Bitter cold.
Such bitter cold that the air itself felt filled with hidden blades that tore at both throat and lungs with every breath. The city slept – in hibernation under the combined onslaught of the winter and the night. Still, the gentle glow of the streetlights bathed the walkways of Domino City. It was as if an angel was attempting to extend just one mercy to any poor soul forced to be outside that night.
In a quiet city park, a man sat hunched over against a bench. The man’s body was deathly still. His fingers were blackened with frostbite. Snow coated his ragged beard, and no heartbeat stirred in his chest.
A solitary snowflake settled on the dead man's cheek, and then in a flash, his eyes burst open. At first his arms moved in the creaky manner of a man once frozen, but soon the rest of his body surged with life. Frost crackled as his legs unfolded from where they had been resting near his chest, throwing the accumulated snow off his ragged pants. His eyes were wide with shock, perhaps still stunned by his abrupt awakening. It was as if his mind, still attempting to grapple with some sort of recent traumatic event, was not properly in synch with his body, which was still dealing with being partially frozen.
The man's mouth moved next - weak coughs growing to scattered laughs that turned into strings of hoarse, foul curses thrown haphazardly into the frozen night air.
"SON OF A FUCKING BITCH! LUMINA! WHAT THE FUCK!”
Domino City Park, once muffled under a thick blanket of snow, was silent no more.
While the man waited for whatever answer would come, if any at all, his shaking hands began to rub at his face. Then he began to speak into thin air, directing his words at no one in particular. In a matter of seconds, his demeanor had changed from shock, to rage, to curious contemplation. Though underneath it all, rage still quietly simmered, waiting only for a target to direct itself against.
"Beard? Never been a fan, but worth trying. Two eyes, good. Three missing teeth, two feet, worn out shoes but still technically usable. Battered coat... but long enough to reach past my knees. Taller but skinnier than last time. Frostbite on the fingers, ouch. Beard, voice pitch, height, general scruffiness..."
The man fell silent after making those observations about his current physical state, chewing on his next words with no small sense of resignation now that his shock had passed.
"Well, the good news is that I'm not a fucking kid this time. Bad news? Looks like I'm a bum living in a park. Great. And it's cold as shit. I fucking swear if the Lightsworns are behind this again, I’ll burn their offices down. I bet Lumina would give me their address. Hell, she’d probably drive me there with how she used to talk about them.”
A movement came from the breast pocket of Phil’s coat, though that pocket was no more than a scrap of cloth desperately hanging on to the piece of clothing for all it had. Phil looked down to see a small green creature, one that could comfortably fit in the middle of his palm, squeaking at him with a look of mild displeasure and… beneath that, hunger. An ever-growing hunger.
For a moment, the tadpole in Phil’s breast pocket blurred, its form replaced by a yawning black void, with several star-like pink eyes scattered amongst the darkness. Whispers came from that void, both much too faint to fully understand, yet strangely familiar at the same time. It was all scraps, languages blurring together in a mix of Japanese, Italian, and English. Then Phil blinked, and the tadpole was back.
Phil smiled at the miniature duel spirit. “D.3.S. Frog! Hey buddy! Don’t worry, I’ll find us some bad guys to feed you as soon as I can. This looks like a big city, there has to be a few assholes around here somewhere. The flesh of his enemies, that’s the stuff a growing lad needs to be a big frog again!”
The murderous tadpole squeaked in hearty agreement, before hopping out of the pocket to burrow into the collar of Phil’s coat for more warmth. Enemies. Phil had a feeling he would find some eventually. That’s what always seemed to happen in situations like this, and restoring his duel spirit back to full strength was the least he could do after D.3.S. Frog saved his life at the academy.
He wasn't alone, at least. The reminder was a small comfort in between the terrifying yet brief memory that replayed over and over in his head, the memory of a truck rushing toward him, followed by a flash of extreme pain.
After a few minutes of (somewhat) patient silence from Phil, the air shimmered, the flurries of snow parting to reveal a tanned woman in a sleeveless dress of pure white.
"No need to yell, Phil. I can hear you just fine. Are you a crackhead this time? You need a haircut." The woman replied, sweeping a hand through her short golden hair. There was an otherworldly air to the woman, and unlike Phil, she stood unbothered by the cold.
Phil glared at Lumina, but then his hostility fell away as quickly as it arrived. He flashed a crooked smile, one that Lumina returned alongside a bone-crushing hug that drove the breath right out of Phil's lungs. The hug was enough to lift Phil in the air a few centimeters, even though unlike before, he was now taller than Lumina.
"Sucks to be here again, but I'm glad to see you, Lumina. It's been too long."
Phil was let loose from the hug of terrifying force and while Lumina's face tightened as she worked over what to say next, Phil studied his friend.
The duel spirit looked just like she had when they'd last parted, but at a closer examination he could see bags under her eyes, stray ends of hair poking out of her otherwise neat hairdo, and the golden tassels lining the bottom edges of her dress were frayed. Life clearly hadn't been kind to her in the time they were apart.
"So, what's the scoop?" Phil asked, trying not to think about the crackhead remark (which he had a feeling was quite accurate) while he looked around the park. Aside from him and Lumina, there were no other living souls in the park, but in the distance, he could see small pinpricks of light underneath a large stone bridge. Already his mind was only halfway focused on the conversation, with the other half running through a very short list of options on how to get even the slightest bit of warmth back in his bones. He was quite familiar with how dangerous it would be to stay as cold as he was for a long period of time.
Lumina shrugged helplessly, the action causing the pit in the bottom of Phil's stomach to grow.
"Nothing. No mission. You aren't supposed to be here."
"So I died for nothing and still ended up here." Phil murmured, absentmindedly stroking his beard while he thought. His beard felt rough and half-frozen to the touch; the hair littered with crystals of ice that scraped against the rough skin on his hands.
"It was different this time. A truck, I think. Big one. Hit me when I was crossing the street. I didn’t even have time to react. Then I woke up here."
"Internal hemorrhaging," Lumina added. "That's what I read in your report. Shortest one I've ever seen for a death. That made me suspect someone tampered with it, so I did some digging on my own."
That caught Phil's attention. With his eyebrows raised, he stared at Lumina.
"You did die of internal hemorrhaging after being hit by a truck. Only it wasn't an ordinary accident. The truck was driven by Ryko. He'd ingested enough alcohol and cocaine to kill a grown man ten times over. None of that was in the report. I only found out about it by accident at a company retreat when I heard the dog bastard laughing about it with Gragonith. About how he misread the paperwork involving you. About how he got off scot-free after causing an unauthorized reincarnation. Got it covered up and everything.”
Lumina sighed, scuffing her white slippers against the ground. “I tried to protest it, but it only got me demoted all~ the way back down to the bottom ranks. They were already angry about how much I helped you last time, but this was the tipping point. After that, I snuck off to find you as soon as I could. I doubt headquarters even noticed I left."
"Isn't Ryko a dog?" Phil asked. Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter. He’d used a Lightsworn deck in tournaments back in his world, so the card wasn’t unknown to Phil.
"Yeah. Why?"
"Well," He gestured helplessly, "Dogs can't drive."
"Don’t tell Ryko that! He's gone mad with power ever since that misogynistic piece of trash Judgment Dragon gave him a manager position out of the blue!"
The tension brought forward by the truth behind Phil's death deflated like a popped balloon. Phil let out a short laugh and shook his head in weary acceptance.
"Here we go again, huh? Do I even have a chance at getting back this time? Or your job, you risked it for me.”
"I… don’t know. Normally there would be a task for you, like last time. But there isn’t. And the Lightsworn Corporation can bugger off.” Lumina flashed a sad smile. “We’ll figure something out. I know we will. Now how about we find somewhere to get out of the cold first?"
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The next day saw a cold sunrise spreading over the city. It had not taken long for Phil and Lumina to conclude the previous night that the options for shelter were… limited. Extremely. Mainly for the obvious reason that Phil was a grimy vagabond and no one in their right mind would ever let him come into any sort of building that could get him out of the snow. Thus, the pair settled for the next best thing – under the bridge Phil saw from the park. The pinpricks of light under it told a story of other people down on their luck having that same idea.
There were two steel barrels resting underneath the stone bridge. Perhaps at one point in time, they had held oil or some sort of other material for transport, but now their tops were struck off to allow the interiors to be stuffed full of flammable materials and set alight for warmth. Phil had settled near one of them and, while thinking about how to take care of his problems, fell asleep until morning.
A few feet away, a small river sluggishly flowed under the bridge to distant lands. It was the main culprit behind Phil’s journey into dreamland. The ambient noise of its burbling was strangely peaceful when combined with the view of the snow falling beyond the shelter of the bridge.
As he woke, Phil’s eyes darted around to get a grasp of the situation. Several other men, all as bedraggled and scraggly as he was, sat around the fire barrels in utter silence. Some of the men were asleep, some unconscious, but others simply stared into the depths of the dancing flames with empty eyes devoid of any emotion. None of them acknowledged Phil, though none of them drove him away, either.
Nothing about them had changed since Phil had first seen them the previous night. Nearby, Lumina leaned against one of the concrete support beams of the bridge, her arms crossed and her face unreadable. To all but Phil, she went completely unseen. She didn’t look to have gotten a single wink of sleep over the night, though he wasn’t sure if duel spirits even needed to sleep in the first place.
Phil sat up. The chill couldn’t be shaken completely from his body, but already he was feeling far better than when he had first opened his eyes in the park. The benefits of a full eight-hour rest always managed to amaze him every time.
“Right. What now? No cards, no money, no food, no identification or papers that could be counted as such.” Phil muttered to himself, counting each problem out on his fingers one by one. The blackened tips of his fingers had finally begun to regain some color after sticking them as close to the fire as he could for as long as he dared. “This isn't like last time when I woke up in a cozy apartment. I have shelter if the bridge can be counted as one. Hopefully I don't get stabbed in my sleep. Water can be taken from the river and boiled. Fire is right in front of me. That’s three of the four basic needs right there. Silver lining, ay?”
Lumina shifted in place from where she stood. If any of the other men around the fire cared that from their point of view, Phil was talking to thin air, none of them showed it. None of them even reacted to Phil’s words, either out of apathy, ignorance, or just being caught up in their own worlds.
“What now…” Lumina echoed Phil’s earlier question, seemingly unsure herself. Phil, however, stood up, his joints creaking in protest after the long night spent laying on hard dirt with only a threadbare coat to wrap around them.
With his hands stuck in the battered pockets of his coat, Phil walked out from under the stone bridge, hissing from the cold wind that battered him from all sides. He glanced at the skyline of the city before him, grunting at what he saw, but keeping his observations to himself.
“We walk," Phil said. “We walk, we talk, we observe, and we try to figure a way out of this mess. I want to go back home. Killing Ryko with my bare hands would be a bonus. What do you want?”
“I… I’m not even sure if I want my old job back anymore. As for Ryko, you’ll have to get in line after me.” Lumina frowned. Her white dress shone under the cold sunlight of the winter morning. The slight scruffiness of it was gone, Lumina having done some sort of maintenance on the clothing while Phil slept.
“Those guys at the officer are a bunch of flaming cunts, huh? Guess we already knew that.” Phil summarized, and Lumina flashed a smile toward him in agreement. But then, she paused as Phil stepped onto the street leading toward the city center. There were no cars about, but the snowplows had done an admirable job in clearing the streets so that they were easy to move around on.
The sidewalks, however, were still covered in a good foot or two of snow. The roads were lined with shops, some made from stone, others from brick, and more of wood. Each building was like a bubble of life in a city made quiet by the heavy snowfall. The soft chatter of customers and the enthusiastic shouts of salesmen leaked out of the doors of each business, only to be muffled by the snowy blanket covering the streets.
“If I don’t go back, what would I even do? Phil… I’m a corporate duel spirit. All I know is the Lightsworn Corporation. I’ve been pushing papers and answering calls there for countless millennia. I don’t even remember what I did before that.”
Sometimes, Phil truly forgot how old Lumina was. How old all duel spirits were. It was a sobering thought, and the pair fell into a companionable silence until Phil came face to face with a familiar sight, though it was one he was far more used to seeing in the black-and-white colors of a manga panel.
Before him, there was a storefront that was longer than it was wide. Tan colors wrapped around it, with a roof that was a bright green hue. Near the top of the building on the front were bold red letters that formed the word ‘GAME’, and a sign sticking out from the ground right next to the building was a turtle, with the word ‘Kame’ detailed neatly under it.
“Kame Game.” Phil reverently whispered. The morning was still early and quite cold, but the front door of the game store had a warm neon ‘open’ sign blazing a bright green and red color. He moved closer, peering through the windows to get a better look into the store. Though the rest of the street was empty, aside from two sleazy-looking men in suits on the opposite side of the street smoking against a storefront, the game store itself was packed to the brim with people.
No matter how much Phil tried to steady himself, his hands still shook out of pure excitement from seeing the famous shop. More than that, the scene playing out before him told Phil precisely where he was, far more than simply knowing the name of the city he was in.
“Do you know where we are?” Lumina asked, leaning in close to him so she could see into the store as well. From her tone, it sounded like a rhetorical question, but Phil put his mind to it regardless.
At first, he wasn’t sure, but as the night went on his suspicions had deepened. With the Lightsworn Corporation involved, the odds were high that he was dumped in some fictional world. He didn’t recognize it at first. Not one single part. But when the day broke, Phil knew in an instant.
“I can see a Kaiba Corp skyscraper in the distance.” Phil tilted his head in the vague direction of the skyscraper in the skyline behind him. “Saw it as soon as I walked out from under that bridge. That means Yu-Gi-Oh. Domino City, if I were a betting man. That’s where all the magic happens. Here’s Kame Games in front of us, which means DM or GX. It also confirms my Domino City guess.”
Phil then turned to look back to the store windows. “From there it gets narrowed down even further since I can see Yugi’s Grandpa in his shop standing right next to a big sign saying ‘New Game!’ with the words ‘Duel Monsters learn to play day!’ underneath. If Duel Monsters is still considered a new game, we can only be in DM. As for what version, anime or manga, I can’t say for sure. Unlike GX, the only major difference between the two are several filler arcs that I never bothered to be familiar with.”
“Duel Monsters.” Lumina confirmed.
Phil nodded. Duel Monsters, or DM for short, was the generally accepted name of the first run of the Yu-Gi-Oh manga and anime. It followed the adventures of Yugi Muto as he fought for life, death, and friendship in a children’s card game alongside an occasionally homicidal spirit of an ancient pharaoh that would possess the boy whenever shit got real. Well, calling Atem ‘homicidal’ maybe went a bit far. Sure, there were some bodies dropping early on, but once Death-T concluded, the guy really mellowed out. A lot less torture and a lot more friendship.
All-in-all, it could be worse. Now the only question remained – was this the anime, the manga, or a mixed timeline like it was in his last experience reincarnating?
Phil shook his head, partly to clear his thoughts, and partly to dump the handful of snow that had fallen from the eaves of the window onto the top of his head. He probably shouldn’t go in. Odds were he’d get kicked out for being a sketchy fella. Heck, he probably smelled like something that crawled into the sewers to die. Hopefully not.
However, his hands were already pulling open the door. Not only was this a chance for him to meet the Solomon Muto in person, but… from the window, he’d also seen Yugi Muto in the store, assisting with the learn-to-play day. If he got kicked out, then so be it. As long as Phil got the chance to meet one of his childhood heroes, he could deal with it.
As soon as Phil entered the shop, the grey-haired man in green overalls glanced at him. There was no flicker of disgust or alarm that went through the elderly man’s eyes, only a warm glow of welcome which felt like it was melting the cold off Phil’s shoulders alongside the heated interior of the game store.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“Ohoho! Welcome, welcome to Kame Game!” Solomon Muto opened his arms wide in greeting toward Phil. “My newfound friend, my name is Solomon Muto! I do not believe I have seen you around here before! May I have the honor of knowing your name?”
There was just something about the kind grandfatherly aura surrounding the man that made Phil cheerily smile back in response.
“Ah, I’m new here in town. I saw through the window that today's a learn-to-play day. It got me curious, I admit, since I’m somewhat familiar with this game myself. The name’s Phil Jenson, nice to meet’cha.” Phil responded in polite tones that were somewhat unusual for him, but there was something about Solomon’s aura that made him consciously want to watch his mouth.
Solomon enthusiastically nodded, beckoning for Phil to step closer to a table that had several people already crowded around it, a mix of students, a few young children, and a smattering of adults. Yugi Muto was amongst them, teaching a loud blond teen how to play, a teen that Phil recognized after a moment as Joey Wheeler. The sight was another confirmation of where exactly in the timeline this was, as Joey was clearly having a good time playing against Yugi, something that wouldn’t have happened if the bully arc was still happening.
“Somewhat familiar, you say? My good man, that makes the duelist in me all the more excited to face you! Our battle shall be legendary!” Solomon grinned once Phil was opposite of him at the table. Lumina doubled over, concealing her laughter at the man’s antics almost well enough that Phil didn’t notice. Almost.
“Do you have a deck you prefer, or would you like to try a test deck I put together for this day?”
“I’m a bit strapped on cash, mate, so I’ll give that test deck of yours a spin.” Phil helplessly shrugged. Interestingly enough, Solomon merely smiled a mysterious smile, sliding a deck over to Phil, who picked it up and quickly skimmed through the contents. Then Solomon motioned for Phil to take a seat.
Phil’s smile grew larger. “Interesting.”
“Ohohoho! Comments like that make this old duelist even more eager than ever!” Solomon said, his hand dipping into his pocket to reveal an ancient-looking copper coin. One end sported a faded engraving of a bearded man’s head, with flowing locks of hair, while the other side bore the symbol of an eagle. The coin was rough, circular yet with jagged edges.
“Now, my newfound friend, heads or tails?”
“Heads, always.” Phil said.
The coin flew into the air, the lights of the game store flashing against its shiny surface. Then, it fell onto Solomon’s palm and was quickly slapped onto the back of his hand.
“Heads it is.” Solomon confirmed.
Phil glanced around the store. It was practically filled to the brim with tables surrounded by people playing the game. There was barely any room to walk around. Even the aisles between shelves had been commandeered for more tables. Conversation filled the air with a low hum, occasionally broken up by shouts from Joey as he got his ass beat two ways to Sunday by Yugi while his friend, Tristan Taylor, watched with great mirth. Tea Gardner was nowhere to be seen, nor was Bakura Ryou.
Contrary to the freezing cold of the outside, the world within the game store pulsed with the sort of warmth capable of filling Phil’s core to the very brim.
“I’ll let you go first.” Phil confirmed as both men drew their starting hands, with Solomon drawing another card to start his turn, putting his hand at six cards.
Phil: 4000 Solomon: 4000
Phil’s eyebrows raised slightly. A draw on the first turn… and if he wasn’t mistaken, the electronic life point counter on the table read 4000 points for each player. The first turn draw was simple. It was early enough in the game’s history for it to be during the period where the player going first did indeed get to draw a card on the first turn. But the life points? He knew quite well that at this point in the anime/manga, it should have been 2000 points per player. That, and the game being a mix between actual Yu-Gi-Oh! and a role-playing game (like Dungeons and Dragons), were two of the big differences between how it was played in real life and in the media.
Yet, the life points were different. Phil instantly became more alert, watching Solomon’s every move for further changes to what he knew. Behind him, Lumina sidled up closer, having instantly noticed the changes in Phil’s posture that told her something unexpected had happened.
Solomon, completely unaware of Phil’s internal turmoil, gracefully went along with his turn.
“Griffore (1200/1500), in defense mode! Then one card face-down, and I shall end my turn!”
Unlike what Phil was used to back in his academy days, there were no holograms here. Instead, the red winged monster looked at him innocently through the frame of the card. Phil’s first thought, as he began his turn and drew a card, was to completely disregard the monster Solomon had summoned. 1500 defense points were something he was used to considering as shit.
Yet once he glanced at his hand, Phil was reminded of the era.
In this era of the game, 1500 attack points or defense points was actually pretty solid. In fact, it wasn’t even a number Phil could get over at this time.
"Interesting," Phil smirked, internally laughing at how crazy it was that he couldn't get over 1500 defense points. “I’ll summon Giant Rat (1400/1450) in defense position.”
"Ah, and when you do," Solomon gently spoke up, flipping over his face-down card, "I activate the continuous trap card, The Eye of Truth! While this trap remains on the field, you must keep your hand revealed! Though, as a downside, during each of your standby phases, you will gain 1000 life points if you have a spell card in your hand."
Phil laughed, revealing his hand to his opponent. He did indeed have a spell card in his hand, Polymerization, but it was currently his main phase, so he wouldn’t gain life points until his next turn. The Eye of Truth. Truly, he never expected to ever see that card outside of some gimmicky burn deck.
“Interesting hand, my friend,” Solomon Muto muttered, his free hand stroking his short grey beard as he looked at what cards Phil had. “I must be careful, then.”
“Your trap is pretty handy right now, huh?” Phil said, ignoring Lumina miming the act of vomiting in the face of Phil’s terrible pun. Solomon, however, found Phil’s horrendous sense of humor a bit more amusing, adding his gentle laughter to the din that filled the store.
“I’ll finish up my turn by setting a trap that you totally don’t know about, and then that’s all.”
“Hmm.” Solomon nodded with a serious look that only partially hid the joviality the man truly felt. “I draw! Come to me, Celtic Guardian (1400/1200)!”
“Celtic Guardian~!” Phil cheered, dragging out the name in joy of seeing the iconic card.
“That’s not all!” Solomon raised his pointer finger in the air, “For I equip my Griffore with the equip spell card, Horn of the Unicorn! This allows my monster to gain 700 attack and defense points! Then I switch him to attack mode!”
Griffore (1200/1500 -> 1900/2200).
Phil stumbled back, holding his hand over his heart in a show of fear that was only partially a joke. 1900 attack points would take some legitimate tomfoolery to deal with, but that wasn't all. He also knew full well from his experience with old jank formats that even if he killed Griffore, Horn of the Unicorn had a caveat that would see it return to the top of Solomon's deck if it was sent to the graveyard. Meaning, as long as Solomon had monsters in his hand, he could keep abusing that scary 700 stat point boost each turn. Though, on the flip side, Phil knew all too well that the recursion effect was a drawback in its own way.
See, the thing about it returning to the top of the deck after being sent to the graveyard was that it would essentially replace Solomon's draw. Meaning, that if Phil could destroy his monsters fast enough, Solomon would be forced to choose between keeping the equip spell in his hand, or risking running out of monsters entirely.
The problem would be destroying the equipped monsters fast enough.
“Griffore, advance upon my opponent! Destroy Giant Rat!” Solomon commanded the inanimate piece of cardstock to attack Phil’s defending monster.
Phil shrugged. “You know what that means. Giant Rat’s effect activates when it dies, allowing me to summon one earth monster with 1500 or fewer attack points from my deck in attack position. Come on out, Nimble Momonga (1000/100)!”
But as soon as the flying squirrel-esque creature landed on the field, Celtic Guardian was commanded to attack it, sending Phil’s monster flying into the graveyard.
"Momonga's effect triggers," Phil countered, "healing me for 1000 life points and letting me summon two more Nimble Momonga from my deck in face-down defense position."
Phil: 4600 Solomon: 4000
“A sound strategy.” Solomon mused. “It seems that my ‘all-seeing eye’ strategy will be working against me soon enough. Very good, my friend! I end my turn!”
“You built this deck,” Phil reminded the old man, “Ya shoulda’ known, big dawg.”
Solomon grinned and shrugged. “Phil, my boy, I may have built it to the best of my ability, but my honor as a duelist demands that I scourge all prior knowledge of your deck from my mind.”
Phil couldn’t have said the words better himself. He launched into his turn, side-eyeing the life point counter with a grin as Solomon Muto’s trap increased his life points by 1000 for the Polymerization spell card in his hand during the standby phase.
As Phil checked out his new card, Solomon’s eyebrows drew slightly higher, something that Phil only barely noticed. Frankly, he didn’t blame the man, for in his hand was the way to tear through Solomon’s Horn of the Unicorn combo.
“First thing’s first, I activate the effect of Thunder Dragon in my hand!” Phil cheerfully declared, “By discarding it to the graveyard, I can add up to two more copies of Thunder Dragon from my deck to my hand. I’ll add the full two, of course. Not only that, but since I discarded a card from my hand, a continuous trap of my own activates! Forced Requisition! From now on, each time I discard from my hand, you will have to discard the same number of cards!”
Phil leaped into his next play, hardly pausing for a breath. “Then up next is Polymerization! Fusing both my Thunder Dragons, I summon Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon (2800/2100)!”
That was another thing Phil noticed was wildly different from what he expected. At this point during the anime and manga, fusion monsters should have been different. Most of them were inside the main deck, needing only to be summoned like normal, and the rest were created off-the-cuff by the duelist, like the fusion between Mammoth Graveyard and Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon in Duelist Kingdom.
However, when Solomon Muto gave Phil the loaner deck, two piles were specifically handed over. One was a main deck, around 40 cards in size from his rough estimate.
The other pile was entirely made of fusion monsters, kept specifically separate by Solomon, who had a similar pile of cards separated from the main deck on his side of the table. The information fueled Phil’s curiosity like dry wood fed to a hungry bonfire. If this many things were different than what he expected, what else was new?
But that hardly mattered at the moment. There would be time to ponder his questions later. For now, Phil had a big beatstick which was perfect for saying ‘fuck you’ to the horny Griffore.
“Aight, my dragon is pretty hungry. Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon, destroy Griffore!”
Phil: 4600 Solomon: 3100
Though there were no holograms to be seen, in Phil’s mind he could imagine the gaping maw of his thunder dragon monster tearing the puny Griffore to pieces. It wasn’t a perfect image, but it would have to do until holograms were introduced in Duelist Kingdom, whenever that ended up happening.
Then Phil cocked his head slightly to the side in thought. That’s right, holograms were introduced before that, in Death-T by Kaiba.
Interesting.
With that food for thought, Phil ended his turn. Solomon drew his Horn of the Unicorn, freshly returned to the top of his deck with the death of Griffore. Yet despite that setback, the old man hardly seemed concerned, but instead looked outright giddy at the circumstances. That giddiness spread quickly to Phil, and in the corner of his eye, he could even see Lumina smiling as she watched the duel.
Phil had forgotten how much he’d missed this. The only things absent were Bastion’s analytic observations, floating among the air with the voices from the rest of the old crew. For the briefest of moments, Phil’s smile fell as he sank into old memories. But as soon as Solomon made his next move, Phil snapped back to the present.
“Well played.” Solomon praised Phil, “but it seems an old friend of mine isn’t willing to throw in the towel just yet. I summon Kuriboh (300/200) in defense mode, switching Celtic Guardian to defense as well! Then I will place two cards face-down, and thus my turn ends!”
The first word appearing in Phil’s mind, blaring a klaxon alarm alongside bright red font, was the word TRAP. Kuriboh was a card that tended to stick in the hand, mainly to get the best use out of its effect. The effect was rather useful, allowing it to be discarded from the hand during a monster attack to reduce the battle damage to zero. It was an effect that Yami Yugi had used constantly in the manga, oftentimes to save his own ass before turning the duel upside-down in his favor.
So, a summoned Kuriboh, alongside two fresh face-downs? It was either a trap or a hell of a bluff.
Yet, as Phil drew a card, his lack of spells in his hand meaning he would gain no life points in the standby phase, he knew there was little that could be done about it…
“Unless I meet it straight on!” Phil shouted triumphantly! Yes, it was his favorite strategy, one that in less polite company he would refer to as ‘going balls deep’. Sure, there could be a Mirror Force. But on the other hand, he had no way to destroy the backrow at this moment and giving Solomon the chance to accumulate tribute fodder (which he fully expected to be a thing since so many other parts of the game were different from the anime/manga) would be a mistake.
“I’ll flip one Nimble Momonga face-up to attack mode, and go right to my battle phase!” Phil declared. “Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon, destroy Celtic Guardian!”
“A bold move.” Solomon said with praise in his voice, “Yet I cannot allow that to pass. The first of my face-down cards activates! The quick-play spell card Multiply, which in return for tributing my Kuriboh, summons as many Kuriboh Tokens (300/200) as possible in defense mode. That’ll be four in total, as my Celtic Guardian still occupies my fifth monster card zone. Then, before your attack can hit home, the second part of my combo activates! First they multiply, and then they explode! Quick-play spell, Detonate, activates! By destroying all my Kuriboh tokens, I can destroy an equal number of cards on your field!”
Phil laughed, letting out a loud whoop of joy that filled the game store, quickly echoed by Joey Wheeler as he too got wombo-comboed by Yugi Muto in the most brutal of fashions. Lumina stumbled back, her hand held over her heart in mock, exaggerated shock. One by one Phil's entire board was destroyed. Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon, both Nimble Momongas, and Forced Requisition all plummeted into the depths of his graveyard. Worst of all, the effect of Nimble Momonga wouldn’t activate in this situation, as the required trigger was battle destruction, not effect destruction, or destruction in general. They had to be destroyed by battle.
“Phil’s down! Will he ever recover? Send in the refs and the doctors!” Lumina exclaimed between bouts of laughter.
“Oh boy, good thing I held some things back,” Phil whistled, still impressed by the blowout three-card combo that was thrown in his face just a moment before. "I place one monster in face-down defense position and end my turn."
Solomon began his turn with a knowing grin toward Phil’s face down, its name already known to him because of The Eye of Truth.
“My apologies, but it appears the counter to your monster is within my grasp. Here's my spell card, Nobleman of Crossout! Your face-down monster is destroyed, and since it's a flip effect monster, both of us will banish all copies of that monster from our decks!”
Phil scowled, flipping the monster over to reveal Bubonic Vermin, a handy creature that could summon another copy of itself from the deck as a flip effect. It was banished, along with two more copies of it from Phil’s deck, and three copies from Solomon’s deck.
“Every advantage gained has a price to pay,” Solomon shrugged, “Bubonic Vermin is powerful. Though would have loved to use it myself, I cannot allow you to wield that power at this moment. Now! Celtic Guardian becomes equipped with the Horn of the Unicorn! Then to my field, I call upon the strength of Beaver Warrior (1200/1500)!”
Celtic Guardian (1400/1200 -> 2100/1900).
There was nothing Phil could do to prevent the damage. Both monsters attacked directly, cutting out a large chunk of his life points and putting Phil squarely on the back foot once more.
Phil: 1300 Solomon: 3100
But as Phil began his turn, the glimmers of determination and joy never left his eyes.
“Oh~, looks like I’ve got a spell card,” Phil announced, meaning his life points were increased by 1000. “I’ll keep it for later, though. It’ll be more useful in my second main phase, for now I summon Rescue Cat (300/100)!”
Seeing the cute cat sporting a yellow hard hat and a safety whistle in his hand a few turns prior had surprised Phil, since he knew the card wasn’t released until one of the sets right before the change of eras from DM to GX, but he wasn’t one to complain about the additional oddity heaped onto the already large pile of strangeness.
“Rescue Cat won’t hang around long, though, because I use its effect to tribute itself in return for summoning two level three or lower beast monsters from my deck!”
This was a play Phil hadn’t made for many years, not since Rescue Cat was errata’d in the real world. The errata, otherwise known as an official change in the card text, was made to balance Rescue Cat, changing it so that the effects of the monsters it summoned would be negated. Yet, when Phil saw the card in his hand, he noted instantly that the text was that of the original. This was something that had occasionally happened in his previous reincarnation, with some cards having their newer erratas, and some not.
Meaning, he could make a funny play.
“Come on out, The Wicked Worm Beast (1400/700), all two of them!”
The disgusting creature, covered in worms and tentacles that crawled through what had once been an ordinary humanoid monster, was nothing out of the ordinary, other than it sported 1400 attack points. Yet, its usefulness would be revealed soon enough.
Phil pointed right toward Beaver Warrior. “Wicked Worm beast, strike down his beaver!”
Phil: 1300 Solomon: 2900
Once Beaver Warrior was destroyed, however, Phil went right into his second main phase, revealing the spell he’d drawn at the start of his turn.
“Now that you only have one monster on the field, I activate my Fissure spell! It destroys the weakest monster you control, meaning your boosted Celtic Guardian bites the dust!”
Solomon Muto sent the elf warrior to the graveyard with a wry smile, fully appreciating Phil’s trick.
“Now on to my end phase. Of course, normally Rescue Cat’s effect would destroy my two monsters at the end of my turn. But before that happens, The Wicked Worm Beasts have effects of their own! During my end phase, they get returned to my hand!”
“Meaning they will not be on the field in time for their own destruction.” Solomon mused thoughtfully.
“Yup.” Phil agreed. “So, next turn if I don’t draw anything better, I still have two 1400 attack point bruisers in my hand to work with.”
Phil, of course, did not mention this play was only possible due to Rescue Cat being pre-errata in this world for some reason.
Solomon hummed thoughtfully as he began his turn.
“Unfortunately, that move of yours has also put you at a disadvantage. With no monsters on the field, you are now susceptible to my Mystical Elf (800/2000)! Furthermore, the Horn of the Unicorn is still at my fingertips! I equip my attack position Mystical Elf with the fabled horn of legend, and strike your life points directly!
Mystical Elf (800/2000 -> 1500/2700).
Phil: 0 Solomon: 2900
Phil leaned back and closed his eyes. That was game. As Solomon knew full well from the information gained through The Eye of Truth, there was no Kuriboh in Phil’s hand. Out of curiosity, Phil slid the top card off his deck to see what he would have drawn next.
“Ha! Looks like the heart of the cards was with you instead of me, Solomon!” He laughed to himself, angling the card so Lumina could see it.
“Mirror Force.” Lumina giggled, “You never did have Jaden’s level of luck.”
That was true. Jaden always had the knack for drawing the right card at the right time. Phil, however, had to make do with deckbuilding and hope. Or, as Bastion would put it, ‘meticulous calculations’. As in Bastion would make the calculations and Phil would nod along with whatever his buddy came up with.
Noticing the curiosity mirrored in Solomon’s eyes, Phil showed him the trap card that was on top of his deck, causing Solomon to join in Phil’s uproarious laughter.
“My boy, that would have truly been my end!” Solomon exclaimed, revealing what was in his hand for Phil to see. “Mystical Elf was the last monster in my hand.”
“Meaning I would have gotten a free turn with Mirror Force destroying your elf and spinning your horn back to the top of your deck. Well played, dude."
"Well played indeed." Solomon echoed.
With the duel over, Phil got up, fully intending to amble around the crowded shop for as long as Solomon would let his scruffy self remain. The place was warm and there was a ton of entertainment to be had. But, before Phil could move away, Solomon Muto spoke once more.
“My friend, I am an old man, and my memory is not what it used to be. Yet, is that not your deck on the table? You should keep a closer eye on it, in case any other duelists seek to test your might today, or any other day.”
“Isn’t it your-“ Phil’s words died in his mouth once the meaning of Solomon Muto’s words became clear. With a grateful smile, he scooped the deck off the table and placed it in his pocket, taking great care to avoid bending or damaging the cards in any way. It was all he could do until he could craft a deck box. Solomon said nothing else after that, other than wishing Phil a truly excellent day and expressing his desire to duel again in the future.
Thus Phil wandered off, his mind still buzzing over the revelations the duel had brought. If there were this many surprises this early on, what else would be new to him?
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Solomon Muto watched the shabby, skinny, worn-down man amble off to spectate the game between his grandson and his friend. There was something about that man, something that Solomon couldn’t quite put his finger on. The man was… different. Seemingly down on his luck, but his back was still straight despite it all. He still had pride in his bones. His eyes were still blazing with fighting spirit.
Moreover, that man, Phil Jenson, was a truly powerful duelist. Most opponents would have quailed beneath the power of the ‘detonate’ combo, but Phil merely brushed it off with a laugh, rebuilding his field presence and very nearly taking back the momentum of the game that Solomon had painstakingly kept ahold of. Just from skimming through the deck a few seconds before the game started, that man had managed to summon Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon, which was a monster that could not be dealt with through ordinary means. Then, along with the summon, he’d also very nearly combined it with the powers of a trap card that would have torn resources from Solomon’s hand each time Phil discarded a card – a move that Solomon knew all too well the deck was capable of doing.
After seeing all that, along with how polite the man was, how could Solomon have not taken the chance to cultivate such a duelist? The duelist’s spirit that thrummed through Solomon’s bones ever since he’d discovered the ancient game in Egypt among the bones of Pharaohs in the Valley of the Kings cried out to him, shouting that Phil Jenson could be a monstrous talent if he was only given the slight amount of resources he needed to get off the ground. He would be like a tiger given wings, as the old saying went.
Yes, Solomon hummed joyfully to himself as he strolled through the packed aisles of the game store, his decision was the correct one. This game had the potential to shake the world, and it was both his duty and pleasure as an old man to help the youth realize that dream. It would transcend status, age, and all the other norms of the old world to create a new future! One where a battered, grimy man down on his luck could play on even ground with anyone he wished to!
Such was the destiny of duelists who fought with the heart of the cards on their side!