Did you think that this book was just going to be about John and his group again? What ever gave you that idea? Every other book that I've ever written? That's just silly. Reasonable, but silly. Okay, just reasonable. But seriously, no this book is going to focus equally on Team Illusion (John and Karen's team), the Duel Force, and Jen over on Team Beatdown. Sadly, after this chapter, one character will no longer be counted among the ranks of the Duel Force. For now, her story will end. But we do learn a few things about her before she goes, and more of her past will be revealed later.
Chapter Two
Gifts
Sarah
I spread my deck of some forty-five cards out across the table in front of me. This was probably the fourth time in the last hour that I'd done so, but I hadn't really been counting.
I have to get this right, I thought. The world may not remember what John accomplished during his time as leader of the Duel Force, but I do. He wouldn't think of it this way, but when he was our leader, he was our ace in the hole, and our inspiration. If their was an enemy that you couldn't beat, you'd ask John to beat them. If their was an enemy that couldn't be beaten at all, you'd ask John to beat him.
John had had this reputation among the rest of us, that he could fight at the level of any enemy, no matter how strong. I need to be that for my team now, I decided, and that means that I need to come up with some bigger plays, and I need an ace monster on par with John's 'Great Maju Garzett'.
I laid out the last of my cards as I completed my thought. Immediately, I removed the cards that I'd added for my last test draw, and replaced them with the cards that they had replaced. They had been potent cards, but they hadn't actually worked with the rest of my strategy. Using them had felt like having two completely separate decks. Some people can duel like that, but I'm not one of them. This meant, though, that my deck was no different now that it had been when I'd started. I frowned, frustrated, and leaned back in my seat, absentmindedly looking around the room, hoping for inspiration.
I was in Wilson's Cards, the shop near my house, owned by Mr. Wilson, an old friend of me and my brother who had kind of become the team's unofficial manager. He'd given me a key to the place so that the rest of the Duel Force and I could use it as a headquarters during Wilson's steadily-increasing off hours. I wasn't really supposed to be here alone. At least Wilson had never given me specific permission to be. But I had thinking to do, and I didn't want to be bothered.
So you can imagine how annoyed I was when three of my friends walked in.
"Is the door unlocked?" I heard my unofficial second in command, Jenna, wonder. She pushed open the door, and stepped inside. Her bright eyes showed concern behind her frizzy brown hair as they scanned the room. As usual, she was wearing clothing that completely clashed. A bright pink long sleeved shirt under a bright orange tank top. Knee-high striped socks. A fashionable short skirt, ruined with marker drawings. It all made her stand out, despite that she was as thin, and nearly as short, as I was.
Jenna saw me, and all worry left her face, "Oh, it's just Sarah."
I like Jenna very much as a person, so I bit back a biting, annoyed retort, even managing to hold my tongue as the tall, lanky ginger idiot Tucker, and his pretty, blue-haired shadow, Frost, stepped into the room behind her. Instead I said, "Yeah, I wanted a quiet place to work on my deck. But I'm finished now."
I started to gather up my cards, asking, "Why are you here? I thought the shop was closed today?"
Jenna stepped behind the counter. She had been working for Wilson part time for a few weeks now. "It is," she replied, "but I got a call from Wilson that there are a few odd jobs that he needs me to do. Just cleaning and stuff. And it had to be today, since one of the jobs is to wait and sign for some package. Tucker and Frost just happened to be with me at the Game Center when I got the call."
"Yo," Tucker said, shooting me a dumb grin while he browsed Wilson's display cases. As usual, Frost stood behind him, refusing to meet my gaze.
"Cool," I told them, putting my deck away, and getting up to leave. "You all have fun with that. I'm gonna go."
I stepped quickly past the counter, past my friends, and out the door before any of them could say a word. I thought for a second that Tucker or Jenna might try to follow me. You can imagine how surprised I was when , instead of either of them, it was Frost who gave chase. She pushed her way through the door just before it could close, and rushed to catch up to me, walking beside, and a little behind me.
"H-hey," she said, sounding a little uncertain, "I'll, uh, walk with you for a while."
I was way too surprised to argue, so I just said, "Uh, okay."
I kept walking, expecting that Frost just needed to get somewhere, and didn't want to walk the whole way alone. Then she spoke.
"I-I wanted to..."
She picked up her pace just long enough that she was actually walking beside me.
"I wanted to thank you."
"For what?" I asked dismissively.
"For saving me," she answered.
I chuckled, "I know I have a tendency to re-write stuff in my head to make myself seem cooler, but I'm pretty sure that Tucker was the one who did that."
"He freed me from Mask's control," Frost replied, "but you beat Mask. If you hadn't, he would have just cut his way into my mind again. I would have lost even more of myself. I never thanked you for that. Thank you."
At this point it was clear that Frost was entirely serious. I stopped walking, and she stopped, too. She still wouldn't look at me, though.
"Well," I told her, "maybe if you were to ever talk to me, it would have come up before now."
"Yeah," Frost agreed, crossing her arms and looking at the ground, "well, I just figured that it was about time." Her fair-skinned face was well hidden behind her bangs, so I couldn't be sure if she was actually blushing, or if it was my imagination.
I looked her over, and noticed that she was carrying a bag over her left shoulder. Suddenly, I realized what was going on. She didn't just need to get somewhere.
"You're leaving."
"Yeah," she replied simply. "More and more of my memories have been coming back lately. Since that Mendo Cino guy reminded me that I used to be a pro Duelist. Some memories came back to me the other day that make me think that it's time."
"Does Tucker know?" I wondered.
"I haven't told him," Frost replied, sounding a little guilty, "but I will, once I'm far enough away that he can't argue."
"Aren't the two of you, like, an item or something?"
Now it was Frost's turn to chuckle, "No. Paul's...sweet. But he's way more like a brother to me than anything else. And besides, the more I remember about myself, the more I realize that Paul really isn't my type."
She glanced up at me, almost like she didn't really mean to, and then looked away again. Now I was sure she was blushing. That's when I finally got it. I didn't say anything, mostly because I didn't know what to say. So I changed the subject.
"Okay, well, thank you for the...thank you. Keep in touch if you want. Are you okay to get where you need to go?"
"Yeah," she replied, "I'm good." She seemed more relaxed all of the sudden, like she was relieved that I hadn't pressed the matter. "But that isn't all that I wanted to talk to you about. I've noticed that you seem kind of worried about your deck lately. Especially with the regional coming up. I thought that, you know, as a thank you," she fished a card out of the deck box clipped to her waist, "that this might help."
She handed me the card, and immediately the Soul of Water that hung by a cord around my neck began to tingle, reacting to a different kind of magic that flowed within the little square of paper. I read the card. It was very powerful. And the naming pattern reminded me of something. I recognized this card, or at least the series of cards that it was a part of. They were called Planets, and they each had magic of their own within them. I'd seen a few of them before. My mom has one, and an old ally of mine, Hiro, had used another, before passing it to my brother, who had passed it to our cousin Kris. Those cards were each very likely the only copies in existence. This one was likely the same.
"Frost," I said, almost reverently, "I can't take this."
"Yes you can," Frost insisted. "It fits your deck better than mine."
Well, I thought, she isn't wrong.
"Besides," she concluded, "it doesn't seem to like me. I've had it in my deck for years, but I've never been able to draw it once in a duel. Keep it. I mean it. And, if it isn't too much to ask, think of me when you play it."
Before I could say anything to that, Frost took off jogging. I watched as she ran to the bus stop at the nearby corner, just in time to catch a bus heading into the city, leaving me, for the first time in my life, completely speechless.
Jenna
I was surprised when Frost ran out of the room in pursuit of Sarah. As far as I knew, Frost didn't really like Sarah much, and Sarah was clearly in one of her moods. Even I avoid her when she's like that.
"What's up with your girlfriend?" I asked Tucker.
"You mean Frost?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at me, genuinely perplexed. "She probably wanted to talk to Sarah before she leaves."
"She's leaving?" I asked, surprised.
"Yeah," he said, "but she hasn't told me yet. She doesn't want me to stop her. I wouldn't, though. I know that her memories have been coming back. It was only a matter of time before she went back to her old life."
"But if she didn't tell you," I asked him, "how do you know what she's planning to do?"
Tucker smiled, "I may not be too book smart, but I have a lot of experience reading people."
I was surprised, "I didn't know that. Why haven't you ever said anything?"
"The stuff I figure out usually isn't my business," he answered. He smirked at me, "I mean, you wouldn't want me telling everyone about your crush on Kris, would you?"
I felt my entire face go hot, "No, no I would not."
Tucker went back to browsing Wilson's shelves, "So I don't say anything."
I frowned, Okay, that was awkward. I trusted Tucker, but I was unnerved that he'd been able to see through me so easily. I knew that Kris didn't like me the same way, and I didn't want her to feel weird around me. Thankfully, I was distracted from that terrifying thought when, while cleaning under the cash register, I found an envelope with my name on it. I opened it up, and a note, and a black card sleeve, slid out of it. I started with the note, which was typed out neatly. It read:
Jenna,
Thanks for all of your help around the store lately. I'm not as young as I used to be, and running the shop gets more difficult every day. Don't worry too much about the cleaning. It's not that big of a deal. You can just hang out with whichever friends you brought along with you until the package arrives. Say "hi" to Sarah for me.
As an extra thank you, you'll find something special enclosed. It's a card from my personal collection. I get the feeling that it might suit you. I hope that it helps you and the rest of the Duel Force at the regional next week.
Your grateful boss,
Wilson
I set the note down, more than a little touched, and opened up the little black sleeve. A card fell out. I looked it over, and I smiled.
John told me about cards like this once, I remembered. This might be the only copy of it in the world!
I read the card, I like it. I can't use it in my deck as it is now, but with a few modifications, it'll fit right in. And then my deck will pack even more of a punch.
Excited by the prospect, and eager to show off my new toy, I said, "Hey, Tucker, come and check this out."
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