And again, no comment.

*Chapter 4: Learning*

"You have failed me for the last time."

"Sir…"

"I ordered for them to be brought ALIVE. Ones who cannot understand such simple commands do not deserve a place in the living."

"Sir, please…!"

The explosion echoed through the room. The man had taken the bullet in the heart.

The smoking gun was then set aside. "At least bring me their bodies. We cannot let the public know about this."

"Yes sir!" the remaining assistants replied.
*****

Everyone met in the family room. Rue, Claire, and Will occupied the couch, while Brandi and Matt chose a chair for themselves. Hope sat on the floor, not really caring.

"Ok, a few things we need to discuss," Hope began. "First of all… Max… we all know what condition he is in… do you really want to stay Brandi?"

She nodded.

"Alright… we know what the aftermath is, but not how it happened. Who could have done this? If it had just been a normal fight, it could be understandable… I mean, Max is strong, but anyone can be outnumbered in a gang fight or something. But… his Duel Disk EXPLODED. That causes some serious concern… we can easily replace it, and I plan on sending in a notice today, asking for a new one. But who did it?"

"Does Max have any memories?" Will inquired.

"…Only one… I don't know why, but he remembered what I look like. That's why he dragged himself all the way here…" Hope shook her head. "I don't know why… he said that he felt I would help. I don't know why he didn't go to Brandi, or maybe Matt. I don't know how he made it either. Maybe he will remember later…"

"As interesting as that is, it leaves us with no clues," Matt sighed.

"…Wait! I just remembered something. Two nights ago, he dreamt of a big, blue monster, which he said attacked him. I only know of two things that fit that description: a Blue Eyes White Dragon or Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon."

"But Olympion would probably be able to counter that reasonably well," Claire argued. "And a hologram can't hurt him. Not seriously, anyway."

"I know." Hope shrugged. "I only know of two duelists that use the Blue Eyes White Dragon anyway. Ifrit isn't smart enough to defeat Max in a duel, and Draken was killed. So who would be using it?"

"True," Rue agreed. "Maybe we are overlooking something? But it will do no good to ponder on it. Our next question is how to help Max."

"We have to go slowly," Hope said. "He will not know any of us. I don't know what his reaction will be to any of you. His reaction to me was ok, but… flooding him with too many things at once will be very threatening to him. I think Brandi should be the first to see him, then Matt, then Rue, then Will, then Claire."

"Why me last?" Claire asked.

"I'm going in the order that he met us. The ones he knew the longest will be most likely to be remembered."

"I agree," Will stated. "We cannot do anything else until he awakens. Is there anything we need to talk about Hope?"

"Max will probably not know how to play Duel Monsters anymore. His cards were gone as well. Who will teach him, and get him a new deck?"

"I will," Matt volunteered. "I can rebuild his Demon Deck, but it will take some time. Some of the cards are quite hard to come by. Until then, I'll let him make a deck from my spares, and teach him how to play."

"That sounds good. Oh, yeah, one other thing. Yesterday, Rue, Claire, and I found a boy and a girl lying in the park. The boy was injured by two bullet wounds. Luckily, Claire was able to take care of them, and he should be recovering at this moment. I had a chance to talk to the girl, and they will talk to us when the boy is better."

"Bringing guns into the open is a bold move," Will commented. "I wonder what was so special about them?"

"I'm not sure," Hope replied, eyeing Claire. Rue was about to comment, but Claire grabbed his arm. He looked at her, and she shook her head no.

"Then it's settled. As long as Neo doesn't blow up my kitchen, you guys can stay here."

Everyone but Will laughed at that. He muttered something under his breath that sounded like, "Idiotic cook."

"I'm going back to my room," Hope announced. "Brandi, I'll get you when Max wakes up."

Brandi nodded again.

*****

Hope put down Dracula about an hour later. She was about half way through the book, and was ready to take a break.

How on earth can Will read for five hours straight without pausing? she wondered as she climbed down from her bed.

She put the book on her bookshelf for the time being, then turned around to see Max tossing and turning.

Another nightmare? She walked over to him and gently shook his shoulder. "Max, wake up. Hey, Max!"

He came awake quickly, still shuddering.

"What's the matter? Did you have another nightmare?"

"…The same one…"

"Again? And you still don't know what this blue monster is?"

"No…"

Hope sighed. "Well, we have more important things to worry about. Are you up to meeting some people? I'll stay in this room if you want me to, and only one person at a time will come."

"…I guess…"

"Thanks. Hang on a minute; I'll bring in the first person."

She walked outside, and downstairs to Brandi.
"Hey, Brandi! He's ready to see you."

She got up at once, and followed Hope to her room, leaving Rue to play Disgaea some more.

"Max, this is Brandi," she introduced, and stood aside to let Brandi in.

Brandi bit her lip, holding her emotions inside as she saw her brother look at her with no reorganization in his eyes.

"She's your sister… you don't remember?" Hope said sadly.

"…No…"

Brandi nodded, then walked out. Hope followed her.

"Are you going to be ok?"

Brandi nodded, striving not to show that she was crying. "He'll remember… someday, he'll remember…"

"I'm sure he will," Hope agreed. "Until then, stay strong for him."

She nodded.

By that time, they were back in the family room, and Brandi sat down again.

"Your turn Matt."

He got up and walked into her room as well.

"This is Matt," Hope explained.

Matt shook his head regretfully. This wasn't the friend he had known… Who could have been cruel enough to have done this?

"We were friends…" he told Max. "I also taught you a game that most of us play today. I can teach you it again, if you want to learn it."

"Ok…"

One by one, Hope brought up the others, explaining to Max who they were. He did not know any of them, much to everyone's disappointment.

"I'm gonna kill the bastard that did this to Max," Rue growled as Hope and Claire came downstairs. "Nobody does that to one of my pals and gets away with their head intact."

"All in good time," Will calmly stated. "I say that as soon as Max is able, we go to Teknisk Wereld, to learn more information."

"And like usual, Will knows the right thing to do," Claire said. "I agree with him. Hope, when are you going to go and get him a new Duel Disk?"

"Tomorrow. I'm also going to get him another Envoyant Machine… I just hope I have enough money."

"Don't worry about it," Brandi interrupted. "I brought his old one with me."

"Thanks," Hope grinned. "You've just saved me $100 or so. Maybe more."

Matt stood up. "Hope, can you come with me? I want to teach Max how to play Duel Monsters again, and have him build a deck from all of the spares I have."

"You brought some?" Hope asked.

"Not some; A LOT. I have so many, it isn't funny."

"That's good. Alright, let's get going up there."

*****

Fell slowly opened his eyes, but didn't attempt to move. His leg hurt like hell, and his shoulder wasn't much better.

"Fell! You're ok!"

He turned his head, and saw Larka. She had been watching him.

"Yeah."

"I'm so relieved! You were out all day!"

"Oh…" He looked around. "What is this place?"

"We were assisted by a girl and her friends. They brought us here. Until you are healed, we are free to stay here. Then we can decide where to go."

Fell sighed. "I do not like this…"

"Don't be so suspicious," Larka said. "They helped us, and I liked the looks of the girl. I think we can trust them."

"…" He did not respond, choosing to listen to a conversation next door.

"Ok, see this? It's called a monster card. These are usually vital for most decks. You can attack your opponent with them, reducing their Life Points, or play it in defense, keeping your own safe…" Matt was explaining how to play Duel Monsters, apparently.

"A card game?"

Larka showed him a magazine she had picked up. "Yes. It is a game called Duel Monsters, and it is very important apparently. There is even a virtual world they go to play it, called Teknisk Wereld. To be honest, I'm curious, and would like to know more."

"…"

"You should rest. Try to go back to sleep."

*****

"Are you sure you want to make your deck alone?" Matt asked.

Max simply nodded, picking out a few likely cards.

"Very well then… tell me when you are done."

About half an hour later, Matt was putting up the remaining commons he had.

"You weren't kidding when you said you had a lot," Hope said. She was still amazed at the variety he had displayed.

"Yep. That's what I get for collecting for a long time." He put them into his bag and closed it. "Let's get back downstairs."

"Max, stay here. I'll be back in about five minutes."

Then she came down, and began telling everyone their locations.

"Rue, Claire, you share the couch. Matt, you get the chair in the living room. Brandi, you get the chair here. Will, you get the sleeping bag. Everyone ok? Good. I'm going back up, see you guys tomorrow!"

They walked off to their designed areas.

*****

Matt sighed. He couldn't fall asleep; there were too many thoughts on his mind. He quietly thumbed through his deck, and when he was assured that he had lost nothing, put it away again.

Then he heard someone coming down the stairs. He turned, expecting to see Hope or her mother.

He was surprised to see that it was a boy with long, black hair. He was limping slightly, but made hardly any noise coming down.

The boy walked up to him, looking at him with yellow eyes. Matt had the feeling he was being inspected.

"…I hate to have to ask for help, but it is necessary."

"Hm?"

"I heard you teaching another how to play this… Duel Monsters game. I am not sure on how it works. I need to learn how to play the game, and acquire enough materials to play it."

Now interested, Matt nodded. "Ok. I can teach you how to play. If you want, you can also make a deck out of the spares I have. Do you want one for your friend as well?"

"It would be preferred."

Matt began to explain the ground rules. The boy asked no questions, simply listening. When he offered his spares, he looked at one he had selected, and did not hesitate at making it without help. After setting aside a stack of cards, he went through some others, putting them to his other side.

Finally he was done. He grabbed the two decks, and nodded. "I… thank you for your help. If I can, I shall repay you later." Then he limped back upstairs.

Matt shook his head as he put away the rest of the spares.

What is it about that guy that strikes me odd?

*****

The next morning, when they were eating waffles, Hope noticed that Brandi and Matt were talking quietly again. Now that she thought about it, she had seen them speaking a lot more than usual…

"So what are the plans for today?" Rue asked, putting his plates by the counter.

"I'm going to get a new Duel Disk for Max," Hope explained. "And Brandi, now I realize that you didn't even need to bring his Envoyant Machine. We have two spares. I completely forgot that mom had gotten them just in case mine died on me."

"Oh well. I brought it, and he can use it," Brandi stated.

"True. After that, we can go to Teknisk Wereld again. Matt, you explained how we used these things, right?"

He nodded, and stood. "Sorry guys, but this is where I make my leave. I have something I need to do back in South Carolina. I wish you all good luck."

A little puzzled, Hope nodded. "Ok. Thanks for coming over."

"Welcome. See you all later." Then he walked out.

"I'm going to get the things right now," Hope decided. "I'll be right back."

*****

Hope was soon back, carrying a new Duel Disk.

"This should work well. You guys can go into the family room. Max and I will be joining shortly." She then got up, and walked to the guest room. She quietly knocked.

Larka came out, closing the door behind her. "Hi. What's the matter?"

"My friends and I are going to a virtual world called Teknisk Wereld. I just wanted to warn you. My mom will still be around, so if you need anything, ask her, ok?"

"Actually…" Larka looked a little embarrassed, but did not hesitate. "Is there any way we can come along?"

"What?"

"Please? I found a rule book on the world, and the card game was described in a magazine. I'd really like to learn more about it, and I'm sure Fell would too!"

"But… isn't he injured?"

"He's already healed enough to move around. I told you that we have more physical stamina than anyone… it makes recovering easy. Please?"

Hope thought for a minute. "We do have two other Envoyant Machines that you could borrow… ok, you can come. If you like it, you can later register and get your own Machine, and Duel Disks. I don't know how you will get decks though… I don't have that many spares…"

"It's alright," Larka grinned. "We'll figure that out later. Thanks for letting us come."

"No problem. Hang on, I'll get the machines." She ran off, and was soon back. "Here you go. Know how to put them on?"

"The rules explained…"

"Then we'll see you there."

"Right."

Then Hope went into her room, and gave Max his Envoyant Machine. "Ready to go?"

"…I guess."

"Then let's go."

She pressed the green button.

*****

"Sir, the bodies were not there!"

"Someone must have already discovered them… damn it to hell!"

To be continued…