Domino City Game Parlor. Those words were etched into a sign outside of the building Chet led Phil and Jean to. Like the edges of the building itself, the sign glowed with bright neon lights, though these were a cool light blue compared to the bright purple lights of the parlor. However, neither the blue nor the purple lights, as bright as they were, could fully distract Phil from noticing the general griminess of the game parlor. Each edge on the outside of the parlor looked greasy and dirty, as if the cracked brick surface hadn't been given a good power washing since the business was first established – and from the looks of the outside decor, that establishment had probably happened in the 50s at the very least.

  As Chet beckoned the two men inside, however, their surroundings became an even more drastic mixture of bright shiny neon and barely hidden decay. Wooden paneling covered the inside walls instead of any sensible sort of wallpaper, and a horrible green shag carpeting covered the ground like an eye-burning mockery of a grass lawn. Like Burger World, the inside of the parlor was heated to combat the cold threatening to invade from the outside. But, unlike Burger World, this heat felt a lot less ‘homey’. It felt sickly, like a warm parasite trying to burrow into Phil’s bones to suck out what strength was left in his malnourished body. In a way, it was like the same horrid warmth one would feel when succumbing to extreme cold. All Phil had to do was sit down, close his eyes, and then he would sink into that horrid warmth to never wake up again.

  Sprinkled liberally around the inside of the game parlor, like wide polished tree stumps poking out of a shaggy grass lawn, there were countless gaming tables with crowds of people clustered around each one. These were no fancy hologram tables that could make the monsters come to life. They were ordinary gaming tables that seemed, after a second glance, to have been repurposed from poker or blackjack to this new sensational card game. Of course, they weren’t just covered with Duel Monster cards. Stacks of plastic chips, some of which reached several feet into the air, balanced precariously next to each person sitting at the table.

  Strips of neon lights in almost every color imaginable lined the edges of each table, throwing out puddles of bright light that fought valiantly with the inherent dimness of the rest of the room, which was barely lit by a handful of struggling ceiling lamps with lightbulbs that looked like they hadn’t been changed since the parlor was built. The light provided by the strips of neon lights served to give an almost ghoulish look to the men sitting at each table as it washed over their faces, casting shadows over scarred cheeks and stoney eyes.

  Then there was the smell. Someone in the management had placed several scented candles across the room in an attempt to freshen things up, but it was futile when pitted against the stench of cigarette smoke infesting the air. Nearly every other person in the establishment was puffing away on a cigarette or a cigar while they played, watched, or chatted away. The burning ends of each cigarette were tiny red stars dotting the dim space of the parlor. The stink pushed its way into every crevice, and if the dim light had been replaced with something brighter, Phil could imagine even the wood paneling being yellowed with smoke.

  However, cigarette smoke was not the only thing the parlor stank of. The smell of desperate men filled the air. It was a smell that was similar to what a guy would smell like after not bathing or having a good meal for a few weeks. The stench was thick and seemed to press down on Phil’s shoulders more the longer he stayed inside the parlor.

  Near the edge of the room sat a bar. Despite the crowd surrounding it, there was only a single bartender behind it. He was a tall, scarred man, a foreigner of some sort who wordlessly poured drinks into dirty glasses to slide across the polished wooden counter to the crowd without missing a beat. A feeling of disgust, with just a tiny hint of longing, swept over Phil's heart at the sight, but he wrenched his gaze away to focus back on Chet, who was leading them to a table near the edge of the room.

  ‘A place to test your might and make your fortune’, the yakuza’s words rang in Phil’s ears as he remembered what the man said back in Burger World. The words made more sense now. This was a place to gamble over the outcome of a Duel Monsters game.

  The thought sent a slightly sickened feeling down to the bottom of Phil’s stomach. Sure, he’d had an idea that this was what Chet wanted to show them, ever since the man first opened his mouth. Still, an idea was a bit different than seeing it in action. Duel Monsters (or Yu-Gi-Oh!, as Phil knew it) was a game he loved. He was also pretty decent at it, if he did say so himself. Gambling over it could net Phil and Jean a way out of the shit situation called ‘living under a bridge with not a cent to their name’.

  That didn’t mean Phil had to like the idea of gambling over a game he grew up playing. He would do it. As soon as Chet revealed how to participate, Phil would throw his chips down. But he still wouldn’t like it.

  “Think of it this way,” Lumina said, managing to perfectly read Phil’s inner thoughts without him even saying a word on the subject. She was getting quite good at that lately. Or perhaps she had gained that ability long before now. They had lived together in the same dorm room for several years before this, after all. “In shadow games, you’re gambling over your life. In ante games, you’re gambling over your best card. Here you’re just swapping that stuff for money. It’s the same idea, right?”

  Phil shrugged, keeping the movement small enough so that only Lumina noticed it. He knew. He knew that his thoughts on the topic were stupid. It wasn't like he was about to pass on the chance to get cash over some idiotic moral shit. He didn't have the luxury of that. Hell, what moral high ground did Phil even have at this point? He already had blood on his hands several times over. Compared to murder, gambling over something he cared about wasn’t much to cry about.

  As Phil and Jean neared the edges of the room, the crowd gradually thinned out and the people sitting at the tables looked far shabbier than the men near the center. Several doors dotted the wood-paneled wall in this area. Most were closed shut, but one was cracked open, which allowed Phil to briefly catch a glimpse of a steel tub, one that was big enough for a grown man to comfortably fit in, right next to what looked to be a white freezer, its door dotted with splotches of grey mold.

  Then Chet stopped, and Phil looked away from the room to focus on the table before them.

  “Monsieur Phil, I believe this is our stop,” Jean muttered from beside Phil. The excitement normally displayed by the Frenchman was tempered by the seedy atmosphere of the duel parlor. Phil couldn’t help but understand that.

  Chet, ignoring the words Jean spoke (as he was unable to understand them), gestured toward two men already sitting at the table. Each of the men had an extremely shabby air about them, one that was only barely beaten by the shabbiness Phil and Jean possessed. The first one, who Chet introduced as Taka, wore a white long-sleeved dress shirt that would normally be worn under a suit coat. The sleeves on it were rolled up to display a set of hairy arms. One of his hands, its nails yellowed by neglect, clutched a smoking cigarette, while the other played nervously with a splinter sticking out from the end of the table. Taka's head was devoid of hair, looking like a shiny cue ball. The man appeared to be in his 50s or 60s. In any other place, he could have easily been mistaken for an ordinary salaryman nearing retirement, but here he simply looked like an old gambler running short on luck.

  The second man, who Chet introduced as Makoto, was a man only a shade younger than Taka. Appearing to be in his mid-40s, Makoto wore a blue floral short-sleeved Hawaiian shirt that hung loosely over his skinny frame. He had a full head of hair, greasy strings of it that were swept up behind his head into a loose rat tail that barely extended past the nape of his neck. Similar to Taka, Makoto also looked ragged, as if he’d been at this parlor for years and had been straight out of luck for the past few months, to the point that he barely had anything left to bet other than the shirt off his back. However, unlike Taka, Makoto was not smoking, though there was a glass a quarter full of amber liquid placed on the edge of the table before him.

  “Each of the blue chips is worth 1,500 yen (~$10), the black chips are 15,000 yen (~$100), the greens are 75,000 yen (~$500), and the red chips, those are the real money. The red chips are a cool 150,000 yen a pop (~$1000)” Chet explained. As he did, Taka and Makoto stared wordlessly at Phil and Jean, their eyes tracking their every movement like predators would for prey. Only, Phil got the feeling that perhaps those men were prey pretending to be predators, or prey that did not realize they were the prey, whether that be to Phil and Jean, or to the establishment itself.

  "A minimum of 15,000 yen is needed for the starting buy-in. After that, it's up to the players to decide how much to bet, and who to play against. However, if the stakes are raised throughout the game, you may be asked to leave if you decline to match that raise too many times, while still having chips to spare. Naturally, since you two are newbies, none of the high rollers will want to play against you, not until you have some rep. Won't be worth their time otherwise. Taka and Makoto here, well these fine gentlemen are happy to duel against anyone, regardless of status."

  Phil helplessly shrugged. "That's fine, mate, but forget the buy-in. I think Jean and I maybe have one or two yen to rub together at the most. Thought you could tell from our whole get-up."

  Then Chet laughed. The action in a normal situation would have sounded light-hearted, but amid the grime and the buzzing chatter of the parlor, it sounded slightly malicious. The man's voice turned darker as he spoke, and a cruel glimmer sparked in his eyes.

  “You have two kidneys, do you not? Using one of those as collateral, the house will give you five reds per kidney. If you bet smart and play well, we might not even have to collect~!”

  In an instant, Phil realized the meaning behind the room with the metal tub. It was a bathtub, and the freezer was full of ice. Leaning with her arms crossed against the table next to Phil, unseen to all other than the reincarnator, Lumina let out a short curse.

  “Slimy bastards, using desperate people like this.”

  In other words, Chet wasn't joking. This was a place where, as long as one had collateral, that being money, an organ, or anything else of value, one could gamble over Duel Monsters to their heart's content.

  Once Phil relayed Chet’s words over to Jean, his friend narrowed his eyes in disgust.

  “Merci, this place is disgusting. Gambling over a game is one thing. It is something man has done since the very beginning. But organ harvesting? It is a wonder that the cops have not shut this place down yet.”

  Phil nodded in agreement.

  “Yeah. But what else can we do? We need money and this place doesn’t give a shit about any sort of papers or documentation other than cold hard yen. If that fire barrel at the bridge goes out at the wrong time, we die in our sleep. If we go long enough on too little food, we starve to death.”

  Jean fixed Phil with a steady gaze. The man, despite his cautions, did not appear scared of the fact that if they continued, their kidneys could end up being cut out in an ice bath.

  “Oui, Monsieur. If we fail to grasp this opportunity, then our only hope will be lady luck. I am confident in my skills. Are you, my friend?”

  Phil grasped Jean’s hand in his own, nodding resolutely. All they had to do was avoid losing and pay back the parlor as fast as possible to avoid the ice bath route.

  "Fuck it. Let's bet our kidneys on a fucking children's card game. We'll put up one of mine first. If we wipe out here, then it's your turn."

  “Ah, how exciting! May our cards strike true, and our friendship prove to be that of legend!” Jean laughed, taking a seat next to Phil at the table opposite Taka and Makoto.

  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

  Once Phil and Jean expressed their interest in participating, Chet placed a form in front of them to sign while he sauntered over to a small counter in the corner of the room that Phil hadn’t noticed when he first walked in. The marble counter was manned by a cheerful woman in a black pencil skirt and a white shirt. Her hair, jet black and kept together in a businesslike braid, rested over her shoulder, and she greeted Chet with a professional bow. It only took her a few seconds to slide over four red chips and ten black chips across the counter to the shady man.

  By the time Chet came back, the forms were signed in Phil's and Jean's equally sloppy handwriting. Chet pushed the handful of chips between them, and pulling a chair over to the middle side of the table, leaned back and placed his feet on the wood.

  “Here’s how it’ll go,” Chet explained in a sleazy tone, casually striking up a match against the bottom of one of his shoes to light a cigarette. “Since you two are newbies, I will be the witness for this duel. Two versus two, tag duel format. Shared life points between teams, and you must clear both of your opponent’s fields before a direct attack can be made. Taka, as the elder at this table, will be allowed the coin flip so he can play before he dies of old age. Heads, he goes first. Tails, he goes last. Turns alternate diagonally. Oh, and you should probably duel at least well enough to make me confident in your skills. Otherwise, I’ll have to make sure the house gets its due a bit earlier than you would probably like if you catch my drift."

  Phil sat back in his wooden chair, the joints of it creaking ominously as he moved. That meant, if Taka got heads, it would be Taka, then Jean, then Makoto, then Phil with the first attack. If it was tails, then the order would be opposite, and Taka would get the first attack. He could see from the two life point counters built into the side of each end of the table that they would be two 4000 totals, with Phil and Jean sharing one, while Taka and Makoto shared the other. Less life points to chew through than if each person had their own counter, but there would be more obstacles to clear before a direct attack could be made.

  Then there was the whole ‘confidence’ angle from Chet. Phil understood him perfectly. Right now, Chet wasn’t sure if Phil and Jean could play well enough and make enough money to pay the house back. If that feeling of being unsure turned to something more definite, Chet would pull out the ice bath to make sure the house got their money before Phil and Jean got wiped out for good and fled.

  Once Chet’s brief explanation was over, Taka wordlessly spun the simple gold-colored coin into the air, where it danced between the shadows that the neon lights before coming to a rest in his liver-spotted palm. Taka’s tongue, looking almost like a slug turned grey from decades of cigarette smoke, darted out to moisten his lips as he slapped the coin onto the back of his wrist.

  “Heads,” Taka spoke for the first time since they were introduced, “I shall be going first, then.”

  Phil and Jean: 4000 Taka and Makoto: 4000

  Phil slid one black chip to the center of the table for the buy-in. Taka and Makoto mirrored his move.

  As each man at the table drew their starting hands, Taka wasted no time beginning his turn.

  “My spell card activates, Stray Lambs.” Taka announced. “It allows me to summon two Lamb Tokens (0/0) in defense position. Then I end my turn.”

  “Draw!” Jean said. Phil moved with a start, echoing Jean’s words as he belatedly remembered that none of the other men at the table spoke French (or had handy translation magic like Phil). Jean shot over a curious glance at Phil, doubtlessly wondering why to his ears, Phil was still speaking French, but the man did not comment on the oddity. “Phil! I shall take the defense, you shall take the offense, yes?”

  Phil did not translate those words. He simply smiled and nodded, taking the slight advantage as what it was – that their opponents would not know for sure if Jean's next play would be offense or defense.

  “In that case, I summon Sealmaster Meisei (1100/900) in attack position!” Jean placed the monster flat on the wooden table. Phil raised an eyebrow at the play, but said nothing. It had been a hot minute since he’d seen that monster in play. In fact… a memory flashed by, made hazy by time and the fact that he was absolutely fucking wasted during that duel, of a tag duel similar to this one, though his organs weren’t collateral then. Heck, he didn’t even remember the end, having blacked out around the midpoint of the tag duel.

  Poor Syrus, having to deal with a drunk Phil during a tag duel that was the only thing between them and getting reported by Jasmine and Mindy.

  But Phil wasn’t drunk now, and monster, its card art looking like a grim Shinto priest getting ready for an exorcism, was being played by an ally instead of an opponent.

  “I’ll follow that up with the continuous spell, Talisman of Trap Sealing!” Jean continued, “So long as the Sealmaster and this spell card both remain on the field, trap cards cannot be activated, and their effects on the field are negated! Turn end!”

  Makoto began his turn with his lip curled in disgust toward Jean’s spellcaster monster. That reaction alone heightened Phil’s curiosity. Either Makoto was one of those players who despised floodgates (as in cards that outright prevented certain types of cards from being played), or the man had a trap or two in his hand that he wanted to make use of.

  “Witch of the Black Forest (1100/1200), defense mode. I will follow that with one card face-down and my turn shall end.”

  And with those quick turns, it was now up to Phil’s move. He had the first attack, being the last person seated around the table to go.

  “Draw!” Phil said, his voice distracted as he contemplated his hand. Jean was taking care of the defense, locking down any and all trap cards so they couldn’t be used to stymie Phil’s offense. A move like that wasn’t out of the ordinary in a tag duel, having one person attack while the other defended.

  The problem was, while he could still press the advantage Jean gave him, the moves he could make were still a little less impactful than he could have hoped.

  “Alright,” Phil made up his mind and launched into his main phase. “By discarding one Thunder Dragon, I can add two more to my hand. Next up, I summon Sangan (1000/600) in attack mode, following that with the activation of my equip spell! By discarding one of my Thunder Dragons, I can give Sangan a nice power boost with the Wicked-Breaking Flamberge – Baou! It’ll be a solid 500 increase.”

  Sangan (1000/600 -> 1500/600).

  However, that wasn’t the only reason why Phil kept that card in the deck Solomon gave him. Sure, it was only a 500 attack point boost. But as Phil entered his battle phase and ordered his Sangan to destroy Makoto’s monster, the other effect of Baou kicked in.

  "Ah!" Phil said, holding up a finger before Makoto could activate the witch's effect to search, "When the monster Baou is equipped to destroys a monster by battle, the effects of that destroyed monster are negated! That means your search effect gets nixed, my good sir.”

  As Phil ended his turn, Taka started his with a scowl. That was the other thing – 1500 attack points was a little bit… interesting to beat over without a bit of preparation or luck at this point in the game’s history, even before taking into consideration the negation effect.

  Shooting a glance over his Lamb Tokens, which were still untouched, Taka merely placed one card face-down and ended his turn.

  Phil tilted his head slightly to the side. Perhaps this was the reason why both of the men opposite of him were at this specific table that allowed newbies. They were either down on their luck… or the men were just not very good at the game.

  “Draw!” Jean shouted, with Phil continuing to echo his words for their opponent’s benefit. “It seems our decks are more compatible than I first thought, my friend! So, let’s turn up the heat! I activate the field spell, Yami! This spell allows for all Fiend and Spellcaster monsters on the field to gain 200 attack and defense points!”

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Sealmaster Meisei (1100/900 -> 1300/1100), Sangan (1500/600 -> 1700/600).

  Phil glanced at Jean’s field spell, a card that looked like a formless vortex of shadows. That was another somewhat unexpected development. While he'd heard of the card before, he didn't expect to see it before Duelist Kingdom, where field spells like that (among others) were baked right into each duel box on the island to give reliable terrain-related boosts.

  Truly, he couldn’t be sure of anything at this point, could he?

  Jean moved right into the offense, using his boosted Sealmaster to clear off one of the two Lamb Tokens from the field and ending his turn by setting one card face-down.

  Before drawing a card to start his turn, Makoto drained the contents of his glass and raised his hand limply into the air. Within seconds, a woman in a thin black pencil skirt (though not the same woman as the one at the chip counter) came walking up to stand next to the table, and Makoto hurriedly ordered another whiskey, to be placed on his tab. The woman wordlessly bowed and disappeared in a flutter of hair toward the bar.

  “My turn.” Makoto said in a hoarse voice. Once he drew his starting card, a flicker of relief passed across his face nearly too fast for Phil to notice. He smoothed out the collar of his shirt with his empty hand, before using it to reveal one card to Phil and Jean.

  “Mystical Space Typhoon. Its target is your Talisman of Trap Sealing.”

  Once Phil translated those words to Jean, the ragged Frenchman held out a finger, complementing the man for his strategy while he flipped over the face-down he’d set the turn prior.

  “Well done, Monsieur, however, allow me to extract one last bit of value from my card. Introducing the quick-play spell, Emergency Provisions! By sending my Talisman to the graveyard, I shall gain 1000 life points!”

  Phil and Jean: 5000 Taka and Makoto: 4000

  “No matter.” Makoto replied. “The seal you placed on our traps is destroyed. Now, I summon a Sangan of my own, following it with the activation of my ritual spell, Doraido’s Blessing! By sacrificing my Sangan, I ritual summon Elemental Mistress Doriado (1200/1400) in attack position!”

  Elemental Mistress Doraido (1200/1400 -> 1400/1600).

  The card art of the ritual monster featured a blonde woman wearing a strange red hat, her hands clasped together in prayer. This was another card Phil recognized. While it boasted no notable stats, it was one of the few cards in the game with an effect that treated it as every attribute possible all at the same time. Most of the time that effect was not very useful, but the card was often played alongside traps that required the full set of attributes to be on the field for activation.

  Once Makoto resolved Sangan’s search effect, adding a monster called ‘Element Valkyrie’ to his hand, one of those very same cards was revealed.

  “Revealing my trap card! Strike, Fuh-Rin-Ka-Zan! Because the wind, water, fire, and earth attributes are present on my field, I may choose one of this card’s four effects to apply. My choice will be the first one, that will destroy all monsters my opponent controls!”

  “And in the rules of this tag duel, that applies to both opponents!” Chet cackled from where he sat, clearly enjoying the rapid reversal of circumstances. “Now, shall I give the word for the back room to be prepped? Or are you two bums gonna show me a better time?”

  “A few seconds.” Lumina muttered angrily, clenching her fists as she stared daggers at Chet, “I could become tangible, coat the room with his blood, and flip back on my invisibility before most of these cretins would even notice. I could do all that in a few seconds with only a thimbles-worth of magic.”

  While Phil could easily agree that Chet was certainly a grade-A cunt, he sent a mysterious smile toward Lumina to signal that the game wasn’t over quite yet, even as Jean’s Sealmaster and Phil’s Sangan both plummeted to the graveyard. The effect of Phil’s Sangan was still triggered by the destruction, so Phil added a Nimble Momonga to his hand.

  Makoto paused before his next move as the waitress came back with his drink, sipping on it before summoning the Element Valkyrie (1500/1200) he’d searched with Sangan. The woman displayed in the card art was a fiery-haired girl, clutching a staff with fire on one end, and water on the other, which along with its name hinted at an attribute-related ability.

  “Then, as there is a fire attribute monster on the field,” Makoto explained, “Element Valkyrie will gain 500 attack points, though it will lose 200 points due to Yami’s effect, as it is a fairy monster.”

  Element Valkyrie (1500/1200 -> 1800/1000).

  At this point, Taka threw two black chips into the center of the table. Phil and Jean shared a look, and then they each threw a black chip of their own in to match the raise.

  “Battle begins!” Makoto declared, stabbing a finger in the air toward Phil and Jean in a display of youthful energy one wouldn’t expect to see from the downtrodden man. “Doriado and Element Valkyrie both attack directly!”

  Phil and Jean: 1800 Taka and Makoto: 4000

  Jean winced at the damage, but Phil remained calm. The duel wouldn’t end until their life points reached zero. Until then, those were just another resource to be used as he saw fit.

  “My turn.” Phil declared as Makoto ended his own by placing a card face-down. Though the flow of the duel had momentarily been taken away from them, Phil confidently moved into his next play with the same aggression he’d displayed before the Sealmaster bit the dust.

  “First off, I’ll slap down my Nimble Momonga (1000/100) in attack mode. Then, by banishing the two Thunder Dragons in my graveyard from the game, here’s the Soul of Purity and Light (2000/1800)!”

  Soul of Purity and Light (2000/1800 -> 1800/1600).

  While Phil’s new angelic monster did lose 200 attack and defense points due to Jean’s field spell, it was still a formidable monster that could easily kill Makoto’s Doriado ritual.

  “Battle phase!” Phil declared without missing a beat, “Soul of Purity and Light wipes out the Doriado, while Nimble Momonga takes care of that last Lamb Token!”

  Now that the ritual monster had left the field, Element Valkyrie’s attack points plummeted down to 1300, a number that was much more manageable to beat over.

  Taka stubbed out the end of his cigarette in an ashtray built into the side of his table, wasting not a single second before lighting up another cigarette to replace the first.

  “Vampiric Orchis (1700/1000), to me!” The man cried as his turn began. “It was normal summoned, so that will cause its effect to activate to special summon one Des Dendle (300/2000) from my hand in defense mode!”

  Taka’s hands trembled as he launched into the next part of his turn, the man’s age showing itself through his excitement over performing the combo. “Des Dendle possesses a ‘union’ effect! Once per turn, I can equip it to my Vampiric Orchis as an equip spell. Then while it stays equipped, each time my Orchis destroys a monster, a Wicked Plant Token (800/800) is summoned to my side of the field. I place one card face down, and then the battle shall begin!”

  Phil smirked, gesturing to his side of the field.

  “Sure, but have fun doing battle now that the effect of Soul of Purity and Light activates! During my opponent’s battle phase, your monsters temporarily lose 300 attack points!”

  Vampiric Orchis (1700/1000 -> 1400/1000).

  "No matter." Taka snorted derisively. "My target was your Nimble Momonga, to begin with!"

  “Which means its effect activates, healing us for 1000 life points and pulling two more Momonga’s to the field in face-down defense position,” Phil countered in a casual voice.

  Phil and Jean: 2400 Taka and Makoto: 4000

  Taka did not reply to that, merely placing a token on the field and setting one card face down to end his turn.

  Jean sat upright in his chair from where he had been cautiously watching the state of the game. His side of the field was completely empty, his Sealmaster lock having been defeated by Makoto’s power play. Yet, the fight had not left the Frenchman’s eyes, which still blazed with a fiery duelist’s spirit. Wordlessly, Jean activated Pot of Greed to draw two more cards and then turned to look at Phil.

  “Phil, I seem to remember pledging my efforts to the defense of our cause. However, a new development has shown itself in my hand. As they say, c’est la vie, mon ami! The time for an offense is now!”

  Phil grinned at Jean’s words. “Hey now, they say the best defense is a good offense, after all! Show these dudes what for!”

  Appearing to take Phil’s reply to heart, Jean slapped a monster onto the polished wooden table.

  “Monk Fighter (1300/1000) heeds my call! Yet, where there is an apprentice, a master lurks! By sacrificing Monk Fighter, I can special summon Master Monk (1900/1000) from my hand! Then, I follow that play with another! Here’s the field spell Wasteland, right on time to replace Yami!”

  Just like in the modern game, each player could only have one field spell active at a time on their side of the board. So, if Jean wanted to play Wasteland, that meant Yami would be sent to the graveyard.

  That also meant, that not only did the rock-type Master Monk gain 200 attack and defense points, but Phil's Soul of Purity and Light returned to its original stat values. The same effect applied to Element Valkyrie, letting it regain its lost attack points.

  Master Monk (1900/1000 -> 2100/1200), Soul of Purity and Light (1800/1600 -> 2000/1800), Element Valkyrie (1300/1000 -> 1500/1200).

  The muscular white-haired man depicted on Master Monk’s card art appeared like a reassuring presence to Phil, its staggering 2100 attack after the field spell boost being quite impressive for a non-fusion card in this era of the game.

  Jean then moved immediately into his battle phase. Master Monk tore into Vampiric Orchis, but once the dust settled, Taka took a deep puff from his cigarette.

  “Des Dendle’s union effect!” Taka gravely announced, “If my Vampiric Orchis would be destroyed, Des Dendle can sacrifice itself in its place.”

  “But you still take the damage,” Jean cheekily reminded the old man, “And my Master Monk has a special effect of his own! As a martial arts master, he can attack twice per turn! My second attack shall destroy your vampire tree for good!”

  Once Phil finished relaying Jean’s words, Taka’s face grew dark.

  Phil and Jean: 2400 Taka and Makoto: 3200

  Then, Jean placed a card face-down and ended his turn.

  A drop of sweat dribbled down Makoto’s nose. The man tried to mask his nerves by taking a hearty quaff from his glass of whiskey, but it was not enough to hide from Phil’s eyes. Jean, seeing the emotion as well, sent a side-eye toward Phil. The message was clear – they had their opponents on the ropes.

  “Draw.” Makoto mumbled. The man flicked his eyes to glance at Chet, who had leaned slightly in to fix a wolf-like gaze on Taka and Makoto. Idly, as Makoto destroyed another of Phil’s Nimble Momonga’s with his Element Valkyrie, placed a card face down, and ended his turn, Phil wondered what the two men had bet, and lost, to get to this place.

  Phil and Jean: 3400 Taka and Makoto: 3200

  Phil drew a card. Were the men as desperate as he and Jean were? Did they have also kidneys on the line?

  As soon as that line of thought came to mind, Phil forcibly banished it from his brain. Taka and Makoto were big boys. They knew the risks, and neither Phil nor Jean could afford to lose.

  “I’ll flip my remaining Nimble Momonga face-up,” Phil decided, but before he could continue, Makoto’s voice, sounding hoarse from frayed nerves and burning whiskey, drifted out into the air.

  “The trap card, Hidden Soldiers, activates! When you normal or flip-summon a monster, I can special summon one level four or lower dark monster from my hand! Defend me, Wall of Illusion (1000/1850)!”

  Phil glanced over the new monster Makoto summoned in defense mode. That was a card he'd seen before. It was a staple in stall decks normally played on the playground during recess by little kids. With 1850 defense points, it was formidable, but the real power was its effect. Each time a monster attacked it, no matter if the wall was destroyed or not, the attacking monster would be returned to the owner's hand after damage calculation. That meant not only did you have to clear 1850 defense points, but you’d be temporarily down a monster doing it too. Of course, it would normally be more effective when set in face-down defense position, but misplays happened sometimes. Phil wasn’t going to laugh (too much) at Makoto for that.

  “Battle phase. Soul of Purity and Light will attack Element Valkyrie!” Phil declared, but once more Makoto’s voice rose above the din.

  “My second trap reveals itself!” The man smoothed out the collar of his Hawaiian shirt again, seemingly more so out of nerves than out of wanting the shirt to stay nice. “Shift! This trap allows me to redirect your attack onto Wall of Illusion!”

  “Your wall dies, but my monster returns to my hand.” Phil grumbled in irritation. To add to the irritation, Phil didn’t have enough light monsters in his graveyard to summon it again. “Fine. Nimble Momonga can still attack, so I guess I’ll clear out that Wicked Plant Token under your control, Taka. Then in my second main phase, I place a monster in face-down defense position and pass my turn.”

  Taka took a long, deep puff from his cigarette. The smoke gushed out of his mouth like a giant grey cloud, momentarily obscuring his face as he drew a card to start his turn. Phil coughed, waving the smoke away from his face while flipping his middle finger right at Taka. The man let out an angry snort, but otherwise stayed silent to contemplate his next move.

  “Polymerization!” Taka said in a voice made rough from countless decades of chain-smoking, “Fusing Feral Imp and Snakeyashi in my hand to form the Rose Spectre of Dunn (2000/1800)!”

  Phil raised an eyebrow. The newly summoned monster appeared to be one of those classic old fusion monsters where the materials made no sense and the effects either sucked or didn’t exist. He assumed Taka only played it for the 2000 attack points and the plant theming, which seemed to be what his deck was all about. Ignoring, of course, that one of the two materials required was a fiend monster.

  It wouldn’t be enough to destroy Master Monk, however, which Taka seemed to quickly realize.

  “Fine!” The old man spat, “Here’s my trap card, Reinforcements! Until the end of this turn, my fusion monster will gain 500 attack points. Rose Spectre of Dunn, devour that pitiful monk!”

  Rose Spectre of Dunn (2000/1800 -> 2500/1800).

  Once Phil translated for him, however, Jean let a roguish smile adorn his face. He did not elaborate as to why he smiled, simply taking his Master Monk off the field without a word on the topic.

  Phil and Jean: 3000 Taka and Makoto: 3200

  But as Jean began his turn after Taka ended his with no further actions, the reason for his smile was revealed.

  “Monsieurs, it seems that traps are all the rage today. Activating one of my own, Call of the Haunted! While it is a shame that I cannot bring back Master Monk, I can still draw upon the power of Monk Fighter (1300/1000) once more! Then, I will follow that up with the spell card I just drew, Kaminote Blow! I control a Monk Fighter, so from now on, each monster my Monk Fighter battles with this turn will be destroyed at the end of the damage step, regardless, of if my monster has enough attack points!”

  Once his explanation was finished, Jean moved on to the offensive. Monk Fighter, a muscled man in a simple sleeveless yellow outfit, was commanded to attack the Rose Spectre of Dunn. While Monk Fighter was destroyed by that battle, the fusion monster was as well, and Monk Fighter’s effect prevented Jean and Phil from taking any damage from the battle.

  Makoto began his turn. As soon as he saw the new addition to his hand, Makoto slammed his fist on the table in excitement.

  “Fulfillment of the Contract!” He declared, revealing a spell card that looked like a form being signed. “By paying 800 life points, my Elemental Mistress Doriado returns from death equipped with this spell! That also means my Element Valkyrie gains 500 attack points again now that a fire monster is on the field.”

  Element Valkyrie (1500/1200 -> 2000/1200).

  “What a fucking persistent bastard,” Phil spat out upon seeing the ritual monster again. Without delay, Doriado destroyed Phil’s final Nimble Momonga, while Element Valkyrie attacked directly.

  Phil and Jean: 1800 Taka and Makoto: 2400

  Two more black chips were tossed into the center of the table by Taka. Phil met the man’s eyes unflinchingly and matched his bet.

  That was the end of Makoto’s turn, his resources exhausted by the re-summoning of his fallen ritual monster. Meanwhile, neither Jean nor Phil had any monsters at all to defend themselves.

  Phil drew a card. Keeping his expression carefully contained in a steady poker face, he summoned Giant Rat (1400/1450), moving to his battle phase and destroying Elemental Mistress Doriado yet again. This time, however, due to the effect of Fulfillment of the Contract, Doriado was banished after its destruction.

  Element Valkyrie (2000/1200 -> 1500/1200).

  Phil and Jean: 1800 Taka and Makoto: 2200

  The turn count went back to Taka, who shot a glance between Makoto’s Element Valkyrie and Phil’s Giant Rat before making his move.

  "Arcane Archer of the Forest (900/1400) will be summoned in defense," The man eventually decided and ended his turn with a face-down card.

  Jean also hardly had much he could do, having exhausted most of his resources for the moment with the earlier Monk Fighter combo. Still, he shot a look of reassurance toward Phil, placing one card face-down and ending his turn.

  Then it was Makoto’s turn. Unlike the two turns before his, Makoto had more juice left in his hand.

  “I summon the Element Dragon (1500/1200)! Then, I equip it with Dragon Treasure, which increases its attack and defense by 300 points.”

  Element Dragon (1500/1200 -> 1800/1500).

  In a matter of seconds, Element Valkyrie destroyed Phil’s Giant Rat, which triggered to special summon another one of the blue-haired rats, who was immediately met by the attack of Element Dragon.

  Phil and Jean: 1300 Taka and Makoto: 2200

  This time, however, seeing that Makoto had no more monsters to attack with, Phil declined to summon a replacement rat. Instead, Phil searched through his deck for a familiar white-haired cat in a yellow hard hat.

  “Rescue Cat (300/100)!” Phil proudly announced. This was just in time, for Makoto ended his turn with a sneer directed at Phil’s weaker monster.

  “I’ll draw and go right to my main phase!” Phil announced. “Rescue Cat activates its effect! Sending it to the graveyard, I can special summon two level three or lower beast monsters from my deck. That’ll be two copies of The Wicked Worm Beast (1400/700). Then, as my normal summon hasn’t been used yet, I sacrifice both of them to summon the monster Sengenjin (2750/2500)!”

  The other three men at the table grew quiet upon seeing Phil’s power play. Not only that, but Chet was sitting bolt upright, staring at Phil’s side of the field, while the handful of spectators who had gathered during the course of the duel were shocked into stunned silence. While Phil’s modern sensibilities weren’t capable of fully understanding their reactions, what he remembered from the manga bubbled to the front of his head.

  Namely, summoning something over 2000 attack points wasn’t easy. Summoning something with over 2500 attack points, being just a shade weaker than a Blue-Eyes? That was downright rare, both the summoning and the whole ‘bothering to run the card in the first place’. There was a reason why Yugi’s Summoned Skull was terrifying, being a level six monster with 2500 attack points.

  Frankly, Phil had been surprised to see Sengenjin in the deck Solomon gave him, but he’d chalked it up to the irritating two-tribute requirement. Well, if it was good enough to be a playground boss monster, it was good enough for this shag-carpeted shithole.

  Plus, it wasn’t like this was a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. It was strong, but not that strong. Not often used, but nowhere near being like the card that only had four copies left in the world. It could overpower a Red-Eyes Black Dragon but folded in the face of a Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth. It lacked the robust support cards of Dark Magician, or the ease of use that Summoned Skull possessed. Nor did it have any useful effects.

  What the blue ogre monster did have, however, was a large chunk of attack points to beat the opponent over the head with. As Phil waited for the startled chatter around the table to die down, a thought came to him – was this how Kaiba felt after slapping his Blue-Eyes White Dragon on the table?

  Finally, the spectators quieted down. Phil nodded toward Makoto’s element monsters. By now he could tell that the younger man was the stronger of the pair, so he felt no pity for ordering Sengenjin to attack the Element Dragon.

  “Mirror Force!” Taka shouted, vigorously flipping over his face-down trap. But, as Phil’s gut twisted in surprise, Jean chose that time to make his move.

  “Not on my watch.” The Frenchman said. “Seven Tools of the Bandit activates! In return for 1000 of our life points, you may say au revoir to your trap as it is disarmed!”

  As the dragon was thrown into Makoto’s graveyard, Phil and Jean shared a firm, brotherly handshake with a series of sharp nods celebrating their natural teamwork.

  “That’s my turn.” Phil said, turning back to their opponents, who had ashen faces as they looked at Phil’s monster.

  Phil and Jean: 300 Taka and Makoto: 1250

  “I summon another Des Dendle (300/2000) in defense position. Turn end.” Taka said through a mouthful of smoke.

  “Which brings it to moi!” Jean called out. “Minomushi Warrior (1300/1200) rides to serve me! Its type is rock, so Wasteland will boost its power!”

  Minomushi Warrior (1300/1200 -> 1500/1400).

  Similar to Phil, Jean’s attention was also focused on Makoto. He ordered his warrior to crash into Makoto’s Element Valkyrie, meaning that even if another Doriado was summoned, their opponent would have a much harder time taking advantage of the available attributes. However, it did come at the sacrifice of Minomushi Warrior, as the monsters had equal attack points.

  Jean placed a card face-down and then the turn passed to Makoto, who also placed a face-down and passed his turn with gritted teeth. Sweat stained the clothes of both Taka and Makoto, and neither the cigarettes nor the booze seemed to be doing much to calm their nerves.

  This, of course, meant that Phil reached his turn without losing any resources. A sharp grin spread across his face at the thought.

  “Shining Angel (1400/800) will be summoned to my field in attack mode!” Phil said, but before he could pull his hand away from the card on the table, Makoto revealed the trap he’d set the turn prior.

  “And my Trap Hole destroys it.” The man intoned.

  Phil shrugged helplessly. Because the destruction was due to a card effect, he wouldn’t get the benefit of Shining Angel’s effect to summon a light monster to replace it. However, while the monster would have been handy to have on the field, it still had its uses in the graveyard because of the light attribute it possessed. Now he just needed to get one more light attribute monster in the grave, and he’d have a secondary boss monster to back up his big beatstick.

  With only a few options left on the field, Phil destroyed the Des Dendle with his Sengenjin and passed his turn back to Taka.

  Taka let out a foul curse, throwing the lit cigarette in his hand to the floor in disgust upon seeing the card he drew. The shag carpeting smoldered, causing Chet to leap up with a curse of his own to stomp the embers out, before reaching over and slamming Taka’s head against the table hard enough to draw blood from his forehead.

  “Shag’s flammable, stupid.” Chet growled, grinding the older man’s head against the table with each word he spoke. “Try that again and I’ll tell the boys to shove you in a steel drum, nail it shut, and drop it off the side of a bridge.”

  Taka had no response to that other than an apologetic bow once he was released, ending his turn without a single play while he mopped at his forehead to clear away the sweat and blood that stuck to his grimy, smoke-covered skin.

  Phil winced. The man had bricked. It happened, but it never felt good to see it, even when it was from an opponent.

  “Monk Fighter (1300/1000) leaps on the field again!” Jean summoned the monster from his hand as soon as his turn began. This monster was another card that had the rock typing, even though the name would make one assume it was a warrior, so the Wasteland field spell boosted its attack and defense by 200 points.

  Monk Fighter (1300/1000 -> 1500/1200).

  This was enough for the yellow-shirted monk to blitz through the defense points of Taka’s final monster, Arcane Archer of the Forest, leaving the field wide open.

  But that wasn’t all. Jean looked right at Makoto and let loose a wild laugh.

  “Monsieur, I noticed you failed to summon a monster during your last turn. Permit me to make a guess, if you will. Does your hand perhaps lack a single monster you can summon?”

  Jean did not wait for a response, merely flipping over his trap card. Phil grimaced once he saw the name.

  “Time Seal.” Jean simply said. “Your next draw phase will be skipped. Perhaps I am wrong… or perhaps not. Time shall tell. That will be all.”

  It was a disgusting play. It was also a perfect opportunity. Makoto’s turn, lacking the draw phase as it did, played right into Jean’s expectations – Makoto didn’t have any monsters, nor any useful spells or traps. The man was forced to pass his turn, his skin pale and clammy.

  “And that’s it unless you have a Kuriboh.” Phil smiled. “I’ll summon Giant Rat (1400/1450) in attack mode as insurance. I assume you two don’t know what the hell ‘Gorz’ is, but fuck it. I’ll do this proper ‘cause my momma raised me to be scared shitless of that card. Giant Rat attacks directly for game.”

  Phil and Jean: 300 Taka and Makoto: 0

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