“BRING IT DOWN BRING THAT MOTHERFUCKER DOWN NOW!”
A deep croaking roar tore through the thickly forested mountaintop to rend the sky in response. Without even a second's hesitation, a slimy pink tongue thicker than a utility pole shot out from under the trees, piercing straight through the few wooden trunks that were sturdy enough to not get blasted out of the way from the wind pressure alone. A squawk of pain split the air, soon followed by the body of a large, colorful bird that crashed onto the side of the mountain in a bloody heap.
Phil leaned over the edge, one hand gripping a sturdy tree branch for support while his other hand patted the unblemished tan flanks of the two frogs next to him, the smaller one stacked neatly on top of the other.
“Oh boy! I love anti-aircraft gun mode! It is always so much fun!” Bottom Toad cheerfully commented as he cleaned the blood off his tongue with one of his webbed feet.
“It reminds me of defending the beaches against the Ojama armies.” Top Toad’s eyes widened, and his breathing quickened. Flecks of foam flew out of his mouth to spray into the air in a moist cloud. “They’re in the sky. THEY’RE IN THE RA-DAMNED SKY! NO! DODGE! THEY’RE DOING THE OJAMA DELTA HURRICANE! NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! YOU'RE FLYING TOO LOW! PULL UP YOU'RE FLYING TOO LOW!”
Top Toad began to convulse, falling off the back of Bottom Toad to begin clawing at his eyes under an intensified bout of screams. Phil ignored them both to continue studying the corpse of the bird. The creature was dead, no doubt about it. Dead as a doorknob from the clean hole Toadally Awesome’s tongue had punched into its chest. Yet the bird was still quite beautiful, even in death. Its stunning red and blue plumage, the electricity crackling around its deep blue feathered head even in death, and the beak that looked so sharp it felt like it was cutting Phil’s eyes even by looking at it.
“A duel spirit?” Phil murmured in thought to himself. The bird was obviously magical. That was made quite clear after it had spat a literal bolt of lightning at him. Not exactly a thing normal birds do. If Phil hadn’t already been in the midst of XYZ summoning Toadally Awesome, he would have been in hot water. Well, he was still kind of in hot water. The attack was absorbed by Toadally Awesome’s fearsome bulk, but Phil could still feel his own heart shuddering and trembling under the weight of the summon. Just one XYZ summon was still enough to nearly bring him to his knees.
Phil tensed his arm to pull himself toward the tree and away from the sheer cliff face. It was definitely a duel spirit. In fact, he was pretty sure it was Danger! Thunderbird!. A monster from one of the archetypes released right before he died back on Earth. It sure was weird to see it just flying around the mountains harassing random travelers, but whatever. That electric birdie was living its best life, and Phil couldn’t judge it for that. Well, admittedly it wasn’t living its best life anymore. Because it was dead.
“Good work lads.” Phil clapped his hands to get the attention of the two toads. “Let’s take a quick break before we go back to work." Top Toad and Bottom Toad both nodded and disappeared into a burst of steam as they were sent back to the spirit world for him to re-summon later. Phil closed his eyes and let out a steady breath, but right before he finished, a shock of cold water splashed against his face.
“Lumina! What the fuck!” Phil sputtered indignantly, soon followed by Lumina’s startled, if not slightly apologetic laughter.
"Sorry, Phil. I thought you were passing out again.”
An annoyed glare was sent right toward Lumina, who was by now beginning to howl with laughter from the very sight. Phil shook his head, slipping off his Ra Yellow jacket to try and use it to mop some of the water off his head. The jacket was less of an article of clothing and more of a depressing rag at this point, but it was pretty much the only towel-like object he had on hand, unless Phil wanted to soak the only shirt that hadn’t been sacrificed at the altar of ‘XYZ training’ so far. What could he say, the backlash from summoning packed a hell of a punch.
Still, there was something he could do. Phil stealthed around Lumina, dodging her flailing limbs that were still convulsing with the sort of laughter that kept getting wilder by the second. He snatched the bucket they’d liberated from the back of some weird dojo building the other night and raced a couple of meters over to the cheerful little brook that burbled its way around the trees and down the mountain.
“Wait! Phil! I’m sorry! You just look like a literal drowned rat that’s covered in mustard! You know, with your jacket and all that? Try and see it from my angle! Super funny, I swear!”
Phil was unswayed by his friend’s pleading, so much so that he didn’t even take the time to pause his efforts in order to cackle evilly. That bit would come later. Perhaps with some wicked muttering and a little unhinged rant thrown in to complete the package. One quick swipe into the water saw the bucket filled to the brim with the icy snowmelt that rushed through the brook, and Phil ran to arrive next to his target before she could compose herself and run.
“The Babylonian scholar-kings of old said it best! An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth! Feel the wrath of Phil!” Phil took one more second to release his wicked laughter and pose victoriously over Lumina before he dramatically dumped the ice-cold water over her head.
“You ass!” Lumina shrieked with shock once the freezing cold water hit her. Immediately she sprung to her feet and let loose a blast of blindingly bright light magic that flung Phil backwards right into the middle of the brook.
For a moment Phil just laid on his back while his mouth opened and closed like a stunned fish while Lumina smiled and blew on one of her fingers like it was a smoking gun. The magic hadn’t actually hurt him – no, she had more than enough control over it to prevent that. But it still felt like a damned mule had kicked him right in the chest.
“Now what did you say about an eye for an e-“ She began with a teasing tone, one that immediately sharpened with concern. “Eyes up Phil, we’ve got company. A weird bald dude approaching rapidly. Unless he dies of exhaustion before getting here? He looks a bit out of breath.”
Phil heaved himself out of the stream and shook the water off his body like a soggy dog. It was the best he could do without building a fire to dry his gear.
“Oh shit it’s the chancellor.” Phil blurted out the name in surprise once the kindly face of the bald man poked over the ridge. “Hey Sheppard, what’s popping?”
Sheppard took a moment before answering, clearly exhausted after climbing the mountain that Phil was on. One hand was braced against his knees, while the other clutched his heart as the man’s breath rang out in ragged gasps.
Phil furrowed his brows in concern.
“Um… you gonna make it, or do I need to call someone? I don’t think an ambulance could make it out here. Maybe a chopper? Is there even a signal out here?”
“No… no, I’m fine.” Chancellor Sheppard replied between unsteady breaths. “I’m simply not as young as I used to be, Phillip.”
“Oh. You remember me. That’s scary.”
Sheppard wryly grinned in response to Phil's obvious surprise. "Well, you are officially labeled in our books as a student to keep an eye on, in more ways than one. Additionally, Midori Hibiki recently contacted me to speak about you. I think just a few days ago, to be exact.”
Before Phil could ask for details, Sheppard waved his hand dismissively while his other hand stroked his goatee. “I couldn’t get much out of her, to tell you the truth. I’m sure she’ll speak with you about any concerns she might have at the start of the school year if there are truly any issues. Anyways, I do believe that bucket is from my dojo.”
That was just his luck. The one place Phil had ‘liberated’ a bucket from so Lumina could easily figure out if Phil was truly in need of immediate medical attention or if he was just unconscious, and it was Sheppard’s. The guy who was apparently in such urgent need of a fucking bucket that he climbed multiple literal mountains to track Phil down.
“Um. Sorry? Here you go.” Phil sheepishly offered the metal bucket back to Sheppard, but the object was quickly rebuffed with a wave of the man’s hands.
Sheppard shook his head with a smile. “No, Phillip, it’s alright. I have more. Think of the bucket situation as an excuse. I am actually a bit more curious as to why you, a student of mine, are in these mountains. They’re quite dangerous, you know. Though…” Sheppard narrowed his eyes and lightly gestured behind him in the general direction of the dead thunderbird, “perhaps that danger is less of an issue in your case.”
Well, there it was. No use hiding it now. It would still probably be best for him to avoid the topic of XYZ summoning, but the rest…
“Training. Just training.”
Sheppard’s eyes crinkled with interest after hearing Phil’s short, casual response.
“Training? These mountains are indeed a good place to hone one’s fangs. But that leaves another question bouncing around my little noggin to confound my little grey cells. See, I have actually been spectating your journey for a little bit longer than you may be fully aware of. That duel spirit, the one that brought down the thunderbird. Would you be able to satisfy my curiosity about it? I’ve never seen a spirit like that one, and I can’t fully put a reason why on my tongue. It’s… hm, it’s almost like that spirit is different. Far stronger than it should be. The power smells… almost space-like, too. Are different dimensions involved? I would go as far as to say it feels like that duel spirit’s existence is in a higher natural order than most others.”
Phil’s mouth instantly dried up. Sheppard had actually seen Toadally Awesome. He obviously didn’t know the details about the card. He didn’t know that it was a completely different summoning method than what currently existed in GX. But before he could think of an answer, Sheppard spoke up once more with a gentle smile.
“Ah, if the origin of that spirit is a bit troublesome to talk about, then say no more. How about this, then. Accompany me back to my dojo and have a friendly duel with me. Nothing on the line, no consequences. I simply need a bit of a distraction to forget the shame of misjudging one of my precious disciples, and perhaps this could also help you in whatever training you are pursuing, Phillip.”
Phil took a single second to think about the offer. It wasn’t like he’d ever had his eye on dueling Sheppard in the first place.
“Naw. Sounds like a pain in the ass.”
“Pity.” Sheppard’s eyes twinkled with a hint of mischief. “No matter, no matter. It’s just that I sent my students home early, and I don’t expect them to come back until the end of the summer. Until then, I appear to have an excess of food in the dojo’s pantries. Perishable food, mind you. It would be a shame to throw it out. Now, of course, the chef is still puttering around in the kitchen, but the two of us can hardly manage to eat that much good food. Yes, I'm talking about steak dinners, noodles, and rice galore, all the delicious food you could think of, prepared by a professional chef and going to waste because the disciples were sent away by my own idiocy. However, if one of my precious students from Duel Academy managed to defeat me, the Chancellor of the academy, well, I would be honor bound to share that food and keep all of my questions to myself concerning why a student is trespassing on a restricted mountain range owned by Seto Kaiba. I think I could also be persuaded to avoid calling Midori back with a few answers to her questions until the beginning of the school year. Cell service in the mountains, if you catch my drift. Notoriously unreliable.”
Phil’s thoughts raced through his mind at a hundred miles per hour, followed closely by a series of thought police cars that chased after them for speeding in a thought school zone. Sheppard obviously didn’t know the details about XYZ summoning. All the chancellor did know was that Phil was in cahoots with a powerful duel spirit, one with a different feeling to its power. No words of a new summoning method floating around or anything.
But… with Toadally Awesome being seen, the cat was already halfway out of the bag. If Sheppard had the balls to speak with Kaiba, or if the events of the upcoming school year forced Phil to switch gears entirely toward his Paleofrog deck, then that bag would no longer exist. Yet here, now, he could trade part of that secret for resources and potentially the trust of the public head of Duel Academy. Perhaps he wouldn’t say everything. There was a good chance that the reveal of Toadally Awesome would stun Sheppard enough that he would think the monster was Phil’s only secret.
One last mental ‘fuck it’ was bounced around Phil’s mind before he stretched out a lanky hand out from under the ragged sleeves of his still mildly disgusting Ra Yellow jacket. Hopefully he wouldn’t have to work overtime to prevent this from biting him in the ass.
“Deal. Take me to your dojo, tell your chef to start cooking, and give me a can opener so I can unleash a nice can of whoop-ass upon your head.”
Sheppard smiled a kind, warm smile and firmly shook Phil’s hand.
“It’s a deal, Phillip. I look forward to our duel.”
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
As soon as Zane and Aster finished speaking and the life point counters flared up on their duel disks, Atticus went about clearing a nice, large space for the two duelists to clash in. Syrus was quickly roped in to help, but Alexis declined in favor of sitting inside the shop to enjoy her own cone of ice cream with the show that was brewing outside. Soon enough, a large circle was cleared, and the duelists drew their starting hands. Aster smirked at Zane and announced that he would take the first turn, a move that caused Zane’s eyebrows to furrow with the realization that his opponent knew precisely that he was playing into Zane’s greatest strength – the art of going second.
“As the challenger, it would only be honorable for me to allow my opponent a stage where they can showcase their strength best.” Aster smirked and gave Zane a short, mocking bow. That line alone made it completely obvious that Aster had done his research before the duel, to know that Zane’s Cyber Dragons excelled on the offensive. And just like Chancellor Sheppard, his opponent also believed to have some sort of key to halting that offense. Zane nodded his agreement to Aster’s declaration. First or second, it hardly mattered to him anymore.
Aster dramatically drew a card to start his turn and the duel. The action, performed countless times by duelists all across the globe, drew a hushed silence in the waiting crowd that had formed a circle around the pair in response to Atticus’s actions. A few restless murmurs of recognition spread around the onlookers as several people realized exactly who the two duelists were. The crowd backed off several more feet, and Atticus popped into view with a microphone that Zane really did not want to know the origins of. Knowing his friend, Atticus had used his max-level charisma to ‘borrow’ it from a store or some reporter nearby.
“Haha!” Aster’s voice drew back Zane’s attention as his opponent laughed with joy upon looking at the new card in his hand. “Perfect. Perfect! Destiny shines upon me today! I activate the spell card Terraforming, which allows me to add one field spell card from my deck to my hand. That field spell shall be the foreboding Clock Tower Prison, which I also immediately activate!”
Zane backed away a single step as an ominous clock tower made of pure, jet-black stones shot from the ground to loom over the circle of shops around them. As soon as the clock tower finished sprouting from the ground, several dark clouds peaked over the horizon amid the slow ‘tick-tock’ of the enormous clock at the very top of the tower.
“Now that the prison is secured, I summon Destiny Hero – Diamond Dude (1400/1600) in defense mode in order to shore up my walls. Of course, I also activate Diamond Dude's effect. See, once per turn, I can excavate the top card of my deck. If it's a normal spell card, I send that card to the graveyard. If it isn't, that card gets placed on the bottom of my deck. Then, if it was a spell, I get to use that spell's effect during my next main phase."
The diamond-encrusted body of the cloaked hero summoned by Aster Phoenix posed stylishly as its effect activated, causing the jagged ores covering his body to shine in sync with the movements of his master.
One card was revealed from the top of Aster’s deck with an elegant flick of his fingers. The boy hardly glanced at the card before pitching it to the graveyard with a slight hint of satisfaction.
“The spell card Destiny Draw. With that out of the way, I have no further actions to carry out this turn.”
Zane grunted in acknowledgment and started up his turn like normal. Whatever effect that field spell had, he would find out in due time.
As it turned out, due time was in his standby phase.
“Before you make another move,” Aster sharply called out, “The effect of my Clock Tower Prison activates. During each of your standby phases, I get to place one Clock Counter on my field spell. Then, when it has four or more counters, I don’t take any battle damage.”
“Anything else?” Zane questioned. There was something about Aster’s tone. Like there was more to the card’s effect than his opponent was introducing. Yet Aster simply waved his hand for Zane to continue.
There was definitely another effect to that spell. Zane could almost feel it in the air, the feeling of his duelist’s instincts screaming their lungs out at him.
What a pity that he simply had no way to remove it from the field at the moment.
“Fine.” He looked past Aster’s actions for the time being. For now, all he could do was press the offensive.
“Since you control a monster while my own side of the field is empty, I special summon Cyber Dragon (2100/1600) from my hand!”
“AAAAANNNDDDD THERE IT IS FOLKS!” Atticus screamed out the words into his microphone to the sheer and utter delight of the crowd. “Yes, there it is! Zane Truesdale’s signature Cyber Dragon! What will the likes of Aster Whatshislastname do in the face of this play!”
Zane and Aster quietly stared at each other. For once, they had something to agree on.
“Let’s kill Atticus after this.”
Aster didn’t even need to take a second to think before he nodded his head in complete agreement.
“Yes. Lets.”
Truly, Zane had no idea how he’d forgotten that Atticus always liked to do stuff like this. One glance over to his friend was all Zane needed to see the shit-eating grin plastered over Atticus's face. In fact, the situation was even worse than he originally thought. It was no longer just Atticus with a microphone in front of a roaring crowd.
It was Atticus with a crew of reporters, cameras, and boom mics galore in front of a roaring crowd. He’d evolved into his final form, and not even Alexis was capable of stopping him now. Zane was certain of that. He could see her struggling to get through the utterly massive crowd around Atticus. He – no, the world, could only hope that she could get through to him in time.
“Anyways,” Zane cleared his throat and moved his attention back to the game at hand, “I will now activate Pot of Greed to draw two cards, and then I summon Cyber Dragon Zwei (1500/1000) in attack position. Now! Zwei, attack the opposing Destiny Hero monster! Cyber Dragon, strike directly once the field is clear!”
“Ah, methinks you’ve forgotten one simple fact,” Aster interrupted with a sly grin. “Diamond Dude has a defense of 1600 points, while your Cyber Dragon Zwei possesses a mere 1500 attack points. That means you’ll take 100 points of damage to your life points and my monster will not be destroyed!”
Zane nodded in agreement. “True words. Except!” His eyes flashed bright with energy. “Except for the fact that my Zwei gains 300 attack points during the damage step when it attacks a monster!”
Cyber Dragon Zwei (1500/1000 -> 1800/1000).
“HOLY MOLY! A SUDDEN UPSET BY DUEL ACADEMY’S ZANE TRUESDALE! LITTLE PHOENIX’S ON THE BACKFOOT NOW!”
Even the shining silver body of Cyber Dragon flinched in response to the insane volume of Atticus’s shouts, causing it to pause midway through taking a chunk out of Aster’s life points. Zane smiled and shook his head. Then again, it was nice to hear Atticus like this again. It served as a good reminder that his best friend was back and here to stay.
Zane: 4000 Aster: 1900
“With that done, I end my turn.” Zane confidently announced.
A slight frown flitted across Aster’s face. “I see that the Kaiser hasn’t let all of his claws become dull. Though, I do wonder when you’ll unveil it…” Aster shook his head and changed the subject before Zane could ask him what Aster expected to be unveiled.
“Nevertheless, it is my turn. During my main phase, Diamond Dude’s lingering effect triggers the effect of Destiny Draw, which was sent by his effect during my last turn. That spell card would normally allow me to discard a Destiny Hero card to draw two cards, but Diamond Dude allows me to skip paying that cost. Next, I activate the spell card D – Spirit! Using its effect, I can special summon one level four or lower Destiny Hero monster from my hand, as long as I do not currently control any Destiny Hero monsters. Come on out, Destiny Hero – Drilldark (1600/1200) in attack mode! Now, Drilldark’s effect activates! I get to special summon an additional Destiny Hero monster from my hand! Destiny Hero – Dunker (1200/1700) in defense position! Finally, I also normal summon Destiny Hero – Dread Servant (400/700) in defense position. His effect will place one more Clock Counter onto my field spell.”
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
The crowd surrounding the two duelists fell silent upon seeing the barrage of summons conducted by Aster. Even Atticus was temporarily at a loss for words. While none of the three monsters had particularly impressive attack points, the combo Aster skillfully piloted through was notable in its own right.
“Onto my battle phase.” Aster declared, taking advantage of the sudden silence to move the duel along. “Destiny Hero – Drilldark, destroy Cyber Dragon Zwei. Then, in my second main phase, I use Dunker’s effect to discard Destiny Hero – Celestial from my hand to the graveyard in return for inflicting 500 points of damage to your life points.”
The brown, lithe shape of Drilldark darted forward to pierce right through the green and silver metal that made up Zwei’s body, leaving a perfectly circular hole in its chest. Meanwhile, the masked Destiny Hero – Dunker lifted a hand to brush his blue-dyed dreadlocks out of his face before throwing a glowing orb of white energy to strike Zane.
Zane: 3400 Aster: 1900
Zane simply grunted in response to the damage, but otherwise remained stoic in the face of Aster’s onslaught. Though he was down a monster, the fact still remained that his opponent hadn’t managed to destroy his 2100 attack point Cyber Dragon yet – and there wasn’t a single monster on Aster’s field that was capable of doing so at the moment.
Once the effect of Dunker resolved, Aster placed one card face down and ended his turn. As soon as Zane’s turn began, the clock tower that loomed over the duel field ticked closer to midnight. There were now three counters on the field spell – two from its effect, and one that was added by the yellow-cloaked Dread Servant.
Zane clicked his tongue. That meant he only had this turn to figure out how to deal with the card before it gave his opponent immunity to battle damage. A troublesome card for a troublesome opponent.
“I summon Cyber Dragon Nachster (200/200) in defense position. And while its effect is useless at the moment, that matters not. Because! I activate the spell card Machine Duplication! Since Cyber Dragon Nachster has less than 500 attack points, and its name becomes Cyber Dragon while on the field, I can special summon two more regular Cyber Dragons from my deck!”
The crowd collectively gasped in awe as two more majestic steel dragons slithered onto the field with a series of harrowing roars.
"THR- THREE CYBER DRAGONS!" Atticus shouted in ecstasy before half-turning to the news reporters lined up beside him. "LADS, I HOPE YOU GOT THIS ONE, BECAUSE THERE'S A PLAY TO MAKE THE PAPERS! What will Aster do now, without a single monster that can defeat a true Cyber Dragon in the field of battle!”
“I move to my battle phase!” Zane sternly swept past Atticus’s commentary with a sweep of his hand. “Strike, my Cyber Dragons! Turn his three monsters to ash and dust!”
The two weaker Destiny Heroes, Dread Servant and Dunker, were instantly obliterated with a flash of crackling blue energy that spewed out of the mouth of the dragons like an endless flood, but as soon as Drilldark was targeted for an attack, Aster’s mouth shot wide open and he took on a serious look in his eyes.
“That move activates my trap card! Reveal yourself, D – Shield! When you attack a Destiny Hero that is in attack position, I can equip my monster with this trap, switch it to defense position, and give it immunity to destruction by battle!”
“But that means-“ Atticus’s shocked voice rang out, but Aster interrupted him before he could finish commenting.
“Yes! I do not take a single point of battle damage this turn, since Drilldark’s battle position was switched and my other monsters were already in defense position!”
Atticus, the group of reporters, and the rest of the crowd watching the duel collectively staggered backward with the backs of their hands held over their foreheads in sheer and utter shock in the face of Aster's dastardly move.
Zane, meanwhile, simply let a slight frown creep over his face before passing his turn to his opponent. The duel kept getting more and more trickier. Not only would Clock Tower Prison have four counters by his next turn, meaning that Aster wouldn't take any further battle damage until the card was destroyed, but Drilldark had complete immunity to destruction by battle until that trap card was removed from the field. Truly, Aster Phoenix was an opponent that could not be dealt with through ordinary means.
“Heh heh. Destiny continues to favor me. I activate another Destiny Draw from my hand, sending Destiny Hero – Malicious to the graveyard to draw two cards.” Aster sneered as he filled up his hand almost immediately. “Behold. The perfect card to change from the defense to the offense. By sacrificing Destiny Hero – Drilldark, I tribute summon the level six Destiny Hero – Dasher (2100/1000). Then I activate the effect of Destiny Hero – Malicious (800/800) in my graveyard, banishing him to special summon another Malicious from my deck in defense position. Don’t worry. He won’t be sticking around for long.”
For the first time since the duel began, Aster turned toward Atticus and the cluster of reporters, grinning viciously and holding out his arms wide, as if he was basking in the glow of the attention centered on the duel.
“Dasher, activate your effect! By sacrificing Malicious and using his blood to lubricate your wheels, gain 1000 attack points until the end of the turn!
Destiny Hero – Dasher (2100/1000 -> 3100/1000).
Aster turned back toward Zane and pointed confidently at the first Cyber Dragon he’d summoned. “Destiny Hero – Dasher. Show that puny metal dragon the swiftness of justice! Attack!”
The pressure from Dasher's increased attack power was enough to make Zane take a single half-step backward as the hero sped forward on its wheeled feet to catch one of his Cyber Dragons in a brutal wrestling-style lariat that split its metallic body apart like a hot knife through a tub of butter.
Zane: 2400 Aster: 1900
“Of course,” Aster shrugged and sighed dramatically, “Now that Dasher has attacked, he is automatically switched to the defense position at the end of the battle phase. I suppose that hardly matters, considering that my Clock Tower Prison will be receiving its fourth counter during your next turn. Speaking of which, I place one card face down and end my turn.”
“I draw.” Zane immediately lifted his eyes to glance at the clock at the top of the giant tower, watching as it gained a fourth counter. It was now showing an hour until midnight. Either that was an ominous symbol, or Aster Phoenix liked being edgy. He let out a quiet snort of laughter. A man who played a deck literally called 'Destiny Heroes' liked being edgy. What were the odds? He'd have to share that one with Atticus after the duel was over. Provided that Alexis wasn’t forced to knock her brother unconscious to stop him.
“So, you no longer take battle damage.” Zane confirmed, only moving on with his turn after Aster nodded in agreement with his words. “Fine. Yet by my understanding, that means your monsters can still be destroyed. But I’ll get to that later. First, I summon Cyber Valley (0/0). His battle position hardly matters, because I immediately choose to activate his effect, targeting my Cyber Valley and my Cyber Dragon Nachster. By banishing both monsters, I get to draw two cards.”
Zane’s calm collected play set off another series of commotions in Atticus’s direction as the boy started shouting something about a ‘Pot of Greed on legs, well, I suppose Cyber Valley doesn’t have legs but you catch my drift’ while the reporters all pulled out their phones to call someone or another It wasn’t like Zane could hear who it was. Or even cared, really.
He glanced at the two new cards in his hand and allowed a slight smile to crack across his face. Completely acceptable results. Of course, there was nothing that could deal with the field spell among them, but both of those cards were useful in their own little ways. Zane’s smile widened slightly as a chuckle escaped his lips. Cards being useful in their own little ways. He wouldn’t have ever thought that last year.
“I activate the spell card Cyber Repair Plant. Because I have a Cyber Dragon in my graveyard, two, actually, since Zwei counts as one in the graveyard, I can add one light machine monster from my deck to my hand. Come to me, Cyber Dragon Core! Then, I place one card face down and move to my battle phase. Cyber Dragon, destroy Destiny Hero – Dasher!”
There was nothing Aster Phoenix could do about that. Now that Dasher was in defense mode, it only had a measly 1000 defense points to work with, compared to Cyber Dragon’s 2100 attack points.
However, as soon as Dasher was shattered under the might of Zane’s attack, Aster confidently flipped over the trap card he’d set during the previous turn.
“I’m afraid you’ve activated my trap card. Destiny Signal! Now that one of my monsters has been destroyed by battle, I can special summon one level four or lower Destiny Hero monster from my hand or deck to the field. Come on out from my deck, Destiny Hero – Disk Commander (300/300)!”
Aster’s move brought forth a flurry of confused whispers from the onlookers. Everyone could clearly see that Zane still had a Cyber Dragon on the field that could still attack, and the silvery-blue hero hardly looked strong enough to withstand a single attack from any of Zane’s monsters.
Zane, on the other hand, could see the reason clearly. A quick glance to the side told him Atticus saw it as well – his friend was simply holding his tongue to not be accused of helping Zane. Doing something like that would be a stain on both of their reputations.
Zane turned his gaze back to the new hero on the field, who was juggling a handful of CDs like some strange, technological jester in Aster’s court of destiny. With Clock Tower Prison being on the field with four counters, there would normally be no reason for Aster to bother summoning a monster during Zane’s turn that had under 2100 attack or defense points.
No reason unless his opponent wanted that monster to be sent to the graveyard. One thing Zane had been noticing during the duel was that Aster’s monsters, while generally sporting low attack values, found their use in holding more powerful effects. Drilldark could summon backup, Dread Servant could accelerate the Clock Tower gameplan, Dunker could inflict a non-insignificant amount of effect damage, Dasher could pump itself up, Malicious could summon his brothers, and Diamond Dude could copy spells. Of those monsters, only Dasher had a high attack value. That line of thinking led Zane to consider that perhaps Disk Commander had a powerful graveyard effect that Aster wanted to take advantage of.
Or…
It could be nothing but a mind game to convince Zane to not attack so that Aster could have a monster to sacrifice for a tribute summon next turn. Disk Commander would mean one sacrifice, and there was still probably a third Malicious in his opponent’s deck if the play needed an additional tribute to work.
Zane let a considering look fall onto his opponent. What kind of man was Aster Phoenix? The kind that would throw his monsters into the graveyard to use their effects or the kind that would play mind games to set up a stronger monster next turn. For a moment, Zane concealed a series of chuckles that threatened to burst from his mouth. What kind of man was his opponent. Aster asked the same question to Zane before the duel started. Yet even after several turns passed by in the blink of an eye, neither man had managed to find the answer.
The crowd began to shuffle impatiently. Almost a minute had passed since Zane destroyed Destiny Hero – Dasher, but the two men were silent, only staring consideringly at each other. Atticus was still completely silent as well, but the look on his face was one of anticipation and shudders of excitement were visibly shaking his body.
“I end my battle phase.”
A flurry of shocked shouts split through the air as Aster’s monster was left unharmed, while Zane summoned the Cyber Dragon Core (400/1500) in defense position he’d searched out earlier and used its effect to add the trap card Cybernetic Overflow to his hand. Finally, one more card was placed face down, and Zane’s turn ended.
“WOAH WOAH WOAH! THE KAISER LEAVES THE PHOENIX MAN’S MONSTER ON THE FIELD! A MISTAKE, OR TRULY STAGGERING INSIGHT?”
Aster grimaced from the noise of Atticus’s amplified shouts and began his turn. “I place one card face down and summon Destiny Hero – Fear Monger (1000/1000) in defense mode. Then, since I no longer have any cards in my hand, I activate the effect of Destiny Hero – Celestial, which will banish itself and Destiny Hero – Dread Servant from my graveyard to draw two cards.”
Two new cards were carefully pulled from the top of Aster’s deck to refill his empty hand, one of which was instantly activated.
“Zane! I have good news!" Aster gleefully shouted before revealing the card, "You won't have to figure out a way to destroy my field spell, because I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy it for you!"
Zane didn’t even blink. There it was. The catch. He’d known for turns that Clock Tower Prison likely had another effect waiting in the wings, and this was it.
The dark, solemn tower crumbled under the might of the whirling typhoon, covering the field with a large cloud of holographic dust that took several seconds to settle. From within the dust, chains clanked and a loud, inhuman roar sounded out to shake the entire plaza with its might. The crowd took an involuntary step backward, and the shock of Aster Phoenix destroying his own field spell was replaced with fear of the monster that stepped out.
It was a gigantic, muscular man covered in scars, with broken chains wrapped around his forearms and ankles in a futile attempt to seal the monster away. A single iron mask covered the man’s face, only letting a pair of thick, sneering lips and a shock of pitch-black hair escape.
“Yes! Now that Clock Tower Prison was destroyed and sent to the graveyard while it had at least four Clock Counters on it, I can special summon one Destiny Hero – Dreadmaster (?/?) from my deck! Of course, once Dreadmaster hits the field, his effect activates. I can special summon up to two Destiny Hero monsters from my graveyard, then for the rest of this turn, my Destiny Heroes cannot be destroyed, and I take no battle damage when they battle.
Two brilliant flashes of light flared up onto the field with all the force of a flashbang being thrown in Zane’s eyes as the black-armored form of Destiny Hero – Dasher and the brown, lithe body of the spear-wielding Destiny Hero – Drilldark appeared on the field once more. However, that wasn’t all. As soon as those two monsters finished their summoning animations, the counter showing Dreadmaster’s attack shuddered and began to move upwards.
Destiny Hero – Dreadmaster (?/? – 5000/3500).
“Ah. It appears I forgot to mention that Dreadmaster also gains attack and defense equal to the combined attack and defense points of all other Destiny Heroes on the field.” Aster slyly mentioned. “With there being four on the field aside from Dreadmaster, that adds up to be quite a large number, doesn’t it? Anyways, I think I have just about found out what kind of man you are, Zane Truesdale.”
Aster paused, his sly grin widening, and activated the second card he’d drawn off of Celestial’s effect.
“I activate the field spell Dark City. The perfect battleground for the warriors of destiny, this field spell gives my Destiny Hero monsters 1000 attack points during the damage calculation if they strike a foe with superior attack points.”
Zane remained quiet as clusters of dark buildings with glowing yellow windows sprouted out of the ground to partially fill the space between the duelists and the mildly annoying crowd of observers.
“With that said and done, it is time to reveal what kind of man you are to the hopeful spectators.” Aster sneered. “I admit. I expected you to be wielding the Cyberdark deck. A series of cards that are nothing but a joke compared to my heroes, a relic of ancient times. It appears that you resisted the temptation, contrary to the expectations of myself and my teacher. But! You are the same arrogant, mediocre fellow who thought of himself as the Kaiser of Duel Academy, without fully understanding how wide the world is. Doing nothing but the same strategy over and over again. Summon the Cyber Dragon. Pump its numbers up. Attack with the big metal snake. Maybe fusion summon a bigger Cyber Dragon. That. Is. It.”
Aster’s sneer sunk away from his lips, and for a moment he almost looked slightly subdued.
“That’s it. That is all you are, Zane Truesdale. Nothing but senseless aggression that folds in the face of a proper strategy. I can only hope my teacher can show you the proper path through life.”
He shook his head and moved to the battle phase without another word.
“Dreadmaster, attack his Cyber Dragon. You have enough attack points to finish this duel through battle damage alone.”
The massive fist of Dreadmaster, appearing so large that it seemed to dwarf even the cars in the parking spots nearby, hurtled toward one of Zane’s two remaining Cyber Dragons like an unstoppable comet – but Zane was faster.
“Trap card, activate!”
Aster furrowed his brows and shook his head. “It doesn’t matter, Zane. Just give up. If you stop Dreadmaster this turn, even your strongest monster, Cyber End Dragon, cannot hope to match him. And that is only if you have a way to fuse from the graveyard, as Drilldark and Dasher still possess the strength to destroy one of your Cyber Dragons along with your Core.
“What, are you, the pro duelist, unfamiliar with this card?” Zane shot back. His hand darted forward to reveal one of the cards he’d placed face down during his previous turn. “One used by the great Seto Kaiba himself in multiple different situations? I may have used Core to add a 'Cyber' trap from my deck to my hand earlier, but this is a completely different card than that. Negate Attack says goodbye to your attack, and goodbye to your battle phase."
Aster’s mouth hung open in surprise as the fist of Dreadmaster was sucked into a swirling red vortex to be dissipated into nothingness.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Sheppard paused outside the doors of the dojo to take one last breath of the sharp mountain air before he joined Phil in the main hall. The building itself was pretty ordinary for a dojo. Phil looked around in silence. Everything he saw, despite this being a dojo for a card game, wouldn't look out of place back on Earth. The simple wood floor was polished to a gentle shine and the straw mats rustled under his and Sheppard's footsteps. Now, the alter in the back of the room was a bit weird, looking more fit for a church than a dojo, but that was just about the only exception.
“Normally the old place would be a bit louder,” Sheppard broke apart Phil’s thoughts with a kind smile as he caught up to walk beside Phil. “As I said back on the mountain, I sent them away for a foolish, unfounded reason.” He looked around and sighed forlornly. “And now I must pay the price with a little bit of loneliness. See, I suppose by now, I’m more than a little bit used to having students running around, fighting and breaking things.
At the unsaid question that sparkled clearly in Phil’s eyes, Sheppard laughed and shook his head.
“Please don’t break anything here. It’s a royal pain to get replacements shipped out this far away.”
Phil shrugged. "Shame. Anyway, not like I particularly care, but you've been talking about that mistake of yours for a while. Spill it so we can move on and I can get free food for a summer."
“Haha.” Sheppard slowly turned away to face the altar, walking toward it to place his hands on it with a sad sigh. “I’m that transparent, huh?” At Phil’s rapid-fire nodding, the chancellor continued with an embarrassed cough.
“I believe you may know Zane Truesdale? He is a student of mine. Actually, he was even one of your comrades during the Shadow Rider incident last school year. He was, no, is a good student, but after that event, I'd feared a shadow had been cast over his heart. I was wrong. Soon enough, he came to the dojo personally. I was also wrong at that time. I thoughtlessly accused him of coming here to hurt and steal.
Sheppard leaned down to open a door on the altar that was at the exact midpoint between the floor and the top of the object. If he hadn’t been shown it right here and now, Phil wouldn’t have ever noticed it. That was how utterly discreet the door was.
Lumina let out a little ‘oh’ of surprise as Sheppard pulled himself back up to his full height with a deck in his hand. Phil squinted his eyes. That deck… he had no bloody idea what it was, but there was some weird feeling about it that made him uneasy. With Lumina being magical and all that, he assumed she could get a better picture of that feeling than he could.
“I thought that Zane journeyed here, across the mountains, to take this deck for his own.” Sheppard ruefully grinned and elaborated. “The Cyberdark deck. A series of cards forbidden in the Cyber Style for how dangerous they are to the user. I keep them locked away here in the seat of my power, in this dojo that is too remote to reach by anyone but the most determined of people. They are cards that take away everything you stand for, chew it up, and then spit it out in a slimy, unrecognizable pile on the floor.”
“And you thought Zane was gonna take them.” Phil nodded in understanding. He was catching Sheppard’s drift. Picking up what the man was putting down. It wasn’t like this was the first time that cursed cards were introduced in the series. The god cards would kill any user not found worthy, to name one example.
“I did. I did.” Sheppard confirmed. “Because of that mistaken thought, I cleared out the dojo of students and dueled my own precious protégé with anger in my heart. But do you know what Zane did when he handily defeated me with a fusion monster of the Cyber Style I’d never even heard of before? When I begged him one last time to leave the Cyberdarks well enough alone?”
Sheppard took one long look at the Cyberdark deck before his face contorted into a vicious glare and he stuffed the deck back into the alter with the force of a man shoving away a former addiction that still tempted him years later. The door in the middle of the altar slammed shut, and Sheppard leaned on it, panting with exertion, before he calmed his breathing and turned back to face Phil.
“He laughed. At me, at my misjudgment, at the Cyberdark deck, at everything in the world. He laughed loudly and freely. He told me. His foolish teacher, Zane told me that he wasn’t here to take that vile deck. He… just wanted to test his own values. To see if they could hold firm, even after his terrible defeat at the academy to Camula, his hair-raising journey through the mountains, and when he was under the suspicion of his very own teacher. Yes, his teacher. The same man that should have been on his side helping him to improve no matter what.”
Sheppard fell silent and cast a considering look toward Phil.
“And then turned to leave. He moved with his shoulders held high, walking like a new man. All I could do was weep. I wept, and he forgave me. My best student forgave his foolish teacher for failing him. Even now, when I think about it, my heart feels like it is about to burst with pride. Like a balloon filled with far too much air. What a truly wonderful feeling. He forgave me, and I was able to send my student off with a blessing and a few cards pressed into his hand. It was all I could do.”
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
“Nothing but senseless aggression?” Zane repeated Aster’s own words back to him as he started his turn. “I resisted the temptation of the Cyberdarks? I don’t know how you found out about my trip back to the dojo, but I didn’t go there to claim the Cyberdarks. I went there to see if I was right. If my own values had worth and meaning.”
Zane stoically removed the top card from his deck and added it to his hand before he continued.
“Do you know what I found? My values held true. The way that I go about them, did not. I have made that correction now. Honor and pride are above all, but now I see those two pillars of life from a completely different angle. You claim that you know me, but you only see the old Zane. You only know of who I was in the past.”
He gently placed a single spell card on his duel disk.
“I am a new man now. I do not need the Cyberdarks when my own deck represents my purpose with far more accuracy than any other cards could. You talk about destiny and fate. That it is my destiny to use the Cyberdarks. That it is my fate to lose to you here. I tell you here and now – a true duelist does not need fate to provide, but instead makes his own fate through honor and pride. And my pride is like steel. It cannot be bent by fate! My honor is like iron! It cannot be melted by such puny flames of destiny! I refuse to be constrained by those pathetic ideals! I activate Overload Fusion!”
The crowd shuddered under the invisible pressure emitted by Zane, and even Aster Phoenix himself was forced to a knee as Zane Truesdale methodically removed monsters from his field and graveyard from the game until both places were completely empty of machine monsters. A sturdy length of steel formed out of thin air. Five screaming heads burst out of the front, each adorned with rubies and sapphires that glinted under the strength of the summer sun. The field pulsed as every single other card Zane controlled was sent to the graveyard by the might of the fusion monster’s presence. A reporter in the crowd fell to the ground foaming at the mouth while Atticus began to scream that he could hardly withstand the sheer fighting spirit between men.
Chimeratech Overdragon (4000/4000).
“Five heads for five attacks! I move to my battle phase. Chimeratech Overdragon, your first attack target is Destiny Hero – Disk Commander!”
“You say you’ve changed, but that looks like arrogance to me, Zane!” Aster shot back. His voice had a slight tremor to it, but his hand was steady as it flipped over a trap card. “I activate the trap card D – Counter! When a face up Destiny Hero monster is targeted for an attack, I get to destroy the attacking monster!”
Zane snorted coldly, but there was a slight hint of amusement in his eyes that softened his expression a little bit. “A year ago that would have worked. Now? It won’t! I activate a quick play spell card from my hand in response! By paying 1500 life points, My Body As A Shield negates the activation of a card that would destroy a monster on the field!”
A rush of white light began to form behind Disk Commander’s floating arsenal of CDs, but before it could build up to an amount large enough to threaten Zane’s monster, a burly soldier in shining metal armor stepped in front of Chimeratech Overdragon to absorb and disperse the light with his own body, allowing the first of the chimera’s five heads to strike and brutally tear out the hero’s throat.
“Eins!” The German word for ‘one’ flew out of Zane’s mouth as naturally as he breathed, causing the air to audibly crackle as Atticus drew in a breath of sheer and utter excitement before he joined Zane in counting the attacks. With each number said, more and more of the crowd breathlessly joined in until the German numbers shook the surrounding buildings.
“ZWEI!”
Now that both Disk Commander and Fear Monger were destroyed, Destiny Hero – Dreadmaster’s attack fell down to 3700 points.
“DREI!”
The fearsome Dreadmaster, a monster that Aster had spent many turns preparing to summon, turned into ash under a blast of crackling electricity from the third head of Chimeratech Overdragon.
“VIER!”
Destiny Hero – Dasher was torn into shreds by the fourth head, and Aster Phoenix’s life points were reduced to zero from the battle damage.
Zane: 900 Aster: 0
The pressure from that final attack was enough to send Aster stumbling backward to fall to the ground. The crowd screamed in excitement, and Atticus was already leading a victory chant alongside the reporters.
“Good game.” Zane walked up to Aster and offered him a hand up.
Aster sucked in a deep breath to combat the wind being knocked out of him before looking at Zane in confusion.
“Why?”
It was a simple, single word. Why? Zane smiled, an action that held no malice or arrogance. Nothing but a genuine smile.
“You were a great opponent, Aster. I hope we can duel again, without any of that ‘fate’ or ‘destiny’ junk getting in the way.”
The square began to quiet as the crowd eventually noticed the conversation between the duelists and breathlessly waited for an answer. No matter what happened, if Aster slapped the hand away or took Zane’s offer, it would be a story for the news for sure. A great rivalry formed by two of the best duelists of the new generation. Perhaps one even mirroring the relationship between Seto Kaiba and Yugi Muto.
Aster, however, stared at Zane’s offered hand. Warring emotions competed in his head. His face distorted, switching between vicious scorn and genuine surprise.
Then one hand met another, and Aster was pulled to his feet with one smooth motion from Zane.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
“That is the story of how I failed my greatest student – and how he forgave his foolish, shortsighted teacher.” Sheppard caressed the alter one last time and stepped away from it with a face full of regret. “But that is the past. Zane is his own man now, a man of which I am immensely proud of.”
“It is what it is.” Phil said.
“Yes… I suppose it is.” Sheppard agreed. “Anyways, I believe we have a duel to get to. May the best man win, and Phil, I would like to formally request that you hold nothing back, as I will do the same.”
Phil sent out a lazy two-fingered salute and the life point counters sprung up on their duel disks with the same reassuring noise that was all too familiar to his ears by now.
Phil: 4000 Sheppard: 4000