It was late, around 10pm. Yuzu and Julia sat in their cheap apartment. Multiple cheap fans desperately tried to replace the cooling power of an air conditioning unit that had been broken long before they had moved in. Their living room was decorated with whatever they could bring from home. Two entirely different aesthetics clashed against each other as Julia’s love for rock and punk bands clashed against posters of fantasy landscapes and over-designed JRPG characters. Each of them sat on a bean bag chair that sat in the middle of their “turfs” with a low table being the only thing bringing the two spaces together.

  Yuzu ran through a photo book filled with Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, hunting for anything she might want to swap into her main deck. After a tedious and thorough search came to the conclusion that there were no more improvements to be made. She closed it with a loud clap and sighed. “My deck is about as good as it can be.”

  Julia, who was watching a documentary on a local band, paused her program and tossed herself around on her beanbag. Her smug grin seemed even more potent now that it was upside down. “You nervous~?” She teased.

  “A little? I’ve never played Yu-gi-oh with drama on the line. It feels different now that I’m playing for keeps. If I lose that chick is going to ruin me! I can feel it.” Yuzu fiddled with her deck, shuffling them over and over again without any signs of slowing down.

  “So what you’re saying is that you’ve never bet anything on your games before besides some money for a prize pot, and now that you’ve wagered your pride you’re feeling the heat.”

  “Yeah, pretty much.”

  Julia rested the back of her head against her hands. She stared up at the ceiling curiously, her mind visibly churning a scheme into motion. “I have an idea,” she murmured. She flipped herself over and walked over to one of her personal dresser drawers. She pulled out a black deck holster that had red flames painted on its base and shook it with a crafty smile.

  She sat down at the low table in the center of the room and slammed the holster down with the force of a professional upstairs neighbor. “Alright! Let’s duel!”

  Yuzu squinted and inspected her friend with suspicious eyes. “What’s the catch?”

  “If I win, You gotta show me your tits.” There was a strange sparkle in Julia’s eyes, the sparkle of ambition.

  “WHAT!”” Yuzu covered her chest despite already being fully clothed. “Why the hell would I do that? No one’s seen me naked save for my mom when I was a baby.”

  “Shame,” Julia chirped reflexively. “Then you should probably give this your all then. If you’re scared to play with some actual stakes then this is the perfect practice. Just you, me, and the old Jessy Hendrix over there.” She pointed to the paused TV which still had the awkward still frame of a young musician during an interview. “Or maybe you’re just not that good of a duelist after all. Are you scared to lose to a casual?”

  Yuzu froze, yet again her duelist pride was getting in her way. She knew Julia was baiting her but she also knew that if she refused she’d make a fuss about it for weeks. With jerky, hesitant movements Yuzu slid off her bean bag and placed her deck on the table. She reached over to the side of the chair and pulled out her remaining extra deck and placed it on the table in silence.

  “You’re on.” She whispered.

  “Hmph, you better not lose, ’cause I’m real prone to staring!” Exclaimed Julia with a wickedly confident grin.

  They quickly set up the table for a proper duel and decided to use Rock, Paper, Scissors, to decide the first turn.

  “1”

  “2”

  “3”

  “Shoot!”

  Rock beats scissors, Yuzu Won.

  “I’ll be going first,” Yuzu expressed with a soft tone. She was trying to hide her nerves with silence.

  “Huh? What’s that?” Hollered Julia in a dehumanizing tone.

  “I said I’ll be going first…” Again, her voice was without presence.

  “You’re gonna have to speak up Yuz, That Zoe was one loud, obnoxious bitch and if you show up all meek and meager she’s going to trample all over you.”

  “I Said I’m going first, Damnit!” barked Yuzu in a sudden outburst.

  “Much better. I know that little outburst you had at the Chick-fil-A was a first, but you’re gonna need to carry that same feisty fire during tomorrow’s duel.”

  The duel started, Yuzu drew and gazed upon her hand with confidence. She wasted no time and hit the ground running.

  “First, I’ll activate Timaeus the United Dragon’s special effect from my hand, letting me send one Dark Magician from my hand to the graveyard to special summon Timaeus to the field. Then I’ll activate Dark Magical Circle.”

  She excavated the top three cards of her deck and a look of pure disappointment washed over her face. “Damnit.” None of the excavated cards had met Dark Magical Circle’s stipulations. She placed the three cards back onto the top of her deck and moved on to her next play to try and keep her momentum going.

  “Next I’ll activate Timaeus’s fusion effect by using one spellcaster from my hand as the last material. Lucky for me I have one more Dark Magician up my sleeve.”

  Nimble hands made the play as she spoke. She slid Timaeus and Dark Magician into the graveyard and pulled out a card from her extra deck with precision and speed. She layed it in the same center zone that Timaeus had occupied. “Boom, Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon! That’s my turn.”

  “Ok, ok. That’s a respectable start,” Julia commended, her smile becoming more genuine as it was hard to maintain her facade of antagonism. “I activate Red-Eyes Black Meteor Dragon’s Special effect, letting me send one O.G Red-Eyes to the grave to special summon Meteor to the field with an extra level to its name. Then I’ll use Red-Eyes Insight to nab one of its sister spells from my deck. I’ll set two cards face down and end my turn.”

  Yuzu was impressed by Julia’s opening act. While her friend tended to play whenever she asked, she was never really good at stringing her card effects together. Yuzu guessed that she had been practicing her plays in secret, but nevertheless, Yuzu remained confident she could break the modest board.

  She drew a card and began a steadfast advance. “Right, First I’ll use Preparation of Rights to grab Illusion of Chaos from my deck, Reveal it, and add one Magicians’ Souls. I’ll slap Illusion back to the top of my deck as per the rules of the effect.” She leaned into the table, feeling the momentum of her cards and the desire to complete the play before Julia could wrap her head around everything.

  She continued on at a rapid pace. “I’ll activate Magicians’ Souls to send a Dark Magician from my deck to the grave. Now I’ll double up and send Magicians’ Souls to the grave to dig up Dark Magician with a special summon.” She pointed a vindictive finger at Julia, barely holding in her joy at her next move. “I’ve got a hunch about that face down in your left-most spell zone! I’m just gonna get it out of here with Dark Magical Circle’s secondary effect!”

  “Hold your horses,” Julia tossed a card onto her Graveyard stack; Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit. It sat there like a pebble lodged in a machine’s gears. “You didn’t think I’d just let you do whatever you want did you?”

  Yuzu tilted her head in a cheap imitation of childlike ignorance. “Of course not, that’s why Dark Dragoon will ensure my rampage can’t be stopped.” She tapped on the card lightly, bringing Julia’s attention to the monster that had been right under her nose the entire time.

  “What?!” She leaned over the table and practically put her nose to the card. “Discard a card, Negate the activation, and gain a thousand attack?!” She darted up from the card to see Yuzu holding up the last card in her hand with a triumphant expression.

  She dropped the card and let it gently float down to the Graveyard. Julia took a deep breath and slinked back into her spot. “Alright, alright, that’s fine, have it your way.” She revealed the card that had been originally targeted by Dark Magical Circle. It was Red-Eyes Spirit. “Chain-links are a bitch! Aren’t they? Special summon O.G Red-eyes from the grave”

  After Red-Eyes Black Dragon landed on the field all the card effects quickly fell into place like a domino effect. Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit was negated by Red-eyes Dark Dragoon and Julia’s Red-eyes spirit was banished by Dark Magical Circle.

  Yuzu placed a finger on her center-stage monster. “And now to continue my stampede, I’ll activate Dark Dragoon’s first effect to destroy Red-Eyes Black Meteor Dragon. I know you like your beat sticks so why don’t you get a first-hand feel of their power”

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  “2,000 right off the bat? You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Growled Julia.

  “And I’m not stopping there, that was just the main phase.” Yuzu transitioned right into her battle phase. Using her dark magician she was able to beat out Julia’s Red-eyes Black Dragon for a small nick of 100 damage. Now undefended she was open from a direct attack from Dark Dragoon, chunking off 3,000 life points in a single attack. “And that’s where I have to call an end to my turn for now.”

  Julia crossed her arms, the rhythmic tap of her finger against her forearm helped her to keep her cool in the moment. She couldn’t believe she was being handled like this after taking on the role of the aggressor. She hoped that Yuzu would do the same to Zoe and that the haughty duelist would feel the same embarrassment she felt one hundred times over. “Damn it. I really thought I was safe there, But whatever! I’m not dead yet.”

  She drew a card from her deck with tactless aggression, then slid her Black Meteor dragon from the Graveyard to the Banished Zone. “By sending Meteor to the void, I can add one Red-Eyes Fusion from my deck. I’ll put it to use immediately by sending another Meteor Dragon and a Red-Eyes Soul to the grave as materials to summon Meteor Black Comet Dragon!” An expression of giddy glee returned to Julia’s face. “I’m not even going to waste time on getting my lick-back. I’ll Send a ‘Red-Eyes’ monster from the deck to the grave and deal half its attack as damage. Red-Eyes Iron Knight will jump right into the grave and deal 900 damage to you, direct order.”

  Yuzu was unshaken by the relatively small amount of damage, but she gave an impressed whistle. “Someone really has been reading their card effects. ”

  “Of course, I may not have my deck glued to my thigh, but even I get tired of losing back-to-back.”

  Yuzu raised an eyebrow, “And you think today is going to be different?” Usually, she would have laughed at a statement like that. But she still felt as if her dignity was on the line, so she was inclined to take her friend a little more seriously.

  Julia sucked her teeth. That comment irritated her. “Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Nothing… just continue your turn.”

  After a brief pout, Julia placed her hand on her last face-down card. “Have it your way then,” She flipped over the card with flamboyant flair. “I activate Red-Eyes fang with chain and equip it to Comet Dragon. Now that It can attack twice we’re going straight to the battle phase because I’m taking those mages to the cleaners!” with no hesitation she destroyed both of Yuzu’s monsters. Her board was now empty, save for the singular Dark Magical circle left in her rightmost spell zone.”

  Turn four had come to an end. Yuzu had the life point lead with 5,600 compared to Julia’s 2,900. She took note of Comet Dragon. It was strong, but that was it. She recognized it as a monster crusher but she knew that if she pulled the right cards she could easily deal with it.

  Turn five, time to draw.

  She was elated, it was just the card she needed to keep Julia from getting an advantage over her. “I don’t think you’re gonna like this. I activate Illusion of Chaos from my hand!” She couldn’t believe her luck. Despite having put the card on the top of her deck earlier that meant all but nothing. Every time she used a special effect to pick a card from the deck the whole thing had to be shuffled. She doubted she would get another coincidence like that in the same duel, so she was inclined to make the most of it. “Second verse, same as the first. I’ll add another Magicians’ Souls to my hand and send Chaos right back to the top of the deck, But Illusion of Chaos might as well be playing hopscotch because It’s going right into the Graveyard with Magician’s soul to special summon out another Dark Magician from the grave!”

  Julia’s laser-focused, deadpan stare was all the Information Yuzu needed. They both knew what was coming next.

  “I activate Dark magical circle-” Yuzu stopped. Her eyes peeled wide open, gawking at one of the cards that was in Julia’s hand. She held it out facing Yuzu. It was a silent declaration of activation: Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit. Her play had been negated, and her Dark Magical Circle was destroyed. She had brought out the dark magician for nothing. “But you’ve only ran one-”

  “I’ve only ran one Ghost Ogre since you helped make my deck, right? Well, I was able to get my hands on some more from some nerd on campus.” A wide, mischievous smirk ran from ear to ear. “What, you thought things would be the same as before. That would be the definition of Insanity Yuz. I’m a lot of things but I’m not insane.”

  Yuzu lurched over the table, becoming anxious at the idea of actually having to expose her chest to her friend. “I… I end my turn.”

  Julia drew her next card and stared at it for a little bit. She raised an eyebrow, took a glance at her opponent, and shrugged. “Ah, what the hell. I’ve always been a betting girl.” She joked as she placed a spell card down for activation. “Cup of Ace! Toss a coin, Heads I draw two cards, tails, you draw two cards.” She reached into her pockets for a coin. Her expression quickly fell flat as she got on her knees to search her back pockets. All four of her coffers were bone dry. “Shit. I don’t have any change. Yuz?”

  “Nope, I donated it to the ‘Kids in Zimbabwe’ fund at the Chick-fil-A counter, Remember?”

  Julia sighed and leaned over the table, holding out her hands in the iconic Roshambo pose. Yuzu rose to meet her as it couldn’t be helped.

  “1, 2, 3, shoot”

  It was a tie.

  “1, 2, 3, shoot,”

  Tie again. There was tension brewing. Julia let her gambling sensibilities rile her up, while Yuzu was desperate to keep her from gaining more card advantage over her.

  Yuzu and Julia had both thrown out Scissors twice. They stared deep into each other’s eyes. They both knew the other would try and shake it up, to play scissors again would be high risk. Yuzu’s eyes flickered over to the stack of papers sitting on her side of the living room. It was such a small moment, and most likely a subconscious tick. But Julia was eager to press even the smallest of weaknesses. She immediately belted out the countdown, causing Yuzu to jump in her seat. She tried to stutter out a “Stop” or “Wait” but it was no use. Julia was not going to give her the time to think.

  “Shoot!”

  Julia pressured Yuzu into playing because she knew that her frantic mind would be stuck on paper, causing her to make a panicked play based on subconscious thoughts. So she was shocked when her scissors met rock, causing her to lose on the spot. Yuzu’s face was twisted with Impish glee. She was barely managing to hold back a hysteric fit of laughter.

  “W-wait. You tricked me.” Julia slammed her hand on the table and pointed a damning finger at her friend. “You looked at that stack of papers on purpose!”

  “Yep!” Yuzu chirped as she swiped two cards from the top of her deck. “Gotta do what you gotta do. My dignity is on the line here!”

  Julia returned to her seat as a pile of smoldering anger. “Whatever, Moving on to the battle phase, your Dark magician is toast. Get it out of here and take a thousand damage.”

  The score was 4,600 to 2,100 with Yuzu in the lead. Julia’s risky play had cost her the card advantage, and she was visibly angry with herself.

  Julia’s turn came to a rather anticlimactic end. Yuzu drew her next card and breathed a sigh of relief. Her board was completely empty, but thanks to her quick cunning she now had all the cards she needed to make a decent play. “Time to steal back the momentum! I activate Soul Servant, this lets me place 1 card on the top of my deck from anywhere so long as it has ties to Dark Magician. I’m going to dig up that last Magicians’ soul and top-load it. After that, Soul Servant goes to the graveyard where I can banish it to draw a card if there’s a Dark Magician or Dark Magician Girl in my grave. I’ve only got Dark Magician in the grave so I’m drawing one card, but just enough to put that Magicians’ Souls right in my hand. Not only that, but thanks to your gambling problem I’ve got another Dark Magical Circle I can play. Which I’ll use to add a second soul servant to my hand.”

  Julia could already see where this was going. “Damn!”

  The young duelist nodded her head, that response told her that there wasn’t a third Ogre waiting for her. “You know what that means. I’ll activate Magicians’ Souls, discard it along with a Dark Magician Girl from my deck to drag the Original Dark Magician back out of retirement. Now that he’s back on the field Dark Magical Circle is recharged and Banishes your Comet Dragon! Now I just switch to battle phase, hit you with the full 2,500 damage. Switch to the second main phase and set a card face down in my spell zone to end my turn. How about them apples!?”

  Julia was shocked. She was now down to her last 400 life points, While Yuzu was still comfortable with 4,600. She would need to play carefully as she drew her next card. She placed it face down in a monster zone with little fanfare, keeping one last card close to her chest. “It’s not over yet. I just gotta be a little careful.”

  Before she had a chance to end her turn, Yuzu held out her hand to stop her. “Wait! I’ve got a little play.” She flipped over her face down; it was another Soul Servant. She quickly used it to recycle one of her Magicians’ Souls to the top of her deck once more.

  Julia threw her hands up and groaned. “Oh my god! You’re a Magicians’ Souls merchant, You know that?”

  Yuzu playfully stuck out her tongue. “Last time I checked, being a merchant can be a really successful trade in life. Maybe you should try it sometime.”

  It was Yuzu’s turn, and she had all the pieces to pull off her extravagant play. She drew the soul servant that had been placed on the top of her deck with jubilation as she moved into her main phase. She flicked the Soul Servant to the top of her graveyard as a declaration of activation. “Now that I’ve got a Dark Magician and a Dark Magician Girl in my graveyard, Soul Servant will let me draw two cards from my deck. Next, I’ll use everyone’s FaVoRite card, Magicians’ Souls to send itself to the grave while dragging Illusion of Chaos into the Grave from the deck in trade for bringing out the one, the only, Dark Magician Girl!”

  Before Yuzu could even get another word out, Julia held the last card in her hand to the ceiling, revealing it for her opponent to gaze upon. “Not so fast! I Activate Red-Eyes Soul! When you special summon I can-”

  She was quietly cut off by Yuzu. She waved a card from her hand around like it was some handwritten note to be read in the middle of class. It was Ash Blossom. Yuzu didn’t have to say a word. Julia just threw Red Eyes Soul into the Grave as Yuzu discarded her Ash Blossom. She plopped down in her place and blew a raspberry.

  “God! I forget how much I hate this game sometimes.”

  “Says the person who’s running multiple copies of Ogre. That’s pretty much the same thing!”

  “Yeah, yeah just play your cards already!”

  “Fine! I normal summon Magician’s Rod and activate its effect, letting me add Secrets of Dark Magic from my deck to my hand in order to use it, Magician’s rod, and Dark Magician Girl to Summon The Dark Magicians from my Extra deck as my final bit of insurance.” She stood up, lording over her friend with a vibrant aura. Seeing Yuzu so happy always made it difficult for Julia to stay angry even when she was taking the worst of losses.

  Yuzu continued on her triumphant assault as if she were landing the final blows in a war. “Alright! Now to attack your face down with The Dark Magicians. Even if it somehow gets destroyed, The Dark Magicians will summon their individual counterparts to the field. In the face of this much firepower, you are trapped!”

  Julia flipped over her face down and shrugged in defeat. It was a measly Salamdra, The Flying Flame Dragon. Even if she did activate its effect it wouldn’t be able to save her from the Dark Magician. “Dang. Looks like I lost. Good job Yuz.”

  Yuzu pumped her fist up and down before collapsing in her bean bag. “That was a lot. Playing with high steaks feels completely different.”

  “Well that’s what it’s gonna feel like to go pro, isn’t it? I was watching some people play in a tournament the other day and they were playing for big bands,” Julia explained, rubbing her index finger and thumb together with a cheesy grin. “So you better get used to that feeling!”

  Yuzu returned her semi-encouraging words with nervous laughter as she cleaned her cards off the table. She tried to play up a newfound confidence, but the larger-than-life personality of Zoe seemed to hang over her even now.