Yugioh the Dark Dimension – Duel 15

Duel 15 – Tighter Knots

Maya struggles to stand on her feet, her knees wobbling and her chest burning from her fractures ribs, but she forces her way onward. She cannot lose this tournament. She might as well die if she had to because if she loses she won’t have a life, anyway. Maya even realizes the humor in these words; people would laugh if any other Yugioh character said it, and maybe some would even laugh at her, but she needs the money more than anything. The banks would use her crushing debts to drive her homeless and, well, she might as well striptease or turn tricks for Wall Street stockbrokers, but as enticing as the thought of a rich a****** snorking coke from her ass seems to her, it is not a fate she will tolerate.

Maria: 4600 | Maya: 1500

MAYA’S TURN: “I play Jewels of the Valient; each time I banish a card from my Graveyard, I get a mill a card. Dark Summoning Beast gives me the perfect opportunity; I banish it to add a Sacred Beast monster to my hand, and this lets me mill a Carboneddon. Next, the Permanent Spell Card Triangle Force, putting three more from my Deck to the field, and I destroy them all to Special Summon Hammon, Lord of Striking Thunder. I offer my Phantasm Token to Tribute Summon my second Dark Summoning Beast, and Tribute it to Special Summon Uria, Lord of Searing Flames from my Deck!”

The bright sky broils into dark clouds yet again, hailing the dark advent of two more huge fiendish beasts; all three together resembling the three Egyptian Gods: Raviel for Obelisk, Uria for Ositis, and Hammon for Ra. “I activate Fallen Paradise to draw two cards, and I use Uria’s effect to pop Maria’s faecdown card.” The red fiend of illusions blasts away its target with a gust of flames. “I combine the Sacred Beasts together – I don’t need Polymerization to fuse them. – I call form Armityle the Chaos Phantom!” Raviel, Uria, and Hammon melt into each other, their limbs and organs fusing together into a serpentine body, Uria’s head becoming the left arm and Hammon’s head becoming the right, creating the ultimate illusion beast.

Mathias himself gases at the ancient creature in wonder. Maya’s titan truly calls back to the dark mystic past before the gods of Olympus and their era of Apollo’s glowing beauty. It is the closest embodiment to Typhon he can think of, holding ginormous 10,000 ATK!

Maya is still yet to fisnish. “I have two Carboneddon sleeping in the Graveyard; I banish them to Special Summon two Dragons from my Deck: Labradorite Dragon and Wattail Dragon.” As carbon is forged into diamond, Maya’s two lowly dinosaurs are ground under immense pressure to create two rare, bejewled dragons, one of light, the other of darkness.

Maria knows what will happen next; Maya will bring out the same Tzolkin combo Matthew did in his duel, and says as much to suggest Maya is not so inventive after all. But Maya dismisses the suggestion outright, “No, I am being even less inventive.”

She calls once more upon Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal, this time two dragons rather than Dante become the Xyz Material. “I use her effect to mill Calabrina, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, and use its effect to bounce your other facedown card.” And Maya’s target vanishes in due time. “Two down, one to go. I’ll burn the last one out with an attack! Raviel, destroy Chaos MAX Dragon! Eat 10,000 ATK for afternoon brunch!”

Marai springs her trap, “Negate Attack!” And the phantom’s beasts onslaight is repelled, sparing Maria and her monsters.

“I expected as much.” Maya bemoans. “I set two cards and end my turn.”

Seto Kaiba, scowling and unreadable as ever, surveys the battle in a way he had never done before; there is something very new at work. Nearly every duelist until now, himself included, built their decks as a pyramid, their strategies culminating into an ace monster they held a special bond with, such as his Blue-Eyes White Dragon; his stronest servant, his very pride and soul. Everything revolves around that monster, or a few key monsters, creatures that a duelist puts all his faith in carry him to victory.

But Maya’s entire strategy is inverted; her deck a spider web of equally interconnected parts, with Beatrice as the spider in the middle, her gravity holding everything else together. From that center, Maya can reach into any corner of her web to achieve any effect she desires; there is no true ace monster. Kaiba saw only a few such atheists back in his day: Pegasus turned whatever cards his opponent used against him, Bakura used his monsters as fodders to achieve a terrifying lock combo, even Yugi used various strategies where his Dark Magician was a favorite but one of many. To think people worship that twerp but completely miss his gaming style.

Kaiba snorts at Maya’s performance with contempt, “The Sacred Beasts are bootleg copies of the Egyptian Gods at best, the poor man’s form of divine strength. What is Armityle’s 10,000 ATK compared to the Infinite ATK of the Gods fused together?

MARIA’S TURN: “I activate Trade-In, discard a Blue-Eyes to draw two cards. Maya, your Armityle is strong but only during your turn. Now, on my turn, its ATK is 0. Chaos MAX, destroy Armityle! DARK NOVA!”

But the light-warming destructive energy never reaches it’s target. Maya refutes her with Fiend Grieving, “I return the Blue-Eyes you discarded to your Deck, and I mill Fiendish Rhino Warrior, which lets me mill Farfarello, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, and I use it’s effect.”

“That won’t save you! Even if Chaos MAX is banished I still – Oh!” Armityle dissapears, leaving Maria to still adjust her eyes to the titanic-sized voide left behimd from it’s dissapearence. “I instead direct Chaos MAX to kill Beatrice, and since she is in Defense Position I inflict double piercing damage!”

“I use Beatrice’s effect to mill Scarm, and I play Damage Diet!” Maya’s fair angel is vaporized, leaving the offending dragon’s wrath to pursue its true mission, but the Trap Card slows it down enough until only a mild blast hits Maya. Getting punched in the ribs doesn’t hurt – Getting punched in the broken ribs doesn’t hurt! (Maya LP 1500 → 300)

But though Maya barely hangs on the game, she still shows her infinite resiliance. “Beatrice was destroyed, letting me Special Summon directly from the Extra Deck Dante, Pilgrim of the Burning Abyss!” Dante returns, completed by Beatrice, his journey to God complete. “With his arrival, I discard Ciriatto, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss and draw a card, then use its effect to Special Summon Graffiacane, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from the Deck.” Her old fiend, the nasty dog, returns, making a painful contrast with the great pilgrim.

An understanding dawns on Maria; that this scene of devout and devil forms the core of Maya’s character, but the devil tugs on its leash as a rougue hound, tearing its noble but weak master to wherever its caprices demand it must go. A similar insight reveals itself to Mathias. Yugioh really is a strange game.

Maria sees another fatal weakness in Maya’s forces: her Cherub; being a Link Monster, it can’t defend itself. “Firewall Dragon, attack Cherub!” The online dragon creates a gateway, then launches from it a deadly virus code to kill the black cherub.

But Maya has more tricks up her nonexistent sleeve, activating, “Absolute King Back Jack! Banishing it from the Graveyard, I excavate my Deck’s top card, and if it’s a Trap Card…” If there is such a thing as the Heart of the Cards, Maya could sure use it now, and she prayed to God/Satan/Buddha/Flying Spaghetti Monster/Great Spirit/Orochi the Neckbeard/The Universe/No One/Whatever it would be the right card. She drew it… “I play Raigeki Break!” She discards a card from her hand, and directs the lightning to destroy her own monster, breaking her black cherub. And as if that isn’t enough, she mills another card due to Valient.

Maya breathes a deep sigh of relieve and winks at Maria, saying, “I needed a lucky break too.”

Maria reluctantly admits that Maya survives another turn. “Blue-Eyes, destroy Dante! Dragon Spirit of White, destroy Graff!” Saint and fiend burn to ash, letting Maya use their effects: Dante forces Maria to discard a card while Graff lets Maya Special Summon Calcabrine, Malebrache of the Burning Abyss, yet another Fiend, to the field. Maria sets two cards, ending her turn, which lets Armityle to return and Scarmiglione, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to fetch yet another Burning Abyss monster for its master.

MAYA’S TURN: “I activate my facedown Toy Vendor, the one I set facedown two turns ago, then activate Fluffal Wings, banishing itself and Fluffal Bear, and popping Toy Vendor, to draw two cards. Then I use Vendor’s effect to search for Fluffal Dog.”

Now for the turn proper. “I Normal Summon Rubicante, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, and tune it with Calcab to Synchro Summon Dante, Rock Star of the Burning Abyss! And I use its effect to bounce your facedown card.” The red-faced terror and grace-stomper vanish into a white portal so the famous Roman poet descends from Elysium to Earth, and as soon as he does so Maria loses one of her defenses. “I use Destiny Hero – Malicious from the Graveyad, banishing itself to bring out another one from the Deck, then I overlay it and Virgil to bring out a second Beatrice, Lady of ther Eternal!”

As soon as the holy angel finishes her advent, Maya turns her attention to a possible victory, but most likely, as Maya fully knows, a strategic step to burn out her defenses. Not having a backrow of facedown cards did not guarantee a sucessive hit these days. “Armityle, take out Chaos MAX!” The titan combines darkness, fire, and lightning to recreate the dark primeval waters of myth, and pushes them unto Maria’s field as a massive tital wave, threatening to overwhelm everything.

“I play the Hand Trap Soul Desperation!” Maria calls forth a huge black altar, her tone as desperate as her card implies, offering her entire dragon army to the hungry altar, leaving her wide open but increasing her Life enough to withstand the dark waters of Armityle… and the light fires of Beatrice. (Maria LP 4600 → 16600 → 4100) The combined attacks become so strong, Maria is nearly thrown off the arena, only saving herself at the last moment by grabbing the ledge for dear life, dangling like a rag doll. Maria, however, is lucky enough not to have endured having her ribs broken, her flesh bruised, or her conscience racked with stress and guilt; and she gets back to fight with a resiliance that even impresses Maya.

Maya even comments, “This is probably the longest, most high level, most exciting duel I ever had. I will kill Stella if she doesn’t deliver a duel at least as good as yours.”

“Assuming you win.” Maya says, chastizing Maya for her arrogance.

“Don’t get your hopes up. I claimed a huge field advantage after much struggle. You can drag the duel on until the heat death of the universe, but I will win in the end. Unless you’re Yugi, no amount of ass pulls will save you.”

MARIA’S TURN: “That’s where you’re wrong, Maya. I just drew Dragon’s Mirror, and I play it to banish all three dead Blue-Eyes to Fusion Summon Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!” Three spirits, dragons of white, merge through a looking glass, and the triple-headed king of dragons manifests from the other side. “Neo Blue-Eyes, attack Armityle!”

Maya, at most expressing mild surprise, defends herself with ease. “I activate Beatrice, to mill another Farfarello, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, and use its effect to banish your dragon this turn.” And Maya’s goblin grabs hold of the dragon, transorting itself and the gigantic beast far away from the battlefield.

Frustrated, Maria moves on to a second plan. “I play Melody of Awakening Dragon. I discard a card and add 2 High Level dragons to my hand. I end my turn.” Maria knows she’s on the ropes. Yes, she has a powerful monster, and more Life, and only needs to hit Maya with one attack to win the duel, but she feels as if she is losing. “Why?” She thinks to herself, but she soon understands. Maya’s Deck is, ironically, more consistent. She knows how to access her entire Deck at a given point. Maria can only make her hand bigger.

Maya, on the other hand, knows it is time to make her true assault, now Maria was vulnerable enough to penetrate. She suspected Maria’s fatal weakness for a long time, but only now, in this duel, could she say for certain. “It makes perfect sense now.” Maya pretends to speak to herself, just loud enough for Maria to hear her.

“What do you mean?” Maria asks.

“At first I thought you used a Blue-Eyes Deck simply because you weren’t creative, but it is obvious that you are creative and intelligent, too much so to practically netdeck Kaiba. I wondered why, and thought of the drunk fun we had together last year, and it dawned on me. You truly love Kaiba and want him to love you in return, but your frustration will last forever. It’s desperate. It’s pathetic. You have ‘Please notice me, sempai!’ writ all over you.”

“Quiet!” Maria shouts more loudly than she ever shouted in her entire life. “Enough of your lies, you fiend! You manipulative, callous, destructive…” Maria summons the most hateful word she can think of. “Jerk!”

“Yes, I’m a cocksure sarcastic b**** who is as funny as Amy Shumer, I know.” Maya assures her. “But I know that pain; I felt it with Yukio.” And she feels it with Sophia, but she doesn’t say it. “All you can do is stand strong on your two feet, and you certainly can, Maria. Kisara is, for all intents and purposeses, Kaiba’s companion cube, but you are not Kisara, and even if by some wierd accident of reincarnation you are, you are far stronger than that. Don’t be the innocent waif possessed by the dragon, be the dragon!”

Maria remains unmoved, at least at the surface. “As if a left-handed compliment isn’t bad enough, you now condescend to me.”

“Hey, it’s your life.” Maya shrugs. “If you want to depend on someone else for your happiness, that’s your problem, but have no illusions. You will be no better than the millions of girlfriends and wives abused every day, and as someone who was abused, I can assure you there is nothing romantic about a moody, jealous boyfriend.”

Yugioh the Dark Dimension – Duel 14

Duel 14 – Shatterpoints

Maya’s habits still amaze her at times; for instance how she holds herself back out of fear even when in danger of losing a tournament she cannot afford to lose, and she wonders what Freudian backstory leads to such behavior. Her father can beat her until she bleeds, and has done so more than once. Maria could never touch her.

Or is it Kaiba who is scary? Her father shares Kaiba’s height, his broad shoulders, and ice-cold blue eyes. It doesn’t matter at this point. She’ll hire a shrink after the tournament, when she can use the prize money to actually afford one.

But there is more going on. Maya confirms what she suspected for many years now: Maria wants Kaiba’s love, respect, and approval. But why would she want that? The same reason Maya sought for it in Stella, and failed. Maria will fail too.

Maria: 6500 | Maya: 8000

MAYA’S TURN: “I banish Good & Evil of the Burning Abyss in my Graveyard to discard a Burning Abyss monster to add another one from my Deck to my hand. Next, Libicocco, Malebrancho of the Burning Abyss activates in the Graveyard: I Special Summon Graff from my hand. And I use the effect of Barbariccia, Malebranch of the Burning Abyss to Special Summon itself from my hand.” Her two demons fly out from a volcanic geyser from Hell: a burly bearded monster and a beastly dog.

“I discard Fluffal Bear from my hand to set Toy Vendor from my Deck, and activate it; I discard Fluffal Wings from my hand and draw another card.” It was Carboneddon, a non-Fluffal monster, so Maya had to discard it too. Every other duelist in the arena betrayed a mild look of shock, a look Maya didn’t have the time to notice, so engrossed in fulfilling her complex strategy. “And I banish Fluffal Wings from my Graveyard, plus Fluffal Bear, and destroy Toy Vendor to draw two cards. Toy Vendor activates when destroyed, so I search my Deck for Fluffal Bear.”

One engine done, now another one; together they move the entire machine. “I link up Barbar and Graff to Link Summon Cherubini, Black Angel of the Burning Abyss!” Her monsters align in a fiery grid to be sacrificed, and the black cherub, satisfied with Maya’s tributes, rises from the fires of Hell. “Graff now activates. I Special Summon Draghignazzo, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss.” A black-winged fiend with the scales of a black dragon follows the black cherub into the mortal realm in an iron leash.

“I use Cherub to mill Cir to give its ATK a boost.” But such a meager offensive increase is far from my Maya’s objective. “I use Cir’s effect to Special Summon Scarm from the Graveyard. I overlay Draghig and Scarm to Xyz Summon the second Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss, and use it’s effect to mill three cards. But I’ll take the evolution further; I discard Malacoda to overlay Dante to Xyz Summon Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal!” As the eternal feminine descends from Heaven to absorb Dante into herself, Maya thinks of Sophia, that beautiful soul, and how that beauty brings Sophia down.

“This is it.” Matthew thinks to himself. “It’s the arch stone of her deck.” But the thought triggered his fragile mind, setting him into a rage as soon as he grasps it’s meaning. He screams at Maya, “Don’t tell me you will not use your Golden God Card this duel! You will not insult me by not dueling at your fullest strength!”

“I won’t need to use a god if I don’t have to.” Maya replies to him in a tone as relaxed and cool as if she is drinking Texas moonshine in a rustic bar. “And how would you know, anyway? Did you read the script?”

“I acknowledge you as my one rival, so you must have a god to rival mine! It’s destiny!”

“Or a cliché plot.”

Mathias tries to whisper to Maya as best as he could from a few meters away, if such a thing is even possible. “Top-say reaking-bay the ourth-fay all-way.”

“Speak Normal.” Maya says. “I can’t understand you.”

Mathias repeats himself, “Diruam non murum quartum et re fabricam destruere.

Maya bats his warning aside. “A quis iocus non nocere.”

Maria can only stare at them quizzicly. “I have no idea what kind of Italian they’re using. Do you know, Seto?”

Kaiba shakes his head. Gozaburo Kaiba, is stepfather, never bothered to school him in the humanities, as he thought they had no purpose to running a multibillion dollar company. Matthew, however, who did learn the wisdom of antiquity from his grandfather, replies, “I understand them perfectly. They’re making a dumb joke.”

Pegasus takes his turn to make a coy comment, the first one in this entire duel. “I’m impressed. The American education system hasn’t failed everyone.”

Now Maya starts her third engine. “I Normal Summon for the first time this turn; come out Illusion Brigadier, and use it’s effect to Special Summon two Illusion Tokens and deal you, Maria, 900 damge.” A hunchebacked fiend stooping from carrying two massive turrets appears and copies itself twice, then all three fiends fire six blasters at Maria. (Maria LP 6500 → 5600) “And now I Tribute the three of them to Special Summon Raviel, Lord Phantasms!” The skies blacken to smoke, lightning shakes the entire pyramid they stood on, threatening to split in two, and a giant diety, a king of fiends and shadow magic, is called forth from the netherworld.

Mathias gasps in surprise. “Illa fregit cerebrum meum.” And everyone else shares the same feeling.

Maya is still not done. “I activate the Field Spell Fallen Paradise!” The dueling arena transformed into a desolate valley, a barren whithered tree towering over the entire group on the side, yet still made bright by the early afternoon sun. “And I use it’s effect: since I control a Sacred Beast monster, I draw two cards.” It is time to battle! “Raviel, destroy Maria’s Alternative Dragon.” The lord of phantasms turns all the shadows around it, made so sharp and black by the bright sun, into living beings that together drag Maria’s white dragon to its grave. (Maria LP 5600 → 4600)

“I activate Fluffal Bear, discarding to set Toy Vendor from my Deck. And I Set three cards facdown. I end my turn, making Scarm activate, meaning I search for a Burning Abyss monster.”

Stella, who silently stood in the corner watching the duel so far, begins to leave the arena. She saw Maya’s strategies, everything she needed to know, and will not dignify Maya with her prescence any more.

“Stella, where are you going?” Maya calls out to her with anxiousness.

Stella says nothing, and Maya changes her tone from anxiety to indignation. “Giving me the silent treatment, huh. What are you, in third grade? Grow the f*** up!”

Stella climbs down the stairs of the pyramid, with Maya hollaring at her, “Do what you will, but I guarantee it will be your loss!”

MARIA’S TURN: “Your terrible fiend does not frighten me. Darkness always triumphs over the light! I banish both White Stone of Ancients in my Graveyard to add two Blue-Eyes monsters to my hand. I activate Pot of Avarice to shuffle the five remaining monsters in my Graveyard back in my Deck to draw two cards. “I activate the two Cards of Consonance I just drew, each one makes me discard a low Level Tuner to draw two cards, which then triggers the two White Stone of Legend in my Graveyard; I banish them and add two Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my Deck to my hand.

All Maria’s cards at this point this turn served to replenish her hand, so she may mount a counterattack. “I Normal Summon The Agent of Creation – Venus!” The first offender appears, a placid and delicate goddess. Maria undertakes a difficult sequence of Link Summoning; she uses Venus’ effect to Special Summon many Mystic Shine Ball from her Deck, and uses them to Link Summon Link Spider and Proxy Dragon afterwards, paying 1500 Life Points in the process. (Maria LP 4600 → 3100) “I link up Venus, a Shine Ball, and Proxy Dragon to Link Summon Firewall Dragon!” The three diverse creatures dissapear so the cyberverse dragon could cross to the physical plane.

Since Maria did Normal Summon a monster, Maya Special Summoned a Phantasm Token to her field, a weak dwarf of its sire. Regardless, ss soon as Firewall Dragon appears, Maria uses its effect, “I bounce your Beatrice back to the Extra Deck.”

Such a play shocks Maya, but she reflexively makes her commands, “I activate Beatrice to mill a card.” The eternal feminine vanishes by Maria’s hand, the irony not lost to Maya. “I detatched Draghig to use Beatrice, so I use its effect to put a Burning Abyss monster at the top of my Deck.”

Once Maya got her bearings together after a few seconds, she understood Maria’s tactic. “Firewall Dragon pointed to Raviel with its Link Arrows, letting it bounce Beatrice, and since she would not be destroyed you got around Cherub’s protection. That was really cool. See, you’re more than Kaiba’s trading card.”

“Thanks for the left-handed compliment, I guess. I reveal Blue-Eyes in my hand to Special Summon Dragon Spirit of White and use it’s effect to pop…”

“You guess what?” Maya says. She set three cards facedown and Maria’s new dragon could only banish one. She took great care to hide Toy Vendor among them, shuffling her cards before setting them all facedown at once. Only one of them can protect her from Maria’s onsluaght, so Maya made it hard to find.

Maya finds the scene amusing; kind of like when Yugi would hide his Dark Magician inside magical hats, forcing Kaiba to play a guessing game. Too bad this guess game is nowhere near as awesome.

Maria tries to read Maya’s mind, pointing at one card, then another, trying to detect any sign of nervouseness, then holds her finger over the middle one. Maya keeps her poker face stiff with a smarmy look she knew would annoy Maria oh so much, and oh how well it worked. “I’ll make give you a hint, Maria. The card on my left is Toy Vendor. Perhaps you should choose a different card.”

“Maria Wight, you have ten more seconds to make a move.” Isono the referree warns her. “Failure means discquialification from the finals.”

Pressured into action, Maria declares, “I banish the middle facedown card!”

“JACKPOT – For me that is! Jar of Avarice!” Maya plays her Trap Card right before it gets erased from existence. “I shuffle five cards in my Graveyard back to the Deck and draw one. Better luck next time with the Monty Hall problem.”

Kaiba turns his already scowling face a shade darker with a grimace. “I can’t believe Maya would use such a cheap trick.”

“If meta duelists can use cheap decks, Kaiba boy, Maya is perfectly entitled to use cheap tricks.” Pegasus gives a sly comment. “Reminds me of the good old days, when I used mind games to utterly control my opponents.”

“And a fair bit of cheating, I might add.” Kaiba reminds him.

“It doesn’t matter! Chaos MAX Dragon, destroy the Phantasm Token!” Maria commands, clearly frazzled. “Eat 6000 damage!”

“Never!” Maya refutes her. “I activate Delta Barrier, bringing back two more from my Graveyard to block all damage!” Her weak token remains standing.

“Firewall Dragon, Dragon Spirit of White, and Blue-Eyes White Dragon, destroy Cherub!” The rest of her dragons open fire, eager to send the fiend back to Hell.

“I use Cherub’s effect. I destroy all Delta Barriers, letting Cherub survive battle three times.” The black cherub bears the brunt of all three attacks, deflecting one after another, but at great cost. The dragon’s combined powers hit her hard, almost throwing her out of the arena, the impact of her already broken ribs on the ground sears her with a piercing pain, as if her chest and back are being stabbed by countless knives. (Maya LP 8000 → 1500)

Maya is more than hearty enough to take such a hit, and even when smashed against the ground and in extreme pains, she still sings Maria’s praises for nearly killing her with such mighty attack, though she makes a codetta, “I am never this well-behaved in a duel. I must still feel crushed by my debt to you. How annoying.” But what truly hurts her is not the petty pain in her body but the fact Stella left.

Yugioh the Dark Dimension – Duel 13

Duel 13 – Settling the Score

Maya and Maria truly did not like each other but at least they did each other the courtesy of shaking the other’s hand before starting their duel. “I remember the kindness you showed me last year, hence why I saved you from Seeker when the tournament began.” Maya told her rival in good honor, yet still enjoying a small amount of her mischief at causing Maria slight embarrassment. “But I don’t spare anyone from a barb or two.”

Maria looked down on Maya as usual, condescending to remind her that she promised to be serious. But Maya replied in turn, “I’m always serious, and when I joke often I’m deadly serious. You still don’t know how humor works, not that you had the chance to learn much.” Maya glanced at Kaiba long enough for Maria to get the hint.

Maria dismissed such trivial remarks. “I don’t care. Let’s duel, now!”

“No, let’s not. Why do you want to win this tournament?” Maya paused to let the shocking effect of her words sink in, that someone would be crazy enough to not play a children’s card game at the drop of a hat.

“I want to become the Duel Queen!” Maria affirmed with sternness, yet with a small hesitation. “You must build a tower from the corpses of the vanquished to grasp glory from the heavens!”

“No, Xerox Maiden with Eyes of Blue. That’s Kaiba’s answer, as vapid as a blimp and as subtle as a cold brick. I want your answer. Forget Kaiba is here. Pretend only you and your disdain for me exist and answer: why do you want to win?”

Maria’s entire face stiffened from cold to freezing, answering coolly, “That is not your business nor will it ever be. You dare insult the person who saved your life.”

“I saved yours, goldfish, the debt is repaid.” Maya reminded her. “As much as I hate you, Maria Wight, I do like you. You have a reserve, dignity, elegance, effortless grace I want but can never have, but those qualities aren’t enough for a woman; I told Sophia the same thing. Long ago, before the creation of our universe, the Author created a Kisara 2.0 as the main character, a woman with strong qualities but a wight nonetheless. Don’t be like her. Don’t live and die for an unworthy man.”

“You talk like you can influence the will of God.” Maria said.

“Perhaps because I am the Devil.” Maya answered.

“Then you are deluded, as well as proud and blasphemous.” Maria let her duel disk sing colors of blue and white, preparing the ground for their battle. “No more small talk.”

“But games are small talk.” Maya gave her bon mot as her own duel disk readied for their fight. “There is nothing wrong with that.”

Maria: 8000 || Maya: 8000

MARIA’S TURN: “Play time is over. I Normal Summon Maiden With Eyes of Blue and set a card. I end my turn.” Maria seems to have cloned herself as girl of long silver hair takes her place beside the duelist, both hardly different.

MAYA’S TURN: “Wait, are you running a Blue-Eyes Deck? How?” But Maya soon finds the answer to her own question. “Kaiba let you use his data, didn’t he?” And when Maria gives a twinkle of a smile, Maya scoffs. “And people keep telling me blue-eyes white privilege is a lie.”

“Maya, you don’t have what it takes to get privileges.”

Maya pretends not to hear her; she says, “Sorry, I can’t hear you from your high horse up there.”

“I’m not high, you’re just so low.” Maria retorts.

“As low as Hell itself.” Maya let a dangerous light flare in her eyes. “I Normal Summon Tour Guide From the Underworld, using its effect to Special Summon Graffiacane, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, and overlay them to Xyz Summon Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss!” A sprightly coquette train conductor in a tight black outfit arrives with her train on station, bringing with her a fiend with coarse fur and a barbarous snout, before merging together in the overlay network to bring out Dante, the fantastically reimagined medieval warrior poet.

“I use Dante’s effect to mill three cards and give it 1500 ATK; now the Graffiacane I detached and Ciriatto, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss I milled activate in the Graveyard: I Special Summon Cagnazzo, Malebranch of the Burning Abyss from the Deck and Graff from the Graveyard. Now, my fiends, attack Kisara 3.0.”

Dante raises his sword to slay the sacred virgin as if she was the idol of an infidel, but Maria saves her by using her effect. The maiden clasps Dante’s sword, and with an elvish chant of sorts brings out Blue-Eyes White Dragon from Maria’s Deck. That was before Maya resumed her savage attack, her demons tearing the maiden apart as if they were a wild boar and hound.

Maya ends her turn: “I set two cards and activate Scarmiglione, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from my Graveyard, letting me search for another Burning Abyss monster.”

Mathias Blackheart, carefully watching the duel from a safe distance, cannot help but appreciate Maya’s theme. He had always loved the great Dante’s works for his entire life and seeing the Malebranche work as a team refreshed his immortal soul – he had not seen anyone use the Burning Abyss archetype in a long time – but he soon felt a twinge of fear; if his ally used devils to attack an angel, where did his immortal soul stand? Maya would ridicule the idea, no doubt, but his worry did not die.

MARIA’S TURN: “I can’t tell you how deeply you disappoint me, Maya,” Maria condemns her. “I expected something more from your ‘top super secret strategy’, not run-of-the-mill Burning Abyss. Like Andy Warhol, all edge, no substance. And like Kaiba, all bluster only to get worfed.”

Even Mathias agrees with her, remarking to Maya, “You don’t look like a cock tease but you gave me the bluest balls in literally a hundred years.”

Those words trigger something ferocious in Maya, igniting her into a gleeful cackle so shrill and cold it made Pegasus’ blood run cold, lit Kaiba’s eyes with a shade of fear, and raised the back hairs of Matthew’s head. Pegasus and Kaiba could have sworn they heard Bakura’s voice; yes, that voice of the most obscure yet most dangerous of great duelists.

Maya sometimes broke into eccentric laughter over some obscure private thought she enjoyed all to herself, and this was no different. “So Maria does have some wit in her. I thought her soul, as an angel’s, was too pure to house the sorrows that bring laughter into the world. My evil charms must be working. Tell me, how does it feel to be human?”

Matthew comments bitterly, “If anything, Xiaoyi’s charms must be working. I’ve had enough of parables and riddles for one lifetime, and I swear on my grandfather’s grave I will kill every pretentious moron on this planet!”

“Yeah, whatever, dude.” Mathias easily brushes Matthew’s impotent rage aside. Maya doesn’t even pretend to not hear him, letting the villain stew in his own bile.

Maria ignores Matthew too. “I play The Melody of Awakening Dragon, discarding a card and adding two Blue-Eyes monsters to my hand. Next, Pre-preparation of Rights. Adding a Ritual Spell and Ritual Monster to my hand. I reveal a Blue-Eyes White Dragon in my hand to Special Summon Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon and Dragon Spirit of White, and use their effects to pop Dante and her facedown card.” A greater version of the classic white dragon pokes its head from a magic portal, vaporizing Dante with a burst of its electric breath before fully summoning into view, while a smaller waifish white dragon burns away Maya’s trap…

That is, after Maya triggers it. “I play Fire Lake of the Burning Abyss! I destroy Cagna and Cir to destroy your dragons and your facedown card!” And in a flash of white lightning from Maria and a storm of red flames from Maya, the field is made into a barren desert. Only Maria’s classic Blue-Eyes White Dragon remains. Maya activates her Dante, returning Graff from her Graveyard to her hand, Cagna, milling a Burning Abyss Spell Card, and Cir, reviving Scarm from the Graveyard.

Disappointed even more, Maya proceeds to summon one of her greatest monsters. “I play Return of the Dragon Lords to revive Blue-Eyes White Dragon, then activate Chaos Form to summon my ultimate beast! Light transforming into darkness, rising from the depths of chaos, forging the path to victory, come forth…!”

Maya cuts her off. “Stop your chanting right there! I play Hand Destruction!” Maya’s brief actions stops her rival in her tracks, giving her an opening to throw another verbal dart. “Chanting for an ace monster, really? And I thought I was pretentious. Now, we discard two cards and draw two; that includes your cancer Ritual Monster.”

“Well that came out of left field.” Mathias admits that even he did not see that coming.

Kaiba had boiled in rage from Maya’s irreverence throughout the duel and he can control it no longer. “How dare you call my great dragons cancer!”

But this aggression does not deter Maya in the least from firing shots back. “But they are cancer, Mr. Aneurism. They’re part of the power creep that is slowly killing Yugioh, majestic wings and grandiose ATK points aside.”

“That power creep allowed you to get ahead in Yugioh, you impudent hypocrite. A third rate duelist such as yourself should be at least thankful.”

“I promise I’ll send you a gift card as thanks, preferably from a small independent business. Now fold your hand, Maria, your poker face is slipping.”

Maria solemnly discards her hand. “That was a clever way of stopping a Ritual Summon. The only way I can overcome such a tactic is by lucking out.” She draws her new hand, including all the required cards. “And lucked out I did. I Ritual Summon Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon!” The bright June sky darkens into thunder and lightning as the shadow counterpart of the blue-eyed dragon comes forth.

“Oh, Fishstyx! Destiny is cruel.” Maya admits. “But there is danger in taking things at surface value. I activate Blaze Accelerator Reload from my Graveyard; I banish it to mill a Volcanic Scattershot, then use it’s effect!” Maya mills two more Scattershots, allowing all three to rise from the dead to wipe Maria’s entire army.

Maria counters Maya’s strategy with her own. “I banish my Return of the Dragon Lords Spell to protect all my dragons!” And true to her word, her army is saved from Maya’s wrath, but not Maria herself; the tsunami of fire crashes into her with a terrifying fury. (Maria LP 8000 à 6500)

But Maya has more tricks in her sleeve. “I activate Farfarello, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, the other card I discarded, to banish your Chaos MAX Dragon!” Her tricky goblin leaps from the netherworld, clasping unto the mighty dragon so much larger than itself, but still makes it disappear.

“But I still have the classic Blue-Eyes; now destroy Scarm! Burst Stream of Destruction!” And Maya’s wretched fiend sees a quick end, through it’s trouble-making days are far from over.

“I end my turn.” Maria finishes. “But my army increases. I discarded two White Stone of Ancients this turn, letting me Special Summon a third Blue-Eyes White Dragon and a second Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon from my Deck!” By this time Maria’s field is full of dragons.

All Maya can do is use her measly Scarm again to search for another Burning Abyss monster, and though she betrays a smarmy attitude of breezy insolence she is truly afraid – or was it anxiousness? No. Excitement? No. It was apprehension.

Maya sometimes thinks of herself as an opposite, or more accurately a shadow compliment to Yugi. Both are eccentrics who come from obscure backgrounds; both have troubled pasts though Maya bullied while Yugi was bullied; both came, as Mathias said, out of left field to take the gaming world by storm; both are tricksters and cunning strategists, both have vast hidden depths beneath misleading appearances, Yugi appearing meek and mild, gentle as a child, Maya appearing sullen, witty, and impulsive. Maya was even born on the opposite of Yugi’s zodiac sign or some other stupid shit Jolene would say when shopping at Namaste.

And now, like Yugi did thirteen odd years ago, she too faces the most iconic and dangerous dragons in the entire game, with a small chance of survival. Yes, she can dodge such cumbersome beasts with skill, but you can run away an avalanche or trick a giant for only so long. Maria truly is a shadow compliment to Kaiba, and a fine one at that; she never denied her skill

But now, practice time is over. Through her wit, her barbs, her teasing, Maya had tested the waters of the engagement, as she always does, and in this manner found the weaknesses in her opponent to exploit. Maya can no longer hold any secrets; she has to bring out the big guns.

Yugioh the Dark Dimension – Duel 12

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Choreographing duels is still hard, and I wished I filled in the backstories of my characters more in Season Two, but I did not have that vision yet, so I will do it in future chapters. I find my writing throughout Season One and Season Two to be too stilted, serious, and humorless, which hurts it. I want to balance comedy and tragedy, humor and drama, in the best way I can; in the past I was too serious, now I may be too funny. Yes, I’m a pretentious twat, but I one day wish to write real books, not stupid Yugioh fanfics.

Duel 12 – An Axe to Grind

The duel concluded, Tamas sank to the ground, wailing, “How could I lose to some rogue deck noob!”

“I’m disappointed.” Stella admitted to everyone present, no longer bothering to acknowledge Tamas’ existence. “I wished I faced against someone who could actually duel.”

Maya cut Stella’s complaints short by reminding her, “He did come a hair’s width of killing you. Keep that in mind.”

“Please don’t fuel my humiliation even more than it needs to.” Stella no longer had the strength for a verbal joust with her one time lover.

Pegasus was thoroughly amused by the circus act that performed before him but Kaiba had enough; the CEO of Kaibacorp called his bodyguards to clean up the trash; he was tired of seeing garbage in his tournament. Several burly men in dark green suits, their eyes hidden with sunglasses, appeared as if they were hiding underneath them the entire time, soon they hurled Tamas away. Garbage in. Garbage out.

Only Maya and Maria remained to duel, and both finalists took the stage without delay, but they gave a moment’s pause to study one another as if to remind themselves why they hated each other so and how their duel would shape the future of Yugioh’s history as a game and franchise.

———————————————-

Maya used her newfound powers; she reached for the fourth wall and froze time for a brief moment, speaking to you, “Perhaps you would like to know why we hate each other so since the author did not develop our conflict last season due to poor writing. Then allow me to fill you in, ‘dear’ reader.

“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, before George Lucas fucked up his franchise, before the author fucked up this franchise, sometime after Battle City, one class of duelist emerged. As Yugioh became more standardized, a metagame developed, and with it came duelists who ran meta decks. You either ran Chaos Control, Monarchs, or DAD or you lost. Losers never mattered. It is a big country club, and you ain’t in it.

“But – what’s this? – the loser dogs wanted a change. The waiters wondered how they would pay rent. The cooks wished they could feed their kids with better food. The black golf chauffeurs didn’t want so much water drained from their neighborhoods to sprinkle on grass. The Mexican cleaning maids wanted their kids to go to a decent school. And everyone outside the plantation wanted some of that golf course put to good use instead wasting people’s time in a boring game.

“So people used rogue decks, on purpose! Me, JC, Stella and other included. We formed our own little teams, networked with each other on LinkedIn the way Park Slope yuppies do, and viola! We have a new class, a counterculture of rogue duelists, and some of us even got inside the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and sold out. JC, who kept calling me an oreo for having salt and pepper parents, wanted to be David Clarke so bad he tried to crush the loyal, and I put an end to it, then forgave him since his temptation is all too present to we minorities.

“So what does this have to do with Maria Wight, Duchess Whore of Cambridge? In all honestly, she is a good person who cares about those she loves more tenderly than I ever could and has high moral standards on what the world should be like, although our visions are very different; but she is very stuck-up. Kisara was an angel too good for this vulgar world, and so is she. She also reminds me of my nasty 4^th grade English teacher: proper, respectable, graceful, dignified, but cold, snobbish, and boring.

“One fine night of wholesome fun; Jolene made amateur porn with Yukio since not even her dad could pay her Sarah Lawrence College tuition, then she got back to me where we ate pot brownies, and we turned on the news to make fun of Katy Perry’s vapid lyrics, Bald Brittany’s mental breakdown, and Justin Timberlake still trying to make sense of him revealing Janet Jackson’s boob at Super Bowl Halftime, where he blinded thousands of innocent children by exposing them to a woman’s nipple.

“Instead, we got this albino bitch talking about Yugioh, and I hoped this would be my day off. – A game is fun when you play it only for fun, not so much when you use it to make a living. – Maria, the albino bitch in question, said, as I recall, the following, with a lofty air of dignity: ‘The Yugioh game is falling far away from it’s old roots. Dueling used to value honor and duelists’ pride as the prime virtues of the age, and the market is moving so fast in printing new cards and banning old ones the game could collapse into ruin.’

“I agreed with her so far, but soon we parted ways in opinion, for I a smelled something rotten at this point, and it wasn’t the stale moldy pizza but Maria’s late 19^th century pretenses: ‘Duelists have degenerated from warriors into professionals; the game reduced to celebrity, career, and politics. Any so-called rogue duelist with a functioning brain can wield a legendary monster, no longer the few worthy chosen, as it were, by the primal force of Destiny. I blame the duelists such as Maya Brook and Mathias Blackheart most for this decline, for purposefully assaulting our best and brightest duelists, even crushing their pride and careers in their victories; such was Matthew Carter’s fate under Maya’s combat boot, a fine man who didn’t have to meet his demise in this way.’

“’Some people complain about netdecking and meta decks, how they have no skill and so forth. That is a lie; of course they do. I’m in fact glad we have netdecking because it keeps only the strongest duelists with the strongest decks intact and stops the game from declining any further. Rogue duelists take away real competition from the game and replace it with inferior dueling. They have no right to bash duelists who take the game seriously and thus succeed. If you want to win, duel the right way.’

“I burst into laughter at this point, almost expecting Maria to expound on the Great Man Theory or mention the words ‘democracy’ and ‘Idiocracy’ in the same sentence. The interviewer – who was Maximus by the way – tried to steer the discussion to more nuanced terms, but I my very existence caused Maria’s dignified façade to crack, just a little bit, she fell into condemning me, presuming to know all the secrets of my heart. ’Maya’s behavior is disgusting. That whore sleeps with anyone she wants, incapable of sensitivity, never in her life having a pure deep love affair. She pushes through and manipulates anyone to get what she wants, and to hell with the consequences! While she is good with humor and ridicule, those are talents reflecting a frivolous mind; incompatible with older, more serious souls.’

“OH NO SHE DI’N’T! I nearly choked on my beer out of amusement and I was baked at this point, but I still got mad; this tedious Romantic was mildly annoying, until now when she roused me to fury. She could call me a whore all she wanted as whoring is the oldest and noblest profession in human history, call me a degenerate as I was a libertine who paid no serious mind to such moldy prudish morals, imply I was an alpha bitch as it was a label to be proud of, even treat a children’s card game with deathly seriousness.

“But to attack humor and satire; the lulz itself; to put shame on Thalia, one of the Muses who together redeem human suffering in the endless cold black stormy ocean that is universe? Unforgivable! I resolved that very night to crusade in vengeance against this mortal nemesis of the lulz, to show her how much of a troll I could be, to make her die the most humiliating death!

“Jolene prompted with her gentle arm, advising caution to me, ‘But Maya, vengeance is not the way, as it only hurts yourself. Negative energy clogs your chakras and disrupts your bodily harmonies. Please take blue cooling crystal and breath deep with me. Kumbaya, kumbaya, hare hare Krishna…’ Her new age nonsense only inflamed me more. I pulled the yoga mat from under her, figuratively and literally, and formed a convoluted scheme on the spot that would take months to fulfill so I could have my vengeance and drive home my dissent against Maria for the whole world to see.

“’But isn’t your scheme really petty? And what of your college education, protests, and donation campaigns?’ Jolene reminded me, to which I retorted, ‘We’re famous important people! Petty bullshit is what we do! As for my schedule, I’ll book it!’

“So I carried my pointless scheme to fruition; I created the persona of a brownnosing fan, most fitting as she was brownnosing Kaiba himself, and stroked her ego by telling her lies she wanted to hear while couching her vulgar and ignorant prejudices in the most aristocratic tone of voice. She wanted to know who my persona really was and meet me in person, either because she was suspicious of me or she was a gullible loser with low self-esteem, or the odd fusion of both, and invited me to a party in Kaiba’s mansion on April 1st.

“I knew it would only be a matter of time before she figured out I was tricking her the entire time, but I wanted to cause the whole fiasco to blow up in the way I desired. So how does Spongebob make a fool out of an old fuddy-duddy like Squidward or a belligerent miser like Mr. Krabbs? I needed the help of a Patrick Star, and Jolene willfully played the part; even she had to get in on the action. We dressed up in fancy dresses and masks, passing off as vapid celebrities from Beverly Hills. We also recruited Yukio to play the part of a celebrity reporter, and some random loser named Fujita to hold a camera and broadcast it on a YouTube channel.

“Positions set, battalions ready, fore! We invaded Maria, alone, without her heroic savior to protect her, introducing ourselves as Hollywood Celebrities, and began our friendly chat. The grave damsel had the discretion to be suspicious at first, but I buttered her up the same way I did on social media, and within a short time a few jokes, gossip, and cocktail drinks suckered her in. Jolene broached the topic of Yugioh and rogue duelists – Maria slipped a bit – and I ramped up the debate, attacking Stella, Mathias, and Maya in the third person in ever more vulgar ways. Once Maria became drunk and aroused enough to explode, Yukio turned Fujita’s video recorder towards her to capture the train wreck in all its glory.

“Maria aired all her resentment, like it was dirty laundry, into full view, delivering a monologue Ayn Rand would have enjoyed, ‘Screw political correctness, I gotta’ get this shit out! Rogue duelists are fucking scrubs not good enough to play the game and antimeta duelists are butthurt fags who hate the game and want to destroy it! And you know how those stinkin’ looters act; like fucking martyrs of ‘creativity’! HAH! Like a failed modern artist is ‘creative’! A loser dog is a loser dog no matter what he does, and his dueling proves it! Poor people fucking complain so much about how they can’t compete, they can’t get good enough cards! Well if you fucking degenerates worked hard enough instead of robbing stores, smoking crack, and invading my country to breed white people out of existence you could! The natural laws of competition and economics make it so! Some people are superior to others – what’s wrong in admitting that? – and not everyone will make it no matter how much you dumb down schools and jobs!

“Me and Jolene mockingly wondered if loser dogs begat poverty of if poverty begat loser dogs, and I was tempted to ridicule the drunken Maria further by prompting her to solve her own chicken-or-the-egg riddle, but she pwned herself with fresh material of her own. As usual among drunks, wails followed rages, and Beata Maria was no different. And did she bitterly complain, ‘I just don’t understand Seto sometimes! He claims he loves me like the world but he’s as cold in love as in money! He only told me I was beautiful once, and it was as stilted as an Anakin-Padme dialogue! And he can barely get hard or touch me right or make me feel like a woman, like he only gets hard playing Blue-Eyes White Dragon in Attack Position! Or when making his new gadgets – does he screw a robot waifu or something!’

“Not only did I tear away her lofty veil to reveal her opinions for what they truly were, she sabotaged Kaiba’s image in the most intimate way, thus killing two birds with one stone. But our victory was short-lived. Kaiba, the stern bulldog, rushed to save his damsel; he tore away my mask and Jolene’s. ‘How dare you ridicule me and my fiancé; no one attacks the Kaiba family and gets away with it!’

“’Hold your horses. You didn’t marry her yet.’ I reminded him, enjoying myself as I pushed his berserk button.

“He lost all control, lunging at my face, barking like a military officer, ‘I’ll kill you, worthless scum! You snake – no, worm – on the face of the earth!’ I dodged his punch but Jolene was not so lucky; he bloodied her nose. His strike at Jolene pricked my heart with pain and anger. I started at Kaiba to retaliate but the CEO was a trained master in Krav Maga; he smashed me on a table, splitting the table in two. By this time, real reporters and broadcasting crew arrived, their cameras flashing brilliant white from every anger it burned dark holes in my vision and nearly gave me a seizure.

“I knew exactly what Kaiba would do next. Every grown man settled his disputes by playing a children’s card game, and Kaiba was the white knight defending his lady’s honor. – I confess, I an intense envy burned in my heart at that moment. No one ever loved me as much. – There was no way I could survive a duel against Kaiba at this point nor did I have any score to settle with him; instead I declared, ‘Maria, I challenge you to a duel!’

“Maria answered, ‘Yes! Now!’ Kaiba protested the duel since we were both drunk and furious at each other, but Maria silenced him, calling upon Kaiba’s guards to get her duel disk. I readied my own, for I was prepared with any event that could happen, instant dueling included. We fought each other hard until Maria noticed that I copied her deck, card by card, which did not take very long.

“Maria was furious, ’How dare you netdeck me!’

“’What?’ I replied in sarcasm, ‘I thought netdeckers were good for the game by stopping so-called degenerates like me from ruining it. It can’t be you hate them now I use their tactics against you.’

“Maria burst into sobs, yelling, ‘You’re also a hypocrite, Maya. You like playing the part of the rebel all right with your studied rudeness; you hate the meta and all the dueling world but you need both to stay relevant. Once the meta is gone, once you kick all the traces, you will have no more purpose in life.’ I understood everything she said but accepted it; to think I could accept that biter pill at this moment.

“The poor girl’s body was too innocent of alcohol to process the dose putting her in a delirium. She vomited all over the floor in utter ruin; my victory was glorious. I had revealed Maria’s hypocrisy to the entire world, hammering the final nail in the coffin. Mission accomplished. – At the same time I wondered if this was how Bakura felt carrying out his schemes, searching for the weakest spot to strike the enemy, hammering out every step of the plan to the last detail. I clearly mastered the art by this point but I still sometimes thought, ‘How tedious all this is!’

“Kaiba, who was sober, understood fully what happened. He smashed Fujita’s video recorder on the floor; Fujita ran like a coward and our machine was broken, but the damage was done. He called his personal guards to arrest Jolene, Yukio, and me this instant, something he had full power to do as he practically owned all of Domino City. Running away from Matthew’s goons years ago gave us much experience, so outpacing Kaina’s henchmen was easy. We sped away in our cheap rental car, clumsily singing with the loud rap music, living fast and ready to die young:

Swimmin’ laps around a bottle of Louis the XIII,
Jumping off of a mountain into a sea of Codeine,
I’m at the top of the top but still I climb,
And if I should ever fall the ground will then turn to wine,
Pop-pop, pop-pop, I feel like flying,
Then I feel like frying, then I feel like dying. 

“And we crashed into the busiest intersection of the city. It was truly a shame I didn’t die, because I passed out in jail and the next thing I saw was Stella, who had flown to Japan just to bail me out. She said grimly, ‘You paid for my mother’s cancer treatment. I paid for your bail. We’re even.’

“I tried explaining everything to Stella, my obsession with revenge, my plot, my intensions, but Stella would have none of it, as if I could have justified myself anyway. She shut me down, ‘And what were you exactly trying to prove; that you’re a giant hypocritical idiot too? Our relationship is over Maya. You and the two clowns you call friends are free. Now get out and do a human centipede,’

“Yukio whistled and howled in laughter just at the thought of remembering what had happened last night. ‘Whoa! Man, that was sweeeeeeeeet!’

“Stella had none of it. ‘Seriously, you all, grow the fuck up!’

“And that was how Stella and me parted ways. It wasn’t until I was sober, literally and figuratively, that I understood how cruel and pointless my prank was, feeling bitter remorse, yet I could not let go of my feelings of vindictive satisfaction. Both our reputations we tarred black and it took a full year to wash it all away; Maria accused of racism and I accused of jealous queen bee sabotage. I had even planned to deliver a sob story about how Maria made me feel less of a person and hurt young women everywhere, to ridicule naïve progressives as well as elitist snobs to make the circle complete, and because I felt like it, but there was no point to it.

Kaiba, who like me could not suffer his pride scorned, tried to grind me down with endless lawsuits and have me banned from dueling forever, but Maria must have seen me as a skilled and worthy duelist in spite of everything I did to her because she offered me a plea bargain in a supreme act of forgiveness. I accepted; I was banned from dueling for six months and took down the offensive video from the Internet, and we both gave public apologies. We were civil thereafter; never again did I publicly insult her or scrap at her again as a spotted hyena in return for her kindness, but we carry distain for each other to this day.

“And that, my friend, is how my hatred of Maria started and my relationship ended. Killed two birds with one stone, huh.”

———————————————-

As Maya prepared to duel Maria for the last time, she now understood it was not Maria she truly hated but her father, who embodied Maria’s cold distain.

Maya’s father once told his only child, after he lost his prestigious job of his own fault and mother was dying of lung cancer, both blows forcing the family to live in a Manhattan project building, in a fit after his young daughter who, with a frenzied mind, an aching heart, and with no one to turn to, got into a huge fight with another child at school; he said to her, “You good for nothing brat, you are unworthy even of my punishment.” And when Maya saw her sick and bald mother, weeping over the phone after hearing her family still disowned her for marrying outside the Islamic faith, and came to embrace and comfort her, her mother sighed in sorrow, “You ruined my life.”

There was nothing Maya could have done with her parents but she could put their ghosts to rest, and she would do that by dueling Maria with basic fairness and charity. No matter what Maria did, she would keep composure. This simple approach, not the grandiose silly image of gamers as chivalrous warriors, was what the honor of the duelist truly was, if such a thing even existed.

Yugioh the Dark Dimension – Duel 10

Duel 10 – Why No One Likes Meta

The two duelists, Weevil and Mathias, stepped down from the arena, wearied out from their trials, Weevil too tired to feel disappointment, Mathias too exhausted to enjoy his victory. Poor Mathias could not appreciate his conquest anyway; he thought Weevil was so weak just struggling to beat him was a humiliation. It was at that moment when Mathias saw his pride, in a brief flash, the pride of Lucifer, and the red dragon that was his Ka rose again to confront him. Mathias would have felt shame but he was too tired. Weevil fell into Rex arms, Rex hugging and consoling him, but Weevil was happy despite his loss. He knew, at last, he made himself into a strong duelist.

Pegasus reminded the remaining finalists with a feigned kindness to take care of themselves with a short break; Stella and Tamas would fight each other next round. Stella eyed Maya once but said nothing, would not condescend to speak to such a terrible person. Maya got the message but wanted Stella to win, so she would face her in the semifinals – because she still loved her? “Nonsense! I want to grind that woman to the curb so she would never challenge me again!”

Maya told Stella in plain English, “Tamas is what my dad would call a го́пник; his dirty cheap jeans mismatched with a track sweater, and his demeanor of course, will tell you that. So he will duel like one.”

Stella quickly figured out it was Maya’s way of calling Tamas a meta, netdecking sheep, but with some racism and classism thrown in, because Maya simply had to make everyone her enemy or rival in some way while projecting her ingrained inferiority complex on other people, as if putting others down made you stronger.

Stella left Maya behind, putting her amateur psychoanalysis behind her, and it was here that Stella remembered how they met in the first place. Stella recalled the entire history to her heart: “I remember traveling with my teammates to New York for an International Circuit, a massive informal round robin tournament where duelists around the world jousted each other for an entire week. On the third day, I went to a bar in New York’s skyline, and met one teenager named Zusan who dressed up as Princess Peach – it was Halloween night – and this girl was a real King of Games, who played other games so well – unlike Maya, who was only good at Yugioh but couldn’t get herself out of a paper bag in dominoes – oh yes, I watched her fail horribly at the airport.

“Anyway, I remembered Zusan, because earlier in the week I saw her wipe the floor with every chess hustler at Union Square at the same time – blindfolded and tipsy! She was now dead drunk, and she saw he tell a sexist man off, saying, ‘I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself!’ Zusan went up to me and said, ‘I’m a big girl too. Wanna’ make out?’ I shrugged and we did so. – Why not? – Maya, who had been drunk and sex-crazed for boys every night, found us and joined in the melee, suggesting we do a human centipede that night. I won’t remind myself what that kind of threesome that was, but I’m sure the depraved Maya invented it on the spot.

“A year later in Iceland, Maya proposed to go on a date with me, provided she beat me in a duel. The nerve, after embarrassing me like that! She was surely, abrasive, and insolent, but had a roguish charm. And she paid for all my mother’s treatment when she had breast cancer, while she was in a tight spot with money, losing all her money to get back home or even stay in a hotel. So I accepted, and we both dueled with Archfiend decks – for chess, as legend has it, came from a Shadow Game played in India known as the Archfiend’s Duel. Maya recalled the Spanish love poem where Mars challenged Venus to a game for her love, Mercury as the referee, and easily won, as Maya did.

“Maya dropped her libertine ways. No longer did she drink, party, and gamble – I don’t blame her, to suddenly taste wealth and fame after living in the Lower East Side projects! – I was the sole aim of her affections, but then something happened…”

“Stella and Tamas, please enter the arena immediately!” Isono commanded, breaking her train of thought. Did she brood for that long?

The two duelists took their positions, Tamas commenting, “Ready to get cucked, girl?”

“Cucked? What is that supposed to mean?” Stella was a little confused.

“It means to get served, retard.”

“Ugh.” Го́пник indeed.

Mathias mused to himself. “Isn’t that reference several years in the future? It’s like the author is writing in 2017, but the setting is in 2009. Hmm.”

“Duel start!” Isono declared, and the game was off.

Tamas: 8000 | Stella: 8000

TAMAS’ TURN: “Zoodiacs are the best meta deck out there and I’ll show you why rogue decks suck peanut butter coated monkey balls. I Special Summon Blackwing – Gofu the Vague Shadow, and activate it’s Effect to give me two Vague Shadow Tokens.” With his commands a black sparrow swoops in faster than sound, small in size but burning with a huge fiery aura, and with it arrive two smaller sparrows. “Go Link Summoning! I get rid of my two Shadow Tokens to Link Summon Link Spider, then all my monsters to Link Summon Decode Talker!” Soon all birds transform into two cybernetic spiders, then a digital knight in deep blue armor wielding a single-sided blade.

“Next comes the Zoodiac combo! I still didn’t Normal Summon yet, so I Summon Zoodiac Ratpier, and activate her to mill a Zoodiac monster, and overlay her to Xyz Summon Zoodiac Boarbow, then overlay Boarbow to Xyz Summon Zoodiac Broadbull, and detach 2 Materials, one to search for a Zoodiac monster, two to Special Summon another Zoodiac Ratpier from my Deck, then overlay Broadbull to Xyz Summon Zoodiac Chakanine, and detach 1 Material to resurrect the Zoodiac Ramram I milled earlier, then overlay Chakanine to Xyz Summon Zoodiac Tigermortar, and then overlay her to Xyz Summon Zoodiac Drident, and use her Effect to pop Ramram, then activate Ramram to revive a Ratpier from the Graveyard.” An enormous train of warrior-animals quickly arrive and disappear, one at a time: a rat, a boar, a bull, a dog, a ram, a tiger, and a dragon.

“I overlay my two Ratpiers Xyz Summon Daigusto Emeral.” The revived rat and ram warriors make way for a flying one. “I activate its Effect; I detach 1 Material to return 3 monsters from my Graveyard back to my Deck to draw 1.” Tamas pants from reciting such a trying and boring list, his face blue, then sets 2 cards facedown.

 

“Bet that was too hard for you to follow.” He insists.

“I saw everything perfecly.” Stella answered. “You memorized a move set, nothing more. That doesn’t take skill.”

“I’d like to see you beat me, retard, or are on your period with your girlfriend?”

STELLA’S TURN: Stella seriously wonders at this point how such a lowly and stupid cur made it this far in this tournament. Oh, right, he netdecked and abused a broken deck. Tamas would have had no challenge a few years ago but now things are starting to change. She wishes she faced a worthy opponent for a change, like Maria, but she takes comfort from the thought that if she wins she will face Maya next. “I hate you, Maya,” Stella thought. “But I’d rather duel you than anyone else. Wait for me.” But it is Stella who waits, as she struggles to find a way to counter Tamas, not just his Zoodiacs but his two hidden cards; she has to play perfectly.

“Each duelist has a minute to make a move.” Isono reminds her. “You have thirty seconds left.”

Twenty seconds pass.

“Come on, retard, make your move already!” Tamas demands her.

Ten seconds.

“I’m bored, faggot bitch faggot! You got period problems?”

Five seconds.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

Zer-

Stella has lost patience with this fool. “I Special Summon Blackwing – Gofu the Vague Shadow, and use his effect to Special Summon 2 Vague Shadow Tokens.” Her own three sparrows make due entrance. “I link up the two Shadow Tokens to Link Summon 2 Link Spiders.” And her digital bugs appear as well.

Tamas points his finger at her in petulant indignation. “Hypocrite, hypocrite, hypocrite! You’re copying me! ARGLEBARGLESKGURKDGJDGHGOSBGHSKGKDGF!”

“Sit down and shut up, manchild! I’m not done yet; I link up all my monsters to Link Summon Yong’an the Brave Purple Dragon!” Three old monsters leave the stage for someone new to enter the spotlight: a small but strong and stout purple dragon with golden horns.

“I activate Drident to pop your gay monster!” Tamas interrupts her play, with his dragon lady thrusting a trident through the purple dragon’s heart. “I put that to a stop. G.G., L.O.L.”

“You didn’t. Spyro – I mean, Yong’an – has a Quick Effect letting me Special Summon Jiaotu, Darkness of the Yang Zing.” Whereby an evil Chinese dragon shrouded in black smoke billows into form. “And since Yong’an died, I’ll return a Wyrm from the Graveyard to my Deck, namely Yong’an itself. I knew you’d be frightened of a monster you never saw before, but there’s much more.

“I activate the Permanent Spell Supply Squad, then use Jiaotu’s Effect.” Stella sends 2 Yang Zing cards from her hand to the Graveyard and, in turn, she brings forth Taotie, Shadow of the Yang Zing and Pulao, Wind of the Yang Zing; thus the elements of shade and wind join her side in dragon form. “And I tune Jiaotu and Taotie to Synchro Summon Yazi, Evil of the Yang Zing, and use its effect to destroy itsenf and your Zoodiac Drident!” Her two evil dragons align, opening the gateway, and a large black dragon flies in from the clouds to smash into Tamas’ field.

But Tamas reacts: “Go, Decode Talker! Tribute Daigusto to protect Drident!” The latter shatters as glass, the pieces absorb into the glowing sword of the former, who throws it straight into the evil dragon’s heart; the beast roars, misses its target, falling off the pyramid towards its death.

Yet this does not deter Stella in the slightest. “Destroying Yazi lets me Special Summon a Wyrm from my Deck. Meet Mare Mare, the parent seahorse! (And I draw 1 card from Supply Squad.)” A huge father seahorse shows up, his womb seeming ready to burst at the seams. “I use its Effect to Special Summon 3 Mini Mare Mare Tokens, then tune one of them with Mare Mare to Synchro Summon Accel Synchron, and use its effect to Mill a Jet Synchron to raise its Level by 1.” The parent seahorse gives birth to three children, but soon merges into one of them to become an android motorcycle, nature becoming machine, its Level raised from 5 to 6. “See my one Yang Zing left? His use is revealed now; I tune Accel Syncro with the remaining Mini Mare Mare Tokens with Pulao to Synchro Summon Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier!” All of Stella’s diverse monsters vanish to allow a great white and blue dragon to travel to the paradise south from its icy home from the north.”

Tamas sees Stella’s intention straightaway, to banish his precious Drident. He springs his Trap, “Solemn Warning!” Tamas pays the steep price of 2000 Life so a Biblical sage and call upon God to smite the icy incarnation of Satan. (Tamas LP 8000 à 6000)

But Stella merely laughs at Tamas’ solemn antic. “Excellent, my batman gambit is complete! I never planned to battle you this turn, but to lock you down. I activate Soul Charge to bring back 4 Yang Zing dragons lost this turn: Chiwen, Taoti, Pulao, Jiaotu; let LIGHT, DARKNESS, and WIND return!” Stella loses a grim 4000 Life; she crumples under the weight of her burden as a fountain of light rays springs from her chest, and the dragons burst forth from the light. (Stella LP 8000 à 4000) Stella, still strained but going in full force, pants, “I link up… Pulao and Jiaotu… to Link Summon Li’bao – Brave Bichromal Hunter. And I tune the remaining… Yang Zings… to Synchro Summon… Chaofeng, Phantom of the Yang Zing.” Her whole army disbands into two camps, going their own ways to become stronger forces. A cheetah sporting a flaming bow and arrow leaps to Stella’s right as slithering serpent with wings arrives from Heaven, its body trailing as long as the Great Wall.

Stella regains her breath from letting her monsters work their magic, and concludes, “I play Pot of Avarice, recycling my Yang Zing monsters back to my Deck to draw 2 cards, and I set 2 cards. My turn is (finally) over.”

Yugioh the Dark Dimension – Duel 9

Duel 9 – Valiant Effort

Mathias: 3400 | Weevil: 6200

WEEVIL’S TURN: “I draw!” Perfect, exactly the card he hoped for to make a perfect victory! “I activate my two Fruitflies to steal Odin and Thor.” Watching his great monsters controlled by someone as weak as Weevil gives Mathias something close to heartbreak, something he had not felt in nearly a century. Even the old masters Pegasus and Kaiba see the move in shock; Pegasus is pleasantly bemused while Kaiba seethes at the blasphemy of Weevil controlling god cards.

“I activate Odin and Thor’s effects to protect them.” Weevil watches his gods bathe the field in their magic with a contentment alien to him for many years. “Naturia Exterio, destroy Mathis’ facedown monster!” The turquoise king of beasts rips apart a tiny rodent hiding underneath the facedown card like a burrow.

“You triggered Super-Nimble Mega Hamster, letting me summon Tanngrisnir of the Nordic Beasts from my Deck.” Mathias explains as he plays another monster facedown. Weevil commands Thor to smash the card with its fist, squashing the poor goat flat, which lets Mathias Summon two Nordic Beast Tokens. Annoyed, Weevil has Odin throw one of the Nordic Beasts out of the arena, and decides to add insult to injury.

“You will never get your Nordic Gods back; I tribute Odin and Thor to Summon Insect Empress!” The giant Nordic Gods dissipate into a winter storm of hail and snow as a queen ant of titanic size takes all the space in Weevil’s field. Weevil adjusts his glasses as he is wont to do whenever he thinks himself to be clever. “See, I was very careful to keep all Insects in my Graveyard, because my Empress gains 200 ATK for each Insect in my field and my Graveyard; thus the Empress claims 3800 ATK to her name.”

MATHIAS’ TURN: Pegasus and Kaiba are in further shock; Pegasus more bemused than ever as if tricked in a silly prank, Kaiba more outraged than ever; to think a cockroach like Weevil could throw away two gods like they were nothing. What was Yugioh coming to!

Mathias declares to his opponent, “I should praise you for taking control of the Nordic Gods but letting go of them was a huge mistake. I activate Monster Reborn to revive Thor!”

“Oh no you don’t; I counter with Exterio to negate it!” Weevil banishes a card in his Graveyard and mills a card for its cost.

“I counter it with Divine Wrath, one of my favorite cards! I discard a card to negate and destroy Exterio!” A single bolt of lightning strikes the mighty beast down, leaving only ashes behind, as if the Nordic Gods themselves punished Weevil. “Thor, arise!” Mathias completes his ritual, and once more the hammer-wielding giant stands tall as Weevil, and Rex, melt into a puddle of tears.

Maya wafts the air to her nose with her hands as if she cooked a master chef’s dish and circles the fingers of her left hand. Classic antimeta in action. She can almost taste poor Bug Boy’s tears. They must be delicious. As for the look on Kaiba’s face; he looks like he took a laxative for once.

Weevil did not give up yet. “I’ll banish your precious Thor with Bottomless Trap Hole!” But he sells himself short as his trap simply vanishes in thin air. When Weevil cannot figure out why, Mathias clues him in, “Your Fruitflies lowered Thor’s ATK so low your trap couldn’t banish him.

“If I may continue, before I was so rudely interrupted.” I Tribute my Nordic Beast Token to Summon Draugalf of the Nordic Alfar from my Graveyard, as I discarded it through Divine Wrath, and use its effect to revive my Tanngrisnir.” A dark, undead elf devours and dissolves the Nordic Beast as it resurrects itself, bringing back a white goat with it. “I activate Phantom Knight Gloves, the first monster you destroyed, banishing it from the Graveyard to mill The Phantom Knight of Ancient Cloak, and then I activate it to banish it to add The Phantom Knight of Silent Boots to my hand, and I Summon it.” A ghostly and silent ninja slips out of the darkness into the light.

“I tune Draugalf, Tanngrisnir, and Silent Boots to Synchro Summon Loki, Lord of the Aesir!” Mathias’ monsters rise to the heavens and the trickster god condescends to grace his field in exchange for the sacrifices. “I activate Thor’s effect!” To which the hammer-wielding god smashes the field, crippling all of Weevil’s insects, allowing the Nordic Gods to regain their full strength. “Thor, destroy the Queen!”

Weevil has one more card up his sleeve. “I play Golemgoroth’s Roar and sacrifice all my Fruitflies!” His empress of Insects ruthlessly, gruesomely devoured her servants to gain unfrequented strength.

“You’re Empress will gain 4500 ATK in the process; so Loki, negate that trap!” The Nordic God zaps her with an aerosol can he conjured from thin air, the empress shriveling away from the poison. “Raid, kills them dead.” Loki seems to have a sense of humor too; he even gestures to Thor, as if letting him finally attack, to which the gruff, no-nonsense Thor gladly did, dramatically using his hammer as a fly swatter to finish the job. (Weevil LP 6200 à 4900) “Loki, strike Weevil directly!”

“OH NOOOO!!!” Weevil raves in complete horror and disbelief, his hands and mouth locked into a pose from The Scream painting, before Loki shocks him into a dizzy mess with a jolt of black magic from its finger, making Weevil twitch as an insect sprayed with a can of Raid. (Weevil LP 4900 à 1500)

WEEVIL’S TURN: But Weevil still persists. “I set a card facedown and end my turn.”

MATHIAS’ TURN: “I activate Thor’s effect, now Thor, attack his facedown!” The burly god eagerly smashed a Naturia Cherry flat, turning it to jam. This let Weevil Summon two more Naturia Cherry facedown, and Mathias forces Loki to make quick work of one of them. “I set a card facedown. Make your last turn count, Bug Boy.”

WEEVIL’S TURN: “I am the strongest, the most resilient creature there is, like the cockroach. I will survive, and no matter what happens I will always come back to annoy you like the pest I am!”

“You got it, Weevil!” Rex jumped and shouted from the sidelines. “Show him whose boss!”

“Um, nobody has compared themselves to a cockroach like it was a good thing, but if it works for you, dude, sure. Whatever.” Mathias must concede this odd self-praise as beyond his understanding.

“I activate Monster Reborn to Summon Naturia Mosquito from my Graveyard!” The typical ankh appears on the field and resurrects a cute mosquito with wide cartoon eyes. Mathias wondered for a second when he last saw the Mosquito but soon realized Weevil milled it when he played Naturia Marron on his very first turn. He concedes to Weevil again; that was pretty clever.

Weevil explains his plan, “Mosquito is weak but any battle damage from a Naturia monster goes back to you, meaning you’ll lose the duel. Naturia Mosquito, attack Thor!” His petty bug rushes over to annoy the stern warrior Nordic God. The audience is truly tense as this is the third time today it seemed like Weevil would actually win. The world truly becomes upside down. Cats chase dogs. Weevil is a champion. Trump isn’t president. Israel and Palestine coexist in peace.

Time to end the party, setting things right; Mathias reveals his trap, “I play Skill Drain; I pay 1000 Life to negate all monster effects.” (Mathias LP 3400 à 2400) Thor swats the mosquito with his hammer in comical fury, putting Weevil’s ambitions to rest. (Weevil LP 1500 à 0)

Mathias: 2400 | Weevil: 0

Isono thrust his hand in the air; the referee announced, “Mathias Blackheart wins the second quarterfinal duel! Duelists, let the sun decide the next two contestants!” The remaining four finalists did as they were told; the sun decreed that Stella Nova duel against Tamas Vargas.

Tamas showed little interest, flicking away dirt from his nails. He seemed to speak more to himself than the outside world. “I’m lucky to face women in my next two duels. Beating them won’t be hard; I’d rather duel a retard like Weevil if I wanted a challenge.”

Yugioh the Dark Side of Dimensions – Duel 7

Duel 7 – Courage from the Cowardly Lion

Mokuba swiftly ordered the best medical team Kaibacorp had to offer to tend to Hannibal’s unmoving body. Mathias truly wished his companion Ivy was here so she could heal the body through her Ka and revive the person within, but, and Mathias hated the idea, Ivy could only work her magic if Hannibal was alive. A dead man was impossible to reach; Mathias knew only One, a perfect being, who brought back the dead. The helpless Mathias took much coaxing from Stella and Mokuba to let go of his friend’s body so the doctors might save him, so he let them with great reluctance carry Hannibal to an emergency room.

Maya watched the procession of doctors, nurses, and body in silence, unmoved, while Matthew gloated at his victory; the vanquishing of his prey with his dark magic gave him an exalted rush he always wanted in his life and strength as his shadow powers grew. Did Yugi face such a runaway train in his Battle City? It was terrifying to watch. Maya always felt a rage inside her, a fire held back like a corked volcano; perhaps Matthew is what she would look like once that volcano destroyed itself in an eruption.

Kaiba barked his orders, “Don’t go anywhere next, shrimps! Raise your Millennium Item cards in the air and let the sun decide the next duelists!”

Mathias could not believe Kaiba’s callousness, for he knew Kaiba to be a cold man but never did he imagine such cruelty. Ready to tear that man apart and his smug foppish friend, he would have jumped but felt the barrel of a gun on his back. “I’m sorry, Mathias.” Isono said, his apology genuine. “But if Kaiba wishes the duels to go on, they will go on.”

The finalists reluctantly put their cards in the air, waiting for the sun to give its verdict. It soon did; gold light from Mathias’ and Weevil’s cards hit the floor. Isono announced, “It is settled! Mathias Blackheart versus Weevil Underwood! The duel will commence within fifteen minutes sharp!” Weevil ran away with Rex in an instant, knowing just how strong Mathias was and how weak they were in comparison, but Mathias did not care. He hurried to the medical room, Stella and Maya trailing behind him.

The doctors had tended to Hannibal’s body as best he could, their leader explaining Hannibal’s state to Mathias. He was not dead but in a coma. Mathias was deeply relieved to hear the news but he knew it meant his friend’s life now completely depended on Matthew’s defeat. If Matthew did not fall his dark spell would not be undone, and Hannibal would never waken. Mathias placed a gentle hand on the body’s brow. “I promise to save you.”

Stella decided to confront Maya at this point. She knew her well enough, or so she thought. “I don’t understand you. Don’t you feel any pain in your heart, any pain at all for Hannibal’s suffering?”

Maya had a hard time telling her, “I don’t, but I don’t know why.”

“Bullshit!” Stella rebuked her. “You hated his philosophy of living in penance, so you thought he was better dead. Why would that matter to you anyway? What did you do, kill someone?”

Maya turned her back to her former lover, pressing her forearm against the wall and her head on it, breathing deeply. She had to accept what she did, and do so by telling the truth. She faced Stella gain, saying. “I will, but take off your pink contacts first.”

Stella did not bother to ask why because she already knew, so she did so, revealing her true eyes; they were as clear and blue as the sky itself. Maya said, every word heavy but somehow managing to speak, “I killed Heishin, the dictator of Egypt, when we sacked Cairo, freeing the nation. He kidnapped me and threw down a dark pit, which I stayed in for three days, believing I would die. – My ribs are still broken. – I hated Heishin, so I killed him. I saw him tell his son he loved him before I sent a bullet in his brain without blinking. You would think the lights in his eyes would vanish as the soul does after death, assuming there is a soul, but his eyes stayed bright with the same emotion they had a moment before. It was terrifying; like he was a zombie.”

Stella stepped a pace backward on hearing such gruesome details. A lesser woman would have demonized Maya as a monster for killing a man but Stella understood the circumstances that pressured Maya to become a killer. She felt relieved, to be honest. “You were more open to me, honest to who you are, now than at any point when we were together. You were always guarded. Even when we had sex, you never connected your heart to mine; you only pleasured my body.”

“I don’t do dating or relationships. I thought I made that clear the moment we met.” Maya explained to her like she was a teenaged girl. “As far as I’m concerned, friendship is one thing while sex is another, and the former does not imply the latter in any way; it does not even imply love. I fucked enough people over the years to put Lizzie Lape to shame, but fucking them did not mean I cared for any of them in any way unless I valued them more deeply, valued them as friends, outside of that.”

“Seeing how you pump and dump every man or woman that arouses you, I am shocked, in retrospect, you managed to be faithful to me for a year. Have you ever loved another person in your life, or at least cared for them beyond their use to you? Or do only feel the low emotions of hatred, pride, lust, jealousy, and excitement? Are you a human being, or only a reptile that can speak?”

Maya lowered her voice into a soft growl. “Nothing is more pitiful than a woman in love, if such a thing exists. The one thing I hate most about my sex is their pathetic romantic fantasies; they choose idiot partners based on it rather than anything remotely involving reason, then wonder why men resent them and women are unhappy.”

Stella was aghast. “Talk about internalized misogyny! But that makes sense. You appear to be a radical progressive, what with being a black Jewish woman who defeated score after score of entitled American white dudes, but act like a female CEO. You’re a Queen Bee, Maya. You hate other women because you see them as a threat to you. I expected Audre Lorde. I got Hillary Clinton.”

Maya thought in a flash that perhaps she should “open her heart” and grab the bitch by the mouth, but she did not. Either way, she lost it. “Take your third wave feminist garbage somewhere else! First, I can’t be Jewish as my mother wasn’t a Jew. Second, if you actually went to your local tournament you would realize how many white kids truly play this came. And third, have you done any real work to help a woman, a Jew, or a black person?

“I have lectured in colleges, debated in meetings, gone to marches, lost three fourths of my livings – my livelihood – in a lawsuit, got punched in the face by a neo-Nazi, punched another neo-Nazi in kind when he tried hit my face and missed, got pepper-sprayed in the eyes and literally dogpiled by cops in armor, had my addresses doxxed by a punk and got swatted in the same week. I did everything in the last four years to change this game, to break the corporate hierarchy so prep school kids like Matthew did not control every piece of the metagame and rule unchallenged. Nothing worked, and do you why? It was because everyone was like you; you complained at Starbucks, you blogged at Jezebel, you whined about the pay gap and women at STEM, and so forth. But did you suffer to make any change happen beyond needing to block someone on Twitter or go to the occasional protest? You did not. Your feminism and professional dueling career are a balancing act of fame, following, and publicity. Mine never was.

“And don’t you dare lecture me on love either. Do you believe the funny little feeling you felt in your little heart and the fantasies you daydreamed about was love? There is no such thing as love in this world and even it did exist no one would be worthy of it, and I am the least worthy person of all. My mother quickly learned the limits of her ‘love’ for me when my father poured boiling water on her hands.”

Mathias shook his head, groaning. “This is like watching Malik and Bakura argue with each other. Get a room, ladies, and critique your feminist praxis somewhere else, not next to a dying man. And Maya, do your self a favor and get help. You even disturb me right now.”

Stella put her pink contacts back on, and looked at Maya’s dark eyes that lit with Hell’s fury. “I am sorry you are such a unhappy and lonely person. You are not an evil person, but you like to pretend you are so you don’t have to change.” Before Stella left, she informed her once lover. “And tell me what doing a balancing act is like. Every single thing you did for the last four years was a calculated political move. Goodbye.”

Mathias placed his hand on Hannibal’s forehead before getting up. “I really need to pee before I find Weevil and make him duel me. I can’t believe I have to babysit that dork. My friend nearly died.”

Maya laughed a bit. “Talk about a mood whiplash. We will abruptly enter a comic relief scene any minute now.”

Mathias was utterly confused. “What?”

“The audience will get confused if I don’t tell them. And don’t forget how the entire gaming world is watching the tournament in earnest despite – no, because – people are dying. The author will have to explain that sooner or later.”

“Who cares what the audience thinks! Just because you can break the fourth wall now doesn’t make you special!”

“Well I guess it makes sense for Yugioh to be a dangerous spectator sport.” Maya thought out loud. “Loan sharks cut a sports gambler’s finger off if he doesn’t pay his debt and athletes get paralyzed trying to become world famous. What makes Yugioh any different?”

“I don’t care about the logic or philosophy here. My friend is almost dead and I have to babysit a millennial.” Mathias ended the conversation. He met Rex Raptor at the bathroom door only to learn Weevil had trapped himself inside rather than face Mathias in a duel. Mathias could not believe this. His friend was in a coma and he would not be Weevil’s self-esteem counselor! He wrapped the bathroom three times with his large fist, nearly breaking it down each time. “Open up, Bug Boy! I gotta’ go!”

“No!” Weevil shouted across the door. “I have a restraining order against you. There’s no way I’m leaving.”

“I’m too cool to get ever get a lawsuit. You can’t avoid dueling me and getting your ass handed to you by my Nordic Gods. It is God’s Will for you to be his butt monkey and there’s nothing you can do about it. Now open up or I swear in the name of Jesus Christ you will get the biggest swirly in your entire life.”

This threat sent Weevil trembling, and Mathias could even see it from over here, and worse, he knew Weevil would wet himself any time now. It was beyond pathetic. Weevil spoke, “I- I’m really scared! Ever since me and Rex lost at Duelist Kingdom we’ve been nothing but picked on and beaten up. We even forget Yugi and Joey landed us in this mess by defeating us; it’s like our mockery is some existential fact of life. I want to fight in the finals, maybe even win. I’m so excited I made it to finals of the World Championship, the first time in my life! But I’m scared I’ll lose horribly and everyone will make fun of me again.”

Rex tried to encourage his friend, “You can win, Weevil! Even if you lose the finals you can still do a really cool duel. People will at least have to respect that.”

Mathias took his turn; he was sure to make it count. “Weevil, I’m not here to be your mommy or your cheerleader or read you The Little Engine That Could, but I am here to tell you this. This is your very first, and may be your very last, time as a finalist. You can face me like a man and try to win fame and respect or you can walk away and never get another chance. This will probably be the best day in your entire life, so you might as well seize it.

A minute passed. Another minute. Another. And another. Weevil opened the bathroom door, standing as tall as he could. “I challenge you to a duel, Mathias.”

“That’s the spirit!”

“But,” Weevil just noticed his pants felt a little wet and cold for his liking. “I had a little accident.”

Mathias slapped his palm on his face and dragged it down so tightly he nearly pulled his face off.

Created Cards (Duels 4-6)

Matthew’s cards:

Celeste Dragon
LIGHT/Dragon/Level 6/2400 ATK/2200 DEF
1)   If you control no monsters: you can Normal Summon this card without any Tribute.
2)   If this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard: you can send 1 Dragon monster from your Deck to the Graveyard. Special Summon this card, but half its original ATK and DEF. If this card would be removed from the field, banish it instead.

Dragonic Desperation
Continuous Trap
1)   Activate when you Special Summon a Dragon from your Graveyard: Special Summon as many monsters as possible with the same name from your hand, Deck, or Graveyard.
2)   If this card is removed from the field: banish all monsters Summoned by this card’s effect. At the end of your opponent’s next turn: send this card to the Graveyard. 

Dragon Mirage
Spell
1)   During your End Phase: Special Summon Dragons from your Deck equal to the number of Dragons you control that were destroyed this turn. They cannot attack, and their ATK and DEF are halved.

Golden God Dragon
LIGHT/Dragon/Fusion-Synchro-Xyz-Pendulum/Level-Rank 10/ATK 4000/DEF 4000/Pendulum Scale 13
4 Dragons
PENDULUM EFFECT:
1)  If your opponent activates a Spell, Trap, or monster effect: you can banish 1 Dragon from your hand, field, or Graveyard to negate and destroy your opponent’s card.

MAIN EFFECTS:
2)   Must first be Special Summoned from your Extra Deck by banishing 4 Dragon monsters you control of different Extra Deck types.
3)   If this card would be targeted or destroyed: you can banish 1 Dragon from your hand, field, or Graveyard, and this card is not destroyed.
4)   If this card is destroyed: you can send this card to a Pendulum Zone instead of the Extra Deck.
5)   If this card is destroyed: you can Special Summon 1 banished Dragon (ignoring all Summoning conditions).
6)   If this card destroys your opponent’s monster by battle: it can attack once more.

Hannibal’s cards:

Artifact Uraniawar
LIGHT/Fairy/Link 3/2800 ATK/Arrows: top, bottom-left, bottom
3 “Artifact” monsters
1)   Once during your turn: you can set 1 “Artifact” monster from your Graveyard facedown in one of your Spell & Trap Zones.
2)   Once during your opponent’s turn: if this card or a card its Link Arrows point to would be destroyed: destroy 1 Spell or Trap you control; this card is not destroyed.

Forbidden Sealing
Trap
1)   Send 1 Normal monster from your hand to the Graveyard. Send up to 2 Normal monsters with the same Type and Attribute from your Deck to the Graveyard

Radio Half Life
Continuous Trap
1)   Once per turn: when one of your monsters battles; banish 1 “Artifact” monster from your Graveyard. Half the ATK of 1 monster on the field.
2)   When this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard: you can banish it to Special Summon as many of your banished “Artifact” monsters as possible. Return all monsters you control to your hand at the end of the turn.

Enchanted Exchange
Spell
Activate 1 of these effects:
1)   Send 1 Spellcaster from your Deck to the Graveyard; add 1 Fairy from your Deck to your hand.
2)   Send 1 Fairy from your Deck to the Graveyard; add 1 Spellcaster from your Deck to your hand.

Yugioh the Dark Dimension – Duel 5

Duel 5 – The Darkness Returns

Hannibal halts his direct attack, ready to strike the final blow, but cannot bring himself to defeat Matthew even though it is the best thing to do. He drops his fighting arm, pleading to Matthew once more, “Stop your rampage, revenge is never the answer. Remember what your grandfather taught you – what he taught you through me; you cannot truly change this world, maybe some physical things or situations on the surface level but not the natural order guiding the universe. You must become aware of that order and work with it, not just passively react to it. You are consumed by vengeance; your anguish dominates you and you become like a dog in car, going wherever the engine takes you.

“Even rich men, like your grandfather, like you, who have good fortune, health, education, freedom, entertainment, luxuries, know better than to let themselves be torn by their passions and the highs and lows of life. You know it is the poor who are easily led and wasteful, hence their poverty, but even vicious men of wealth and power destroy themselves. Every good man of importance, such as your grandfather, knew to restain his power, to rule ethically; this virtue is how society is run without which is chaos. What kind of man are you who will destroy everything in his path for vengeance?”

Hannibal sternly points at Maya watching the duel from the sidelines. “This woman is not worth your suicide. She is aggressive, selfish, vicious, rapacious, and irresponsible: an insult to her sex. You may not have been aware of her conduct between the four years since she defeated you but I have seen her flaunt every virtue. Do you want to ruin your life over such a woman?”

Maria glares at Maya from far away, so intensely Maya can hear her hissing if she listens hard enough, while Stella asks her, somewhat sternly, if she hid any dark secrets from her.

Maya shrugs the accusers away with exasperation, “I refused to do what my corporate sponsors wanted and made the first move on anyone I wanted to fuck. Apparently that makes me a fallen woman unworthy of being Hannibal’s Stoic muse. I’m glad he never watched me take a shit because if he did he might have called me human, and that’s terrible.”

“See, she is worth it.” Matthew demonstrates to Hannibal. “You don’t get it; she is as pure and honest as a child while you probably lie even to yourself. The ‘natural order’, my teacher, of the world is centered on vice and death. Want to act ‘in accordance with Nature’ as you would put it? Rape, kill, and steal! Every creature does so to life but only humans are dishonest enough to pretend otherwise. This is how ‘men of importance’ have ruled the world and kept society running; by raping, killing, and stealing from everyone else not as lucky.”

Matthew reaches a high point in his despair. “Leave your academic fantasy world, you old fool! Rich people like me have always known in our hearts the secret to living well is by cold, brutal oppression! The virtues we tell society to live by is a cover to trick ever niggardly inferior, everyone who is not one of us, to living in peace under our power! Hypocrisy, not virtue, is the name of the game, you idiot!” And he breaks in manic laughter. “Welcome to this world, this world of death, of destruction, of utter darkness! Ha ha ha ha!”

The cultured, dignified, reserved Matthew had completely broken down, though Maya knows his decline would reach a low point watching it happen before her eyes sends chills down her spine. “Matthew, you’re so edgy right now you’re slitting my wrists for me.” Let her lame jokes hide her fear, which Matthew, nor any opponent, can ever see.

“Oh I will slit your wrists, Maya, until I watch you bleed dry.” Matthew snarls at her.

“That’s it! Channel that pent up Black Sabbath rage! Mommy didn’t give you an X-box for Christmas and you’re pissed! You’re ready to shoot up a school any minute now!”

Mathias, who watched the duel quietly up until this point, runs into Maya, ready to shut her up. “Don’t! Provoke! Him!” He shouts at her, shaking her to her senses.

Matthew: 3400 || Hannibal: 5200

HANNIBAL’S TURN: “Enough of this foolishness! I’ll end this duel right now! Artifact Uraniawar, attack Matthew directly!” His spectral soldier throws its weapon, a deadly radioactive missile, straight at its target.

But Matthew will have none of it. “I activate Scapegoat!” Four tiny, harmless sheep, shield their master from any damage, now only three sheep was one of them was sacrificed to Hannibal’s attack.

“Practice time is over. Old man, look at this!” Matthew tears his shirt open, revealing the ghastly wound on his chest; a blackened mark in the shape of a small hand with a reddened Eye of Horus symbol carved at the center. He raises his fist into the sky, his Eye of Horus burns with bright light, and black smoke and energies shoot from his fist, morphing into the shapes of skulls and horrid beasts before engulfing the whole arena in a deadly fog.

“Let the Shadow Game begin! We manifest our monsters as symbols of our will with our life-force, or in other words we use our Ba to give energy to our Ka, since you are such a history buff. But if you can’t take the heat playing a real duel or lose, you die! Let’s go!”

MATTHEW’S TURN: “I link up one Sheep Token and link up the other two Sheep Tokens to Link Summon Link Spider and Proxy Dragon.” Two grid-like squares manifest in the arena, and the Sheep Tokens dissolve into spirits, flying into and igniting corners of the squares known as Link Arrows. The portals open, letting two advanced robots – at least that is what they look like – emerge. “And I link them up to Link Summon Decode Talker!” And his new monsters die to open the gateway for another monster. Matthew screams, drawing in his life-force to birth a monster, a cyber warrior, in a duel for the first time.

“So this is what a Link Summon is like.” Kaiba comments, frosty as ever. If he is not mistaken, Matthew will then bring out a dragon named Tzolkin, which will let Matthew easily Summon Sycnrho Monsters with powerful locking effects. If so, Matthew’s strategy would be nothing new, as Hieratic players have long perfected this powerful combo, just adapted to a new format.

Matthew explains, “Decode Talker links two Monster Zones with its Link Arrows, letting me Summon monsters from my Extra Deck there, which I will do. I banish Carboneddon from my Graveyard to Summon Hieratic Dragon of Eset from my Deck.” A small silver dragon but with large golden wings appears, but only briefly. “I Tribute it to Summon Hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit, which activates it and lets me Summon Labradorite Dragon from my Deck.” And surely enough one dragon is replaced by two; one light and one dark.

“I tune the two together to Synchro Summon Ultimaya Tzolkin!” The dark dragon turns into green rings, the light dragon into stars, align, flash into light. A larger than life, snakelike dragon made of red flames entwines itself around the whole arena. “I Set a card facedown, activating Tzolkin, letting me Summon an Extra Deck monster: Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon!” The dragon of flames draws a fiery ring with its wing, and Matthew’s next redoubtable dragon, a white and silver beast flies through. “Now, my Synchro Dragon, destroy the old man’s baleful Artifact!”

Matthew’s dragon smashes its target with a hailstorm of crystals, but Hannibal bears it. (Hannibal LP 5200 à 5000) The scholar shouts through the wind and hail, “I’m not dead yet! I use Uraniawar’s effect; I destroy my facedown card to save it!” His facedown Moralltach shatters.

“No luck, old man!” Matthew counters, “I activate Crystal Wing’s effect: negate and destroy your Artifact!” And his dragon rains unto Hannibal’s monster with its breath.

Hannibal, though he faces huge danger, merely smiles and winks. “I discard Ghost Ogre and Snow Rabbit from my hand!” A small, spirit girl flies from Hannibal’s hand, dives inside the dragon, breaking its crystal body into shards from the inside. Yet Matthew’s dragon’s effect persisted beyond its death, and Matthew let Hannibal know it; it smashed Artifact Uraniawar into bits. Hannibal cried out in pain as the pain inflicted on his spirit, embodied in his monster afflicted him, and the tie between his Ba and Ka was cut.

But Hannibal stands strong, a small loss like this cannot bring him down. “I Summon Artifact Moralltach since I destroyed it, which means I destroy your Tzolkin!” The spectral warrior throws its huge sword, brimming with electricity, at the fiery dragon god, cutting into its heart, the dragon dissolving into flames. Matthew snarls at Hannibal for impudence, killing his Tzolkin Combo so easily, but Hannibal waved his finger at his former student, “You always overlooked one important step in your games as well as your studies.”

“Your tricks won’t save you. This is a real battle, not a debate.” Matthew orders Decode Talker to destroy Moralltach, which it does, again severing Hannibal’s connection to his monster and inflicting him with intense pain. (Hannibal LP 5000 à 4800)

HANNIBAL’S TURN: This duel is really taking a toll on poor Hannibal. Now is the time for Plan B. “I set a card facedown and Summon Cardcar D.” A floating wheel-less racecar appears. “And I offer it to draw two.” His car vanishes. “Turn end.”

MATTHEW’S TURN: “My onslaught will continue. I Normal Summon Hieratic Dragon of Gebeb and banish to Special Summon Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon, and use its effect to revive Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon from the Graveyard.” His smaller Hieratic dragon appears, evaporates to another dimension, and before Hannibal knows it he once more stands in the way of two mighty and dangerous dragons, one black and red, the other white and silver.

“Decode Talker gets 1000 ATK from co-linking two monsters. Decode Talker, cut down Shark Fortress!” The blue warrior slices deep into the shark-shaped submarine, leaving an electric blue mark behind it; the fortress blows. (Hannibal LP 4800 à 3900) “Crystal Wing, smack my insolent opponent a good one!”

Hannibal sees the attack, and serves his dish to Matthew. “I activate Obliterate!!! I mill an Exodia piece to bypass your dragon’s effect with a Trap card, and bounce it back to your Extra Deck!” A spectral image of Exodia, the forbidden giant, forms behind its owner, and hits its target with a fireball.

Matthew is not amused. “You targeted my dragon this time, so you will not bypass Decode Talker’s effect; I Tribute Red-Eyes!” His decoder atomizes the red and black dragon, crams it in its blade, jumps in the way of Exodia’s fire, splitting into harmless pieces with his blade. Then it dives for Hannibal’s card, slashing it to ribbons. Hannibal returns his discarded Exodia piece to his hand, since his card was destroyed.

But it doesn’t save him from Matthew, who cries, “Crystal Wing, hit him directly!” The dragon showers Hannibal with the fury of Matthew’s ice and fire, slamming him to the ground. (Hannibal LP 3900 à 900) Mathias watches the onslaught with pain in his heart, for each hit on Hannibal is a hit on him, but he keeps himself detached. Nothing is worse than breaking a duel, let alone a Shadow Game, which brings terrible magic upon any cheaters or cowards.

HANNIBAL’S TURN: Hannibal rises to his feet quickly, his spirit unbroken. He still has Plan B. “I Summon Exodia the Forbidden One, equip it with Wonder Wand, then use its effect to Tribute it and draw 2.” Exodia, only a harmless head, appears, only vanish from the spell of a wand. “I play Monster Reborn to revive Exodia’s head and Tribute it to Summon The Legendary Exodia Incarnate!” The head revives and dies once more, an offering to a god, which finds the sacrifice to its liking. A raging fire erupts from the darkness, circling the field, a golden giant forms from the amber flames, primed for battle. Yet Hannibal holds off his attack. “I set two cards facedown end my turn, which means Exodia Incarnate lets me get back an Exodia piece.”

MATTHEW’S TURN: “How you manage to keep Artifacts and Exodia consistent in your Deck is a mystery to me. No matter, Exodia Incarnate is weak, with only 1000 ATK. You’ll need more Exodia pieces in your Graveyard to fight me.”

“We’ll see.” Hannibal said with confidence. “Don’t overlook a factor this time.”

“I don’t plan to. Crystal Wing, destroy Exodia!” This time the dragon absorbs Exodia’s power with its wings with its effect, adding its ATK to its own, then rains a hailstorm of crystals on a new target.

“I activate my Traps, Forbidden Sealing and Radio Half Life! I discard my Exodia piece to mill two more from my Deck and I banish Artifact Moralltach from my Graveyard! Trap combo, go!” Matthew watches in horror as Exodia’s power rises to 4000 ATK while his Crystal Wing dragon’s ATK drops to 3500. The Egyptian giant sends Matthew’s dragon flying to its death with one punch. (Matthew’s LP 3400 à 2900)

Matthew examines his field with dismay. His Decode Talker, being a Link Monster, cannot change into Defense Position. “I end my turn.”

HANNIBAL’S TURN: “Good! I activate Enchanted Exchange; I mill a Spellcaster and add a Fairy from my Deck to my hand, and I set a card facedown.” Exodia grows in strength to 5000 ATK. “Exodia, obliterate Decode Talker!” The giant burns Matthew’s only monster to ash. (Matthew LP 2900 à 200) Matthew howls in torment as the flames scorching his monster scorch him as well, the bond between him and his will manifest violently severed. Hannibal ends his turn, retrieving an Exodia piece to his hand.

Yugioh the Dark Dimension – Duel 4

AUTHOR’S NOTE: I really like the creative games in Yugioh YouTube channels like TheRarely’s and the strong games in Yugioh: Dark Side of Dimensions. I intend to make my games somewhere in between where characters use creative decks not limited to one archetype or combo but play efficient moves to not make the duels too tedious. A player should interact more with their opponents when they play. Way too many games you see players making a giant setup to make an OTK. That’s boring and I don’t want that in my duels unless in the middle or endgame.

Duel 4 – Ignition!!!

Mathias could not sleep this morning, his mind under the hardest pressure, the need to stop the Headmaster’s doomsday prophecy from coming true was first in his mind. Matthew was the Satanic Red Dragon, he knew it – or did he? – if he lost to Matthew the world would be doomed but if he defeated the young man… would that make him the true Red Dragon? His powerful Ka, Horus the Black Flame Dragon, did not help matters. He was not under this much pressure in his entire immortal life since World War II.

So Mathias decided to play a little game to calm his mind, and so he peeked into every lodging to see exactly what everyone else was up to: Maximus, Maria, Stella, Tamas, Rex, and Weevil were fast asleep in their bed, Maya and Matthew were missing. And he found Hannibal in the dining room. Mathias said hello to his comrade and Hannibal returned the gesture, then asked what was bothering him.

Mathias told him everything about the Headmaster’s prophecy, slightly relieved to talk to someone, and then let Hannibal speak out of courtesy. Hannibal told him the awful truths burdening him, speaking, “I know all about the prophecy; Maximus told me long ago, but my concern is more personal. I knew Matthew’s grandfather very well; he was a kind, wise, profound man, and I even privately taught Matthew about everything; archaeology, anthropology, history, art, culture, and so forth. Now that I see his moral decline, his dark powers, the threat he poses to everyone, I may need to kill him. No, I must kill him! It is my moral duty to prevent suffering in this world! But, what if it’s wrong? What if I overstepped into excess; from courage into rashness, from justice to dogma?”

“Whether the prophecy is true or not Matthew used dark magic for malice and he must be dealt with in a shadow game.” Mathias assured his friend. “I also worry about his rival.” And when Hannibal asked why, Mathias answered, “She too has a powerful and dangerous dragon Ka, she utterly defeated Matthew a long time ago, and in doing so caused his mental collapse and moral decline. She is the source of his rage and his ambition, which is how he grew into such a powerful thread as a duelist and a wielder of shadow magic.”

Hannibal prayed, “May God help us find the right path in the middle of the thorny woods.”

Meanwhile Maya enjoyed the breezy midnight beach outside, listening to the soothing waves, moving towards and away, towards and away… every star was in view on this remote island, opening the full cosmos to her. She climbed up the steep pyramid, keeping the Book of Isis in a bag close by her to keep it safe, and found Matthew on top of the pyramid. Her arrival prompted him to gaze away from the waves below and stars above, staring at her coldly, hate in his eyes; her blood froze.

He said, “What are you doing here? Wait until we duel, then tell me you’re sorry and beg for mercy.”

Maya retorted instantly, “I will never say sorry or beg you for mercy. I will fight you to the death, show you as much mercy as you showed to other people, but I do sometimes wonder if our fates could have been different. You and I had many chances to choose a different path; when I lost to you in the academy tryouts, when JC betrayed our team for prophet, even when we dueled again, but we persisted, not knowing what we were doing. And here we are, ready to kill each other. This is how our rivalry will end; we decided so.”

Matthew: “You don’t believe in Fate do you or other such magical nonsense women love?”

And Maya: “No, but I believe in the power we have in our choices in life, and how we must always be strong and accept the consequences. I didn’t care when I was teenager, I just wanted to shake things up and piss people like you off, but now I understand better. Killing Heishin taught me that. I am prepared to kill you as well and accept the results.”

And Matthew: “Oh, how responsible. Our little afro punk grew up to be a serious thinker. Congratulations.”

And Maya: “I can’t say the same about you. You just want to kill me no matter what. Tell me, what future do you have even if you defeat me?”

“None of that matters. You will one day realize that too.” Matthew said with finality.

Hours passed in silence, day broke, Kaiba and Pegasus made their way up the pyramid to its top, followed by every other finalist. Pegasus notice his two remaining finalists, “What, no breakfast? One shouldn’t duel on an empty stomach! If I may do the honors.” He handed each finalist one Millennium Item Card, just like the ones they had been collecting for the entire tournament; Mathias got the Millennium Puzzle, Tamas got the Millennium Eye, Stella got the Millennium Rod, Maria got the Millennium Scales, Hannibal got the Millennium Scales, Weevil got the Millennium Key, Hannibal got the Millennium Necklace, Matthew got the Millennium Cube, a secret eight Item, and Maya got the Millennium Ring.

“Now hold your cards to the sun!” Kaiba barked at them. “Each card casts a golden shadow only during a certain time of day; this is how we determine who duels!” The finalists did as they were told, the sun revealed who was to duel; Matthew’s and Hannibal’s cards cast golden shadows. Suddenly a golden platform rose beneath them, the capstone of the pyramid where the finalists would duel, and four cameras rose from the sides of the pyramid’s top to record each duel in 3D. “Now take your positions!” Kaiba ordered.

Hannibal confronted his former student, “Matthew, I beg you, please cease your revenge, it only causes destruction and misery. Think of your honor, of your grandfather; what would he say to you if he knew of all you had done?”

Matthew growled, “Shut up you naïve fool. You know nothing of my grandfather.” He sprung his new duel disk to life; lighting blue from his wrist to his shoulder, a device on his head began reading his brainwaves. A holographic deck appeared in his duel disk, Matthew drawing five cards. Hannibal did the same.

Matthew: 8000 || Hannibal: 8000

MATTHEW’S TURN: “I Summon Celeste Dragon!” Matthew’s holographic card vanishes, reforms on the field in a larger form, and vanishes again but in light as a transparent dragon made of tiny stars emerges from it. “I set 3 cards facedown. This will do.

HANNIBAL’S TURN: “Perhaps I should knock some sense into you. I Summon Traptrix Mymeleo!” Hannibal’s card vanishes and a young female magician and her pet plant take to the field together. He sets 4 cards facedown, ending his turn. “Every duelist who attacks me makes a fatal mistake. I have the high ground. Turn end.”

MATTHEW’S TURN: “Too bad this isn’t Star Wars, you punk, only coward play Traptrix. Celeste Dragon, tear apart his annoying little girl!” And his dragon breathes forth a supernova blast.

Hannibal sees everything coming at him. “I play Artifact Sanctum, summoning Artifact Beagalltach from my Deck, then using his power to destroy two of my facedown cards.” A huge broadsword appears, then manifests a spirit of itself so it can be used, to slice apart Hannibal’s cards. “I activate Artifact Moralltach and Artifact Scythe; I Summon them and use their other effects. A large sword and scythe rise from the Graveyard. “Moralltach, destroy Matthew’s Dragon an Scythe, paralyze his Extra Deck!” Moralltach decimates Celeste Dragon into stardust while Scythe binds its target with a dark spell.

 

Matthew is not amused, “Cute, but I mill Carboneddon to revive Celeste Dragon.” His creature reforms but with its battling power halved. “And I play my Trap; Dragonic Desperation!” Letting two more Celeste Dragons to appear.

Hannibal is once more prepared, “That is none of your business for now, but my Trap is: Bottomless Trap Hole!” And all of Matthew’s monsters vanish into a void.

Cringing in disappointment, Matthew plays a new card, “Dragon’s Mirage. I end my turn.” As he does so, he Summons 4 Dragons from his Deck, powerful new Hieratic Dragons, equal to the number of his old Dragons were destroyed; Hieratic Seal, Dragon Core Hexer, Hiertic Dragon of Su, but their ATK and DEF are halved.

HANNIBAL’S TURN: He is none too happy, for Matthew already swarmed the field! “I switch all my monsters to Defense Position and set 2 facedown cards.” His turn over, his opponent’s Continuous Trap, Dragonic Desperation, fades away per its effect.

Matthew snorts at this move, “You are a coward, Hannibal, you could have killed my weak Dragons. Are you scared of my Trap? Now I realize the morals you taught me are as useless and cowardly as you are.”

Matthew snorts at this move, “You are a coward, Hannibal, you could have killed my weak Dragons. Are you scared of my Trap? Now I realize the morals you taught me are as useless and cowardly as you are.”

MATTHEW’S TURN: “Let’s get this Duel really started, shall we?”

“I agree.” Hannibal shoots back, “Dimension Barrier, and I call Link monsters! There will be no Ultimaya Tzolkin combo on my watch.”

“Then I will rely on something else. I tribute Hieratic Dragon of Su to Summon Tongue Twister and use Su’s effect to destroy your facedown.” His blue dragon shattered, reforming into a giant ugly red-shape field, then Hannibal’s card is destroyed. However, Hannibal does benefit as he Summons Artifact Caduceus, an enchanted staff, to his field.

Matthew says, “You better watch this, Maya; see your own tactics used, as they should be, to truly destroy another human being! I overlay Hieratic Seal and Dragon Core Hexer to Xyz Summon Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon, then continue my overlay with Galaxy-Eyes Full Armor Photon Dragon, then Galaxy-Eyes Dark Matter Dragon!” His dragons fell into the overlay network wormhole, giving rise to a mighty interstellar dragon only for it to give rise to a new one, and then another new one. “I activate two of its effects. I mill 3 Dragons to my Graveyard, you banish 3 monsters, and I detach 1 Material to let it attack twice!”

Maya reflects on Matthew’s strategy from the sidelines. If Matthew uses her own ruthless moves, then she will face a mirror of herself in battle. If that is so, then it is another reason for her to grow beyond her past, beyond her limits.

Hannibal reminds Matthew he made a mistake; he did not activate Galaxy-Eyes Full Armor’s effect to pop an Artifact, to which Matthew response, “Of course not you idiot! As long as you have a full field you will struggle to kick your combos off, and I want to trample you down before you do that. I activate Dragon’s Rage so I can do piercing damage! Now, Dark Matter Dragon, destroy Artifact Caduceus and Traptrix Mymeleo!” The huge black dragon beats its wings, two black gales cut through Hannibal’s cards as knives, and push Hannibal staggering back. (Hannibal LP 8000 à 5200)

“Clever,” The old man admits. “But not enough to beat me. I Summon Artifact Vajra from my hand and with his appearance my entire back row is destroyed.” A magical vaijra manifests a blue spirit to wield it and shatters Hannibal’s cards with lightning bolts, which only brings out more Artifacts. “I activate Artifact Sanctum and my second Artifact Moralltach in my Graveyard; you’re attackers are destroyed!” A new Artifact emerges from the dusty Graveyard, and Matthew’s aggressing fiend and dragon burst into flames.

“I’m not done yet, old man.” Matthew insults his opponent. “I banish Tongue Twister to draw 2 cards and set 1 facedown.”

HANNIBAL’S TURN: “Brace yourself Matthew! I will put an end to your ways! I link 2 Moralltach and 1 Scythe to Link Summon Artifact Uraniawar, then overlay Vaijra and Beagalltach to Xyz Summon Shark Fortress!” Three of Hannibal’s Artifacts fall into three arrows on the edges of a square portal, lighting them, allowing a new Artifact a be Summoned; a rocket-like missile manifesting a black spirit to carry it. The two remaining Artifact’s fall into an overlay network, letting shark-shaped submarine to cross to the other side.

Stella grabs Maya, points at Hannibal’s new Artifact, “Is that nuke?”

Maya answers, “Yes. Uranium is the antique weapon of our times.”

“Wow, that is… profound. Who knew Pegasus cared so much about the future of the human race.”

“He is the sensitive artist type, after all.”

Banter aside, Hannibal announced, “Preparations are complete, Matthew. The rash man only blunders. Now I am ready to attack!”

“You only attack when you’re certain you won’t be challenged. Are you moderate, or mediocre?”

“I detach 1 Material from Shark Fortress, now attack Matthew directly twice!” His submarine strikes Matthew with two torpedoes, blasting his opponent’s Life away. (Matthew LP 8000 à 3400) Hannibal is just about to cripple Matthew for good but he pauses midway in declaring his attack.