SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS
A thick fog had rolled in during the night. To Yuka, Hugo, and Shelly, it almost gave the woods surrounding them a sort of dreamlike quality. It also came as a shock to them, since it was clear when they went to bed last night. The fog limited their vision to only about thirty feet; enough to see by, but still heavily obsuring everything else around them.
"Was the forecast calling for mist?" Shelly asked as they packed away camp.
"I don't know, I didn't look at it," Hugo answered. "I just hope it doesn't slow us down too much."
Yuka booted up her duel pad and brought up its map feature. "Well, as long as we keep going northwest we should be good. Though that path leads us through the Hondo Cave system. I haven't been through there; is it safe? Is there a path to follow?"
"Yeah, I think there is," Hugo answered.
"You 'think'?" Yuka and Shelly both repeated at the same time.
"Well, common sense would tell you that since it's on a popular hiking trail, then it would make sense for there to be a marked path for the hikers to follow," Hugo said. He hoisted his backpack onto his shoulders and kicked some dirt onto the pile of burnt wood that had been their campfire last night. "Anyway, let's get going."
The Zelenyy Woods was the largest wooded are in the region, dwarfing even the Verdant Woods. Most of the trees were pine and oak, and as such the ground was littered with old pine needles and oak leaves. A popular hiking trail passed through the forest, with part of the path going through the Holdo Cave, a cavern system that let out at Avis City. The trees themselves grew tall, taller than any other trees in the region, with some trees reaching nearly a hundred feet tall. The reason they grew so tall was theorized to be due to the nearby Mount Riansares, which was recently discovered to have been volcanically active in the past.
As they walked, Yuka brought up information on the Avis City gym leader, Jasper Phoenix. Or rather, she was trying to; while her duel pad could boot up, nothing else could be brought up no matter what she tried. She couldn't help but let out a huff of frustration.
"You okay, Yuka?" Shelly asked.
"Yeah, it's just that I can't get my duel pad to work, at least when it comes to bringing up anything," Yuka answered. "Must be bad network reception."
"Yeah, connection with anything is pretty bad here," Hugo said.
"Wait, so you know about technology not working right in the woods but you don't know about the hiking path through the cave?" Yuka asked.
"I've never had a reason to go through the cave," Hugo responed.
"But you've been to Avis City!" Shelly countered.
"Never through the cave!" Hugo cried.
"Hey guys, be quiet," Yuka said. She held up a hand, signaling Hugo and Shelly to stop walking. "Do you hear that?"
They all went silent and listened. For a moment, all they heard was the sound of the woods - the wind through the leaves, the singing birds, the chirping insects. But as they listened, they heard a new sound mix in with the others. It was a steady, even sound coming off from the left. They couldn't be sure how far away it was, but it sounded almost human.
"Someone in danger?" Hugo asked.
"They might need help," Yuka said. "Let's go." She hurried off, follwing the direction of the sound. Hugo and Shelly followed a few seconds later.
"Yuka, wait!" Shelly called. "It might be dangerous!"
"If it's those goons then someone might need our help!" Yuka called back.
They hurried through the woods, weaving around trees, following the sound. It wasn't easy with all the fog and mist, nearly causing them to trip over roots and run into trees.
The trees soon began to thin as they came to a clearing, and through the mist, they could see four figures, three standing in a circular formation with a fourth seemingly running in place. As they got closer and the mists cleared slightly, they could see the fourth figure was running on a treadmill attached to an electric generator. All four were about the same age as Yuka and her friends, dressed in navy blue school uniforms.
Yuka and her friends came to a stop and watched the scene in confusion.
"What in the world is this?" Yuka asked.
"Yeah, I don't get it either," Hugo said.
"Okay, Jackson," one of the kids standing around the treadmill said. "One final question and we'll be good for the day. What are all the stats of House Dragonmaid?"
The boy on the treadmill, Jackson, closed his eyes and panted heavily for a few seconds. Given how heavy he was breathing and the sweat pouring off his forehead, he had been at this for quite some time.
"House Dragonmaid...Level Nine...Light Attribute...Dragon Type...Fusion Monster...of one Dragon Type monster...and one...Dragonmaid monster..." He stopped to breathe again.
"You're still missing its effects," another boy said. "And remember, word for word."
Jackson took a few more deep breaths. "I can't...I can't..." He stumbled, falling face first on the leather belt of the treadmill and being flung off onto the ground, rolling to a stop against a tree.
One of the boys turned the treadmill off. "Oh well. Almost had it, but you know that we don't accept 'almost'."
Shelly hurried forward and knelt next to Jackson. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm okay," Jackson moaned. "It didn't hurt as much as it looked."
"Hey!" one of the other boys called. "Who the heck are you three?"
"We're the ones trying to figure out why you'd torture this poor kid," Hugo answered.
"It's not torture," Jackson corrected him. "They were quizzing me. The idea is that a duelist has to be able to think under pressure. I just...I just couldn't go on anymore."
"Hey Jackson, stop giving out all our secrets to non students," another boy said. "Give yourself a break and we'll meet you back at campus." With that, the other three boys turned and walked off into the woods.
Jackson picked himself up off the ground, before sitting down, his back next to the tree. He was still breathing heavily, but had calmed down in the few minutes since he stopped running.
"What did they mean by 'campus'?" Yuka asked.
"It's the Hiddleston Duel School," Jackson explained. "It's a private school here in the woods. Before you ask, the founder decided to make it so secluded to avoid having to pay property taxes."
"Cheapskate," Hugo muttered.
"This is the first I'm hearing about it," Yuka said.
"It's a private school," Jackson repeated. "Only a select few get accepted, and even then, they ususally come from well-to-do families who have the money to pay for the tuition. My parents had to pay almost half a million dollars upfront before I could get accepted six months ago."
"Half a million?!" Yuka and Shelly both repeated in shock, not noticing that Hugo remained silent.
"That's nothing compared to some of the other students," Jackson said as he stood up. He wobbled slightly; his legs were still sore from all that running. "And we all have to go endure these studying methods, along with the normal classroom stuff. Speaking of which, I need to get back."
"Hey, do you think we can come with you?" Hugo asked. "If only to see this duel school?"
"Well, I'd have to get you visitor passes," Jackson replied. "And even then, it'll be up to the top student."
"A student makes that decision?" Shelly asked in disbelief.
"Her name's Clarise Hiddleston," Jackson said. "Her grandfather was the one who founded the school. Her dad was top student, and now she is too. I guess it runs in the family."
"Nepotism," Hugo huffed. "Now I definitely want to see this place."
"Okay. But I have to ask your names, because Clarise will want to know," Jackson said.
"I'm Yuka."
"Shelly."
"Hugo Akiba."
"Follow me, then."
They walked for twenty minutes, covering half a mile through the woods. The fog had started to lift by now, revealing a large meadow up ahead, maybe two miles wide, with a structure in it. The structure was wider than it was tall; five stories tall and maybe two hundred feet wide, beige in color with windows dotting the walls. A tall, wooden double-door led into the building, which was also surrounded by a ten foot tall brick wall. As they approached, they saw several more students, all in the same navy blue uniform as Jackson and those other three boys. They could be seen flipping through notes and textbooks, flipping through decks of cards, studying and quizzing each other.
At least, that was what Yuka and her friends guessed; it was hard to tell with all the overlapping conversations.
"This is the place," Jackson said. "And that's Clairse right there." He pointed to a girl in the crowd, who was in the middle of a duel with another female student. She stood out among the other students by wearing a white uniform top with a black skirt. She had one monster on the field, a dark haired man dressed in a red coat and black pants with brown boots - Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss, a Rank Three XYZ monster made with two Level Three monsters, with 1000 attack points and 2500 defense points. Her opponent's monster was Gouki the Great Ogre, a Link 3 monster with 2600 attack points.
"Gouki, attack!"
A monotone robotic voice came from the wristwatch device on the girl's wrist. "Opponent has declared an attack. Activate trap card."
"I activate my trap card, Magic Cylinder," the girl announced. Two hollow drums appeared on the field as Great Ogre charged for her. Great Oger entered one drum and emerged from the other, rushing for his duelist and hitting him with its glaive, dropping his life points to 0.
"What was that voice?" Shelly asked.
"It was Clarise's computer," Jackson explained. "It analyzes the duel and tells her the best actions to take. She never duels without it, and because of that the only duels she's ever lost are ones that her computer says she has no chance of winning, leading to her scooping."
"So she only loses when her computer tells her to surrender," Hugo mused. "And you said she's never dueled without it?"
"Not once," Jackson answered. "Come on, I'll take you to meet her." Clarise and her opponent were just finishing cleaning up their cards as they approached. "Excuse me, Clarise?"
"Hello, Jackson," Clarise greeted him. She brushed a strand of black hair out of her eyes. "Andrew told me you didn't quite finish your quiz earlier."
"I just couldn't go anymore," Jackson said.
"You'll just have to try better next time," Clarise said. "Who are these three?"
"This is Yuka, Shelly, and Hugo," Jackson introduced them. "They wanted to see the school."
"I see," Clarise mused. She cleared her throat. "Well then, as the top student, let me welcome you to the Hiddleston Duel School. I'm Clarise Hiddleston. Are you looking to enroll?"
"Actually, no, not really," Yuka answered. "Honestly, we were just curious about there being a duel school out here in the middle of the woods."
"That was my grandfather's idea," Clairse answered. "I guess he thought it was more affordable than building it in the middle of city. Besides, Avis City already has a branch of Duel Academy."
"I guess it makes sense that he wouldn't want competition," Hugo guessed.
"That's right," Clarise agreed. "But is that the only reason you had Jackson bring you here?"
"It's kind of a stilly reason, how we encountered him," Shelly said. "See, we thought someone was in danger and ran to help and that's when we found Jackson and those other three boys 'quizzing', as you put it."
"The treadmill, right?" Clarise asked. "Yeah, I think you'll find our study methods can be a bit unorthodox compared to some other schools. My dad came up with that one. He also came up with a method he calls 'Memory Duels'."
"What's that?" Yuka asked.
"The idea is that both duelists shuffle their decks and then place all their cards face down on a table," Clarise answered. "You then have to try and remember which card is which, but outside of that the duel plays out as normal."
"How's that supposed to help you become a better duelist?" Yuka asked. "No offense, but that sounds kind of stupid."
"The idea is that a duelist would know all of their cards by heart and would be able to finish the duel without even looking at their cards," Clairse explained. "But I do agree that it's not a very good study method. I mean, how's a duelist supposed to know what card is which without fliping through their deck?"
"Fair point," Yuka agreed. "I know all of the cards in my deck, but until I draw them I couldn't tell you what's on top of my deck."
Clarise flipped her hair over her shoulder. "It was nice meeting and talking with you, but I need to get back to running my other students through their own studies."
"Wait, one more thing," Hugo said as Clarise turned to leave. "I'm curious about something, if you don't mind, Clarise."
"What's up?"
"Have you ever dueled without that computer thing on your arm?"
Clarise raised her arm, showing the computer. "This? No, never. At least, not since my dad made it for me. Yeah, apart from running the duel school my dad's also smart when it comes to technology. Why do you ask?"
"I was going to ask you for a duel," Hugo answered.
"Hugo, we don't have time for this," Yuka said. "We need to get to Avis City."
"I guess we can quickly duel," Clarise said. "I wouldn't mind seeing how non-students duel."
"I do have a stipulation, though, if it's okay with you," Hugo requested. "Duel without using your computer."
Clarise's eyes went wide. "What? Why?"
"Something you can never learn at any school," Hugo answered. "And that is a duelist's own abilities. Sure, you can learn a lot in a school like this, but there's only so much you can learn from a classroom. You learn dueling best by actually dueling."
"We do actually duel here," Clarise corrected him.
"Sure, but have you ever dueled using your own skills?" Hugo asked her. "Have you ever dueled without that computer?"
Clarise looked down at the computer strapped to her wrist. She knew that Hugo, this random kid who wasn't even a student at this school, wasn't trying to question everything she'd ever known. She knew that he was just questioning her own abilities. But she knew her own abilities; she'd dueled plenty of times before her dad gave her this computer. Althought at the same time, she'd had this device for a year now, and had gotten so used to dueling with it that she couldn't imagine being without it.
And really, why should she give this nobody the time of the day? He didn't go to this school. In fact, he and his two friends looked like they had been living off the land for days, if not weeks. And even though he probably didn't intend it, and even though he did say that it was up to her, Clarise couldn't help but feel that this guy was challenging her status as top student.
She removed the device from her wrist and handed it to Jackson. "You've got a duel, Hugo."
Clarise and Hugo stood apart from each other. Yuka and Shelly stood off to the side, and some of the other students from the school formed a circle around the duo to watch.
"Come on, Hugo, we don't have time for this," Shelly said.
"It'll be quick," Hugo said.
He and Clarise activated their duel pads, set their life points to 8000, drew their first five cards, and both said "Let's duel!"
"I'll go first," Hugo said. He scanned his hand, which consisted of Miscellaneousaurus, Gilasaurus, Super Conductor Tyranno, and two copies of Survival of the Fittest. "I'll start by special summoning Gilasaurus in attack mode." The brown velociraptor appeared on the field and growled at Clarise. "Next I normal summon Miscellaneousaurus in attack mode." Miscellaneousaurus was a mish-mash of various dinosaurs - the head of a triceratops, the arms of a pterodactyl, and the body and tail of an ankylosaurus. "Next, I set two cards face down and end my turn."
Clarise drew a card for the start of her turn. Her hand consisted of Tour Guide of the Underworld, Crane Crane, Graff Malabranche of the Burning Abyss, Solemn Strike, Trap Hole, and Scarm Malabranche of the Burning Abyss.
She scanned her hand. Now that she was here, she found herself trying to figure out what to do. She hadn't dueled without her computer for over a year. What was she supposed to do?
"You good over there?" Hugo asked.
"Uh, yeah, I'm fine, just thinking," Clarise said. "I think I'll do this. I'll summon Scarm, Malabranche of the Burning Abyss in defense mode." She placed the card on the field of her duel pad, only to be met with a shrill beep. "What happened?"
"You do know that you can't normal summon a monster in defense mode unless a card effect says so, right?" Hugo asked.
Clarise let out a nervous laugh. "I guess I forgot."
Yuka facepalmed. "And this girl's supposed to be a top student?" she asked softly.
"Like Hugo said, nepotism," Shelly said.
"Okay, then I'll do this," Clarise said. "I'll summon him in attack mode." A monster appeared on the field, a horrific winged creature that looked like it crawled out of a nightmare, with white hair and long red-tipped claws and downward-curved horns.
It was on the field for only a second before it exploded.
"What just happened?" Clarise cried.
Hugo put a hand over his eyes and groaned in annoyance. "Summoning a Burning Abyss monster if you don't have another Burning Abyss monster on the field will make the monster you summoned destroy itself."
"Well, I...I end my turn," Clarise said.
Hugo drew a new card, Babycerasaurus. "I summon Babycerasaurus in attack mode." The baby triceratops appeared next to Miscellaneousaurus and let out a cute little chirp. "And now, my circuit evolves. I set Miscellaneousaurus and Babycerasaurus in the link arrows. I link summon Link 2 Knightmare Phoenix." Knightmare Phoenix appeared on the field, its maroon wings flared. "Next I activate one of my face down cards, Survival of the Fittest, and equip it to Gilasaurus to increase its attack points to 2400. "Knightmare Phoenix, attack her directly." Knightmare Phoenix flapped its wings, sending several small fireballs at Clarise, hitting her and dropping her life points to 6100. "It's your turn to attack, Gilasaurus." Gilasaurus leaped at Clarise, clawing and biting her and dropping her life points to 3700. "I end my turn. You good, Clarise?"
"I'm fine," Clarise said. "Just made a mistake on my last turn. I draw." Her new card was Rubic, Malabranche of the Burning Abyss. She scanned her hands, reading the effects of her cards.
Okay, she thought. I can use Tour Guide to bring out another monster because that other monster's effects will be negated, but I can't use Tour Guide as Synchro material, so that rules out Rubic, but I can still bring out Graff. Yeah, that'll work. Oh, and that's a trap card, so if he summons something I can get rid of it. There's an idea. Let's see if it works.
"I summon Tour Guide From the Underworld in attack mode," she announced. The monster she appeared was a pretty woman with red hair, dressed in a blue flight attendant's outfit. She gave Hugo a friendly wave. "And reading her effect, she can let me special summon a Level Three monster from my hand with its effects negated, so I'll bring out Graff, Malabranche of the Burning Abyss in attack mode." This second monster was dog-like in appeareance, except for the bat-like wings on its shoulders and the glowing red of its body. Its body was emanating intense heat, given how the chains around its wrists were glowing and almost melted. "Next, I'll set one card face down and end my turn."
"Seriously?" Hugo asked, deadpan. "You have two Level Three monsters on the field; you're not going to try to XYZ summon? Well, too late now, so I'll draw for turn." The card he drew was Souleating Oviraptor. "I'll start by summoning Souleating Oviraptor in attack mode, and then I'll banish Miscellaneousaurus and Babycerasaurus from my Graveyard to special summon Petiteranodon in defense mode." The flaming oviraptor and the baby pterodactyl appeared on the field. "Next, I'll activate my oviraptor's effect to send Petiteranodon to the Graveyard, letting me special summon Sabersaurus from my deck." The red triceratops appeared and roared at Clarise.
"Next, I perform my second link summon with Gilasaurus and Knightmare Phoenix," Hugo continued. "I link summon Link 3 Knightmare Unicorn." The new monster that apperaed was a birlliant yellow and gold unicorn. "Now I activate its effect. Since it was link summoned, I send one card from my hand to destroy your face down card."
"You just destroyed my Trap Hole!" Clarise cried.
"Probably should have activated that," Hugo said. "Anyway, since I used that effect while Souleating Oviraptor was next to Unicorn's link, I get to draw a card." The card he drew was Super-Ancient Dinobeast. "And now, with Sabersaurus and Souleating Oviraptor, I build the overlay network." Both his monsters were pulled into the black hole the duel pad's holographic projectors created. "I XYZ summon Rank 4 Evolzar Dolkka." The white dragon creature he summoned stood tall over Clarise's monsters.
"Now it's time to go into our battle phase," Hugo continued. "Knightmare Unicorn, attack her Tour Guide." Knightmare Unicorn rammed Tour Guide with its horn, destroying her and dropping Clarise's life points to 2500. "Now, Evolzar Dolkka, destroy her Graff." Evolzar Dolkka launched a stream of fire from the blue orbs on its wings, destroying Graff and dropping Clarise's life points to 1200. "That'll be the end of my turn."
"Wait!" Clarise yelled. "I just remembered something. Burning Abyss monsters have Graveyard effects. Graff's lets me special summon another Burning Abyss monster from my deck."
"But won't it be destroyed because you don't have any other Burning Abyss monsters on the field?" Hugo asked.
"Oh. Right. Well, I can still draw a new card." The card she drew was the spell card Dark Hole. "I summon Crane Crane in attack mode." A mechanical bird appeared, its neck and head resembling a construction crane. "And now I'll use its effect to bring Tour Guide back from the Graveyard." Tour Guide reappeared on the field. "And now I think I'll XYZ summon."
"There you go, you're getting it," Hugo said.
"I XYZ summon Dante, Traveller of the Burning Abyss." Dante appeared and grasped the handle of the sword he wore on his belt. "And I just remembered something my computer told me. With Dante on the field, I can XYZ summon again into a monster called Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal." Dante began to morph, becoming another monster, a beautiful woman in an elegant blue and white dress. "And I think I'll attack now with Beatrice, attacking your unicorn." Beatrice began to sing, the sound waves of her song causing Knightmare Unicorn to vibrate before it shattered, dropping Hugo's life points to 7700. "My turn's done."
"I draw, then," Hugo said as he drew a new monster, Ultimate Conductor Tyranno. "I banish Petiteranodon and Gilasaurus from my Graveyard. Rise from the primordial ooze and send your enemies to extinction! I special summon Ultimate Conductor Tyranno!" Ultimate Conductor Tyranno's black and maroon body bristled with electricity as it rose up, its head coming to the tip of the school's roof. "Next, I activate my second face down card, another Survival of the Fittest, to increase Ultimate Conductor's attack points to 4500. Next, I activate his effect. By destroying Evolzar Dolkka, I switch Beatrice to face down defense mode."
Ultimate Conductor Tyranno roared, destroying Evolzar Dolkka and changing Beatrice's battle position.
"Next, Ultimate Conductor Tyranno attacks your face down Beatrice," Hugo continued. Ultimate Conductor rose one clawed foot and dropped it down on the face down Beatrice, destroying her. "And since I destroyed a defense mode monster with Ultimate Conductor, you lose 1000 life points." Clarise's life points dropped to 200. "And since I destroyed a monster while my monster was equipped with Survival of the Fittest, he can make a second attack and end this duel. Electric Tail Shock!" Ultimate Conductor Tyranno slammed its electrified tail on the ground in front of Clarise. The shockwave of the hit knocked her flying back agaisnt the brick wall and dropped her attack points to 0.
Hugo turned off his duel pad and hurried over to Clarise. She was slumped against the wall, her face grimaced in pain. Her eyes were tightly shut and her teeth were clenched.
"Are you okay, Clarise?" Hugo asked.
Clarise opened her eyes. "That stings." She winced. "You're pretty good."
"You are too, once you get going," Hugo complimented her. He helped her to her feet. "Hey, I wasn't trying to shatter your worldview or anything like that. I was just trying to -"
"To prove a point?" Clarise finished. "I think you did. Just listen."
Hugo listened, catching the sound of quiet overlapping conversations from the other students, with a few phrases being clear.
"Clarise lost?"
"Top student my butt."
"That's the girl that's been beating everybody?"
"Thanks for ruining my reputation," Clarise hissed. She pulled away from Hugo and started walking towards the school's doors.
"Wait, that wasn't what I was trying to do!" Hugo called after her. He hurried to catch up to her. "Wait, Clarise!"
"What?"
"Look, I'm sorry," Hugo said. He came to a stop in front of her. "I wasn't trying to ruin your reputation or anything, I was just trying to show you that you don't need a computer to duel for you."
"Yeah, well, I do," Clarise said.
"Okay, but why? Sure, it took you a couple of turns, but you showed that you can duel without it."
"You don't understand, I need it!" Clarise yelled. "And you're not even from this school, so you have no right to tell me that I don't!"
The door to the school opened, catching everyone's attention. Stepping out of the school was a tall, older man with high combed black hair dressed in a white suit. All the students went silent as he emerged from the building. His face was stern and fixated on Clarise.
"Hi Dad," Clarise said softly.
"Wait, 'Dad'?" Hugo, Yuka, and Shelly all repeated.
"I saw your duel from my office, Clarise," her dad said. "And heard what you said through the door. Do you really think I made you that computer to do all your duels for you?"
"But you did, didn't you?" Clarise asked.
"No, I made it for you in the hopes you would memorize the strategies it would tell you," her dad answered. "I never intended for you to essentially become addicted to it."
Hugo raised a hand. "Hey, can I say something, um...Sorry, what was your title? Principal? Superintendant?"
"Headmaster," Clarise's dad answered. "Headmaster Franklin Hiddleston. And you are...?"
"I'm Hugo. And I'm sorry about what just happened. See, I was just trying to show Clarise how a duelist's abilities come with time and practice. And to be honest, I think she's got the potential. It took her a couple of turns, but she started to get the hang of things. But she's right about one thing. I'm not a student here, so I shouldn't really be lecturing anyone."
"Perhaps," Franklin said. "But at the same time, I think you taught her a valuable lesson. Didn't he, Clarise?"
Clarise remained quiet. She turned away, unable to face her father. After all, how could she? She was just humiliated by a random kid from the woods. She couldn't face her father, she couldn't face her fellow students, she couldn't face anyone. Without that computer, she was nothing. She couldn't duel without it. It was how she got her position as top student.
Franklin put a supportive hand on Clarise's shoulder. "Clarise. You're better than you think you are. And this boy helped you see that, didn't he?"
"All he did was make me look like a fool," Clarise said softly.
"Well, harsh as it may sound, I think we all need to be humiliated at some point," Franklin replied. "Now tell me, Clarise. Do you still, honestly, think you need that computer?"
Clarise was quiet for a moment as she thought about it. "I don't know. I've been using it for so long, I can't imagine being without it."
"Well, I think it's about time we start," Franklin said. "I know it'll be hard, but I believe you can do it."
Clarise turned to her dad and wiped the tears that were forming at the corner of her eyes. "Thanks, Dad." She turned to Hugo. "And thank you, Hugo. Dad's right. And you're right. I need to learn how to be my own duelist."
"And hey, Hugo," Franklin added. "We have an open spot for a teacher, if you're interested."
Hugo rubbed the back of his head and laughed. "I think I'm a bit young to be a teacher," he said. He turned to look back at Yuka and Shelly. "Besides, I don't feel like leaving my friends just yet."
"I can respect that," Franklin said with an approving nod. "In that case, don't let us keep you and your friends any longer. Where are you headed?"
"Avis City," Hugo answered.
"Good luck to you, then."
Hugo rejoined his friends. "Sorry about that," he said.
"You just had to show the poor girl up, didn't you?" Shelly asked.
"Not going to lie, I did take a little bit of pride in that," Hugo said sheepishly.
"At least we got this detour finished," Yuka said. "And lost about two hours, but whatever. Come on, guys. Avis City is waiting for us."
The three friends started walking back into the woods.