Annex 032: It's All Fun and Games

No-one expected to see the previous duel end the way it did. Many had come to see Zach, the dueling face of Dreamworld. Now they were only talking about Dame Phoebe. The star of the Fusion Guild had made her impact. Her opponent retreated to the master area, with nothing to show for himself. The brave face Zach put up for everyone he saw along the way, would be all but impossible to keep once he was inside. "Once again your confidence was your undoing." Iria Silver waited for him there with her lecture already prepared. "It was a fair loss, Silver." He tried to stand up for himself. As usual it did little in the way of convincing Iria. "It is not about that. It is not about your opponent being chosen at random. It is about you rejecting the Masters gift." She held up her own deck. "You should have accepted his cards, or even let him make Pendulums for your 'Melodious' monsters." With power like that, he wouldn't have lost so shamefully. "That was my choice, Silver. I do not duel to pound my opponents into the dirt." Even now Zach did not regret his choice. That ticked her off only further. "Listen to yourself. You are talking about a game! It does not make a difference how you win, as long as you win. Your loss has set back Master Dom and..."

"Change of plans!" Doms voice cut her off as he raised his pointing finger in the air. "Sir?" Dom took a quick break from hosting."Zachary, your defeat was unfortunate. But don't let that get to you. I appreciate a duelist who is satisfied with any product, old or new. This setback just means we gotta speed up certain matters." He pointed at Silver next. "Iria. I take it you have no objections to me fixing your placement for the next round?" She took no time for consideration. "Of course, sir." If that was what he wanted. "Much appreciated." Dom was slightly disappointed that he would have to cut his plans down in size, but he could not risk losing her either. "Dom? Is there anything I can do?" Zach meanwhile just did not want to be left out of the loop. "Good of you to ask. Yes, you can do me a favor as well. Since Iria will be busy, and you presumably want to redeem yourself, you can take over her Fusion guild-case."

Back outside the duels continued despite the brief pause in Doms commentary. Cassius was finally called to the stage to face an independent duelist. During that time Uno thought about Dame Phoebe. The two-faced girl had excused herself as soon as the next duel got announced, so he never got the chance to ask her what she knew.. if she knew anything at all. "Hey, Uno. If you're stuck about what that girl said to you, you should probably stop." To Emily and the others it was pretty hard to overlook Uno's state. "I wouldn't call that lady a reliable character judge. But Maybe you know her better than me, Eric." She was betting Phoebe knew as much about Uno as Uno knew about her. "Well, that was the first time I saw her too. They said I was too new to the guild to deal with anyone besides low-ranked members." Eric confessed. "I'd rather not talk behind her back."

"But she is right, if you think about it. I don't know who I really am. What if I was someone completely different before I lost my memories?" Uno was not who he used to be. Uno was not even his true name. "Yeah, you could have been a huge bastard." Eric suggested. "Eric!" A bit too haphazardly, found Alice. "Hey. I am just saying it's possible. I mean that is not who he is now, is it?" Eric did not mean anything, it just tended to come out that way. "That.. is true. Even if I get back what I lost, I will still have my experiences with all of you. I am sure there are smarter men out there who would say that the past makes someone who they are in the present. I can either keep my past short or make it longer." Uno had wondered if he could not just let it go, if he could live just as he was now. Not knowing who he would become was a terrifying feeling. "No.." He owed it to someone to get back his memories; to himself or to people he had forgotten about or to the pendulum that was wrapped around his neck. "Like she said.. both sides are real. I just need to find the other one."

"Oh hey, he won. Can't say I am surprised." Akai broke up their chat to anounce the fact that Cassius had finished his duel. "That didn't take him long." Uno's talking could not have taken up more than a few minutes. "Cassius likes to set speed records, and then break them." Akai claimed. As they had seen before, Synchro duelists were generally fans of for rapid swarming tactics. "What's up?" Getting back to his seat took Cassius only a few seconds as well. He was not even out of breath. "Nice duel, Cassius. I think. We kinda missed the finishing blow there. Sorry, we blinked." Emily had to be honest. She didn't say what they were talking about that made them distracted though. "Oh it was nothing special; a quick Shock Surprise, Limiter Removal and HiSpeedroid Chanbara combo makes quick work of anyone. I feel sorry for the guy. He was the only one who made it in from his small guild, and now they are all knocked out. I am glad you stayed to watch part of it anyway." Cassius looked at the board. The day had a handful of duels left. "Hmm. I want to see how these last few duels end for my guild. But if you guys want to see the sights now. I wont stop you."

"See the sights?" Alice heard the magic word. "Can we go to the park? Can we? Can we? Can we?" She begged Emily while she pulled on her sisters arm. "Yeah sure, why not." This was a battle Emily had already lost.

And the amusement park had many sights at that. The amphitheater stood at the center of everything and one couldn't see the exit even if you stood at the very top of the ring. "We should start with the duel monster Forest! Then we can visit this the Legendary Ocean and the Call of Haunted House." The place had every attraction; from a fairyland-like resort with statues of famous monster cards to rides that took players through various well known field spells and made them experience it first-hand. Alice had to see it all, pun after pun. "No man, that's kids stuff. Besides we don't have all day. We should go on the Blue-Eyes White Rocket!" Eric however had his eyes on a bigger prize; a superspeed rollercoaster that coursed through the park. The carts themselves were shaped like the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. "Oh! That's a good idea!" Alice was all in for that too. "You go ahead. Just keep an eye on the time." Emily on the other hand did not have the stomach for rollercoasters. She found that out last time the family went to a theme park. Now if there were bumpercars anywhere, she'd be all over that.

"Okay!" Alice hurried towards the entrance. There were no lines, which made it even better. "Eric?" Still, Eric froze in place. "What is it?" The others caught the blinking light on the underside of his dueldisk. They had never seen a disk do that before. "I.. have to go somewhere." He sighed. "You do? But we were about to.." Alice was disappointed. She hadn't spent time with Eric for such a long time and he was leaving already. "Is it your guild? Are they bossing you around?" Uno wanted to be sure there was not something unpleasant going on in there. "It is something to do with the Fusion guild yeah. I really can't say more. Ugh, this sucks too. That ride looked sweet." Eric clearly didn't want to go. He still pried himself away from the awesomeness that lied ahead. "I'll see you again tomorrow. Bye!"

"I guess there are some things duelists from different guilds just cannot do together." Emily was slightly irked. It was not like she would take secrets to Aaron. "I still don't want to go alone.. Uno, can you go with me?" Alice looked at him with her big eyes. "How can I say no?" Uno needed some relaxation he felt. This hyperfast ride would do just the trick.

An hour or so passed while the three enjoyed what they could. By that time people started pouring out of the theater, including Cassius. He encountered the gang at one of the giftshops. "Hey! How did it go?" Emily inquired about the duels they missed. "All told, not too well. Percy, Gwen and Lionel all lost their duels. We only have six members left in the game now." More than half of the Synchro Guild had been wiped out in round one. "Oh no! Did the XYZ-guild win that much?" Alice assumed they had the best win/loss ratio, going by what she had seen already. "Yeah. Eleven XYZ-duelists are still competing. The Fusion guild kept nine of their members as well. We did as well as the independents. Besides you and Iria, only three people made it through." The free duelists were usually the first to go. "That Kyle character we saw at the Casino was there too. He won. He seemed to be all by himself too." It was rare to see an independent guild with just one member in it. "Kyle? Nice for him." Compared to what else Uno had heard, that was good news. "So what is going to happen tomorrow? Same thing as today?"

"Hard to tell with Dom. What he did today was more out of necessity." With only half as many duels, the tournament could afford a slower pace tomorrow. Cassius could not imagine the Master of dreamworld sticking with the usual tournament routine. "He did say he would announce his plans in morning at 9'o clock. So a starting time of 10 might be what we.. get." Cassius stopped talking. He was distracted by a group of duelists marching away from the theater. "Adamant.." The XYZ-guild runner and his militaristic entourage were making their way back to wherever they stayed for the night. Each guild had their own hotel booked. Doms park had a boatload of them. The XYZ-guild seemed to be holding up outside the park though. "I should head back." Cassius had his own room to get to. "Are you sure you don't want to stay? Have a little fun here?" Alice thought they could get a few more rides in before dinnertime at the restaurant. "I could. But why would I need a rollercoaster.." Cassius took out his helmet. "When I can just cruise at max speed on the roads." Cassius chuckled as he got on his bike which he had parked nearby. "See you in round two, Oddball guild." He waved at them as he sped off.

"I can't wait til I can drive one of those too." Alice said as Cassius literally rode off into the sunset. "I can. So can you." Emily retorted flatly.

...

Uno had no complaints about the rest of the day. The food at the restaurant was great, better than anything he could remember eating in the past. His room, now that he could actually scope it out, was wonderful too. There was a mini-fridge, a TV with hundreds of channels, room service. He heard about most of this second-hand, as Alice had a mind to try them out. "Who is gonna pay for all of this?" Was the sensible question brought up by Emily. "Dom I guess." Uno saw no pricetags anywhere. "Just how much money does he have to burn?" Sure Dom was the boss of Dreamworlds, but his business needed money to make more money. Between the jetpacks and the creation of an entire theme park, Dom did not seem all that interested in his actual work. "Maybe he is trying to get my trust while I am getting his. Well its working." The soft bed he lied on was another way to get someone in your friendship corner. "Nothing from you today, eh..." Eventually Uno could take out his pendulum and hold it up against the moons light. "Maybe you will have some more memories for me tomorrow.."

...

"GOOD MORNING, DUELISTS!" Monday, right as the clock handle hit nine, Doms featureless face appeared on every public screen in the area. "I HOPE YOU ALL SLEPT WELL. Or I just woke you up rudely. EITHER WAY, IT IS TIME TO REVEAL THE GAMEPLAN FOR THE SECOND ROUND.. The quarter-quarter finals for those with a mathematical inclination! It's gonna be simple. We are reworking the amphitheater. The third round and beyond is going to be something radically new, so if you want to be a part of it you had better give today everything you got! Where are you gonna duel with the stadium off-limits, you ask? Good question! Why.. the park is your battleground now! Each of the 16 attractions will be made available. Not just for you, but also for the remaining contestants and frontrow seaters. They payed a lot of money for their tickets and they would like to keep their nice view. My voice and screens will guide the rest. The first match and location will be posted at 9:30 AM!"

There was no misinterpreting that. Thirty minutes flew by and the names of two duelists were pasted on the big screen. Cassius would hold the first battle, on the go-kart tracks. This choice certainly did give off the impression that Dom was picking locations to suit the duelists. The opponent was Ichirou, whom the gang had met before at the golfcourse. Apparently he was another 1st XYZ-duelist like Stan, so Cassius had his work cut out for him. "Your mother isn't coming today either?" Once Uno rejoined the Brandts, another subject came up. "That's sad. She should see how well you two are doing." As told, Heather could not come any earlier then Tuesday.. if she was lucky. "I'm just glad that she's watching. Uno, maybe your mom was watching you too? Maybe someone saw you by now and is coming here to tell you who you are?" Uno had been on worldwide television. This had to mean something. "I sure hope so, Alice. I hadn't even thought of that." In fact Uno found it a bizarrely logical realization to begin with. Even if he did not know what his family was like, why did he not reach the realization earlier?

"Hey guys." The trio made it. That was clear from the gathering of duelists and the racetrack behind them. The synchro guild was clustered around the front. "Isn't Aaron with you?" Emily inquired. Of the 16 members, only he was absent. "Aaron? Oh you mean Cassius.. I thought he would be with you?" Akai shrugged. She had not seen him either. "No.. He isn't here yet? What's taking him so long?" Of all people, Cassius would be the last person to arrive.. last. Aaron hated being late and slow. Only a handful of minutes remained before his duel would officially start. "You don't think..." The other side was here. The XYZ-guild were ready to fight. Emily was starting to get awful images in her head. "Maybe his bike broke down?" Uno tried to calm her down. It was a valiant attempt, but easily smothered by the truth. Talk flew in from bystanders. "I heard something happened to him.""They said there was a crash.""It was one of them." The rumors spread into the crowd of duelists. And, finally, Dom gave his own piece about it, with loud clarity but not with joy..

"I BRING YOU UNFORTUNATE NEWS. THE DUEL BETWEEN CASSIUS AND ICHIROU IS POSTPONED DUE TO AN INCIDENT INVOLVING ONE OF THE PARTICIPANTS! CASSIUS FARRELL HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO OUR LOCAL MEDICAL WARD. THE DUEL AFTER THAT WILL BE MOVED DOWN FROM 10:30 TO 10:15."

"Oh no." Emily's face turned pale. "Aaron!"

As fast was possible, Emily, her friends and others from the Synchro-guild rushed to the emergency ward. It got rather crowded inside. "Where is he? Is he okay? Is he in danger?" The unfortunate first doctor they came across was hit by an avalanche of questions. "Easy. Easy. I gather you're all here for the person they just brought in? You can see him later, for now he has to be stabilized." He managed to explain in a way that gave little reassurance. "Stabilize? That doesn't sound good. What happened to him?" Uno asked. "We don't know exactly. He was found unconscious in the middle of the street next to a broken motorcycle. Presumably he crashed, but nobody else was on the scene at the time. He is not gravely injured, but we do need to tend to him. I am afraid I have to insist that you head to the waiting room. I will call you when we have an update on his condition.

So the duelists waited. Some had to leave because their name was called out for the tournament. "How can they think about dueling now?" Emily could not believe them. "I think that is what Cassius would have wanted, right?" Uno did not know what to say. He also did not know what to do if his turn came now. "I guess... Uno. You don't have to stay." Emily caught on to his twitching. "This is important for you too." She didn't want him to lose his chance with Dom just so he could keep her company. "But we will stay as long as we can, right? At least until we hear if he is okay." Alice was in the same position, more so than Emily since she had to support Uno's guild. If it hadn't been for that, she wouldn't have cared about her next match at all. "Thank you.."

"He is stable now. We pulled out some shrapnel and stopped the bleeding." It took a while, but a doctor finally showed up to deliver news to the waiting room. Emily immediately got up. "Did he say anything? Can we see him?" This news was an improvement, it sounded like he could receive visitors now. "He wont be able to walk for a while, he suffered some contusions. He is lucky though; he didn't break any bones. His consciousness has not fully returned yet because of the anesthetic, but if you want to.. you can go to him." The doctor did not see why not, for a specific reason. "Thank you. I.." Emily quickly found out what that reason was. Someone else had already been there.

"You!" Iria Silver walked out the door. "What are you doing here? How did you get that?" She had a dueldisk in her arms; Aarons dueldisk. "I am here to investigate, and this is evidence." She coldly answered both questions. "Investigate, evidence? You mean.." Emily gasped. If Aaron had his dueldisk with him.. "This was not an accident? It was a duel?"

(To be Continued in Annex 033 One Bad Turn)