Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.
Jaden's POV
Manjoume: 8000
Jaden: 8000
"I'll go first! I draw!" Manjoume said, pulling a card from his deck. He looked at it, then said, "I play the spell card Different Dimension Hangar! This lets me remove up to 3 level 4 or lower union monsters from my deck from play! And I'm removing Y-Dragon Head, X-Head Cannon, and V-Tiger Jet!"
"Huh? Why'd you remove your own monsters?"
Manjoume just smirked. On the sidelines, Misawa said, "Oh, boy. The deadly Fifth Dimension combo. He sure isn't taking it easy on this guy."
"Of course, he isn't!" Asuka said. "You think a phony prince could handle that? No one beats Manjoume that easily."
Well. I didn't know what this "Fifth Dimension combo" was—or what had happened to the second, third, and fourth dimensions—but I couldn't wait to find out! Especially since Asuka had just said that nobody beat Manjoume easily. He sounded like an interesting opponent, and I couldn't wait to see this combo of his!
I didn't have to wait for very long. "Next I summon Z-Metal Tank!" (Atk 1500) Manjoume went on.
A yellow machine that almost looked like a couple of legs with no body attached showed up on his field.
"And, since he's been summoned, I think I'll use my Hangar's other effect and special summon X-Head Cannon (Atk 1800) and Y-Dragon Head (Atk 1500) to the field as well!"
Oh, there was the body! A blue and yellow machine that looked like a floating torso with guns on its shoulders, along with a red dragon, joined the legs on the field.
"Then I'll combine them into the mighty XYZ-Dragon Cannon!" (Atk 2800)
The three machines combined, Z on the bottom, X on top, and Y in the middle connecting the two.
"Good luck beating that!" Before I could say anything, he added, "But, if you liked that, then you'll love this! Frontline Base!" He slid another card into his duel disk. "Letting me summon any union monsters I have in my hand! So here's one more! W-Wing Catapult!" (Atk 1300)
A blue jet appeared on the field. Actually, it looked more like two jets smashed together, but still...it was there.
"And then I special summon my V-Tiger Jet so that they can combine!"
That Tiger Jet's name definitely fit. I mean, it was a jet that looked like a tiger! But Manjoume still wasn't done.
"Come on out! VW-Tiger Catapult!" (Atk 2000)
The tiger jet landed on the blue machine, making it sure look like that was literally a tiger catapult. You know, meant for, uh, catapulting tigers? I mean, if anyone would ever actually want to do that, anyway. So now he had two tough monsters, and it was only the first turn.
"Whoa...awesome..."
I couldn't help it. It was impressive. He'd managed to do all of that before I even had one turn! This duel was definitely going to be interesting!
"Well, I think I've wasted enough of your time for this turn, so...I'll combine them all together and end my turn after!"
Wait, he was combining his monsters again? What else was there to combine!?
"Now, merge and become VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon!" (Atk 3000)
Oh, there was that. Dang, that robot was huge! It had red dragon wings, cannons jutting out of its chest, a dragon head in the middle of its body...and I'm pretty sure what used to be the legs just turned into its arms.
"Turn end! Let's see if you stand a chance!" Manjoume finally finished, a smug grin on his face.
"As I'd expect from the next King of Games," Asuka said. "Jaden's in hot water now!"
"Oh, really?" Misawa asked. "Then why is he smiling?"
"Huh!?" She looked at me, surprised.
Well, I guess my excitement must have been showing. Since I couldn't remember anything, this was the most intense duel I'd ever had. I mean, Kourimaru had been a pushover, and Gorisuke wasn't all that tough, either. But Manjoume... Just from that one move, I could tell that this duel was going to be exciting!
"Impressive," I told Manjoume. "That's a really tough monster, and you called it out in only one turn. But you're not the only one who can do that! Draw!"
Consciously, I wasn't sure exactly what was in my deck. But the moment I drew that card, I knew there was a way that I could get rid of that monster of Manjoume's—and a huge chunk of his life points—in one blow. With the monsters in my hand, that spell was exactly what I needed.
"I activate Double Fusion!" I said, sliding the card I just drew into my duel disk.
"Double what?" Manjoume asked.
"Double Fusion! And it's just what it sounds like. By paying 500 life points, I can fuse monsters twice this turn! So I'll fuse my Elemental Heroes Avian and Burstinatrix to summon my favorite hero, Flame Wingman!" (Atk 2100)
Manjoume: 8000
Jaden: 7500
My favorite card, the green and black hero with a red dragon head for an arm, appeared on the field as Avian and Burstinatrix merged to become one. But he wouldn't be sticking around for long.
"Then I'll use Double Fusion's effect again to throw Sparkman in the mix!"
Vaguely, I recalled most people being confused by me fusing a fusion monster with something else, but that wasn't what Manjoume focused on. "Hold on!" he said. "Those are Neospacian cards!"
Asuka gasped, her hands both flying up to her mouth. "No way..."
"Could it really be true?" Misawa wondered.
"Neospacian, huh? Guess that explains why that other guy didn't know them," I said, thinking of Gorisuke's reaction to them.
"Well, duh! Only an idiot wouldn't know that! What did the guy think they were? Misgarthian D-Heroes?" Manjoume asked, then he snickered.
"No, he thought they were fake," I answered. "Copies of those 'D-Heroes.'" Though, now, I really wanted to know what D-Heroes were.
Manjoume just gaped. Apparently he couldn't believe that was true. Good to know I wasn't the only one who thought it was stupid that the guy thought they were fake just because he didn't know them. Or maybe he just thought the guy was stupid, anyway. Either way, at least I now had somebody else saying my deck wasn't made up of fake cards.
"Anyway, with Double Fusion, I've got one more fusion left this turn! So I'll fuse Flame Wingman with the Sparkman in my hand!"
Manjoume nodded, saying, "Yes. Exactly. Just like our version's Phoenix Enforcer. Wonder what this one's capable of?"
I saw him glance off to the side, but I didn't see anything. I wondered for a second if he was hearing voices, too.
Manjoume's POV
"Well, Aniki," that annoying yellow nuisance said, trying to answer my question, "if you ask me, I'd say it's—"
"Shut up!" I snapped, turning slightly to face the ugly monster over my left shoulder. "Nobody asked you, 0-Attack! Now get lost!"
Jaden's POV
Huh? Was he yelling at nothing? I mean, not that I had a right to comment, but still...
Asuka put a hand to her head and said, "He's doing it again."
Again? So this was a common thing? Okay, at least I didn't yell at nothing all the time! And I knew I looked crazy when I did talk to nothing, so I wasn't doing that all the time, either. At least, not that I knew of, unless I did before I lost my memory...
"Just ignore him," Misawa said. "This is getting interesting."
I blinked, then shrugged. After all, it wasn't my business, and I really didn't have the right to ask, considering that I was always hearing voices that didn't even speak the same language as...well, any human being alive today. Either way, I figured I'd just get on with my move.
"Come forth, Shining Flare Wingman!" (Atk 2500)
Shining like the sun, Shining Flare Wingman appeared on the scene, ready to take on any and all enemies! Man, that was fun! I should get all dramatic more often.
Manjoume wasn't impressed, though. "Hmph. As expected. Another 'Shining' monster. This one any better?"
"Don't know," I said. "There's another?"
"Never mind that and get on with your move!" Asuka yelled. "We haven't got all day!
"Alright, alright. Sheesh. Shining Flare Wingman gains 300 attack points for every Elemental Hero in my graveyard, so his attack's 3700!"
"Tch. Great," he muttered. "It's just like its counter part." Annoyed, he asked me, "Can't that thing at least be destroyed in battle!? 'Cause, if it can't, then—"
Well, there was no better way to answer him than to attack, so I cut him off with, "Shining Flare Wingman, attack his VWXYZ!"
Shining Flare charged his robot.
"What!? Gah!" He covered his face as his monster was destroyed, blowing up right in front of him.
Manjoume: 7300
Jaden: 7500
Manjoume growled, lowering his arm and gritting his teeth. I just grinned at him, knowing what was coming. And it was gonna hurt a heckuva lot more than not being able to destroy my monster or something like that.
"And now for his other effect... When Shining Flare Wingman destroys a monster in battle, that monster's attack points get deducted from your life points, Manjoume!"
His eyes widened. "What!? That's not—eh?"
He cut himself off when Shining Flare Wingman landed in front of him. My monster lifted an arm and pointed it at Manjoume, then fired. Manjoume screamed from the shock of the impact.
Manjoume: 4300
Jaden: 7500
"Incredible!" Misawa said, giving me a round of applause. "Never have I seen a duelist give Manjoume this much damage in one turn! Bravo!"
Asuka was just standing there, staring at me with wide eyes and her mouth hanging open.
After that blow, Manjoume was on his hands and knees. "Ugh." He growled, getting to his feet as he said, "Don't think you've won this! I'm just getting started!"
"Turn end," I said.
"Yeah, it's about time you said that!" he said. Funny, considering his turn had been way longer and way more ridiculous than mine, but whatever. "I draw!" He looked at his card, then glanced over his left shoulder again, glared, and turned all the way around. "Absolutely not!" he yelled at nothing. "This match is way too serious for a bunch of useless Ojamas like you three, now get lost already!"
I cocked my head. Ojamas? What Ojamas?
"I activate the spell card, Soul Release! This removes cards from either of our graveyards from play, and I'm choosing your 5 cards and all 4 of your heroes! Tough break there, pal!" he said, smirking.
"Tch..."
Just like that, every card in my graveyard was out of the game, and Shining Flare Wingman's attack was back at 2500. Still, I doubted Manjoume could just call out a monster with more attack points easily.
"Good move," Misawa said. "Now his hero's no longer unstoppable. Manjoume's at the top of his game today."
"And, now that that's out of the way, I activate the spell card Pot of Greed! This lets me draw 2 cards!" He drew, looked at his new cards, then smirked. "I summon a monster in defense mode and play a card face down. Turn end."
"Then it's back to me! Draw!" Never one to over-think things, I didn't even look at my card before declaring, "Shining Flare Wingman attacks your face-down monster!"
I figured it had to have some kind of effect—why else would he play it face down? The off-white dragon with the red underside that my attack revealed told me I was right—Masked Dragon.
"What!? That's all?" Manjoume asked. He crossed his arms, grinning. "Heh. And I was worried."
"You still take the effect damage, defense mode or not," I pointed out.
He growled, glaring at me in annoyance. Shining Flare blasted him again.
Manjoume: 2900
Jaden: 7500
He let out another humph. "So what? You really should've summoned another monster, 'cause what I'm about to do's gonna really screw you up! I activate my monster's effect! Come out, Armed Dragon!"
Misawa nodded. "Clever. With that effect, he can summon a dragon type monster with an attack of 1500 or less. And Armed Dragon's first form fits that category perfectly."
"Right," Asuka agreed, and I could tell without looking that she was grinning. "This guy's true identity's gonna be revealed really soon."
Well, everyone was making such a big deal about this monster that I couldn't help it. I got excited again. "Armed Dragon?"
"Show yourself!" Manjoume said. "Armed Dragon LV3!" (Atk 1200)
It was tiny and orange, more of a baby than anything. There were little spikes on its body, but it wasn't very impressive. At least, not at the moment. I hadn't missed that he'd pointed out its level, and I knew what that meant.
"Level? Wait, this is one of those monsters that get stronger when you meet the conditions, right?"
Manjoume's smirk was answer enough. "Bet you could just die, couldn't ya? Well, maybe next time, you'll summon more than one monster, eh?" With that said, he laughed.
Oh, man! This was just getting better and better! "Man! This is awesome! I can't wait to see what it can do! I play one card face down. Turn end."
"Okay. Either you've got no idea what the hell you're doing, or you're a complete idiot," Manjoume said. "Which is it? Nobody gets this excited when they're in a pinch like this. What is wrong with you?"
I could feel the grin on my face as I answered, "I don't know why, but I'm excited. This match really has my blood boiling!"
"Idiot," he muttered. "Well, good! Then this move will totally overwhelm you! I draw! And activate my Armed Dragon's effect! Leveling it up to its next level! Armed Dragon LV5!" (Atk 2400)
Yep, that did it, alright. The little orange dragon grew, changing red and sprouting more spikes. It towered over me now.
"Awesome!"
"Oh, that's nothing! You haven't even seen the best part! Spell card! Level up my dragon one more time!"
Did I say that the level five dragon towered over me? Sorry, my bad. That was way more fitting for its next level. It was armored and spiky and, well... I don't wanna repeat myself, so I'll tell you what else it was when we get to that.
"Face the wrath of my trump monster!" Manjoume said. "Armed Dragon LV7!" (Atk 2800)
"Whoa...it's huge..."
There. That's what it was. Armored and spiky and huge.
"I activate LV7's effect! By sending my Infernal Incinerator to the graveyard, it destroys every monster on your field that's weaker than Infernal Incinerator!"
"What!?"
That monster he'd sent away... It had 2800 attack points. Shining Flare Wingman couldn't compete! Blades came flying off Armed Dragon, slicing through my hero and tearing him to ribbons.
"Attack!"
"Tch."
You know what I hate? I mean, not as much as having amnesia, but I do still hate it. Direct attacks. Seriously, whoever thought that having realistic attacks where you actually feel like you're being hit was a good idea was nuts. I cried out, the way anyone does when that happens.
Manjoume: 2900
Jaden: 4700
"Turn end! Go on! Try to come back from that one!" Manjoume said, and his smirk actually looked pretty nasty. Man, when that guy thinks he's winning, he gets real full of himself.
I drew my next card, never one to give up. I heard a slight laugh from the sidelines.
"There's no way he can do that," Asuka said. "Manjoume's got this one in the bag." I glanced over and saw her shake her head, her eyes closed and a grin on her face, as if she knew for a fact that I didn't have any way of winning.
Well, I didn't tend to go along with what everyone thought, if I remembered right. And I was pretty sure that, when it came to dueling, I remembered right.
"I activate Pot of Greed!"
"Heh. Out of moves, after all, are we?" Manjoume asked. Funny, considering he'd used the exact same card earlier.
"You'd be surprised, Manjoume." The cards I pulled from my deck made me grin. I knew my deck wouldn't let me down! "I activate Polymerization! And I'm gonna use it to fuse Clayman and Bubbleman to summon Elemental Hero Mudballman!" (Atk 1900)
Manjoume wasn't impressed. "That's it? Surely there's more. You are the missing prince, aren't you?" he asked, his voice just oozing sarcasm.
"You bet, there's more!" I told him. "I activate the field spell, Skyscraper!"
"What!?"
Well, from his reaction, I guess he knew that card, too. Or, considering that he'd known something about Shining Flare Wingman without actually knowing everything, he knew some variation of it.
"Mudballman, take out his Armed Dragon!"
Manjoume growled as Mudballman attacked his dragon. His power increased by 1000 points, which it does when an Elemental Hero battles a monster stronger than it while Skyscraper's on the field. Because of that, his dragon didn't stand a chance.
Manjoume: 2800
Jaden: 4700
"Not bad," Misawa said. "He got rid of another of Manjoume's powerful monsters easily. Maybe he is Prince Judai, after all."
"Don't go getting ahead of yourself, Misawa," Asuka said. "Manjoume didn't take that much damage. That move was nothing but sheer luck. He'll run out soon."
"I guess you're right. But I don't think he's quite done yet."
"Huh?"
"See for yourself," Misawa said, pointing. Man, I was starting to like that guy.
Asuka looked back at the field. Really, she needed to stop underestimating me already.
"But I'm not done yet!" I said. "Next I activate De-Fusion! This'll bring Clayman and Bubbleman back to the field!"
Mudballman split, and an earthen hero appeared, along with a blue-clad hero.
"Oh, come on!" Manjoume exclaimed. "That's what your face-down card was!? You were planning this all along!"
I grinned. Boy, wouldn't that have been something? Me thinking that far ahead and planning on having a fusion monster out just then? Nah, I'd actually had it on the field in case I could use it to save Shining Flare Wingman. But he'd used that dragon's effect, and I didn't plan on wasting my card when the monsters that would've shown up would have been destroyed just as easily. Not that he needed to know all of this.
"This? No. But I figured it might come in handy."
I'd made Asuka's jaw drop again. Maybe I should've been counting how many times that happened.
"Extraordinary!" Misawa exclaimed.
Manjoume was gaping, too. The look on his face said it all: "Who is this guy!?"
"Clayman, Bubbleman, attack him directly!"
With both of them only having 800 attack points, I wasn't expecting to win this turn. But I figured I had enough life points to survive Manjoume's next turn. That is, unless he suddenly broke out the Five Headed Dragon or something. But I doubted that would be happening, considering there was only one card in his hand, so I was pretty sure I was safe there.
"Arg!" He threw his arm up in defense as Bubbleman blasted him and Clayman charged him.
Manjoume: 1200
Jaden: 4700
"Turn end."
He fell back slightly, then shook his head as he recovered. He glared at me, gritting his teeth, and growled. "So, we think we're a big shot now, huh!? Only the truly arrogant attacks directly with monsters like that!"
Well, he could say what he wanted to about me. I didn't care. I just kept grinning at him, and I figured he thought I was an idiot for it.
"Stupid, wimpy monsters," he muttered. Then he growled again. "I'll break them in half! I draw!" He looked at his card, then gaped, breaking out in a cold sweat. He was totally zoned out. But he'd hit a soft spot with me, apparently.
When he called my monsters "stupid" and "wimpy," it struck a nerve. I didn't like him making fun of my monsters...my friends. Wow, wasn't that a little much? They were just cards, weren't they? Then again, they did become real if they were summoned outside of a duel... Either way, it made me mad to hear him say that.
"My monsters aren't wimps, Manjoume!" I snapped.
Why did I feel like I'd done this a thousand times? Was everyone seriously always calling my monsters wimps? Useless. Weak. Pathetic... Man, I could think of about a million things people had called my monsters, even though I couldn't remember who the people were or which monster they were talking about! Something seemed seriously wrong about that.
But Manjoume didn't say anything, didn't even move. He was just staring at the card he'd drawn, as if it were a bomb or something.
"...Manjoume?"
Then he finally...made some kind of noise. Quiet, at first, but when he did it again louder, I knew it was a scream.
"AAAH! Noo! Not you! This isn't the time for this!"
Asuka put a hand to her head—another thing I was thinking I should start counting, how many times she did that. "Idiot," she muttered.
"Manjoume! You still have those in there?" Misawa asked. "Why!?"
"There's no way I'm using you at a time like this!" Manjoume yelled, talking to nothing again. Oh, yeah, he had it way worse than me. At least I only did that once a day or so. Here he'd done it three times in less than an hour. "You want me to lose!?"
Still, it seemed like he was yelling at his card. That just made me wonder even more... "...What is he talking to...?"
"Oh, for—Manjoume! How stupid can you possibly be!?" Asuka demanded. "Get those out of there, or you'll never be King!"
"Those," huh? What, exactly, were "those?"
"There's no choice! I'm not using this, and I'm out of moves!" Muttering, Manjoume added, "Besides, even if I did use it, knowing my luck, he'd draw another monster and finish me off. Darn it!" He put his hand over his deck—surrendering, I realized.
I blinked, looking at him in confusion. What he'd drawn couldn't have been that bad...unless... Ojama... He'd said "Ojamas" earlier... Was it possible that he actually had those in his deck? That didn't seem right, given his dueling style. Why would he have those 3 monsters when he was so focused on attack strength?
"I surrender... You're...too...good...for me—Damn it!" He must have had worse hallucinations than me because he grabbed at nothing and squeezed it. Then he closed his eyes and lowered his head in shame. Can't blame him—if I was attacking nothing, I'd be ashamed, too.
"Oh-kay... Uh, gotcha!" I flashed that pose at him—the one I'd flashed when I beat Gorisuke. "That was a really interesting duel!"
Everyone was quiet for a bit. Well, except for Manjoume, who was muttering about losing. Asuka and Misawa just stared at me again.
Finally, Misawa walked over, smiling, and said, "Good enough for me. How's it going, Prince Judai?"
"But, wait," Asuka said. "I don't understand. If you're the prince, then why'd you run away from home in the first place? Wouldn't it have made more sense to stay in the castle where you belonged?"
I thought about this, trying to figure out if I had run away and why. "I don't know. I can't remember," I said after a minute.
"Surely you weren't in trouble before you ran off, were you? I mean, at the castle, the guards could've taken care of you."
I closed my eyes and really thought about it, desperately trying to remember what had happened.
After waiting for a few seconds, she said, "You're a lazy prince, aren't you?"
Well, that got my attention focused on her again. "What? Hey, I vacuumed her carpet two days in a row!" I told her, insulted.
"So!?" Manjoume bellowed. "That's got nothing to do with being a prince! They work a lot harder than that! Ask anyone rich! They'd know! Right, Misawa?"
"Well, I'm not really that rich, but, yeah. They have training to do, lessons to learn, fancy occasions to attend..."
"In other words, yes. You're lazy 'cause you ran away like that!" Manjoume said. "Hmph. What a disgrace."
That stung. "...Ran away...? I..."
Asuka looked at me for a second before asking, "Jaden? You okay? You're not remembering something, are you?"
Unfortunately, I was. Just a voice, somebody saying, "Come back here, boy! We're not done yet! You've got a lot more work to do before you're finished!"
I put a hand to my head, trying to deal with the headache that memory caused. But there was no way I was saying it out loud. It was sounding like...like they were right. Like I ran away because I was too lazy to do the work.
"Jaden?" Asuka said. "Hey. What is it?"
I realized right then that they were all staring at me. I had to cover it up somehow. I couldn't tell them, not until I had figured it out for myself, at least. Besides, what business was it of theirs, really? It wasn't like we were friends or anything.
"N...nothing," I lied, keeping my eyes trained on the ground as I lowered my hand. "I thought I had something, but it's gone."
Manjoume humphed. "Figures."
"Don't worry," Asuka said. "I'm sure it'll come to you in time. Then you can tell us why you decided your own fun was so much more important to you than your kingdom."
"Sheesh. Asuka. That's harsh," Misawa said.
I was with him. That one stung, especially since I was wondering the same thing right then. I mean, seriously. Why did I run away when it was sounding like I was the only heir to the throne of Neospace?
"Well, anyway, we should probably go report to King Reginald that we found the prince of Neospace," Manjoume said, turning and walking over to his horse. "Not that that'll matter since the guy's clearly a worthless excuse of a prince, anyway. The kingdom's still doomed if this is their only heir."
Ouch. That one made Asuka's comment sound like high praise.
"Manjoume! Wait up!" Misawa called, following after.
That left me with nobody but Asuka. I looked away, my eyes trained on the grass under my feet. I was feeling like more than just a worthless excuse of a prince right about then—I was feeling like I was a worthless excuse of a human being, even. I just wanted the ground to open up and swallow me right then. I mean, it was sounding like I was the most useless person on the planet. Who runs away when they're the sole heir to their kingdom's throne?
Asuka let me rot in self hatred for a bit before saying, "So you're really him, aren't you? The runaway prince who abandoned Neospace? Whatever for? Surely your life wasn't all that bad."
Runaway prince...abandoned Neospace... I couldn't answer her—I couldn't remember myself. Instead I said, "I...I gotta go vacuum. Elise wants that done every day."
I headed for the door, but Asuka stopped me, saying, "Wait. You're doing what? But princes don't vacuum. They've got more important things to do."
I stopped walking, my back to her. "Well, if I am a prince, I'm a lousy one."
"True," she said, making me feel like I should just go jump off a cliff and save the world from my worthless self. "At least, according to the news stories. They said you'd always had a carefree spirit, so a lot of hard work was tasking for you. Guess this memory-losing thing's teaching you a thing or two. Isn't it?"
Kick a guy when he's down, why don't you? I didn't say anything to her, mostly because I didn't trust myself to be nice right then. I was already kicking myself. Did she have to go dragging me through the dirt even more? That is, if I was Prince Ju—Oh, who was I kidding? Of course, I was!
"Well, I better get back inside before my idiot brother does something I'll regret," she said. "Later, Jaden. Hope you figure this thing out." Then, much to my relief, she left.
I stood there another moment, thinking about everything. "Thanks..." I said quietly, knowing she probably wouldn't hear me anyway.
I went back inside and shut the door behind me, then headed into the living room and sat down on the couch, my head in my hands.
Right on cue, I heard that kuriing sound. All I could make out was, "...not all true... Ju...nee...bre...k..."
Well, there was no denying it then. So I said, "Great... So I take it I am this deadbeat prince?"
Unlike all the other times when I asked it a question, it answered. I couldn't understand it very well, though, so all I heard was, "Not...deadb... Ust...overwor... Needed...brea...all..."
I didn't say anything, trying to translate that (I figured it was something like "not deadbeat, just overworked. Needed a break, is all."), so it added, "N...you...faul...they...kidn...you...while you were..."
"I can't hear what you're saying, whoever you are," I told it, since that last bit didn't make any sense.
Like usual when I talked to that voice, everything went silent. But, unlike usual, mist showed up on the living room window. I walked over to figure out what it was, and saw writing showing up in the mist. Whatever it was that I was talking to wanted to be heard pretty badly this time, because the message read, "Not fault for kidnapping while napping."
"Napping?" I asked. "So that's how they got me?"
No response, written or otherwise. Even worse, now the window was dirty.
I sighed. "Now I gotta wash the window..."
Since I still had to do that and vacuum, I figured I'd prove that I wasn't lazy. So I went looking for things to clean, even if they looked clean to me. I cleaned the oven, did the laundry, dusted, polished, mopped... There wasn't anything in that house that I hadn't cleaned by the end of the day. So, pretty much, I spent the day learning how to clean. I guessed, if I was that worthless of a prince, at least I could make somebody a good janitor.