“It is theorized by scholars that one day holographic duel technology will be so realistic that the monsters will come to life. When that happens, I wonder if duelists will ever use The Grid for dueling again. But for now, we get very basic and crude holo projections. No wonder nobody ever duels in the real world. The Grid is downright sick!”

-Jack Kane dueling historian and judge

Cyrus was now starting to worry. The week following his father’s disappearance felt like a blur. He called his uncle to tell him what happened and to get advice on what he should do. His Uncle Malachi, a peculiar fellow told him to, under no circumstances, call the cops. He told Cyrus that Seth was a business friend and to not worry about anything, but Cyrus thought all that was bullshit.

His uncle came to stay with him, and the pair ran the shop like nothing happened. The only difference being his uncle was nowhere nearly as strict as his father. The byproduct was that Tera had been spending a lot of time dueling in the shop with Cyrus free of charge. Something Cyrus didn’t mind. He loved spending time with her, and Harlow liked bragging to someone other than his best friend about Dicey Warriors.

Cyrus knew something wasn’t right, and he didn’t even know where to begin. He didn’t have any leads after much investigation of his fathers’ files and even Seth’s huge corporation. He couldn’t find anything to connect his father to Seth in any way.

On top of that Harlow was getting ready for the orientation portion of the academy and Cyrus still didn’t hear anything from them. He knew that he was at the cut-off and made peace with the fact he was never going to attend. He didn’t mind though because the time he spent with Tera distracted him from obsessing over the academy.

Cyrus flew through school wondering if he would ever see his father again, while his uncle dodged every question Cyrus had on the given subject. He honestly was more focused on Tera’s dueling abilities, he thought she was getting good. Tera told him that she was starting to duel in ranked matches on The Grid, finding some success.

“Hey Uncle Mal, do you think you can register me to The Grid?” Cyrus asked as he organized cards within the shop’s shelves.

“Are you mad? Bowie would kill me.” His uncle said.

“But I turn eighteen in like a month though!” Harlow cried. “I’m ready for The Grid.”

“Listen kid, your father has his reasons. It’s not my place to tell you, it’s his."

“But what if he doesn’t come back?” Cyrus questioned.

“Oh, trust me, he will.”

Cyrus couldn’t understand the confidence in his uncle’s voice. He wasn’t there when his father disappeared, he thought to himself. Cyrus never witnessed the hostility that was displayed those weeks ago. Cyrus remained lost in his thoughts wondering about his father.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Hey Cy, you alright?” Tera asked.

“Yeah, I’m good.” He lied.

“Hey, you guys know there is more to life than dueling.” Harlow teased.

“You mean Dicey Dungeon Warriors? “The pair said in unison.

“It’s Dicey Warriors not Dicey dungeon warriors, jeez get it right if you’re going to say the name of the greatest game ever!” Harlow bellowed

The three friends went back and forth joking with each other like most days. While the three of them laughed and Malachi focused on his phone, the door to the game store opened. Three teens entered the old shop, clearly not impressed.

“If it isn’t Harlow the horse, the blonde teen in the middle said. Some kids at their school called Harlow by that name because of his laugh. Everyone knew that he hated it, and bullies took advantage of it.

“Hey, you leave him alone,” Tera said standing up from the booth she was sitting at.

“Ooh, Harlow the horse now has a girl to pick his fights for him. What a joke,” the Boy said.

The other two boys laughed mocking Harlow’s laugh. Harlow turned a shade of red and didn’t say a word. This was rare for him; however, the bullying he received was not.

“You bullies are going to the dueling academy, right? Why don’t we duel for our guardians? Or are you too chicken to do that?" Cyrus questioned in a dismissive tone.

“Sorry loser my cards are in The Grid, I won’t subject myself to peasants. Don't you know that real duelists use The Grid!" The blonde boy laughed.

Cyrus got in the blonde boy’s face and looked at him. “I’m sure the headmaster wants to hear about how many bullies they have up at the academy.” Cyrus looked at him in pure contempt.

“Yeah, whatever.” The boy laughed. “Let’s get out of this dump,” he said.

The boys walked out with an air of confidence seen in most low-level bullies. Cyrus relaxed his body and Harlow’s face became less flustered.

“Hey you alright Harlow?” Tera asked.

“Yeah, I’ll teach them a lesson at the academy,” Harlow said. As soon as he said that he glanced at Cyrus. “Sorry dude.” Harlow tried his best not to upset his best friend since Cyrus didn’t get an invitation to the academy. Tera did the same. In fact, Tera never mentioned that she too got into the academy a few weeks ago. She excelled better in the rankings than she led on, and even Harlow knew it.

“Don’t worry, I know I’m not getting accepted into the academy. Once I turn eighteen, I am going to sign up for The Grid and climb the rankings.” Cyrus said. The friends never truly talked about it. Harlow and Tera sighed in relief knowing this new information.

“I’m glad you have a plan,” Tera confessed.

The door to the shop opened, the bell ringing like it always does. An old man in a suit carrying a briefcase looked around the shop. He looked like he was on a mission.

“Hey, can I help you?” Malachi said.

“Ah, yes. I am looking for Cyrus.” The man said.

“For what reason?” His uncle questioned.

“A duel. I have heard that he’s not a bad duelist, and I wanted to see if that was true.” The man said. “I confess, I am interested in if the former world champ passed his dueling lineage to his offspring. I couldn't find anything about him on The Grid, so I figured I would visit Bowies Shop,” Malachi looked at Cyrus and he nodded at the man. “So, you want to duel?”

“I don’t see why not; I won’t pass up a friendly duel. So, what’s your name?” Cyrus said.

“Xander,” He sat down in a booth and motioned his hand for Cyrus to join him. He opened the briefcase and brought out a deck of what looked like very old cards. They were golden and looked different than any cards Cyrus had ever seen.

Cyrus grabbed one of his many deck boxes from the counter his uncle sat at and joined the booth sitting across from Xander. Cyrus looked at his opponent as he expertly shuffled his deck using some sleight-of-hand tricks. Cyrus wasn’t sure if that was an intimidation tactic. Cyrus took out his deck from his deck box and shuffled his cards, his hands shaking. Xander offered his cards to Cyrus, and he took the top half of Xander’s deck and moved them to the bottom of the deck, quickly cutting the deck. Cyrus offered the same however, Xander declined.

“Alright, kid.” Tera and Harlow watched with great interest.

Cyrus then heard his two favorite words from the man sitting across from him.

“Let’s duel!”