After waking up the next morning, I saw Erick and Justin sitting next to each other. Since they were already up before everyone else I suspected that they might have stayed up all night, even after they'd worked harder than the rest of us yesterday. When I sat up, I saw them working together and drawing something in one of their notebooks.
I winced a bit and touched my face when I tried to climb to my feet. I could tell that my wound had scabbed over and bruised by now from how much it hurt to touch it. Ignoring this as best as I could, I got up and went over to talk with them.
"Morning, you two. What are you boys up to?"
Looking back at me, I could tell from the circles under their eyes that neither of them had gotten any real sleep. Just like I thought.
"Hey, Tana. Justin and I just thought we'd start trying to make a crude map," Erick told me.
"Emphasis on try and crude," Justin added with a tired sneer while shifting aside. I took this as a sign he wanted me to look at their progress.
Walking around Erick, I stood where Justin had been sitting and saw their map. It showed the entire island as a circle and illustrated the docks, the dirt roads, Jude's castle, and the path we took to reach this charging station. In addition, there was a compass drawn in the upper right corner of the thing. Above all, everything in this picture was horribly drawn.
"That bad, huh?" I could tell from Justin's remark that I must have been making a face.
"Well, we were just trying to pass time until everyone else woke up, and we thought we'd try to do something useful."
"Yeah. After we ran out of ideas for games to play that is," Justin corrected.
I couldn't help but let out a chuckle at that. The back and forth between these two always got me to laugh.
"Well, I'm sure we can still use this. Elsa and Diego can probably improve it if we need to... Hey, are you guys going to be okay? You both look tired." I told them.
Patting my shoulder, Justin told me, "Don't sweat it. We'll be fine."
Standing up and stretching his back out, Erick added, "If it isn't obvious, we couldn't sleep after last night. So, we'll try to take it easy today and catch up on sleep this night."
"Good. Make sure you do. Oh, the others are getting up," I told them after noticing the rest of our group sitting up.
Once everyone else was awake, our gang was looking at Justin and Erick's map, with Diego and Elsa working to improve it. After that, Elsa sketched out nine copies of it on nine more pieces of paper from the notebook. Once she did that, she tore out all the copies and started passing them out.
As soon as the map was touched up and given to each of us, that blowhard Michael started talking, "Alright, everybody, listen up. We need to focus on getting food for now. Justin, since you can't be challenged to a duel, you should go out looking for one of the dispensaries on your own and then get back to us once you find it. Make sure to mark the path on your map."
After letting out a yawn, Justin replied, "Huh...? Oh, sure. I can do that. I'll-."
Cutting him off, Erick exclaimed, "Hold it! He shouldn't go by himself! I can't be challenged to duels either, so I should go too."
At first, it looked like Michael was thinking this over, before he eventually answered, "Uh... No, you... You're one of our group's best duelists. We can't risk something happening to you out there."
Giving Michael a sideways glare, Diego said, "I believe that's my friend's point. Even with the threats of other duelists not being a concern for the moment, there are likely other dangers on this island that none of us should be facing alone. That said, you're partially right, Michael."
"He is?" I asked.
Nodding, Diego told me, "Yes. Erick shouldn't leave. Not on his own anyway."
"Isn't he gonna go with Justin?" Tanya spoke up.
"That's his plan, yes. But he shouldn't do that. We can all tell how tired they both are, so it is highly unlikely that they'd be able to help each other out of any dangerous situations they might find themselves in," Diego answered.
"So, are you saying that neither of them should go?" Brie asked.
"No, no, no. That's not it. I'm saying that they should split into two groups to improve the speed of their search, and both of them should have one of us go with them," Diego explained.
"Hello! None of us are immune to duels like they are," Jessie asked as Frank silently nodded in agreement with her.
Speaking up, Erick cut into the debate with half-closed eyes, "True, but... Justin and I can do all the talking if we come across any other duelists. We can be a shield for anyone who comes with us, but we can't go by ourselves. If we want to actually find some food, then this is the best option we've got... That's what you've been getting at, right Deigo?"
"Exactly!"
Scratching his head, Michael replied, "Okay... I get that, but... I still don't think Erick should-."
"Would you stop it already!? God! Do you expect us to just sit here with our thumbs up our butts!? I'm gonna go off with Erick before you have any other bad ideas!" I yelled. I don't know why Michael was being like this, but he's always been stuck up and I didn't want to hear any more of what he had to say.
As Michael tried to argue against me, I ignored him, walked up to Erick, grabbed his arm, and marched him into the forest.
While I walked with him, I noticed that Erick was making sure to keep an eye on his copy of the map. He probably wanted to make sure we could find our way back once we were done.
After trudging through the forest for a bit, Erick and I were climbing over a small cliff when he told me, "Hey, Tanya. Not that I don't appreciate you getting us away from Michael's weird hangup, but, well... I'm too tired not to be blunt. You're the last person I was hoping to have come with me for this."
I had made it up the cliff at this point and was offering a hand to Erick, but that remark ticked me off.
"What's that supposed to mean?! Grrgh!" I asked as I struggled to pull him up.
Making his way up the cliff and to his feet, Erick told me, "Well, you're the smallest one in our alliance. I was hoping for someone who could pick up the physical slack for me like Frank or Jessie, heck, even Elsa."
Halfheartedly, I slugged Erick's arm when he said that while telling him, "Geez, thanks for that."
Erick had no real reaction to my play shot, as he replied, "Hey, don't get me wrong. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you helping me out right now. I just wanna make sure everyone who's best for the job does the job so we can all get out of here alive as soon as possible."
I pouted at that at first, before I sighed, patted where I hit him, and said, "Okay, I... Get what you mean. I'll try to think of that stuff from now on... Sorry."
"Hey, no problem. You're just trying to help, and everything's working out so far. Besides, on my end, I'm here to make sure we all get through this. A little aggression from our resident spitfire isn't gonna get to me right now."
"Heheh haha! You know... You're a good guy. I don't mean that just because we're friends. You're really a reliable dude."
"Heh, thanks. But wait to tell me that until I can actually back up what I'm saying," Erick said while ruffling my hair.
I know I told him before he didn't need to act like he's my older brother, but right now, the emotional support is appreciated. He's a few months older than me anyway, so I guess it's not a stretch. He's always been the emotional anchor for all of us, so it's not like much has changed in that regard.
"Eh, don't worry about that. I trust you. You can usually walk the walk," I reassured him.
"Huh... Thank you. I appreciate tha-... Do you smell that?"
As soon as Erick pointed it out, I realized what the horrible and familiar scent he was talking about was. The scent of burnt flesh and hair.
Pushing some thick foliage out of our way, we saw a group of three people in a clearing. There was a big and burly man, a dirt-covered teenage boy, and a lanky woman with a pair of thick glasses. Behind them, there was a large metal case that looked a little like a fridge, except it was big enough to hold enough food for at least a hundred people. However, in front of them was the source of the stink, a pile of at least five cooked bodies.
"2,101."
Confused, I looked at Erick when he said that, but I understood what he was saying when I saw he was looking at his duel disk.
"Is... Is that the number of people still alive?"
Relaxing his arm to his side, Erick told me, "Yeah. Exactly... Alright, I'm going in."
"Huh...?! Are you sure?"
Pointing to his duel disk, I saw a timer on it that I didn't have on mine that showed a little under sixteen hours remaining on it.
"I still got this much time left before anyone can challenge me to a duel, and they aren't allowed to attack me, so I'll be fine. Just stay here and out of sight until I get back," he explained before stepping out of the woods and leaving me behind.
As Erick approached these people, I was able to hear the large man shout, "Look at this chump, guys! You that desperate for food, pal?! Sorry, but this stuff is ours, and I challenge you to a duel to keep it that way!" However, when the big guy made his challenge, a blaring beep came out of Erick's duel disk.
I couldn't see the look on his face, but I could tell from the frustrated and confused expressions of the three people that he must have been grinning at them or something. Waving them off, Erick started saying something that I couldn't quite hear all of. I could tell the gist of it was him explaining the deal to them.
After a few minutes of arguing, with Erick managing to keep his cool through all of it, the trio of killers eventually stepped aside for Erick to get some food. Erick made one last comment to these people as he walked by them and made a show of thanking them. I couldn't help but grin at this, but as soon as Erick got close enough to the cabinet to open it, he disappeared into the ground beneath his feet.
Before I could understand what I just saw, the dirty kid lifted a small shovel into the air and cheered, "My trap worked! I told you guys it was smart to be ready for guys who'd already dueled! Ha!"
Without thinking, I scrambled out of the woods and shouted, "Erick! Are you okay!?"
Looking at me while I ran at them, the woman said, "We got another one incoming! Get ready, boys."
Turning around, the big guy grinned when he saw me. Readying his duel disk, it was clear he was about to challenge me.
"I'm immune to duels too!" I blurted out.
"Ah, damn!" The teenager shouted.
Cocking an eyebrow, the big guy paused for a second before saying, "Well, then there shouldn't be any problem with me challenging you… I challenge you to a duel!"
Once he said that, the minute-long timer for me to accept his challenge turned on and my heart began to race. If I accepted the challenge and lost, I'd be a dead woman. And all the bodies already here told me that this guy was good. On the other hand, if I didn't accept soon, I'd be dead for sure.
"Looks like the runt was bluffing, Bernard. How sad," the woman taunted me as she adjusted her glasses.
"Yeah, looks like. Well, what's it gonna be, squirt? Fight for your's and your buddy's life, or stay frozen there and let both of you die? Although, looking at that cut on your face, it seems like he must get pretty rough with you. Maybe it'd be better if you both died here anyway. Decisions decisions," the big guy, who I assumed was Bernard, said.
"Just stay frozen! Just stay frozen! The more people we get rid of, the faster we can get out of here!" The kid cheered.
Looking at my duel disk, I saw that I had less than thirty seconds left to accept the challenge. Gulping with anticipation, I gritted my teeth and raised my duel disk.
"Let's duel, psycho!" I shouted. And as I did, both of our duel disk's hologram projectors came to life.
(Life Points: Tanya: 8000. Bernard: 8000)
Seemingly, I surprised Bernard when I beat him to the punch and pulled out my duel coin, asking him, "Heads or tails?!"
"Uh, tails."
Flipping the coin, I caught it and slammed it into the back of my palm before looking at the results.
Holding up the coin, I told him, "Heads. I go first! Now let's shuffle and draw our hands!"
Doing as I said, Bernard and I finished readying our decks and pulled out our opening hands. For my hand, I had Reinforcement Of The Army, Twin Twister, Amazoness Call, Call Of The Haunted, and Amazoness Swords Woman.
This can work.
"Okay, first off, I use the spell card, Amazoness Call. This card lets me bring one Amazoness card from my deck to my hand or graveyard, except for another Amazoness Call… Alright. Now, I activate Reinforcement Of The Army. This card lets me add one level four or lower Warrior-Type monster from my deck to my hand, and I'll summon the card I pick, Amazoness Princess(ATK: 1200. DEF: 900)!" Amazoness Princess was a girl in her early teens at most. Like all the Amazoness monsters, she had heavily tanned skin. Her eyes were blue and her long hair was silver. She wore wrappings on her forearms and forelegs, a headdress with horns, a necklace made from teeth and claws, a top that only covered her chest, and a skirt made from animal fur and teeth. Lastly, in her hand, she carried a spear that had a sharpened stone butt and a metal point.
"When Amazoness Princess is summoned her name is treated as Amazoness Queen. Also, she lets me bring an Amazoness spell or trap card from my deck to my hand… And that card is the field spell Amazoness Village, which I think I'll play right now!" When I activated Amazoness Village, the grassy field surrounded by trees we were standing in was changed. The ground became mostly dirt with only a few patches of grass, the trees around us were replaced with a wall of tall logs, as a handful of grass huts appeared around the field.
"As long as Amazoness Village is on the field, all Amazoness monsters gain 200 attack points. Now, I set two cards and end my turn. Your move, jackass!"
Drawing his card, Bernard said, "This one's feisty! Let's see how long that lasts… I think I'll activate Medallion Of The Ice Barrier. This lets me add one Ice Barrier monster from my deck to my hand… After that, I normal summon Defender Of The Ice Barrier(ATK: 200. DEF: 1600)." This monster was a fox with pieces of blue armor on its head, neck, and paws, and blue crystals running down its tail.
"Next, so long as I have another Ice Barrier monster on the field, I can use the effect of Prior Of The Ice Barrier in my hand to special summon him(ATK: 1000. DEF: 400)." Prior was a bearded, older man in a blue, gold, and white cloak. In his hand, he held a staff made of ice, with a wood and ice-surrounded mirror on its head.
"Now that I got these two on the field, I activate the spell card, Double Summon. This card lets me normal summon one extra time this turn. I'll use that to tribute my two monsters and tribute summon General Raiho Of The Ice Barrier(ATK: 2100. DEF: 2300)." This monster was an East Asian guy with long hair. He had a blue hat/crown on his head and wore a blue and white gown of sorts, with a sheathed sword at his hip and a fan made of ice in his left hand.
"With Raiho on the field, I'll have him attack your Amazoness Princess!" When Bernard said that, Raiho waved his fan in Princess' direction, causing a whirlwind of snow to envelope and destroy her.
(Life Points: Tanya: 7300. Bernard: 8000)
"With her gone, I'll-."
Cutting him off, I yelled, "Hold on! Amazoness Village's other effect activates now."
"Huh? What's that?"
"When an Amazoness monster is destroyed while Amazoness village is on the field, I get to summon another Amazoness monster from my deck whose level is equal to or less than the destroyed monster, and I'm going with another copy of Amazoness Princess. And since she's been summoned, I get to activate her effect again and-."
"Ah ah ah! Now it's time for my hold on," Bernard cut in.
"What?" I asked.
Pointing to his monster, he told me, "See, as long as Raiho is on the field, if you want to activate one of your monsters' effects, you have to discard a card to do so. Otherwise, the effect is negated."
I took a second to process this before I started laughing.
While Bernard looked at me with confusion, the teenager yelled at me, "Hey! What's so funny!?"
"Hahahe! It's just, with a monster like that, you're really lucky my buddy down there is immune to dueling right now. He would've mopped the floor with you."
Frowning at me, Bernard glanced back at the hole, before saying, "Sure, whatever, runt. So, are you going to discard a card or let the effect fizzle out?"
After taking a second to recompose myself and look at my cards, I tossed one of my cards into the grave and replied, "Yeah. I think I can make that work… Alright, now I bring another Amazoness spell or trap to my hand and… I guess you still need to finish your turn now."
"Humph! Fine. I end my battle phase and set one card face-down in the spell and trap zone. Now I end my turn."
"Well before my turn starts, I think I'll activate one of my face-down cards, the continuous Trap, Call Of The Haunted. This card lets me pick one monster in my graveyard and special summon it to my side of the field in attack position, but if this trap or the monster leaves the field, then they both do. The card I pick is the card I just discarded, Amazoness Queen(ATK: 2400. DEF: 1800)!"
Amazoness Queen was a tall, buff, and beautiful woman with long blue hair and a single blue eye. Her other eye was covered by a headband/eyepatch with a skull design over the patch. She had ornate wrappings on her hands and feet, as well as an equally decorated skirt and chest covering. On her back, a long red cape was draped, and in her right hand, she effortlessly held a jagged sword that was nearly the size of her entire body.
"As long as Queen is on the field, Amazoness monsters I control can't be destroyed by battle. And now, to start my turn… Okay! First, I summon Amazoness Swords Woman(ATK: 1500. DEF: 1600)." Swords Woman was another tall woman, though, not as tall as Queen. She had long and wild red hair and a horned headband. Like the other Amazoness monsters, she had a skirt and chest coverings, although her wrappings only covered her wrists, and instead of wrappings on her feet she had shin-guards. In her hand, she held a large curved sword of her own, but, again, not as large as Queen's.
"Next, I'll activate the Amazoness Call I brought to my hand and bring another Amazoness to my hand. After that, I activate the spell, Polyermization. I'll use it to fuse my Amazoness Swords Woman and Amazoness Princess, who's being treated as Amazoness Queen for this case, to fusion summon Amazoness Empress(ATK: 2800. DEF: 2400)!"
Empress was even taller than Queen. She had ghost-white hair, green eyes, and a beast skull headdress. She also had a long red cape, but her's was held in place by two boar skulls on Empress' shoulders. On her forearms, she had armored wrappings. Just like the other Amazoness, she had a chest covering and a skirt, but her skirt had a belt made from horns, claws, and was centered with another skull. She also had armored shin-guards, and two golden bands on her biceps. She wielded a curvy blade with spikes running down it and a reptile eye near its base. The sword itself was dark gray in color and was even larger than Queen's.
"Empress also has the same effect as Queen that prevents Amazoness monsters from being destroyed in battle, soooo, good luck with that. As for me, Amazoness Queen is going to attack Raiho! Go, Queen!" Just as I told her to, Queen rushed Raiho and brought her sword down on him. The blade crushed just as much as it cut, as Raiho was destroyed.
(Life Points: Tanya: 7300. Bernard: 7500)
"Alright, now, Amazoness Empress, attack directly!" Empress then leaped at Bernard and slashed at him with her sword, making him shout as he took damage.
(Life Points: Tanya: 7300. Bernard: 4500)
"After that, I guess I'll end my turn."
"Bernard?! You've got this right?!" Glasses asked.
At first, Bernard ignored her as he drew his next card, but after he did, he answered, "Don't worry about me. I'll pull through this… Okay, to start my turn, I activate the spell card, Dark Hole! When this card is activated, all monsters on the field are destroyed! So say goodbye to your Amazons!"
Just like Bernard said, a vortex suddenly opened up in the middle of the field that sucked in Queen and Empress and blew them up, covering the field in smoke.
Bernard was laughing when this happened but suddenly found his tongue caught in his throat when he saw that I had two more Amazoness Queens on my field, as well as another Amazoness Princess.
"What the-?! What the Hell happened?!"
Gesturing around us, I answered, "Well, Amazoness Village let me replace my lost monsters with another Amazoness Queen and Amazoness Princess from my deck. And when Amazoness Empress is destroyed, I can summon an Amazoness Queen from my hand, deck, or graveyard, so I went with the one that went to the grave with her. And now that I've summoned another Princess, I get to bring another spell or trap to my hand… Anyways, it's still your turn."
Grinding his teeth, it seemed like Bernard was about to lose it. However, he just as quickly took a deep breath and recomposed himself.
"Alright. I set one monster in face-down defense position and end my turn."
Cautiously, I drew my next card and saw Pot Of Benevolence.
Alright. I can use this.
"I activate Pot Of Benevolence! This card lets me pick two cards from the graveyard and shuffle them back into their owner's deck. I'll be going with the two Amazoness Princesses I have in my grave… Now, I'll set the card I pulled out on your turn and set one monster in face-down defense position. Now, I'm moving onto the battle phase. Amazoness Queen, attack Bernard's face-down monster!" Repeating her attack from before, Queen brought her sword smashing down onto the monster. I expected the monster to be gone once the smoke cleared, but instead I saw a horse-sized four-legged serpent with a cloaked figure riding on its back, and behind them, I saw a trap card that had been flipped up.
"I activate Aegis Of The Ocean Dragon. Until the end of this turn, face-up level 3 and lower water monsters I control can't be destroyed. And that includes Caravan Of The Ice Barrier here(ATK: 500. DEF: 200). So, what's next?"
After Bernard asked that, I thought for a moment before answering, "I… Guess I'll switch Amazoness Princess to defense position and end my turn."
"My move then…! First, I activate Caravan's effect. Once per turn, I can use him to select two Ice Barrier monsters in my graveyard and shuffle them back into my deck. After that, we both draw a card."
"Alright," I responded while Bernard shuffled his deck. We both then drew our cards, and the card I drew was Soul Charge.
Nodding to his cards, Bernard said, "Okay. Next, I activate the spell, Swords Of Revealing Light! This card stays on the field for the next three turns and all your face-down monsters are flipped into face-up defense position. Also, you can't attack me for those three turns either." Once Bernard got done explaining this to me, three giant swords made of light came crashing down in a triangle around me and my monsters, changing my face-down monster's position like Bernard said it would. This revealed my Amazoness Spy(ATK: 800. DEF: 1200).
Amazoness Spy was a fit young woman with neck-length black hair and green eyes. She had a purple cape held in place by a couple of horned skulls on her shoulders. She wore a headband with a metal insignia on the forehead, a mask that covered her mouth and jaw, a brown top that covered her torso down to her midriff, an animal skin skirt, wrappings on her forearms and feet, and kneepads. For a weapon, she held a knife that was just large enough to be considered a machete.
"Okay, my turn's done. You go, ya scrawny puke."
I growled a bit at that one while drawing my next card, another Amazoness Village.
Yeah, I'm not gonna take this, jerk.
"For my move, I activate my other face-down card, the spell card Twin Twister. With this, if I discard a card, I can destroy two spell or trap cards on the field."
"Do you need your eyes need to be checked or something?! Bernard's only got one spell in play, bitch!" The teenager yelled.
Giving him a stern glare, glasses asked, "What was that, Dan?!"
"Uh… Sorry, Sam."
Folding her arms, the woman apparently named Sam replied, "That's right. I'm the only one here who gets to use that word!"
I could feel my brow twitch in annoyance as those two bickered.
"Can I finish my move, please?! I was about to explain that I don't just need to target the big ogre's cards. I can target my own cards too. So, I'm taking out Swords Of Revealing Light and Amazoness Village." Once I finished saying this, I threw Soul Charge into the graveyard and conjured two twisters to the field. They spun around each other for a moment, with one eventually smashing into and destroying the swords, while the other tore apart the village around us.
"Grrgh…! Okay, now what?!" Bernard snapped at me.
"Well, I'll start with activating another Amazoness Village. My monsters all get their attack bonus back now… Next, I'll switch Princess and Spy to attack mode and move onto the battle phase. First, Spy, attack Caravan Of The Ice Barrier!" Spy darted forward when I gave her the order, slashing at Caravan with a backhanded swing of her blade.
"With that monster out of the way, I'll have Princess attack next to hit you directly." Princess' attack was her throwing her spear at Bernard, making him stagger before it reappeared in her hand.
(Life Points: Tanya: 7300. Bernard: 3100)
"Alright, my first Amazoness Queen is gonna attack now." Queen number one then performed her smash slash on Bernard, making him shout as he nearly lost his footing.
(Life Points: Tanya: 7300. Bernard: 500)
"Okay, last one. Other Amazoness Queen-!"
"Stop!"
"Hm?"
Gesturing to the empty field in front of himself, Bernard started sweating as he asked me, "Do you really think you can go through with this?! If you make that attack, you'll win the duel! If you do that, then you know what'll happen to me! Do you really think you can live with yourself, knowing that you took someone else's-?!"
Cutting him off, I answered, "Yeah, I think I can. I mean, if you were just threatening me, then I'd have to think about it a bit more, buuut... Well, you're putting my friend in danger too, and that's not gonna work for me. So, yeah. Amazoness Queen, attack directly."
"Huh!? Noooo!" Bernard screamed as Amazoness Queen made one last attack on him.
(Life Points: Tanya: 7300. Bernard: 0)
After that, the duel disks powered down and the holograms vanished.
"No, no, no, no, no, no!" Bernard repeated anxiously as his duel disk started beeping. After that, he grabbed his head and fell to his knees just before he was... eliminated.
Before the electrocution could happen, my body moved on its own, making me look away and close my eyes. For the next minute, I listened to the same kind of screaming I heard all of yesterday. To help me bear with these noises, I clenched my fists and gritted my teeth as my body winced.
Even after it was over and the horrible smell of a fresh body hit my nose, it took me a while to gather up the courage to open my eyes again. When I did finally look at the results of my win, my stomach tightened at the sight of the deep-fried man.
When I was finally able to take my eyes off Bernard, I saw Sam and Dan looking at me and him. Their expressions were a weird mix of shock, fear, and anger.
Glancing past them, I looked at the hole Erick was in and started walking toward it.
"What do you think you're doing?! Get back!" Dan yelled at me as I got closer to him.
I stopped to think for a second when Dan was a step away from foaming at the mouth.
I was gonna just go over there and help Erick out of the hole, but Dan is freaking out so much that he might just push me in too, even though that could get him killed too.
Eventually, I got an idea and said, "Hey, you two! Get my friend out of that hole or I'll challenge you both to duels!"
"What...? The Hell are you talking about?! You think you can beat us both?!" Sam snapped.
Glaring as viciously as I could, I answered, "I don't know, but I do know you guys are cowards!"
"C- Cowards?! Who do you think you are, you slut!?"
I tightened my glare even more at that insult, shooting back, "Well, I'm the fifth-best duelist from Duel Academy, and I'm also the woman who beat your boss! If either of you were willing to put your lives on the line, one of you would have helped him and tag-dueled against me! But you didn't...! So either help me or you're both next!"
While I pointed at them, Dan was trying to seem tough by clenching his fists and grinding his teeth, but the fact that he was shaking like a leaf told me he had no intention of backing this up. On the other hand, Sam's face was much more stoic, but she was still quivering.
"I... I, uh... If we work together, then... Then I know we can beat-!" Dan started to say.
He stopped, though, when Erick's voice shouted, "I can help her with that if you two want a tag-dual!"
When they turned around, the two of them and I saw as Erick's hand grabbed the edge of the hole. After that, he pulled himself out of the pit, dusted himself off, and frowned at Dan and Sam.
"How long was I out?" Erick asked while I smiled at the sight of him being okay.
Stepping away from him, Sam yelled, "How the Hell did you get out of there?!"
In response, Erick glanced at the hole, turned back to look at Sam, cocked an eyebrow, and answered, "It wasn't that deep and the walls were solid enough for me to climb. The only reason I was down there as long as I was, was because I hit my head when I fell... I mean... I assume I was down there for a bit. Again, how long was it actually?"
"Long enough for me to duel the big guy," I spoke up while pointing at Bernard's body.
Looking at where I pointed, Erick froze for a few seconds, before changing his focus to Sam and Dan.
"I... Oh... So, are we dueling you guys too, then?"
"Uh, uh, uh..." Dan muttered.
Raising her hands, Sam shouted, "No! No, we give up! Take whatever food you want...! Look, you have to understand, we were just trying to end this horrible tournament sooner!"
Waving her off, Erick put a hand in one of his pockets and told her, "Sure, whatever makes you feel better... Come on, Tanya. Let's get our food and get out of here."
"Right! Let's go," I answered excitedly while I practically skipped over to him. Admittedly, I was letting my excitement at Erick being alright get the best of me a bit.
Then, Erick and I walked around the hole and opened the fridge. The inside of it let out a small gust of cooler air as we looked inside. Within, there were hundreds of silver packs and bottles of water. Picking up one of the packs, they looked like the kind of military ration packs I'd seen in movies.
Erick must have been thinking the same thing, because he told me, "Alright. Let's grab seven packs per person and fourteen water bottles."
"That'd be... Hmmm... sixty three packs and... a hundred and twenty six bottles. Uh, can we really carry all that?" I asked.
"Well, that's what it should take to get us through a week if we ration this stuff out smartley... If we use our backpacks, fill our arms, and split the load, we should be able to get this stuff back to our group. I'll carry the water and a quarter of the food. Then, you can carry the rest of the food. That sound good to you?"
Folding my arms, I asked, "Why are you taking so much more?"
Stretching his arms out, Erick told me bluntly, "Cause I'm bigger than you and I have longer arms. This isn't a time to be all defensive, come on."
I averted my eyes for a second, before responding, "Okay... Okay, sorry."
"Alright, let's get this stuff loaded up."
While Erick and I were getting all of our food and water together, I overheard and saw Dan and Sam arguing and panicking. They were going back and forth about Bernard's death, us taking their food, and Dan not doing a good enough job with his hole.
Once we had everything ready, both of us working to balance our loads, Erick made one last comment to the two we were leaving behind, "Well, my friends and I are going to try and find a way to let everyone escape this place... Good luck with surviving, try not kill anyone if you don't have to, and... If you guys need to recharge your duel disks, there's a charging station the way we're heading off in. Wait until we leave that spot before you go if you do decide to, so... Like, wait an hour I'd say. Anyways, bye, and I hope we don't meet each other again while we're here."
Without another word, the two of us went back into the woods while the cowards watched us with confusion.
A few minutes into our walk back to the group, we had been quiet, so I decided to speak up, "You were... pretty polite back there, all things considered. What's up with that?"
Adjusting his load to make sure he didn't drop anything, Erick told me, "Normally, I'd want to kick their faces in, but, besides the fact that that's not an option, I want as many people as possible to get out of here alive. I figured giving out advice on how to survive would be a good way to do that... But what about you?"
"Uh... What about me?"
"Well... You... Won a duel, if you catch my drift. Are you doing alright? Do you need to talk about it?"
I stopped walking when he asked that, which made him stop too. For a minute, I didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say.
Eventually, I put my stuff down and told him, "Actually, I... need to use the bathroom. I'm gonna drop my stuff here and be right back."
"Uhuh... Alright, I'll keep an eye on the supplies, but be careful and get back here as soon as you can."
"I... I will," I replied while walking off the trail to put some distance between us.
Once I was out of Erick's sight, I heard him yell to me, "Don't go number two if you don't have to! I don't know if there are any toilets on this island, but it's better to save that business for if we find one... They're probably some in the buildings by the pier now that I think about it!"
"Okay! Thank you!" I yelled back while picking up my pace.
After a minute, I was pretty sure I was far enough away. I'd been trying not to think about what just happened, but I couldn't ignore it anymore. That Bernard guy was a complete jerk, but... He was still a person. He started it, but he was right that it was my choice to end it. If I didn't, Erick and I would've died, and I couldn't let that happen... right?
I... I took a life.
Before I knew it, I felt myself start to cry. Falling to my knees, I could tell that my body wanted to wail, but I wouldn't let it happen. Aside from not wanting Erick to hear me, I also didn't want anyone else to find me via my cries. I ended up covering my mouth to help keep myself under control.
I suddenly felt lucky that I'd already digested all my food from last night, as my stomach tightened and I wretched. Like I said, it's lucky that I didn't have anything to throw up.
After a few more minutes, I realized that I needed to get back to where Erick was before too long. Getting back up, I took a second to wipe my face and catch my breath.
Before leaving, I chose to actually take care of business like I said I would. Once I was done, I turned around and went back the way I came.
When I got close to where Erick was, I could smell something in the air.
Is that sweat or...? Oh, I guess Erick decided to deal with things too while I was gone.
I decided to wait a few extra minutes before climbing past the last row of bushes and trees in my way, lest I see something I could never unsee. Once I felt I'd waited long enough, though, I made my entrance just in time to hear the sound of pants being zipped back up.
"Well... That was good timing on my part," I said.
Buttoning his pants up before he turned around, Erick, somewhat flustered, told me, "Oh! Sorry about that. I just didn't have a chance to go this morning and I figured you'd be gone long enough for... Well, you get the point."
"Yes... Yes, I do. Thank you..."
Scratching his head as he looked at his pile of supplies, Erick said to me, "Sooo..."
"So?"
"Do you... Are you alright?"
Giving off a salute with a couple of fingers, I answered, "No need to worry. I'm good!"
"You sure you don't want to talk about it? I'm here if you need me."
"I... Yes. Yes...! I'm fine, so stop asking! Alright!?"
Flinching, Erick frowned at me before saying, "Okay... I'll drop it."
"Good. Now let's grab all our stuff and head back."
"Right right..."
It took us a lot longer to get back than it did for us to get to the food in the first place, but, fortunately, we found our way back regardless. When we arrived, it seemed like nothing important had happened, since everyone was just sitting around. However, Frank and Justin weren't there. If I had to guess, or maybe hope is the better word, they were still out looking for food.
When Brie noticed us, she spoke up, "Wow! That's... That's a lot of food and water. I gotta admit, good job, you two."
"Oh! Th-thanks, Brie!" Erick replied while blushing a bit. Fortunately for him, I don't think anyone but me noticed that.
"Look at that haul! That'll last us a while! Wahoo!" Jessie cheered.
Brushing some hair out of his face, Michael talked next, "Excellent work, Erick. I'd expect nothing less from my rival."
"Uh, actually-."
Cutting Erick off, I yelled, "Hey! All he did was fall in a hole! I had to save his butt by winning a duel!"
Tilting his head, Michael gave me a smug look while asking me, "Really? You expect me to believe that?"
"She might have a temper like a platypus, but Tanya isn't usually one to lie," Elsa spoke up.
A platypus? What?
"Well, there's a first time for everything," Michael insisted.
"Hey, knock it off. She's telling the truth. All I did was help carry things back," Erick spoke up, his voice very stern.
Looking away, Michael replied, "If you want to help make her look good, then I won't argue with you."
Just as I was about to yell at Michael for that backhanded insult, Diego approached him and calmly said, "What makes you think Tanya needs anyone's help to look good? She can usually do that pretty well on her own."
Smirking while putting my load of food down, I said, "Thank you, Diego."
His smug expression going nowhere, Michael replied, "Last time I checked, Erick and Justin were the ones who built her deck for her. Isn't that right, Tanya?"
"Hey! They only helped me back in my freshmen year! I've built my deck by myself since then!"
"Yeah, I mean, we all needed help building our decks in one way or another, Michale! That's why we all went to Duel Academy in the first place!" Erick snapped while setting his food and water down.
"None of that proves her story, though, my friend," Michael taunted.
Just as I was going to yell some more, Erick lifted his duel disk up, pointed at it, and said, "No, it doesn't. But I think our reset timers do."
Everyone looked at their own duel disks when Erick said that, before Michael replied, "Maybe... But that could have been you again, or Frank, or Justin."
"I'm a higher rank than both of those two!" I shouted.
"Ha. You say that like anything outside of the top three matters. Do you really-?"
"Are you done?! Seriously, what are you doing!? I get that you were like this back in school, but we're supposed to be working together to survive right now!" Brie suddenly yelled while stomping up to Michael.
"Yeah, what the heck, man? You're being a butt, dude," Jessie added.
"Heh. Well said, Jessie," Diego remarked.
Looking like he understood no one was on his side, Michael turned away and said, "Whatever. I was just... Making sure she was telling the truth. I wanted to make sure Erick didn't have to go through killing someone again so soon."
"Don't worry about that, Michael. Or, maybe, get used to it I should say. If anyone has to deal with that stuff again, I'll do what I can to make sure I'm the one taking care of it," Erick stated, his voice stern once more.
When Erick said that, everyone went quiet and looked at him in stunned silence.
"What was that?" I asked weakly.
While taking more water out of his backpack, Erick said, "I'm going to protect everyone. If we have to duel again while we're here, just let me handle it... I don't want anyone else to deal with this. You understand why, right, Tanya?"
"I... Uh... Erick, no," I told him.
"What? I... Sorry, but do you mean you didn't actually duel that guy?"
"Ha! I knew it," Michael mocked.
"Shut up, jerk! No, I mean... You're right that I understand how you feel, but... You're being dumb if you think I'm going to let you handle all that hurt by yourself!" I shouted.
"But... But I... But no one else needs to do this!"
Suddenly, Diego and Elsa approached us, as Diego said, "Sorry, but Tanya's right. I wouldn't be right or smart for us to leave this whole thing to you."
"Yeah, not to mention your Duel Spirits. They're crying for us to help you," Elsa said while giving Erick puppy-dog eyes.
"Guys... I..."
Surprising me, Brie was the next to step up, looking Erick in his eyes and telling him, "Let's look at this logically. I know we don't plan to spend more than a week here, but even so, we can't just let one person do all the dueling. Do you plan on winning a duel every day? The rest of us only get twenty-four hours added to our clocks when another person on our team wins. We're all going to need to win duels at some point or another if we want to survive."
As Erick looked at Brie, his blush returning, Michael spoke up again, much to my frustration, "Alright, listen... Aside from the emotional baggage that would give you, everyone is right that it isn't smart. I mean, if one of us is going to duel in place of everyone else, it should be me... I mean, what Brie's saying is true, that we're all gonna have to duel anyway, but still..."
Taking a step back, Erick scratched his head, took a second to think, before saying, "Okay, I get it... No one's on board with me taking care of all this myself. We're all in this together or whatever... Sorry."
"Oh good, you got it. I thought I'd have to say something next and I can't think of anything," Jessie said.
Reaching up to put my hand on his shoulder, I told Erick, "Hey, you don't need to be sorry. You just wanted to help everyone."
As Erick gave me a weak smile, Michael turned his attention to me and said, "Now, as for you..."
When he said that it made me ask him, "What now?!"
Grimacing at me, Michael said, "Look, I... I'm sorry about all that just now. We just got out of school and we all know how competitive it was... But, we all need to work together here, so I'll try to stop that. I'm not saying I'm going to make a complete one-eighty, but I'm gonna try to be less... Mocking, I guess. Alright?"
Everyone stayed quiet for a moment while I thought over how to respond.
After a few seconds, I replied, "Okay... Getting out of here's what's important, so I'll forgive you."
Nodding at me with an unreadable expression, Michael responded, "Good... Good."
Almost as soon as that conversation wrapped up, we heard the rustling of trees and bushes, followed by Justin and Frank walking back into camp. They were holding their own bundles of food and water, with each of them looking very concerned.
Approaching everyone and putting his stuff down, Justin said, "Hey, me and Frank noticed that the duel timers reset while we were gone. Is everyone okay...? Oh, also, we found food, by the way... And it looks like Erick and Tanya did too. Cool."
Right behind him, Frank walked up to us too and added, "Mmhmm!"
"Yeah, we're okay. I had to win a duel after Erick fell in a pit trap set by a bunch of crazy people. We got out of there just fine, though."
Justin just looked at me for a bit after that, eventually asking, "So... Are you alright?"
Getting a bit upset, I snapped, "Yes! I'm fine! Would you and Erick stop asking me that already!?"
"Huh?! But... You had to-."
Erick cut Justin off when he put his hand on his shoulder and told him, "It's better if we just drop it for now, I think. Let's focus on dividing out the rations. With everything that the four of us brought back, it looks like we'll have enough to last us all at least a couple of weeks."
Frowning at him, Justin replied, "Well... If you say so, bro."
Justin, Erick, and Frank then got to work with everyone to divide up the rations evenly.
Everything has been pretty traumatic so far, and it certainly hasn't been easy, but now we have enough food to last us for a good while. If things stay on track like this, then I think we really will be able to find a way out of here... right?
Duel Academy Student Profile. Tanya Delora
Win/Loss Ratio For Sanctioned Duels: 84.4%
Deck Rating: Amazoness Army
Consistency: 4/5
Power: 2/5
Comeback: 2.5/5
Protection: 5/5
Versatility: 4/5