"We managed to break though!" The man shouted to his fellow workers in the tunnel. "We did?" One of them called back, "Quick, you there. Inform Prof. Hawk!"
He nodded and ran out of the tunnel. A few minutes later a woman with long, faded red hair and dressed in an archaeological diggers uniform appeared from the darkness.
"This had better not be another dead end!" She growled in an angry tone. "No, Professor. Look, we have found it this time!" One of the workers said, excitedly.
Prof. Hawk took a light from one of the others and looked inside, "My God..."
The room was illuminated and treasures from a long forgotten past were revealed to the eyes of it's finders, over three-thousand years after it's burial under the dark sands of Egypt.
"This is it, after years of searching we've finally found it!" She cheered.
The workers looked around the room and held their lights up to the walls, strange carvings of monsters and wizards, battling in bloodshed. "These carvings are unlike anything I've seen before!" One of the men said.
Hawk moved her light to wall at the end of the chamber, she noticed a hieroglyph that she didn't recognize, "All of you, bring your lights over here." One by one, the workers brought their lights over to the wall. The wall was slowly illuminated and Hawk saw the very thing she had been looking for all her professional career. Contained on the wall was a huge, stone tablet. It was covered in markings and images that were radically different to that of a typical Ancient Egyptian artifact.
"This is it, the final tablet! Get this off the wall and prepare it for transportation back to Neo Domino at once! I must contact my associates about this discovery."
Hawk walked out of the chamber and back out the tunnel. The outside was a huge dig-site with close to one hundred workers digging at once. Hawk walked to a metal structure that the leaders of the dig stayed in. She pulled a screen from a draw in a desk and switched it on, it was a Heartland Duel Disk. She punched a few numbers into the touch-screen and after a few moments a shady figure appeared on the screen.
"Prof. Hawk, good to hear from you. Do you have any news for us?"
"Yes, I have excellent news! We have found the final piece, the final tablet that details the fall of the Old-World!"
The shady figure looked up at her, "You found it? You really found it!?"
"Yes and we are currently preparing for transport to the Neo Domino laboratory. We can have it moved to Heartland from there." Hawk explained.
"Good, very good. You have done us a great service, not just for your career, but for your world."
Hawk smiled, "Thank you, that's really nice to hear from you."
"I will expect a full report when you return to heartland. I must let our superiors know about this, you have my thanks and rest assured the higher-ups as well."
"Of course, I must call my daughter anyway."
The figure left the call and Hawk punched a second number in.
"Mummy!" A girl with indigo hair and wearing a pink dress appeared on the screen.
"Hello Zion! How's my little girl? Are you behaving for Granny and Granddad?"
The girl nodded franticly, "Yes Mummy, I am! Granny got me a new dress, don't I look pretty?"
"You look beautiful, like a Madolche!" Hawk teased. "Mummy has some good news darling! I'm coming home soon, I just need to make one last stop at Neo Domino then I'll be home."
The girl smiled and jumped up and down, "Yay, Mummy's coming home, Mummy's coming home!"
"Hawk, something's terribly wrong!" One of the workers screamed as he dashed inside. Hawk turned from the screen with a look of rage, "What the hell are you doing in here!?" "No, Professor. You don't understand, someone's trying to-"
He was cut off all of a sudden.
"Someone's trying to what? Is the tablet safe!? …...Hello?" Suddenly, his body fell, lifeless on the ground. Hawk screamed and dropped her Duel Disk. Standing in the doorway was a figure donning a black cloak, a white mask with red marking and holding a blood-stained knife. Hawk stood their, petrified with fear.
"You are Prof. Azure Hawk?" The figure asked in a distorted voice. Hawk just stood there, too scared to even react. "Are you Prof. Azure Hawk!?" They asked again, this time much more violently.
Hawk was able to give a slow nod in a slight hope that her life would be spared. The figure approached and wiped the knife of on their cloak.
"Allow me to thank you on behalf of my associates, you found the tablet for us. For this you will receive a quick death, after all, the Shadow of Destruction will torment you far more than I ever could."
"Please...don't. I have a daughter!" Hawk begged.
"And for her sake; I hope destiny gives her a better path than it gave you." The figure lunged forward and slashed her throat, killing her instantly. Her body fell to the ground and the figure once again cleaned the knife of on their cloak.
"Mummy? Where are you Mummy?"
The figure looked down and saw the Duel Disk. Zion was still broadcasting though the Duel Network, "Who are you and where my Mummy?" She pleaded. The figure stood for a moment and looked at her, then, without a word, crushed the screen with their boot.
Another person wearing an identical cloak walked in, "We have secured the tablet and wiped out the remaining workers. Have you finished with your errand?"
They nodded and the two left. Leaving the bodies of the dead behind them.
"Zion Hawk, pay attention!" The teacher slammed her hand down on Zion's desk.
"Oh! Um...sorry." She said awkwardly. The other students giggled slightly and the teacher adjusted her glasses, "Well if your really sorry, then you'll be joining me in detention!" "No way!?" She blurted out. "Yes way!" The teacher retorted, "You'll be here until the end of club activities."
The bell suddenly rang. It was time for Duel Period. "Saved by the bell, hey? Don't forget, or I'll double the time!"
Zion nodded and left with the rest of the class, trying to ignore their whispers. Before class started, Zion headed into the bathroom; standing in front of a mirror, she splashed some water on her face. She glanced into the mirror and took a hard look at herself. Her indigo-coloured hair was straight and extended down to her chin, her fringe draped over her left eye. Moving her fringe, she looked at her baby-blue eyes, apparently inherited from her English father. This was a contrast to her light-brown skin. Finally she removed her jacked and stepped back. Still the same light-body type. Slightly on the skinny side with not much going on in the bosom.
Moving her vision downwards, she sighed at how wide her hips were by comparison to the rest of her. She honestly didn't think much of herself, maybe it was the fact that most of her genes came from her Egyptian mother who was apparently on the skinny-side. "I don't even have a nice pair of legs to walk on..." She thought. She took another look at her eyes, "Maybe I should get a yellow contact or something for one of them." She thought out loud.
She glanced at her watch, "Almost time."
She placed her jacket on and walked outside to the Duel Ground. Looking around she saw student all over duelling like they were being paid for it. "If I didn't like this game so much I would wonder why the hell it's so popular." She thought.
She walked over to the benches where players usually wait to be challenged. She pulled out her Duel Disk and checked her Duel Profile for any updates, "No friend requests, no team invites, no personal messages... Gee, ain't I popular?" She sarcastically asked herself. She glanced over at her ranking, "Wins: 19. Losses: 25. Climbing your way to the top, Zion!" Her voice was further weighed by sarcasm.
"I won, so hand over your cards! You Drop-out girl!"
Zion overheard a scuffle, she looked over to a near duelling field and saw Jessica Miles picking on a student.
"Not going to hand it over? Alright, hold her down girls!" Jessica's followers pushed the student to the ground and held her arms in place. Jessica crouched down and yanks her deck-pouch from her belt, "We had a deal, I win; I get my pick of your cards."
"No! I never agreed to a betting game!" The student cried out in protest. Jessica looked though her deck and started picking out cards, "Not too bad for a Drop-out girl like yourself. I think I'll take this pretty Dark Magician Girl."
"Wait, no! Not my Dark Magician Girl!"
Jessica laughed, "Yeah, beg me. It's all you're good for, isn't it?"
She began to cry as Jessica threw the rest of her cards on the ground, "Your deck is still nothing compared to mine. I'll give your Dark Magician Girl a much better home." The student was released and she began to collect her cards, she sobbed as Jessica and her friends laughed and started calling her names.
"Hey."
A quite voice was heard and Jessica turned to see Zion standing on the steps. "What the hell do you want?" One of her friends said.
Zion held a hand out to the student who had finished collecting her cards. She took it and Zion pulled her up. "Look, Jessica. Just give her back her card okay? I hate seeing the first years get bullied."
Jessica looked her up and down, "And who the hell are...wait a second; I remember you. You're the quite girl in my class, Zoe, or something."
"Zion."
"Whatever. Hey, I've never seen you duel around here..."
"I only duel when I feel like it, I'm not a pro or anything."
Jessica looked to her waist and saw a duel-belt, it was pink and had a heart shaped buckle that glinted a noticeable pink, "That's a Heartland belt, what's that doing in Neo Domino?" The student looked to it too, "Y-your a Heartland duellist!?"
Zion looked from one to the other, "So what if I'm from Heartland? What's the difference between that and Neo Domino?" Jessica smiled with excitement, "That means you're special, right? A Heartland duellist is always equipped with the city's trademark!"
"Trademark...a D-Gazer?" Zion asked, confused.
"Close, what I really mean are the most prized cards of all. As a Heartland duellist, you must run Xyz monsters!" Jessica's friends both nodded, "Come on Heartlander; show us your Xyz!"
Zion raised an eyebrow, "What do you want with Xyz monsters?"
"Nothing for you to concern yourself with. But, you have my attention Zion, whether that is a good or a bad thing is up to you."
"What the hell are you...you know what, I don't care. Just give her back the damn card!" Jessica snickered and held up the card, "You mean this pretty Dark Magician Girl card?"
"Yes, I mean the pretty Dark Magician Girl card." Zion said in an irritated tone.
"Ooh, push a button did I? Okay, I'll give it back, but I need something else in return."
Zion shrugged, "I think I got a Summoned Skull you can have, I'm not using it."
Jessica snickered a second time, "You are pretty slow to pick this up, aren't you? Girls, show her what I mean." One of Jessica's friends dashed behind Zion and the other kicked her in the stomach. Zion fell back and the one behind her caught her and restrained her.
"Ah! What the hell are you doing!?" Zion yelled.
"I said I needed something good in return didn't I?" Jessica grabbed Zion's bag from her shoulder and looked though it, finding a binder she began to look though it. "Wow, some nice cards you have here! I think I'll just take your entire binder, okay?"
"No, not okay! What the hell is wrong with you!?"
"You wanted to get this little worm's card back, right? Dark Magician Girl is worth twice what you have in here. So, I'm taking the whole thing just to be nice." Zion attempted to lunge at her, but the girl restraining her held her grip, "Don't even think about it!" She growled. Jessica threw the Dark Magician Girl card to the ground and closed the binder, "Well, I'll be taking my leave. Girl's, keep these two out of my way until I'm gone."
"Duel me!" Zion shouted.
Jessica stopped, "I'm sorry?"
"I said duel me! If your willing to go that low just to take my cards; then you should at least except my challenge!"
She laughed and turned to Zion, "You want to duel me? Do you have any idea who your challenging? I am Jessica Miles: The top student in Neo Domino Academia and sibling to Anastasia Miles. Duelling is in my blood and a nobody, good-for-nothing drop-out like you think you can just challenge me!?"
"I know who you are. I've seen you picking on the new students and the weaker players. I think someone's got a complex, you get off on dominating little girls like her?" Zion retorted with a smirk.
Jessica was taken aback; no one had talked back to her before, normally they just beg for their cards back or something akin to that.
"Looks like this ones got some wit to her." Jessica thought. One of Jessica's friends looked around, "Um...Jessica-Sama, we are attracting some attention..." Jessica looked at the school yard and noticed that the students were looking at them, some were whispering.
"Did that girl just challenge Jessica? Like really challenge her?
"Who the hell does something like that...?"
"Hey, isn't that the quite girl from the third year?"
"Yeah, I heard she's a Heartland duellist!"
"No way! What's a Heartlander doing in Neo Domino!?"
Jessica looked back at Zion and thought for a few moments, "Zion, I'm willing to cut you a deal. I've always wanted to face a Heartlander and when I beat you it will do wonders for my reputation. I'll take your challenge, if you win I'll give you your binder back." Jessica's friends looked at her in surprise, "Y-your taking her challenge!? No way!"
"I know, it's rather unlike me. But she's from Heartland and you know how revered Heartland duellists are!"
Zion looked around at the students,"Oh great, what I gotten myself into?" She wondered.
"Zion, if you want your cards back, then meet me outside of Kame Game on Saturday." Jessica ordered, "Let her go." The girl let Zion go, the thought of rushing Jessica went though Zion's head, but then she realized the likely outcome of it. With two friends on Jessica's side and no back-up of her own, Zion was stuck there.
"I never should of opened my damn mouth!" She said in a raised, irritated tone.
Jessica and her comrades walked away, "Don't forget Zion, if you don't show up then you'll have to live with consequence of shame." Jessica called back.
A couple of hours later Zion was at in detention with her teacher from earlier. The teacher merely glared at her. "Jeez, what's her problem with me? Is it because I keep to myself as oppose to socialize? It's not my fault I'm not popular!" Zion screamed at the teacher in her head.
The hour passed agonizingly slow, after what felt like an eternity, the teacher finally let her go. "I don't want to see you in here again, you understand!?" She yelled at Zion.
Zion sighed, "Yes sensei, I understand."
She left the room and walked down the hallway, "Um...excuse me..." Zion stopped at the sound of a timid voice.
She turned and saw the student that Jessica was picking on, she had very long, black hair and a fringe that covered her eyes. Her skin was pale, she was short and had an incredibly fragile looking frame. "Oh, it's you...what do you want?"
The girl fidgeted around and stumbled her words out, "I-I w-wanted...to s-say...th-tha...thank...y-you."
"Yeah, sure." Zion was slightly annoyed, "Like that means much now, because of you I lost my binder with all my rare cards!" The girl jumped slightly, "I-I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean too!" Zion saw how easily freaked this girl was, she sighed and tried to remedy the situation, "It's okay! Sorry I snapped. It's not your fault I lost my cards, I should of seen that coming if I was standing up to Jessica." The girl seemed to calm down a little, Zion decided to get some answers from her, "So why the hell were you duelling her anyway? Did she make you?" She nodded and looked at the ground, "I...I wanted to say no, but she was so scary!"
"I hear that, I though she was Red-Eyes incarnate when I was in my first year. Look, I really don't want to stay here, so I'm going to head home. I'll catch you later...what was your name again?"
"H-Hanako..."
"Like the ghost? Wow, your parents must be real horror fans, huh? I'll see you around Hanako."
"W-wait! Are you duelling Jessica on Saturday?" Hanako asked.
"I have to, don't I? I want my cards back." Zion called as she walked though the doors to the school yard.
"Bye..." Hanako said quietly, "And...thank you."
Zion walked though the front door and went to the kitchen, after today she needed something to eat that wasn't the special sauce at school.
She reached for the fridge and noticed a note, "Will be gone for a while, back later. G&G."
"Knowing them, they'll out at church helping out for Sunday." Zion thought. She looked in the fridge and proceeded to take the last yogurt. "Why are they always out? Is their God more important than me?" Since that wasn't the first time that thought had crept into her head, she decided to shake it off. She didn't want to question anything like that right right now.
Opening the door, she went to her laptop and logged on. "Nothing in my E-Mail, save for the usual spam...No I don't need Viagra or anti-depressants, but the thought is nice..." She said to herself, sarcastically. She checked the Duel Network and looked at the current tournament, Anastasia Miles was duelling. "Wonder if Jessica told her about me?" She wondered out loud.
She watched a couple of duels and then pulled her deck out of her pouch and gave it a look, "Can you take on Jessica?" She asked herself, "Guess we'll find out on Saturday, It's not like I can mod this with any better cards now, anyway."
She looked out of her window and saw that the sun had set, she decided to head for bed and get an early start in the morning. She removed her uniform down to her panties and threw on a T-Shirt, "Yay...sleep." She thought.
Flinging herself on her bed, she turned over and closed her eyes, "Maybe the world of dreams has something better for me tonight." Her last thought expelled from her mind, she fell into sleep.
"Are you any closer to deciphering the tablet?" A shady figure said to the scientist.
The scientist wiped his brow and tried to deliver the bad news, "W-well you see, without the final tablet, it's possibly going to take a few more months..."
"A few months!? Professor, we have been very patient with you, VERY patient. But I am starting to think that you are unsuited for the project."
"No! Sir, we can have it translated soon, we just need more-"
"Time, Professor? We've given you enough time, since Hawk was killed by the opposition and that was almost a decade ago. Me and the other members of the board have decided to bring in someone from the outside, from this time tomorrow you will step down as head of the project."
"Your kicking me off the project?! But Sir, without me we wouldn't of made any progress at all!"
"We know that, so we are keeping you on board as an assistant to your new superior. Dr. Carla will be coming to the lab tomorrow, so please give her a warm welcome."
"Sir, you can't do th-"
"Goodbye Professor, we'll inform you of what privileges you'll be losing as a result of your demotion in a few days." The screen went dark and the scientist put his head in his hands, "How could I of not figured it out yet? What does the damn thing say!?"