Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

“Show us your true strength, Elliot!” Albaz exclaimed with a smile. I couldn’t tell if it was genuine interest or a bluff. Regardless of the intent, it was Eleanor’s stage now.

“Mr. Bear’s effect activates! His original attack is determined by the total damage I’ve taken this game before his arrival, putting him at 1,150 Attack Points!”

Using his paws, Mr. Bear pulled down stalk after stalk of bamboo to devour, his size enlarging to dwarf even the mightiest monsters.

“That’s great and all, but it’s not your turn, so you can’t attack. Unless Clare can capitalize on your card, the two of you are dead in the water,” Albaz said, shrugging with his eyes closed. Eleanor’s ears picked up his comment. She twitched for a moment, then raised her hand like an entertainer.

“Mr. Bear’s other effect triggers! If its original attack is 1,000 or higher, I can activate a spell card from my hand. The one spell I selected is Gift!”

She included it in her deck? What is she planning!? No—there’s no room for doubt. Have faith in her!

Eleanor had only two cards left in her hand: Gift and an unknown card. As the card was transferred to me, I caught a glimpse of sweat rolling down Albaz’s face, breaking his dance formation.

I was bestowed Detonate; a volatile card that, at the cost of 2 Mana, would destroy two conflicting monsters on the field before inflicting the combined Attack Points to both players. At 1,150 attack, exploding Mr. Bear would have knocked out Eleanor and either Albaz or Aluber.

Surely this wasn’t what Eleanor intended, right? I desperately wanted to ask for clarification, but doing so would have ruined our element of surprise, not to mention testing the crowd’s patience. My question was answered as Eleanor looked directly at me and nodded.

“Everyone, this is the decisive moment of a duel where anything can change! Hold onto your seats, it’s going to get wild!” the announcer screamed, cracking his voice. The crowd’s response was a blend of cheers and boos, but amongst the masses were the voices of our allies supporting us. They must have smuggled a mana crystal in to project their words.

It was… endearing? Yeah—that’s what it was.

Endearing.

With a steady breath, I drew for my turn and went straight to activating Detonate by paying 2 mana. My staff heated up like molten metal, glowing white-hot as it transferred the energy to Mr. Bear and my target of choice, Albaz’s Phorusrhacos.

The two monsters caught fire, igniting the bamboo surrounding them before suddenly exploding. Burnt flesh rained from the sky as smoke masked the field.

A hand swooshed through the air, cleansing the smoke. “I’m sorry, but your play ends here. Titanis’s effect activated during the explosion. Once per turn, it can negate a single instance of damage. Although Phorusrhacos was destroyed, the only player to be defeated is you—Elliot,” Aluber explained, silencing the crowd. His intonation was ice-cold without a hint of his prior enthusiasm.

“Oh, Elliot is out of the duel! Talk about a move from Aluber!” the announcer said. With glee, the audience rooted for our opponents harder than ever before.

Eleanor drooped her arms as she headed for the preparation chamber. I ran over to stop her, only to be cast aside.

“Where do you think you’re going? Even though you’re out of the game, you still can stick by my side and offer your thoughts,” I asked as I dashed in front of Eleanor.

“I should have known all along that I was nothing but a burden.”

“Burden? We had that talk earlier, but then you pulled it back and seemed eager to play. Where is that energy now? You’re better than this, Eleanor.”

She shook her head. “For the loser bracket, find someone else to partner with. I’ll sit back and watch over Gilbert’s ship. At least I can be useful then.”

I grabbed her arm and attempted to pull her back. She broke free and sprinted away, sobbing.

“I’ll show you then!” I cried out. Eleanor paused, turning her head slightly. “I’ll show you that your efforts weren’t in vain! I’ll show you how our teamwork carries us to victory!”

“Veri?” Eleanor whispered, my words luckily persuasive enough to make her stay and watch me.

I walked back to the scorched bamboo forest and readied my staff for the last turn of the game, glancing back at our comrades in the stands to reassure them.

“The show’s still going on! You can’t just take a timeout like that!” Albaz groaned, rolling his eyes. Aluber chided him for being disrespectful, sparking an altercation between the two.

I only had one win condition: Yutyrannus. To summon it, I would have to tribute another monster and have dealt at least 700 damage during the game. Under our circumstances, this was practically impossible. We hadn’t even attacked once.

Wait! Although Eleanor was out of the duel, I still had her Brown Bear Cub to work with! Even at 0 Attack Points, it was still tributable! And with Detonate, it counted as inflicting damage!

I smiled.

“During a duel in which I’ve inflicted at least 700 damage, I can tribute a monster to summon, from my hand, our last hope!”

“What!? An ace card from this position!?” Albaz gasped.

The weather turned into a magical blizzard, turning everything white with snow. A magnificent roar cut through the noise and shook the coliseum.

“Come forth, Level 9, Yutyrannus!”

The ground rumbled as Yutyrannus smashed onto the scene and made a beeline for Albaz. Its effect granted it Attack Points equivalent to the original attack of the monsters in our Discard Pile. Combined with its base attack of 500, it was more than enough to defeat Albaz.

“Even if you beat me, you still have to deal with Aluber! On his turn, he’ll—”

“The spell card, Domino, inflicts damage dealt to an adjacent opponent.”

“Domino? When did you activate your own copy!?”

“You should have paid attention! This game is over!”

Yutyrannus swung its tail and ended Albaz before stomping over to Aluber to chomp on his head, finishing him off as well.

With the duel’s conclusion, all the cards and effects disappeared, revealing that the actual weather had cleared up.

“T—That’s a wrap! We have our winners! Give it up for newcomers, Clare and Elliot!” the announcer yelled, to no response from the crowd. Everyone began filing out of the stadium.

“Clare! We won!” Eleanor shouted as she made her way to me, leaping into my arms and hugging me. She squeezed tight and nuzzled her head against my cheek. I reciprocated her affection and whispered into her ear.

“You did great out there, dear.”