Chapter 9
The crowd went wild when Rex Goodwin sat down in a blue chair behind a podium on the dueling platform, with Princess Cassandra at his side. MC came up and handed her the microphone before leading her up onto a separate platform that was a head higher than the one Goodwin was on. She thanked him kindly and he ran excitedly down the steps as the recorded music began, sounding through the speakers; the nation's anthem. Cassandra sighed quietly and smiled. She didn't quite care for the song. She hoped Goodwin had something new that the crowd hadn't heard before, one of the songs she had been practicing for a month. Maybe he saved it for later?
At the end of the song, MC introduced the participants through a microphone he had in the spectator's bench as they were lifted up through trapdoors onto the floor below Cassandra. She caught sight of Ken, but he didn't look back at her, he probably didn't even realize she was right behind him. She was under the watchful eyes of Goodwin, so she didn't whisper his name. Cassandra saw another person she recognized, Commander Koda. She had met him once before, when Lazar asked him to join the case to find her father's murderer. But Koda refused, since there wasn't any evidence. He was an experienced criminal investigator and probably had other cases he had to work on. He wouldn't recognize her though, surely.
When MC introduced a marker from the Satellite named Yusei Fudo, the crowd almost transformed into a lynching mob. Cassandra grew worried and felt sorry for the guy but one of the participants, Bommer, she recalled, came up to her asking for the microphone. She mindlessly handed it over to him and he thanked her politely.
"My name is Bommer and I have something to say. I don't come from around her but where I come from, we judge a duelist by his spirit. This kid here may have been branded by your people as no good, but when I look at him, I see a duelist and I have to respect him until he proves me otherwise. A duelist should be judged by who he is, his family or how much money he has. That doesn't matter."
He turned and gave the microphone back to Cassandra as Goodwin began to applaud.
"That was wonderful," she whispered with a smile. He nodded and returned back to his spot.
Goodwin stood up from his chair. Cassandra thought he felt obligated to say something now too. "Thank you for those well-chosen and heartfelt words. In our world, social status and personal wealth draws a line between us and our fellow man. But I had a vision of a tournament that would, if only for a fleeting while, remove that line so the haves and the have-nots could prove themselves to us and the world. Fellow duelists, welcome to the Fortune Cup!" he shouted enthusiastically, raising his fist into the air.
The sound of a D-Wheel hummed through the arena and raced down the track. It was a white D-Wheel and it went around the track twice, the duelist summoning Red Dragon Archfiend on the second lap. Then the D-Wheel shot off the track towards Cassandra, who just stood there, her arm rose up in the air, the microphone in her hand. The crowd shrieked, not wanting their princess to get hurt.
The D-Wheel did a barrel roll right over her and in a split second, the duelist grabbed the microphone from her hand. The whole arena breathed with oohs and ahs before the D-Wheel landed on the platform and drove up behind Cassandra, skidding to a complete stop. Cassandra smiled, it had all worked out well. She remembered what Goodwin had said in the limo on the way here. He explained what was to happen, that Cassandra would sing a song, the participants would be introduced, and then Jack would race in on his D-Wheel and take the microphone from Cassandra.
"Don't be afraid when Jack flies over you," Goodwin had told her, "You just stand there and look pretty for the crowd."
Cassandra thought he would say for her to look pretty for him, and felt relaxed when he said otherwise.
"Let the Fortune Cup begin!" Jack shouted. Cassandra was so tied up in how the plan had worked out so well she had missed his obnoxious pep talk to the participants.
MC came back up to Cassandra and Jack, Jack tossing the microphone to him and the clumsy effeminate man almost dropped it. Cassandra smiled, he was even more effeminate than Lazar. MC nervously held out his hand to Cassandra, and she took it. He held her hand high as he led her back down the steps. Ken locked eyes with her as she passed him and all he could do was gape at her. She grinned and MC took her back to Goodwin, who seemed happy to have her back.
"Bommer is the kind of guy that I would want you to marry," he commented when she stood to his left again, her hands on the back of the chair. Cassandra only glared at him. He was trying to steer her mind away from the events that happened that morning.
"Let's see the brackets!" MC shouted as he turned to a giant screen that showed the match-ups. The first match was Luna versus Bommer. Cassandra was anxious to see who Ken would fight against but he was going to face the winner of the first match. She had a feeling it would be Bommer. There was no way that little girl could win.
Goodwin got up from his seat and Cassandra followed him to the tower at the other end of the arena. They would watch the matches from there. Cassandra probably wouldn't be able to leave to see Ken but she kept scheming on how she would do it.
"Are you comfortable in those clothes?" Goodwin asked as they walked down a hall. His arms were behind his back and his eyes were on her.
"Not really. It's starting to get kind of itchy," Cassandra told him, gazing at the blank walls as they passed by. She didn't want to lock eyes with him, it would feel awkward. She just wanted to blend into the cyan walls, so he would stop staring at her.
"I requested for Mina to bring a more comfortable outfit for you to wear in between performances and because it gets a little chilly in this room," he said as he opened the door for her. Cassandra entered and saw that Lazar was already there. Thank goodness she wouldn't be alone with Goodwin during the whole tournament, she thought.
"Mina left your clothes on the table there," Lazar pointed at the coffee table that stood in front of a yellow sofa. He frowned as he mentioned her name. He remembered as she tiptoed in, laying some folded clothes on the table and told him politely to give them to Cassandra. He hated Mina so much, he didn't even like being around her. It was hard when she was Jack's secretary.
"Thank you, Lazar," Cassandra said as she took up the clothes, "I'm going to get changed."
"There's a bathroom around the corner," Lazar pointed to his left.
Cassandra nodded and headed towards the place where he pointed. This room was wrapped around the elevator that took you up here. There was just the short hall with the boring walls. The room had full length windows all around to look out over the arena. It was a comfortable room and Cassandra wasn't chilled yet as Goodwin had predicted.
"That was a splendid speech, wasn't it?" Goodwin asked Lazar as he sat down on the sofa. Lazar was still gazing out the window, his arms behind his back.
"Yes, it was," Lazar said with a bored tone then he turned to Goodwin, "Do you think inviting Bommer was a bad idea? I mean, he's been seeking vengeance on you since we tried to…"
He was cut off as Cassandra re-entered the room and Goodwin waved for him to shush. With the other hand, he patted the seat next to him. "Come sit, Cassandra," he called to her. She wanted to run for the elevator and leave but she sat on the couch anyways, out of arm's reach of Goodwin. She wished he would stop acting like this and be like he used to be, telling her stories of a group called Yliaster and how they summoned a dragon to kill the demons in the world, a princess and her trials of love, and there was one story that he had read to her out of a book once about a woman who fell in love with a beast and made him into a human again. She missed that, ever since she had become a "full-fledged woman" he had been acting weird.
"Is the match starting?" Cassandra asked to direct the silence, she could feel Goodwin's eyes on her and she tried to ignore him as much as possible.
"Yes, very soon," Lazar replied and plopped onto the arm chair. He looked up to see Jack coming through the elevator. "Jack, how nice of you to join us," Lazar told him with a smile.
Jack remained silent and sat between Goodwin and Cassandra, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He looked in the corner of his eyes at Goodwin, who stared out the window at the holographic screen that appeared in the center of the arena.
"Luna is doing well," Goodwin commented. Jack scoffed and Cassandra fell back uselessly into the couch. At least she was separated from Goodwin, thanks to Jack. She almost smiled and stopped herself when she caught Lazar's gaze.
"Princess, I've been talking to Commander Koda and trying to get him to help us on the case. He seems interested, more than last time," he told her, trying to start up a conversation.
"Oh, Lazar, you know I'll take all the help you can give me," she smiled warmly at him.
"But, he refuses to help until he finishes his match with the Black Rose," Lazar finished. Cassandra nodded and took a deep breath.
"Like Commander Koda will be able to help any," Goodwin said to dash their hopes. Cassandra stood up defiantly and walked out of the room without another word. "Lazar," Goodwin gazed over at him, "Go make sure she doesn't speak to that brat, Ken."
"Of course, sir," Lazar stood up and bowed before leaving.
Not exactly in the same order of the episode but... oh well.
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