Chapter 38: The Chaos Phantasm
Bryan stood outside of DA-Rec, but he couldn't remember why. So he turned back to Anand Miyagawa and asked, "What am I waiting for?"
"Dear god in the cards," said Anand, sounding about as fed up as anyone possible could. He was lying down on a bench, staring into the sky as his head started to shake in exasperation. "Howard did not adequately prepare me for how pathetic your memory is." Anand had been with Howard and Lana when Bryan found them. He had asked for help making his way to DA-Rec, and they were happy to guide him. Except Howard—he had somewhere else to be.
With a frown on his face, Bryan said, "My memory is good enough to get me an A or B on all my tests. I'm just having a hard time understanding this particular assignment."
"I've already told you three times that you're just looking for anyone who might be able to slip past Lana and emerge from the building."
When he heard the words again, Bryan remembered hearing them earlier. Now he was more confident… for only a moment. As soon as he looked up the sloping sidewalk to the front doors again, his purpose started to fade. He tried desperately to hold on and not have to ask again, but it's like the thought wouldn't properly take hold.
"Maybe the problem is that I don't understand what we're doing," said Bryan. "And I feel guilty even being here. Matt spent a lot of time telling me that coming here would be bad. I think that might have been the reason he opted to stay in the Slifer dorm for a few days instead of coming here where they obviously have a working oven." He hadn't felt especially hungry since the fog rolled in, but the smell of the DA-Rec kitchen was still enticing.
"I've also explained three times already that Matt's warnings were only there to hold you back. He knows that you're the true Guardian Dueler for Uria, Lord of Searing Flame, so he wanted to keep you as far away as possible from the people whose duel energy would give you further strength." He finally sat up and looked at Bryan's face. "He was using you but in the kind of way that makes sure you can't achieve your full power."
The sound of Uria's name gave Bryan a feeling of warmth, but hearing such a negative perspective of Matt's behavior created inner turmoil. "I did earn Uria… but Matt was also upset on my behalf when Dr. Lankford wouldn't give it to me. He was on my side, not trying to keep it away from me."
"The card you earned is inside DA-Rec right now. If Matt's on your side, then why did he forbid you from coming here to claim it?"
"Obviously because the god cards were what let the Shadows come to real space and possess the Guardian Duelers," said Bryan off the cuff. But then he had a conflicting thought. "But I wasn't possessed."
Anand frowned. "So how could he know that you would be safer without Uria? You were the rightful owner. Maybe having the card could have given you the strength to protect all your friends before they got themselves consumed by the Shadows."
Bryan remembered how Erica looked at the end of every duel—so haggard and worn out, like her very life was being drained by the Shadows. Lucy was in a similar condition. Maybe Bryan could have saved both of them even sooner if he had Uria with him. But what if having Uria actually caused him to become possessed, too? Would that mean that he would have helped the Shadows to eat even more of his classmates? What if he had dueled against Thomas instead? Then no one would have beaten Erica, and even more people would be food for the gods.
Actually, Thomas was a jackass. No one would miss him. But Bryan might have dueled against Matt. In a way, he did that when Matt tried to duel against Lucy and Bryan almost started a fistfight in response.
He was trying to stop her so she couldn't drain other students to feed the Shadows.
Or he just wanted to hurt her.
The thoughts kept competing in his head. Which voice should he listen to?
Anand kept telling him, "You and I make a good team. It will be better when you stop questioning my commands and just obey."
Another crash came from within DA-Rec. To Bryan's ear, the sound was almost identical to the previous four crashes, although maybe a little bit quieter. If each crash was the sound made from an Egyptian God Card being summoned and taking a partially physical form, then it made sense that the first crash was the noisiest and they got less explosive from there. Probably the atrium was already in shambles by now.
But Anand looked to be concerned.
Bryan asked, "What's wrong with you?"
"She's already summoned all of the Egyptian Gods and their combined form. Why would she still now have to summon a fifth god?"
"There's a fifth god?"
"No! It just means that whoever she's dueling actually managed to defeat Holactie the Creator of Light, so now Lana had to re-summon one of the other gods." His explanation made sense. Bryan knew that Matt went inside, so what if Lana dueled against him? He seemed like the kind of duelist who could come up with a way to defeat Holactie.
"Are you worried?" asked Bryan.
Anand put on a confident expression. "Of course not. Lana's a Boss now, and she has all three Egyptian God Cards. What's there to worry about?" An ironic question considering in the very next breath, he stared at the building with his jaw agape. A few beats passed and he jumped to his feet, pulled three cards from his tiny deck, slapped them on his Duel Disk, and began chanting in some foreign language Bryan couldn't understand.
"What are you doing now?" he asked. But Anand was deeply focused and wouldn't respond. All three of his selected cards began to glow, but the light turned into mist even thicker than the fog still smothering the island. "You're summoning more fog?"
"Shut up," said Anand. He moved the three cards into different locations on his Duel Disk, including putting one of them in the Field Spell slot, then he chanted some more. When he finished, he looked both elated and exhausted. "There. Maybe the fact that you never properly claimed the Fake Uria will actually have some benefit now."
"Why?"
"Because I just conducted a ritual that summons all of the Shadow energy stored up in the fake Sacred Beast cards. Even if Uria is the only one with any energy left, it should be enough to sedate and consume everyone inside the building."
Bryan hesitated. "Would that mean you're also consuming Lana?"
"Doesn't matter now. Lana has most certainly already lost her duel. Considering how powerful she was, I'm honestly shocked. Maybe it's because she's still so young. Quite a shame. But, if she performed no other role, then she at least weakened whoever would be strong enough to resist shadow energy. If the entire campus population was inside except for you and few stray police officers and janitorial staff… That should make for ample supplies of duel energy."
After a moment of staring, Bryan finally asked, "How old are you?"
"Thirty-one," said Anand, clearly exasperated.
"So you graduated… Fourteen years ago?"
"Fifteen. And I'm really starting to second-guess my decision to keep you out here. Perhaps it would be better to throw you inside." He sighed. Before Bryan could guess that Anand actually appreciated his presence, the blogger said, "I'm just worried that you'd be immune to the ritual because of your connection to Uria. If that's true, even stepping inside could mess up the ritual."
"What if someone stepped outside?"
Anand looked to Bryan for a moment as if he were disgusted. "Stepped outside?" He shook his head but decided to follow Bryan's gaze to the front doors.
The front doors of the recreation center faced out into the island, but to get there, students had to walk to enter the sloped sidewalk from either side. Trees and other decorative plants stood directly in front of the doors, so it was difficult to see much from there. The bench where Anand sat was positioned at the end of the slope but angled so whoever sat would be looking out in front of the rec center, in the direction of the dorms and the academic building. But Bryan had taken post right next to the sidewalk so that he could watch Lana walk through the front door a while earlier.
Now, five people emerged from the door: Dr. Apple, Leon Verbeet, Emily Li, Fats, and Matt. Bryan felt bad looking at the big Samoan and calling him "Fats" when his name was actually Tamah Fatu, but he introduced himself to everyone as "Fats", so that must make it okay to call him that, right?
But seeing people walking around when they were supposed to be part of a Shadow smorgasbord really upset Anand. "You have to be kidding me!"
"Looks like a few people got away from your Shadows pretty easily," said Bryan. "If Matt's there, that must mean he didn't duel against Lana after all. I wonder if Cary's the one who beat her."
"It would take three skilled duelists to defeat any of us," Anand snapped. He was clearly annoyed about his ritual failure and taking it out on Bryan's feelings. "It must be Dr. Apple who rescued them. Considering his fascination with the occult, I'm lucky he didn't have more time to prepare or he might have reversed the ritual altogether."
"So what do we do?" asked Bryan.
At first, Anand shot him an angry glare. But his visage softened rapidly. "You know what? Why don't you go rejoin your friends?"
"Really? But you and Matt both keep making such a big deal about keeping me away from the rec center."
He nodded. "Go tell your friend that you've kept your promise to stay away, but now you're here because you saw what I was doing and you want to help them stop me."
Bryan scoffed. "Uh, yeah! I totally do. You're okay with that?"
"Totally." From his tone, it sounded like Anand was mocking Bryan's choice of words. But still, Bryan knew that he'd need help to break whatever cursed ritual Anand had just cast on DA-Rec. Unfortunate that all the students who escaped were first years, including Matt, but maybe Dr. Apple would be helpful in a pinch.
The farther Bryan moved up the sidewalk, the better he heard the conversation of the crowd who escaped. "Unfortunate that I believe this spell also bypassed my protective circle for much the same reason as Lana did: The cards entered the building before they were possessed, and the imaginary energy used each card as a conduit through which to traverse into our realm. As a result, I was unable to repel their entry."
"At least a few of us got outta there," said Leon as he clapped both hands over Dr. Apple's shoulders. "That's how build up a chance to go break them outta their prison."
Emily asked, "But how?"
Bryan was close enough by now. "I know how." Everyone was surprised to see him, but none as surprised as Matt. If anything, he looked apprehensive. "I saw the guy who was attacking DA-Rec."
"The girl, you mean," said Fats.
"Woman," said Leon.
But Bryan didn't care about that part. "No. Maybe that was inside, but from outside, a guy named Anand Miyagawa cast some kind of spell. I couldn't do anything to stop him myself, but if we all take him on together, we should be able to beat him and break the spell."
Matt continued to leer. "Explain how you chanced upon this guy while he was casting a spell."
"Does it matter? I stayed out of the rec center like you told me to. Now you and Dr. Apple and I can go duel this guy and stop him from feeding everyone to the Shadow Realm."
"I'm afraid I'm an ineligible participant," said Dr. Apple. First he slapped his forearms, revealing that neither one of them was equipped with a Duel Disk, then he patted his belt. "Between lacking a deck and lacking the duel equipment, I'm not much use." Bryan would have pointed out the duel station right at the end of the sidewalk where the path back to the dorms started, but that still didn't matter if Dr. Apple didn't have a deck. And he wasn't sure how to program a duel station for a multi-person duel.
Fats said, "Wait. You said you'd all duel this guy. Is he a Boss, too?"
"He's definitely a Boss," said Bryan. "I think he has the Sacred Beasts."
Dr. Apple said, "Well, that fits. Anand once held Hamon, after all. His connection to those cards gave him the access to use their replicants for his ritual."
"You know him?" asked Bryan.
"Anand Miyagawa was intriguing, albeit misguided. He was one of the few Guardian Duelers to be removed from the program for excessive rules violations. Whereas all those who hold god cards are instructed to limit their use outside of official challenge duels, Anand was prone to using Hamon constantly. He might still hold the record for unsanctioned duels completed while on campus."
Emily asked, "If he broke so many rules, why wasn't he expelled?"
"I suspect it was lucky timing, for the most part. It was his final semester of his senior year when he obtained Hamon and just past midterms when it was reclaimed from him. One of his professors at the time suspected that he was seduced by the power that comes from holding Hamon. Some people aren't able to retain their better judgment with even the slightest taste of power, after all. So he was permitted to remain on campus the final few weeks until graduation with no further incidents. He didn't even argue when stripped of his title and rank."
Bryan frowned. "Well, he's arguing now. Or close to it. And I'm not the one who's super-good at science class, but maybe we should go break his spell sooner rather than later?"
"Ah, right."
But even though he followed Bryan and Dr. Apple, Matt still looked wary. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?"
"I'll be better after we crush this guy."
Dr. Apple was in front as everyone descended the sidewalk and turned to the open space in front of the building, only to stop abruptly. Anand was in the center of that space. He had drawn a large circle on the ground with some ancient script along the border. From the middle, he further had his forehead pressed to the ground while he mumbled something in a language Bryan couldn't recognize.
"What's he doing now?" Bryan asked.
Holding up a finger, Dr. Apple said, "Be cautious. I don't recognize these symbols. Either this is performative, or he's found something truly dangerous."
Anand reacted with a start when he looked up and saw the group of students. "It can't be!" he said as he scrambled to his feet. "People actually survived my ritual and escaped from the Shadow Realm?" He must have read Bryan's incredulity on his face because Anand quickly added, "Don't speak. You'll spoil the ritual."
"That's not how my alchemy works," said Dr. Apple. "The only person who can spoil my spells by talking is me. If I could be disrupted by someone else, I'd never get any work done." Probably not the best time for Bryan to point out how effectively Dr. Apple prattled on while ignoring people. "What are you after, Mr. Miyagawa?"
"You remember me?" asked Anand.
"Your interests lie in the occult and all legends wherein dueling is associated with mystical arts. Of course I remember you. I even remember what you said the day you were removed from the Guardian Duelers: 'No big loss.' Am I remembering that right?"
A wide grin crossed Anand's face as he leaned back into a hearty laugh. "Oh, my god! Yes! I do remember saying that. Oh, the professors were so uptight about their rules for dueling with the god cards."
"We were trying to ensure the original cards remained sealed away."
"Of course I know that now. Even back then, I was sure you were hiding something. I read every legend I could find—tested every theory I could find to tap in to the Shadow Realm using Uria as a conduit. None of those theories ever panned out, so as I said then: No big loss. Of course, now I know the truth: Uria was a fake. Had I the real card in my hand…"
"Yes, well, let us be thankful you did not. How did you end up discovering the truth."
He flicked his wrist as if shooing the question away. "I became a journalist specifically so my life could lead me to places that might help me learn what went wrong. Too many stories abound about ghosts, spirits, and the Shadow Realm for it to be mere legend. I've been to the Edinburgh Vaults in Scotland, the Tower of London in England, the Jewish Cemetery in Prague, the Serenella Denkard in Italy, the Catacombs of Paris, Alcatraz Island, the Island of the Dolls… You name it, I've been there to report on it."
Matt said, "The word you're looking for is sensationalism."
Anand scowled, but it turned upward into a grin. "You still say that even when the god cards are free and the Shadow Realm consumes your friends?"
"Big difference between friends and classmates," said Matt.
He ignored it when Fats muttered, "That's a hurtful joke right now."
But Matt continued, "Are you the one who actually figured out about the sealed god cards? Because none of the legends in that list you just gave were connected to Duel Academy." He paused for a beat so Anand could choose not to respond. "No, I think Howard clued you in when he realized he would need partners."
"What can I say? Howard was always a fan of my blog."
"I don't blame him. What better evidence that you're a sucker?"
Anand sighed. "Alright then. If we're not going to have a civil discussion, we might as well speed this up." He activated the Duel Disk on his arm. It was an older model, called a Generation-Next at the time, even though it was currently more like Generation-Centuries Past.
"Why are we dueling against him?" asked Leon. "Can't we just knock him out?" Bryan realized he had never considered that option. Judging from the grin on Matt's face, he might enjoy that option a bit too much.
Dr. Apple explained, "If the energy he summoned were coming from his body, that might work. Instead, he's used the cards inside the building as conduits to connect imaginary space to real space. The only way to overcome an external ritual is to complete a counter-ritual. In this case, defeating him in a duel should rewrite the flow of energy so that it separates the two dimensions again. In the best scenario, it wil even reverse the flow and withdraw all the imaginary particles back into their proper place."
"I'm game," said Bryan as he stepped up and activated his Duel Disk.
Matt asked, "Are you sure?"
"Of course. Lucy's in there, and so is Erica."
Fats said, "I'll do it."
Bryan scoffed. "Figures. You don't think I can handle him, do you? Because I have skill but can't deliver."
Fats made a face. "What?"
"Don't pretend. You told people exactly that about me."
He shrugged, which was easy to fake, but he also looked truly bewildered, which was harder to fake. "I don't remember ever saying that about you. I've always said you were a sleeper duelist. You didn't have the same level of childhood education that most students did but you're picking everything really quickly, so you'll probably be a Guardian Dueler before graduating. I mean, if we have Guardians anymore."
Anand smiled. "Don't worry too much about that. Is the final opponent our good professor here?"
Dr. Apple was shocked. "Me? No. I left my deck inside. In the faculty lounge, I believe." But he didn't look convinced. "Maybe the kitchenette? Or the nurse's station. Possibly the rest room. I hope I removed it from the smoothie bar before the climbing wall crushed it."
While he rambled on, Matt raised his arm and activated his Duel Disk. Emily tapped his wrist and said, "Are you sure, Matt? Two Boss Duels in one day?"
"Two?" Anand repeated. "You mean, you're the one who defeated Lana?"
"Not technically, but he finished the duel," said Leon. "If you're tired, I can sub in. Though I'll admit, if we're picking an all-star team, you're seeded much higher on the roster than I am."
Matt shoved Bryan aside. "I'll be okay. But we are absolutely being methodical with the order this time. Fats is first, then Moose, then I'll go third to clean up his mess. And trust me, moose leave an e-normous mess."
"Three Slifers. One of them on his last legs after surviving another Shadow Game in the same day." He tried to smile, but Anand actually sounded disappointed. "I'm considering halting the ritual only so Dr. Apple can go get his deck. For now, we'll see if there's any challenge among you three."
The Duel Disks finally paired with Boss Duel rules, and everyone drew their opening cards.
"I discard this card to summon Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder (4000|4000)." Thunder rumbled and the sky grew dark overhead. The hairs on Bryan's arm stood on end just before lightning struck the ground in a blinding flash of light. When the afterimage faded from his eyes, Hamon towered before him. Just like that, with only two cards removed from his hand, Anand had already summoned one of the Sacred Beasts. According to the menu screen, the Boss version of Hamon only needed a single Spell to be discarded for his summoning.
"I discard another card to summon Raviel, Lord of Phantasms (4000|4000)." Shadows bubbled up along the ground like the kind of living ooze that monsters are made of in the movies. As the Shadows merged, they expanded quickly and unyieldingly until they took the colossal form for Raviel.
Matt muttered, "Good thing we're outside this time."
Anand placed his last card on his Duel Disk. "Turn end."
Anand: 24,000 LP, 0 cards
Fats: 8000 LP, 5 cards
Bryan: 8000 LP, 5 cards
Matt: 8000 LP, 5 cards
As Fats drew his first card, Matt said, "Do not get yourself perfectly set up on the first turn. You won't be able to attack until everyone else has a turn first."
"That's okay. I don't really need to attack," said Fats.
Matt repeated himself. "That's fine. Just don't set up one of your combos to be destroyed before you even have a chance to use it."
"Lighten up. Let the man take his turn," said Bryan. To Fats, he said, "You know what you're doing."
Fats didn't even look at his cards as he pulled one from his hand. "Can I play Pot of Extravagance?" As soon as he placed it in his Duel Disk, the decision was no longer up to Matt. His Extra Deck space shone until he removed six cards from it and fed them into a gold-faced urn, then the urn's green face spat out two cards from his Main Deck. After he drew, he asked, "Is Naturia Camellia (4: 1400|700) okay?"
Matt said, "Yes."
"Okay good." Fats summoned his flower monster. "Because that sends Naturia Sacred Tree from my deck to the Graveyard. And sending that to the Graveyard means I can take Naturia Blessing to my hand. When I activate Naturia Blessing, I can summon Naturia Mole Cricket (1: 0|0) from my hand."
Apparently mole crickets were long-bodied, fossorial insects about the size of Bryan's pinky finger. Actually quite terrifyingly big.
"This part gets a little tricky. I'll activate Naturia Mole Cricket's effect so I can Tribute it to summon two more monsters from my deck. But Naturia Camellia also activates her effect so that instead of Tributing the Mole Cricket, I just discard two cards from the top of the deck, and I get the same effect." When the holograms were done resolving the effects: "I'll summon Naturia Antjaw (2: 400|200) and Naturia Sunflower (2: 500|0) in defense mode."
From the look of the hologram, Bryan assumed an antjaw was just an ant, maybe nibbling on something like a sunflower seed. He was kinda cute in the face, but Bryan still preferred the sunflower monster.
"Now Camellia (4) and Mole Cricket (1) tune to Synchro Summon Naturia Beast (5: 2200|1700)." Finally, something that looked almost normal. Mostly, at least. It was a tiger, but like a tiger that was part Groot. "That will end my turn."
Anand: 24,000 LP, 0 cards
Fats: 8000 LP, 4 cards
Bryan: 8000 LP, 5 cards
Matt: 8000 LP, 5 cards
"I'm going to topple both those titans," said Bryan.
He didn't listen but kind of heard Matt say, "Don't waste all your big plays right away." But that was terrible advice. Why not show off what he can do right from the start?
"I'll play Elemental Hero Shadow Mist (4: 1000|1500). Bringing her to the field gives me Mask Change. But Polymerization fuses Shadow Mist to Bubbleman in my hand to summon Elemental Hero Absolute Zero (8: 2500|2000)." Bryan was actually stoked at how cold it was when his monsters fused together into the iciest Hero. There was always a chill generated by Duel Academy's Solid Vision system, but it was never so intense before. The extra immersion must be the result of the imaginary energy entering into real space. It was badass!
"Now I'll use Mask Change to transform Absolute Zero into Masked Hero Acid (8: 2600|2100)." Absolute Zero placed a new mask on his face and then left the field, replaced by a hero with an insectoid mask. Absolute Zero's departure caused a hailstorm of ice on Anand's field. Hamon and Raviel were both caught up in it, froze solid, and then shattered. "Awesome, isn't it? Absolute Zero's effect doesn't target, so both your Sacred Beasts are wiped out. Now Acid blasts your face-down card." The replacement hero pulled out a spray gun that looked like a tube of insecticide, then he spewed a cloud of acid on Anand's card. "Your field is one hundred percent empty now, no defenses at all."
Leon called out from the peanut gallery, "We all know what empty means."
Matt added, "If only you'd been able to attack after you did that."
But Bryan ignored him. No matter what Matt said, Bryan was killing it! Who else could destroy two god cards in one turn like that?
Anand: 24,000 LP, 0 cards
Fats: 8000 LP, 4 cards
Bryan: 8000 LP, 3 cards
Matt: 8000 LP, 5 cards
"I'm gonna summon Magician's Rod (4: 1600|100)," said Matt. He pulled one of his Dark Magician cards from the deck—probably Eternal Soul. He placed a card face-down and ended his turn without saying anything else.
Anand: 24,000 LP, 0 cards
Fats: 8000 LP, 4 cards
Bryan: 8000 LP, 3 cards
Matt: 8000 LP, 5 cards
Anand made a face. "I had expected more bombastic combos from the three duelists brave enough to challenge me." Then he reached for the cards in his Graveyard and pulled them all straight to his hand.
"Hey, what are you doing?" said Bryan.
Shaking his head and tsking as if scolding a child, Anand said, "I'm a Boss. Every turn, I draw one card, and then I retrieve all the cards from my Graveyard. Well done destroying two of my monsters, by the way. Do you think you can do it a second time?" He looked over his hand for a moment before grinning widely. "In fact, I'll perform the exact same opening moves: I discard this card to summon Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder (4000|4000), and then I discard another card to summon Raviel, Lord of Phantasms (4000|4000)."
At first the fog grew brighter as lightning crackled and thunder rumbled. The air was so charged with electricity that a single snap was enough to make Emily screech and Fats flinch as lightning struck and Hamon appeared. But then the fog reflected the darkness of a primordial ooze that bubbled up out of nowhere on the ground. As it expanded, the fog grew thicker until two yellow eyes opened and revealed Raviel towering in the darkness. It was the exact same scenario Bryan had just saved everyone from, and Anand rolled it back out like it was no big deal.
But Fats was ready. "Both of those were Special Summons. So Naturia Antjaw summons a monster from my deck for each: Naturia Mosquito (1: 200|300) and Naturia Cherries (1: 200|300)." Another blood-sucking insect and a plant made of conjoined twins.
Anand spent a moment reading through Fats' cards in his Duel Disk screen. "Fascinating cards. And quite obvious that Naturia Cherries (200) is in attack position as a distraction. But you should know that summoning a monster while Raviel is on the field also brings a Phantasm Token (1000|1000) to my field." He only got one because Raviel was only witness to one of Fats' new monsters; the other one was in response to Hamon, which came first.
"And now, what I'll do is start by crushing the kid who managed to defeat Lana in a duel." Hamon pointed to the sky, and lightning struck Magician's lightning Rod (1600). The monster shattered, and a lot of the leftover energy flowed into the alchemy circle that Anand had drawn on the ground.
Dr. Apple had said the circle's runes looked to be forged, so Bryan expected nothing to happen. But suddenly Matt began to sag in his posture. It was kind of an awkward lean at first, but it quickly grew to him hunching over and propping his outstretched hands on his knees. He could start vomiting at any second. "You okay?" Bryan asked.
"I'm not sure what I'm feeling," he said. His voice was strained, like he was trying to recover enough energy to finish one last squat rep. Bryan remembered what it had looked like when someone got the shit beat out of them in a Shadow Duel. Kasumi, Nick, Thomas, Jack, Kai… everyone looked ready to pass out with each punch. So why the fuck was Matt still upright?
Anand noticed it, too. "Interesting. I wasn't sure how this ring would affect my opponents." Dr. Apple began walking the circle again to take another look. "While you attempt to decrypt my cipher, we'll watch Hamon's effect: Each time he destroys a monster, you'll take an extra 1000 points of damage." Lightning struck twice, barely reaching Matt's skullcap before dissipating into a wisp of electricity.
Fats said, "I forgot to do this earlier because I wasn't sure if it would work, but since Hamon activated an effect, so does Naturia Sunflower: I can Tribute Naturia Antjaw and Naturia Sunflower to negate the effect and destroy your monster." A beam of sunlight cut through the darkness and pierced through Hamon before making contact with Sunflower. In an instant, both were gone from the field.
Taking in a deep breath, Matt glanced appreciatively at Fats."You couldn't do that a minute ago when Raviel summoned that Phantasm Token?"
"I thought Hamon would be the bigger threat because of the effect damage."
Anand said, "That's a fair assessment. Let's see if Raviel is really so negligible." Raviel raised his massive hand and raked his claws downward right over Matt's head…
…and struck the Dark Magician (7: 2500|2100) in defense mode. The sorcerer shattered instantly, leaving Dark Magician Girl (6: +2300|1700) as Matt's only defense. "Magician Navigation," said Matt. "I summon Dark Magician from my hand and another Spellcaster from my deck."
"I thought your card would be Eternal Soul," said Bryan.
"Maybe that would help, too, but Magician Navigation did the trick for now."
Anand was annoyed, even as two more Phantasm Tokens (1000|1000) began to form on his field in response to Matt's double summon. "Fine," said Anand. "I'll place two of my cards face-down and end my turn."
Anand: 24,000 LP, 0 cards
Fats: 8000 LP, 4 cards
Bryan: 8000 LP, 3 cards
Matt: 5600 LP, 5 cards
Before he started his turn, Fats turned to look at Matt. "Should I use one of those special counter-Boss effects?"
Bryan said, "Hey! I'm part of this team, too."
But Matt either didn't hear him or just ignored him. "Can you take down Raviel?"
"If we double his points, Naturia Beast can do it. But I can't deal much more damage than that. Maybe I can do an okay combo with one more, specific card, though."
Matt nodded, but Bryan was the one to say, loudly, "Then let's use that effect that let's you take a specific card instead of drawing." He felt encouraged to feel Matt pat him on the back.
Anand looked discouraged, though. "I won't lie: I had hoped that you were unaware of those abilities. I suppose it will be all the more exciting to defeat you in the face of those rules, won't it?"
"Maybe," said Fats. It was unclear whether he understood what Anand was saying. All Fats cared about were the cards in his deck. He took one card from the middle of the deck and then shuffled the rest. "I summon Naturia Cliff (4: 1500|1000), and then I switch everyone to attack position." Except for Naturia Mosquito. Bryan knew that card too well from every time he dueled against Fats: It was the key to his Naturia OTK strategy.
"I'll activate Illusion Gate." Huge stone doors appeared between Anand and the rest of the field. Some kind of monstrous bat creature perched on the top of the doors as the creaked open. Bryan figured that whatever needed doors that size had to be as big as the god cards. "This card revives a monster from my Graveyard at the cost of one monster from my opponent's field: I choose to sacrifice Naturia Mosquito." Somehow, Fats' little bug monster was considered an equal trade to see Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder (4000|4000) return to the field. Only this time, his wings were drawn protectively in front of him, in defense mode.
Fats said, "Okay. Since that's a Trap Card, I can send the top card from my deck to the Graveyard to summon Naturia Rock (3: 1200|1200) from my hand." He waited for the card effects to resolve before saying, "I'll use Naturia Blessing so I can summon Naturia Mosquito (1: 200|300) back from the Graveyard." The annoyance on Anand's face was hilarious. Must suck for such a cocky guy to be schooled by the calmest kid who ever assembled a deck.
"I'll have Naturia Rock (1200) attack first." But then he hesitated. "Looks like I can't target Raviel (4000)."
Pleased with himself, Anand said, "No, you can't. As long as Hamon stays in defense mode, you can't target any other monsters."
Fats looked sad. To Matt, he said, "I won't be able to deal as much damage as I thought I would."
"It's okay. Just keep whittling away at him until we win this."
"Okay. Naturia Rock (1200) attacks Hamon (4000) instead." His weird-looking rock monster rolled down the field and slammed into Hamon. As expected, the attack bounced off as if the ammunition for that attack had been peanut-sized.
Bryan laughed. "What are you doing? Hamon is way too strong for that. You're just going to hurt yourself with the rebound." But it was actually Anand's Life Points that dropped by 2800. Bryan had noticed the way Naturia Mosquito shone briefly before he remembered that while Mosquito is on the field, all Fats' Battle Damage would be felt by the opponent instead. "Whatever. Just keep going."
"Nice save," said Matt. He was probably being sarcastic.
Fats had Cliff (1500), Cherries (200), and Beast (2300) all attack Hamon the same way. Because Hamon was defending, none of the monsters was destroyed. Which was a shame: Bryan just realized that when Cliff was destroyed, he would have summoned another Naturia monster that Fats could use to attack again and deal even more damage to Anand. And then Cherries would have summoned two copies of itself. But that didn't happen when they survived and stayed on the field.
Dr. Apple circled back around behind Anand. "Curious. Although you've scribbled in the grass around your position, it appears that the alchemy circle actually ends in front of you whereas it reaches behind their positions. In other words, they're inside the circle and you're not. From here, you're able to channel your energy into the circle, but you won't suffer any of the ill effects."
"Spot on," said Anand. "Have you determined what it does yet?" Looking like one of his students caught daydreaming in class, Dr. Apple went back to checking out the ground.
"I'll end my turn," said Fats.
Anand: 13,200 LP, 0 cards
Fats: 8000 LP, 2 cards
Bryan: 8000 LP, 3 cards
Matt: 5600 LP, 5 cards
Before Bryan drew, he made a face at Fats. "You just dealt 10k damage, and you were complaining that you could've done more?"
"Not all 24,000. But maybe six or seven more."
"Go fuck yourself." It was a comment rooted more deeply in insecurity than actual frustration with Fats. Bryan knew he'd never be able to deal that kind of damage, even if it was pretty sweet how he destroyed two Sacred Beasts at once in his first turn.
He picked up his top card and Matt immediately winced. "You dunce. You had the ability to choose a specific card from your deck for this turn."
"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that." But Bryan's Duel Disk wouldn't take back the card he drew.
"It's too late now. Just… do whatever it is you were going to do."
He gave a thumbs-up. "You got it. I will…" Bryan looked over his hand with excitement, but most of it drained. Nothing he had was strong enough to beat Raviel and Hamon. But those Phantasm Tokens (1000) were easy prey, weren't they? Yeah, he could easily clear out some of those! "I'll summon Elemental Hero Solid Soldier (4: 1300|1100). And his effect means I can summon Elemental Hero Blazeman (4: 1200|1800), which also gives me Polymerization from my deck. So I'll fuse the two of them together into Elemental Hero Gaia (6: 2200|2600)."
As earth and fire combined into a titanic warrior, Matt asked, "Are you trying to lose?"
"What do you mean? Gaia steals half the attack points from another monster so he can get stronger. That's 2000 points, which would make him stronger than Hamon (4000)."
He sounded surprisingly calm as he explained his outburst. "Gaia's effect will only work against monsters that can be targeted. This version of the Sacred Beasts are immune to targeting. The only monsters eligible for your effect are those Phantasm Tokens, and you're not going to absorb enough power from them to take down a Sacred Beast."
"So I kill off the Tokens instead."
Fats said, "You can't. While Hamon is in defense mode, we can only target him."
Bryan frowned. "Oh. I guess I fucked that up, didn't I?" He turned to look at Matt. "Why are you so calm about it?"
Matt shrugged. "What's done is done. All I can do is take my turn."
"Are you kidding? You're not gonna reprimand me or point out that I'm lacking in my studies? All of a sudden, you're Mr. Let Fate Decide." Frowning, he said, "You think you're the only hero, don't you?"
"No."
"Look at you! You're literally hunched over like the weight of the world is on your shoulders. Your shoulders, not ours." Even Anand pointed as if just realizing that's what was happening to Matt because of his alchemy circle. "Let me help!"
"You want to help?" asked Matt.
"That's what I've been saying!"
"Then end your turn so I can take mine!"
Bryan was ready to dress down his best friend, but he felt too disappointed to do it. "Fine. I'll set two cards. Here you go."
Anand: 13,200 LP, 0 cards
Fats: 8000 LP, 2 cards
Bryan: 8000 LP, 0 cards
Matt: 5600 LP, 5 cards
Matt had to take several deep breaths before he was able to stand up and pull a specific card from his deck. "Dark Burning Attack." His Dark Magcian Girl channeled intense amounts of dark energy into her scepter and launched it at Anand's field—not at his monsters specifically. The shockwave reverberated across the length of the field, and everything disappeared, including Hamon, Raviel, and all three Phantasm Tokens. The air instantly lightened—though the fog remained, Raviel no longer wrought Shadows.
"Now I'll discard so I can summon Apprentice Illusion Magician (6: 2000|1700)." She was like another Dark Magician Girl, but younger and purpler. "She gives me a Dark Magician to my hand. They overlay to summon Magi Magi - Magician Gal (6: 2400|2000)." This one looked exactly like the regular Dark Magician Girl, except her outfit was black underneath all the fog. "When I discard from my hand and detach an overlay unit, Magician Gal summons a monster from your Graveyard over to my field."
Maybe for a second, Bryan wasn't sure what monster Matt could possibly summon from Anand's Graveyard. But the appearance of Raviel, Lord of Phantasms (4000|4000) in his colossal form sure answered that question. "Hey, look at that. Turns out the Sacred Beasts can be targeted as long as they're not on the field. And Magi Magi's effect isn't temporary, so Raviel is mine. That's why I'm willing to use her to activate Raviel's effect: When I Tribute her, Raviel (+6400) gains points equal to her current power. Since your field is empty anyway, this is a fantastic time to attack directly."
Take that, you cocky bastard, Bryan thought to himself as he watched Anand suffer the apparent realism of Raviel's giant claws. It was an encouraging change of pace for the bad guy to be the one getting attacked by the gods for once. Too bad that jackass was standing outside the alchemy circle. It would be great to see him get what he deserves.
"That ends my turn."
The Duel Disks clung to Matt's End Phase while Anand stared at Raviel, mouth agape. He looked utterly aghast when his gaze drifted to Matt. "I'm sure you already understand just how impressive it is that you can command Raviel, especially as a Slifer. I had thought only Bryan there was capable of taming a Sacred Beast—partially taming, anyway."
Leon asked, "What's the big deal? Matt only used one card effect to control another card."
Emily said, "But Raviel is a Sacred Beast. And this is the real Raviel, too. It requires either a lot of magical preparation, such as alchemy circles, or incredible spiritual energy to control them without being overwhelmed by their power."
"Really?"
"Think of it like grabbing a chunk of radioactive ore. You can hold it easily enough, but it will eat away at your entire being until it kills you."
Anand waved them off. "For now, what matters is this: I use Chaos Embodiment and target Hamon (4000) in my Graveyard: I gain Life Points equal to his attack points."
"Naturia Beast blocks that," said Fats. "I send two cards from the top of my deck to the Graveyard, then that negates and destroys your Spell Card." Anand looked pissed, and even Bryan felt a bit peeved that Fats was dominating this duel while Bryan could barely do anything except during the first turn.
Anand: 6800 LP, 0 cards
Fats: 8000 LP, 2 cards
Bryan: 8000 LP, 0 cards
Matt: 5600 LP, 3 cards
Anand's turn began, and he again took all the cards from his Graveyard into his hand. He only had one card left in his deck. Whatever it was had to make the Sacred Beasts even deadlier than they already were.
"I'll discard a Spell to summon Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder (4000|4000) yet again." The god of lightning emerged out of yet another lightning storm. Anand looked Fats over like a sniper trying to decide the best angle to shoot. He was probably still mad that Fats dealt more than 10k damage in a single turn. "Hamon attacks Elemental Hero Gaia (2200)."
Bryan wanted to channel his Pokémon knowledge—where earth-based creatures are immune to electrical attack—but that didn't jive with reality. Instead, Gaia's earthen body absorbed all of the lightning and suffered the entire flow of electricity from sky to ground. Gaia was briefly paralyzed before his whole body crumbled and disappeared. And then Hamon activated its secondary effect, striking Bryan directly with even more lightning. As the energy coursed through him, Bryan's heart raced, pounding against his ribcage as if trying to escape. A cold sweat broke out on his forehead and palms, making his grip on his cards—nay, his grip on life itself—feel slippery and tenuous. His breathing became shallow and rapid, each attempt to inhale feeling woefully insufficient.
And that knot in his stomach felt as an anchor threatening to drag him underwater. But he wasn't drowning in water: He saw Lucy towering overhead, pitying him. Erica appeared beside her, folding her arms and tapping her foot in frustration. And even Amber Kohler—his ex-girlfriend—standing twice as tall and wagging her finger at him. Shame and self-loathing coiled around his heart, whispering into his ear that he deserved their pity, their scorn, and their hatred. His efforts to create a bright future were pointless when he brought misery on himself. Duel Academy was no longer visible at the end of the tunnel before him as his vision faded to black.
When Bryan jerked upright, his vision returned, though blurry. The fog persisted, disappearing only briefly while he was trapped inside his inner torment. He looked over to Matt, who was closer to upright but still rolled his shoulders forward. "Fuck, man. That was… intense." Instead of mocking him, Matt only nodded, a knowing expression on his face. Just a moment for them to bond without words.
"That was enjoyable, wasn't it?" asked Anand.
"I'm happy to pass on the next round." Dr. Apple was scratching away in a tiny notebook, mumbling to himself about the sequence in which the runes lit up. But he still didn't have an answer.
Anand said, "This is enough for now. Two cards face-down will end my turn."
Anand: 6800 LP, 1 card
Fats: 8000 LP, 2 cards
Bryan: 5200 LP, 0 cards
Matt: 5600 LP, 3 cards
Before Fats drew, he looked over to Matt for guidance. "Which ability should we use now?"
Matt said, "Since Hamon is in attack mode this time, maybe it's worth doubling attack points to take him down." He paused, then he asked, "If you were dueling on your own, what would you do right now?"
He shrugged. "Probably wait another turn. He might do something later that we'd want those abilities for."
Matt nodded. "So without enough information, we wait and see. Duel by our own strength until Anand shows us another clue needed to beat him. Do it."
Instead of activating an ability, Fats skipped straight to his Draw Phase. And since his field was full already, he had no monsters to summon until he killed off a few and activated their effects. "Naturia Cliff (1500) will attack Hamon (4000)."
"Hold on," said Anand. "By sacrificing a Sacred Beast, I activate Dimension Fusion Destruction." Both sides of the field began to roll and stretch, as if the grass were crawling toward some goal in the middle ground. Standing on his feet was a challenge as Bryan's brain bought in to the optical illusion, believing the ground to be moving. When all four fields combined and all the monsters merged into a single point, the energy of the field exploded. Fire and lightning and shadows strew about the yard.
Bryan felt that knot growing tighter in the pit of his stomach, twisting until he both wanted to hurl and was physically incapable of passing anything at all. His muscles tensed tighter than ever, shoulders hunching as if to shield him from an unseen threat.
In front of him was the stadium, wide open in the basement of Duel Academy. He was dueling against Yul Tan again, staring back into the fiery eyes of Uria, Lord of Searing Flame. Bryan summoned Elemental Hero Absolute Zero, but Uria melted him with a single breath. He summoned Masked Hero Acid, but Uria was immune to acid. He summoned Masked Hero Vapor, but Yul just appreciated how the warm air promoted circulation. Bryan finally used Elemental Hero Flame Wingman - Infernal Rage, who was able to resist Uria's heat and overpower him. But Bryan's reprieve never came, immediately interrupted by the appearance of Justin Nussbaum with Raviel and Erica Dawkins with Hamon.
Dr. Lankford stood behind Bryan and told him that he didn't properly earn his place. His acceptance to Duel Academy was in question. Nothing he did would ever be good enough.
"I might have it," said Dr. Apple's voice, cutting through the tension. "This symbol is just gibberish by itself, but it's merely a precursor to those two symbols, which activate simultaneously. When you combine them, you get the icon for despair. And then these four go together…"
Bryan zoned out of the professor's detailed theorizing. After that last round, he no longer doubted the purpose behind Anand's alchemy magic: Bryan was forced to experience his greatest insecurities. After the first attack, he felt sad, lonely, and exhausted. After this second one, he only wanted to quit and go home.
"You all look quite miserable," said Anand. "I suppose you didn't even notice that we all lost points equal to the Sacred Beast I sacrificed. Of course you wouldn't. Too much stress all at once. Tell me, how are you feeling?" He sounded so smug. He definitely knew already how everyone felt.
Like crap.
"I suppose I should finish this new chain. With my monster in the Graveyard, I have the option to discard a Trap to summon Uria, Lord of Searing Flame (+1000|+1000)." Bryan felt the heat even before Uria's serpentine body appeared. That fiery glint in his eyes made Bryan feel tiny again, like he was six years old and completely helpless. And then Uria (+4000|+4000) grew stronger. "This time, I use Chaos Embodiment to make Uria's power match that of Hamon in my Graveyard. Now, feel free to finish your turn."
Easy to say, difficult to do. Fats looked overwhelmed. The calmest, most well adjusted person Bryan ever met was ready to cry. "That wasn't real…" His inflection indicated a statement, but his eyes pleaded like he wasn't sure.
"No," said Matt. "It wasn't real. He's playing on our insecurities. He can't defeat us in a straight duel, so he's hoping to weaken our resolve, make us emotionally brittle. Just take a few deep breaths, then remember what's happening inside DA-Rec. That's what we're fighting for." His pep talk seemed to help Fats, and it reminded Bryan about how Anand used the fake Sacred Beasts to fill the rec center with energy from the Shadow Realm. He felt even more ashamed that he had forgotten about everyone else's plight. Lucy and Erica were in danger, and Jack and Cary, too.
On the field, Fats' monsters already activated: Naturia Cherries had summoned two additional copies of itself, face-down, and Naturia Cliff let Fats summon Naturia Rosewhip (3: 400|1700) from the deck. "One card," he uttered as he placed another card face-down. He tried but couldn't muster the words to end his turn, just pressing the button and leaving it alone.
Anand: 2800 LP, 0 cards
Fats: 4000 LP, 2 cards
Bryan: 1200 LP, 0 cards
Matt: 1600 LP, 3 cards
That brought up Bryan's turn… and he felt as energetic as Fats looked. He wasn't even sure he remembered the correct way to play the game. He tried to remind himself that those images were only the Shadow Realm messing with his brain, but it was so damn hard to say that he didn't deserve everything they said to him. Every insult and derogatory comment was based in reality, wasn't it?
"Vision Hero Vyon (4: 1000|1200)," he said. He watched his see-through hero appear on the field and felt like he, too, was see-through. "Vyon sends Shadow Mist to the Graveyard." He popped a card out of his deck, trying as hard as he could to seem stoic and unperturbed. So he cursed softly when his hand trembled on its way to the Graveyard slot. "Shadow Mist gives me a Hero to my hand." He cycled through the list on his display screen, but he couldn't focus. Should he take Bubblebath? Fire engine? Lady fire engine? Stats? The only word he was able to read without having to try two or three times was "Neos", so he just took Honest Neos to his hand.
And since he didn't really have any other cards to play, that was it for his turn.
Anand: 2800 LP, 0 cards
Fats: 4000 LP, 2 cards
Bryan: 1200 LP, 1 card
Matt: 1600 LP, 3 cards
Matt made a face. "You see how strong Uria (4000) is? I hope your face-down cards are worthwhile."
Shit! Bryan had forgotten about his own Life Points. Uria's power was enough to slaughter Vyon and end Bryan's duel three times over! And what were his face-down cards? He couldn't even remember playing them.
Miracle Fusion and E - Emergency Call. Who the hell sets those two cards on the field? They couldn't even activate outside of Bryan's turn, let alone do anything to protect him. He could only hope that Anand was faked out by them.
"We're good," he said to Matt, throwing a thumbs-up and hoping he looked more convincing than he felt.
Matt nodded solemnly. Did Bryan's bluff actually work? Or more realistically, maybe Matt was acting like he believed Bryan's bluff as a double-bluff against Anand.
"I have Magicians' Souls in my hand. That means I can send Dark Magician Girl from my deck to the Graveyard, then I also discard Magicians' Souls to revive Dark Magician (7: 2500|2100)." Matt sure seemed to have plenty of confidence with his ace monster on the field. "Here's a new spell for an old sorcerer: Dark Magic Twin Burst: My Dark Magician (+6500) draws power from his students, adding to him their combined attack points. My only regret is that you still haven't stepped inside your Alchemy Circle of Insecurity." Dark Magician cast a spell with such powerful magic that it completely smothered Uria (4000) without any resistance at all. With the flow of dark magic, the heat from Uria was quashed until it dissipated.
"I'll set one card."
Anand: 300 LP, 0 cards
Fats: 4000 LP, 2 cards
Bryan: 1200 LP, 1 card
Matt: 1600 LP, 3 cards
Unfortunately, Anand looked too happy. "I truly cannot believe the quality of Slifer Red this year. The three of you have been spectacular, not counting Bryan."
"Ouch," said Bryan, mostly as a reflex. He knew the sentiment was accurate.
But Anand continued his growing excitement. "Your regret should be that you left me with any Life Points at all." Now all the cards from his deck were in his hand. He separated three of them. "When I send Uria, Hamon, and Raviel to the Graveyard, I can combined their energies into their true form: Armityle the Chaos Phantasm (0|0)."
Bryan was wrong before. The Sacred Beasts weren't the most terrifying entity to cross his path. Armityle was… big. No, that word is stupid.
Armityle was colossal. Still not big enough.
Armityle was gargantuan. That was closer.
Armityle was monumental. Still not enough. Not even the Washington Monument compared in sheer size. Maybe if it were flexible.
Armityle's body was a literal fusion of the three Sacred Beasts: Uria's tail transitioned to Hamon's torso, which was guarded by Raviel's rib cage. Hamon's skeletal appendages with the massive claws became the outer guard to Raviel's right arm while the left arm was Uria's neck and head. Hamon's wings sprouted from its back. Raviel's crown crested atop Armityle's head, but its face wasn't truly of Raviel: It was some alternate, otherworldly entity that emerged from fusing together the other three. Bryan felt his gut fall out from below him. He was lucky not to pee himself.
Matt was the one to break the silence. "That's a big monster for zero attack points."
"Oh, that's my fault," said Anand. He pressed a button on his Duel Disk, and suddenly Armityle (+10,000) jumped up to enough points to end any duelist in one turn. "Armityle's effect gives it ten thousand points only during its owner's turn. Something to anticipate for whomever doesn't lose the rest of their Life Points in this turn." Bryan instinctively took a step back and braced himself like he was about to be tackled. Anand laughed. "I think we all know who needs to be taken out first for me to win this duel."
He stared at Matt, but it was a ruse as Armityle launched some kind of disc at Naturia Rosewhip (400). Bryan had expected to see Armityle spit fire from its Uria arm, but that disc felt dense and heavy, even from Bryan's spot on the field. It must be some kind of chaos energy.
"Guys, my Trap isn't activating," said Fats.
"That's my fault, too," said Anand. "I used Chaos Radiation here. It means that none of you can activate effects when my monsters attack during this turn. Know that while it was a pleasure to duel against three players at once, I'll be thrilled to remove one from the game."
Armityle's attack made Rosewhip disappear. It didn't even shatter like most of the other holograms. Not quite crushed underneath the attack, but it also wasn't really absorbed because there was no image of the plant being pulled in. But whatever specifically happened to the monster didn't matter because Fats suffered the same way. As his LP counter dropped to 0, he grabbed his chest, curled forward, and collapsed onto the yard.
Leon rolled him over to put him on his back while Dr. Apple checked his pulse. "He's still alive, same as the others. You can still rescue him."
"Unlikely," said Anand. "Now that Rosewhip no longer restricts my cards, I activate Chaos Embodiment to turn Raviel's attack power into Life Points for me." It was as if Raviel's ghost had come from the Graveyard and stepped inside of Anand's body to reinvigorate him. "I'll also place two cards face-down."
Just as Anand was poised to end his turn, Armityle slithered backward just a step and disappeared as if the backdrop were a curtain. The beast reappeared immediately, right behind Bryan. "At the end of my turn, I can give Armityle to my opponent. Unfortunately for you, controlling Armityle is all or nothing, so every other monster you have is banished." To prove his point, Vyon shattered and disappeared from the field.
Bryan couldn't believe Anand would just give away his ultimate Sacred Beast. This Chaos Phantasm was the strongest god card Bryan had ever seen, and now it was under his control. Forget about Uria!
As the Duel Disk finally flashed, Matt said, "Before your turn officially ends, I'll activate Eternal Soul." A stone monolith rose on his field, bearing the shining image of the Dark Magician. "With this, I summon Dark Magician (7: 2500|2100) from the Graveyard."
Anand: 4300 LP, 0 cards
Fats: 0 LP, 2 cards
Bryan: 1200 LP, 2 cards
Matt: 1600 LP, 3 cards
With a shrug, Anand said, "Perhaps I should be more worried. Your sorcerer is quite capable, after all. Then again, he has only a quarter of Armityle's power."
"Armityle supports us now," said Bryan. He could feel Armityle's power coursing through his own body. Everything around him felt so small and insignificant. Armityle the Chaos Phantasm (+10,000) was easily capable of eliminating all of Anand's remaining LP. Bryan wouldn't even need to build additional support.
"Yes, it does," said Anand. He was a disappointment as an opponent. Why wasn't he cowering in front of such a dangerous monster?
Just battle him and end it with his own monster.
But what if he's prepared? One of his cards had something to do with destroying all the monsters on the field, and inflicting damage. And he kept restoring his own Life Points, so the biggest risk was dealing sufficient damage to him.
Anand added, "You know what you should do? Double its attack points. Imagine how much damage that could inflict!"
Bryan's chest swelled as thoughts of overwhelming the field with the Ultimate Sacred Beast filled his head. "That's perfect! I get to decide the special abilities now, and when I double Armityle's (+20,000) power, then there's no way you can withstand his attack."
Matt sighed. "Bryan. You should have restored Fats's Life Points."
"Why? He's out of the duel."
"He'll be back in when we restore his points."
Bryan waved it off. "That's weird." Wasn't it? Or was Matt actually thinking farther ahead than Bryan was. Well, it was too late now; the effect was already decided. "Besides, the biggest priority is defeating this lunatic. And I have the best card to do it."
"Did you stop to consider that he gave you that card? It must be for a reason."
"Obviously it hurt me. He banished Vyon."
Matt gave him that incredulous expression again. "Do you really believe that he was so worried about Vision Hero Vyon that he decided it was a fair trade to give you ten thousand attack points?"
"There are tons of combos I can pull off with Vyon in my deck."
"Exactly," said Anand.
But hearing Anand agree with him made Bryan feel awkward. Obviously, his first reaction was pride, hearing that such an experienced duelist agreed with his thought process. But then conflicting thoughts popped in, reminding him that Anand was the enemy and would never admit to being overwhelmed. Especially by a single, 1000-point Hero? That just… didn't fit.
"Whatever! When Armityle attacks, the duel will be over." Bryan switched to his Battle Phase, but Armityle was electronically blocked from attacking. "What the hell?"
"Oh, right," said Anand. "So, Armityle's relentless strength comes with one balancing act: It can't attack directly. After all, who could possibly survive such an attack? It simply wouldn't be sporting."
But on the other hand, Bryan had already entered his Battle Phase. He had other cards left to play, but he had screwed himself out of attacking this turn. And he wasted his doubled attack points. What a dumbass! He felt like total shit. How was it that he was so permanently incapable of thinking ahead?
"Fine," he said, sounding as deflated as he suddenly felt. "I still have Elemental Hero Stratos (4: 1800|300), and summoning him gives me another Hero to my hand."
Anand said, "You're supposed to give up already. So if you refuse, I'll just have to end the duel myself. Dimension Fusion Destruction activates with Armityle's power to destroy every monster on the field."
"No," said Matt. A card emerged from his Graveyard. "I banish Magician Navigation while Dark Magician is on the field; that negates the effect of your card." What should have been a fantastic explosion instead piddled out like a whimper.
"How annoying," said Anand. "Then I'll activate Illusion Gate. Stratos is destroyed, and Hamon (4000) is revived in defense mode."
Bryan stared up at Armityle, wondering why Anand wouldn't use his destruction ability to remove Armityle from the field instead.
Just give up. He'll bring Armityle right back to his field.
Of course! Armityle's effect meant it moved to the opponent's field during each End Phase. Maybe that was a good reason for Bryan to give up. There was no way to defeat Armityle for good. But as Bryan stared at his deck and contemplated the forfeit, he caught a glimpse of Matt. There was no way Matt would ever forfeit, and even if he managed to win by himself, there was no way he would ever stop mocking Bryan for quitting in the middle of such a crucial duel.
He just needed something strong on the field. Maybe something that could even create a decent defense. "I still have Miracle Fusion. I can banish Stratos, Solid Soldier, and Blazeman to fuse them into Elemental Hero Core (9: 2700|2200)." That was probably the wrong choice, but at least Core could double its points when attacked, so maybe Anand would think twice… even if Armityle's points were ten thousand.
"That's all."
"Almost," said Matt. "Before your turn ends, Eternal Soul activates. I summon another Dark Magician (7: 2500|2100) from the Graveyard." Smirking at the field, he added, "I feel bad about Fats, but I really enjoy getting so many extra uses of Eternal Soul in just one turn like this."
But to make matters worse, Bryan's prediction came true: Armityle pulled the same disappearing act, immediately stepping away from Bryan's field and reappearing behind the invisible curtain on Anand's field. That meant that Matt had to face down both Hamon and Armityle using only his three Dark Magicians.
Anand: 4300 LP, 0 cards
Fats: 0 LP, 2 cards
Bryan: 1200 LP, 2 cards
Matt: 1600 LP, 3 cards
"Now for my real turn," said Matt. "I overlay two Dark Magicians to summon Ebon Illusion Magician (7: 2500|2100)." His Dark Magicians basically combined into a version with darker skin. "Now the third Dark Magician (2500) attacks."
Bryan flinched. "Wait, really?"
"Yes. When Dark Magician attacks, Ebon Illusion Magician activates to banish a card from your field." A string of magical energy emerged from Ebon Illusion Magician's palm and attached itself to the small of Dark Magician's back. The extra energy helped Dark Magician create from his staff a blast of energy more focused than Bryan had ever seen him use. It looked like it might even pierce the body of a fused god.
"I'll use Armityle's hidden effect," said Anand. The impossible god card disappeared from the field, and Matt's Duel Disk flashed, showing a transition to Main Phase II. "By returning Armityle to my hand, your Battle Phase ends immediately."
Matt frowned. "Well, that's lame. Your god ran scared from the Dark Magician." It was clear that his words affected Anand. Instead of speaking further, Matt quietly placed two cards face-down, then he activated Eternal Soul to revive the Dark Magician that had gone to the Graveyard.
Anand: 4300 LP, 0 cards
Fats: 0 LP, 2 cards
Bryan: 1200 LP, 2 cards
Matt: 1600 LP, 3 cards
"This is tiring," said Anand. "The duel ends this turn. By discarding, I summon Uria, Lord of Searing Flames (1000|1000)." Fire snaked around the entire field, transforming into the giant, flaming serpent, towering so high that Bryan strained his neck looking up.
"I figured you would try that," said Matt. "Since you summoned Uria through an effect, I'll play Magicians' Combination. When I Tribute my Dark Magician, I revive Dark Magician Girl (6: 2000|1700) from the Graveyard."
Anand scoffed. "Bryan still has a face-down card that Uria can destroy." As Uria washed Bryan with a wave of flaming steam, he wondered if Anand just didn't notice that Matt had another card face-down that Uria could destroy. Didn't Uria's effect prevent other effects from chaining to it? So Matt's other card would be gone.
Instead, he destroyed E - Emergency Call, a card that Bryan had previously set and couldn't even explain why.
"Nice fake out," said Matt. Bryan was about to explain that it was an accident, but instead he tossed a thumbs-up, accepting the compliment instead.
The opponent was less pleased. "That's perfectly fine. I don't need Uria anyway. I'll simply send all the Sacred Beasts to the Graveyard to summon Armityle the Chaos Phantasm (0|0) back to my field. And as it's still my turn, Armityle (+10,000) gains immense attack power. You think you can survive this?"
"Probably," said Matt. "By activating another effect, you triggered Magical Dimension: Ebon Illusion Magician becomes a Tribute to summon Magician of Dark Illusion (7: 2100|2500) from my hand, and the transfer of energy destroys Armityle immediately."
And it worked. All of the leftover dark magic overwhelmed Armityle until it shattered.
But Anand wouldn't let that stand. "I discard Illusion Gate when my Sacred Beast is destroyed so I can immediately summon it back to the field." Those misty gates opened again, but while horizontal this time. Armityle's colossal, snake-like form burst forth once again. While Matt uttered a few curse words, Anand frowned. "You're out of Traps. Dark Magician Girl is far too weak, and you didn't even put her in attack mode."
Matt pointed to the field. "Check again. None of my monsters are in attack mode anymore. Looks like you're not finishing me off this turn. Not with only one monster to declare an attack."
"You're right. But there's still value in wiping out your trump cards. Armityle (10,000) attacks Elemental Hero Core (2700)."
Suddenly Bryan jerked awake. With Armityle launching one of those chaos black holes at him, he was about to learn firsthand what happened to everyone else who lost a Shadow Duel. Maybe it would be peaceful. Or maybe it would hurt like hell.
Or maybe you have one more card to play.
Fighting against the voice that told him to quit, he remembered that Core had the ability to double his attack points once per turn. 5400 was a lot, but it still wasn't enough to withstand an attack from something as big as Armityle. If only there were a way to fuse Core with the Elemental Hero Neos in his hand.
No, wait! That wasn't the card's name! "I discard Elemental Hero Honest Neos, and my Hero on the field gains 2500 attack points. On top of that, Elemental Hero Core (+10,400) activates his own ability to double his attack points until the end of the turn." The size of the holograms was nowhere near comparable, but Bryan's mighty warrior managed to knife-hand strike the black hole and completely obliterate it. After that, he jumped across the field like a comet and then exploded all over Armityle. The energy overwhelmed the massive beast so that streams of light began to break through its segmented body. First at its torso, then its tail, then its crown. Eventually, so much light leaked out that the pressure inside its body became too much, and the Ultimate Sacred Beast shattered.
"That can't be," said Anand. "You actually made something stronger than Armityle? You?"
Bryan frowned. "Rude. You don't have to be mean about it."
Anand was trembling, almost like he was ready to scream. But a guy who prided himself on being cool and collected couldn't give in so easily. "I'll… handle it. Chaos Embodiment again gives myself another 4000 LP. That should still be enough to hold myself until I get my cards back."
"Except that Eternal Soul activates to revive a Dark Magician (7: 2500|2100) to my field," said Matt.
Anand: 8300 LP, 0 cards
Fats: 0 LP, 2 cards
Bryan: 1200 LP, 2 cards
Matt: 1600 LP, 3 cards
As soon as Bryan's turn started, Matt activated Eternal Soul again to revive another Dark Magician (7: 2500|2100). With two of them, plus Magician of Dark Illusion and Dark Magician Girl on the field, it didn't matter what Bryan did during his turn: Matt was poised to take away all of Anand's LP.
Maybe that's how it should be. Bryan's existence was pointless. If anything, he had made this duel harder than it needed to be.
"Give Fats the Life Points," said Matt.
"What?"
"Our special abilities. Give Fats the extra 4000 Life Points."
"Oh, right." Bryan pressed the button on his Duel Disk screen and watched Fats' LP counter rise. But nothing else happened. "It didn't work."
Matt nodded. "It could be that Fats will have to rest and recover from this duel the same way Syd and the others did, even though they all survived their duels."
Leon asked, "So what's your excuse?"
"Not now," said Dr. Apple.
Most likely he wanted Bryan and Matt to focus on finishing off Anand, but it just made Bryan curious. Why did Matt get to survive two of these duels? Even after suffering from Anand's alchemy circle twice, Matt was back to standing with his regular posture, or close to it. It's like all his insecurity faded away.
Bryan squeezed a fist to stop his fingers from trembling. It didn't work, but the trembling was harder to see. He just wanted to work up the courage to not rely on Matt to save him from himself every time. He remembered how many times Dave and Andy and Erica had assured him that he was a capable duelist and that he would only get better as he continued to study. The key was knowing his cards and how to use them.
He had used a portion of his tournament winnings from Italy to fill out his deck with Masked Heroes because he knew their value. He was sure that he already knew how to be a winner. Ignoring his insecurity forever was impossible… but he could pull that off for two minutes, couldn't he?
"I'll play Mask Charge: It brings one Hero and one Mask card back from my Graveyard to my hand. I choose Mask Change and Honest Neos."
Matt gasped. "Shit."
Bryan stopped his play to react to Matt's tension. "What happened?"
"Nothing. Keep going."
That was weird, but Bryan tried to remember what else he was going to do. The only other monster he had in his hand was Elemental Hero Bubbleman (4: 800|1200), but Anand's field was completely empty, so he might as well summon it. With Core still on the field, he had two monsters to attack with.
"I can only double Elemental Hero Core's (2700) attack power when he's targeted, so he'll have to deal normal damage. But I can still discard Honest Neos to give Core (+5200) some extra power." With wings spread wide and shining brightly, Core landed a punch on Anand that left behind a devastating CRACK!
"Shit," said Matt, but quiter this time, so Bryan pretended he didn't hear it.
Bryan paused to look over his hand for a moment. "And Mask Change is a Quick-Play Spell, so I can transform Core into a different Earth monster—Masked Hero Dian (8: 2800|3000)." Decked out in gold armor, with a billowing blue cape, Dian leapt across the field and jammed his lance straight into Anand…
…whose LP had fallen down to 300.
"Shit!" said Matt again. Bryan finally recognized the tone: Matt was excited.
But he was only stunned. "Did I actually do it? Did I count that correctly?"
"OTK, Moose," said Matt. "8000 points in one turn. 8800, to be specific."
Bryan looked at Bubbleman (800) and pressed the button on his Duel Disk to make it official. Bubbleman sprayed Anand with bubbles so dense they echoed with a percussive POP! every time one of them made contact.
Anand: 0 LP, 0 cards
Fats: 4000 LP, 2 cards
Bryan: 1200 LP, 2 cards
Matt: 1600 LP, 3 cards
Duel Disks began the process of tallying the points and disconnecting the duel. "Son of a bitch," said Matt. He sounded both happy and irritated.
And then Leon muttered, "Son of a bitch!" He sounded happy and surprised.
Anand also chuckled, "You son of a bitch. You don't even realize that you're still connected to Uria, so you'll suffer from this just as much as I will."
"No, don't listen to him," said Dr. Apple. "It's not possible for the winner of a duel to suffer as much as the loser does, even in a Shadow Ritual."
"You don't even know the extent of my alchemy circle."
"Yes, that's true." He looked from Bryan to Matt and to Fats. "Perhaps it's best if all three of you vacate the circle immediately." He, Emily, Leon, and Matt all went to work moving Fats as gently as they could. Bryan wanted to help but he was already feeling lightheaded. Just moving from his spot on the duel field was enough to make him swoon.
"Just like all my experiments on campus. Even with the true Sacred Beasts, I couldn't achieve any of the outcomes told by legend. Howard's ritual could be just as useless. He won't achieve anything at all."
Matt asked, "What's he trying to do?"
"We were all supposed to tame the original gods. When I absorbed enough duel energy, I would be able to take Armityle's existence into myself and gain total control of the Shadow Realm and its magic."
Dr. Apple shook his head. "The Chaos Phantasm doesn't draw energy from imaginary space. It comes from the Overworld: the Spirit Realm."
"That story is nonsense," said Anand. "The so-called Overworld is like heaven. Why would it be filled with chaos energy?"
"Because you don't understand what heaven truly is."
"I'm sure you could debate until he loses the rest of his energy," said Matt, sounding urgent. "You must have told Howard about how to break the seal on the real god cards, so you know where he is now."
"You're wrong. Howard was the one who came to me with that information. I thought he told me everything, but I don't know where he went after we left the sealed room, so he must have kept secrets from me still. He must know a story about these cards that even I've never heard."
The ground began to vibrate. It didn't last long, but the vibration was intense and sustained. And maybe Bryan was sweating from trying to resist the Shadow Realm, but he felt like the temperature spiked.
Dr. Apple asked, "Is he going to interrupt Dr. West's sealing ritual?"
Anand's eyes were growing heavy, but a brief light of recognition passed through. "He did mention Corbin West. He has the Jashin, and he was the only one to touch all nine god cards. The headmaster might already be gone."
The ground shook again. Dr. Apple pursed his lips, then he seemed to burst forth into a sprint as if trying to break out of his own body. "That's incredibly unlikely, but on the off chance…" He stopped several steps away and turned back. "Matthew, are you coming?"
Matt stared at Anand for another moment, but Bryan couldn't see him anymore underneath the smothering mist. The mist dispersed with a violent discharge, but Anand no longer responded to sound or touch.
"I'm right behind you," said Matt.
"Wait," said Emily. "Where are you going?"
"That vibration we all feel is Mt. Takahashi."
Leon's eyes popped wide open. "The volcano?"
"We'll want to hurry. High probability to find Howard and Dr. West up there… and maybe the mastermind behind Howard's plan. But we'll need to hurry."
Matt looked to Bryan, but Bryan was already sitting down. He felt worse than the time he was three-boned by a defensive lineman, a defensive end, and a linebacker at the same time. Just standing up felt like it would be enough to knock him out. "I don't know how you're still standing," he told Matt.
"Neither do I. But I don't have time to question it right now." He turned and followed Dr. Apple at his power-walk pace.
As they left, Bryan asked Leon, "Should you go with him?"
"I'm not sure how much support I can be against a volcano. 'Sides, all of you out here need support, too." He was struck with an epiphany and looked to Emily. "Maybe we should go inside and see how everyone's doing in there. Maybe we'll get lucky and someone else is as resistant to this stuff as Matt is."
She didn't answer his implied request. Emily suddenly bolted, chasing after Matt and Dr. Apple.
Leon looked back at Bryan with a what-are-you-gonna-do expression on his face. "At least Matt will have a little bit of support, won't he."
After another chapter where the enemy used a God-card Boss Deck, I'm sure you have your guesses about the next chapter. The hardest decision about this part of the story was whether to use a Boss Deck for each series of gods or to combine them for one Mega-Boss Deck. The deciding factor was the limit of 8 cards in a Boss Deck, meaning I couldn't even stack nine god cards in it together. Even if I did it for kicks, there would be no support for them. And I definitely wanted a Boss Deck and not a regular deck, so that forced my hand, as it were.
Just as I highlighted Mitsuro last week for being a long-time OC, I gave some focus to Fats, submitted by Vstriker. Amourenvie submitted Emily, who pops in here and there, choosing to remain mysterious so far. These two readers also submitted OCs to my previous incarnation of this story—though unlike Titanic X and Mitsuro, they chose to use new characters this time around.
As always, I appreciate the OCs contributed to this story:
Jack Hansbury...same name, with a period in the middle
Tamah "Fats" Fatu...Vstriker
Emily Li...Amourenvie
Kai Jackson...SketchyWolf