Hellowe!
Thanks for all your lovely reviews once again! It gives us true writing boost! BOEM! And we like to create BOEM's at your homes! Just make sure that you don't let your milk explode... that tends to happen.
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Enjoy, enjoy, enjoyoyoyoi the chapter that comes after number eight of Heart to Beat!
Chapter 9
He had to pee.
Rex was wandering through the forest, looking for the perfect spot to pee in peace. He didn't want to risk being spotted by a duelist while doing so, so he went very far away from where he had set up his camp with Weevil.
It was quite urgent. He already had wanted to pee more than an hour ago, but Weevil wouldn't let him. Setting up that damned tent had been tougher than one would expect and Weevil didn't want to let him pee before it was set, so he could 'prepare for the night'. That idiot of a Pegasus had given Weevil and him a high-tech tent for free, but forgot to give them a manual! They had begged for two one-person tents, so they could sleep separately, but for some unexplainable reason, they had to pay for that. Considering they're a bit short of money, they had taken the tent for two.
"Aha! This should do it." Rex looked around and was satisfied with the environment. As he started to unzip his trousers, he kept on thinking about that ridiculous tent. "I wonder if Weevil and I are the only ones who have struggled with their tent. Rose and Maya for example... would they have been able to do it? Perhaps they're still struggling." Images came to Rex' mind as he tried to imagine the two girls trying to set up their tent failing over and over again.
"Maya: It's not working. We'll have to sleep outside.
Rose: But I'm so cold.
Maya: We don't have a choice. Our sleeping bags will have to do it.
Rose: It's starting to rain…
Maya: Correction, it's starting to storm!
Rose: I know Belgium is a rainy country, but at least it's not storming there…
Maya: Help! I'm flying away!
Rose: Take my hand and stay close to the ground!
Maya: A tornado!
Rose: Before we die, I want you to know that you've always been my best friend, Maya!
Maya: See you in heaven, my friend!
Rose: Aaaaahhhhh!"
Rex looked up at the sky. It was full moon and he saw thousands of stars flickering quietly and peacefully in the upcoming darkness. "At least, it won't get that bad."
Rex zipped up his trousers again, but was suddenly startled by a noise. He turned around and at first, he thought he had seen a phantom, but when he looked a bit closer, he saw it was a woman in a white dress. Looking even closer, he recognised the woman as Rose, who was wearing a white night gown that almost reached to her knees. She was only a few meters away from him now, but she didn't seem to have noticed him. Rex was a bit shocked at the sight. Rose had this strange blue light in her eyes, which made them even bluer than usual. She was on her bare feet, ignoring the rough underground she was walking on, and doing it in an almost floating way. All of this, the way she was walking, the way the wind blew in her dress and the strange look in her eyes, almost made Rex believe that he was looking at an angel. The strangest thing however, was that she hadn't seen him at all, despite the fact that he had been standing almost in front of her. "Something is different about her. I wonder what she's up to." So he decided to follow her. That didn't seem to be very difficult, considering that Rose wasn't quite reacting to anything in her environment.
After a while of walking, they reached to an open area filled with a various amount of flowers. Okay, he had to admit, this was a beautiful place and the smell that came from the flowers was wonderful. Perhaps he should take Weevil here the next day. He would surely be impressed. In Japan, Weevil visits the park every day, so he can sit on a bank for hours while looking at the trees, the flowers, the grass, the plants, the bugs and who knows what else. It was the only place in town he really liked (except for the card shop) and Rex knew very well that Weevil wanted to get on top again, so he could save enough money for a house in the countryside. Weevil never told this to Rex, but he just knew it and Weevil knew that. Weevil also knew that Rex preferred the countryside as well, although not so frantically as he himself.
As Rose walked deeper into the field, Rex hid in the closest bushes. By the time Rex had made sure he was invisible, Rose had stopped already and seemed to be completely absorbed by the beauty and the smell of the flowers. She closed her eyes and tilted her head backwards, inhaling softly but attentively. Looking at Rose, while the wind was still blowing in her hair and her dress, made Rex feel as if he was in a fairy tale. There was something unnatural about it.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a man stepped out from the bushes and walked in Rose's direction. Surprisingly enough, Rose immediately took notion of him, despite the fact that he hadn't made a lot of noise while doing so and Rose had stood with her back turned towards him. He was a tall man, more than a head bigger than Rose, almost fat and his head had the form of a pear. In brief, to Rex, he came over like a big bully. He looked between Rose and the man and at the idealistic surroundings.
"Is this a date? Oh come on… Rose can get a lot better than that pear-head… and why has that blue light in her eyes faded?"
"Jij?"
"Okay, so they are talking in Dutch, but considering the way she said that word, she's not too happy to see the guy. All the better."
"Wat doe jij hier?"
"Okay, so she really isn't happy…"
"Ik ben gekomen om jou te doden."
"Euhm… did I just see a tiny bit of fear in her eyes?"
"Ik moet het toegeven, toen we kinderen waren kon je me echt bang maken. Maar als je denkt, dat je me nog steeds kunt intimideren op zo'n laffe manier, dan ben je een idioot. Jij maakt mij niet meer bang! Daarmee heb ik lang geleden al afgerekend."
"Gosh, you can really hear the hatred dripping from her voice and Pear-Head just stands there smirking. I wonder how they know each other."
"Destijds heb ik gezegd dat ik je zou doden en nu ga ik het doen."
"He's taking something… A KNIFE!"
Rex quickly turned his attention to Rose, but much to his surprise, she was standing still.
The man took a step in Rose's direction, but she didn't move a muscle. He took another and another and eventually began speeding up.
"Why doesn't she run away? He's going to kill her! Run Rose! Run then!"
"Croak… croak."
"A frog."
Without hesitating, Rex threw the frog at the man's face. As he hit his goal at exactly the right spot, the man fell to the ground.
All of a sudden, Rose snapped back to reality as she saw the man lying on the ground. She shuffled backwards while fear was coming over her.
"RUN!" A voice yelled from the forest.
Without hesitating any longer, Rose ran into the forest as fast as she could. At first, she considered running to the camp, but on second thought, she figured that wouldn't be very smart. Overwhelmed by fear and not knowing what to do, she stopped to look around whether she was being followed or not. After a few moments of silence, she decided to walk on very quietly. However, having come to her senses again, she suddenly noticed a sharp pain coming from both her feet. "Have I been walking on my bare feet all the time? And why am I holding my deck in my hand? What is wrong with me?"
"Pssssst… pssssst!"
Almost instantly, Rose jumped and moved her head towards the direction the noise was coming from. She spotted a familiar face in the bushes who signalled for her to come.
"Rex." Rose suddenly felled better at knowing that Rex was with her now. Silently, she went over to him and joined him in the bushes.
"Rex, are you the one who threw that frog?", Rose whispered to Rex.
"Yes, but who is that pear-head?", Rex whispered while pointing his head in the direction they came from.
"Oh, so you know him too?"
"What? That's his real name?", Rex asked in slight astonishment.
"No, it's not his real name, but everyone calls him that."
"No wonder... but where do you know him from?"
"Well… I a…", Rose once again was filled with sadness as she thought back at her childhood and she had difficulty at holding back her upcoming tears. "I… don't want to talk about it." Her voice cracked when she said it and Rex figured that it all had to be too fresh for her to talk about.
"Anyway, we have to get away from here. I suggest we go to your camp, get Maya, and then you two come with Weevil and me. We'll be save if there are four of us.", Rex suggested.
Rose sighed in a despondent way. "That's the problem. She probably isn't there. Last time I saw her, she was running into the forest after a cat. For some reason, I get the feeling she still hasn't returned."
"Well, we can always pass by just to be sure, and if she really isn't there, we can still go on to my camp. Okay?"
"Okay."
Rex and Rose got on their feet again as quietly as possible. Just as Rex was about to take his first step, he heard a loud scream coming from Rose behind him. He turned round, and was deeply shocked when he saw who was standing before them. "Siegfried von Schroeder?"
"Hi Rexy. Long time no see.", Siegfried greeted with a smirk on his face.
Rex immediately started gritting his teeth as flashbacks from his duel and his defeat came to his mind. While Rex was dealing with his inner struggling, Rose studied the man who was standing before her. He had pink hair, was wearing a pink suit and was holding a red rose in his hand. "Yep, this guy has to be gay. Wait a minute… did he call him 'Rexy'? Oh no! He's after him!"
"You! Let's duel!", Rex suddenly angrily yelled.
"Huh? Rex, have you forgotten that Pear-Head is after us?", Rose asked.
"How many starchips do you have?", Rex went on, without paying attention to Rose.
"Stars or chips?", Siegfried asked, chuckling a bit.
"Starchips, you fool! How many?" Rex' voice was cracking from hatred and anger and that didn't go by unnoticed by Rose. "What's gotten in to him all of a sudden?"
"I've got no starchips at all.", Siegfried said, while running his hand through his hair.
"I still want to duel! You're going to pay for what you did last time!", Rex yelled on.
"Last time? So they know each other?", Rose thought.
"Okay, but on one condition.", Siegfried said.
"And what's that?", Rex asked, willing to do everything for a rematch.
"I will duel the both of you at once. After all, I did put on my favourite suit.", Siegfried answered with an air.
"Fine, if you're willing to lose that badly.", Rex said, gritting his teeth. Pinky was wrong if he thought he would be able to humiliate him in exactly the same way as last time.
"Let's go find a dueling arena then. There's one not too far from here." While saying that, Siegfried had already turned around. Rose looked over at Rex, but immediately saw he wasn't going to change his mind.
While they were walking through the forest, Siegfried ahead with a determined Rex behind him, Rose was looking around carefully, for she hadn't forgotten about Pear-Head. After a while, they came back to the flower field. The ground began shaking and a dueling arena rose from beneath its surface. For a few moments, Rex and Rose were blinded by the strong lights that were sent out by it. Siegfried however, seemed to have no problems at all and went to his side of the platform. When they were able to see again, Rex and Rose did the same thing. The platform however, was designed for only one person to stand on, so they had to stand quite close to each other. Their arms were touching occasionally and this caused Rose to get a head as red as a tomato, but luckily for her, no-one noticed it.
"Euhm… Rex, how is this duel going to work?", Rose asked shyly.
"Simple, everyone gets 4000 life points as usual. Then, for example, you do the first turn, then it's my turn, then it's his turn, then your turn again and so on. Victory will be his, if he manages to get the both of us down to 0 life points. We on the other hand, only have to focus on him. That's all.", Rex explained.
"Oh, okay… but there is only one field for the two of us.", Rose reasoned.
"… euhm, yes.", Rex realised.
"You two just take 4000 life points each and share your field.", Siegfried explained. "And that way, you'll have less room to play cards."
"Strange rules…", Rose reasoned on.
"Why don't you two start off?", Siegfried once again said while running his hand through his hair.
"Okay. You may begin then if you want, Rex.", Rose proposed.
"Fine."
"Oh wait!", Rose suddenly intervened. "We haven't shuffled the cards."
"No need to shuffle the cards, sweetie.", Siegfried answered.
"Oh… okay then."
Rose and Siegfried took five cards out of their decks, while Rex immediately took out six.
"Hehe, I couldn't have asked for a better opening hand.", Rex said smirking. "Perhaps we should have shuffled the cards after all. Anyway, I special summon three Gilasaurusses (ATK1400/DEF400)!" Three fast-looking raptors emerged on the field and growled in a threatening way at Siegfried. "Whenever a Gilasaurus is special…"
"I know its effect, just go on, boy.", Siegfried interrupted Rex, causing him to growl.
"You won't stay that tough, Pinky! Mark my words! I sacrifice two of my Gilasaurusses, so I can summon Ultimate Tyranno (ATK3000/DEF2200)!" A tyrannosaurus, as high as a three-store building came to the field and let out a deafening roar. Its body was protected by a metallic plating that was covered with large spikes.
"WOW! That is one of the coolest monsters I have ever seen in my whole life!", Rose said in awe. "It makes me think of Godzilla."
"Godzilla? Now that you mention it, you're right.", Rex said while he admired his mighty dinosaur.
"So this is your strongest monster?", Rose asked almost breathless.
"Indeed! This is it!", Rex proudly said, knowing that Rose was impressed.
The both of them gazed at the gigantic creature, until Siegfried started coughing in order to get them back to reality.
"Of course, it's still my turn.", Rex studied his cards. "I play one card face-downand end my turn. Your move, Rose."
Rose started studying her cards.
"Draw a card.", Rex whispered, trying not to move his lips.
"Oh Jesus!", she whispered back, getting the urge to slap her head while she drew her card. "Let's start by activating Jurassic World. This magical field card gives all dinosaurs a 300 attack and defence boost."
"Yes! That means my Ultimate Tyranno gets 3300 attack points now!", Rex happily exclaimed.
"Then, I special summon a Gilasaurus as well." A second Gilasaurus came to stand next to Rex' while taking the same posture. "Then, I will…"
"Don't you know the rules of the game? You have to explain me your Gilasaurus' effect, sweetie.", Siegfried suddenly intervened Rose.
"But… you didn't want to hear it from Rex.", Rose asked not understanding.
"What does that have to do with it? I want to hear it from you. Now tell me. What's your monster's special effect?"
"But… huh?", Rose stared unbelievingly at Siegfried while she was unable to follow his quirk of the brain.
"Ggrrrr, he's just playing with us.", Rex started gritting his teeth. "Ignore him and do what you wanted to do, Rose."
"Uh… okay. I want to…"
"What? You're cheating against me?", Siegfried once again interrupted Rose with a sort of hurt look on his face, "You? And you looked so honest and kind to me… I never expected that from someone like you."
Rose was a bit taken aback because of Siegfried's speech, and started to wonder whether she should be feeling guilty or not. His words sounded so familiar…
"Ha! You really think we're falling for that lame speech? You've had your chance, Pinky.", Rex answered in Rose's place. He then turned his head towards her so he could look her in the eyes and say in a dominating tone: "Go on."
Although she hesitated, Rose nodded and looked at her cards again. A smile came across her face as she remembered what she was up to.
"Now, I will sacrifice our two remaining Gilasaurusses, so I can summon Jurrac Titano (ATK3000/DEF2800 → ATK3300/DEF3100)!" Another Tyrannosaurus took place on the field and it wasn't inferior to the one standing next to him. Just like most of the Jurracs, Jurrac Titano was a colourful dinosaur, but fire red was dominating. Its thick and impenetrable skin was occasionally covered with large spikes as well, and its roar was so deafening that Rose and Rex had to shield their ears.
Rose desperately tried to suppress the urge to start jumping up and down out of excitement. "Gohohohoho! I can't believe that dinosaur is really mine!", she started chuckling. It was the first time she got to play the card, so she didn't know yet what it would look like as a hologram.
"You were willing to risk that cool dinosaur for a Red-Eyes Black Dragon? You're totally insane!", Rex said while staring in awe at the gigantic Jurrac monster.
Both of them were once again absorbed by their strongest monsters, so Siegfried had to cough again. "Oh yes, I end my turn.", Rose finished, chuckling on.
"You are so dead, Pinky! There's no way you will ever be able to surpass these kings of the dinosaurs!", Rex said, thirsty for revenge.
"Finally.", Siegfried sighed as he drew a card. "I thought you two would go on summoning weak monsters for ever."
"WHAT?", Rex and Rose exclaimed in unison.
"Try to say that again, Pink-Head!", Rex yelled at Siegfried.
"I said, that I feared that you two would go on summoning weak monsters forever.", Siegfried repeated calmly.
"How dare you…", Rex said, balding his fists.
"Just ignore him, Rex. By getting angry, you're giving him exactly what he wants.", Rose tried to calm down Rex.
Rex lowered his hands, but continued looking at Siegfried with unlimited hatred in his eyes.
"It's time. My conquest has already begun to blossom."
"… What did he say?", Rose asked, supressing the urge to start laughing.
"Stop playing games with me!", Rex however angrily yelled.
"Playing games? He just said a very ridiculous sentence.", Rose thought, not aware of Rex' past.
"Now, I shall harvest my victory with this. Lightning Vortex!"
"O-oh!", Rose instantly exclaimed.
"You… dirty animal!", Rex said, gritting his teeth harder than ever.
"I discard Naturia Butterfly from my hand, so I can destroy every single, weak monster you control."
Two terrible flashes of lightning hit the dino giants, electrocuting them. They gave everything that laid within their power to resist to the pain, but finally let out a dying roar and disappeared from the field. Rose stared at the empty field before her, mouth opened and eyes wide open. Rex on the other hand, lowered his head while closing his eyes, his breath becoming more fierce. "This can't be. Not again…"
"Behave like a man and look at me when I slaughter you.", Siegfried commanded Rex, who looked up with a hurt look in his eyes.
"Hey! Calm down a bit, will ya!", Rose defended Rex.
"Oh my, is my nose still standing on my beautiful face? Yes? What a relief. I guess I shall continue then. To start, I activate the spell card Ancient Rules."
"O-oh!", Rose once again worried.
"Now I can special summon a level 5 or higher monster from my hand." Without saying what he was about to summon, he placed the card on the duel desk. The next moment, a ferocious black dragon with red eyes appeared on the field and let out its impressive roar.
"Red-Eyes Black Dragon (ATK2400/DEF2000)! A symbol of friendship!", Joey's voice exclaimed.
Rex and Rose looked in shock at the scenery before them. Right before their eyes, Siegfried had somehow transformed into Joey Wheeler. Even though Rose didn't know him too well, she figured this wasn't the real one, for he had an evil smirk on his face.
"Hehehe, surprise! But it's not ending here, I will activate another Ancient Rules card.", Joey activated the card, took a card from his hand and without saying what it was, he placed it on the dueling desk. The next moment, a dark blue-grey dragon came to the field. Its slim body made it almost look like a serpent, rather than a usual dragon.
"Serpent Night Dragon (ATK2350/DEF2400)!", Espa Roba's voice echoed over the field.
Saying that Rex and Rose were deeply shocked isn't enough to describe their… disbelief. Next to Joey, was now standing nobody else than Espa Roba, the psychic duelist.
"How… how is something like that possible?", Rose finally managed to say. "He just… he just… appeared…"
Very slowly, Rex was getting overpowered by sadness and pain. Looking at his enemy's faces made him feel totally helpless and meaningless. Looking at his two former favourite cards made him feel hurt and empty inside as if a part of him had been taken away. "I will always be a loser… I am worthless."
"Red-Eyes Black Dragon! Attack Dino Brain directly!"
"Serpent Night Dragon! Attack Dino Dork directly as well!"
Rex' two former dragons each created a powerful attack and fired it off at Rex, while his life points dropped to 0. Instead of going right through Rex, the attacks exploded as soon as they made contact with his body, causing him to get catapulted against the railing behind him. Because Rose was standing next to Rex, she received some of the attacks as well and was also catapulted backwards. She let out a painful moan as she felt how the railing was penetrating into her back and she felt some of her ribs crack, but they resisted to the sudden pressure. At first she wasn't able to say anything. It was as if the pain had cut off her voice and although her mouth was open, she didn't manage to make a sound. It was only after a few moments as she was slowly recovering from the pain, that she got her voice back. "That was a real attack…", she finally managed to say. To her astonishment, Rex was already standing on his feet again as if it had been an ordinary hologram after all. Rose didn't know whether she should be relieved or terribly worried by that. Rex couldn't possibly be acting that tough. Most people wouldn't stand up again after an impact like that. She slowly stood up as well.
"Looks familiar, Dino Brain?", Joey began.
"Your Serpent Night Dragon doesn't deserve a place in my deck.", Espa Roba continued.
"YOUR Serpent Night Dragon?", Rose asked, totally confused.
Rex only closed his eyes again and turned his head away, while breathing heavily. Seeing Rex like this, made Rose feel as if her heart was being ripped out of her chest, but she couldn't understand what was wrong with him.
"Haha! Can you believe it? That idiot really thought I was psychic and eventually, I was just looking at every single card in his hand! Hahaha!", Espa Roba laughed.
"Hehe, but I was able to see through you, wasn't I?", Joey laughed back.
"Yes, indeed! You were smart enough to know that I was cheating. Dino Dork wasn't!"
"He's such an utter idiot!", Joey shouted.
"Can you believe he's still showing his face in public?"
At that moment, Rex couldn't control himself anymore and let go his tears. It didn't matter anyway. He already had lost all of his pride. Everyone's making fun of him the entire time. He's nothing. Why still try to act tough? He buried his face in his hand and let out soft cries, shaking while doing so.
Rose almost felt like weeping herself, but she had to protect Rex. She took his arm in her left hand and gently ran her right hand over his back in an attempt to comfort him. "Don't listen to them, Rex. They are just very bad people. You are so much better than the both of them together are." She said it in the most reassuring and comforting tone she could possibly create.
"Rose… doesn't make fun of me?"
"He's crying like a woman!", Joey exclaimed, pointing his index finger at Rex.
"You two are going to shut up right away, or I will… I will… well, I don't know what I will do, but it will be something bad! Can't you see how unhappy he is?", Rose was getting so filled with hatred that it caused her voice to tremble.
"You just make sure that you take care of Dino Dork. If you ask me, he's not going to stand on his feet very much longer.", Espa Roba chuckled.
Rose gasped for air when she looked at Rex again. His face and his hand were fully covered in blood, which seemed to come from his eyes. "REX! You're bleeding!", she exclaimed while shuffling backwards.
Rex did an attempt to answer Rose, but only managed to produce a weak moan. In addition to his mental suffering now came an unbearable, physical pain due to the monsters' attacks and the railing that had planted itself in his back. The sharp pain he experienced, almost took him his ability to breathe away and he felt himself getting weaker quickly. Eventually his knees gave out. He pressed his eyes tighter together as he prepared for the fall, but it never came. Instead, he felt two arms being wrapped around his waist, holding him tightly, while his head was resting on a shoulder. "Rose… help please."
"Rex! Say something! What is wrong with you?" Seeing however, that Rex wasn't responding, Rose turned her attention to the two smirking boys on the other side of the dueling platform. "What have you done to him?", she screamed at them.
"Nothing. He only did that to himself.", Espa Roba stated.
"Yeah, by acting like a big baby.", Joey went on.
The two of them began laughing once again, while Rose was struggling to stay upright. Because Rex was all limp in her arms, laying his full weight on her, she decided to let him sit down with his back turned against the platform. When she finally managed to do that, in a clumsy way, but without hurting Rex even more, she whispered in a soft, reassuring tone: "Don't worry, Rex. I will win this duel for us."
"Hey, what are you two doing down there, little twerps?", Joey asked for they weren't able to see Rex and Rose anymore.
"Don't try to sneak away, cowards.", Espa Roba continued.
At that moment, Rose got on her feet and became visible again.
"Oh, is Rexy taking a nap?"
"I swear if… YOU?", Rose's eyes shot wide open in shock and astonishment. Joey and Espa Roba had disappeared and in their place was now standing Pear-Head. He stared at her with an evil smirk on his face.
"Surprise! Did you miss me a lot?"
Rose's astonishment however, quickly made place for uncontrolled anger and hatred. "I don't know who you are and how you do this, but I demand that you wake up Rex immediately!"
"Oh, but I can't do that. His fate lies entirely in your hands."
"In MY hands? What do you mean?"
"Rexy will only wake up again if you manage to win this duel. Otherwise, he will… die. Just like you actually.", Pear-Head explained, while saying that last sentence as if he only noticed that now.
"Then I will have to win.", Rose stated in a calm voice.
"You? Hahaha! You're even weaker than he is. It's only a matter of time before I mentally break you and then, you will both die together!"
"I guess you end your turn.", Rose went on, fearless.
"Oh, suddenly so hasty to die. Perhaps that's better yes. Short pain, good choice."
"Draw!", Rose exclaimed for the first time in her life. As she studied the card she had drawn, she felt something drop on her feet. When she looked down, she saw it was Rex who had now completely lost consciousness, and was lying on her feet. Rose once again fell to her knees and desperately tried to wake him up, but in vain. Pear-Head's laughing echoed all over the flower field. Getting tears in her eyes, Rose suddenly realised that's how Rex started bleeding too, so she engaged herself to stay strong and got back on her feet.
"Do you really think you can protect him? Ignorant idiot. You've never been able to protect Maya, so why would you be able to do it now? You're still as weak as ever."
"I have changed!", Rose defensively yelled with a somewhat trembling voice.
"I don't think so. You know, watching you two at the playground always amused me. Driven into a corner and surrounded by our 'cruel' classmates.", Pear-Head couldn't supress the laughing anymore as he thought back on it. "I liked how you stood up for Maya, trying to look confident as they were yelling she was… what was it? Oh… was it, a monster?"
Rose almost felt like exploding from anger as she heard her best friend being called that again.
"But no matter how far they went, you could never come up with something to defend Maya. So you just stood there… like a statue, and our classmates were looking right through you.", Pear-Head buried his face in his hand, as to do a final attempt to supress the laughing. "But I have to admit that they probably never laid a finger on Maya because you were there. RESPECT!", he started applauding sarcastically. "I don't know why they always ignored you though. I thought you were more interesting to make fun of. So I gladly took care of that, sometimes even in a physical way, when I was in a good mood. You honestly have been a nice toy for me to play with. I owe you."
"Get to the point! What is it you want to say?", Rose demanded, tired of the humiliations.
"What I want to say is, that you won't protect Rex nor yourself. You're too weak for that. Believe me… you are VERY weak."
For a few moments, the two duelists just stood there watching each other motionlessly, until Rose started to chuckle.
"What's so funny about being a loser?", Pear-Head asked, sure Rose had gone insane out of fear.
"I can't believe I really fell for your little mind games when we were kids. Unfortunately for you, I have had a lot of time to think, and now, you can't scare me anymore. This duel is ending now! I activate Dark Hole!" The entire field changed into a black hole from which Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Serpent Night Dragon were unable to escape. No matter how hard they struggled, they were easily being absorbed in the darkness. Without waiting for her opponent's reaction, Rose went on. "Then, I activate Monster Reborn, so I can get Ultimate Tyranno back from our graveyard!" The mighty Godzilla-looking dinosaur returned from its grave to the field, letting out a victorious roar.
"Why didn't you summon Jurrac Titano? It's equally strong and it's your own monster.", Pear-Head said, frowning.
"Because it's one of Jurrac Titano's special abilities. He cannot be special summoned, but I don't mind using Rex' monster to finish you off. Ultimate Tyranno will take revenge for his master!" The dinosaur growled in a threatening way as if to emphasize Rose's words.
"Those are tough words for someone who's about to die. Go on then. Attack me. I'll send your pathetic little monster back to where it belongs the next turn.", Pear-Head was challenging.
"Not so fast Pear-Head. I haven't finished my main phase yet."
"What? What are you going to do then?", Pear-Head suddenly worried.
"I will activate Rex' face-down card Rush Recklessly! That way, Ultimate Tyranno gets a 700 attack boost (ATK4000) until the end of this turn and that's all I need to finish this duel!"
"What? Impossible!", Pear-Head shuffled backwards.
"It's very possible. Now, Ultimate Tyranno! Attack his life points directly!" With large and loud steps, Ultimate Tyranno went over to his victim who was screaming in fear. When the T-rex bit him, Pear-Head let out a loud scream as if it had really hurt. Having defeated his opponent, Ultimate Tyranno roared victoriously, before disappearing as soon as Pear-Head's life points dropped to 0.
Rose immediately tried to make Rex wake up again, but she was distracted by loud screams. Before her eyes, Pear-Head started to change. At first, his skin got whiter and somehow watery, until the only thing remaining was violent, sparkling water, which gave him a shining effect like a diamond. Next, his body started to slim drastically, while his face changed into a skull, mouth wide opened and oval. On his head, spikes were forming in the form of a crown. The scariest thing however, were the monster's extremely small, yet evil looking eyes. "You will pay for this very soon, Rose Lieben!" The next moment, the monster collapsed into a cascade of water and disappeared.
For a few moments, Rose was too horrified to move a muscle, but eventually managed to return her attention to Rex. "Come on now, Rex! Wake up!" Rex however laid still on the ground, as for dead. "What's wrong, Rex? I won the duel, so you're supposed to wake up again!", Rose continued, while shaking Rex' shoulders. Seeing that he still wasn't reacting, she placed her left hand on his cheek and softly slapped him with the other, while begging him to wake up. After minutes of trying, Rose became desperate and had no idea what to do. "What do I have to do? If he doesn't wake up… how do I keep him warm? I can't get him to the camp by myself. I need help, but I can't leave him alone and Maya probably isn't there either. What do I do? What if that monster comes back when I am not here? But I have to go back to the camp so I can get some blankets for the night. I think I still know the way and if I run as fast as I can, I should be back in about five or six minutes. I don't have another choice." "Don't worry, Rex. I'll be back before you know it."
That being said, Rose got on her feet, almost literally jumped off the platform and dashed into the forest. Ignoring the branches and the leaves that were cutting her face, she engaged herself to run even faster, refusing to give into the pain that came from her feet. After a minute of running at full speed, Rose noticed a flash of light through the woods. Scared that it might be that monster again, she hid in the bushes. As the light approached, Rose could make out a voice through the silence of the forest.
"Rex?"
"… I know that voice.", Rose thought.
"Rex, for heaven's sake, where are you?"
"It's Weevil!" Rose clumsily got out of the bushes, unable to control her emotions any longer. "Weevil! Weevil!"
Weevil jumped a bit at hearing his name being called out so frantically. He pointed his flashlight at the figure running towards him and immediately recognised Rose. "You?"
Rose took hold of Weevil's hand and dragged him along with her. "Hey, hey, what's happening?", Weevil was stunned.
"A monster! We dueled! He hurt Rex! Rex's bleeding! He needs help!"
"I don't get a shit of it. What kind of monster?"
"I don't know, but it wants to kill us! Rex needs help!"
Weevil would have tried to free himself from Rose's grip, if he wouldn't have been so surprised. Rose's appearance had somewhat taken him aback and now that he was running behind her, he couldn't help but stare at their united hands. Last time he held hands with someone, he was at nursery school…
"You're talking gibberish.", he finally managed to say.
After another minute, they reached the dueling arena. Rose dragged Weevil onto the platform until they arrived at Rex' side.
"What the…!", was all Weevil could exclaim at seeing Rex' bloody face.
"What do we have to do? He won't wake up!", Rose panicked on.
"But you're talking about a duel. Did he lose then?"
"Rex and I dueled against that monster together and in the end I defeated it. The monster said, that Rex would wake up again, if I would be able to defeat him, but he isn't waking up!", Rose 'calmly' explained.
"Perhaps he's not waking up because of the blood loss and he needs to recover. Apparently, he's still breathing.", Weevil reasoned, trying to stay cool.
"So what do we do then?", Rose asked, unable to stay cool.
"We bring him to our camp… even though that's quite far from here."
"My camp is not very far."
"Great. Then let's go there."
Weevil took Rex' arms while Rose took his legs. That way, they went clumsily through the forest to the camp, where they arrived after ten minutes.
"Now, where do we lay him?", Weevil asked, looking around.
"He can sleep in my sleeping bag, but shouldn't we wash his face first? It's all bloody."
Weevil quickly shuffled backwards at hearing that.
"What? Can't you take any blood?", Rose asked, supressing the urge to start smirking.
"Nonsense!", Weevil exclaimed defensively. "I'm just not touching HIS face."
"Don't worry. I'll do it. But will you please take this bowl and fill it with water from the brook outside?"
Weevil just nodded and did as he was told. He didn't want to admit it, but deep down, he was terribly worried about his friend. There was nobody else in his life, but Rex. What would he do without him?
When Weevil crawled into the tent again, with the bowl now filled with water, Rose had already taken a wash cloth. She thanked him as he placed the bowl next to her and dipped the cloth into the cold water. A bit hesitantly, she started to wash Rex' face, while Weevil just stood there watching, a bit uncomfortable as well.
Both Weevil and Rose were kind of relieved when the job was done and together they managed to get Rex into the sleeping bag. Rose looked down at her white night gown, which was covered with blood stains, but she figured she couldn't change while Weevil and Rex were there.
Striking enough, Weevil had noticed Rose's cuts on her arms and face, but saying something of it, would make him look too worried, so he didn't. Instead, he asked where he could sleep.
"You can sleep in Maya's bag if you want.", Rose answered.
"That's fine with me."
As Weevil crawled over to Maya's sleeping bag, Rose got out of the tent again to get rid of the water. As she did so, thoughts went through her head about where Maya could be. Should she go and look for her right away? How big was the chance she could find her in the dark? What if something bad had happened and it was too late already? Eventually, Rose shook off all the negative thoughts. "No, Maya can take care of herself when she really has to. And if not, then there just has to be a duelist who's doing it for her. I'll go search for her in the morning… what if Rex won't wake up…"
At that moment, a loud scream came from inside the tent. Scared to death, Rose rushed into the tent, only to see Weevil sitting with his legs in the sleeping bag, while staring in it with big eyes.
"What's wrong?", she asked him.
"What IS that?", Weevil grasped for something in the bag, which caused Rose to swallow and to wonder what the heck he thought he was doing. Eventually, he took out a hooting owl.
"Oh, that's just one of Maya's stuffed animals.", Rose said relieved. She had thought something was wrong with his… with his… oh well, it was just the owl.
"But there are so many of them… owls, cats, dragons, and even a butterfly.", Weevil continued, staring in astonishment. "Why for god's sake did she take all that to this island?"
"Oh believe me, she did not take ALL of them, not at all.", Rose said, knowing what she was talking about.
"When will that stupid thing stop hooting?", Weevil asked irritated.
"In a few minutes.", Rose said as she went sitting cross-legged at a safe distance from Rex and on the other side of the tent where Weevil was lying. "If you don't like it, then be careful when you get deeper into the bag, for there are others who can make noise."
With those words in mind, Weevil got deeper into the bag, extremely slowly and carefully. When he finally managed to do that, he told his subconscious not to let him move during the night. When he wanted to close his eyes, he suddenly realised that Rose was still sitting upright, looking a bit agitated. "Aren't you going to sleep?"
"I can't sleep. Besides, someone has to stay awake in case we are attacked or in case that Maya comes back."
"Fine. Whatever you want.", Weevil closed his eyes and fell asleep very soon.
For a long time, Rose held her eyes fixed on the exit of the tent, but after three quarters, she started to nod off. After another five minutes, she lost the fight against the sleep and promptly fell backwards on the floor, a dreamless night waiting for her.
ATTENTION! IMPORTANT NOTE!
Rose: Exams...
Maya: ... they suck.
Rose: Because of them...
Maya: ... we can't post anymore!
Rose: For more than a month!
Maya: *snivers*
Rose: Don't cry!
...
Rose: *bursts into tears*
Maya: Well, it's only for a month...
Rose: ... and a half.
Maya: Right.
Rose: BUT DON'T WORRY!
Maya: WE'LL BE BACK!
Rose: IN FEBRUARY!
Maya: Yes, important questions will be answered, such as...
Rose: ... what will Maya remember from the previous night?
Maya: Will Rex survive?
Rose: *almost faints*
Maya: Who or what is that monster and what is it up to?
Rose: Who will make it to the castle and who won't... alive.
Maya: Will feelings grow stronger?
Rose: After all that happened...
Maya: Will Weevil's owl start hooting during the night?
Rose: I hope not. I am there too, you know.
Maya: He can't help it. The owl HAS to hoot!
Rose: Then it's going to be a short night again...
Maya: It's a metaphor for...
Rose: Shhh! If we go on like this we have to raise the rating.
Maya: Yes, let's just forget about Weevil's owl...
Rose: I wasn't thinking about Weevil's owl!
Weevil: Yes, you were!
Maya: Yep, even in the tent!
Rose: That's Weevil's fault! He acted weird! He implied it!
Maya: Like I said, he can't help it. Owls hoot when they hoot.
Weevil: Yep.
Maya: Are we agreeing?
Weevil: Yep.
Maya: Strange...
Weevil: Yep.
Maya: Okay, Weevil stop it now!
Weevil: Yep.
Rose: Don't ignore me!
Weevil: Yep.
Maya: Let's just ignore him.
Weevil: Yep.
Maya + Rose: ... He's stuck.
Weevil: Yep.
Rose: Hope that his owl doesn't get stuck.
Weevil: Yep.
Maya: No! Not in my sleeping bag! My poor stuffed animals can't handle any wetness!
Weevil: Yep.
Rose: You're proud of it, aren't you?
Weevil: Yep!
Maya: Let's throw him out of the window.
Weevil: Y... NO!
Rose: Too late!
*Rose and Maya throw Weevil out of the window.*
Maya: Now...
Rose: ... what we wanted to say...
Maya: MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Rose: AND A HAPPY NEWYEAR!
Maya + Rose: TILL FEBRUARY! For the next exciting episode of Dragon... no, Heart to Beeeaaaattt!