This chapter isn't very exciting, but it gets the job done.

*Chapter 19: Matters In Real Life*

Everyone was silent for a few minutes, staring at where Alene had been a few minutes ago.

"Well, there's nothing else we can do. Shall we go?" To nobody's surprise, Neo had broken the silence.

"Uh… I guess so," Hope muttered.

"There's nothing else to do here, so yeah," Rue replied. "Erm… actually, HOW do we get out of here?"

Max gave an impatient sigh. "It looks like we have lost our way to the entrance. The question is, how do we find it again?"

Neo had an idea. "Actually, maybe I can help. I actually have the ability to teleport to a near-by destination. If I can find the entrance to the tunnel, I could point it out to you guys…"

Rue looked interested. "You can teleport? Cool." Then he realized that this was Neo they were talking about. "Wait… are you good at it?"

Will slapped his forehead in an exasperated way. "No, he isn't. It is probably one of our only chances out, though. Try it Neo."

Neo's hands began to glow a bright yellow, and he clapped them together. In a second, he had vanished.

"Now what?" Rue asked. "How long does it take for him to transport?"

"Just a few seconds," Will answered.

"Then I guess we just wait? I hope he doesn't take to long… ARGH!"

Rue yelled in pain and shock as Neo landed on him from a few feet above him.

"Whoops… I guess I messed up my teleportation," Neo said sheepishly. "Sorry."

"You could apologize AFTER YOU GET OFF ME!" Rue shouted.

"Oh, sorry." Neo then got off a very angry Rue.

Will seized Rue's arms. "We need another plan," he remarked as Rue tried to break free to kill Neo.

"Well… why not just transport out of Teknisk Wereld?" Gaston suggested.

"Finally, a reasonable suggestion," Max said. "Alright, let's all log out." Max called up his menu, and pressed the blue button. Hope went next. Will released Rue right before he and Neo left, leaving Rue to shout a few rather rude remarks before vanishing as well.

*****

Everyone had made it back to Will's house smoothly, but they had to spend about thirty minutes trying to calm Rue down. After he was finally not trying to slaughter Neo, and actually put his battle ax down, they began to think about what to do next.

"I suppose we should eat first," Will suggested. "After that, we can just sleep until it's time to go back to Teknisk Wereld. The Soul Monsters can go back into their Soul Cards for now. That ok?" Everyone agreed. "Ok, then let me explain some things about my house. At the back is an additional area where computers are. There is also a couch that can fold into a bed there. Rue can use that, since he had it the hardest today. There is also a large freezer outside the expansion, with a lot of easy-to-make items inside. I just wish Neo would use these… AND follow the directions on the box." He glared at his companion, who seemed to find the ceiling very interesting. "I'm also glad that I am studying computer science. I had to reprogram the microwave so that it would automatically shut down if it started to overload. Neo always seems to mistake forty-five seconds for forty-five minutes…" He sighed. "I think you guys know the rest. Since I slept in the bed last time, Max can have it this time. Hope and I can use sleeping bags. Any questions?"

"I need to get some cards from my house," Max explained. "I will take a taxi and get them."

"May I go with you Max?" Hope asked. "I want to help you choose which ones to bring."

Rue gave a cat-call.

"Oh shut up!" Hope snapped.

Max thought for a minute, and then shrugged. "I suppose you can come. I'll call the taxi now."

The Soul Monsters immediately vanished into their cards, and Max walked out of the room, Hope following.

Will shook his head in amazement. "Max is letting Hope come with him? I never would have thought that all of people, he would accept help from her."

Rue smirked. "I can guess why. OW!"

Will opened up the newspaper he had hit Rue with. "Since Hope wasn't here to do that, I decided to fill in her place. Hm… more pathetic reassurances… Hah! Listen to this! "Teknisk Wereld is perfectly safe, but we are afraid it might have a few glitches. So the glitches do not get worse, we ask that you stay out of Teknisk Wereld until further notice." What a bunch of garbage! Why don't they try dueling one of those Generals?"

Rue rubbed the area where he had been hit gingerly. "Well, at least with all of their lies, nobody else will get hurt by the Generals. We need to keep innocents out of this. Now if you will excuse me, I'm going to go and get something to eat."

*****

The taxi ride was quiet, only broken by Max telling the driver which turns to make. After about an hour, he announced that the driver should stop, and got out. Hope followed, and looked at the small house in front of her. Only one story high, it was a living space that might house up to four people comfortably, at the most. Max walked up to the house and unlocked it. Hope ran inside before the door closed, and found the front room to actually be pretty tidy.

"Max? Is that you?"

A girl emerged from another room. She looked to be about Max's age, and was just a little bit shorter than him. She wore a black, sleeveless shirt, with a white vest and a blue skirt. She had light blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, and light blue eyes.

"Yeah, it's me. Brandi, this is Hope," Max introduced.

"Hi Hope. I'm Brandi, Max's sister."

"Max's… sister? Max, you never told us you had a sister!"

"Echecs took care of that," Max coldly stated.

"What?" Hope was confused for a minute, until she remembered. "Oh yeah…"

FLASHBACK

"It was good for him," Echecs laughed. "It convinced him to run away with his sister, as far away as he could get from his mother and step father. He and his sister have lived alone for more than six years now. Quite a tear jerker, wouldn't you say?"

END FLASHBACK

"Er… sorry… I think I'll go and look for cards to bring." Hope ran off, blushing in embarrassment.

Brandi looked at Max curiously. "What was that about?"

"I'll tell you now."

After he told her the whole story, Brandi nodded. "I see. So I should be careful going to Teknisk Wereld?"

"Just be cautious," Max warned. "Keep your deck close at all times. We will try to stop them from taking over the whole server, and this foolish "ritual" they keep babbling about. What will you do?"

"If I see any, I will tell you right away," Brandi assured. "Take care of yourself Max; my life would be ruined if you died."

Max gave a rare smile to his sister. "As if I would die. I will see you later." He then walked up to his room, and saw Hope was examining a card, reading its name out loud. "Retrained Elven Swordsman…"

"Sound familiar?"

Hope jumped in surprise; she hadn't heard him come up. "Yeah. He looks just like Gaston… er, a regular Elven Swordsman."

"Slightly better though, isn't it? You can have it; I have no use for it."

"Thanks!" Hope smiled as she stuck it into her deck. "Well, I found all the cards that I think can help us." She showed Max a pile of cards that she had collected.

"Good. I will call another taxi. Grab those cards and let's go downstairs. Oh, and… please don't mention Brandi to the others."

"What?" Hope gave Max a doubtful look, but shrugged. "If that's the way you want it."

*****

"We're back!" Hope announced as she and Max walked in.

"About time!" Rue commented from Will's room. "We thought you had gotten into a car crash or something."

They ran up the stairs, and saw that Rue and Will were dueling without their Duel Disks. Rue was looking very annoyed at the situation. He had an empty field, while Will had out a Breaker with a Magic Counter, a Skilled Black Magician, and two other cards.

"Well, it takes us two hours to get there and back," Max pointed out.

"Meh, I suppose. Thunderbolt! Hah, counter this! I play Raise Dead on Black Magician, summon Gemini Elf, and attack!"

"Holy Barrier-Mirror Force."

"…"

"I play Magic Swordsman: Neo and attack you for the game." Will laughed. "Looks like you will have to do the dishes tomorrow."

"Damn it!" Rue snarled.

"Well, now that we are done with that, let's get to bed. We'll be back at Teknisk Wereld tomorrow, so rest while you can," Will advised, and then neatly dodged a shoe Rue threw at him.

*****

Everyone was sleeping peacefully for the most part. Of course, there is no rest for the weary, right?

At about eight in the morning, Hope woke up abruptly to a loud explosion.

"What the hell was that?" Max grumbled.

Will groaned. "Do you really want to know? I for one don't, but I have to check it out anyway." He then ran downstairs, Max and Hope following.

Rue ran through the hall to meet them. "I get a feeling that this will not end well."

"Indeed," Max said dryly.

"NOT AGAIN! HOW MANY TIMES MUST I TELL YOU?! FIRST YOU DESTROYED THE MICROWAVE, THEN THE OVEN, AND THEN THE FREEZER! NOW THE TOASTER?! MUST YOU DESTROY EVERY COOKING DEVICE IN THIS HOUSE NEO?! AND WHAT THE HECK WERE YOU TRYING TO MAKE?!"

"Those Eggo things that you keep in that freezer," they heard Neo say.

"EGGO WAFFLES ARE EASY TO MAKE YOU IDIOT! BUT KNOWING YOU, YOU COULDN'T EVEN POUR CEREAL CORRECTLY! DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW TO READ THE DIRECTIONS ON THE BOXES?! ARGH! GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN NOW! NOW!"

Neo ran out quickly, dodging a few pots and pans thrown after him.

"That's a pretty good alarm clock," Rue joked.

*****

Will ended up giving everyone cereal. Hope found it odd that they had to eat in Will's room, but had soon seen why, when she saw what condition the table was in. Apparently, the toaster had somehow exploded when it was on the table, making it an unsuitable place to breakfast.

"Neo, I am getting really sick of bagels and cereal! Why can't you destroy something that isn't in my kitchen for once? Even better, destroy the General's cooking ware!"

"I don't know where their kitchen is, or else I would."

"You hopeless fool!"

After Rue did the dishes (and complained the entire time), they departed for Teknisk Wereld.

*****

"Looks like we are back at the town," Hope noted. "I guess we will be here every time we come back to Teknisk Wereld."

"Which is why we should leave only when necessary," Rue pointed out. "So, where shall we go now?"

The Soul Monsters had already come out of their cards, and were examining the landscape.

"The lake?" Gaston suggested. "That's where we wanted to be, but the officials cut us off."

"They might still be there," Rue argued. "Let's go to the canyons. That area would probably have less guards."

The suggestion was a good one, and soon they were walking in the direction of where the canyons lay. Right before they left town though, they ran into a problem.

Will was leading, but he suddenly jumped back and spoke in a whisper. "Don't go further! There are officials ahead! We're outnumbered by at least five to one."

"So much for this idea," Rue complained. "We won't be able to get by now… unless one of us creates a diversion."

Hope suddenly had an idea. "Leave it to me! I can make them clear out. While they are chasing me, go into the canyons."

"Are you sure you can do it?" Will asked.

"I am."

"Then go ahead," Rue said. "It'd better be good though."

"Don't worry," Hope grinned. "Just watch."

*****

"This is so boring!" one of the officials complained. "Nobody's gonna show up; why should we have to keep guardin' this place?"

"Some other kids are rumored to be hanging around here," another responded. "If we see them, we are to capture them immediately."

"For arrest?"

"Two of them are younger, but the other two are old enough, yeah. So we just have to keep an eye out for those four little brats."

*****

That's when Hope decided to make her move. She flung herself out of her hiding place, behind the ruined building, and ran straight through the group of surprised officials, yelling at the tops of her lungs.

"THE BRITISH ARE COMING! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! THE BRITISH ARE COMING!"

Rue facefaulted. "Oh… my… gosh…"

"If they believe this, I'm the King of England," Will said sarcastically.

"What?! Oh no! They are?! RUN! THE BRITISH WILL KILL US!" Half of the officials began to run away from the town toward the lake, trying to get away from the "British", screaming.

The other officials were in a state of chaos for a minute, before pursuing Hope.

"What do you have to say now, Your Majesty?" Neo joked.

"Shut up and run toward the canyons," Will snarled.

They took his advice.

*****

Hope was a pretty good runner, which was why she was able to stay ahead of her pursuers. Still, she was beginning to tire. She was only thirteen, but the officials were full-grown men.

"Yep, I'm screwed," Hope muttered.

Suddenly, a hole ripped open in the sky, and sucked Hope in. She was now in a dark orb, but was still able to hear the officials.

"Where did that brat go?"

"She had the British on her side! Maybe they helped her escape? YEOW!"

"Shut up you moron! That was a pathetic attempt to get us to follow her."

"Oh gosh! What if it was a diversion to get us away from the town? Everyone, forget about her, it's obvious she is gone! Get back to the town, now!"

There was a bunch of footsteps, and then silence. Hope was wondering how she was going to escape the orb when it suddenly disappeared, leaving her standing on the ground.

"Great distraction," Will said. "It was perfect. We all managed to get here."

"You're lucky those officials were a bunch of dorks," Rue commented. "I can't believe even one of them fell for that. Why the heck did you choose that to say anyway?"

"I've just always wanted to say that," Hope laughed. "I don't know why. I just have! One thing though: what happened back there?"

Max showed her a Magic card that he was holding. "That's what Worm Hole does."

"Thanks," Hope said. "I thought I was going to be caught for a few minutes back there!"

"Indeed," Rue stated. "Now that the party is over, let's go to the canyons already."

To be continued…