/ Duel Universe
/ Author: The Cowboy of Oklahoma
/ Ch 45: Report Therapy
/ word count: 2114
Monster World
The flight back was mostly uneventful, Shelly was keeping Akiza covered as they rode together on the cute furry dragon, talking amongst themselves about what happened, some nervous giggles could be heard as Shelly tried to keep her sister calm and relaxed enough to remain coherent. I turned to my own extra baggage with the cards we gathered after we definitively defeated Bensen. The Phantasm monsters were intriguing, monsters with the abilities to match the Egyptian god cards. Before coming to this place, I'd never seen cards like the beast in my deck, Shelly's deck, or these. All these cards put nearly every other card to shame in terms of power and capabilities and now I hold four of the most powerful cards in existence. If I could just figure out how to add these creatures to my deck, I could be the most powerful duelist, no! The most powerful being in existen…
"Human!" A stern voice came from my side.
"Huh? What?" I looked to my side and saw Sage with Eye of Blue staring at me and what I was just doing, I was just staring at the deck we took.
"Give me that deck human, now!" He demands.
"Wha…, I," I look from deck to Sage confused.
"You must give that to me human! You are falling under its influence and do not have the will to resist," he explained.
"I…, don't under…," I stammered out.
A feminine voice called out. "Is everything okay?"
"Everything is fine. Just stay back while we discuss something," Sage lied, "human! Give it to me!" He said in a hushed tone.
I hesitated, I didn't want to, but then I could feel like I really should let it go. My hand gripped the deck tighter, but then a vibration from my side caught my attention. A faint glow shone from my deck and then a rainbow glow formed into the little creature that started this whole adventure, came out. Rainbow Kuriboh began tapping against my cheek and chirping excitedly.
"Kuri! Kuri!"
"Okay, okay little guy. I get it. He can have the deck, geez," I caved and handed over the deck to Sage.
Sage took the deck, holding it with a little disdain, then put it into a pocket or something. The Blue-Eyes he was riding, growled then took the lead in front of the pack of dragons. We flew the rest of the way in relative silence until the Castle came into view.
"Humans! You should go to your Encampment and get that girl clothed, then return to the castle to speak with her Majesty," Sage instructed. Moonie turned and opened her wings to take flight when Sage stopped her, "no! You will stay with me to go see her Eminence and explain what you saw, Maiden of Moonlight."
"Awe, but I want to stay with Master!" Moonie whined.
"Save your words for her Eminence," he said.
Moonie's wings drooped but she didn't argue with him.
We took him up on his advice and headed down for our…I mean, their home.
The girls went inside for a few minutes, then Shelly came out alone, "she doesn't really want to go anywhere else right now. I'll stay here with her and see if we can get a psychiatrist to come to speak with her about….what happened," she explained.
"I understand. I'll go back and talk with General Marcellus and Dark Magician Girl, explain what happened and what we did," I said.
"Alright, tell them we'll be along once she's ready," she said before going back inside.
I got back onto my dragon and we took off for the castle.
As we flew closer, I saw all four of them standing near the landing area of the castle talking. Once the wingbeat of our approach became noticed, they all watched as we landed and I dismounted.
"Report, Captain!" The General commanded, "care to explain what happened out there? You were instructed to find the Fiends, not remove your guide from existence!"
"The entire trip and existence of the Fiends location was nothing more than a ruse to get the three of us out there alone and without backup. He threw a hidden grenade and disoriented us, kidnapping Akiza and doing… distasteful things to her. Then Shelly found his location first and began a duel; they'd gotten about halfway through when I found them and joined the duel before Bensen could inflict serious harm. He mocked Shelly for the things he did to Akiza to get under her skin and get her to make a mistake. I took charge of our duel and dealt the final blow," I explained.
"Final blow? Care to elaborate on this, Captain?" Marcellus pressed.
Steve Bensen is affirmatively no longer among the living, sir. Last time I dealt the final blow of our duel with my beloved dragon, this time I smote him from the plain of existence with the divine might of Obelisk the Tormentor, burying him at the same time," I said.
"You were not given permission to kill anybody! There will be an inquiry on the matter, and you will make yourself available! Is that clear, Captain!" General Marcellus stated rather than asked.
"Yes, sir," I replied.
"Now, General, I do believe we can forgo such formalities on this matter. This Steve human did have a grudge to bear against Captain Freeman and Lieutenant Commander Carson. I also believe that Miss Akiza was involved with the prior incident too," Dark Magician Girl commented.
The General went quiet with thought for a few moments, then nodded his head in agreement, "I guess you're right your Majesty. I do suppose the incident is mostly settled," the General agreed. However, I did notice the sideways glance he gave me, letting me know that we still had something to discuss in private.
"Now, Captain, is Miss Akiza alright?" Dark Magician Girl asked with general concern.
I nodded, "Shelly is with her now and she said that she'll try to get a psychiatrist for Akiza to talk with," I explained.
"That's good to hear. Your people have had so much trauma ever since the beginning of your ordeal, to think some of the surviving populace still hold such disdain for one another that they're willing to do another harm, I feel sorry for your people," she said.
"So do I, your Majesty," I agreed, "so do I."
Sometime later on a Russian Corvette Battlecruiser high in orbit, two individuals schemed behind closed doors to be in control of everything that exists, "is everything ready comrade?" The female asks.
"But of course, my comrade, all we need now is get hold of Phantasm deck recovered from Bensen by Captain Ka'an, use it, and magnificent beasts inside for absolute power!" The man replied
"Da! And council will be none wiser of intentions until too late!" Anatasia exclaimed.
"I have man placed close to General and her Majesty. Soon they find where deck is hidden, then we be in charge!" Chun explained, "Phantasm monsters are strongest! We will have absolute power and complete control of entire world! Both worlds!! No one will be more powerful than us!!"
"We be gods!" She boasted.
"Gods, yes, we will never fail and we will live forever! Power boasted by Phantasms kept Bensen alive, so too will it do for us! Now, who will wield it? There is only one deck after all," Chun pointed out.
Anastasia thought for a moment before answering, she knew this man would not just let her own the deck and be in charge, so how to trick him, "we should share. You use deck, I use deck. Who uses better, keep!" She suggested.
Chun looked at his cohort with surprise and then grinned as he agreed, "yes, I believe that will work best."
Both grabbed a glass filled with some of the last of Earth-grown grape wine and clinked them in celebration of their preconceived victory.
Human Encampment
Akiza sat on her bed cradling her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth mumbling. Shelly was in the next room if a sheet drawn for separation between sections could be considered 'rooms', sitting quietly and thinking about what all happened with their last outing. Her sister was assaulted, sexually, a trauma that can cause lasting damage if it isn't taken care of immediately. A trauma that she, herself, has had some experience with before she signed up for the military. She was just about to graduate high school when a cute guy asked her out. He was one of those 'bad boys' everyone talks about and he was also a star athlete on the track team. So she had considered herself lucky to gain the eye of someone so well-endowed at her school. She wasn't a slouch either, kept herself in shape, played on a few of the teams as a second starter, and was smart enough to take on intellectual team duties, chess, math, and tech. The boy took her on a date, they ate some good food, watched a movie, and even kissed a little when it was dark. But then everything changed when it was time to go home, instead of driving her straight home, he had taken a 'shortcut' that he said would get them back faster through the woods. This wasn't technically untrue, as her house was on the other side of these very woods, but she was unfamiliar with any trails that came out near her house. It only got stranger when he took a second turn off from the path they were currently on and went even deeper into the trees. She didn't think anything of it at the moment, but alarms went off when he stopped the car in front of that old cabin in the woods she'd never seen before.
Shelly shivered remembering what happened that night with six of the local teen sports stars, what they did to her, and how long it took her to get over it, or rather how she just ignored it. How it was the cause of her throwing herself at the next sack of meat just to feel anything again. How many had it been till now? How many couples did she ruin for her own needs? How many soldiers' careers ended thanks to her? She had lost count sometime before the exodus, before him. God, why him? What did he do that turned her to want him so badly? She'd barely even needed to try with anyone before, get them drunk, flash some skin, a smile, a wink? Then leave them the next morning and let them deal with their own marital problems. She had gotten what she wanted. He just…he just didn't do the same thing as the others. He turned her down almost immediately. No, it was immediately! He actually didn't show her any interest whatsoever. She was practically naked right in front of him, and he just didn't care. How could he have not even glanced at her? She was the finest damn thing he had ever seen dammit! How dare he ignore her! How dare he choose some monster, some creature over her!
"How dare he do that to me!?" She burst out, slamming her fist on the table, without even knowing she had done it until afterward, then came a noise from the doorway.
"Ahem?" Came a soft reply.
Shelly went wide-eyed looking up at whoever had entered their house without knocking.
"Excuse me, I was asked to come here by Miss Carson. I knocked but no one replied, I was told it was important and to come straight over. I let myself in, and judging from your reaction, I'm here for you?" The young woman implied. "I'm Dr. Lizben. Psychiatrist."
Shelly had to take a minute to reprocess her thoughts as to why a shrink was needed here, Akiza! "Uh, right, the doc, no. No, I'm not the one y're goin' to be speakin' with. She's right in here," she got up and walked to the partition, "Aki? Are you awake?"
A whimper was her reply, so she stuck her head into the next room, " ya want to speak in here or come out to the table?" She asked.
"Wherever is most comfortable is best," Dr. Lizben offered openly.
Akiza almost didn't answer, then finally said she wanted to stay where she was. Dr. Lizben came forward, grabbing a chair so she could have a seat separate from where the young lady was, not wanting to crowd her on the bed.
"So," started the doctor, as she got a pen and paper out, "where would you like to start?"