The next day, Gloria withdrew from the revival round.
Alexis, who was slated to face her, advanced by default.
At a glance it looked like another stroke of Alexis's usual good fortune. But to Atticus, who was doing wheelchair races up and down the hospital corridor, it was the worst outcome.
At this stage, anyone still in the bracket, unless they were an out-and-out pro like Aster Phoenix, was basically within a few years of Alexis's age. And each of them, whether from conviction or sheer stubborn grind, had something sharp that set them apart. Facing duelists like that, every extra match was experience you couldn't buy. Now they'd thrown one away.
Worse, Atticus studied the bracket and didn't like what he saw. Alexis's next opponent was Jim.
Alexis's game plan leaned on Cyber Angels that could recur from the GY and effects that seize control of the opponent's monsters. Jim's entire style, by contrast, preyed on graveyards, Fossil Fusion banishes from either GY, and even the Tyrant Neptune line he'd used against Hikaru played into that axis.
It was a bad matchup. And sure enough, two turns in, Alexis was flagging; one more turn and the duel was a formality.
Atticus sighed.
What could he do, chew out his kid sister? He'd been gone over a year, had her worrying that whole time. He couldn't be harsh with her… not like with Zane beside him, the one guy who always made him want to swing. You couldn't treat your best friend and your sister the same way.
If Alexis ever put on a Darkness mask and lost even a sliver of LP, he felt like he'd scoop right there.
How could he bear it?
"Ugh… troublesome," he muttered, and switched off the stream.
Anyway, whoever crawled out of this revival round would have to face Hikaru sooner or later. He could wait and watch then. If anything great happened in the meantime, the VODs would still be there.
Maybe it wasn't as fun as live, but you could still learn.
He thumbed through White Dragon X, looking for something with a spark, when his eyes snagged on a strange post.
At an amusement park in Touno City, some uncle dressed like a magician was performing… peculiar duels.
Peculiar?
He tapped the link. Onscreen, a handsome middle-aged man in a top hat and magician's tails waved to the crowd, wearing a Duel Disk Atticus had never seen before.
The duel itself was nothing fancy: drop a high-Level monster, crash, repeat. But the Solid Vision the entertainer was using actually took on mass and spilled out toward the children. When they reached for the illusions… they could feel them.
Atticus sat up straight.
'A Dark duelist?!'
'No.'
It didn't look like that.
He kept watching. The man wasn't doing anything malicious. Between plays, he ran full circus: trapeze swings, flaming hoops, even a quick gallop. Fireworks and music riffed beneath it all, drawing squeals and laughter out of the kids.
"Combining duels with a circus act…?" Atticus's eyes lit.
Genius.
Kids go to amusement parks to see the show; parents keep them from touching everything because a mess is one thing, getting hurt is another. But here was a duelist, someone with status, taking on all the danger in front of them and, with Solid Vision, letting the kids join in, even pet the strange little critters.
Pure fun. Simple and clean.
Kids didn't need a thesis. Give them a spectacle they could feel and they responded with their whole hearts.
It was like a gamer seeing full-dive for the first time. Of course you light up. Of course you want more.
"Oh… this is a good direction," Atticus murmured, and a pile of ideas started stacking up in his head like cartoon clouds.
Alexis in a clown outfit, Alexis in an idol getup, Alexis in a sailor uniform, Alexis in a Dark Magician Girl costume, every look was adorable, and each one landed with surprising impact.
"Whoa… that's awesome!"
Atticus's eyes sparkled.
He had to learn this.
Entertainment Dueling was just too much fun.
After several days of revival-round matches, the winners were all but set.
Unsurprisingly, Jim made it through.
Anyone who'd followed the bracket could feel the gap between the revival field and the Top 8; with Atticus out, Jim was the obvious pick.
If Atticus Rhodes had been healthy, people might have pinned their hopes on a Jim vs. Atticus showdown. As things stood, everyone already knew where this was going.
And with that, the Top 8 began.
The eight were split into "A" and "B" blocks.
Group A: Chazz Princeton, Bastion Misawa, Jesse Anderson, and a Gravekeeper duelist.
Group B: Zane Truesdale, the pro duelist "Secret Viper," Amagi Hikaru, and Jim.
The schedule alternated A/B/A/B to give everyone the best shot at scouting future opponents.
Whether for verification, to reset momentum, or to prove the current Top 8's caliber, the first match was Hikaru vs. Jim, the very pairing that had closed the previous phase.
Hikaru didn't have it easy, but there were no shocks. Last time, Jim's Tyrant Neptune line had caught him flat-footed; without a convenient tribute body like Lyrilusc – Independent Nightingale, Jim didn't have many clean targets this time. Hikaru also stayed off Ancient Gear Golem for this one. Between the dense schedule and limited time to slot tech, Jim still put up a fight, but Hikaru took it. As a result, Hikaru added a new Fossil Fusion to his collection: Fossil Warrior Skull Knight.
With that, Hikaru now had both graveyard-effect Fossils in hand.
"Ahh, didn't think I'd drop it again," Jim laughed, rubbing the back of his head, not the least bit discouraged.
Next term, the top students would be studying at the main campus. There'd be plenty of chances then.
Honestly, after losing before, even clawing back through the revival round, Jim didn't feel like he could topple Hikaru overnight.
That wasn't a lack of ambition, just a lack of time.
For the Top 8, KaibaCorp didn't cordon off a separate lounge; the eight could sit right up front until finals. So after his loss, Jim joined Hikaru on the rail to watch the next match: Chazz Princeton vs. Bastion Misawa.