Tea Gardner never considered herself a duelist. She could do alright sometimes. Maybe beat Joey during their duels at school. But there was no way she could ever match up to any actual duelist. Heck, even Joey was getting better and better by the day. No longer did he run a deck solely made up of monsters, without any sort of strategy other than ‘beat the other monsters up’.

  So why was she here?

  The question wasn’t about why Tea was on the island. That would have been no question at all; she was on the island to help Yugi get his grandpa back. No, the question was why was she here in this battle box right now, sitting opposite of a rather stern-looking man. Why? Tea was no duelist. The only reason she even had a deck with her to begin with was to pass the time in the evening with fun duels against Tristan, or maybe Bakura.

  Not whatever… this was.

  Tea had noticed Yugi and Mai were both missing in camp. She’d gotten worried. Admittedly, she probably should’ve woken at least one of the boys to help her look. She hadn’t thought it would be a problem back then, though.

  Had she found Yugi? Or Mai?

  No.

  Tea fell through some freaky trapdoor into a ridiculously tiny underground battle box before even a minute had passed since the start of her search. Then it kept getting worse. The man, who called himself ‘Depre Scott’, instantly noticed her lack of a duel glove and star chips. He hadn’t questioned her at all. Instead, he’d listed one singular demand of her.

  “I'm not an official participant in the tournament. Neither are Tristan, Bakura, or Jean. If he wins, the four of us have to leave the island immediately."

  That was what she told Phil.

  Tea couldn’t bring herself to meet his eyes, even as she rushed over to make sure Phil hadn’t hurt himself with the sudden fall. Heaven knew how he’d found her so fast, falling through that same trapdoor – albeit with a lot stronger words than she had. But Tea couldn’t face him. She was no duelist. Depre Scott was. If Tea lost here, it would only be Yugi, Joey, and Phil left on the island from their original group. Everyone else would get the boot.

  “Oh, that’s not as bad as I thought it might be.” Phil’s voice cut through the gloom of the box in response.

  Tea did a double-take. “Wha-?”

  “When you said demand, I was expecting something psychotic, perverted, or both. This… it’s pretty fucking reasonable if you ask me.”

  That was enough for Tea to look straight at Phil’s eyes. A strange expression crossed her face, but even Tea didn’t know what it was. She didn’t know whether to laugh or berate him!

  “What?” Phil gestured helplessly, “It’s not like I want you to get kicked out, I’m just saying that I expected a lot worse! You know, Yugi’s told me about some of the shit ya’ll have gone through by now! Where are the bombs? The magic alligator monster weighing your heart against your sins? The spinning saw blades inching closer to your legs each time your life points drop?”

  “What?!?!?!” Tea blurted out, her eyes as wide as dinner plates. What the heck was that last one!

  “I’m just sayin’!” Phil’s voice rose to match her volume. “Spoilers, don’t worry about it!”

  Tea could feel the blood rushing to her skull, but as soon as it began, it stopped. That was Phil, all right. A nice guy, a good friend, but weird as all get-out and (in her opinion) maaayyybbeee not entirely one hundred percent sane. He did have a habit of having animated conversations with thin air on occasion, whenever he thought she and the others weren’t looking. But not in a bad way! Nope! Just in a… uh… different way. Tea couldn’t really think of any nicer words to describe it.

  Whatever! Tea puffed out her cheeks in a pout and put her friend’s strangeness aside for the moment. She couldn’t fail here! Not when doing so would let all the others down!

  And then she looked back at Depre Scott. The ‘player killer’. A scary title for the stoic man. Honestly, though he hadn’t done much yet, just looking at the guy made it feel like a knot was forming in her gut. A professional duelist versus… her.

  Crap.

  Hm, no, maybe 'crap' wasn't right. The word didn't feel like it fit the situation all that well. A different one, maybe? But what? Her mom’s voice came to mind.

  Oh noodles. That’s what her mom would say whenever she was in a bind.

  Yup. Oh noodles. That felt a bit better.

  “Shall we begin?” Depre Scott’s stoic voice broke the temporary silence that had settled over the battle box.

  Oh noodles.

  “Ah, hold up mate.” Phil once again interrupted from behind her. He was seated pretty close to her due to the small confines of the box, no more than a foot away and seemingly content to remain an observer of the duel, instead of FREAKING TAGGING IN LIKE HE SHOULD HAVE! Seriously! Why was he just watching with that darn amused smirk of his? It was enough to seriously tempt Tea into smacking some sense into the guy, like she would to Joey or Tristan whenever they acted up!

  “Now, Tea stands to lose something if she can’t clutch a victory here, but what about you? A bet’s only fair if both parties are putting skin on the line.”

  Tea’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. That… she hadn’t thought of that. The worry she felt about the possibility of leaving Yugi alone on the island with the questionable influences of Joey and Phil had overshadowed any other thoughts in her mind (because come on, they were all good friends, but those two really needed some reining in sometimes).

  Depre Scott admitted the point with a slight nod of his head.

  “I get you’re doing your job, mate. Narrow down the number of duelists on the island and make sure no non-participants are running amok. Still, these guys ain’t doing anything to cause problems! So, how about this? If Tea wins, you ignore our little group so long as they keep being chill about it. Oh, and since you are kind of targeting a casual duelist instead of anyone else on the island who could put up a better fight, no offense, Tea,”

  “None taken.” Tea gracefully said. The title ‘casual duelist’ was a perfect fit for her, after all.

  “If Tea wins,” Phil continued, “along with your discretion, she also gets your glove and all the star chips you have on hand at this moment.”

  Depre’s eyes darted down to look at his special two-row dueling gauntlet. It was mostly empty, but Tea could see there were at least six star chips slotted in already. Perhaps it was greedy, a bit too much to ask… but if she could win… that meant Tea and the rest could stay on the island, and then Jean could finally have a glove.

  If she could win.

  “Your terms are acceptable.” Depre said after a brief pause. “If that is all, Tea Gardner, choose heads or tails.”

  “Heads!” Tea firmly declared.

  A holographic coin spun into the air. Tea’s eyes tracked its arc, all the way until it settled on the edge of the table.

  “Heads.” Depre confirmed.

  That meant Tea could choose who went first. Truthfully she didn't know which was better. Yugi could talk all day about the pros and cons of going first and going second and so on and so forth. He could get really… cute doing tha-

  Tea violently shook her head right as her cheeks began to turn red. Mind on the present!

  “First!” Tea shouted, “I’ll go first!”

  Five cards were drawn by both players, with Tea drawing a sixth to start her turn. Her mind spun, the gears turned. What should she do? A second passed. Five seconds. Ten seconds. The gears spun. Play it safe or make a bigger move? Phil made a noise behind her. Set and pass? But she had a useful equip spell in her hand…

  No! She didn’t know what Depre Scott’s strategy was yet! Her only information came from the box’s pre-activated field spell, Wasteland, which benefited Dinosaur, Zombie, and Rock decks. Therefore, it was best to be cautious until she knew more!

  “I set one monster in face-down defense position and one card face-down, then that’s the end of my turn!”

  With this, she could hopefully figure things out a bit more! Even Phil had hummed approvingly upon seeing her choice!

  “Draw.”

  "In your draw phase, my trap card activates!" Tea shouted, perhaps with a bit more volume than was necessary. But come on! She was nervous! "Pikeru's Second Sight! Until your second end phase, I can see all cards you draw before you add them to your hand!"

  Depre smirked, his stoic fa?ade fading for a second before it returned in full force. “I see. It’s a shame there was no way for you to activate that before my draw phase this turn.”

  This was true. Tea was unable to see the card Depre had just drawn. However, all the cards after this would be known to her, at least until his second end phase. From here… Tea could hopefully get an idea of what the player killer was planning on doing… and if she could even stop his plans in the first place.

  “Well, now that your face-down trap is out of the way, I can advance without fear. I summon Giant Germ (1000/100) in attack mode!”

  A giant, purple, ugly ball that was covered in short wiggling hairs floated onto the field. Tea made an ‘ick’ face. Solid vision was super cool most of the time, but then there were times like these, when all it did was make her see disgusting things like that germ or some rotting corpse or an evil ghoul with a sense of clarity and detail that was truly unfortunate.

  “Attack her face-down!”

  Tea’s monster was flipped face-up, revealing a blond angel with yellowish wings and robes of pure white.

  “Sorry, but when it is destroyed, Shining Angel’s (1400/800) effect activates to summon any light monster from my deck with 1500 or fewer attack points!”

  Phil’s chair creaked slightly as the man shifted in his seat.

  “Summoning the White Magician Pikeru (1200/0) in attack mode!”

  The spellcaster monster only possessed 200 more attack points than that disgusting germ, but that was more than enough for her at this moment.

  Depre Scott nodded silently, placing one card face down and ending his turn. Tea's brows furrowed. An unknown trap…

  She drew a card. “In my standby phase, Pikeru's effect activates, increasing my life points by 400 for each monster I control.

  Tea Gardner: 4400 Depre Scott: 4000

  That was that, but what to do about the trap? Oh noodles… her mom’s saying kept flashing through her head. She was in such a bind… what to do, what to do… argh! Why did Yugi always make it look so easy!

  “You’re thinking about Yuges aren’t you?”

  Tea’s head whipped around nearly fast enough to break the sound barrier. “What?”

  Phil was staring at her, that ever-present smile still on his face. “Busted~.”

  “I’m in a duel right now! I’m trying not to get kicked off the island!"

  “Girl, just admit it, you like Yugi. It’s as plain as day.”

  Phil’s eyes flicked over to a patch of thin air to his right, a patch which he shared a knowing smile with.

  But Tea didn’t have the mental energy to think about that. Her face was as red as a tomato.

  “What! I-“

  “You know, Yugi has a massive crush on you, right?”

  Tea’s shoulders sagged. He wasn’t going to give this up. “It’s… complicated.”

  Phil cocked his head, a look of confusion on his face. “It is? He likes you, you like him. The only part I could see as being somewhat complex is that you also like the confidence the other guy has. You want that confidence and reliability, but with Yugi Muto."

  “Do you forget a duel is happening?” The player killer’s voice interrupted Tea’s burgeoning retort.

  Phil’s head whipped over to stare Depre Scott straight in the eyes. He spoke calmly, but with a voice that was as sharp as steel, but otherwise emotionless.

  “Shut. Up.”

  For some reason, Tea could almost hear… a faint croaking sound in the air? Her ears wiggled in an attempt to hear it better, but then it was gone.

  “Anyway,” Phil turned his attention back to Tea and switched back to his usual relaxed voice. “I don’t get it.”

  Phil wasn’t gonna let this go at all! Tea shriveled up internally just a bit. Yeah, she did… like Yugi. But!

  Cripes. She didn’t even know what to say.

  “You don’t have an answer, do ya?” Phil continued to poke and prod with that infuriating grin. “That confidence and reliability, he’s getting it day by day. Why stall?”

  “Yugi’s trying to rescue his grandpa!”

  “Well yeah, but after Solomon is safe? You still gonna sit back?”

  Tea's face felt like it was emitting the heat of a thousand suns. "Oh my gosh." She put her hand to her head in exasperation. Phil just didn't know what it was like!

  “Look, he has a crush on you, but he’s being a wuss about it. You have a crush on him, but you’re being a wuss about it. Do you want this to be some eternal stalemate?”

  “No…” Tea mumbled. But it wasn’t that easy!

  Phil leaned forward, resting his chin on one of his hands. "Uh-huh."

  Tea jerked her head around to face the dueling field once more. What did he know! And what did she know… ugh, now she was back to the original agonizing problem!

  “Notch up the pressure. You should summon the Fairy.”

  Tea’s eyebrows twitched. But Depre Scott spoke before she could say anything.

  “Hey. No helping.”

  “Oh fuck off, you’re picking on a casual so I’m allowed to backseat duel a bit if I feel like it.”

  Phil’s retort caused Depre Scott to scowl, but ultimately he said nothing more.

  “Fine! Try this on for size! I summon Dancing Fairy (1700/1000) in attack mode!”

  After all, anything distracting Phil from his merciless probing was a good thing! Tea shifted a card in her hand and opened her mouth, but once more Phil cut in.

  “You should do that in your second main phase. Doesn’t matter right now, but the habit is good to build.”

  Tea closed her mouth, looking at the trap card she'd nearly set face down. Did Phil mean Depre Scott's face-down could have the ability to destroy traps? Or that Giant Germ did? She'd never seen the monster before, but something with that little attack could very well have a special effect.

  “Okay, I’ll attack now. Pikeru, destroy that germ!”

  A bright beam of light from the white-robed magician sliced through Giant Germ like a hot knife through butter, but Depre Scott did not react to the battle damage other than declaring the activation of an effect.

  “Giant Germ’s effect activates. When it is destroyed, 500 points of damage are inflicted to your life points. In addition, I can summon any number of Giant Germs from my deck in attack position. I’ll summon two more!”

  Tea Gardner: 3900 Depre Scott: 3800

  “Okay, then I’ll destroy the second one with Dancing Fairy. After that, I go to my second main phase and place a card face down!"

  Tea Gardner: 3400 Depre Scott: 3100

  “My turn.” Depre Scott glanced at the card in his hand, forcing Tea to gulp. Did he have something big to summon? And then he showed the card to her, causing Tea to belatedly remember the effect of Pikeru’s Second Sight still applied.

  It was no monster. “Spell card activate! Dark Core!” Depre Scott sternly declared. “By discarding Zeta Reticulant from my hand, I can banish one face-up monster on the field!”

  “Talk about timing…” Phil muttered, but Tea didn’t need the reminder.

  “Nope! Magic Jammer stops that in its tracks!” Tea sharply responded, revealing the counter trap she’d set the turn prior. “By discarding a card of my own, I can negate your spell! Sorry, Princess Curran, but I’ll be discarding you for that!”

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  A dark orb covered in crackling blue lightning began to form, but before it was even halfway through, a red and green circle marked with several mystical symbols and hieroglyphs cut it in half, causing the orb to sputter and fail before it could finish its task.

  “And he still has to discard for cost,” Phil chuckled.

  This was true. From Tea's more limited understanding of how Yugi had taught her originally, the 'cost' of a card had to be paid, no matter if the card was negated or not. If Dark Core truly had a 'cost', then Depre Scott would still lose his Zeta Reticulant!

  Depre Scott wordlessly sent the monster from his hand to the graveyard. He tapped his fingers on the table for a few seconds and then launched into his next move.

  “I activate The Shallow Grave, which allows us to special summon one monster each from our graveyards in face-down defense position. I select Zeta Reticulant.”

  “Shining Angel for me.” Tea furrowed her brows. His Zeta Reticulant couldn’t be flip summoned just yet, so what was he playing at?

  “I sacrifice my last Giant Germ and my face-down Zeta Reticulant to tribute summon Greed Quasar (?/?)!”

  As a monster that looked to be formed out of a gigantic, terrifying skull made its appearance on the field, Depre Scott began to explain its effect.

  “While Greed Quasar remains on the field, its attack and defense become equal to its level times 300.”

  Greed Quasar (?/? -> 2100/2100).

  Tea’s face paled. Her breath hitched. 2100 attack points… did she even have a monster in her deck that could defeat that? She risked a glance backward, but Phil looked as easygoing as ever.

  “Greed Quasar attacks! Destroy Dancing Fairy!”

  Tea Gardner: 2700 Depre Scott: 3800

  Tea grimaced as the three tiny winged fairies were crushed into mangled pieces by a single punch of the skull monster’s wickedly sharp claws. She still had over half her starting life points, but what could she even do? But Tea couldn’t lose here either! Not when it meant getting kicked off the island!

  “Greed Quasar’s effect activates.” Depre Scott’s next words felt like they were hammering the nails even further into her coffin. There was more? More!?!?

  “When Greed Quasar destroys a monster by battle, its level is increased by the level of that monster.”

  “Which means-“ Tea blurted out,

  “Greed Quasar is now level eleven.” Depre Scott finished, just as his monster gulped up the last of the crumpled mess that were the Dancing Fairies' bloodied remains.

  Greed Quasar (2100/2100 -> 3300/3300).

  Oh noodles…

  Tea’s eyes darted around the field with increased urgency. She still had Shining Angel to defend herself with. Pikeru’s Second Sight would end this turn. White Magician Pikeru was still in play as well. How could she defeat the Greed Quasar? Shining Angel would last for a bit, but in the meantime, it would only serve to stall and increase Greed Quasar's attack points. Then there was Zeta Reticulant. Why was Depre Scott so eager to send it to the graveyard?

  As if he were reading her very mind, Phil spoke up once more. "It either has a graveyard effect or he doesn't expect to get enough fuel to tribute summon it."

  Tea nodded along. Fair enough.

  Depre Scott scowled and ended his turn. He really didn’t seem to like Phil helping out.

  “My turn!” Tea shouted, using the volume as an attempt to shore up her spirit, like how she always cheered Yugi and Joey on.

  “Oh.”

  Tea did a double-take upon hearing Phil's abrupt exclamation. Oh? What did he mean by ‘oh’?

  “You could do it the fun way or the easy way.”

  “What?” Tea looked at her hand. And then it was clear. The card she’d just drawn… that must be the easy way? What was the fun way then? No matter. Tea didn’t care. She needed this win.

  “In my standby phase, Pikeru will heal me for another 800. I place one monster in face-down defense position, switch Pikeru to defense, and end my turn!”

  Tea Gardner: 3400 Depre Scott: 3800

  “A waste.” Depre Scott spat. “I draw. Activating my spell card, Nobleman of Crossout! Your newest face-down monster is destroyed and banished! Furthermore, if it’s a flip monster, we must both banish all monsters in our deck with the same name!”

  Tea’s face paled. “Oh noodles…” She whispered. Somehow her words were loud enough to reach Phil, who issued a bark of laughter in response.

  “What!?!” Tea spun around to point a threatening finger right at Phil. He looked at her, looked at the swiftly disappearing form of her flip monster being cut down by Nobleman of Crossout, glanced at a patch of thin air AGAIN, and started laughing even harder! Why, she ought to beat the stuffing out of him!

  “You’re right, that is a good one!” Phil cackled while Tea internally screamed the question, ‘who’s right?!?’.

  “Your attention, PLEASE!” Depre Scott’s fa?ade cracked once more as he actually shouted for once. Tea turned back quickly enough to see the last fading remnants of Old Vindictive Magician. A.K.A., the easy way out. It was a flip monster Yugi had given her as a gift, one that, when flipped, could destroy one monster her opponent controlled. Sadly, as Tea now knew, it was weak to certain spell cards.

  “I possess no copies of that card in my deck.” Depre Scott said after taking a moment to master his expression.

  Tea threw her hands up in the air helplessly. “I only have one myself.”

  “Good. Let’s continue. Because one of your monsters was banished from the game, the effect of my Zeta Reticulant in my graveyard activates to special summon one Eva Token (500/500) in defense mode. Now! Time to press the attack! Greed Quasar, destroy that face-down Shining Angel!”

  With the death of Shining Angel, Greed Quasar was now level fifteen.

  Greed Quasar (3300/3300 -> 4500/4500).

  “Sh-shining Angel’s effect activates.” Tea declared. “Bringing forth another Shining Angel (1400/800).

  Phil clicked his tongue. “Shoulda’ killed the Pikeru. You got too greedy for levels, mate.”

  “You should just be quiet.” Depre Scott shot back. “Once the girl is defeated, I will be taking your star chips.”

  Phil waved his hand in a ‘pish-posh’ gesture while Tea drew a card. How could he be so confident, even now? She didn’t even know monsters could get that many attack points! Then her eyes narrowed. There was something Phil had said earlier, about there being two ways to beat Greed Quasar. There was the easy way…

  “What was the fun way?” Tea voiced the thought aloud.

  But Phil only grinned. For all the help he’d given her earlier, he seemed far more interested in seeing if she could figure out what the ‘fun way’ was on her own. Tea looked over the cards in her hand again. She didn’t have anything that could increase the attack of any of her monsters enough to defeat Greed Quasar. Old Vindictive Magician was gone, so she couldn’t destroy it by card effect. She had an equip spell that could boost Pikeru up to 2000 attack points…

  She saw it. The card instantly triggered a fond memory, one so strong it almost felt she was there in person, instead of in some dingy underground battle box with an overly stern player killer and a man of questionable sanity.

  “Here, Tea, I think this card would do well in your deck!”

  How long ago was it? A few months? A year? A year back sounded about right. Tea had been finishing her late-night shift at Burger World when Yugi had shown up to grab a milkshake. There were no other customers in the restaurant. It was just her and Yugi. Oh, and Gator was in the back doing clean-up and probably also doing his darned best to fail the company-mandated drug test.

  “This… card?” Tea had said as she applied the finishing touches to the milkshake. He handed it to her, along with some coins for the milkshake.

  “It looks way too simple, but it’s a seriously powerful card,” Yugi had said. Simple. Even now, Tea could laugh about that. Such a simple card had caused Yugi to launch into an hour-long explanation of the pros and cons of using it. She didn’t mind. She never minded when he did that. Honestly… despite Phil’s teasing (she still wanted to whack him on the head for that), Yugi was… cute whenever he did that. Really, really cute.

  Such a simple memory on a calm August night. The restaurant (mostly) to themselves, talking about card games while closing out the restaurant. Even though he didn’t work there, Yugi had taken a washcloth to help her wipe down the tables while he talked and sipped away at his milkshake.

  And now it was in her hand. A simple but seriously powerful card.

  Time to put Yugi’s advice to the test.

  “It isn’t over yet!” Tea cried out, “I activate Book of Moon! By targeting your Greed Quasar, I can flip it into face-down defense position!”

  “Atta girl!” Phil cheered, fist-bumping thin air for good measure, “Book the fucker to reset its stats!”

  “But that’s not all! I still can’t destroy Greed Quasar, so Pikeru, I’m counting on you! I activate the equip spell card Trial of the Princesses! By equipping it to White Magician Pikeru, my monster gains 800 attack points. Then, for my final boost, here’s the quick-play spell, Rush Recklessly! It increases Pikeru’s attack points by another 700!”

  White Magician Pikeru (1200/0 -> 2700/0).

  “Attack!”

  Yugi’s knowledge of the game was proven right, as usual. As soon as Pikeru’s strike landed, Greed Quasar was flipped face-up to reveal that its level was reset back to its base value of seven, meaning it only had 2100 attack and defense points. White Magician Pikeru was enough.

  Was this what Phil meant about ‘the fun way’?

  If so…

  He had a point. Tea could feel an exhilarated smile growing on her face as her opponent’s monster was destroyed. This really was the fun way!

  “Shining Angel destroys the Eva Token!”

  The tables were turned. Now it was Depre Scott’s turn to be on the back foot.

  “Main two!” Tea firmly declared. “Because Pikeru destroyed a level five or higher monster by battle, she has been deemed worthy by the Trial of the Princesses! I use the second effect of my equip spell, which will sacrifice both Pikeru and the spell to summon her true form! Come forth, the gentle healing princess, Princess Pikeru (2000/0)!”

  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

  Phil knew he had a shit-eating grin on his face and he didn’t give a damn. Watching Tea manage to properly summon Princess Pikeru was truly amazing entertainment. She seemed grateful for his advice.

  But the thing was, he knew Tea didn't really need it. She wasn't the best duelist in the world, no doubt about that, but what he'd seen of her, Tea Gardner was alright. To put it another way, Phil could see her doing decently in the first round of Battle City, though perhaps not well enough to make it to the blimp stage. Her main problem was confidence. She had the cards, she mostly knew how to use them, she was just understandably a bit flustered since her status on the island depended on the outcome of this duel. Put her in a for-fun duel against Joey, and Tea would have probably thought of all these moves all by herself.

  Funny, wasn’t it? Tea Gardner was in all other parts a damn confident girl. But in love and Duel Monsters, that wasn’t quite always the case.

  “What if we lock Yugi and Tea in a room for several hours?”

  Phil tilted his head to Lumina's question. All throughout the duel they'd been brainstorming on how to Love Guru the two kids together. There was no doubt about their feeling being mutual now. The whole issue was that both of them were too shy or embarrassed about love stuff to ever make a move!

  “I think we’d be arrested for kidnapping, if Tea didn’t kill me first.”

  “No, you’d be arrested for kidnapping. I’m just a poor intangible duel spirit. Can’t handcuff something that doesn’t exist in this physical world.”

  Phil hummed to himself in thought. For all his chatter about being a Love Guru, he really couldn’t think of the right words to help out here, not for the life of him.

  Tea’s turn ended with no other actions. It was a solid end – Depre Scott had nothing left on the field now. However, the duel wasn’t over yet. He still had cards left in his hand and gas left in the tank. Phil turned his attention back to the surprisingly calm player killer's previous moves. If he were a betting man, he'd put money on an attempted comeback with either Zeta Reticulant or another Greed Quasar.

  The question was, which one would it be?

  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

  There was some triumph in her heart, Tea could admit, when she stared at the beautiful regal white robes of Princess Pikeru, one of the two strongest monsters in her deck. She could readily admit its summoning procedure was a bit much sometimes, but hey, it was a cute card! And strong! Also, the princess had a pretty drill hairstyle and a butler who was a literal goat in a suit! Wasn't that just the best?

  “I’ll finish things off by throwing down a face-down! Pass turn!” Tea declared, perhaps in a more ‘Joey-like’ fashion than she might have normally, if she wasn’t still a little bit hyped up by her successful summon of Princess Pikeru.

  A bead of sweat dripped down Depre Scott’s face, but soon enough his grim outlook turned into one of firm conviction.

  “One card face-down and Skull Knight #2 (1000/1200) in defense. That’s my turn.”

  Tea’s eyes narrowed. That look… if it wasn’t the monster he summoned being strong, then it had to be his face-down. A glance behind her told the same story. Phil was nodding along. Doubtlessly he’d seen what her facedown card was. Did that mean she made the right decision? Teea certainly hoped so, but she couldn’t keep from worrying all the same!

  Focus. Depre Scott's monster, a skeleton decked out in silver armor and holding a sword with a blood-red blade, had nowhere near enough defense points to stop her. Unless it had a scary effect to match its scary appearance, it was fine. The facedown. It could be anything. It could be important, because again, Depre Scott's face had firmed up upon seeing it. Unless… a bluff?

  “Standby phase, Princess Pikeru heals me for 800 life points for each monster I control. I have two, so that’s 1600 in total.”

  Tea Gardner: 5000 Depre Scott: 3800

  Phil let out a low whistle of appreciation behind her upon seeing the massive increase, causing Tea to smile slightly and sit up a bit straighter in her seat.

  “I’ll turn on the heat a little bit. Joining Pikeru and Shining Angel, I summon Dunames Dark Witch (1800/1050) in attack position! On to battle!”

  Joining the white-robed princess and the blond angel was a second angel, though this one had a much darker aura about her. Her wings had a metallic look to them, and arouras of yellow plasma crackled through the air around her.

  “Shining Angel, focus down the Skull Knight! Then, your friends can attack directly!”

  The skeleton knight hardly lasted a few seconds before the fists of Shining Angel tore through its armor like it was made of wet paper. However, once Dunames Dark Witch began to make her move, Depre Scott held up a finger.

  “My face-down will activate first. Call of the Haunted! Bring forth my Greed Quasar from the graveyard to serve me once more!”

  Tea’s breathing halted for a second.

  And then her hand moved in a blur to reveal her trap card. "Sorry, but I can't let you do that! Seven Tools of the Bandit! This counter-trap negates your trap for the cost of 1000 life points!"

  The ominous graveyard rapidly overtaking part of the field was instantly stopped in its tracks by a Swiss Army Knife that produced a large mallet to smash all the gravestones at once. It was a handy trick, one she’d picked up after hearing Jean talk about one of the duels he’d had in a super freaking shady underground arena that Tea did not want to know any more details about.

  “Don’t stop! Keep pressing the attack! First Dunames Dark Witch in case you have some weird card called Gorz…" The wind briefly went out of Tea's sails, and she spoke with an exasperated voice, “Don't ask me, ask the snickering weirdo in the corner. He keeps talking about a card called that to freak out Joey. Whatever! Then, Princess Pikeru will go in for the follow-up!”

  A crackling arc of yellow energy scorched a chunk out of Depre Scott’s life points, but as soon as Princess Pikeru swung her staff to follow the dark witch’s strike, it was blocked by a small brown fuzzy blob.

  Tea Gardner: 4000 Depre Scott: 2000

  “Kuriboh’s effect activates!”

  "Holy shit, my man actually has it!"

  Both Depre Scott’s and Phil’s voices rang out inside the small battle box at the same time. Depre Scott had completely abandoned his previously stoic expression for one of adrenaline-filled excitement, while Phil was standing with his hands thrown up into the air, a maniacal grin laced across his face.

  Tea knew what the cute little guy did. She’d seen Yugi make use of its effect plenty of times by now. For the low, low price of discarding it from the hand, the damage from Princess Pikeru’s attack would be reduced to zero.

  “Quick, throw a down a face-down!” Phil shouted, just as energized as Depre Scott was by the eleventh-hour play. Tea huffed in exasperation, but she still followed Phil’s pointer finger with her gaze to see which trap he meant. Her eyes narrowed. That one? What use would it be?

  Still, she placed it face down. For all his questions about her love life and his vague suggestions about what to play next, he was trying to be helpful. Heavens knew if Tea would have still been in the game if she was alone – she knew herself well enough that in such a freaky underground box, with no friendly faces… how long would it have taken to get her head in the game? Yeah, it was one thing to beat Joey in the classroom, but another thing entirely to duel here and now!

  “I’ll go!” Depre Scott shouted. “I activate Pot of Greed! Then, once more I reveal my Dark Core! By discarding Darklord Marie, I target and banish your Princess Pikeru!" He glared at Tea, as if daring her to stop his spell card this time.

  Tea glanced over at Phil with a questioning gaze, but his only response was a slight shake of his head. For a second, Tea hesitated. The trap she’d just placed down… it could be used here, but Phil didn’t seem to want that? Did he think there was more? She closed her eyes and then opened them resolutely. Phil thought there was more, so there would definitely be more. No doubt about that.

  “That’s fine.”

  Princess Pikeru disappeared from the field in a flash, leaving not even a scrap of cloth behind. It was like she was never even there to begin with. Oh noodles.

  “Now that your card has been banished… the graveyard effect of Zeta Reticulant activates to special summon one Eva Token (500/500) to my field in defense position. It won’t be staying for long, because by sacrificing it, I can special summon my second Zeta Reticulant (2400/2100) from my hand!

  All at once, a bizarre humanoid alien covered in glowing purple orbs soared onto the field with a shrill screech of victory. It flexed its claws, almost seeming to look directly at Tea herself, instead of at her monsters.

  “Attack. Destroy the witch.” Depre Scott commanded.

  “Now!”

  Tea’s hand blurred into action at Phil’s shout. “Nope! Here’s my trap card, Shift! I’ll be changing your attack over to Shining Angel instead!”

  "But you still take the damage!"

  Tea blinked to acknowledge that fact. She’d still take the damage, a full one thousand points of it.

  Tea Gardner: 4000 Depre Scott: 2000

  “But!” She countered, “Shining Angel’s effect activates to special summon a light monster with 1500 or fewer attack points! Help me out please, Copycat (0/0)!”

  Phil let out a wild whoop at her play. Tea glanced back. His eyes looked… surprised? “You didn’t expect the Copycat?” Tea asked with a laugh.

  “No! Who the hell even plays that card?”

  “Joey.”

  Phil made a noise of understanding. “Right… that tracks.”

  “Anyway, when Copycat is summoned, he gets to copy the attack and defense points of one monster you control! That’s right, he becomes as strong as your Zeta Reticulant!”

  Copycat (0/0 -> 2400/2100).

  “Main phase two. Activating Smashing Ground.”

  No sooner than Tea's face had begun to flush with the excitement of matching her opponent than it was replaced with an ashen color.

  “But…” Tea weakly protested. It was her very own combo! How could it be defeated just like that?

  “It destroys your monster with the highest defense points.” Depre Scott helpfully explained.

  “Yeah… I know. Phil likes to use that card. A lot.”

  “It’s great, isn’t it?” Phil sagely replied. “Joey starts to twitch whenever I show him the card art.”

  All Tea could do was sadly watch her Copycat, which had assumed a slightly wobbly form that looked almost like Zeta Reticulant, but not quite, get pulverized by a giant golden fist hammering down from the sky.

  Great. What now? She had one monster left, no traps, and a few cards in her hand.

  “I draw.” Tea said in a more subdued voice. “I switch Dunames Dark Witch to the defense position and end my turn.”

  Phil began whispering with thin air again, but Tea ignored him.

  “Hey.”

  What should she do? What what what?

  “Hey Tea!”

  Tea couldn’t lose here! Not when the others were counting on her!

  “HEY TEA!”

  Tea lurched forward in her chair from the sheer volume of her friend’s voice. “WHAT!” She shouted back at Phil.

  “You should get dinner with Yugi sometime! Just you and him! It’ll be fun!”

  “What?” Tea squinted at him. How did Phil possess such an impressive ability to switch his focus at the strangest of times? She was in the middle of trying not to lose right now! Sure, that did kind of sound nice… but it would be… argh!

  “If you win, you should resolve yourself to doing that! You know, call it motivation! A good way to break through the 'will they, won't they' stalemate you've got going on. I think you can still win. What do ya’ say, yay or nay?”

  Tea threw her hands up in the air out of frustration. “Sure! If I win here, I’ll do just that!”

  “Neato. Make it to your next turn, then we, heh, we turn it around!”

  Tea paused. Was it just her… or could she hear very, very faint vomiting noises? Then they were gone. She shook her head. Must’ve been a figment of her imagination.

  “If you make it!” Depre Scott echoed Phil’s words. “My turn! I’ll keep it simple! In my standby phase, Darklord Marie’s graveyard effect activates to heal me for 200 life points. Then, I summon Mystic Tomato and go right to my battle phase! Tomato, bite through my opponent’s defenses! Make way for Zeta to attack directly!”

  Tea braced herself, but that still wasn’t enough to fully mentally prepare for the sight of a very angry alien hologram charging toward her, claws at the ready.

  Tea Gardner: 1600 Depre Scott: 2200

  “I draw! Phil, you’d better be right!”

  “Of course I am. Change of Heart the big boi.”

  “So I can destroy his monster? And then what? He gets it back when my turn ends!”

  Phil took on a patient tone. “Steal it, attack, and then tribute summon that nice level six spellcaster in your hand.”

  Oh.

  Oh.

  In all fairness, she should have seen that. Would have normally seen that, if she wasn’t kind of sort of freaking out a little bit over the chances of getting booted off the island.

  “I activate Change of Heart. My target is Zeta Reticulant.”

  A bright, spotless angel wing and a foul, shriveled bat wing wrapped around the alien to bring it toward Tea’s side of the field. Her eyes narrowed. “Battle phase. Zeta Reticulant, help me out a bit! Destroy Mystic Tomato!”

  A set of claws tore through the evil, fanged vegetable, but Depre Scott wasted no time before activating its effect to special summon one dark monster with 1500 or fewer attack points from his deck – another Mystic Tomato!

  Tea Gardner: 1600 Depre Scott: 1200

  “That’s the end of my battle phase! Now, come to my aid! By sacrificing Zeta Reticulant, I bring forth the wise sorcerer’s apprentice, Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700)!”

  This was one of her favorite cards. It's just… Tea had hoped, just a little bit in her heart, that she could have summoned it in a tag duel alongside Yugi. That would have been… nice.

  Tea's turn ended and Depre Scott's began. He switched his Tomato to defense position, placed a card face down, and ended his turn. Evidently he was on the back foot once more. Then the turn count was back in Tea’s corner. She drew a card.

  And she grinned.

  “Activate the equip spell-“

  “I activate my equip spell-!”

  Both Phil and Tea spoke in unison.

  “Fairy Meteor Crush!”

  Depre Scott rose from his chair to grip the table with his hands, hunching over it in disbelief. “No!”

  He seemed to know what it did already, but Tea wasn’t going to let this chance slip away! She was gonna explain the card whether he liked it or not!

  “By equipping it to Dark Magician Girl, each time she attacks a monster in defense position, you take damage equal to the difference between her attack and your monster’s defense! But wait, that’s not all! I summon Magician’s Valkyria (1600/1800) in attack mode!”

  Just as the blue-armored magician jumped onto the field with her staff at the ready, Depre Scott flipped over his face-down card.

  “I wanted to hold onto this a bit longer, but I’ll be damned if I don’t try my best no matter what, even if this game is at its end! I activate the trap card, Just Desserts! You take 500 points of damage for each monster you control!”

  Tea flinched as a searing wall of flames rushed across the field. She knew it wouldn’t be enough to put her to zero, but it was still a scary surprise. If she had been able to summon more monsters… It didn’t take her long to recover from that nasty realization. “Come on! Dark Magician Girl, destroy the defending Mystic Tomato!”

  That, of course, summoned one last Mystic Tomato in attack position, but both duelists knew it was over. Magician’s Valkyria had just enough attack points to finish the game for good.

  Tea Gardner: 600 Depre Scott: 0

  “WOOOOOH! DATE DATE DATE DATE DATE! YEEAAHHHAHA!!!”

  Tea smacked Phil upside the head.

  https://discord.gg/jfRn8j5GaE!