Chapter 4: Taking a Stand (Grant - Duel 1)

The center of the street shimmered faintly, holographic projectors flickered on from nearby posts, half-cracked and scorched but still functional. The glowing outline of a digital battlefield sparked into place as both duelists readed themselves.

Both duel disks flared. Life Point Gauges blinked: 4000 – 4000.

"Duel!"/"Duel."

The Viper leader drew his opening hand with a flourish. "Since you're so eager to get stomped out, I'll be going first!" he sneered.

Grant didn't bother replying, drawing his own starting hand he simply readied himself for whatever came next. Something the Viper was all too eager to do.

"Heh," he chuckled low in his throat, eyes scanning his opening hand. "You're gonna wish you hadn't mouthed off, punk."

He slammed a card onto his duel disk. "First, I summon Gozuki in Attack Position!"

A pulse of red light surged from his disk, and a minotaur wielding a massive mallet erupted from the hologram, Its mouth opened in a silent snarl as it tightened its grip on its weapon.

Gozuki – ATK 1700 / DEF 800

"Then, I activate Gozuki's effect—" he continued, almost absently, "—sending Mezuki from my deck to the Graveyard."

Grant's eyes narrowed. Mezuki?That means zombies, which also means he's going to play Zombie World right about...

But the card never came.

The Viper kept going instead. "Then I'll set one card face-down," he added, slipping a card into his back row with an idle flick. "And I end my turn."

Grant didn't react right away as he processed the fact that his opponent… hadn't played the field spell at all this turn.

The wind picked up slightly around them, tugging at his coat and pushing dust across the faded street where their field was set. No one said a word, almost as if they were waiting for a punchline that hadn't landed yet.

He blinked once.

The Viper already had a Mezuki in the graveyard to revive a target, sure, but… that was it?

Grant shrugged it off for now, for right now he needed to focus on what he was going to do for his own turn. No Zombie World meant he could still play normally, for now at least.

"My turn." He kept his voice steady as he drew his next card.

The other guy might have been a Viper, but something about that opening turn didn't feel right. It felt like bait he was meant to take, but still. A window was a window, and he wasn't just going to let it slip out of his hands.

His eyes flicked down to the cards in his hands, his newest draw left him with: Scrap Shark, Scrap Chimera, Scrap Hunter, Scrapyard, Scrapstorm and Call of the Haunted.

"I'll summon Scrap Shark in Attack Position."

A thundering boom preceded the arrival of the beast—half-machine, half-shark, it crashed onto the field, tail lashing behind its metallic frame.

Scrap Shark – ATK 2100 / DEF 0

"2100?" the Viper scoffed, frowning just a little. "Ain't that a bit much for a normal summon?"

Grant simply remained quiet, not deigning to answer as he continued his play. "With that done, Scrap Shark attack his Gozuki!"

The holographic jaws lunged forward, scrap-metal fins kicking up gusts of air as the shark's body slammed into Gozuki, causing the beast to break apart mid-roar as it was destroyed.

Viper's LP ( 4000 3600)

The Viper smirked despite the damage.

"You walked right into it, punk. I activate Gozuki's effect. When it hits the graveyard, I can banish another Zombie—Mezuki—to special summon one from my hand!"

A card ejected into the Viper's waiting hand before being slapped onto the disk with force.

"I special summon Pyramid Turtle!"

A glimmering red portal opened where Gozuki once stood, before a turtle whose shell had merged with a pyramid emerged.

Pyramid Turtle – ATK 1200 / DEF 1400

Grant simply shrugged. "By all means, because now Scrap Shark's effect activates."

The Viper's brow twitched.

"When it's destroyed by a Scrap card effect, it sends any Scrap monster of my choosing from my deck to the graveyard, and since it destroyed itself after your summon, that's exactly what I'm doing."

He pulled a card from his deck and flicked it into the graveyard slot.

"I'll be sending a Scrap Beast."

There was a small murmur amongst the crowd as Grant's field was now empty as he stared down the Pyramid Turtle, seemingly defenseless now. He simply slid Call of the Haunted face down and spoke again.

"I'll set one card and end my turn."

The Viper gave a short laugh, his earlier moment of caution already blown away. "That's it? You blew up your own monster to send something to the graveyard? And now you're just sitting there open? You really are an idiot."

Grant didn't answer. He just stared evenly back across the field, eyes calm but unreadable.

All Grant needed to do now was survive this next turn, then he could swing the duel back around into his favor. Assuming, of course, his luck held out.

"Okay, my turn! I- tch!" The Viper bit back a curse glaring at the card he had drawn, before immediately moving to do something different.

The Viper leader raised his voice so everyone could hear: "Pyramid Turtle, attack him directly!" The turtle lunged forward, its undead legs churning up dust as it raced across the holographic field toward Grant.

Grant did his level best to keep a calm expression, he intuitively knew it was fake in a sense and couldn't truly hurt him, but it was a big turtle. His brain still tried to force him to at least flinch.

"Wait," he said instead, raising a single finger. "Before you do that, I'll activate my face-down card, Call of the Haunted!"

A glowing seal burst from his Duel Disk's trap zone. Moonlight-blue chains shot into the air, curling around Scrap Beast in Grant's Graveyard and yanking it back to the field as he set it back on the main field in Attack position.

Scrap Beast - ATK 1600 / DEF 1000

The thug scowled as the purple shimmer of Call of the Haunted flickered to life on Grant's field. The trap snapped upright glowing ominously as the hologram of Scrap Beast surged up in front of Grant in a battle stance.

"Guess I'm not so open afterall," Grant said evenly, eyes locked on the incoming monster.

The Viper barked out a laugh. "Pfft. What's that gonna do, wag its tail at me? You think I'm backing off just 'cause you've got one dumb mutt in play?"

He jabbed his arm forward. "Pyramid Turtle, attack Scrap Beast!"

Grant didn't flinch this time. "You sure? You can still st-"

"Are you deaf or just stupid?! I said—get him!"

The turtle let out a low hiss as it lunged forward, phasing through debris in the simulation and charging the mechanical wolf-like Scrap Beast. The moment they collided, Scrap Beast tore through it with a claw swipe, shattering the turtle into fragments of light.

The thug grimaced as the numbers on his Duel Disk flashed.

Viper LP (3600 3200)

"Taking the damage on purpose, huh?" Grant raised an eyebrow, eyes narrowing in thought. "Guess you really wanted that Turtle's effect to go off."

"Damn right," the thug growled. "Now let's see how you like this! Since Pyramid Turtle was destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard—"

"—you get to special summon a Zombie with 2000 DEF or less from your deck." Grant finished the sentence for him, already watching as the virtual interface scanned through the Viper's options.

A burst of dark energy surged from the ground behind the thug as the new monster took the field—Zombie Master, ragged and twitching, dragging itself upright with wild eyes and a grotesque grin.

Zombie Master – ATK 1800 / DEF 0

The Viper crossed his arms with a smirk. "You're not the only one who knows how to set up a graveyard."

Grant said nothing at first, but his gaze flicked to his own hand, then the field. The duel was moving fast now. With Scrap Beast summoned he could finally synchro summon Scrap Dragon, and with Scrap Chimera in hand it didn't even matter if the Viper sent his monster back to the graveyard. This duel was already shaping up nicely.

Still, he didn't let any of that show. Things could go as wrong just as easily as they had swung in his favor.

"Are you sure about that?" Grant finally, his voice calm. "Because from where I'm standing all you've done was feed me another piece of what I needed."

The Viper sneered. "Big talk, all I see is one overgrown junkyard dog. Let's see what you do with it."

He ended his turn with a dramatic flick of the wrist. "Go ahead, genius. Show me this grand play of yours."

Grant placed a hand on the edge of his Duel Disk.

"Alright then," he said, nodding to himself as he drew his next card. "My turn.".

In the background, some of the nearby Scorpions were muttering among themselves now. A few were clearly enjoying the spectacle, less a gang standoff now, and now more like an impromptu street tournament.

"Kid is actually holding up better than I figured," one said, arms crossed.

"He's either about to stall out," another tilted her head, watching Grant intently. "Or we're about to see a hell of a turn."

Grant narrowed his eyes slightly as he slid his fingers across his Duel Disk, drawing for turn. His mind was already turning over the situation. Zombie Master wasn't particularly strong on its own beyond the 1800 attack, but what really mattered was its ability to send a monster to the graveyard. Under normal circumstances, the Viper should've been able to discard a card and bring back Gozuki, ideally Plaguespreader Zombie so he could immediately go into a Synchro summon on his next turn.

And Grant knew the Viper had to be running it, Synchro Summons were as common as breathing here; it was just how this world worked. And yet...

The thug hadn't made a move to set it up.

Grant couldn't decide if it was arrogance, laziness, or something more deliberate. For all he knew the thug could be hiding something big. Either way, it wasn't going to change what he needed to do right now.

"First, I'll summon Scrap Chimera from my hand!" Grant declared, placing the card onto his Duel Disk.

A ripple of energy burst upward as a mechanical chimera, stitched together with old pipes and sparking joints, burst onto the arena, letting out a harsh mechanical roar.

Scrap Chimera – ATK 1700 / DEF 500

The Scorpions watching in the background muttered again, more animated now.

One of them whistled. "There we go, I knew the kid was setting up something."

Grant lifted his arm, his voice ringing out over the courtyard.

"I tune my Level 4 Scrap Chimera with my Level 4 Scrap Beast!"

The Chimera twisted into three brilliant green rings that rose into the sky, encircling the Scrap Beast as its body turned into four bright stars. A low mechanical rumble shook the air as the light gathered, growing denser, stronger—

"Synchro Summon!" Grant shouted
"Rise up! Scrap Dragon!"

The light exploded outward, and a massive form descended—a towering mechanical dragon, cobbled together from scraps and broken machine parts, smoke venting from its joints, roaring out a challenge to any who dared to face it.

Scrap Dragon – ATK 2800 / DEF 2000

The Viper thug's cocky smirk faltered slightly at the sight of it. Just slightly.

Grant allowed himself the smallest smirk. Scrap Dragon was one of the strongest tools he had as of right now, right next to Giganticastle of course, but that one relied more on its raw damage potential than anything else.

Grant cast a wary glance at the Viper thug across from him. The thug was still too casual, smirking like a cat that had finally caught the canary.

Grant exhaled through his nose. No, he didn't need to rush, though he still eyed the face down card warily.

He could destroy one of his own cards and get rid of it with Scrap Dragon's effect—but the only other card he controlled was the dragon itself. Blowing up his own ace monster right after summoning it for nothing would just be stupid, and would actually leave him defenseless this time.

Instead, he settled on the simpler approach.

"Scrap Dragon, attack Zombie Master!"

With a roar, Scrap Dragon learned its head back in a resemblance of taking a deep breath before a concussive blast of energy erupted from its maw, slamming into Zombie Master and scattering the undead creature into data shards across the field.

The Viper flinched slightly as the impact washed over him and he took the difference in attack points as damage.

Vipers LP (3200 2200 )

Grant stayed stone-faced, without looking he placed a card face down almost without thinking.

"I set one card face-down," he said calmly.

A glowing panel flashed into place at the back of his field.

"And with that, I end my turn."

Grant's heart thumped a little harder than usual in his chest. The Scorpions watching from the edges of the square were all murmuring to each other again, a few even beginning to cheer a bit. The Viper thug just sneered, confidently drawing his next card with a flick of the wrist.

Grant kept his eyes narrowed slightly, this was still suspicious. He still hadn't shown Zombie World yet, or tried any real Synchro plays yet.

"You think you're clever, punk?" the thug growled, Grant tensed slightly when the Viper thug slammed Monster Reincarnation onto his duel disk, discarding a card to retrieve Zombie Master from the graveyard.

The image of Plaguespreader Zombie briefly shimmered as it was sent to the graveyard.

Grant's eyes narrowed, the thug had had the tuner? So why did he wait this long to use-

Any further thoughts were cut off as the thug barked, "Bring it back!" The Viper placed a card from his hand on top of his deck, causing Plaguespreader Zombie to materialize in a snarl of black mist.

"I tune my Level 2 Plaguespreader Zombie with my Level 4 Zombie Master!"

The tuning rings and stars spun in a tight spiral before exploding upward — revealing a new figure clad in decayed regalia.

"Synchro Summon! Revived King Ha Des!" the thug crowed triumphantly.

The ground shook slightly as the imposing undead king slammed onto the field, towering over Grant's side.

Grant didn't react outwardly, but inwardly?

He let out a small, silent sigh of relief. If ther thug hadn't waited too long to make this play he would have probably been doomed. If Grant hadn't exactly had Scrap Chimera in his hands to bring Scrap Beast back a second time, this would have gotten ugly.

He had gotten lucky — no it was better to say the Viper had gotten arrogant. Maybe he was too used to stomping on people who couldn't put up a proper fight, maybe it was something else. But his opponent had gotten too confident after clearing Grant's first defenses and had dragged his feet. And now he had committed all his resources just to make a Synchro monster that was already outmatched.

Across from him, the Viper seemed to finally realize the same thing.

Grant could see it — the slight flinch in his eyes as he glanced between the attack points of both of their monsters, a tiny bead of sweat starting to slide down his temple.

The thug's sneer finally faltered.

"Tch—!" he snapped, trying to cover it up. "Big deal! Revived King Ha Des, take out that dragon!"

Grant didn't even flinch as the undead king charged forward, sword raised high. Scrap Dragon roared, merely reared back and blasted Revived King Ha Des into data shards.

A shudder ran through the field as the thug's Life Points dropped yet again.

Vipers LP (2200 1850)

The thug staggered backward a step, face red with frustration, shooting a glare at Grant, like that could somehow will the situation back into his favor. "Bah! I set one card and end my turn!" the thug ground out.

Grant merely looked at his own set card, still present from where he had left it. He probably wasn't going to need it after all, but still, a little extra insurance in case the thug got desperate couldn't hurt.

The Viper thug growled low in his throat, clearly furious but trying to save face in front of the half-gathered Scorpions and Vipers still waiting nearby.

"My turn again."

Grant glanced down at the new card in his hand; a second Scrap Beast. Perfect in case his opponent tried something gimmicky.

"I summon Scrap Beast in the attack position." He spoke as the mechanical hound appeared next to Scrap Dragon. "Now, Scrap Dragon attack him directly-!"

However, before the attack could go through, the thug panicked and activated his first face down car. "I activate Call of the Haunted to bring back Ha Des!"

Grant simply pointed at the revived Synchro and declared his attack again. A repeat performance of the two monsters' earlier battle played out again as Scrap Dragon destroyed the undead king yet again.

Vipers LP (1850 1500)

"And with that; Scrap Beast, finish it!"

With the attack declared, the hound made a garbled noise that might have once resembled a growl, before lunging at the thug, miming swiping a paw at him.

Viper's LP (1500 0000)

The Viper thug's Duel Disk gave a shrill beep and powered down, the Life Point gauge blinking red before vanishing entirely.

Grant stood, his Duel Disk still humming faintly as the holograms flickered out around them, before his duel disk deactivated on its own as well. Across from him on the cracked pavement, the thug was trembling red-faced with a mix of fury and humiliation.

Grant cocked an eyebrow, casually resting a hand on his hip.
"A deal's a deal," he said evenly. "You lost."

A few of the Scorpion onlookers chuckled lowly among themselves. And for a second Grant thought it was over. But then the thug's face twisted further and with a low, furious growl, he stepped forward, fists clenched tight enough that his knuckles blanched.

Grant immediately shifted his stance, tightening his posture, ready to either dodge or brace himself, but in the end he didn't have to.

A heavy hand clamped down hard on the thug's shoulder.

It was one of the larger Scorpions, a towering guy built like a brick house, a thick scar running down his forearm and a permanent scowl on his face.. He stood just behind the Viper, looming like a stormcloud.

"You deaf?" the Scorpion rumbled,voice low and dangerous. "A deal's a deal."

The thug tried to wrench free, but the Scorpion's hand tightened just enough to make it very clear that was a bad idea.

"You wanna cause trouble, you'll be causin' it with us now," the scarred man added,and smiled.

The Viper thug froze.

The whole street seemed to hold its breath for a beat — the broken buildings and the battered lamplight casting the gathering in a washed-out gloom.

Finally, the thug shook off the Scorpion's grip with a sharp jerk, throwing Grant one last venomous glare before storming off, boots kicking up broken gravel in his retreat, the rest of his lackeys in tow. The larger Scorpion watched him go for a moment, arms crossed, before turning his gaze to Grant.

There was something there, a quick judgement of some sort maybe, but after a moment, the big man gave him an approving grunt and turned away. The rest of the Scorpions drifted off too, muttering low to each other, but none of them looked at Grant with anything but rough, amused approval.

Grant exhaled the breath he didn't know he was holding, finally letting the tension bleed out of his shoulders. He slid his cards carefully back into his deck box, an audible click reverating through the now quiet street.

He gave one last glance down the fractured street before starting the walk back toward the little shop tucked into the crumbling alleyways. The broken concrete still crunched under his boots, but his stride felt much lighter now.

He'd done it, bought some breathing room for his new home, and the people in it. It was then that it clicked.

He was home now, for better or for worse stride resumed, taking him closer to his home. He could almost feel that Briggs was waiting to rant at him again for being reckless yet again.

And a quiet part of his mind hoped he could put this mess behind him for now, and return to what counted as his normal life.