Hope Flies – Chapter Four

Lesson

You're confused. There's no other way to put it. Sure, she told you that she had him set up from the beginning, but… how could she have won?

Raven laughs at the look on your face, then looks up at the ceiling. It's getting dark in here, and her eyes seem to have started glowing again. "I'll explain in the morning," she tells you. Then she stands and climbs a tree nearby, and you realize that you've been here for hours now.

Raven jumps back out of the tree with three things in her hands. Two of them are sleeping bags, and after giving you one, she unrolls hers and slips into it. You move away from the tree to avoid the roots that are surely poking up through the ground and do the same.

"I'm hungry," you say as your stomach rumbles. Raven laughs as she rummages through the third bag. She holds up a three apples.

"Granny Smith, Gala, or Red Delicious?" she asks. You choose and she throws it to you before taking one of the other two. Then she hands you a very small loaf of bread that seems to have quite a bit of cheese on it, and you don't doubt that there's cheese inside too. It's probably meant to be used to make a sandwich of some sort. She pulls out one of her own and closes the bag, stuffing it into a hidden place under the tree she had climbed earlier.

"You'll continue in the morning, won't you?" you ask her, just to be sure. She smiles and nods, her short hair falling into her face and then settling back into place floating around her head.

You wake up in the morning refreshed, but Raven doesn't seem to be nearby. You're about to call for her when she walks through the trees and hands you a plate with eggs, bacon, and hash browns on it. She has a plate as well. Once the two of you are done eating, she points out a well-hidden cubicle and leaves to wash the dishes.

When she returns, you both settle into comfortable spots and she begins again.

"Now, go, Gorz the Emissary of Darkness! Attack her Lyna the Light Charmer and finish this duel!" Zylar yelled. All of the kids started cheering, but I had a grin on my face. Too late to call it back now.

Gorz's strike hit Lyna and destroyed her, but the debris that ensued hit Zylar instead of me. As his life points dropped to zero, leaving him and the crowd around us stunned, I walked over and held out my hand.

"Good game."

"Cheater!"

I rolled my eyes and turned to the children, walking over to one and kneeling so I was at their level. One of them, a girl in a pink dress who was probably in third grade, was glaring quite openly at me. "Zylar attacked you and you should have lost because your Big Bang Shot gave his Gorz a piercing ability!" she protested. I pulled the Big Bang Shot spell card off of my duel disk and handed it to her.

"Read the effect out loud, please. Loud enough so that everyone can hear, and slowly," I directed her. "And I'll show you all the neat little trap I set up before his Gorz the Emissary of Darkness attacked." The girl looked at me doubtfully, then glanced up at Zylar, probably wondering if she should do as I had told her to. I assumed that he gestured for her to do so, but I wouldn't be too surprised. He had looked pretty confused as well.

"'The equipped monster gains four hundred attack points. During battle between this card and a Defense Position monster whose defense is lower than the attack of this card, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent'," the girl read, slowly and loudly as I had told her to. "'When this card is removed from the field, the equipped monster is removed from play'," she finished. I nodded.

A boy in the back raised his hand. "Miss, I still don't get it," he said. I chuckled.

"That's alright. I intend to expand on that anyway," I told him. I looked back down at the girl. "Now then, the second effect you read. Would you be so kind as to read it again for me?" I asked. She rolled her eyes, obviously exasperated.

"'During battle between this card and a Defense Position monster whose defense is lower than the attack of this card, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent'," she repeated. I nodded.

"The card Big Bang Shot was equipped to was Gorz the Emissary of Darkness. Because United We Stand was also equipped, he had four thousand attack points. My Lyna the Light Charmer had only one thousand defense points because on Zylar's Snake Fang," I summarized the final battle. "That's three thousand points of damage."

"We know how to do math, lady," a rather obnoxious-sounding boy to the side said. "But that three thousand points of damage should have been dealt to you."

I smiled. "Should it?" I asked. "Big Bang Shot says 'inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent' and the battle damage was three thousand."

"Oh ho…" Zylar whistled from behind me. I grinned at him, knowing that he had figured out my trap. "Clever," he stated, the confusion melting away to amusement and respect. The kids, however, were still baffled.

"Miss…" the boy in the back started. I held up a hand and the entire crowd quieted.

"As I was saying earlier, the battle damage was three thousand… but Big Bang Shot was on my side of the field, therefore making Zylar the opponent… and the target of that three thousand points of damage," I finished. A few of the children still looked slightly lost, but after their friends explained it a few times, they were all looking around as if saying to each other 'oh… so you can do that…'

"That's a neat trick, Miss!" the boy in the back yelled as one of his friends pulled him away. I laughed at their enthusiasm.

"Always read the fine print!" I yelled back. The other kids laughed and broke up, except for the girl who had read the card for me.

"Um… Raven, right?" she asked. I nodded, and she smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry I accused you of cheating… I think I need to go re-think a few of my strategies," she said, handing me my Big Bang Shot back. "Thanks for explaining!" she called over her shoulder. I smiled.

"You seem to be pretty good with the children… not to mention the fact that you're a good duelist. You really had me fooled there. I thought your play was to get rid of my Gorz, not use it against me," Zylar said as I stood. I chuckled.

"I'm not that great with kids… I'm just used to having to use really simple terms to explain half of my wins. I think I've finished the majority of the duels I've won on my opponent's turn," I told him. He chuckled.

"Where did you learn that trick, anyway?" he wondered. I sighed.

"When I was eight, a teenager and her legally-emancipated older brother took me in. Kairi had an Element Magician out on the field equipped with Big Bang Shot, and a Consecrated Light in defense position. I managed to take control of the Element Magician and attacked the Consecrated Light, assuming that I would win because of Big Bang Shot's piercing ability," I told him. Zylar chuckled.

"In other words, you made the same mistake I did," he finished. I sighed. "Do you have any important plans today, oh legal drop-out?" he asked, obviously teasing me at the end. I removed my cards from his duel disk and handed it back to him, and he returned my United We Stand.

"Not really. Why?" I replied. He faked a grimace.

"I'm supposed to be teaching the fourth graders over at the middle school a few tricks. I stopped here because there was a bench and it's not that far away," he explained, grabbing his bag and putting the two duel disks inside. He stashed the black deck holder into the bag as well, and again, I had to wonder about the gray deck holder that contained the cards he had been examining earlier.

"Well, as I'm certain they haven't heard about my Big Bang Shot trap yet, I suppose I could explain that one again," I replied. He faked a hurt expression.

"You won't explain another trick?" he asked mockingly. I pretended to be thoughtful, then shook my head.

"Nah. I'd rather not show you my hand right away, after all," I told him.

He laughed, and I smiled as I realized that I had something to do today after all.

Kairi: Short chapter, but eh... Please review...