The Wheel of Fortune card trembled in mid-air.
It trembled, wavering between upright and reversed as the field flashed with light. It wasn’t just light, though. With each monster that clawed their way onto the field in a croaking, almost screaming chorus of jubilant laughter, the night air surrounding the two duelists began to weigh down around their shoulders, causing even Sartorius’s knees to audibly creak from the effort it took to stay standing.
On Phil’s side of the field, five frogs took shape in defense position. Ronintoadin (100/2000), Swap Frog (1000/500), Dupe Frog (100/2000), Dupe Frog (100/2000), Dupe Frog (100/2000).
On Sartorius’s side of the field, there were far fewer. Though he already possessed the stolen Paleozoic Opabinia (0/2400), he also still had Vanity’s Fiend (2400/1200), Arcana Force 0 – The Fool (0/0), and Arcana Force VI – The Lovers (1600/1600), leaving only one unused monster zone left on his field. Of course, his actual number of banished monsters was similarly small, so the choice was not particularly difficult for the seer to make. In the end, Arcana Force III – The Empress (1300/1300) was chosen to be summoned in defense position, as all of Sartorius’s other notable monsters had been removed from the field during the various points in time that Macro Cosmos had not been in effect, for one reason or another.
Swap Frog remained silent once it was summoned. Phil had only needed to glance at the resources he’d already used. His frog engine was completely toast, being split between the banished pile, the graveyard, and what was now on the field. Not a single amphibian monster remained inside his deck to fuel the yellow frog’s effect.
Then, as Sartorius gently announced that the ‘heads’ effect would be chosen for the Empress, Phil let out an unhinged cackle that saw even Lumina take a step back in concern as he launched into his next move.
"You've got a nice field full of floodgates, I'll grant you that!" Phil yelled, gesturing toward the trap card Head Judging, the temporarily negated Vanity's Fiend, the Tour of Doom, and the final face down card which Phil remembered vaguely was a Fairy Box, an old type of battle trap that relied on flipping coins. “But do you wanna know something funny?”
Without waiting for Sartorius to answer, Phil let out another unhinged burst of laughter.
“The way Konami balances cards like that, there’s no way Head Judging isn’t a once per turn effect! I’ve never seen the card before, but I’ll bet cold hard cash I’m right. With that in mind, I overlay the level two Ronintoadin with the level two Swap Frog to XYZ summon Number 45: Crumble Logos the Prophet of Demolition (2200/0)!”
The moonlight that had been brightened to almost unbearable levels by Arcana Force XVIII – The Moon dimmed to the point that any object beyond the immediate duel field was nearly impossible to make out with the naked eye. The very moon itself flickered. Blue lightning crackled around the duelists, scorching the grass and lighting several nearby trees on fire.
Then, the air itself split open. Two metal hooves stepped out of the tear in the sky, a tear with a backdrop of an empty void. Two more metal hooves followed, revealing a horse’s body. Where there would have normally been the head of the metal horse there was the torso of a man, a white-bearded man holding a book that shimmered with sacred blue energy.
Phil gasped and clutched at his heart as the summon concluded. Even though it was only his second XYZ summon of the duel, the strain was enormous, far greater than any other monster he’d tried to summon before, greater than even the very first time he’d ever summoned Toadally Awesome in this world. It felt like a great beast was resting on his heart to try and prevent the organ itself from beating, from spreading blood around Phil’s body.
“Crap, Phil are you okay?” Lumina shouted in alarm and moved to support Phil as he fell to a knee. She looped his arm around her shoulder and helped him stand.
Phil furrowed his brows and glanced at the metallic centaur in confusion. Was he really that worn out, or was there something special about that monster that made it more taxing to summon? He thought for a few more seconds but ultimately brushed the concern out of his mind. There would be time to theorize about that later. He muttered a quick thanks to Lumina, who was still supporting part of his weight, and gestured to his XYZ monster.
“Crumble Logos’s effect activates! I detach Ronintoadin as cost and target Head Judging! While Crumble Logos remains on the field, Head Judging’s effect will be negated! Furthermore, no additional copies and effects of Head Judging can be activated while the first copy remains on the field!”
“Useless!” Sartorius sneered. “Head Judging’s effect activates in response! Call it!”
“Heads!” Phil shot back, tossing his coin in the air and letting it tumble to the ground without even bothering to glance at the results. He knew it would be the opposite of whatever he called, and the result didn’t matter.
Crumble Logos let out an inhuman groan as its effect was negated, though as Sartorius possessed no empty monster zones, the control of Crumble Logos was not swapped.
"Now, what is it you said?" Phil laughed and spat out a thick clot of blood on the ground. "Useless! I overlay my three level two Dupe Frogs to XYZ summon Paleozoic Anomalocaris (2400/0)!"
The tear in the air still remained, but nothing swam out of it to follow in the tracks of Crumble Logos. Instead, a purple creature that almost appeared to be a cross between a bug and a lobster leaped up from the sea below, easily clearing the cliffside to float in an almost protective manner around Phil’s exhausted form.
“Anomalocaris’s effect activates.” Phil declared. “Though it isn’t a quick effect, since it doesn’t have any trap cards as material, I can still detach a Dupe Frog to destroy Head Judging once and for all.”
Finally, the red-robed judge fell. Anomalocaris’s finned tail sharpened to look like the point of a spear as it tore through the judge’s chest to impale her and announce her death in a splatter of scarlet blood. The two signs she had held, one bearing a red circle while the other a red x, flew into the air to land in the aquatic monster’s mouth, who crunched on them with simple-minded enjoyment for the snack.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Lumina pumped one of her fists in the air, though she made sure the gesture was subdued enough that it didn’t distract Phil (a hard task, considering she was still helping him stay standing). Finally, another barrier bit the dust. Even she could tell how restricting Head Judging had been on Phil’s strategies, second only to Macro Cosmos and Vanity’s Fiend. With the former destroyed, and the latter temporarily negated, there was a chance.
She glanced up and down the field to try and gauge how close the monsters were in strength. In terms of physical power, Sartorius had an edge. Hopefully, there was another card up her friend's sleeve, something that could give him just the edge he needed to claim victory.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Once that was done, Phil took a moment to flick through his banished cards and his graveyard before activating the effect of Ronintoadin in the graveyard, banishing Dupe Frog to special summon the samurai frog in defense position.
“That’s all for me.” Phil shrugged. With Fairy Box still face down and Sartorius’s coin flips being perfectly consistent, there was no point in attacking anything. Not unless he wanted to lose, of course.
“I draw.” Sartorius gravely announced. His eyes flicked upwards to the Wheel of Fortune card. Somehow, it was still undecided. The five-yen coin was casually flicked into the air to keep Light Barrier’s effect running, and then the seer entered his main phase.
"Truly. Fate was correct in assuming that you would be one of my two greatest opponents." Sartorius praised. There was not a single ounce of mockery in his voice nor in his actions. “Time and time again you snatch the reins of victory from the jaws of defeat. I spent months trying and failing to successfully scry you. Days attempting to see what your deck held. I let numerous pawns slip through my grasp like handfuls of sand in order to fully understand how best to face you. My deck is tailored to perfectly counter yours. Yet here you stand. Unvanquished.”
Sartorius nodded in satisfaction. “Yes. You will make a fine champion indeed. However, I am afraid that our dance must come to an end. Your Dimension Fusion move was masterful, but it left you with too few life points to withstand my might. Allow me to show you a monster of mine, a member of the tarot that perfectly encapsulates me! I sacrifice Arcana Force VI – The Lovers, which possesses the effect to treat itself as two tributes for the summon of an Arcana Force monster, to tribute summon the level seven Arcana Force XV – The Fiend (2500/2500)!”
An alien creature with four fleshy tentacles that ended in wickedly sharp hooks floated into position on Sartorius’s field. Three eyes mounted in the creature’s chest stared at Phil to bore deep into his own eyes. Around the duelists the shadows whispered, muttering foul promises and tempting both of the duelists to step into them, to be enveloped by the darkness.
“Light Barrier will allow me to choose the ‘heads’ effect of my monster.” Sartorius announced. “Now. I enter my battle phase.”
“USELESS!” Phil instantly roared as soon as the phase changed. “You say that this duel is about to end, I say that you’ve learned nothing! In my graveyard, I activate the effect of Rise to Full Height! By banishing that card, I select Ronintoadin on my field! For this turn, your monsters can only attack Ronintoadin!"
The moment Phil declared his card’s effect, the teal-skinned samurai toad on Phil’s field placed its hand on the hilt of its sheathed samurai sword, adjusting the sprig of wheat in its mouth as it valiantly prepared to endure the assault of Sartorius’s monsters.
“Feh.” Sartorius spat. “Nothing but a falling man grasping at a fraying rope. Fine. The Fiend shall destroy your Ronintoadin! Furthermore, its effect will now activate! When an attack is declared involving this card, I can target one monster on the field! That monster will be destroyed, and its controller will take 500 points of damage! My target is your Anomalocaris!”
"Fine by me!" Phil raised his hands out wide. A shit-eating grin spread across his face, a grin made bloody from the strain on his body. "Here's a fun ability that all Paleozoic monsters share, an ability that you ought to know if you truly did your research on me! Every single one of my Paleozoic monsters is unaffected by all monster effects!”
Ronintoadin valiantly fought off the first hooked tentacle, but the second broke through the toad's defense and cut off its head. Meanwhile, Phil's words were proven right. While the second tentacle was slicing off Ronintoadin's head, a third scythed through the air toward Anomalocaris. For a moment it looked like the brutal appendage would be the monster's last, but at the last second Phil's XYZ monster dodged, swimming through the air to avoid the tentacles like the atmosphere itself was just another pool of water for it to play in.
“And because my monster wasn’t destroyed, I don’t take the effect damage.” Phil cheekily reminded his opponent, who curtly nodded and ended his turn.
Phil shifted his right arm across Lumina’s shoulder to better access his duel disk and drew a card. Sartorius casually tossed the five-yen coin into the air to apply Tour of Doom’s effect, and then Phil’s turn began in earnest.
“First off, Anomalocaris’s effect activates again! I detach another Dupe Frog to destroy your Vanity’s Fiend! Then allow me to remind you that Crumble Logos is still hanging out on my field, without Head Judging being around to stop it this time! I detach Swap Frog from my monster to target Arcana Force XV – The Fiend, negating its effects for as long as Crumble Logos stays on the field.”
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Then, Phil once more activated the effect of Ronintoadin in the graveyard, banishing Swap Frog to special summon it in defense position before placing one card face down.
"That's my turn." Phil announced and glanced toward his deck. He didn't have the heart to count how many cards there were, but there had to be less than ten. Mayhap even less than five. That meant any more mills were out of the question, and the number of useful XYZ monsters in his extra deck was dwindling. His banished pile had consumed the vast majority of his useful Paleozoic trap cards, and the graveyard had taken the rest. Though, on second thought, Sartorius’s deck was similarly thin. The man hadn’t milled much of anything other than a few cards via Reasoning, but his draw power had eaten through his deck like there was no tomorrow.
Sartorius drew a card, and his deck became just a little bit thinner.
“Interesting.” The seer smiled thinly. “Allow me to show you a few more fruits of my labor. See, I mentioned earlier that I modified my deck to further pressure yours. Here’s another one of my new monsters! By sacrificing Paleozoic Opabinia, I tribute summon Blowback Dragon (2300/1200). Then I use its effect, targeting your face down card!”
Phil quickly flipped over his trap card as soon as the gun-headed metallic dragon caught the card in its sights. “I know what that monster does. In response I activate Paleozoic Leanchoilia. Its effect allows me to target one of my banished cards to return to the graveyard. That’s going to be my other Ronintoadin. Also, you wanna know something funny? Opabinia had one XYZ material left. That material is now back in my graveyard since you sacrificed Opabinia for that tribute summon. Paleozoic Canadia’s graveyard effect will activate in response to my trap card, special summoning it as a monster in defense position!”
The coin flips required for resolving Blowback Dragon's destruction effect were made and passed, but it didn't matter anymore.
Phil then gestured toward his Anomalocaris. “Anom’s effect triggers now. Because a trap card was sent from a proper zone to the graveyard, I can excavate the top card of my deck. If it’s a trap card, I can add it to my hand. Otherwise it goes to the graveyard.”
Phil’s trembling hand reached for the top card of his deck and flipped it over. He spat out a muffled curse.
It was a spell card, Scapegoat.
"I see," Sartorius muttered. "Very well then. One more time, I enter the battle phase!"
Phil’s eyes flashed with fighting spirit as he spat out another clot of blood onto the ground.
“Sucks for you dude, I have my third and final copy of Rise to Full Height sitting in my graveyard! I banish Rise to target Ronin again! You know the drill by now!”
“Yes, yes.” Sartorius waved a hand dismissively. “The Fiend shall attack your toad monster. Once that has been done, I shall place two cards face down and end my turn.”
“Draw!” Phil staggered and leaned more of his weight on Lumina’s shoulder. Whatever the reason behind it, the summon of the number monster had taken an even greater toll on his health than he had originally thought. Not like it mattered. If the duel had the potential to be a longer one, then Phil would have been concerned it would turn out similar to the end of the Joey versus Marik duel in Battle City, with him passing out before the duel ended.
But…
Phil glanced again at his deck, and then over to Sartorius’s. He didn’t even bother to pay attention to the coin flip for Tour of Doom.
His own low life points meant a single mistake would prove fatal. Furthermore, the low deck sizes meant the duel would end one way or another in only a few turns. The real issue at this moment in time was the three face down cards on his opponent’s field. One he knew was Fairy Box, a continuous trap that would let Sartorius flip a coin each time Phil attacked, with his monster’s attack being put to zero if the flip was called correctly. Considering Sartorius’s magical luck, that chance of calling correctly was probably 100%. The other two face downs were unknown, but that meant it could be something just as nasty, or worse.
However, the fact remained that Phil had only one last material left on Anomalocaris and too few cards left in his deck for him to try slowly eating away at his opponent's board. He had to end things now before he decked out and before Sartorius's suspiciously timely draws gave him the perfect out to the XYZ monsters. And considering that he didn’t have the resources to go for a Cat Shark into Daigusto Phoenix OTK play, nor any frogs left in his deck to use with Toadally Awesome, then his next best option was as clear as day. He could only hope that those other face downs couldn’t end his moves before they began.
“It’s time to turn up the heat! Sartorius, I’m about to show you why you don’t want to let me get this many monsters on the field! Blowback Dragon, The Fiend, even your shitty weaker Arcana Force monsters can do nothing in the face of this! I detach the final XYZ material from Anomalocaris to destroy your leftmost face down card.”
The trap card, Bottomless Trap Hole, was sent spinning into the graveyard, causing Phil to heave a sigh of relief. He had no other way to deal with the other unknown face down before his next XYZ summon, but a Bottomless would have been bad.
“Then I activate the effect of Ronintoadin numero uno in my graveyard! Banishing Dupe Frog to special summon him in defense position! After that, it's Ronintoadin numero dos! Banishing another Dupe Frog to special summon him in defense position! Then! X! Y! Z! Summon! Rank two monster Paleozoic Anomalocaris, using both Ronins and Canadia as material!”
Another purplish aquatic creature swam over the side of the cliff, joining the first Anomalocaris with a squeal of delight.
At least, until Sartorius let out a maddened laugh. The laughter built, soft at first but steadily climbing into a frenzy of malicious hilarity.
Then Sartorius flipped over his other face down card.
“Solemn Judgment.”
The second Anomalocaris was struck in the side by a bolt of heavenly lightning, sending the once-jubilant creature spinning into the forest to rest in a motionless heap.
Phil: 600 Sartorius: 2000
Phil’s eyes watched it all, a cold expression not unlike that of frigid steel edged upon his face. He could feel it, an empty, gnawing pit in his stomach. He was given no choice but to go for it, but Lady Luck failed him. If only he’d gone for the other choice with the first Anomalocaris’s effect. Bottomless Trap Hole still would have destroyed his new monster, but he could have responded to its effect as the second Anomalocaris would have had a trap card as material, turning its destruction effect into a quick effect.
Then he could have popped the fairy box and gone for an offensive play…
Ah. Who was he kidding?
He had two Ronintoadins in the graveyard, but no frogs left to banish. No traps left set on his field. One card was in his hand from drawing at the start of his turn, but…
Phil’s eyes narrowed and he bared his teeth in a savage grin. He couldn't attack this turn, not with Fairy Box still around, but there was always the next turn.
"Good play, mate. But, it looks to me like I still have one or two cards left in my deck."
“Your point?” Sartorius airily replied, as if he was already planning what to do after the duel was over.
“My point is,” Phil pointed right at the Wheel of Fortune card, “it ain’t over ‘till the fat lady sings, and it looks like that card of yours agrees with me.”
The Wheel of Fortune card was trembling, but it was still undecided.
“I place one card face down and end my turn.”
Sartorius sneered at Phil’s inaction and drew a card, drawing the action into an exaggerated arc in the air.
“You are indeed right that we are both in short supply of cards left to draw. I think that affects you more than me. No more Rise to Full Height’s left. No more frogs left to summon. Magician, you appear to be short on tricks to use. Blowback Dragon! Activate your effect to destroy my opponent’s face down card!”
“Predictable!” Phil roared back in response. “Compulsory Evacuation Device activates in response to return your Fiend to your hand! Furthermore, the effect of Paleozoic Canadia triggers in my graveyard! Because it was sent back to the grave last turn when you stopped my XYZ summon, I can bring it back again in defense position!”
“And that’s not enough!” Sartorius countered. He swept his hand out to point at the Wheel of Fortune card in the air.
“Wheel of Fortune, reveal your results, your truth to the world! The outcome… IS NO LONGER UNCERTAIN!”
The card trembled.
The card trembled and glowed. It shuddered…
And then it turned upright.
“The interpretation is clear! Destiny is on my side, fate has spoken in favor of my victory! Magician! I have won! By sacrificing three monsters, those being Arcana Force 0 – The Fool, Blowback Dragon, and Arcana Force III - The Empress, I special summon the ruler of darkness, the card fated to be your end!”
The light of the moon cut out. The surroundings were nearly pitch black, with the only illumination being the small fires started by Light Barrier and the summoning of Crumble Logos. Everything else was cloaked in shadows.
“I summon Arcana Force EX – The Dark Ruler (4000/4000)!”
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Phil pushed Lumina away to stand on his own fading strength.
“It’s over.” They shared a look. Phil’s face was set into a brave, almost defiant glare, but Lumina could see his eyes shaking.
He was scared.
Lumina’s breath caught in her throat, but before she could say anything to reassure him, Phil pulled a card out from under his jacket and pushed it into her hands. She couldn’t read what it was due to how dim the surroundings were, but she could feel the presence of the duel spirit attached to it. The card was undoubtedly D.3.S. Frog, Phil’s most stalwart and powerful ally.
“Run.” Phil looked at her dead in the eyes. With the light from the moon gone, the only gleam she could see reflecting in his pupils was the dance of the flames behind them. “Find Bastion. Tell him it’s plan B time. Tell him everything, tell him the seer manipulates luck and fate. He’ll trust you if you show him that card. It’s the only way we’re making it out of this. And… tell them I’m sorry.”
Lumina stared silently at him, and as the terrifying shape of Sartorius’s monster formed in the air behind him, appearing to almost move in slow motion, she nodded.
If this had been a year ago, she would have said no. She wasn’t supposed to interfere this much. She wasn’t supposed to reveal herself to anyone other than Phil. There would be consequences when she returned to the office. Severe ones, knowing Judgment Dragon.
But that was then, and this was now. She nodded, turned, and ran. She ran as fast as she could, blitzing through the trees, leaving the two duelists in the dust, not even noticing the two professors making their way through the undergrowth in the distance with how great her worry was. She had to make it to Phil’s friends as fast as possible… otherwise if Phil ended up hurting anyone…
She didn’t know if his heart would resist crumbling.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Phil faced the monster with his arms spread out wide. It was a terrifying dark beast. Two dragon-like heads sprouted out of the alien’s body, just above its spiked shoulders. Its very presence absorbed the light around them and caused the shadows to whisper so loudly that he could barely understand what Sartorius was saying.
“Light Barrier allows for my monster to possess the ‘heads’ effect, giving it two attacks this turn. Now. Battle phase.”
The primal part of Phil’s brain wanted him to close his eyes at the monster rushing toward him, moving to cleave through his two XYZ monsters, but he forced his eyelids to remain open. He forced them to stay open to stare at the end.
The monster tore through Crumble Logos, and Phil let out one last roar of defiance before the duel field fell silent.
Phil: 0 Sartorius: 2000
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The island itself shuddered.
Alexis didn’t know why, and a look shot toward where Bastion and Banner huddled around the mirror told her they didn’t know either. Dueling students were thrown to the ground. Even her own opponents, a pair of Slifers that had been dueling on her side a few minutes ago, were thrown to the ground. Her own balance was much better. Above her, the ceiling creaked but ultimately stood firm. It was a rare mercy for a night where everything felt like it was going wrong bit by bit.
A moment later saw Cyber Angel Vrash, flash forward with a terrifying war cry, winning her the duel and restoring the free will of her opponents. In the precious moment of calm that followed, Alexis looked past the two duelists huddling over the mirror, past the door she guarded, all across the frantic crowd of duelists fighting strange men, even dueling students who had once been friends. Wordlessly Alexis stepped aside to let the two students into the safety of the room behind her. They were still obviously disoriented, and she saw little sense in handing them right back to the enemy.
Alexis could see it in the distance. The moonlight had guttered out like a flashlight running out of battery, but as the light was restored, there were flames in the distance. The flames hungrily snapped at the trees, similar to how the terrifying, black-scaled dragon head snapped at the sky.
Alexis blinked and it was gone, leaving behind only a roar that sent shivers of fear down her spine. Someone was fighting desperately in the jungle, but she didn’t know exactly who it was. Was it Phil, already dueling the man behind the mortar? Was Ms. Hibiki still fighting her way out of the docks? Or was it Professor Crowler, who had turned up missing in the infirmary? Doubtlessly the big guy was fighting his own battles to protect his students as best as he could.
“Bastion.” She heard Banner’s voice rise sharply behind her, a note of uncharacteristic alarm in his tone.
Bastion’s voice mumbled back. It was too low for her to understand. Regardless, something had to have come up in their vigil over the mirror. Something important enough to alarm even the usually calm professor.
Alexis shook herself out of her thoughts. Those two would worry about the plan. If there was something she needed to know, they would tell her. All she could do was make sure no duelist walked past the door she guarded, that no enemy duelists interrupted the two behind her. It wasn’t just her, either. Rose stood like a proud guardian knight in front of a window. Syrus and Chumley protected a different window. Jaden guarded the back door. Chazz’s form flitted around the school grounds as the prideful Obelisk Blue made his rage known to all who crossed him.
Meanwhile, Zane and Atticus rampaged around the front of the classroom, their mix of unbridled ferocity and power providing a rallying banner for every member of Duel Academy. Together they dueled three, even four opponents at a time, each one never lasting more than two turns.
The only exception to that rule was the man who seemed to be the champion of those cultists - a laughing teen in princely clothes who, along with a man who looked like a stereotypical gangster and a pair of mind-controlled Obelisk Blues, had finally managed to prove an even match for the Kaiser and her brother.
She could see them dueling now. Futuristic satellites brawled with the older Truesdale’s raging machines, while her brother’s ferocious dragons of darkness tore meaty chunks through the careful defense of the other three.
Movement grabbed her vision as a Slifer Red and a Ra Yellow walked up to her, and Alexis sighed.
She was so, very, unbelievably tired.