Chapter 10

Cassandra went to the waiting room where the duelists were preparing for their matches. She was sure to find Ken there, but when she walked into the room, he was not there. And much to her surprise neither was Commander Koda.

"Princess…" Lazar squeaked, and Cassandra turned to meet him.

"I had wanted to thank Koda for his newfound interest in the case," Cassandra told him and leaned up against the wall, "But he's not here."

"I'll let him know if I see him. Come along, princess, the match is nearly over," he smiled and led her down the hall.

"Lazar…" Cassandra started, clutching her arm nervously. He stopped and turned to face her, curious as to what she had to say. "I really don't want to go back there. With Goodwin, I mean. He's been acting weird towards me lately," she told him.

Lazar narrowed his eyes at what she said, "I've noticed… and I absolutely understand why you don't want to be there with him right now. I don't much like it either, but I am in no position to object, he is my boss." Cassandra gazed down at the floor sadly and Lazar continued, the words finally coming to him. "But if he ever harms you or even lays a hand on you, you come and tell me, alright?"

"Lazar," Cassandra forced a smile although tears were coming to her eyes.

"I don't know what has come over him, but he has definitely changed. You are no longer his adopted daughter to him," Lazar concluded, "I'd do anything for you Cassandra; I don't want to see you get hurt."

Cassandra couldn't stand seeing the clown sad as he told her this and she was so overwhelmed by his words. In a heartbeat, a moment of bubbling emotions, Cassandra leaned over and hugged Lazar.

"Thank you so much, Lazar," a tear fell from her face onto his coat as he stood there, frozen. "You are such a great friend."

Within another heartbeat, sixty heartbeats for Lazar, it was over. Cassandra was already walking back down the hall. "Friend?" he repeated before catching up to her and acting as if everything was normal.

Luna had lost and Bommer won, as Cassandra predicted. Goodwin sent Lazar out to meet with Bommer before the next match against Ken. As Lazar headed for the door, he took a quick glance at Cassandra, who sat worriedly with Jack as Goodwin gazed out the window, standing at the edge of the room. She would be alright with Jack around, he figured before leaving.

The tall, dark man strode down the hall as Lazar stood at the other end, clipboard in hand. He grinned and came up to Bommer, holding out the clipboard.

"I knew that wasn't a girl," he muttered as he gazed at the twins' profiles on the clipboard.

"But on to the next match," Lazar said and pulled an envelope out of his pocket, handing it to Bommer A bribe. "Mr. Goodwin decided not to have Ken duel against Professor Frank, since he threw his duel to Commander Koda and lost. Instead, he wants you to duel against Ken, as the brackets have shown."

"So it isn't random?" Bommer mused. It surprised him, even coming from the conniving Goodwin.

Lazar ignored his question, "I'm going to personally ask you to grind Ken into the dust. He needs to be taught a lesson for trespassing into the princess' bedroom and trying to have his way with her."

Bommer's eyes widened, "That kid really did that?" he asked him. Lazar nodded, his face showing pure hatred as they talked about Ken. "It would be my honor, then. What he tried to do to that poor girl was wrong." With that, Bommer turned and headed to the elevator. When he went inside, Lazar snickered to himself before heading back to the room and check on Cassandra.

As he came into the room, he saw Goodwin standing at the window, Jack sitting on the couch, but no Cassandra. He was worried at first but he regained his cool, "Ah, did Cassandra go to the bathroom?"

"Yes," Goodwin replied blankly. Lazar came up to his side and gazed out over the stadium. He wanted to watch every second of the duel as Bommer utterly destroys the miserable whelp.

Cassandra took a deep breath as she leaned against the locked bathroom door and gazed at the air vent in the wall near the floor. It was just big enough for her to slip through. She turned to the sink and washed her make-up off. She left the water running as she took her nail file to the screws, so no one would hear her open the vent. She had to hurry, the match was starting soon. She hoped that there was a malfunction with someone's bike or something to stall the duel; the last screw was on really tight.

She placed the vent cover to the side and went to turn the water off. She was glad that Goodwin knew she was notorious for being in the bathroom for a long time. This would work out perfectly, she thought as she slid into the vent.

"It seems that Ken Makoto is having trouble with his Duel Runner and his dad is coming out to fix it. Let's get on to the next match, ladies and gentlemen!" MC announced.

"Have a loser revival match since both Luna and Professor Frank lost in their matches. Well, the Professor forfeited by our request," Goodwin smiled. Lazar nodded and notified MC of the changes through his cell phone.

"Hey, losers! Goodwin is giving you a final chance to redeem yourselves!" MC grinned, "Will Luna and Professor Frank please prepare for the next duel."

Cassandra came across a vent below that opened up into a dark room. She pulled her nail file out of her pocket and began working on the cover when she heard a door shut and saw a figure below her. She squinted to see that it was Goodwin, and Lazar was with him!

"Zigzix didn't pick up any energy from the girl, because it was her brother in disguise. But doing the loser revival match with the real girl in the audience will show her true power," Lazar grinned.

"Soon we'll have all the signers gathered. Ken is out of the way, Cassandra is safe and soon, the world will be anew," Goodwin said calmly. Cassandra caught a look of worry on Lazar's face.

"Ken is out of the way? What do you mean?" Lazar asked him, "I thought he was supposed to face Bommer as soon as his Duel Runner was fixed."

"Sabotaged," Goodwin said as soon as Lazar finished. He stood there, stunned. How come Goodwin didn't tell him this?

"I was so excited to watch Bommer crush him, why did you go and do that?" Lazar asked him.

"Don't worry Lazar, he will be punished further," Goodwin smiled slightly. Lazar fell silent. "He turned down a thousand dollars for her; he is very stubborn." Goodwin's eyes narrowed and he turned towards the door, Lazar following him.

When she heard the door shut, Cassandra set back to work on the vent cover. She didn't know where this vent would take her, but she wasn't going to take any chances. This was the first room she had seen, she was going to take this one, she thought. Pushing the cover aside, she positioned herself so she would put her feet down into the hole first. She scraped her elbow as she dangled before finally letting go and falling onto the floor. Cassandra quickly got up and snuck out the door, although her rear end hurt badly from the fall. She was still in the watch tower, but now at least she was out of Goodwin's sight.

She headed down a short hall until she reached another elevator. There were voices coming down the hall as she hopped into the elevator and pushed for the basement floor. She got off and headed towards down the hall to the garage area and looked around for Ken. She poked her head in one and saw Bommer working on his Duel Runner but when he started to turn his head to see her, she ran off down the hall. She couldn't risk being caught.

"I think we got it fixed now, Ken. Start it up!" Cassandra heard Ken's father say. She followed his voice and then the engine of a Duel Runner. She stood in the doorway as something blew up in the Duel Runner, spreading smoke everywhere. "Aw, jeez," his father rubbed his head.

"Darn it!" Ken shouted, kicking the Duel Runner.

"Ken," Cassandra said softly and he turned around quickly, instantly calm.

"Cassandra."

"Ah, princess! What are you doing down here in the garage?" Ken's father asked her.

"Well, I came to talk to Ken, but I overheard Goodwin saying that he had sabotaged your bike. I am really sorry; it wasn't my fault, but…" Cassandra gazed sadly at the floor. They both stared at her, not sure whether to be angry or sympathetic.

"I should have never even come here," Ken muttered and turned back to his black bike.

"Ken, you and I both know you can do this. And you can duel with just your duel disk if you want to," Ken's father told him, patting his back. Ken nodded and turned to his dad.

"Dad, I'd like to speak to Cassandra alone," he told him.

"Sure thing, son. I'm going to get coffee then," Mr. Makoto said and left. Cassandra took a step forward as Ken was about to speak.

"So what did you want to talk about?" he asked her. Cassandra took a deep breath.

"I'm not allowed to talk to you, if I get caught, I'll be grounded," Cassandra began.

"Cassandra," he looked into her eyes, rounding up the courage to say what he's wanted to say, "I came to this tournament so I could possibly win and move out here in the city. Yes, I did it for my family, to make their lives easier, but I mostly wanted to do this so I could be with you."

Cassandra smiled shyly and brushed her hair behind her ear.

"But since Goodwin sabotaged my ride, I don't think I can do it. Yeah, I can duel with my duel disk, but it's like there's no point anymore. I had wanted to race Jack Atlas in a Turbo Duel," Ken told her as he laid his hand on his bike.

"I'm really sorry," she apologized again. Ken shook his head. Suddenly, Ken's dad appeared in the doorway, a huge grin across his face.

"Mr. Goodwin is gonna give us another Duel Runner to use for the next match!" he shouted enthusiastically.

"Wait, dad, are they coming here now?" Ken asked. His dad nodded.

"Why?"

"Cassandra, hide in the closet!" Ken pushed her towards the closet. She hurried, slamming the door behind her. "Cassandra isn't allowed down here, dad," he explained to him just before a few men in suits appeared, rolling a sleek blue Duel Runner into the garage. They saluted both Ken and his dad before leaving.

Ken let out a breath of relief and opened the closet door for Cassandra.

"I've been gone too long," she told him, frowning, "I must get going."

Ken understood, "I'll see you later, I guess?" he asked, hopeful.

"Maybe, I'll try. I have to leap through flaming hoops to come and see you," she smiled and headed for the doorway.

"See you, Cassandra," Mr. Makoto waved. Cassandra waved back.

"Good luck, Ken!" she said before disappearing down the hall. She headed back up the elevator and wondered how she was going to make it back to the bathroom and if she had been caught missing already.

Meanwhile, Goodwin was getting aggravated. Both Professor Frank and Luna had lost, but Luna was confirmed as a Signer. Plus, Cassandra was still in the bathroom. Ken's match with Bommer would start soon and he wanted her to see him lose.

"Cassandra, are you almost done yet?" he asked as he knocked on the door. He listened with his ear close to the door. No reply. "Cassandra!"

His heart began to race and feared there was something wrong. He twisted the doorknob, but it was locked. He growled and positioned himself to knock the door open, his left side towards the door. He twisted the door knob with his left hand as he shoved himself up against the door. It was like the sound of metal against wood, a giant thud that echoed through the watch tower. He had broken the lock, and opened the door to find the bathroom empty, the vent cover lying up against the wall. He clenched his fists and glared angrily at the vent, knowing where she had gone.

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