The sound of gravel crunching under his faithful steed’s wheels abruptly stopped as the golf cart made the transition from the pathway to grass and finally to off-roading on larger rocks Phil assumed were some sort of volcanic debris. It was a most excellent sign that meant the two boys were probably almost within shouting distance of their friends. He only had to get past a bunch of big rocks and hope the battery-powered cart had enough power to chug up the slope…
Phil put those pessimistic thoughts in his ‘ignore pile’. The cart could make it. It would make it. Back on Earth he had done crazier stunts with golf carts. Especially in his time with the Boy Scouts and his much shorter time with his old high school’s golfing team. Drifting, sliding, racing, he had done it all with those little underpowered vehicles through fits of teenage boredom. Hell, Phil could even fondly remember the time his Boy Scout troop was working on the golfing merit badge but could only rustle up a single golf cart. So, what did they do? Well, Phil’s dad just sat down in the driver’s seat, turned to everyone else, and said ‘daylight’s burning, so you might as well load up, boys!’
Somehow the golf cart at the time, despite having upwards of ten guys filling up the front seats, the back seats, crouched on the back end of the cart that was carrying the clubs, hanging off the side, and even pressed flat on top of the plastic roof, managed to not tip over once and made it over hills that had seemed impossible for the weight it was carrying.
That time, compared to the golf cart Phil had just jacked a few minutes ago? Despite the worry for his friends that seeped through Phil’s very bones, getting the cart up the side of the volcano seemed like an easy time indeed.
Eventually the two boys reached the opening in the side of the volcano that Alexis had described, which was barely big enough for Phil to nudge the golf cart through to reveal Alexis, Syrus, Chumley, and the guy he assumed was Alexis’s brother. It was obvious that none of them, from Alexis to the unconscious dude, were doing well. Chumley had several burns on his head, Syrus had a scarily accurate impression of a thousand-yard stare going on with his eyes, Alexis was obviously faking a brave face that threatened to slip whenever she looked around, and her brother was bleeding all over the ground. Phil brought the golf cart to a halt and stepped out of it with Bastion right behind him.
“Hey lads, looks like you’ve had quite a night.” Phil began in a soothing tone similar to what would be used to calm spooked animals. “Alexis, how about you let me and Bastion lay your brother in the back seat? He should be nice and comfortable there while we drive him to the infirmary. His name is Atticus, right?”
Alexis nodded shakily. “Yes. His name is Atticus. He… this wasn’t his fault. He was possessed. He’ll… he’ll be all right, won’t he?”
Phil moved over to Atticus’s unconscious form with Bastion and glanced over the man’s injuries with a careful eye. “Nurse Fontaine will know better, but nothing jumps out to me right now. We’ll be gentle taking him back, though, just in case he has any broken bones or internal issues. Bastion, with me on three. Make sure to be careful. Usually moving an unconscious person is a no-go, but I’d say it’s even worse to leave him inside the crater of a volcano. Plus, I’d rather be inside the school if any more of those Shadow Rider dudes come knocking. If any of them see us out here, we’ll be in quite a pickle if there are more than Bastion and I can handle.”
Alexis narrowed her eyes and began to speak, but Phil cut her off as he and Bastion gently placed Atticus onto the back seat of the golf cart. “Of course, Alexis, I know you are a good duelist. Hell, I think you’re the first one to bring down one of these Shadow Rider guys. But you just went through a duel with your life on the line. You’re tired. Syrus is tired. Chumley is tired. Tired people make mistakes. If push comes to shove, I believe in your strength to win, but if I can prevent things from getting that bad in the first place, I’d rather do that since we have an injured guy with us now.”
With that said, Phil hopped back into the golf cart and turned the flat-head screwdriver jammed in the ignition to start it back up again. “Alright. Bastion, you take shotgun and keep a wide eye out for anything unusual. Alexis, would you mind sitting with your brother and keeping his head from being jolted around? Syrus, Chumley, there should be room for you two to sit on the back where the golf clubs would normally go. I know sometimes there’s an unfolding seat back there but I didn’t think to check if this cart had one when I grabbed it, so it might be worth for you to fiddle around with it on the way back.”
Phil’s orders, while rapid-fire, served to be exactly the kick in the pants that Alexis, Syrus, and Chumley needed to break out of their funk, at least for the moment. Alexis slid herself in the back seat and rested Atticus’s head on her lap while Syrus and Chumley managed to find the little catch to undo that revealed the fold-out seat on the back end of the golf cart.
Soon enough the golf cart began to slowly pick its way down the volcanic slope under Phil’s watchful gaze while Bastion scanned the sky and the surrounding rocks for anything that looked like it was approaching the group of students.
Not even a minute after the golf cart had left the inside of the volcano crater, Phil’s wariness paid off with a nudge from Bastion.
“Phil. It could be nothing, but I see something. It’s… a bird, I think. Too far away to tell for sure, but it definitely isn’t an owl. Not the right shape.”
Phil raised his eyebrows as he glanced sideways at Bastion. “Something is more than nothing. If you’re sure it isn’t an owl, then that’s one weird-ass bird to be out this late at night. Keep an eye on it dude, let me know if it gets closer.”
As soon as Phil fell silent, Alexis looked at Bastion with a worried gaze. “A bird? It could be the same bird that took me from the dorms! Watch out, if it is that bird, it has magic of some kind. It walked straight through the glass window in my room and swallowed me whole without hurting me.”
Bastion and Phil both nodded with no small amount of apprehension to the information. If it truly was the same bird, then if it got closer, they would have a problem. Phil patted his Ra Yellow jacket, feeling the reassuring weight of the deck boxes held in their straps under the piece of clothing. At the very least they had some amount of protection, Phil consoled himself. If the bird got pissed off enough and ended up attacking the group, he could try and ask D.3.S Frog to munch on it like an extra crunchy bag of bird-flavored chips.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Once Phil and the others reached the infirmary, the group became a flurry of action as Alexis raced over the girl’s side of the Obelisk Dorm to fetch Nurse Fontaine alongside Bastion, while Phil, Syrus, and Chumley hung back to keep Atticus safe. Well, it was more of Phil hanging back to keep Syrus, Chumley, and Atticus safe, but at least adding Syrus and Chumley to the guard detail gave them a job to distract the two from their understandably traumatic experience in the cube.
Nurse Fontaine was quickly convinced to accompany Alexis and Bastion back to the infirmary without complaint, with how obvious Alexis’s distress was. The speed of it even allowed Bastion to quickly break off from the group to wake Chazz in order to add an additional fresh duelist to their ranks that they could trust.
As soon as Nurse Fontaine reached the infirmary to let them in, she hustled Alexis, Syrus, and Chumley inside while Phil and Bastion carried Atticus in to lay him on an empty bed. She wrapped Syrus and Chumley with blankets to help with shock, and then shooed Phil, Bastion, and Chazz out of the room to get some peace and quiet.
And that was how the trio found themselves sitting on a bench outside of the infirmary, waiting and hoping for good news while they caught Chazz up on what had happened.
“So the Shadow Riders thought Alexis was a key keeper, or was she being collected as a hostage like Syrus and Chumley?” Chazz eventually questioned once Phil had said his share.
“I think Alexis was under the impression that she was being gathered as bait, but it could be either one.” Bastion replied. “Once Nurse Fontaine lets her back out here, we can double check on that though. The answer would tell us a lot.”
Phil nodded in agreement with Bastion’s statement. “Yeah. If they actually did think Alexis was a key keeper, then that tells us that the Shadow Riders don’t know for sure who is and who isn’t. If that’s the case, then they’re working their way down a who’s who list of the academy’s strongest duelists. They must have some way to gather information, though. Syrus and Chumley were obviously grabbed as hostages and any idiot could tell you that hostages are only effective if they have a personal connection to the target. I mean sure, I know Alexis would have still fought to protect two random students, but neither Syrus nor Chumley are random. Nightshroud wanted someone who would see Syrus, Chumley, and maybe even Alexis, and be distracted by the fact that they’re a glass pane away from a horrible death.”
“And that bird, too.” Bastion mentioned. “A magic bird covered in human skin. Freaky, illogical, and a problem.”
Chazz laughed despite the serious nature of the situation. “What a crazy night this is. Shadow Riders first, and now we have to watch out for a bird that wants to swallow us to serve on a freaking dinner plate to the bad guys. I would ask how this could get any more insane, but I’m afraid the world would take those words as a challenge at this point.”
Chazz’s morbid joke proved to be more than the situation could handle and the other two boys joined in his laughter.
“What’s next, dueling on a moving golf cart? No! On a motorcycle!” Bastion guffawed at the thought. Phil laughed even harder, knowing that even if that didn’t happen now, the motorcycle was inevitable.
At that moment the door to the infirmary opened a crack and Nurse Fontaine summoned the boys inside. She shook her head as everyone took their places near Atticus’s bed.
“Seriously. I cannot believe that the chancellor got you kids involved in this.” She said in disappointment.
Phil shrugged. “It’s either this or the world ending. It is what it is.”
Nurse Fontaine shook her head again. “I know. That doesn’t mean I have to like it, though. I’ve called your dorm heads over to the infirmary to pick you guys up, but to prevent any sneaking about the place, I will let you guys know about Atticus’s… condition.”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Alexis grew still at those words and looked up with a mixture of hope and fear on her face. “Will… will he be alright?” She questioned.
“Physically, while he does have wounds from the shadow duel, it’s nothing a healthy teen like Atticus can’t shrug off with a bit of bed rest and some bandages. The problem is that he isn’t waking up. This has happened before, back in Battle City. I wasn’t there myself, but I have heard that a similar condition was forced upon Mai Valentine and Joey Wheeler during the tournament. Until Chancellor Sheppard showed me undeniable proof that magic exists, I merely thought that they were attacked after their duels, but according to the scans I pulled from the database, Atticus is in a similar coma.”
Phil leaned forward and reassuringly patted Alexis’s back. “But those comas, weren’t they fixed when Marik Ishtar was defeated? Why is Atticus still in a coma, then?”
Nurse Fontaine shook her head helplessly. “Alexis mentioned Atticus was possessed. If we can find who possessed him, then something could be done. Until then, all I can do is keep him safe and comfortable.”
Three knocks rapped out against the door to the infirmary, causing Phil, Bastion, and Chazz to turn around in a flash with their duel disks ready. Thankfully the action was for nothing, as Ms. Hibiki, Professor Bernardello, and Professor Crowler slid inside the infirmary with worried expressions. Immediately after the professors entered, all of the students were kicked out to return to their dorms.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
“By the stars, Atticus Rhodes survived the Abandoned Dorm incident.” Crowler said in astonishment. “Of course, he was one of my best students, but he has been missing for years now! I can’t even begin to imagine how Ms. Rhodes is feeling now that her brother is back.”
“She’s in shock. They all are.” Nurse Fontaine said in a brisk, businesslike tone. “Alexis had to hurt her own brother in order to save her friends. Seriously, I cannot believe that Sheppard and Kaiba are okay with putting children in danger like this. Why didn’t they just hire a group of pro duelists!”
Crowler frowned. “I don’t like this much more than you do, but the small handful of duelists Kaiba actually trusts are unavailable at the moment, and though I hate to say it, the three of us represent the only teachers on this island that are stronger duelists than those kids. Anyone else than the current group of key keepers and we might as well hand the keys over to those barbaric Shadow Riders.”
Ms. Hibiki nodded in agreement, frustration clearly written on her face. “It is inexcusable. However, the fate of the world is in balance over those keys. We cannot stand by and let the keys be guarded by anyone less than a formidable duelist. Frankly speaking, though, the fact that the Shadow Riders went straight for the kids makes me uneasy. We as teachers are the obvious targets. Why not attack us with the first strike?”
Bernardello frowned. “You’re saying that we have a mole, then. A teacher or a student who knows about the keys that is willing to sell us out.”
Crowler opened his mouth angrily to respond, but before he could, Ms. Hibiki cut in. “Maybe we do. Maybe they just got lucky. As of now, we don’t know, and there is no point throwing blame around. Fontaine, could you give us a quick overview of Atticus Rhodes's condition?”
Nurse Fontaine’s eyes turned steely. “He’s in a coma induced by the shadow duel. It’s much too similar to the Battle City incident to be anything else. What I didn’t tell the kids is that there’s more than that. They’ve had such a rough night that I don’t want to disturb them anymore. When I was examining Atticus’s body, I found multiple contusions, and not all of them were fresh enough to come from the duel. He also has several wounds that look to have been caused by bullets, and some of those bullets… they’re still in him. Whoever or whatever possessed Atticus must have run the boy ragged.”
The four adults paused to glance at the black mask that Alexis had wordlessly handed Professor Crowler on her way out of the infirmary. It was an ominous object, and the blood red ruby at the center almost felt like the eye of a monster that peered into their very souls. Resting right beside it was one half of a golden pendant, one that looked not even a bit less ominous and evil than the mask did.
“That must be the shadow charm used to create the duel.” Crowler eventually said with a note of fear in his voice. “If Alexis Rhodes, one of the most gifted students in my Obelisk Blue dorm had such trouble with the holder of that pendant, I hate to imagine what the duels to come will bring.”
Then, the professors bid each other good night, none of them noticing the crow swathed in human flesh watching them from the window with a curious eye. A soft ‘caw’ escaped the crow’s mouth and its head moved to look at an owl that was resting nearby. A moment passed as the two birds stared at each other, until the left side of the crow’s body deformed violently, ripping part of the human skin that covered it to produce a snarling mouth with human teeth that surged forward to bite off the owl’s head and gulp down its body with slobbering movements. The crow burped, rustling its wings as the mouth on its side disappeared and the crow took flight.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
For the second time that night, Alexis laid down on her bed in her dorm room with her duel disk still strapped securely to her arm. Jasmine and Mindy still continued to sleep, unknowing of the bitter life and death duel Alexis had found herself thrown into earlier that night. Alexis sighed. Despite the electric thrill she had felt during the duel itself, a part of her wished that she could go back to sleeping as soundly as her roommates.
Everything seemed like it had been turned upside down. Still, she reminded herself, there were upsides. Her brother was back, unconscious but alive. Alexis would have given a lot more to get him back. Syrus and Chumley were safe, though Alexis had resolved herself to speak with Syrus the next day. The look she saw in his eyes… it worried her.
Phil had also been reliable, reassuringly so. She had seen it before in the Jinzo incident, but when he showed up in a golf cart, of all things, with Bastion at his side and took charge of the situation, Alexis was able to feel a slight tang of relief. The suspicious part of her felt like it seemed Phil had been through stuff like this before, but she didn’t care. Everyone came together to help her out. That’s what friends were for.
That’s what friends were for, Alexis silently repeated to herself.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Phil paused at the entrance to the Ra Yellow dorm, with Bastion quickly following suit once he noticed.
“Bastion, we need to do some brainstorming real quick. Come on, my room should hopefully be alright.”
Bastion nodded in agreement, silently following Phil to his dorm room. Phil opened the door with a soft creak and flopped onto his bed while Bastion pulled out the desk chair to sit on. A moment of silence followed as Phil fished around in his jacket, eventually producing a single fusion monster and setting it on the windowsill. Bastion cocked his head in interest towards the strange action.
“D.3.S Frog?” Bastion questioned.
Phil nodded. “He’s always hungry. If that crow comes by the window, he’ll enjoy the snack.”
Bastion’s eyes widened in understanding. “A duel spirit then? Like Jinzo?”
“Yup. Like Jinzo, but he’s a homie. It never hurts to have an ace up your sleeve, after all. Anyways, we need to figure out where we stand.”
“Indeed. I have a few possible ideas on how Nightshroud got his information, but I would like to see your take on it first, Phil.”
“Well, I said it earlier,” Phil replied while he absentmindedly stroked his chin in thought. “The magic bird probably did wonders for their recon. And after thinking about it a bit more, I’m pretty sure Alexis was nabbed as a hostage, even though from an outside point of view she’s a good choice for a key keeper. Hostages would be a great way to gain an advantage during a duel, after all. It’s what I would do if I wanted those keys and wasn’t picky about morals. From there I would be able to sucker you, Jaden, or one of the professors into a lopsided duel. Three’s a good number, too. You could kill one of the hostages to show you mean business while still having two left over. Man, that was disgusting to say.” Phil said with a shake of his head.
Bastion nodded in agreement. “My thoughts exactly. There may be more to this situation, though. Could there be a traitor?”
Phil glanced out the window and then began to tick names one at a time off his fingers. “So the people that know about the situation would be me, you, Chazz, Alexis, Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, Zane, Hibiki, Bernardello, Crowler, and Sheppard. Any of those people would have the means to provide a list of key keeper names for the riders. From there all they would have to do is stake out the dorms and classes to see who the keepers are close to.”
“And Fontaine.” Bastion added once Phil fell silent. “From her lack of surprise when we brought Atticus Rhodes in, I gather that Sheppard informed her of the situation.”
“That would fit.” Phil agreed. “With the chance for bodies to start dropping, no sense in leaving the nurse in the dark. Anyways, first off, we can rule out me and you. Same with Chazz, Alexis, Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley. I think by now we’ve spent enough time together to be able to tell if one of us is a sneak, plus if it was me or you, the other would be dead by now. Alexis wouldn’t have staged an attack on herself, Jaden’s too good of a guy to do something like this, and Syrus and Chumley almost died tonight. Zane is too proud to lower himself down to traitor levels. Hibiki… yeah no. I don’t see her flipping. Crowler may be an ass, but from what I’ve seen he wouldn’t want to hurt any of the students. Sheppard I honestly can’t say. He seems nice, but I’ve barely even met the guy. Bernardello also seems chill but he’s more of an unknown since he was brought in as a teacher at the last moment.”
“In a nutshell, that means if there is a traitor in the first place, it’s either Sheppard or Bernardello?” Bastion asked. “I trust your reasoning on the others, so unless there was just an accidental leak of information or that bird is really, really good at sneaking around, we have our suspects.”
“Yeah.” Phil nodded. “I can’t think of anyone else who would even know about this secret little war of ours, let alone be willing to turn traitor and name names. Hell, maybe both Sheppard and Bernardello are stand-up guys after all. Bottom line is, until we know for sure, we need to watch our backs around those two guys. I don’t know if we should tell the others, though. If it turns out we’re wrong…”
“Then it means at minimum the others will turn on one of the key keepers or the man who runs the school.” Bastion finished. “We can’t afford to cause confusion or infighting at this point in time. That would only make it easier for the Shadow Riders to separate us and defeat us one by one. Besides, if we can think of this, then the professors may be considering the possibility, too. They probably have better ways to get information than we do.”
“Hm. Fair point. What about the phone, then? Syrus said he called your room phone, and I know for fact that there is no fucking way anyone can sleep through that, just the same that I know you would have picked it up if you would have heard it out of curiosity alone. I also can’t think of a way to disable the ringing sound without completely disconnecting the phone or picking up the call.”
Bastion’s eyes narrowed in thought. “True. Yet I heard not even a single peep until you started knocking on my door. Syrus also did not hear a busy signal, and since he was able to call in the first place means that the number was not taken offline.”
“Mine went off no problem when Syrus tried.” Phil said. “I heard it almost immediately. Does this mean someone’s fucking with the phone lines? Either redirecting a few specific ones or doing some freaky magic crap to them? Well, I guess that’s more of a morning question since Syrus said he also tried Jaden’s number. If Jaden didn’t hear the call, then we have a direction to start looking in.”
With those thoughts lingering in their heads, Bastion took his leave to get some rest while Phil tried to make himself comfortable on his bed. Yet, with all the excitement the night had brought, sleep did not come easily to Phil.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Similar to Alexis, to Phil, to Bastion, to Syrus, and to Chumley, Dimitri lay on his bed in the Ra Yellow dorm with his eyes wide open. Not even a single whit of sleep had come to him that night, and he would be frustrated about that if he wasn’t so tired. His eyelids felt like they were taped to heavy weights, yet nothing he did could help him sleep. Warm milk was useless. Walking around? Worthless. Preparing for his rematch against Jaden that was planned for the next night? He had done it a thousand times, then a thousand times more, and still sleep did not come.
Every single time he began to close his eyes, Dimitri could almost swear that there was someone or something else in the room. Watching him. Stroking his head. Whispering in his ear. Trying to comfort him but only succeeding in majorly creeping Dimitri out instead. But whispering what? He could never make out any actual words. Yet the uncomfortable sensations he felt were more than enough to prevent him from getting a single wink of sleep. Ugh. Of all the times to get creeped out by a horror movie, his brain had to choose this one.
“Wake, child.” The wind whispered.
“You have so much work to do, child.” The wind groaned.
“You cannot rest now, child.” The wind muttered.
Yet the one that watched Dimitri knew it could not be heard. Not yet.