Chapter Text
The Children of Prophecy
Trey slapped on a normal D-Gazer as soon as he materialized from the portal from his home. He was trying to look normal, after all, hastily having re-dressed in a Heartland Academy uniform before jumping through the portal. It wasn’t like he could get away with looking like he stepped right out of a Renaissance Faire.
The park he had landed in was very nice, a pretty place with multiple levels for children to play, though the damaged ground and dust cloud that clouded his vision suggested that two monsters had battled recently.
It was difficult, at least for a moment, to spot Yuma Tsukumo once the dust cloud lifted. Firstly, Reginald Kastle stood in the way, with his back to Trey, as did two other mean looking boys, who seemed to be laughing.
Second, Yuma, like Trey, was really short. As a result Trey had to maneuver himself around the entourage Reginald brought with him just to catch a glimpse of the boy he was sent to spy on.
Trey winced when he checked the boy’s life points. The warning his mysterious blackmailer had sent about the duel starting wasn’t two minutes old, and Yuma was somehow down 1200 life points, and facing down a very hungry looking shark.
Big Jaws . Trey recognized the card, even from behind. Quattro had faced it once, before disqualifying Reginald, of course. That had gone well for Quattro, but things were looking decidedly dire for Yuma.
It was then that a beeping sound came from his new D-Pad. It was a message from their blackmailer, Bo.
Reginald Kastle takes the decks of the duellists he defeats.
Trey clenched his teeth and leaned on the guard railing separating him from the lower levels of the park. Stealing decks was a vile act that made him dislike Reginald even more. He considered jumping in and introducing Shark to the business end of Vimana, but the duel was still in progress, and that meant that he had to wait his turn.
The delay, at minimum, allowed him to take a good look at the park, which was a bonus.
It was perhaps somewhat surprising that there was someone else watching the duel opposite from him. Trey hadn’t expected that. He expected to be alone. The other spy was a girl, lingering behind Yuma, and wearing a Heartland Academy uniform.
For a brief moment, as Reginald ended his turn with a facedown. Trey wondered if the girl was “Bo”, the blackmailer, but then he dismissed the thought. A teenager? Who would be insane enough to go after his father? And powerful enough to force his hand? And he hadn’t seen her send a message.
Trey glanced at the girl again. She still stood back, watching the duel unfold.
This time, Trey made up his mind. Whoever the girl was, she was not their blackmailer. His father had gathered power from the Barian World, and he could sense nothing of it from the cat-like girl. He also could not imagine a blackmailer getting so close to a duelling ground.
Then Yuma stood up again, and Trey returned to watching him in earnest.
“I summon Gagaga Magician!” Yuma called out, summoning a silver haired wizard in black robes and wielding a long chain onto the field. It was an impressive monster, but it only had 1500 attack points to show for it.
Trey looked at the monster, then at Big Jaws, and then at the Magician again. Last time he checked, 1500 attack points was fewer than 1800, and that was assuming Reginald’s face-down card wasn’t going to be activated. Was Yuma capable of basic math? Trey wasn’t so sure. He would have to check with the math teacher.
“I also equip Gagaga Magician with the spell Wonder Wand!” Yuma yelled, and a second later Trey watched the wizard wield a large, green topped wand in one hand, its attack points inching up to 2000. That was a start, he supposed, if not a great one.
2000 attack points was better than 1800, but Trey found his eyes drifting back to the facedown card. If the card was his brother’s Mirror Force, then the duel was all but over. One attack and Yuma would be all but toast. Add another monster onto the field with a thousand attack points, and Yuma would be toast for real.
There was a beep from his D-Pad, and Trey looked down to see the blackmailer’s message.
Do you want to intervene?
Trey considered the move for a moment, taking a second to check on the cat girl again, finding that she hadn’t moved and thus couldn’t have sent the message. Yuma’s incompetence was becoming extremely hard to watch. But if Yuma did lose, then he wouldn’t have a deck anymore, and Trey could pull him aside to help him build a new one, or at least teach him how not to be an idiot.
“I’m attacking your Big Jaws!” Yuma called. “Gagaga Magician! Make me some sashimi!”
In response to the statement, Trey couldn’t see Reginald’s face, but the grins of his minions told him all that he needed to know. That was bad. It was the sort of grin that wouldn’t have looked out of place on Quattro’s face.
“That’s not happening!” Reginald yelled back, even as a beam of green light shot out of the wand in the wizard’s hand. “I activate my trap card! Poseidon Wave stops your attack, and since Big Jaws is a Water monster, you take 800 points of damage!”
Trey closed his eyes and banged his head on the guard railing he was leaning on as a dark figure representing the god of the sea blasted Yuma with a wave of water. He was going to have a headache if the duel went any longer.
“There you are.” A voice came from behind him.
Trey spun around so hard his head spun, but that was nothing compared to his heart, which had jumped to his throat and remained firmly lodged there.
“Who are you?” The silver haired girl who looked like a cat asked, somehow having gone around the park grounds to sneak up behind him, all in the time it took for Yuma to be washed out.
“I’m uh-” Trey stammered, taking a glance over at Yuma on the ground, still recovering after being washed out before taking a nervous step back toward the duel participants. “How did you get up here?”
It was a question that Trey genuinely wanted to know the answer to. He had seen less athletic gymnasts on television, and the ninjas in anime were much less stealthy than the girl before him.
“Who are you, and why are you following Yuma?”
“Yuma?” Trey blinked, trying to change the topic and wishing he could lie as smoothly as Quattro. “I’m uhm- David. Yeah, right David.”
The girl did not look particularly impressed. Nor convinced.
“My brother duelled Reginald once.” Trey said, jabbing a thumb back at the duel. “He said the guy’s not… particularly honourable.”
All of it was true. Technically, anyhow. Quattro had duelled Reginald, but “David”, whatever his last name was, was an untraceable orphan. Or at least that was the cover story.
“Why would I be following this Yuma guy?” Trey asked with a nervous laugh. “I’m new to Heartland, that’s all.”
That was a bald faced lie. Trey had lived in Heartland for his entire life.
“What class are you in?” The girl asked. “And why are you wearing your uniform on a weekend?”
Trey looked down at his clothes, then at the two duellists and four onlookers. None of which wore their uniforms. Then he looked at the girl. “Why are you?”
“I don’t recognize you.” The girl said. “And Yuma is in my class. Why are you here? Are you trying to mock Yuma?”
Trey took another step back, taking a moment to check out the duel, just in time to see a dark fog erupting from a skull-like monster destroying the wand in the magician’s hands. “Look, I don’t want any trouble.”
“That’s right Yuma!” Reginald shouted from behind Trey. “This duel is over! And when I win your duel deck, I’ll trash it like I did your key!”
Trey ignored the girl for a second to check on the duel again. A part of him agreed with the first statement, but the second statement made him angry. He thought of his Aztec Mask Golem, perhaps the last memory of his father, his kind father, and imagined someone like Reginald Kastle trashing it.
Oh, that mental image pissed him off.
“Then maybe you’ll learn your lesson,” Reginald continued. “Don’t pick fights you can’t win.”
Trey took a deep breath and turned his back on the girl. For a moment, even the mission by the blackmailer seemed irrelevant. He wanted to march up to Reginald and introduce him to his fist, but before he could even take his first step, Trey saw a light glowing from Yuma.
And the light grew brighter. And brighter still.
Trey covered his eyes before the light blinded him, averting his gaze even as he took a step back, his rage fuelled vengeance forgotten for a split second.
When Trey opened his eyes again, something was very wrong.
Yuma still stood there, looking triumphant. He seemed to be holding something golden in his hand, though Trey wasn’t sure what exactly it was.
Reginald, on the other hand, looked vastly different. Physically, he was still the same cheating punk that Quattro had beaten, but there was a dark, malicious energy that burned around him.
That was concerning, Trey decided, and he quickly typed a message to the blackmailer. Reginald is… different .
There was no response from the blackmailer, but Trey was moving to grab Reginald, but something stopped him.
Certainly, there was a small part of Trey that was impressed as Big Jaws and the skull thing launched themselves into the sky. He was mesmerized for a moment as, rather than an eruption of red light, as every XYZ summon he had ever seen, a nova of rainbow light burst from the summon, so bright that even Trey had to cover his eyes.
“Come out!” Reginald shouted. “Number 17! Leviathan Dragon!”
“The Numbers are here.” Trey whispered as a long, snake-like dragon uncoiled itself, roaring at Yuma with murder in its eyes.
No. 17 Leviathan Dragon: Rank 3/WATER/Dragon/2000 ATK.
I’m going to stop Reginald . Trey typed into his duel disk when he caught his breath. With the monster on the field, he had no doubt that Yuma was finished.
And then a hand caught his wrist from behind, and Trey’s blood froze.
“Where do you think you’re going?” the voice of the cat girl whispered into his ear, a sense of dread creeping into his heart. “David?”
Trey spun around, and his heart sank.
The girl had the same dark aura around her that Reginald did. That was bad. Really bad.
Trey took a step back as the girl took a step forward. He paused when his D-Pad beeped again, but the cat-like girl had extended vicious looking nails as she leapt at him, slashing down.
Trey used his new D-Pad to block, and he was rewarded with a nail that broke off, narrowly missing his eye but scratching across his brow.
To his surprise, however, the cat-like girl seemed to ignore what looked like a painful injury, and she leapt at him again, this time sweeping out a leg at his ankles.
It was an attack with a great deal of speed and finesse, but Trey had taken worse along the other kids at the orphanage, and he shifted his stance slightly, and the attack bounced harmlessly off of him, a hiss of pain escaping his attacker as she jumped back.
With his attacker stalled for a moment, Trey checked his D-Pad. There were minor scratches along the frame from where the nail attack had landed, but the machine remained functional.
Functional enough to show the blackmailer’s message, anyhow. A Number can only be destroyed by another Number. Be sure to have one before you fight.
Trey blinked and looked back at the dragon behind him, now with 500 more attack points than before. That was new. It also meant that he didn’t have any monster capable of destroying it. His Vimana only had 2300 attack points. Unless…
Trey glanced up at the cat girl, who still glared at him warily. Then, with his free hand, Trey pulled his extra deck out of its slot. He expected his two copies of Crystal Chrononaut and Vimana. Those cards were in his hand, as expected.
Number 36, Chateau Huyuk, however, was new. It was a card that Trey had never seen before, and he gave the card a glance to memorize its effects. A useful card, no doubt.
Trey looked up at the cat girl, who was looking at his cards, and in particular his new Number. “You have one too, don’t you?”
There was a snarl that came back, but the girl’s eyes narrowed when Trey turned the new card around, holding it up to her eyes.
Trey knew she wanted it. He had seen the same gleam in the eyes of others who wanted to take things from him. Quattro, the other kids at the orphanage, the thing that he called father. He knew hunger when he saw it.
“What do you say we duel for it?” Trey tried to keep his voice cheery. “You win, it’s all yours… but if I win…”
The cat girl didn’t say anything to that, but she drew her duel disk.
Trey glanced over his shoulder again, and he did a double take as he saw a large golden warrior standing before Yuma. That was unexpected. He expected Yuma to be facedown on the ground. The fact that there was a number painted onto the right pauldron of the warrior made it doubly unexpected.
“Number 39, Utopia,” Trey observed under his breath before turning back to his opponent, who was still staring murderously at him. “Shall we begin?”
There was a grunt from the cat girl, and Trey activated his duel disk, drawing the top five cards from his deck. “Let’s duel.”
For a split second, the cat girl stared at Trey and Trey at her. Both of them had five cards in their hands, but neither of them drew a card.
“You’re welcome to go first.” Trey said, taking a moment to check on Yuma. He shouldn’t have, because he caught the sight of the sword wielding warrior splitting one of Reginald’s monsters in two, blinding Trey with an explosion and a cloud of dust.
Blinking the virtual explosion out of his eyes, Trey turned back around, and he frowned when he saw two little cats with their backs to him, twin tails waving lazily. For a moment, Trey wondered if two cats had wandered into the AR space, but then he noticed that both cats had attack points.
Stray Cat: Level 1/EARTH/Beast/100 ATK
Stray Cat: Level 1/EARTH/Beast/100 ATK
Trey looked down at his hand. He had three monsters, his Crystal Skull, Moai, and Aztec Mask Golem and a pair of trap cards. All of them spelled pain for his opponent, especially since the two cats had 100 attack points each.
“It’s your turn,” the cat girl said, irritation dripping through her voice. Evidently Trey had been distracted by the duel going on behind him to notice the cat girl perform her first turn.
Trey looked at Yuma again. Yuma had been an idiot, but was it possible that his classmates were as bad at duelling as he was? Trey figured he was about to find out.
“My move then.” Trey said, drawing a card from his deck. Monster Reborn. Useful, if only to ensure that a surprise didn’t wipe him out. “I’ll start by summoning Chronomaly Aztec Mask Golem in attack mode!”
There was a beam of light that erupted from the card, and Trey felt just a little pang of sorrow at the monster that his father had given him. It was a memory of a better time, now long forgotten.
Chronomaly Aztec Mask Golem: Level 4/EARTH/Rock/1500 ATK
“Next, since I have a Chronomaly monster on the field,” Trey continued, sliding his next monster onto his field. “ I can summon Chronomaly Moai in Defense mode.”
This time, a large stone head flew down from the sky, slamming into the ground next to the masked golem. With the way the giant statue landed, Trey could imagine a cartoon character from any of his father’s shows being flattened under it in a shower of black comedy.
Chronomaly Moai: Level 5/EARTH/Rock/1600 DEF
Trey looked at the cats on the field and decided against summoning a new Number card. He checked behind him, and to his surprise, Yuma Tsukumo wasn’t down just yet. He didn’t want the person he was supposed to be tailing to realize that he had a Number card, not until he could gather more information. That limited the number of cards he could use, for the turn anyhow.
“I activate the effect of Chronomaly Crystal Skull!” Trey made up his mind. Crystal Chrononaut would have to suffice as his main weapon until the other duellists were out of the picture. “I can send Crystal Skull to the graveyard to add a Chronomaly monster from my deck, and you’re about to be acquainted with Chronomaly Crystal Bones!”
The duel disk beeped, and Trey found the card in the middle of his deck, slapping down the headless crystal skeleton in attack mode.
Chronomaly Crystal Bones: Level 3/LIGHT/Rock/1300 ATK
“But that’s not all.” Trey added, retrieving his monster from the graveyard. “When Crystal Bones is summoned, I can special summon a Chronomaly monster from the graveyard, and Chronomaly Crystal Skull is reunited with his body!”
The crystal skull appeared next, floating out of the graveyard and landing firmly in the outstretched arms of Crystal Bones, a gleaming light emerging from somewhere within.
Chronomaly Crystal Skull: Level 3/LIGHT/Rock/900 ATK
Curiously, perhaps, the cat girl seemed unimpressed by the monster. That was fine. Trey just wanted to win.
“With these two monsters!” Trey called out, snapping his fingers as the skull and skeleton formed into glowing golden arrows. “I’ll build the overlay network and XYZ Summon Chronomaly Crystal Chrononaut in attack mode!”
There was a flash of red light that the purple alien figure erupted from, landing like a graceful gymnast or ballerina before Trey.
Chronomaly Crystal Chrononaut: Rank 3/Light/Psychic/2100 ATK
“I decry violence against animals,” Trey continued. “But I’m having Crystal Chrononaut destroy a Stray Cat.”
For a moment, the alien seemed to consider which cat he was sending to PETA, but when Trey gestured at the cat right before it, the monster refused to move.
“No,” the cat girl said, a firm smirk on her lips. “When Stray Cat is in Attack Position, you can’t attack any other monster. And since there’s two, you can’t attack either.”
Trey clenched his teeth, slapping down Chronomaly Esperanza Glyph and Stonehenge Methods. That meant he was safe… right? “Your move.”
“Hmmph,” the cat duellist regarded her hand for a moment, and Trey decided against checking up on Yuma again. He expected the Number he had to be torn from his idiotic hands regardless. Trey could collect it afterward, or leave it to Quattro, but all of that would only come after bringing down the cat duellist.
And that, Trey noticed, would only happen once she picked her jaw off the ground.
Trey turned around, just in time to see Reginald hit the ground, unmoving, the giant warrior standing before him with blades unsheathed, the dragon nowhere to be found.
Did Yuma… win?
Trey turned around and looked up at the cat duellist, who still seemed to be away in dream land. Her lips were moving, but no sound came out.
Yuma won , Trey read the girl’s lips. No sound escaped her, but Trey could read her face. Somehow, the sight of Yuma Tsukumo winning a duel was so shocking that the girl was at a loss for words. He was a bad duellist, sure, but everyone got lucky. Trey had remembered losing duels where he had an entire hand full of spells and traps that he couldn’t use. Surely Shark must have just had an awful hand?
And then their gazes met, and the girl jumped back in a very cat-like manner, her face flushing a deep red, as if Trey had done something to personally offend her. “I draw!”
“I’ll summon Catnipped Kitty to the field!” The girl cried, summoning a glowing little purple cat with orange stripes to the field, the little ball of fur taking a second to stretch its arms before lazily curling into a ball.
Catnipped Kitty: Level 2/EARTH/Beast/0 ATK.
Trey looked at the cat, the two other cats, and wondered to himself what any one of them was supposed to do to him. They had 200 combined attack points. Across three monsters.
“Catnipped Kitty’s effect activates!” the girl shouted, answering his question. “Once per turn, I can turn the defense points of any of your monsters to zero!”
Trey gave his Moai a look of disbelief as the monster seemed to wilt, probably from embarrassment, more than anything else, as its defense points dropped to nothing.
Chronomaly Moai: 1600 DEF > 0 DEF.
“Next!” the girl cried, extending a hand and pointing at Trey’s hapless monster. “Stray Cat destroys your Moai!”
There was a screech as one of the cats leapt up at Trey’s Moai, its face surprisingly horrific and claws surprisingly sharp, the scratch tearing through the stone statue as if it was a luckless sofa pillow.
Trey’s monster was a rock, and rocks didn’t talk, but Trey couldn’t help but feel a terrible sense of second-hand embarrassment watching the monster fall to a cat a hundredth of its size. He would avenge his Moai, of course, but the shame was probably going to be harder to remove.
“I activate my trap card!” Trey called out as the dust cleared. “Stonehenge Methods can be activated when a Chronomaly Monster is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, and with it, I can bring a level four or lower Chronomaly monster from my deck onto the field in defense mode!”
The cat girl scowled, but otherwise did not react as Chronomaly Cabrera Trebuchet landed on the field with a heavy thud, the fiendish contraption slamming into the spot where Moai had been sent packing a second prior.
Chronomaly Cabrera Trebuchet: Level 4/EARTH/Rock/1800 DEF.
“And I have two level four monsters now.” Trey added, a little smile on his face. “Do you know what that means?”
The girl clenched her teeth. “I set one card facedown and I end my turn.”
Trey drew his next card. Chronomaly Gordian Knot. A very good card. Gordian Knot was a card that more or less guaranteed Trey that he could summon another XYZ monster. But it wasn’t a card that he needed at the moment.
“I overlay Chronomaly Cabrera Trebuchet and Aztec Mask Golem to build the overlay network!” Trey called, feeling a rush of otherworldly power buffet him as the two monsters raced into the sky, fusing into a swirl of cosmic power that erupted into a nova of universal energy. “Come forth! Number 36! Chronomaly Chateau Huyuk!”
Trey wasn’t sure what he expected to come down, but he was surprised when a small fortress descended from the nova, a pulsating light that pushed away the darkness of the overlay network.
Slowly, the light settled, just above Trey’s head, pulsating until a particularly strong pulse created a glowing shield around the monster, the number 36 emblazoned on the slowly revolving shields as a glowing stone separated itself from the fortress, forming a centrepiece that the fortress seemed to be built around.
No. 36 Chronomaly Chateau Huyuk: Rank 4/LIGHT/Machine/2000 ATK
Trey looked around. He didn’t see Yuma anywhere, and the park seemed deserted apart from him and the cat girl. That was good. The fewer eyes the better.
“I activate Chronomaly Chateau Huyuk’s special effect!” Trey called out, discarding an overlay unit and watching one of the glowing orbs disappear into the glowing stone at the heart of the fortress before launching a beam of light at the Stray Cat that had dispatched Moai. “By discarding one overlay unit, I can change the attack points of any monster on the field to zero! And I’m targeting your Stray Cat!”
Stray Cat: 100ATK > 0 ATK.
“Next I’m activating my trap card!” Trey added, activating his other facedown card. “Chronomaly Esperanza Glyph allows me to summon two Chronomaly monsters from my hand, deck, or graveyard one level higher than an XYZ monster I have on the field, and overlay them!”
Trey smiled as Chronomaly Moai returned from its cat-induced destruction, followed shortly after by its cousin Chronomaly Moai Carrier, which summoned itself from Trey’s deck, both monsters remaining for but a moment before they screamed into the sky and into a red overlay network.
Chronomaly Moai: Level 5/EARTH/Rock/1800 ATK
Chronomaly Moai Carrier: Level 5/EARTH/Rock/900 ATK
“Come forth!” Trey called. “Chronomaly Vimana!”
The battlestation that descended from the clouds was significantly larger than Chateau Huyuk, consisting of an enormous city with a golden temple that topped it, and mixture of ruins and battlements that stared down the three hapless cats that now stood against it.
Chronomaly Vimana: Rank 5/LIGHT/Machine/2300 ATK
“You can’t attack me while I still have two Stray Cats on the field.” the cat girl shot back. “And next turn I’ll XYZ summon!”
“No you won’t.” Trey shot back as he sent Crystal Chrononaut to the graveyard, the monster on the field becoming an orb of light as it fed itself to Chateau Huyuk’s cannons. “I activate the second effect of Chateau Huyuk! By sending a Chronomaly Monster from the field to the graveyard, I can destroy a monster that has changed its attack points!”
It was overkill to sacrifice a good XYZ monster to bring down a cat with 100 attack points, but Trey jabbed a finger at the offending Stray Cat, and Chateau Huyuk’s guns glowed bright, wiping the monster from the field with a bombardment that might have flattened a city.
“Next, I’ll activate Vimana’s effect! Once per turn, I can turn one Chronomaly or XYZ monster in my graveyard into an overlay unit and add it to Vimana! Moreover, one Chronomaly monster on my field gains half the monster’s attack points!”
There was a brief moment, but Crystal Chrononaut spread out its hands and flew from the graveyard, joining Vimana as an overlay unit at the same time Chateau Huyuk glowed ever brighter, arcs of unstable blue energy dancing from the orb at the centre of the fortress.
No. 36, Chronomaly Chateau Huyuk: 2000 ATK > 3050 ATK
“Chronomaly Chateau Huyuk!” Trey shouted as the ring of guns on his Number lit up with blue fire. “Bring down Stray Cat with Final Dawn!”
Trey did not see the attack, given the storm of dust that followed the bombardment but he did hear his opponent scream as her life points were wiped out.
Cat Girl: 4000 LP > 1050 LP.
“Vimana!” Trey followed up, seeking to finish the drawn out brawl before he had to face the other Number. “Destroy Catnipped Kitty!”
There was a moment of silence, then another, and then another.
“Vimana!” Trey repeated himself, glaring up at his larger battlestation, wondering as if the monster didn’t understand the command. “Destroy Catnipped Kitty!”
“You can’t do that,” the cat girl’s voice was pained, but when the dust cleared, Trey could see that she had a new monster on the field, a large, bear-cat hybrid that flickered, like a ghost.
Monster Cat: Level 1/DARK/Beast/0 DEF
“When there is any face-up Beast type monster on the field other than Catnipped Kitty, Catnipped Kitty cannot be attacked.” the cat girl said, her voice shaking but a grin visible on her face. “How unfortunate for you.”
Trey bit his lip, looking down at his hand. He had entered the battle phase, and it was too late to turn back the clock, but if he had used Monster Reborn to bring Crystal Chrononaut back as a monster, he would have won.
“No matter.” Trey hissed. “Vimana, destroy Monster Cat.”
This time, the many guns built into Vimana had no problem responding, and a second dust cloud formed as a withering bombardment flattened Monster Cat.
“I end my turn.” Trey called out, annoyed that he hadn’t finished the duel yet. A part of him was worried about the Number, but another part of him kept the first part quiet. He had kept other cards in reserve, which would have been useful if by some unholy miracle, the cat girl would recover her wits.
No. 36, Chronomaly Chateau Huyuk: 3050 ATK > 2000 ATK
“I draw.” the cat girl said, pulling a card free, a grin splitting her face. “I’ll summon Dark Cat with White Tail to the field!”
This time, a new cat, a mixture of silky black and mangled white, landed where the first Stray Cat had landed, though it was hardly more threatening than the cat Chateau Huyuk had dispatched.
Dark Cat with White Tail: Level 2/EARTH/Beast/800 ATK.
“Next I activate the field spell Cat World!” the cat girl called out, activating a field spell that, as far as Trey could tell, changed the field very little, apart from adding an enormous cat statue that towered behind the cat girl. “This spell card doubles the original attack points of any Cat monster on the field!”
Dark Cat with White Tail: 800 ATK > 1600 ATK
Catnipped Kitty: 0 ATK > 0 ATK
Trey swallowed as dark power erupted around the cat girl, and he looked to his dual battlestations for comfort. He imagined that if the Number card had any means of negating monster effects like Vimana, he would have been in trouble, but he kept faith.
And sure enough, the unholy power that had swirled around the cat girl reached a crescendo, and she raised a clawed hand, broken nail and all, into the sky. “Using Dark Cat with White Tail and Catnipped Kitty, I’ll build the overlay network!”
Trey took a step back as the two orange lights soared into the sky, one that now turned dark and stormy, not unlike when Chateau Huyuk had first taken the field.
“Come forth!” the cat girl bellowed. “Number 29, Mannequin Cat!”
Trey wasn’t sure what he was expecting from his opponent, but a cat girl that wouldn’t look out of place in Quattro’s deck wasn’t what he expected to unfold from a blob of fur and tangled limbs.
No. 29 Mannequin Cat: Rank 2/EARTH/Beast/2000 ATK
Trey looked at the monster, then at the cat statue at the far end of the field spell, unwilling to look at the rapidly enlarging Number, one that even seemed to tower over Vimana.
No. 29 Mannequin Cat: 2000 ATK > 4000 ATK
“I activate Mannequin Cat’s effect,” the cat girl called out as a golden overlay unit flew into the head of the cat-kaiju.
“I’m going to stop you there!” Trey shouted back as two overlay units flew into the core of Vimana. “I activate Vimana’s effect! By removing two overlay units, Vimana stops any monster effect from activating, and your Mannequin Cat is no different!”
The cat girl stared at Trey for a second, her teeth clenched in a grimace as Mannequin Cat staggered back. “Mannequin Cat! Destroy Vimana!”
Behind the cat girl, the giant cat girl mannequin raised a machine leg, ready to crush Vimana. But Trey was ready for that. “I activate Chateau Huyuk’s effect! I can remove an overlay unit to turn your cat’s attack points to zero!”
No. 29, Mannequin Cat: 4000 ATK > 0 ATK
It was almost comical, the way the giant cat fell, its giant boot disappearing in size as it was struck by blue lightning from Chateau Huyuk, becoming invisible just as it neared Vimana’s many gun batteries, all ready to fire.
“Mannequin Cat!” the cat girl shouted, panic evident in her voice. “Stop your attack!”
Trey let himself smile as the cat girl ended her turn, the cat monster returning to its enlarged size. A part of him felt bad for Vimana, but he had no other way to bring down Mannequin Cat, for he had used Chateau Huyuk’s last overlay unit to save Vimana.
“My move.” Trey drew a card, but he ignored it. He had all the cards to end the duel. “Before I end this duel, I’d like to ask your name.”
The cat girl, across the field, blinked. There was a blank look on her face. Then Trey heard his D-Pad beep.
Cathy Catherine, the blackmailer’s message said.
Trey looked down at the message, then looked back up at Cathy, then around the field. There were no other observers. Yuma and Reginald must have moved on long ago. He didn't understand how the blackmailer was watching him, but it didn't matter. “It was fun duelling you, Cathy.”
The girl’s eyes bulged and her jaw went slack as Trey continued, the form of Vimana turning into a golden light that fed itself into the row of guns on Chateau Huyuk. “I activate Chateau Huyuk’s effect! By tributing a Chronomaly monster, I can destroy a monster whose current attack points differ from its original!”
Then Chateau Huyuk opened fire, and Cathy disappeared into a cloud of dust as the giant cat exploded, leaving her field empty.
“Chateau Huyuk,” Trey closed his eyes as he gave the fateful command and the guns roared again. “Final Dawn.”
Cathy Catherine: 1050 LP > 0.
Trey winner.
Trey opened his eyes when he felt a card float into his hand. Mannequin Cat had floated from the downed girl, who staggered up to her feet, staring at him.
“Are you alright?” Trey asked, jogging over to the girl.
“Don’t come close to me!” she shouted, fear reflected in her golden eyes.
Trey stopped, eyes darting around the park, hands up in mock surrender. They were alone. If they weren't, Trey doubted he could outrun a police officer.
“Hey, I’m just-” Trey stopped, his heart freezing as a tall figure in white robes materialized behind Cathy, towering over the girl, yet remaining completely silent.
“How did you find out my name?” Cathy shrieked, taking a step back. “I didn’t tell you anything!”
“I told him,” the figure said, its voice muffled.
Cathy spun around, and Trey leapt forward, but he was too slow, for the figure had grabbed Cathy’s face.
With his next step, Trey moved to punch the interloper, but a flash of red light blinded him, brighter than even the guns of Chateau Huyuk. When he recovered again, he reacted just in time to prevent Cathy from collapsing.
“Who are you?” Trey snarled, though he regretted the way he phased the question. He knew that the figure was his father’s blackmailer.
“You know the answer to that,” the figure said, turning to look at Trey from behind a plain, featureless black mask.
“Bo,” Trey breathed out.
“An acronym,” the figure replied, pausing for a moment to tilt its head. “You may call me Alco, if you wish.”
“Why?” Trey gestured to the girl in his arms, unconscious. “What did you do to her?”
“I wiped her memories of this duel.” Alco the blackmailer said, its tone emotionless except for frigid scorn. “And your blunder in particular.”
Trey clenched his teeth. “I would have had some-”
“You would not have.” Alco snapped. “And David , I assure you, your mission would have failed. And that is not a conclusion I will accept."
Trey growled, intent to argue, but Alco raised a hand. “Isn’t it strange, perhaps, that one school in Heartland has three Numbers cards appear from within its population? When there are several billion people across this world of ours?”
Trey froze.
“And please,” Alco continued, taking a step toward Trey, dropping to one knee to look Trey in the eye. “Do you think any of your brothers could take your place to infiltrate this school? Quattro, the famed duel champion? Or perhaps Quinton, Doctor Faker’s one time assistant?”
Trey knew the answer to that. They both did.
“Lay her out on a bench and leave this place,” Alco said, rising to their feet and gesturing to Cathy. “I will be in touch.”
Trey grimaced and got to his feet, dragging Cathy to the nearest bench and depositing her there, taking a moment to wipe the sweat from his brow.
“And tell Quinton to change his passwords.” Alco’s voice hissed from behind him.
By the time Trey’s heart stopped pounding, Alco was gone, and Trey had no reason to remain either.