The island continued to be a hive of unusually busy activity up until the very moment night fell. As suggested by Phil and Bastion, a sleepover was hosted in Phil’s room with Jaden, Chazz, Syrus, and Chumley, while Alexis stayed close to Ms. Hibiki as the latter perused through the security camera recordings late into the night.
However, it was not until early in the morning that Bastion let out a shout of alarm that caused everyone in Phil’s room to come running with their duel disks ready.
“It’s gone!” Bastion explained while he rummaged around his room.
Phil raised his eyebrows. “Gone? Did you see anyone come in and take it?”
“No. I just checked the hiding place that Magure guy set up a few minutes ago, and the key is missing. Yet I saw no one enter my room before you guys did.”
The information left Phil dumbfounded. “Wait. So you’re saying that it vanished into thin air?”
“Or…” Bastion mumbled as he pulled a small hand camera out from a stack of clothes near his dresser. “Quick, we need to get into the library and access a computer.”
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
“I set this camera up just in case.” Bastion began as he removed the tiny SD card from the cheap camera and inserted it into the SD reader the librarian gave them after the group had barged into the library at the crack of dawn. “I am not infallible, so considering the possibility of me falling asleep during my watch, I thought that having a recording of this night could be helpful.”
Phil leaned forward to look at the screen as Bastion started the recording at five times the regular play speed. It still wasn’t particularly fast due to how slow the Windows 95 computer was, but it was better than nothing. “Good idea dude, I didn’t even think of that one.”
“Indeed. Two heads are better than one, as they say, so if one of us misses an important detail, the other might be able to see it. And speaking of seeing it…” Bastion’s eyes widened as he pressed the pause button.
“Police Inspector Magure.” Chazz breathed. “That’s the inspector! He got rid of the hat, but his hair, face, and eyepatch are the same.”
The boys all shared a look. “Chazz, and Chumley, you guys get Crowler. Jaden and Syrus, you guys get Hibiki. Bastion and I will grab Bernardello. Once you get your mark, meet back in Crowler’s office ASAP. Don’t go anywhere without your buddy, don’t split up any further past these groups of two. If any of the teachers give alternative instructions, follow their guidance.” Phil spoke each sentence in rapid fire, clapping briskly with his hands to signal the group to break.
Chazz grimly nodded towards Phil and set off with Chumley towards Crowler’s office while Jaden and Syrus began jogging towards their own objective. Meanwhile, once the other two groups had left, Phil and Bastion gave the situation one last look as they walked towards the doors.
“If we’re right about Bernardello, then we may be in for a duel.” Bastion immediately cautioned. Phil nodded in agreement. “That’s partially why I did the teams the way I did. If Bernardello’s in league with Magure, then I’m fairly confident that we can drop them in a regular duel or even in a tag duel if necessary. If he’s not, then sending out each group with at least one member being part of the same dorm the professor they are grabbing might save some time. Familiar faces and all that. At least…” Phil’s shoulders stiffened as with a sudden realization. “Shit. Do you think Jaden and Syrus know where Hibiki’s office is?”
Bastion looked at the hallway the two boys in question had disappeared into with a blank look. “I’m… I’m not actually sure if they do.”
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Ms. Hibiki leaned against the wall in Crowler’s office, her frown deepening with each failed attempt of Crowler to call Bernardello. Chazz sat perfectly still in one of the chairs in front of the desk, eyes closed in meditation while Jaden lounged around on the floor, Syrus huddled in a corner with his arms around his chest, Alexis shuffled through her deck without paying much attention to the cards, and Chumley munched his way through the contents of Crowler’s mini fridge.
“I don’t like this.” Ms. Hibiki eventually declared as yet another call from Crowler went unanswered. She turned towards Chazz. “And you’re sure that Phillip said to gather in this office, Chazz?”
Without missing a beat or even opening his eyes, Chazz nodded in confirmation.
“I don’t like this at all. Vellian, I’m going to look for them. I know Marco can handle himself, but I cannot stand by when Phillip and Bastion are gone this long.”
Crowler sighed as the call went to voicemail once more. “Be careful, please. This could very well be a trap. Perhaps they are even on their way back as we speak.”
Ms. Hibiki curtly nodded as she placed a hand over her duel disk and stepped out of the room.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
If Phil had heard Crowler’s parting words, he would have agreed, in a fashion. However, as he and Bastion watched Bernardello and Magure face each other with duel disks ready, it was difficult to say which part of the situation was a trap to begin with.
The two men remained silent, sizing each other up from where they stood in Bernardello’s office. Bastion and Phil, who stood in the door, shared an unspoken conversation conveyed through a few quizzical expressions and some strong eye movements.
Eventually, Phil grimly nodded at Bastion. This was odd, but they would let the situation play out to see if Bernardello truly was a turncoat. It was hard to believe that they would put on an act to try and fool only two students instead of dueling them for their souls, but then again, Phil could already see some possible upsides from Bernardello’s point of view if he truly was evil. If Bernardello was evil, yet was not on Magure’s team, then by taking down the police inspector he would stand to gain even more trust from the key keepers. Alternatively, if they were on the same team, Bernardello could still be going for that same trust angle, but if Phil’s hypothesis was correct and the keys would only work if they were taken through winning a duel, that trust angle would be even more important if it came to separating the keepers to duel one by one. Meanwhile, Bernardello could get rid of a piece on the board that had failed – Magure. Of course, that was only if Phil’s thinking was correct, but considering the world he was in, Phil was pretty sure blatantly stealing a MacGuffin instead of dueling for it just flat-out wouldn’t be allowed to work in the anime.
Or it could be that Bernardello truly was a righteous and rad dude, and thought it his duty as a teacher to take on as many of the Shadow Riders as possible before they could target more students. Part of Phil was hoping that would be the case, but… for some reason, the police inspector seemed more thrown off by this turn of events than he should have been.
In a way it boiled down to what Phil figured he himself might do if he was on the side of the bad guys. Gain trust, separate, and take down one by one. That same thinking was why Phil had agreed with Bastion’s unspoken proposition to wait and see.
“So, now that the evidence is against you Magure, you show your true colors.” Bernardello ominously said while the police inspector faced him with a quizzical look. “And here I was thinking that you were on our side.”
Magure frowned. “This is how you want to do this? You kno-“
“It’s you and me now, and I won’t hear any more of it! Magure, if that even is your name, I challenge you to a duel with the keys on the line! At least, if you dare to test a pro duelist. Either way, those keys are useless to you unless you take me down.” Bernardello interrupted the police inspector with a sharp voice. The eyepatch Magure was wearing shook, and the man growled before accepting the duel with a stiff nod.
“Watch and learn, boys!” Bernardello said with a note of flair in his voice as he drew his starting hand. “Starting off, I summon Koa’ki Meiru Boulder (1200/1000) in defense mode. Then, I activate the continuous spell card Core Transport Unit. By using its effect, which I will choose to do now, I discard my Fissure spell card in order to add one Iron Core of Koa’ki Meiru from my deck to my hand. Finally, I’ll place one card face down and end my turn!”
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Magure’s eye narrowed as he stared down the dopey, misshapen boulder-like monster that Bernardello had summoned. “Fine. So be it. I warned Kagemaru in the first place. Now it falls to ol’ Don Zaloog to take out the trash like it always does. I summon myself, Don Zaloog (1400/1500) to the field in attack position!”
Phil’s eyes widened as Magure, who had revealed himself to be Don Zaloog, literally stepped onto the field. “A duel spirit.” He whispered to Bastion, who nodded in agreement with a similarly surprised look.
“Now that I’m on the field, I’d better call out my crew to finish this quick. Dark Scorpion Burglars, heed my call! I activate the spell card Mustering of the Dark Scorpions!
Bernardello’s eyes narrowed as he flipped over a card of his own. “Not so fast, amico! I activate my counter trap card. Iron Core Luster! By revealing the Iron Core of Koa’ki Meiru I added to my hand last turn, I can negate the activation of your spell card and destroy it. Sorry, it takes more than a petty gang to make it to the big leagues.”
“Petty tricks.” Don Zaloog spat as an orange light from Bernardello’s hand dissipated the hologram of his spell card. “I choose to go to my battle phase, then, and I attack your boulder creature!”
Despite his earlier failure, Don Zaloog hoisted two wickedly sharp short swords and sliced the sentient rock creature in half like a hot knife going through butter. Then, to end his turn he placed one card face down while Bernardello activated the effect of Koa’ki Meiru Boulder to add Koa’ki Meiru Sandman from his deck to his hand upon its destruction.
“I draw.” Bernardello said with a cheeky wink towards Phil and Bastion. “And you placed a face down card. Hoowwww scary… if I hadn’t searched for Sandman last turn. I summon the guardian of the desert, Koa’ki Meiru Sandman (1900/1200)!
“Battle Phase! Sandman, show this spy the suffocating might of the desert!”
For a moment it almost appeared like Don Zaloog was going to flip over his face down card in response, but after a few seconds of thinking he sighed and allowed the hunchbacked sand golem to land a clean haymaker right into his gut, causing the man to spew out a mouthful of blood that colored the sandy creature a dark red.
Bernardello: 4000 Don Zaloog: 3500
“End phase. In order to keep Sandman on the field, I reveal my rock-type Koa’ki Meiru Supplier in my hand to you. Turn end. Oh, and remember you’re taking up the time of a pro. Normally people have to pay for an experience like this.”
Don Zaloog spat out another mouthful of blood, glaring at the Italian man as he considered his options. “I wonder, are all the other pros as insufferable as you are about your own rank? I summon Dark Scorpion – Meanae the Thorn (1000/1800)! Get out here and do something useful!”
Phil moved to the side as a soft hand pushed his shoulder and Bastion’s shoulder in order to let its owner into the office. It was one of the school nurses, though she hardly looked like a nurse at the moment. Instead, she wore tight-fitting red and brown clothing and expertly cracked a thorny whip as she stepped onto the field.
“Of course, sweet Meanae is far too weak to deal with your Sandman, but I make sure to train my gang to work as a team. I activate the spell card Double Summon, which allows me to summon Dark Scorpion – Chick the Yellow (1000/1000). Then, I activate one last card. Secret Pass to the Treasures, which allows Chick to attack you directly this turn even if you have a monster defending your life points. Chick! Attack his life points directly!”
A young boy, one who Bastion vaguely recognized as a student, tip-toed in through the open door and timidly wacked the professor on the head with a wooden mallet.
Don Zaloog smiled and spoke loudly over Chick’s mutterings of ‘sorry prof, please don’t dock my grade for this.’ “Chick, now that you’ve dealt direct damage, activate your effect! Return Koa’ki Meiru Sandman to his hand!”
Chick the Yellow muttered another round of apologies before walking right over to Bernardello, grabbing the card right from the duel disk, and meekly sliding the card back into Bernardello’s hand without regard for the man’s bemused expression.
“Meanae, be a dear and attack the backstabber directly as well, would you?”
For a moment it almost seemed like the woman was going to completely ignore Don Zaloog’s orders, but after lighting a cigarette and sighing dramatically, Meanae swung her whip hard enough to tear off a strip of flesh from Bernardello’s face with its thorny ends.
Bernardello: 2000 Don Zaloog: 3500
Bernardello winced in pain from the two assaults but managed to avoid crying out as Meanae’s effect activated to add Mustering of the Dark Scorpions from Don Zaloog’s graveyard to his hand.
“I draw.” The Italian man said as Don Zaloog’s turn ended. “It’s a pity that secret pass card’s effect was over so soon, amico. Perhaps another round of that might have allowed you to win. Alas, I declare that this is the final turn of this duel.”
Even considering his extremely high suspicion of the man, Phil let out a low sliding whistle at that declaration.
“What, you think it’s possible right now?” Bastion whispered to Phil.
Phil nodded. “Yeah. I somewhat know that deck. It ain’t the best, but I can think of a few ways it could close out this game right now. Essentially, if he has a way to get that sandman back on the board to protect him from Zaloog’s face down and summon a monster or monsters that can do at least 1100 damage, well, that’s it. The key is sandman, and I’m pretty sure Koa’ki Meiru’s have a few different ways to special summon stuff. If he’s got one of those ways, well, it’s over.”
“And I do indeed, Phillip.” Bernardello lazily replied, obviously overhearing their whispered conversation. “I suppose I should consider it a sign of respect that you know my deck so well. Very well, I shall see this as a good lesson for my students. I activate the effect of my continuous spell, Core Transport Unit, once more! By discarding one card, which will be my Iron Core of Koa’ki Meiru, I can add one more copy of the card from my deck to my hand. Now that I have a core in my graveyard, I can activate the spell card Urgent Synthesis, which lets me return one iron core from my graveyard to my deck to special summon Koa’ki Meiru Sandman from my hand. Then, I normal summon Koa’ki Meiru Boulder from my hand in attack position.”
Bernardello took a moment to breath and wiped a trail of blood that was dripping onto his eyes.
“Almost there. This, bambinis, is a play you will not see often. I activate the spell card Koa’ki Ring, which targets my very own Koa’ki Meiru Boulder to destroy it and inflict 1000 points of damage to us both. I must also must reveal the iron core that I searched for earlier this turn.
Don Zaloog’s face went white with shock. “Your own monster! How ridiculous!”
Bernardello simply smiled as a green and yellow ring materialized around the lumpy boulder and exploded, causing rocky shrapnel to be flung with the force of a grenade into their bodies.
Bernardello: 1000 Don Zaloog: 2500
“In my hand, I activate the effect of Koa’ki Meiru Supplier (1400/1600)! Since my rock-type Koa’ki Meiru Boulder was sent to the graveyard, I can special summon supplier in attack mode and add either an iron core or a card that mentions iron core from my deck to my hand. I chose to add the spell card Core Compression, which I will immediately activate! By revealing one iron core in my hand and discarding my Koa’ki Meiru Speeder, I can draw two cards.”
Bernardello began to laugh, starting with mild chuckles and ending with a throaty, full-bellied tirade of roaring laughter that seemed to almost shake the very foundations of the room itself. Meanae and Chick shared a disturbed, uncomfortable look, almost as if to ask each other if the man had gone insane.
“This is perfect. Perfect! I was originally intending to do something else, but sometimes in order to strike a nail, a simple hammer is best. I activate the two spell cards that will seal your doom. The continuous spell card, Core Overclock, and the equip spell card Axe of Despair! My axe will equip itself to supplier to raise its attack by 1000, while overclock will raise the attack of all my monsters by 500. In addition, I activate Core Overclock’s second effect. By discarding the Iron Core of Koa’ki Meiru left in my hand, I can have all my monsters gain an additional 1000 attack until the end phase.”
Bernardello sent another cheery wink towards Phil and Bastion as he entered his battle phase. “Ladies first! Koa’ki Meiru Sandman (1900/1200 -> 3400/1200), destroy Meanae the Thorn!”
“Not so fast!” Don Zaloog shouted with a panicked voice. “I activate my trap card, Mirror Force! Looks like you won’t be winning this turn after all!”
Phil chuckled, nudging Bastion lightly in the side. “Told ya. Sandman don’t give two shits about a single Mirror Force.”
“In response, I activate sandman’s effect.” Bernardello smoothly replied. “By tributing him, I can negate the activation of your trap card and destroy that card. Koa’ki Meiru Supplier (1400/1600 -> 3900/1600), finish what sandman started and destroy Meanae!
Koa’ki Meiru Supplier did much more than that as it completely ignored the axe in its left hand in favor of simply punching a hole clean through the woman’s chest. The force of the punch was so great that it turned her body into a ragdoll while the momentum of the creature’s punch carried it forward to impact Don Zaloog’s body hard enough to vaporize it on impact.
Bernardello bowed to Phil and Bastion, gingerly picking up the eyepatch that was all that remained of Don Zaloog while Bastion turned green at the man’s brutal death. Phil gently patted Bastion’s back as the worst of his friend’s nausea subsided, and as Bernardello turned his focus to look at someone behind them, Phil caught Bastion’s attention with his eyes.
“They knew each other. Do not trust.” Phil breathed into Bastion’s ear as quietly as he could while still making the words clear. With how easily Bernardello had heard their earlier whispered conversation, he had to be absolutely sure that the man couldn’t hear this one.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Ms. Hibiki watched from the hallway as the police inspector’s – no, the thief’s body was vaporized by Bernardello’s attack. Her concern was not quite for the late thief, for she had been watching when his identity was revealed. No, she was more concerned with the flippant attitude Bernardello had when dispatching the ruffian, Bastion’s suppressed horror at Zaloog’s death, and…
And the fact that Phillip hardly even reacted from where he stood with his arms crossed next to Bastion.
Her eyebrows furrowed in concern. Perhaps this secret war of theirs would take far more of a toll on them than she originally feared.