The bulky blonde was outside, strolling along the side of the school wall. Tossing a rock in his hand, Roy chuckled to himself. "That was easy," he murmured. "Sam's the perfect ticket from all that boring stuff."
"Oh, is it, now?"
Roy spun around. Right behind him was a girl about his own age, dressed in white sneakers, jeans and a green T-shirt. She dropped her backpack at her feet. Her long curly hair glowed red in the sunlight, and her dark brown eyes pierced him like arrows, making him flinch. "What do you want?" he asked, trying to look brave.
Her face remained serious as she said, "It's game time."
Roy blinked. He brought his hands up in fists and thrust one towards her, saying, "What are you talking about? I don't have time for kids' stuff!" He turned around and began stomping off.
"And yet you'll resort to childish manipulation?" her mature voice taunted in his ears.
Growling, Roy punched the air as he faced her again. "What do you mean?"
Still with a solemn face, she said, "If you leave now and refuse my challenge, your bullying of Samuel Johanson will be revealed to the principal, his parents, your parents, and the authorities. I saw you pushing him around."
Roy's deep, mocking laugh didn't faze her. "You don't have proof, girl!"
"Oh, I don't?" She held up a lined piece of paper with creased fold lines in it. "This is part of a World Geography class assignment in Sam's handwriting. He's too young to take that class. You, however, are not." Now she appeared angry. "And that is not all." Roy gulped. "However, if you play a game with me and win, not a soul will know what you have made Sam do," she finished sternly, crossing her arms over her chest.
Roy bit his lip. She's scary... And I can't let anyone know Sam's been doin' my homework! "Fine, I'll play a stupid game with you!"
One corner of the girl's mouth turned up. "Good." She waved her hand over the grass between them, and a pile of cream-colored rectangular tiles appeared on the ground. "Please, be seated," she said as she sat down, legs beside her. Grunting, Roy knelt in front of her, leaving several feet of space between himself and her. Just as he knelt, two blue trays with three long slots in them appeared in front of both players. "Now, are you familiar with Rummikub?" she asked cordially. Roy shook his head, attempting horribly to contain his confusion and fright. "Well, it isn't hard," she assured him with a casual wave of her hand. "We each begin with fourteen tiles that we choose randomly from the pile. Then, we take turns choosing additional tiles to make runs and sets of numbers." She began picking up tiles and setting them in the slots of her tray. The tiles were small, about half a finger long compared to the girl's long fingers.
Giving her a wary glance, Roy followed her lead, picking up tiles and placing them in his own tray. "Hey, they have numbers on 'em!" he said excitedly.
"Yes, that is what I just said," the girl replied patiently, although her tone had hints of annoyance in it as well. "A run of numbers is three or more numbers put together that follow each other, such as '3,4,5' or '7,8,9'., and that are the same color. A set is three or more of the same number in different colors."
"Oh, so I need to make runs and sets of three numbers?" Roy asked, grinning. "This is easy!"
"Three or more numbers, Roy," the girl chided him. "The first to get two runs and two sets wins." She picked up an additional tile and added it to her fourteen. "You only pick up a tile if you can't place a set or run in front of you."
"Oh, ok." Roy picked up a tile and added it to the others he had. "Heh, I've got a set already."
"Wait until your turn, Roy," the girl coolly reminded him like he was a small child. She rearranged the tiles on her tray, fingers deftly sliding them across rows or picking them up and setting them in another row. Still solemn-faced, she picked up a row of four tiles from her tray and set them out, revealing a run of the numbers one through four all colored blue. "Now you may take your turn."
Roy flinched slightly under her gaze, but he didn't hesitate in laying down a set of 9s- one red, one blue, and one black. "Ha! We're tied!" he laughed as she selected a new tile.
"For now," the girl replied with a shrug. Her face and posture gave off a slight tinge of boredom, or at least that she didn't care what he said. Roy didn't notice or care, eagerly picking up a tile. "Oh, and there are two tiles that depict the image of a face instead of a number. If you get one of those, then you can use it to represent any number of any color in a set or run."
Roy blinked, confused as she set down a set of eights – one of all four colors except black, which instead had a round, smiling face on the tile.
"And if you can or need to, you can replace that wild tile with the correct number and use the wild yourself," the girl said confidently.
"Oh, ok! I can use that! Ha!" Roy snatched up the wild tile, replacing it with a black eight. He used the wild tile in a yellow run of the numbers one through five.
The girl simply nodded. "Use them wisely," she cautioned as she picked up a tile.
A shiver shook Roy's spine at seeing her deadly serious stare. It's like she can see through me... or she knows too much. He picked up another tile, thinking, I have to beat her any way I can.
For the duration of the game, neither one of them spoke again. However, while the girl remained cool and impassive, occasionally smirking, sweat dripped down Roy's grimacing face. As they alternated turns, drawing tiles or laying them down in runs and sets, they eventually wound up at a tie. They each had two sets and a run placed in front of them. The girl had also taken the wild tile from Roy's run, replaced it, and used it in her second set.
Growling, Roy picked up a tile and dropped it into his tray. "This better end soon," he muttered.
Hearing him, his opponent smirked and said, "Don't worry, it will." For some reason, her grin made Roy even more uneasy. She picked up a row of tiles from her tray and laid them out in front of her – a run of the numbers seven through ten with a face tile taking the place of the number nine.
"What? How'd you get both of them?" he demanded.
Her face serious, she replied, "By luck of the draw, which is how you got all your tiles."
"LIAR!" Roy bellowed, lunging at her. His beefy hands aimed for her throat.
She traced in the air, a glow following her finger. She drew a triangle and pushed against it with her other hand. An blast like a powerful wind thrust Roy away from her. Crying out, he thudded to the ground, panting. "W-what was that?" he asked shakily.
As he began to sit up, the girl strode over to him, holding two tiles in her hand. Both of them bore the smiling faces of the wild tiles from their game. "You played the game and lost. You cannot foil the Final Sentence of this Judgment Game." As she said this, her expression seemed blank, yet her eyes flared with anger as harsh as lightening.
Roy's mouth moved, as if he were to speak, but all that emerged from his throat were strangled squeaks. He managed to stand, but trembled in fright as he likened her expression to that of the judge presiding over his last trial in juvenile court.
She held the tiles face up. "These two tiles represent two way to run your life. One is by relying entirely on yourself. The other is by relying entirely on the help of others. No good life is made entirely of one method or the other." She paused, studying the thug quivering at her feet. "You, however, tried to rely on others – or make others do for you- the hard things in life, leaving the easy parts for yourself. That is selfish and cruel-" She pocketed the tiles. "... cruel enough to be criminal." That was enough to freeze Roy where he stood.
A glowing eye appeared on the girl's forehead. She thrust her left palm out, pointing it at Roy. "The gavel of judgment has fallen," she said in monotone. "May your sins torment you until you desire to repent."
Light streamed from Roy's body, making him glow. His hair and clothing rippled as if he was underwater. His throat was constricted, making even the smallest yelp impossible. That's when the rock-breaking pain hit his mind – and he screamed.
The girl lowered her arm, and in seconds the light trickled away. When it vanished completely, Roy crumpled onto his knees. "No..." he whispered. Clenching his hands into fists, he shouted, "NO! What have I done? WHAT HAVE I DONE?" He slammed the ground with both fists, shouting those same words over and over again as his own memories filled his mind. Every person he had hurt, every evil deed he had done played over and over, blocking out everything else.
As the girl watched Roy, the eye symbol vanished from her forehead. Arms across her chest, she lingered for a few moments, towering over the boy in torment like a statue. Then, she walked away from him, picking up her backpack. The abandoned Rummykub game vanished into the air behind her.
"Hey! Amber!"
Confused, she stopped walking and turned to see Sam running up to her. "Wow, that was so cool, Amber! Thank you so much! He had that comin' right at 'im!" He stopped beside her, his breathing jagged. "H-he's not gonna bug me again, right?"
The girl nodded. "That is correct." She began walking away again.
"Wait!" Sam's cry stopped her. She turned back around to meet his uncertain hazel eyes. "Y-you're not Amber, are you?" he asked in a shaky voice.
Her face passive, she replied, "Some call me that." Turning her back on him, she began walking down the sidewalk and called back, "Good day, Sam."
Speechless, Sam merely stared after her. That's weird, he thought, examining her movements. She dressed like Amber... she has the same backpack as Amber... she's even got freckles and hair like Amber. But she acted like an adult, and her eyes are different... too different. Sighing, he began jogging back to the school entrance, away from Roy and towards his classroom. His eyebrows furrowed, he wondered, Was that even Amber? I did follow her – but I hit that pole in the lunchroom and blacked out for a bit. Maybe the real Amber is going home by now, and I met some look-alike. A weird look-alike that makes games appear out of nowhere and has magic powers. He recalled the strange girl's face; the memory of it was enough to startle Sam into almost hitting a wall. Rubbing his nose, he continued, No, she seems dark... like a dark version of Amber. And I have her to thank for dealing with Roy. Smirking, Sam opened his classroom door.
Yeah, I think I'll call her that... Dark Amber... That sounds cool.
"Man, I'm way tired," Amber said to herself, rubbing her head. She stepped off the crosswalk and continued down the street. "Too bad I never found Roy, either." Sighing, she added, "Oh well, eventually Roy will get found out."
Amber was so absorbed into her own thoughts that she wasn't scanning the area telepathically. If she had, she would've noticed the man from the museum, Shadi, hiding in the shadows.
Once the redhead had walked past him, Shadi emerged and headed in the opposite direction, towards her junior high. I sensed a mysterious power at work there, he thought. It is not like those of the Millennium Items... but I believe it is still a force to be reckoned with. The ankh at his chest and the scales he held glimmered, but whether it was from the sunlight or ancient magic no one could have told.
I must discover its secrets.
(Author notes below; feel free to ignore them if they annoy you)
MU: Yes, a two chapter update from me! That's incredible, especially considering how I work! In case you're wondering, the game 'Rummykub' is pronounced RummyCube. For the games I use in this story, evidently I add a rule or tweak the rules a little bit, but it helps the story flow. Please R&R! Constructive criticism and compliments both are appreciated!
