tournament championship that keeps the discussion alive for now. Darcy Purves of Cross-Platform Chemistry recently posted on Cyber Shout a derogatory comment regarding how your duel with her ended."
"Who cares about social media?" asked Bryan. Finally, an answer he was wholly confident about.
"Normally, shouts are given little bearing on Duel Academy decisions as they are neither regulated nor influential. However, Ms. Purves appears to be positing that Duel Academy is not the educational juggernaut we all know it to be and using your performance as her scale."
Matt laughed. "Because in her world, winning the tournament and defeating her in a duel is proof that we suck. No wonder she's their social media marketer and not the head of R&D."
"Regardless, the idea of granting a controversial god card to a controversial figure such as Mr. Knight is presently distasteful. The discussion will continue, but I wanted you to know the truth to avoid raising your hopes any higher." He placed his hand on Bryan's shoulder. "You were part of the team that defeated Leona Moxley in a duel. You have no idea how rare that accolade truly is. Continue to grow. Continue to challenge opponents who should be unattainable for a Slifer and then defeat them. Prove that the faculty has made a mistake."
Bryan could barely lift his head enough to nod. "Yes, sir." All of that was easy to say, but it was hard to feel motivated. As they stepped outside of Dr. Arbus's office, Bryan muttered, "Why even try anymore?"
Matt grabbed Bryan by the collar and pulled so hard that Bryan lurched, ending up on one knee while Matt scowled in his face. "Absolutely not. Dr. Lankford and the others don't think you're good enough for a god card. That doesn't surprise me at all. I never expected them to allow a Slifer to even challenge a Guardian let alone take their god card. The fact that you challenged and won is proof that their culture surrounding Slifers is fucked up. Of course they're doubling down. You keep dueling, keep getting better, keep winning. Prove them stupid. You're better off without that card. How are Heroes going to synergize with Uria, anyway?"
Bryan was confused now. "You said I could use Vision Heroes."
"Yeah, to summon it. It'll still have zero points unless you load your deck and subsequently your Graveyard with Continuous Traps, though. Forget Uria. Forget Dr. Lankford and the other shitheads who want you to feel like shit. Just remember what it felt like when you summoned two Masked Heroes who took down a god card and helped you win a duel against the Number 6 duelist in the school."
"Oh yeah. You're right! He is Number 6, isn't he? Goddamn, I beat Number 6 in a duel."
"Twice."
"Twice!"
"Exactly. Remember that feeling. Stayed focused. And help me sweet talk Lucy." Bryan's breath caught in his throat at those words. For half a second, his skin turned cold. Matt continued by adding, "I haven't heard anything from her yet about what happened last year when the god cards were stolen. I really was counting on you getting me more time to explore that house."
For some reason, hearing Matt talk about the stolen god cards again made Bryan feel better.
Matt was heads-down in the library reference section, looking up old periodicals related to Duel Academy and its branches. Over its entire history, Duel Academy managed to keep a mostly-clean record, entering the international spotlight only for positive reasons such as students winning prestigious awards, world-class dueling champions listing Duel Academy as their alma mater, and a handful of speculation pieces that discussed whether or not the mythical god cards were actually housed at Duel Academy at all. Spoiler alert: The conclusion was that the god cards of legend weren't real, but one-of-a-kind imitations were possibly created as Duel Academy trinkets to generate intrigue and keep Duel Academy's reputation in the public zeitgeist.
But what he couldn't find was anything about the creation of the Sacred Beasts. Everyone who knew the alleged Yu-Gi-Oh! Gaming lore already knew the official mythos wherein the Egyptian God Cards were cards that represented divine beings that only the dueling pharaoh could summon to Earth. The Wicked Gods were shadows of the Egyptian Gods—fiends born in opposition to their divinity. Although some claimed the Wicked Gods were created just to give the Egyptian Gods their mortal enemies, others claimed that the Wicked Gods were just as ancient. Still, the Sacred Beasts never entered into the mythos, despite bearing strong resemblances to the Egyptian Gods.
The door to the reference room swung open, then a small voice squeaked in surprise. "Sorry!" Matt barely looked in time to see Emily Li closing the door. Although he was curious what she was looking for and why she believed that two people couldn't exist in the reference room at the same time, he allowed her to leave just so he could return to his isolation.
His eyes only just returned to the page when the door opened again, slowly and quietly this time. It was still Emily, trying harder to keep herself under the radar, maybe?
"Change your mind?" asked Matt.
She blushed. "I wanted to be quiet." She spoke in whispers, barely audible in a room with as much air control as the reference room.
"Afraid you'd scare the books?" he asked.
Her hair swung wildly as she shook her head. "I didn't know anyone was in here. I'm sorry if I disturbed you."
"I was pretty disturbed before you got here, depending on who you ask." She gave a half smile. Basically recognized it as a "dad joke" and wasn't thoroughly amused. "I can share, though sometimes I have to sound words out loud to get them right. Hope that won't bother you."
She didn't take the bait. "No." She dropped her backpack at the other side of the giant table, then she entered the rolling stacks. Matt thought about asking if she needed help turning the crank to slide the shelves, but they were greased well enough that even someone her size was able to move them. It required her to put her whole body into it, but she found the shelf she needed and a full body workout at the same time.
Out of curiosity, Matt watched just long enough to see that she had grabbed an issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. When she sat down, she must have glanced at his stack of periodicals. Emily asked him, "Are you researching the god cards?"
"How did you jump to that conclusion?"
"Just because all of those journals and newspapers had multiple stories about Duel Academy, and your roommate was just cheated out of earning his own god card. So I thought maybe you were looking up information about them."
Matt straightened up. "Cheated? Do tell."
"Well, yeah. Bryan Knight is your roommate, right? He won an area duel against Yul Tan. Dr. Lankford didn't say it out loud, but those duels always have a god card as the ante. Bryan won, so he is supposed to receive the ante card as a reward. But I heard Yul kept it."
"That's an accurate account of what happened. Do you have any theories on that?"
She made a face. And despite Matt speaking in normal volume, she continued to whisper. "Maybe just because Bryan's still a Slifer?"
Matt's turn to frown. "That's a ridiculous defense. Admittedly I couldn't find any past instance where someone from Slifer joined the Guardians, but I also couldn't find any instance where they deserved to. For gods' sake, they treat Slifers like garbage when the actual, literal Slifer is held by the school's Number 1 duelist."
"Have you tried to appeal?"
"I found a written policy for appealing grades, performance plans, and punitive measures, but nothing about area duels or decisions made exclusively by faculty members in a silo with no external visibility."
Emily pursed her lips briefly and pressed her fingers to them, almost like shushing the world helped her think. "I wonder if it's because he couldn't resonate with Uria."
"He couldn't made a playing card buzz audibly." The question mark was inaudible because he was restating her comment, mostly out of disbelief.
"Right. I heard that only certain people can actually use the god cards. Like there's some kind of spiritual connection and the cards will only react to certain people."
Matt just nodded and kept the sarcastic comebacks to himself. After all, he already knew that theory, and it wasn't the craziest story to be associated with this card game. "What are the criteria?"
"Unknown. For lack of a better description: The god card has to want to be with the duelist."
After a moment filled with silent staring, Matt said, "And here I was worried that this would be vague."
She said, "For example, Uria obviously likes Yul because he's able to summon Uria a lot. But it's like Uria saw Bryan at the league duel and then decided he wanted a new owner, so Uria made sure Yul was able to summon him faster and stronger the second time just to make sure Bryan was good enough to win in a real duel."
"Except that your theory implies Bryan didn't win all on his own: Uria helped because Uria ultimately wanted Bryan to win."
"Something like that, yes."
"Because Uria is alive?"
Now Emily looked less certain of her stance. "I don't know that 'alive' is the right word for it. Uria as a spirit certainly exists, but the card is still an inanimate container for the piece of spirit that can touch our reality."
Suddenly her words were starting to sound similar to the stories from the Denkard. He decided to play ignorant and find out what else she knew.
"I don't get it, though. Stories tell about Slifer and Obelisk and Ra being divine entities from Ancient Egypt, and the Wicked Gods are like their underworld counterparts, but what even are the Sacred Beasts?"
"They're basically like what the gods would be if they were born in this reality. You know the stories about the Shadow Realm, right?" Everyone knew those stories, but Emily still waited as if she believed Matt knew nothing.
"I think I've heard that term. Something to do with stabbing yourself in the hand or cutting off your feet with a saw blade?"
She looked like she bought it. "Those are different stories, I think. The Shadow Realm is supposed to be kind of like Hell, but really just another dimension, kind of like this world but with different physics. It's where ghosts would live, if you believe in that sort of thing."
"Oh, absolutely," he said, feigning enthusiasm.
"So think of the Egyptian Gods like guardians of Heaven, the Wicked Gods as guardians of Hell, and the Sacred Beasts as guardians of Earth."
He muttered, "That's an interesting way to look at it." He tried to tie that in with Leona's description of real space, imaginary space, and the Overworld. And since Emily seemed to have so many ideas already, he voiced his first thought out loud: "If that were the case, then all three sets of god cards would be the same entities but existing in three separate dimensions? That might explain why they looked similar."
"That's one possibility, to be sure. But since the Yu-Gi-Oh! Gaming lore has a story about Yugi Mutou and the god cards where Ra, Obelisk, and Slifer fused together into a single being, some people think it's more likely that each trio had a combined form in their respective dimension. In the lore, the Egyptian Gods fused into Holactie the Creator of Light. So if there's also a fused version of the Sacred Beasts and of the Wicked Gods, they might actually be three different forms of the same higher entity."
"Back to Yahweh," Matt muttered.
Emily said, "What?"
Maybe it was more of a mumble than a mutter. But Matt didn't want to repeat how that sounded like the way people treat the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost as both three entities and also the same entity.
Instead, he asked, "Do you have guesses what that higher entity is?"
She shrugged. "God, I guess?" But she seemed amused by her own joke. "It's one of the theories, but personally I think they're just three separate god-like entities: Holactie, Armityle, and Endgame. I think it makes more sense that way. It also lines up better with the official Yu-Gi-Oh! Gaming lore overall."
Matt didn't have any clear arguments. "It works for me. Where did you hear all that?" He almost expected her to say she'd spent time in Florence, but Emily was most certainly not Italian by genetics. Not for multiple generations, at least.
For the first time, Emily blushed. "Just rumors."
Matt wanted to push, but he also knew that pushing for answers would most likely make her resistant to sharing. So he decided to offer some levity instead: "Are you one of those online conspiracy trolls who just makes shit up and spews it on the internet to mess with people? You gonna tell me how to bring General Leo and Aerith back to life, too?" He threw in a sly grin to sell the humor.
She just shook her head. "Not me, no. But I have an uncle who travels a lot. He goes to a lot of small towns and big cities so he can learn a lot about their cultures, then he writes papers about where peoples differ and what they have in common."
"He sounds like a cultural anthropologist," said Matt.
"He is. I didn't realize you knew what that was. But you're the smartest student in school, so why was I concerned?"
That comment struck Matt oddly. It felt… unnatural, like she was intentionally buttering him up for some reason.
"Just well read. But it sounds like you are, too. Who's your uncle? I'd love to read some of his stuff. These stories about the god cards are especially interesting."
"I'll email you some of his articles."
"That would be great." Was that where he should end the conversation? It probably was. Matt needed time to think over everything she said, but maybe he'd forget the part about appealing Dr. Lankford's decision to exclude Bryan from the Guardian Duelers—because it was most definitely Dr. Lankford's personal decision. Whether he was an asshole who actually hated a quarter of the students just because they wore red jackets or because he was an overzealous lore nerd who decided that god card mystique was necessary to maintain excitement about Duel Academy, Matt was ultimately relieved by the decision. Even before Emily's conspiracy theory about a singular entity splitting itself into nine parts just to fuck with the balance of a human card game, Matt already felt unnerved about the idea of Uria's spiritual energy mingling with Bryan's.
Matt's brain was more on auto-pilot than he realized when Dr. Apple called time! on chemistry class. He was slow to pack up as a result of being too heads-down and ten pages deep into his workbook on the chemical elements. As he slid his notebook and pens back into his backpack, he noticed the library books he had brought with him—alternate textbooks for chemistry courses. Matt found that reading sciences from the perspectives of multiple authors helped him view the information from just as many angles. He was only frustrated that the books didn't cover all the same material, a point proved by Dr. Apple who still managed to sneak topics onto the syllabus that were missing from all four textbooks.
Anyway, he reminded himself that Mondays meant heading to area duels before lunch. Luckily the library was right next to the arena, and he wouldn't have to wait for Bryan, who was walking all the way from the rec center. But no sooner had Matt stood when his phone buzzed. He assumed it would be a message from Bryan either containing a reminder to save a seat or a meme bearing inappropriate quotes from R-rated movies the librarian back home had been crazy to let them check out.
Instead, the message was a reminder to arrive at the arena early to prepare for his area duel with Kai Jackson. Matt had somehow forgotten all about that, even after being excited last Friday when he found out his challenge was finally on the schedule. And then he practiced boss duels on Saturday against Cary, Fats, and Cee-Cee and on Sunday against the Guard Trio, all to help the winner of tonight's league games prepare for the Spirit Day Festival. It was sure by now that the Longshots from the Slifer dorm wouldn't win that honor, but it was currently a toss-up between OTK and the Guardians.
Unfortunately, forgetting about his area duel meant Matt also neglected to carry his Duel Disk with him. Well, at least the arena had a duel station all set up. Or at least there was one in the arena. Maybe it wasn't set up by default. He didn't know if it would work, but he tried texting back to the automated message stating that he would prefer to use the duel station today. He didn't receive an auto-reply with an error message, so maybe it worked? Either way, he still wanted to drop the textbooks off at the library so he could drop their weight from his shoulders.
All that to say that he was technically five minutes early for area duels but also five minutes late for check-in. Dr. Lankford gave him a mild tongue-lashing, only mitigated by the fact that Matt's text message about the duel station was noticed and gave the staff time to set it up immediately.
"You two didn't include an ante on your forms," said Dr. Lankford. It was intended as a question, but it lacked a question mark because some teachers think subtlety and lack of communication are great teaching techniques.
Kai wore the Obelisk uniform with every button done and even his pants pressed to form isosceles triangles with his shins. Everything perfectly in line with the dress code except that gray scarf.
"He has no cards I want," said Kai.
Matt countered, "I'd love a copy of the Blue-Eyes, but we placed a social wager on this duel instead."
Dr. Lankford nodded. "That's also acceptable, as long as it's legally within your authority to grant the winner their prize." He probably meant something like how they weren't allowed to bet other people's cards without permission or how they couldn't gamble for sexual favors. Not that Kai's scarf wasn't fetching, but he definitely wasn't Matt's type. Matt only replied with a two-fingered salute off the rim of his glasses.
"Shake hands and give us a good duel," said the prof.
As Matt clasped Kai's rigid grip, Kai asked, "You figure out any special strategies for building your deck in a way that can beat me?"
He shrugged. "Honestly, I forgot all about this duel until I got that text message at the end of class. Other studies have kept me distracted. That's why I also forgot my Duel Disk. We'll just have to see whether my regular deck is up to snuff."
"Hah! Good luck with that. My Blue-Eyes is far superior to a lowly Dark Magician. Time to prove it."
Matt laughed. "You've really got the cartoon villain dialogue down. You must have watched Yugi Mutou and the Pyramid of Light on Saturday mornings just like I did. Is that when Seto Kaiba became your idol? He was kinda one-dimensional throughout most of that show, though."
"I'm about to win this duel in three dimensions."
With a smirk, Matt said, "That was clever. I like it."
"Sit down and duel."
Dr. Lankford shuffled their decks. As soon as the duel station recognized both decks, it selected Kai to take the first turn.
He drew a card from his deck a lot less dramatically than Matt expected him to. No broad, sweeping motions that risked massive paper cuts. Just a quick motion as if moving the card out of the way before someone spilled warm milk on it.
"I'll start us off with Chicken Game." Along the 3D field, cliffs appeared right in front of each duelist, making it seem as if making a move would require stepping over the edge. Unfortunately, it might have had more impact if they used Duel Disks. Right now, it just looked like a crack in the table. "At the cost of 1000 points, Chicken Game lets me draw another card.
"And now I'll summon The White Stone of Ancients (1: 600|500)." He called it a stone but it looked like an egg, albeit one that seemed to glow with white light. "When I discard Sage with Eyes of Blue, he sends my White Stone to the Graveyard and then summons Dragon Spirit of White (8: 2500|2000) to my field." This dragon looked like the prototype for a white dragon with blue eyes, except it was also a little bit clear, or see-through, so the "Spirit" name made sense. "I'll end my turn. But during my End Phase, my White Stone of Ancients activates and summons a Blue-Eyes White Dragon (8: 3000|2500) from my deck." There it was: the legendary engine of destruction that was rumored to have been the first monster ever created for this game. Hatching fully-grown from a shining rock, it was tall, sleek, and wide with a wingspan that still looked like it could rival the god cards, despite not actually being a god.
Kai: 7000 LP, 3 cards
Matt: 8000 LP, 5 cards
But as impressed as Matt was with the card, he considered Kai's performance so far to be mediocre. For one thing, his gambit with Chicken Game was obvious: Right now, Kai had fewer Life Points, which meant his Chicken Game would prevent him from taking damage.
"I've got a cure for your Chicken Pox," as Matt called it out loud. "Upstart Goblin lets me draw a card and repays you with 1000 LP. Now we're even again. But since Dark Magician can't hatch from eggs, I'll play Magician's Rod (3: 1600|100)." Literally just the staff that Dark Magician carried around, standing up by itself. "Magician's Rod lets me move a Dark Magician support card to my hand: I choose Dark Magical Circle, which I'll also play now." As a runic circle appeared surrounding the Magician's Rod, Matt's top three cards were released from his deck. He showed Kai and Dr. Lankford that one was Magician Navigation, so Matt could keep it in his hand before he mixed up the other two on top of his deck.
"Now I'll use Chicken Game to draw a card." Matt made a show of adding it to his hand without looking. He also placed two cards face-down from his hand without looking. "I'm pretty sure I know which those are," he joked. He looked at his hand again, then nodded. "Yep. Sure."
Kai: 8000 LP, 3 cards
Matt: 7000 LP, 5 cards
Kai rolled his eyes and shook his head at the same time, which meant his eyes didn't really move all that much. "Since I have the cards I need, I'll use Chicken Game's effect now to destroy it." But despite his words, Matt figured he did not actually have enough cards to end the duel. If he had them, why would he need to worry about destroying a Field Spell so that Matt couldn't use it?
"I'll summon Buster Whelp of the Destruction Swordsman (1: 400|300), which moves Buster Blader to my hand." This monster was unexpected: a six-legged dragon with feathered wings that actually provided support to a warrior that specifically hunted dragons. "By using Buster Whelp as Tribute, I can summon Buster Blader (7: 2600|2300) from my hand." Buster Blader really messed up the Yugi vs. Seto vibe that Matt thought this duel would be about; after all, Buster Blader was one of Yugi's cards that he used to thwart Seto's dragons. To see Kai using it in a dragon deck showed a level of thematic disruption that Matt never expected from him.
"I'll equip Buster Blader with Dragon Buster Destruction Sword." This six-legged dragon used two of its paws to carry a sword just as big and bejeweled as the one Buster Blader carried. "But instead of keeping them together, I'll summon Dragon Buster (1: 400|300) as a separate tuner monster, so that now both my Busters can combine into Buster Dragon (8: 1200|2800)." The two swords resonated perfectly until the two monsters transformed into a huge, black dragon with six legs and feathered wings. It took up a defensive position next to Kai's other monsters.
"Buster Dragon activates multiple effects: First, all your monsters are now dragons. That means it summons Buster Blader (+3100) back from the Graveyard with extra attack power." Buster Blader's sword appeared to absorb energy from Magician's Rod. "But that's not what really what I'm after. I'll play Destruction Swordsman Fusion, which combines Buster Blader with your Magician's Rod to bring out Buster Blader the Dragon Destroyer Swordsman (8: 2800|2500)." The already-powerful warrior became even more so, his purple armor turned white with the power of the dragon monster he absorbed. His sword had grown in length as well as teeth, looking similar to a saw with crystallized dragon teeth as its blade. "The only downside to this mighty warrior is that he can't attack directly. But Blue-Eyes (3000) and Spirit Dragon (2500) can." Both monsters blasted Matt's side of the field, first with a breath attack that triggered explosions on par with Slifer's, then with a much less dramatic breath attack.
Kai smirked. "That's a good place to end my turn."
"Wonderful," said Matt. "Because now I have a few effects to chain in here. Let's start with Eternal Soul," a stone tablet bearing the image of a powerful sorcerer, "which will Special Summon a Dark Magician (7: 2500|2100) from my hand." The sorcerer with the purple robes appeared on the field. For just a moment, Matt let the next activation hang in the air while Dark Magician and Blue-Eyes White Dragon stared each other down.
"Let's move on. Using Eternal Soul activates the effect of Magician's Rod, which means Dark Magician leaves the field so I can add Magician's Rod to my hand.
"But before that resolves, Dark Magical Circle also responds to the summoning of Dark Magician, targeting your Buster Dragon to be banished.
"But activating that Spell also means that Magician of Black Illusion (7: 2100|2500) summons itself to the field from my hand." As Matt placed his ghost-like version of Dark Magician on the field, he said, "That's it for now. Let the effects resolve." Magician of Black Illusion remained on the field, Buster Dragon disappeared into the aether, and Magician's Rod jumped into Matt's hand from the Graveyard.
Kai: 7000 LP, 1 card
Matt: 1500 LP, 4 cards
Shaking his head, Matt said, "It's always so confusing to play that many cards when it's not even my turn. But now it is, so let's play the rest of the cards. I'll use Magician Navigation to Special Summon another Dark Magician (7: 2500|2100) from my hand as well as a second Magician of Black Illusion (7: 2100|2500) from my deck." Two more sorcerers hit the field. "Oh! When Dark Magician is summoned, Dark Magical Circle activates again. This time Buster Blader is the target." As his Spell began to shine, he said, "But wait! When I activate a Spell, my Magician of Black Illusion also activates to summon another Dark Magician (2500) from my Graveyard." Now his field was flooded with two powerful sorcerers and their shadows as a ring of runic magic removed Buster Blader from the game.
Matt looked over the field, then he leaned in. "This is where things get a bit hard to follow. Try to keep up." Kai just scowled in return.
"The Eyes of Timaeus transforms a Dark Magician into Dark Paladin (8: 2900|2400)." He grinned at the appearance of his sorcerer, wearing armored robes and a bladed halberd adorned with the same jewels that bedazzled Buster Blader and his fusions. "Look familiar? That's because this is normally the fusion of Dark Magician with Buster Blader. If we were characters in that Adventures of Yugi Mutou cartoon, I would have found some way to pretend that I actually used your monster for this summoning. Even though that's not realistic, Dark Paladin (+5400) still gains 500 points for every dragon on the field and in the Graveyard. So thanks for reminding me about how awesome Buster Blader is at hunting dragons."
Mathematically, the Dark Paladin was damn impressive but still not strong enough to end the duel alone. "I guess it's time to overlay both Black Illusions so I can summon Ebon Illusion Magician (7: 2500|2100)." As an Xyz monster, Matt's newest sorcerer wore black robes—otherwise a near clone of the Dark Magician. "Ebon Illusion Magician's effect lets me detach an overlay unit to summon Dark Magician (2500) from my deck." The third Dark Magician in Matt's deck appeared on the field. "Eternal Soul lets me summon the other Dark Magician (2500) back from the Graveyard. Now I have the full set." It was actually overkill, but Matt felt it was important to drive home how much more powerful the Dark Magician was than the Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
"If I did my math correctly, this should be it. Dark Paladin (5400) destroys Blue-Eyes (3000)." Dark magic emerged from the blade as the paladin speared his dragonic foe. "Dark Magician (2500) attacks next." He and Spirit Dragon (2500) were matched, so it should be a suicide run, except… "Ebon Illusion Magician uses his other effect: When a normal Spellcaster attacks, he banishes one card from your field, like Spirit Dragon. That means your field is wide open for the Dark Magicians to remove the rest of your Life Points." Unfortunately, only two of the Dark Magicians could attack because Kai didn't have enough points to need a third attack. Matt would have loved to see a joint attack from all three magicians, but the holographic duel table didn't care about what would look cool.
Kai: 0 LP, 1 card
Matt: 1500 LP, 3 cards
"What a bummer," said Matt. "I really thought you had me there with the Buster Blader fusion cards. I will say, I never expected you to play that series in a Blue-Eyes deck."
"Can the small talk," said Kai.
"Alright. Didn't we have some kind of bet on this duel, though? Can't remember exactly what it was… Something about Obelisk and you fucking off…"
Kai scoffed. "Don't worry. Your friend can keep Obelisk for now. I don't need it to wipe the floor with every duelist in this school."
"That's the spirit! No wonder you're surrounded by friends all the time."
Dr. Lankford had them both shake hands before they were told to clear the stage. It was time for Shane Pricer to challenge Joel Chakkal to a rematch and determine who was the best duelist in the no-one-cares dormitory. Matt would have fallen asleep through it if Bryan hadn't kept nudging him to comment on how cool it was to watch Dark Magician kick ass over the Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
When the area duels wrapped, Matt stood up and stretched, trying to shake out the last of his exhaustion before lunch. He hadn't realized how tired he was, and the last thing he needed was a big midday meal putting him to sleep in Deck Building class… unless Dr. Houtz would let him skip class just once. Did he prove his deck building prowess yet?
He saw Cary and Kasumi sitting two rows back. Kasumi waved and then motioned like Matt should follow them out of the arena. But before he got too far, Lucy intercepted him. She had a sheepish look on her face, which was unusual for her. He even noticed that Kasumi had stopped moving when she saw Lucy.
"Hey, Matt. I just want to say, thank you. I realize you dueled against Kai for me. You didn't have to, but I appreciate it."
He really wanted to tell her exactly how she could make it up to him, but he couldn't ask her to flash him with Kasumi watching… plus whoever else was still lingering in the arena. So he fell back on the humble response: "Don't worry about it. It was long overdue anyway: Dark Magician vs. Blue-Eyes White Dragon."
She smiled. It was the first deep, genuine smile he could remember eliciting from her. "I just hate it when guys act entitled just because I'm a girl or because he thinks he's Seto Kaiba reincarnated, you know?" She chuckled as she said it. It sounded nice. Part of him wanted to abate the awkwardness by ruining the moment, perhaps suggesting they talk about this privately sometime, but another part of him was aware of Bryan staring at them. At a time when they should be hungry instead, both Bryan and Kasumi found Matt's conversation with Lucy to be more interesting.
"I'm just happy I could help. See if you can't attract some tougher duelists with your siren song next time. That one felt too easy."
Lucy laughed. "You got it." She looked past him to Bryan and asked, "Are you guys heading to lunch?"
"Of course," said Bryan. Apparently he had to be reminded about his appetite, but his enthusiasm rubbed off on Lucy as she followed him out of the arena.
Kasumi hung back until Matt caught up to her. "That was a good duel," she said. He thanked her, just waiting for her to ask, "Why are you dueling on Lucy's behalf?"
He grinned. "It was a duel long-coming, whether he was harassing Lucy or not."
"So you're not just trying to make her appreciate you?"
She was jealous. Jealous of someone who had, until just now, found Matt to be moew creepy than sexy. Of course he still wanted to find out what bounty was hidden beneath Lucy's oversized sweaters, but there was something nice about Kasumi finally making a move, even if it was minor. Maybe he could stoke the jealousy just a little bit more, with a touch of humor to avoid fanning the flame.
"Of course I want her to appreciate me. I'd like it if everyone appreciated me. I'm fucking delightful except when I want to be alone… which is most of the time, to be fair."
Kasumi wanted to smile, but it looked difficult. "So why haven't we dueled each other again like we did on the ship?"
"Like on the ship? You told me to stop, so I stopped."
"I didn't mean stop everything. Just, that one thing I wasn't ready for."
He had never pressured her for sex. He knew she wasn't ready for that, and he wasn't even sure he wanted it. All he really wanted at that time was to finally kiss her, but she had lost her nerve just because naked kissing was somehow over the line.
"I'm not a mind reader. Might be helpful if you took the lead sometimes, too. Some guys like a girl who takes charge."
Kasumi's eyes lit up slightly. "Really? I can try that."
She looked around to see how visible they were. The only other person in the arena was Emily Li being the last to exit. When they were alone, Kasumi planted her lips on Matt's.
This was it. Down to the wire. Team OTK vs. The Guardian Duelers to determine the midterm champions. Technically the Guardians had one more win than OTK did, but if they could just pull off the win, then OTK would hold the tie-breaker.
Miyu won her duel against Justin. He never even pulled out Raviel, so he never overcame her combos. Fats lost to Erica unfortunately, even without Hamon. Cary wondered whether she would have been able to win that duel, but there was no point focusing on it now.
Everything came down to Haruki vs. Gima. Haruki was the leader of Team OTK and the most consistent OTK player on the team. Gima was ranked eighth out of nine Guardians—beaten only by Mikey, who was a powerful duelist but a far less powerful student—meaning Gima was actually the worst of the Guardians. Haruki grinned every time they spoke to each other because he knew there was no way for him to lose.
He was down to one card, and Gima had Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Super Dora (10: 3200|4000) defending him, but Haruki only needed one card to put together a one-turn kill.
Haruki: 4500 LP, 0 cards
Gima: 2600 LP, 5 cards
He summoned Dragon of Lightsworn (4: 1500|1300), a baby dragon whose brilliant light opened a path for Felis, Lightsworn Archer (4: 1100|2000) to go straight from the deck to the Graveyard. But being a skilled tracker, she pulled herself right back to the field. The prongs on her bow resonated until both monsters transformed into Minerva, Lightsworn Athena (8: 2800|1800), an angelic woman, brilliant in all ways except she used the same name twice, as long as you understood both Greek and Roman. Using Dragon of Lightsworn for that summoning meant Haruki took his ace card from the deck to his hand.
Lightsworn Athena's light also sent two monsters from the deck to the Graveyard. Both had the ability to summon themselves back to the field: Wulf, Lightsworn Beast (4: 2100|300) and another copy of Felis Lightsworn Archer (4: 1100|2000). This time, Haruki overlaid them to summon Minerva, the Exalted Lightsworn (4: 2000|800), who was basically the other Minerva's twin except for her pet owl. The Exalted Lightsworn released three cards from the deck to the Graveyard while her owl brought three more cards to Haruki's hand.
Finally, Haruki summoned Lightsworn Dragon (8: 3000|2600). Even though it was a feathered dragon, Cary thought it looked even more brilliant than the Minervas. When Haruki paid 1000 LP, Judgment Dragon blasted the entire field with a rain of feathers that glistened like angelic blades. Judgment Day ended with only Haruki's monster left standing on the field.
As soon as it pounced, Gima summoned Guardian Slime (10: 0|0), that massive, monolithic slime creature that always met the exact challenge of its opponent by matching their attack points with its own defense points. With no other cards to play, Haruki narrowly missed ending the duel.
Haruki: 3500 LP, 3 cards
Gima: 2600 LP, 4 cards
Cary still believed in Haruki, but she couldn't shake the nagging feeling when Guardian Slime turned into Egyptian God Slime (10: 3000|3000)—still a pile of slime but one that looked like a metallic version of Obelisk. Unfortunately, Egyptian God Slime counted as three Tributes so Gima could summon The Wicked Dreadroot (10: 4000|4000). Covered in decorative bones of what must have been a mighty beast in its own right, this god card looked anything but divine. Dreadroot looked like Obelisk if he had been a demon inspired by the Summoned Skull's wardrobe.
But the worst part of seeing The Wicked Dreadroot was feeling the fear that emanated from its body. Cary knew it was just a card, but somehow her mind got caught up in the lore. Her mind raced through everything she knew about Dreadroot and the other Wicked Gods, trying to remember where they came from and how they could be defeated. The first moment her fingers trembled, she reacted with a start, shaking her fist angrily to force her nerves to function again. With one deep breath, she found herself back to normal and feeling embarrassed for letting herself be overcome by a simple card.
But Judgement Dragon (-1500) didn't have that level of wherewithal. Dreadroot's effect cut all other monsters in half. On top of that, Gima had Divine Evolution in his hand. Dreadroot (+5000) gained another thousand points. Cary's heart sank but not because of Dreadroot's effect this time: She was distraught by the realization that one attack was enough for Gima to win the duel.
Haruki: 0 LP, 3 cards
Gima: 2600 LP, 3 cards
She was so annoyed to see Haruki still smiling and laughing along with Gima. They not only shook hands, they even hugged each other. Who cares that Haruki and Gima went to the same secondary school or joined Duel Academy at the same time or lived together in Obelisk Blue before Gima joined the Guardian Duelers? He was missing the whole point that Cary, Cee-Cee, and Fats had spent the whole semester training as a team for nothing. Team OTK was stuck in second place, which meant the Guardian Duelers would be the team to duel in the Spirit Day Festival.
I thought the idea of a social media smear campaign would be fun to include (ignoring that it's pathetic for an adult to get in a media war with a teenager), but I've never been in one, driven one, or cared about one, so this little story element got noticeably sidelined. I'm honestly not concerned about it in terms of the story's progress: Just an example of an idea I had that I couldn't figure out the right way to implement.
I'll send a shout-out to Amourenvie, who coincidentally started commenting right before Emily's chattiest chapter yet. These are the kinds of "reviews" that I most enjoy—just hearing your thoughts about what's going on in the story and your predictions about where it might go. Unfortunate that you still haven't recovered the account name. Feel free to reach out to me with a current account if you want to update your credit.
* Mitsuro Itachu...Titanic X
* Kai Jackson...SketchyWolf
* Emily Li...Amourenvie
* Iracema "Cee-Cee" Silva...HardWrapping
* Tamah "Fats" Fatu and Mikey Brittle...Vstriker