Chapter 20: When It Rains…
There just weren't enough hours in the day for some people. Matt found himself thinking that more often these days. He'd wake up in the morning perfectly confident that everything on his To-Do list would be finished by the rigid deadlines he set for himself, but more often than not, he found himself working a little longer than he intended to just to make sure some project was going to be completed by the actual deadline Dr. West set.
But something happened recently that freed up an average of one hour per day. Rory approached Matt about spending time teaching her better ways to use her Cyber Dragons, and she brought with her a willingness to pay him in either money or in time spent doing his work. It wasn't long ago that Rory confessed her appreciation for Matt, which made the whole situation a little weird for him. He couldn't take any money from her without feeling like a prostitute; that much was certain.
The real crisis came from the fact that Kasumi didn't want him spending any time with Rory at all. Matt wished that he wanted to respect her wishes, but he liked Rory and he liked spending time with her as a friend. And the assistance she offered him in completing projects throughout the week helped him rationalize ignoring Kasumi's request. In exchange for training and practice, Rory helped Matt do an hour's worth of research each day, which ultimately equated into a free hour every day for Matt to spend with Kasumi. Overall, it was a winning situation for everyone.
Rory arrived at ten o'clock to Matt's office—more a glorified closet, really. The office was only big enough for a computer desk, with a computer and a chair, and a file cabinet. As important as it was for Dr. West to have an assistant, it wasn't necessary to give him a lot of space. Matt also managed to squeeze a small couch into the room for his visitors. Rory always brought her laptop with her and piggybacked on the building's wireless network.
"I can't believe I suckered you into doing work for me," Matt joked to Rory when she got set up.
She just smiled back at him. "You lost on the deal. I was willing to do twice as much work for you, but you settled for one hour."
"I already feel bad asking you to do some of my work for me."
"I like spending time with you," she reminded him, "even if we're just doing research." She smiled at him, an action which he felt compelled to return. They locked stares for a moment too long, and Matt had to clear his throat to convince himself back to work. He sent Rory an email with the information he needed her to find for him—mostly a few articles to read and summarize—and got to work assembling lectures for Dr. West's class the next week. If all went as scheduled, he would be ready to proofread Dr. West's manuscript when Rory left. He would grab a quick lunch at noon, and he didn't have class until two-thirty. Class ended at five, and so he'd grab dinner with friends, then head over to the Yellow Dorm to spend some time with Kasumi.
Brief distractions were pretty common, though. Mitsuro was the first person to pop her head in the door.
"Hey, Mitsy. What's up?"
She noticed Rory sitting comfortably on the couch and asked, "What's she doing here? Does Kas know?"
Matt defensively replied, "I'm helping her learn to use her cards better. In exchange, she's just here to help me out a little with work."
"Oh, I see," Mitsuro said with a grin. "She does all your work for you." Rory liked that assessment; Matt channeled Tim Allen.
"She's my assistant. She assists me. Now what do you want?"
"I just came to ask about seeing your notes for Advanced Duel Techniques."
Rory's eyes widened with surprise. "You're already taking that? You're only a sophomore!"
Matt shrugged. "So? I wanted to mix things up a little. And there was an opening."
She was still impressed that he was able to take a senior level course already. But there was one question she had for Mitsuro: "It's only the first week; how far behind can you be?"
Mitsuro looked at Rory like she was a four-year-old who didn't understand the way the world works. "You haven't had a class with Dr. Apple, have you? He has a habit of only ever saying things in class one time, and he can roll off on tangents while expecting you to remember every little, insignificant thing he says. The only thing he ever repeats is the roll call, and even that he only does for the first week."
"Sounds tough," Rory agreed.
"It's a major pain. If you even blink, you might miss something. So to counter the inordinate level of difficulty Dr. Apple, I've decided to ask other people for their notes and consolidate them with mine."
"I'm not so bad." Dr. Apple appeared in the doorway behind Mitsuro, who sheepishly moved to sit on the arm of the couch. "But I approve of your strategy to do well."
Dr. Oscar Apple was the tallest and lankiest of the professors. His dark hair and eyes made him an attractive man despite the bald spot atop his head—his height helped to hide it from common view. What really stood out about him was his seemingly air-headed nature. Oftentimes he would go off on tangents as if possessed by a brain that never stopped churning at full speed. He was generally sociable and clownish, sometimes oblivious, but he was generally well liked. Except for the tests in his classes.
"Hi, McIntosh," Matt said with a smile. "What can I do for you?"
"I like that. I just need a little favor," Dr. Apple replied, fully aware that Matt was starting to get overwhelmed and that McIntosh is a type of Apple. "I need someone to cover Duel History on Monday while I'm out of town."
"That's my class," Rory pointed out. It was a nine o'clock class, but she didn't mind because she was already awake for her eight o'clock class. But thanks to Mitsuro, she had an idea what to expect throughout the semester. Mitsuro shot her a dirty look for letting her talk bad about Dr. Apple's classes when he was close by.
"Yes, it is. So you can see why I wouldn't ask you to be in charge," Dr. Apple agreed. "I just need you to show a video for the one class. I'll be back for my afternoon class. My plane will probably be a little late coming back after my weekend off. I've already informed Dr. West what I need you to do. Plus, I figure you might enjoy logging an hour of time sitting and watching a movie instead of doing more mounds of research. Is that a problem for you?"
"No. If Dr. West is okay with your taking some of my time, I'm okay with it."
"Is it a good movie?" Rory asked curiously.
Dr. Apple replied, "Well, it's no Casablanca, but you'll learn something important from it."
"In other words, it will be on the test," Mitsuro interpreted.
"Isn't that what I just said?" He looked ready to leave the office when he saw someone he recognized. "Oh, speaking of not understanding what I'm saying, I wonder if I could speak to you, Mr. Rocks, when you get a chance. Just stop by my office. I'll be there all day. Well, not all day. Well, maybe until lunch. Um… Maybe I'll just email you." With a big smile, he waved to everyone in the room and hall and said, "Take care, all."
With one less person in Matt's office now, Vic Rocks came storming in with his crew close in tow. He looked pretty upset as he slammed his open hands on Matt's desk, prompting Rory and Matt both to flinch.
"I want my cards back, you depressing lunatic," Vic growled. As he glared at Matt, his eyes slowly drifted to Matt's head of medium-length, brown hair. "What happened to your hair?"
"It's called shampoo," Matt replied. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"That duel we had out in the woods?"
"Why were you dueling in the woods?" Rory asked. Matt shrugged. Abel sat down next to Rory in a less-than-subtle way of catching her attention. She wasn't shy and didn't move from her comfortable position.
"We were looking for the Ghost Duelist," Abel answered for her.
Matt laughed. "Isn't the Ghost Duelist just some rumor started by the Tweedledee and Tweedledum over there?" pointing to Ty and Clyde.
"You would know," Vic snarled, "seeing as you are the Ghost Duelist!"
Matt looked confused, but Rory looked excited. "Are you really? Is that why you rarely duel anyone anymore?"
"You know how I like to avoid the spotlight," Matt joked. "Why claim credit for beating everyone in a duel when I can hide?" When Vic didn't move, Matt got serious and remembered what happened the previous semester. "Did you really lose a card to someone who looks like I do?"
"You're going to claim it wasn't you?"
"I am. I didn't steal from Maikeru and Sean, and I didn't steal from you." Suddenly his cheerful expression gave way to a more sullen one. "But someone else did. By any chance, did he play a card called Ouroboros?"
"No," Vic replied. "You used some freaky card called Nigredo."
"You also called yourself Nigredo," Abel pointed out. "Although I have to admit, you look a lot bulkier in the office than you did in the woods."
"It's the fluorescent lighting," Matt remarked. Moving back on topic, he asked Vic, "He used a card called Nigredo? I've never heard of that card."
"Sure," Vic huffed. "I'm getting annoyed with you giving me the run-around like this. Give me back my cards and I won't have to break your desk." Matt told him that wasn't much of a threat. "With your face."
"Slightly more threatening," Matt agreed. He looked to Rory. "You don't need to be here for this. We can catch up later."
Rory shook her head. "I want to see where this goes." Matt laughed and shook his head, not upset with Rory but amazed at how she acted the same way he and Bryan probably would.
Finally, Matt told Vic, "I promise you I was not the one who took your card. But if you are willing to meet up later, I would like to figure out who it was. It sounds like this might be the same look-alike who stole from Maikeru and Sean last semester."
"Look-alike," Vic scoffed. "Likely excuse. What kind of person could possibly look that much like you and not be you?"
"A brother?" Rory suggested.
Abel quickly added, "Someone with just the right makeup."
Clyde offered, "Genetic clone."
Matt motioned to the others and said, "See? Lots of good possibilities." Then he looked at Clyde with a puzzled look and added, "Except the clone thing. That's kind of stupid." Vic agreed; that was unlikely. Actually, all scenarios were unlikely; he was still unconvinced of Matt's innocence.
"I remember what the guy looked like," Abel said certainly, "and his arms weren't that big." He pointed to the sleeves of Matt's T-shirt, which were short enough to show off the subcutaneous tennis balls Matt called "biceps." "Now that I look more closely, it was really only the face that looked the same. That brown hair looks natural." Vic argued that Matt could easily dye his hair in a short amount of time, but he had to admit that no one could gain that much muscle mass in a day.
"Fine. I'll take Abel's word for now, but we're going to figure out who this guy is or else your ass is mine."
"Get in line," Matt muttered, thinking he was being funny about the situation with Kasumi and Rory. When no one laughed, he realized that was rather tasteless.
Matt was simply confused about the entire situation. The winter break produced no evidence of any brothers, but now there were two reports of a guy who looked just like him. Maikeru and Sean dueled together against a man they described as having multiple personalities; he switched between a calm, rather spacey persona and an intense, callous persona. He called himself Ouroboros and he dueled easily on Matt's level. Darius still considered it luck that he managed to defeat Ouroboros in a duel.
The look-alike introduced himself to Vic's posse yesterday as Nigredo. Vic agreed with the assessment that Nigredo was a good duelist, but he only got lucky against Vic. His cards weren't especially fast or powerful, but they just happened to work out the way they needed to in order to beat Vic's Element cards. Actually, it was just one card that beat him: Transmutation Circle – Nigredo. The effects of that card were so stacked it's amazing the Duel Disks didn't reject it as a fake card.
But the real confusing thing was: Was there really just one look-alike? Vic used the word "depressing," but Darius said the guy he dueled was psychotic. Although both described mental disorders, the differences were too vast to be explained by simple misspeak. Depression is marked by weak mood and aversion to activity; psychosis is marked by loss of reality. And Vic mentioned black hair. When Maikeru's and Sean's cards were stolen, the suspect looked exactly like Matt; why would the other guy suddenly change his hair color? Was it an effort to throw everyone else off the trail? It seemed like a really weak effort.
"It sounds like one guy going through puberty," Rory suggested.
"What makes you think this is one guy?" Matt asked.
She explained, "You say this first guy had split personalities, but the person Darius described sounded just like any kid who has less impulse control. He sounds like a little kid who gets angry whenever something doesn't go his way. Maybe he finally grew up a little and has seasonal affective disorder." She added for the sake of anyone who didn't catch it, "That's just a fancy way of saying, 'winter bums him out.'" Ty's and Clyde's expressions changed to understanding.
"That seems like an awful lot of growing up in a short time," Abel said. Glancing at Vic out of the corner of his eye, he commented, "It seems unrealistic because some people never grow up."
"Bite me," Vic snapped.
Mitsuro suggested, "Aren't you guys familiar with Occam's Razor?"
"Is that the eight-blade razor Gillette just came out with?" Matt answered mockingly.
"Uh… No. It's a principle that basically says explanations should not be needlessly complicated. In essence, the simplest solution is probably the correct one. All I'm saying is the odds are much better of there being one guy who looks like Matt and has a few mental issues than two identical guys who each happen to fit criteria for a specific mental disorder."
"Well," Matt replied eloquently. "I have to admit, that's true." The odds of one other person on the island being a dead ringer for Matt were incredibly slim; the odds of there being two were astronomical.
"What about motive?" Rory pointed out. "There's got to be some reason this guy—or these guys—are dueling at all hours out in the cold."
Vic replied, "He's stealing rare cards."
"That's a behavior—not a motive," Matt said. "Is it a game for him? Does he enjoy the challenge? Maybe he's performing some ritual to awaken a long-lost god that will bring peace to the world."
Mitsuro's theory was much simpler. "Maybe he just wants to steal a bunch of rare cards. He got Maikeru's Plaguespreader Zombie, Sean's Tempest Magician, and Vic's Elemental Mistress Doriado. None of them is unique, but they are all very rare."
"Do you think there's a pattern?" Abel suggested. "They took a tuner, a Synchro, and a Ritual monster. Maybe they're after a Fusion monster next."
"No," Matt argued. "The card Ouroboros wanted from Darius was Gravekeeper's Visionary. It's a regular effect monster, although a rare one." He took a moment and looked to Rory as if to warn her that he was about to share something embarrassing and wanted to read her reaction. "He might have some kind of… magic… though." He seemed in pain just suggesting that. "The whole thing with these Transmutation Circles coincidentally locating your rarest cards reminds me vaguely of the situation last year." Everyone remembered that; even Rory heard the stories, though they had little evidence.
Last year, Professor Maya Kawamura of the Yellow Dorm used the Egyptian Gods and the Sacred Beasts in contest with the Wicked Gods to open the way into the Shadow Realm, a higher plane of existence filled with the energy of the gods. In order to open the gate, the God Cards needed to feed on the energy of the Guardian Duelers—the strongest duelists who held each card—and on the energy of all the duelists who were beaten by a God Card. When Maya obtained all that energy, she ascended and became a god.
Or so the rumors went. What was undeniable was the sickness and fear that spread across the island while the Shadow Realm opened. If not for Bryan and Matt, and the professors of Duel Academy, the Shadows might still be present.
"Was she really one of the professors?" Rory asked.
"Yes," Matt assured her. "She's the one Dr. Houtz was hired to replace."
Clyde suddenly made a suggestion: "What if she's like the professors in Harry Potter?"
Mitsuro pointed at him with her thumb while saying, "Did anybody understand that?"
Abel interpreted. "He's talking about the fact that the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was always the bad guy, or generally cursed in some way. I think he's suggesting that Dr. Houtz could be responsible for these Transmutation Circle cards."
"That's a hell of a leap," Matt suggested, "but I suppose we can always ask her just to see if she knows something. As far as getting more help: Have you guys told any of the police about what you saw yet?"
"I don't need the police to kick your ass and take my card back," Vic replied.
"Great. Maybe you should tell them so they'll know this guy is still out there." Looking into Vic's eye, he suddenly said, "Wait." He looked past Vic to Abel. "Maybe you should tell them instead." Abel laughed and gave Vic a hard time about being so useless and impulsive. Vic threatened to beat him up, too.
"What were you guys doing so far off campus, anyway?" Mitsuro asked, ever the diligent RA.
Vic more calmly answered, "We were looking to see where Hayley hangs out at night."
"Hayley Wilson?" Rory confirmed. "Is she the one everybody says is hot but psychotic? The one in permanent PMS mode?"
"You shouldn't believe every rumor you hear," Matt scolded her. "But yeah, that's true."
Suddenly Lucy Mercer's head popped into view in the doorway. Lucy tended to stand out in a crowd because she had one of the prettiest faces imaginable, even when she was wearing exceptionally large sunglasses. Her face was perfectly symmetrical with high cheek bones and an oval shape. Her brown eyes were beautiful and relaxing to perceive, and her long hair added to her gorgeous appearance.
"Oh, sorry," she said. "You're busy. I'll come back."
"It's okay," Abel told her. "We're leaving." He got up from the couch and pushed Ty and Clyde into the hall. Ty tripped over nothing as he tried to walk away while staring at Lucy, enchanted by her beauty. "It's no wonder you guys are such a hit with the ladies." Vic wasn't as verbal on the way out, but he did point angrily at Matt as a reminder of his threat. He made a point of checking out Lucy on his way down the hall, but only for a brief glance. It was a common mistake to think Lucy was overweight, mostly because she wore clothing intended for someone the size of Robert DeNiro. She was a bit larger than other women, but she was proportionate. Wearing baggy clothes was her way of hiding her assets. Shy as she was about her appearance, she never even removed her jacket except on rare occasion with those closest to her, such as roommates, and Matt on occasion at the Guardian House the previous year.
Mitsuro quietly stepped toward the door. "I guess I'll leave, too." She pointed at Matt and asked, "Get your notes from you this evening?" Matt agreed they'd see one another back at the dorm. With that, Mitsurp slipped out of the office.
"Do you need me to step out, too?" Rory offered kindly.
"How close are you to Jason?"
"Not very."
She already knew that. Dating Jason for nearly a semester helped Lucy get to know Jason's close friends. "You can stay if you're willing to keep this conversation between us."
"My lips are sealed."
Lucy actually liked Rory. She was a sweet girl and a lot of fun to spend time with, and she made it clear lately that she was not shy. There was a lot to admire about a self-confidence girl like that.
Lucy closed the door so no one else would overhear. Then she sat down on the couch and leaned forward to talk softly, never removing the sunglasses she wore. "Did you talk to Bryan?"
Matt did, but he wasn't especially eager to share the conversation. "He thinks seeing other people will do you both some good." Before she could put up any kind of fight against a statement he disagreed with, Matt added, "But aren't you both already doing that?"
The way she stared at Matt told him that wasn't what she wanted to hear. She wanted to hear that Bryan really wanted to get back together but was just scared that she moved on already. The last thing she wanted was to hear that Bryan was moving on without her. Finally she let out a low, frustrated groan.
Not wanting to continue the awkward silence, Matt suggested, "Have you considered seducing him?" That made her blush intensely.
Rory reached up and patted her back. "You could just come out and tell him how you feel." She winked at Matt. "I feel better after doing it."
"We're not all so bold," Lucy admitted. She just leaned back on the couch and sat there for a minute. Either she was sorting through all the thoughts she had, hoping that they would magically order themselves in the form of an answer, or she was waiting for Matt to say something that would also, magically make things better.
Matt noticed that Lucy seemed slightly out of character. "Did something happen?"
Lucy just sighed, not sure exactly how to start her brief story. "Well…"
"I'm telling you," Jason said. "That girl's life is so terribly boring she has to invent reasons to get mad at other people. What other reason is there to get mad at someone as perfect as you?"
Lucy just smiled. "Maybe because you keep telling people I'm perfect."
"I just call it like I see it."
"Ah. Nice try, sweet talker. But I'm still not telling you what Cary said about you. You really don't want to hear it, anyway. She's not a very nice person." Jason didn't say anything in reply. She interpreted the silence as Jason's sulking. "Oh, don't start that phony silent treatment."
As she turned to look at him and scold him face-to-face, she flinched wildly when she found Jason on the ground with a rag over his mouth. Someone dressed all in black and wearing a ski mask held Jason pinned until he passed out from the chloroform suppressing his central nervous system. As soon as he did, the masked man—obvious from his body shape—gently set Jason on the ground before standing and approaching Lucy aggressively.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
His voice came out in a low rumble, like someone purposefully straining his voice to disguise it. "Lucy Mercer. You are guilty of stringing this poor man along. You steal his attention and affection while cheating on him with another man."
"I'm not cheating on Jason. What are you saying?"
"It's the same thing!" the man growled. "You keep him close but you don't care about him! It's the heartless nature of women that drives you, but now I'm going to free him from your rotten control."
Lucy almost panicked on the spot, thinking she was about to be attacked, but the man simply activated a Duel Disk; against the surprise she felt, she hadn't noticed it at first. She activated her own and watched the duel field set itself.
The Duel Disks quickly shifted to Lucy's challenger. "I'll play Gold Sarcophagus to remove Necroface from play." A golden case bearing the Eye of Wedjet on the front and two golden eagles on top appeared on the field. The lid slid open, a card showing a picture of Necroface slipped inside, and the lid slid back in place, sealing the card away for two turns. Because Necroface was removed from play, both players had to remove from play the top five cards from their decks. "Now summon Armageddon Knight (4/1400/1200)." This was a man clad in iron armor, bearing a saber in one arm and a wire shield in the other, wearing aviator goggles over his eyes and a torn scarf covering his face. Upon summoning, the Armageddon Knight slashed the deck to send a dark monster straight to the Graveyard: Mystic Tomato.
A facedown card appeared just above the ground. "Take your turn, wench."
Lucy didn't understand the aggression this man held toward her. But she hoped he would follow the code of a duelist—losing should make him leave her alone.
"I'll play Magical Citadel of Endymion." A large, decorative castle with a mighty keep in the center and empty towers at each juncture appeared on Lucy's side of the field. A ring of magical energy continued to surround the castle like a bubble. "Now I'll summon Silent Magician (4/1000/1000)." Her magician was young and short, with white and blue robes and a small scepter in hand. "Now I'll place one card face down and activate Card Destruction." Both players discarded their hands and drew new cards. As they did, Silent Magician (+1500) grew when her scepter absorbed a spell counter. Additionally, a spell counter lit up on Lucy's Citadel (1). "Now I'll play Spell Power Grasp." A flash of light on the field preceded Silent Magician's (+2000) scepter absorbing another Spell Counter alongside the Citadel (2). As a bonus, Lucy got to retrieve a second Spell Power Grasp from her deck, though she couldn't play it.
"I'll send my Magician to attack."
Her attacker sprung a trap. "Magic Cylinder will redirect your attack right back at yourself." Two tubes appeared on the field; while one absorbed the magic emitted from Silent Magician's scepter, the other fired the energy right back at Lucy.
Lucy weathered the attack just fine. "I'll set two cards."
Lucy 8000 – 2000 = 6000: ? 8000.
As soon as her opponent drew, Lucy's Silent Magician (+2500) absorbed another spell counter and grew once again. He was unfazed, though. "I'll summon Prometheus, King of the Shadows (4/1200/800)." This monster wore a gold breastplate over a shadowy body, and the crimson-shaded, hooded cloak on his back billowed in the night like a crackling fire. The Graveyard lit up, and with the removal of six dark-attribute monsters, Prometheus (+3200) grew stronger. Then it lunged forward.
"Activate Hand Destruction," Lucy said. "But before that, I'll play Greed." Greed was a Continuous Trap that made it rain gold whenever a player drew outside the Draw Phase, but the gold was merely pyrite—fool's gold—and it came down in heavy chunks to deduct Life Points. Hand Destruction forced both players to discard two cards and draw two new ones; each was then struck by two chunks of pyrite, but Silent Magician (+3000) absorbed a fourth spell counter.
"It's not enough." Prometheus's shadows spread over the field and swallowed the Silent Magician. When her scepter broke, all the energy flew into Lucy's Citadel of Endymion (7). Armageddon Knight (1400) quickly lunged and took advantage of Lucy's open field.
"Now I'll play The Shallow Grave." A mist grew from the dirt on either side of the field, allowing both players to revive a monster facedown from the Graveyard.
Lucy 6000 – 1000 – 200 – 1400 = 3400: ? 8000 – 1000 = 7000.
Lucy chose to revive Magical Plant Mandragola (2/500/200), a spellcasting plant with a useful Flip Effect, given the right setup. "I'll summon Maiden of Macabre (4/1700/0)," a courtesan with pale skin, elaborate robes, and a scythe in her hands. "Now I'll flip Mandragola (500)." The wicked plant monster, with sharp teeth and a humanoid form, cast a spell to give a spell counter to every card capable of holding one, including Macabre (+1900) and the Citadel of Endymion (9). The Maiden swung her scythe and cut clean through Prometheus (-1200), whose points returned to normal after the last turn. Wordlessly, Lucy set one more card.
Lucy 3400: ? 7000 – 700 = 6300.
Her opponent wasn't worried when the Maiden of Macabre (+2100) gained another spell counter for destroying a monster. He already had a plan: "I'll summon Necroface (4/+2700/1800)." The same broken doll's head with the organism growing inside appeared on the field, this time more opaque and much bigger. For an effect, it returned all removed-from-play cards to the deck and gained 100 points per card. The creature's tentacles oozed forward and squeezed Maiden of Macabre until she broke. Next, Armageddon Knight (1200) moved to strike Mandragola (500).
"Activate Magical Dimension." A sarcophagus entombed Lucy's plant-like monster, but then it opened to reveal Magical Exemplar (4/1700/1400), a woman wearing green robes and Egyptian Gold jewelry. The energy released by the opening sarcophagus also destroyed Necroface.
Lucy's dark opponent switched both monsters to defense mode and ended his turn, knowing that as soon as Lucy attacked Morphing Jar and he got the opportunity to play Soul Release and Dimension Fusion, he'd swarm the field and end the duel.
"I'll summon Night's End Sorcerer (2/1300/400)." This monster was a short, pale-skinned boy wearing black clothes and a torn cape and wielding a large scythe. Suddenly he pressed the scythe up against Lucy's Magical Exemplar (4), and the two monsters began to resonate in tune. The sound waves merged the two monsters into Tempest Magician (6/2200/1400), a woman wearing blue robes and Egyptian Gold and wielding a large scythe in her hands. Simply by being summoned, she gained a spell counter in her scythe.
"When I remove the spell counters from Tempest Magician (1) and Citadel of Endymion (12), you take 500 points of damage for each." Tempest Magician swung her scythe and released a powerful beam of energy that struck her opponent directly.
Lucy 3400: ? 6300 – 6500 = 0.
"What happened next?" Rory didn't like the suspense.
She shrugged. "Nothing. He left, Jason woke up, and I took him home."
"Just like that?" Matt asked. The look in his eye said he knew she was hiding something. "All that effort to knock Jason out, and he just runs away when you beat him in a card game?" He did not believe in the apparent tradition of treating card duels on the same level as jousting. If someone was sufficiently angry with Lucy, he would hurt her either way.
"Take off the sunglasses."
Lucy looked shocked. "What?"
Matt repeated the request. "Let me see your eyes."
She was very slow about it, but Lucy lifted the glasses and pulled them from her face, revealing the smooth skin and perfectly round cheeks that made her so pretty. She wasn't black and blue, and she wasn't even swollen.
"Okay," Matt said, softly acknowledging her apparent health. He stood and gave her a brief kiss on the cheek. "The best way to change things is to talk them out with the people involved. Go talk to Bryan."
She sighed and gave a little nod. "Yeah, yeah." She patted Rory on the knee and wished her a good day. Lucy has a class before too long, and she wanted to spend a little time thinking about her situation with Bryan and Jason. With that, she left the room.
The devilish grin on Rory's face almost compelled Matt to ask what she was thinking. "With how often you get interrupted and distracted, I see now why my one hour of work saves you two hours of work."
As Lucy left the building, she couldn't help touching the collar of her blue jacket. The firm material hid the bruise on her skin. The sunglasses distracted Matt, just like she thought they would.
When the holograms faded and the Duel Disks shut down, Lucy thought the man might leave. Instead, he lunged, moving swiftly and silently through the darkness. He grabbed her arm and pulled it behind her back, squeezing her neck with his other hand. He held her close as he growled softly in her ear:
"Women like you are pure evil."
Just as the pressure on her neck increased so much she couldn't scream, Lucy suddenly felt the pressure fade. It took her almost two full minutes to stop wheezing. That's when she was able to see who saved her. Standing only five and a half feet tall and with a moderate build was Michael Potter, the youngest member of the campus police force. He was on duty and dressed in his police blues, and he smartly kept his hands off of Lucy, though he held them as if to support her.
"Are you okay?"
She managed a nod and a vague, "Uh huh." She looked around but didn't see her assailant. "Where'd he go?"
"He ran off when he saw me," Pat. Potter replied. He stepped away from Lucy to ask about Jason. Lucy told him what happened. "I see. I'll take you to your dorm and take him to the clinic to have him checked out. Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine," Lucy assured him.
"Okay. Don't worry. We'll find this guy."
###
I had to use the double line to make sure you know the chapter is over. The average length is growing, I've noticed. Maybe that means the rest of this arc won't drag out so long. On a similar note, this thing with Lucy and her attacker is something of a side story (a filler, as it were), but it will be the best way for me to get a few characters more involved who might otherwise never duel, it will connect to the main story, and it will be an interesting side quest, I think-not like the Bount arc, which didn't make any sense.
The next chapter will revisit Nigredo and someone with a grudge against Matt.
(On a more personal note: Does anyone have advice for me for getting a blog started? I have a topic already; I just want suggestions how to get started. If anyone is willing, please send me a PM.)
Credits:
Darius Mantzios...tiramisu19
Jason Maxim...Maxim and Knight
Nathan Zislaw...Mavrik Zero
Hillary Delaney...Nodqfan144
Lili Von...Happy2BMe
Carter Jade...Jaden2010
Mitsuro Itachu...Titanic X
Sean Bivins...DarkVestroia2
Naoto Kurotsuki...Kurotsuki Haru
Hayley Wilson...TeamRocketDiva
Maikeru Stone...onyxshade7
Victor Rocks & Abel Shinzou...Iron-Arm-V
Alister Kazama & Jessica Parks...ZaneKazama001
Synthia Spencer...Madly Chessur
Leila & Linear Lockhart...Windraider
Romulus Malligan...Maximus1
Logan Wilson...MercWithTheMouth13
Everyone else so far...YamiRuss