Chapter 2: Don't Shoot the Messenger
The alarm buzzed loudly at eight o'clock sharp. One hour to eat breakfast before heading to class. Just need to stop that incredible shrieking noise coming from the clock. Darius reached up to hit the "OFF" button to put and end to it, but his arm felt inordinately heavy. His shoulder could only move so far before he ran out of strength and something pulled tightly on his back.
"What the…?"
Darius looked to see his sleeve sewn to the bed sheets, which were caught around the end of the mattress. His gaze fell upon the bed on the opposite side of the room. Empty, which means Matt was already off to his morning workout.
He just shook his head as he slipped out of his pajamas and left them sewn to the bed for now. He would just have to train himself not to sleep so heavily.
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Two months went by, and spring finally started to show its face. Snow was long gone from the Academy, but the temperature outside was finally tolerable, and any two people walking to class no longer had to wear the same coat just to keep warm. But with the spring came increasing numbers of duels, and the approach of the Spring School Duel.
"There's a second one?" Matt asked when Dave mentioned it to him.
"Yes. Justin told you that last semester. It's the same basic premise, but this duel is against Hawkins University. They don't have the same reputation to their duel program as Godwin Academy has, but that doesn't mean their representative won't be a tough nut to crack."
"What does that have to do with me? I'm ineligible, right?"
Dave grinned. This was where he asked his young friend to be the bad guy for him and let Cary know that the faculty selected another student as a representative in her place. The headmaster at Hawkins didn't make the request to duel a freshman—or a 'first-year'—and so Dr. Lankford suggested the ranking member of Team Lockdown, Numbers Harper."
Matt was confused. "Numbers? His name is Numbers?"
"Don't look at me. She's not my kid. But she's a great duelist and the highest ranked in the school who isn't a Guardian Dueler or hasn't already represented us in a School Duel. As much as I love my cousin and respect her dueling talent, she's still a freshman, and being in the Red Dorm is, pardon the pun, a red flag when it comes to representing the school."
Matt thought this was a ridiculous method of selection, but he understood the perspective. "I get it, dumb as it is. Freshmen, no matter how good, still have to prove themselves before anyone sees them as worth anything."
"Dr. West usually has a bet with the headmaster of the school involved in these competitions. The bet involves rare cards and money, and he's always eager to win—but quote me and I'll deny it under oath. Hawkins University has a particularly powerful duelist they are putting up for this duel."
"Is that so?" Matt asked. "But do I really have to be the one to tell Cary?"
Dave smiled. "I'll see it as a personal favor, and you're built better to take a beating when she gets violent."
Thusly went the conversation between Matt and Dr. West's teaching assistant at the end of Advanced Gameplay 132 one month before the school duel. Dave often taught the class in Dr. West's place both for the experience and to free up Dr. West's time to complete the ever-accumulating administrative work. Having read Matt's papers for the class, Dave knew that he could be eloquent and clear, a valued feature when telling Cary that she couldn't do something she'd been practicing to do for a long time.
"It was nice knowing you," was the last thing Matt said to Dave before he left.
Matt had two hours before his next class, and so he went back to the Red Dorm to meet Kasumi for lunch. When he got to Kasumi's room, she was trying to resolve a conflict between two of the females on the floor. He wasn't really sure what the problem was—something to the effect that one of them kept having friends come visit and it bothered the roommate. Kas finally managed to resolve the issue for the moment and the two girls left her room.
"I guess I'm lucky my roommate doesn't talk much," Matt commented.
"Hey," she said and greeted him with a hug. "Sorry. Some girls just have a hard time living together."
"I know," he replied, immediately thinking about the "girls inherently hate each other" hypothesis he and Bryan formulated. "I didn't mean to interrupt anything."
"It's okay," she said. "I'm glad to see you. How was the meeting with Dave?"
He groaned and tried to suppress a laugh. "He wants me to be the buffer to break some bad news to your roommate."
"What kind of news is that?"
Matt debated whether to get Kasumi to help him break the news, but he decided he could be man enough to do it himself. But then he realized that breaking the news to both of them simultaneously could be really bad for him, even as the messenger; when two upset women are together, they tend to polarize one another's emotions.
"The faculty decided to go with someone else for the School Duel."
"Really? Who?"
"The leader of Team Lockdown. She's the ranking member of the Blue Mansion who hasn't already been in a School Duel." He looked sheepishly at Kas and asked, "Do you think she'll be upset?"
"Not if you tell her when she's asleep," Kas replied dryly. Then her mood went somewhere Matt didn't predict. "Was I even mentioned as a possibility?"
"What?"
Looking hurt, she explained, "Cary was obviously considered as a possible representative. Did anyone consider me? I mean, I'm a prefect, also; doesn't that give me any credibility?"
"Absolutely," Matt assured her. "I wasn't there so I can only speculate, but they probably didn't consider any freshmen for even a minute; Dave was the only one who thought about Cary because he knows that she was looking forward to the School Duel. I don't think any of the faculty brought her up as a suggestion."
That explanation did little to make Kas feel any better. She was starting to feel convinced that no one really respected her as a duelist. Compared to her boyfriend, an officially undefeated freshman member of Team OTK who was just declared champion of an international tournament, she didn't even warrant an honorable mention. Coming in third best of a freshman class means very few people can even recognize her.
Cautiously, Matt asked, "Do you still want to grab some lunch? Food helps release endorphins, which make you feel better."
"What are you, a biologist now?"
"Well, I am taking a biology class. So come on. Let's get fed."
She smiled and said, "Okay. Just give me a minute to get ready." Matt recognized that as code for "I need to use the bathroom." He waited in the room until she came back, and the couple went to lunch before ending the day of classes.
As it goes, Cary took the disappointment better than Matt expected she would.
"Why aren't you shooting the messenger?" he asked in surprise.
"Because you're my best friend's boyfriend and she actually likes you," Cary replied, "plus I was prepared for this event. I'm smart enough to know that freshmen rarely get respect; you act as if I never dueled an upperclassman."
Matt was still surprised. "But complaining can help you get your way. People accommodate you just to shut you up. Complaining to me doesn't directly change things, but maybe complaining to me gets me to complain higher up the chain just to get you off my back."
"Will it work?" she asked.
He shook his head. "No, but I find it interesting that you didn't even consider the prospect."
"Maybe I'm more easygoing than you thought I was."
"I suppose so. You realize that makes me question your sanity?"
She laughed. "I'm okay with it. I think I'll just go back to the dorm and kick the cat, as it were."
Kasumi asked her, "What does that mean?"
Melanie Hedegaard sure learned what Cary meant by her words. Cary showed up at Melanie's room that evening in response to another roommate dispute. Still frustrated by being ignored and irritated with the fact that some women seem to see living peacefully with a roommate as an affront to their dignity, Cary challenged Melanie to a duel; she might have challenged Melanie's roommate if she had not stormed out of the room already.
"Why do I have to duel you?" Melanie asked defensively.
"If you can beat me, I'll rule in your favor and talk to Dr. Kerr on your behalf."
"And what if I lose?"
Cary sighed. "I'm giving you a break here. You and your roommate haven't stopped bickering since the semester began. Neither of you is technically breaking the rules, so this is your only chance to get me to say your roommate is in the wrong."
Even if Cary was exaggerating as a way to bait Melanie into a duel, the idea that her roommate might get punished was incentive enough for Melanie to accept the challenge. Rather than bother with an official duel, the two just cleared off a space on Melanie's desk and played their cards the same way as if they had designated spaces.
Cary took the first turn through rank, frustration, and standard shotgun rules; she was the first one to call priority.
"I'll start with Card Destruction; we discard our hands and draw new ones. Now I'll play Ancient Rules to summon Simorgh, Bird of Ancestry (8/2900/2000) without Tributes. Then I will Tribute this Simorgh to summon Simorgh, Bird of Divinity (7/2700/1000). I'll set two cards, and at the end of my turn, we both take 1000 LP damage; however, the damage is reduced by 500 for each card in the spell/trap zone." Cary 8000: Melanie 8000 – 1000 = 7000.
"That's hardly fair," Melanie whined. "I didn't even get my turn yet."
"That's how the effect works."
Now Melanie was a little annoyed—she felt like she was being picked on by Cary—but she continued, anyway.
"I'll summon Amazoness Swords Woman (4/1500/1600) and equip her with Mist Body, an Equip Spell that prevents my monster from being destroyed by battle. When Swords Woman battles, you take all the damage I would have taken."
"Good move," Cary said, "but I'll play my facedown Call of the Haunted to revive my Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys (8/2400/1500)."
Melanie shook her head. "Amazoness Swords Woman (1500) still attacks Simorgh (2700)."
"I'll chain Malevolent Catastrophe. When you attack, this destroys all spells and traps on the field. Losing Call of the Haunted means I lose my Phoenix, but losing Mist Body means you will lose your Swords Woman after she attacks."
"You still take the difference," Melanie noted. "I'll set two cards and end my turn. Now you take 1000 points of damage from Simorgh's effect." Cary 8000 – 1200 – 1000 = 5800: Melanie 7000.
"I can afford it," Cary noted. "In my Standby Phase, my Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys (2400) is revived because she was destroyed by a card effect, and this kind of revival also destroys all spells and traps on the field. Now your field is completely empty and I have Simorgh (2700) and my Phoenix (2400) to attack directly. I can set one other card and end my turn." Cary 5800 – 500 = 5300: Melanie 7000 – 2700 – 2400 – 1000 = 900.
Melanie already looked like she resigned the duel, but one look at the card she drew gave her a little bit of fire to work with.
"I'll summon Amazoness Paladin (4/+1800/300) and equip her with Megamorph to double her original attack power. Amazoness Paladin (+3500) also gains 100 points for every Amazoness on the field, including herself. Now she's more than strong enough to destroy Simorgh (2700) and end that annoying effect."
"And the duel," Cary added. "I'll play Chthonian Blast; when you destroy one of my monsters, this destroys another one, specifically my Phoenix (2400) for having the fewest attack points. In addition to destroying my monster, Chthonian Blast inflicts damage to each of us equal to half my monster's attack points." Cary 5300 – 800 – 1200 = 3300: Melanie 900 – 1200 = 0.
Cary smiled as she collected her cards. That felt good, winning handily without ever losing control of the duel.
Melanie groaned harshly. "So now what?"
Having felt a bit of a catharsis, Cary's disposition softened tremendously. "I'll talk to Dr. Kerr about moving you to a new room. Will that help?"
Melanie didn't smile, but she liked the idea. But there are some people who just can't help complaining all the time. "Why should I move all my stuff? Make her move."
"It's easier to move you out if you're the one with the primary complaint," Cary informed her, "and I know a couple of guys who can very easily move your stuff for you. Just let Dr. Kerr make the decision."
When Cary got back to her room, Kas and Matt were sitting on Kasumi's bed watching TV. Kas looked up at her roommate and said, "You look happy."
Cary sat down in her computer chair and leaned back to watch TV with her friends for a while. But then she got a better idea.
"I want that rematch now."
"Who, me?" Matt asked. Cary nodded, and so Matt continued, "Why now?"
"I finally feel like shooting the messenger."
I apologize for the short, seemingly pointless chapter, but there was a little bit of important stuff in there, and this is the only time Cary gets to duel during this arc. I really like her, though, and so I had to squeeze her in somewhere before everything at the academy goes haywire. This chapter sets up the next one, the next chapter sets up the main plot of the arc, and the following chapter actually begins the conflict. My outline looks simple, but I get the feeling this will probably turn out to be a fairly hefty arc. I'll post the next chapter soon.
I'd also like to apologize for not speaking Greek, and therefore not having Darius's utterance in Greek despite his heritage. Instead of risking butchering the language, I figured I would have him utter one of the most common phrases in American English--one he likely would learn early through listening to people talk. I will probably continue to do so because of said personal language deficit, but just know that I am fully aware of the inconsistency with Darius's character.
Justin has developed a friendship with the Hawkins duel representative by virtue of them each being duel technicians for their respective schools. And when the duel commences between the Hawkins University representative and Duel Academy's sophomore leader of Team Lockdown, Justin is not surprised when his visiting friend puts together a lockdown of his own to improve his chances.
Next up: The Hawkins Duel
Credits:
Darius....tiramisu19
Everyone else....YamiRuss