The Orb Chapters 1 1/2

Discovery

The bright orange light from the Sun slowly faded away as the Sun itself began its descent behind the dense cluster of pines. Darkness was slowly creeping up on the forest, making all the trees appear sinister and all the forest creatures’ eyes glow in the coming moonlight. The only sounds that could be heard were the swish a branch made as it was pounced upon by a passing squirrel and the distant hooting of an owl.
A curious gray rabbit stopped in the middle of a clearing and cocked its head toward some brush, as if waiting for something. On cue, two figures emerged from the brush, scaring off the rabbit as they continued their walk through the mysterious night. The two were humans, both around the same height and both not skinny or chubby. The only difference that could be told from their shadowed figures was that one was a boy, with hair reaching barely below his neck, and one was a girl, with her hair in a bun out to the right side of her head.
“Are you sure you know where you are going?” the girl asked.
“Never question the power of a nerd’s instinct!” the boy replied, holding up what appeared to be a book. “Plus, I have a map.”
“A lot of good it does you in the dark.” The girl retorted. “And in case you didn’t notice, that’s a manga volume, not a map.”
“There’s a map inside it!” the boy protested.
“Of Azeroth!” the girl snapped.
“Ember, have I ever let you down before?” the boy asked.
“There’s a first time for everything!” Ember replied.
“Tonight is not that time, however!” the boy said as he marched onward. He stepped into the moonlight. His features were then visible: medium-length brown hair, a smooth pale face with only a couple of blemishes, and rectangular glasses perched on top of his pointed nose. Overall, he was very handsome, but the “GAMING ADDICT” t-shirt, plaid flannel shirt, and perfectly clean blue jeans gave away his nerd status.
“We shall see,” Ember said as she stepped into the moonlight as well. She was dark-skinned, and her hair had two streaks in it, one purple and the other pink. Her purple shirt had a skull emblazoned with diamonds, and her arms were littered with bracelets of all shapes and sizes. Her skin was smooth and free of unsightly protrusions as well.
The two continued onward, the boy turning his book every way possible, trying to read the map of the fantasy world. Finally, he kept it still on one position, and pointed behind him. “That way!” he exclaimed.
Ember sighed. “So we just walked about three miles in the wrong direction?” The boy nodded cheerfully, unfazed by their predicament. “Let me see that!” Ember snatched the manga from him and shoved it in her oversized black purse. “I’ll lead from now on!” She pointed the opposite way the boy had and began walking, “That way!” She immediately began walking in that direction, cutting off any comments the boy had.
The pair continued on through the dark forest, pushing by any vegetation in their way and shooing away the attacking gnats. A couple of times a coyote’s howl could be heard far away, sending a shiver down the boy’s back.
“Are we there yet?” the boy asked playfully.
“We would be if somebody didn’t try to lead us with a map showing the locations of all the magical swords on Azeroth!”
“How was I supposed to know it wasn’t a map of this land? It was an honest mistake,” the boy shrugged innocently.
“I’m sure it was,” Ember said doubtfully.
“So… have you found anything good on television lately?” the boy asked. He didn’t receive a response as Ember seemed to be staring intently at the ground. The boy nudged around her to see what she was looking at.
“Chip, what is that?” she asked, pointing at a shining object on the ground.
“How should I know?” Chip responded, reaching down to touch the object. As his fingers clamped around the cool metal, the object suddenly glowed red. A red spark then shot from the object up Chip’s arm and into his chest. His entire body glowed for a quick second before he was shot backward with astounding force. He slammed into a tree, causing some robins to scatter into the starry night sky.
“Chip! Are you alright?” Ember rushed over to him. She knelt down beside him. “What happened?”
“I’m not sure…” Chip answered, dazed. He raised his fist to examine the item still clutched between his fingers. Uncurling them, he saw what looked like a piece of jewelry. It was silver, and shaped like a crescent moon, but it was jagged on one side like it had been broken in half. There was a mysterious symbol carved into the metal, but it was indecipherable.
“Let me take a look,” Ember said as she slowly reached for the pendant, fearing what would happen when she touched it. Her clammy fingers gripped the edge of the item, but nothing happened. Less nervous now, she removed the metal from Chip’s palm to examine the item.
She heard Chip gasp and swiftly turned to look at him. He was staring worriedly at his hand where the necklace had been. A red symbol was left on his palm, exactly the same as the one on the pendant. “What the heck?” Ember breathed as she drew nearer to his hand. “What is it? Ink?”
“I don’t think so. It wasn’t there before,” Chip replied, calming down somewhat.
“Could it be…blood?” Ember gulped as her eyes widened. Chip glanced at the red emblazoned on his palm. “Does it hurt?”
“It burns a bit, but not very much.”
“Well, let’s get you home. Or better yet, a doctor,” Ember said as she helped Chip onto his feet.
“All the doctors are probably asleep at this hour,” Chip said. “If it is still there tomorrow, I promise I’ll go.”
“Okay, but I’m checking in with you first thing in the morning,” Ember warned, stuffing the pendant in her pocket.
“I’ll ready the alarm system,” Chip teased.
“At least your attitude toward this is good,” Ember joked.
The two of them continued walking for another few minutes until at last they came upon some light. Pushing through some ferns, the two emerged in someone’s backyard. “And here we are at my house,” Chip dropped to his knees and pretended to kiss the ground. “I guess I’ll see you later!” Chip jumped up and waved her off.
“You’re not going to get rid of me that easily. I’ll be by tomorrow. Get your mom to check out your hand!” Ember commanded as she walked off toward the nearest street.
“Aye, aye, captain!” Chip saluted as she turned onto the street. He watched her walk past a few houses before walking into the driveway of a tan brick house. After making sure she had gone inside, Chip held up his hand and examined it, the red mark throbbing. Sighing, he walked up to his own door and went inside his house.


















Of Videos and Card Battles



Bright yellow rays penetrated the glass of the window to illuminate the darkness inside the silent room. The mockingbirds were singing their springtime song, and the cardinals quarreling over the bird bath on the front lawn. Dishes could also be heard rattling down the hallway. All the factors together caused Chip’s eyelids to open, for him to slowly sit up, and for him to yawn.
Chip reached over to his bedside table for his glasses. After knocking over a bottle of nasal spray in the process, he managed to grip them and slide them onto his face. Glancing over at his digital clock, he moaned, seeing that it was already past eight o’clock. He liked to start his Saturdays early. There was always something to watch on television, and he had to prepare for his card game tournament at noon.
Finally, he slid out of bed and, grabbing a folded pile of clothes from atop his dresser, proceeded to his bathroom. Before he slid into his bathroom, he caught a glimpse of his mom carrying some dishes across the kitchen to the counter where they ate their meals together. Smiling to himself, he walked on into his bathroom and locked the door behind him.
Pulling of his boxers and t-shirt, he reached past the shower curtain and twisted the three handles one after another. First water spewed out of a faucet at the base of the tub, but after a moment, the pipes gave a gurgling sound like they were about to throw-up, and water sprayed out a nozzle above Chip’s head, wetting him slightly with lukewarm water. Pulling the curtains aside, he stepped into the tub and let the water tDennyles down him.
He grabbed a bottle of berry-scented shampoo from a rack hanging down from the shower nozzle. After squirting five times the amount needed into his hand, he scrubbed his head thoroughly with his sudsy hands. After letting the water wash the suds out of his head for a few moments, he pulled his head out from under the water and outstretched his hands to wash them off. Chip watched the warm water wash away the foam residue. He now stared at the bare flesh of his palms, with water trickling down them.
Suddenly, he gasped. His green eyes opened wide and he stumbled backward, crashing into the wall of the shower and sliding down into the bottom of the tub. With the water spraying all over his face, he slowly raised up his trembling right hand to examine it. Wiping water away from his eyes with his left hand, he took one more look as if he couldn’t believe his eyes.
The symbol that was emblazoned into his skin was glowing on and off. One second it would be there: a bright red mark on his palm. The next second it would be gone. As he watched this with his huge eyes, he felt the burning sensation in his palm again and gripped it tightly with his left hand.
After groaning in pain for a few minutes, Chip let go of his right hand and examined it again. The mark was no longer there at all. The burning had also subsided. It was like it had never even been there.
He stood up slowly and, with trembling hands, twisted the handles until the water shut off. He grabbed a towel from under the sink after he had gotten out of the shower and began to dry himself off.
After drying off all of his body except his hair, he once again looked at his right palm. Nothing but bare skin looked back at him. “What is going on?” Chip asked himself. “What’s happening to me?” Frustrated, he banged his clenched fists onto the counter as hard as he could. “Yow!” he cried out in pain as he quickly turned the handle for the faucet to the left. Holding his hands over the sink, he let the cold water ease the pain he had inflicted on them.
“Chip!” his mom called from the kitchen. “Your breakfast is ready!”
“Thanks, mama!” Chip called back. “I’ll be out in a minute!”
He stood still for a while, glaring at himself in the mirror. He let out a sigh, exasperated. “No sense worrying about it. There’s nothing I can do!” he mumbled, grabbing a comb out of a drawer.
He left his hair wet every morning for a reason. He would take his comb and try various hairstyles such as spiky hair, combed back hair, and parted. Usually he made his hair spiky. He combed all his hair upward, and, after completing that, swung his head forward violently. He stared at himself again in the mirror. His hair was now flat on top, but the back and sides of his head had the hair on them sticking out, like a poorly designed anime character. However, Chip liked it. “Now if only my hair was silver,” Chip smiled as he combed his hair back down to normal.
“Chip!” his mom called again.
“I’m Coming!” Chip answered as he pulled on the clothes he had brought in with him. He them opened the door and walked down the hall to where his mom, and his breakfast, was waiting.
Chip’s mother was filling up two glasses with orange juice when he walked into the kitchen and sat down at the counter where the two of them ate their meals together. “What’s on today’s agenda?” Chip’s mom asked casually.
“Just the usual. Play some video games. Go to Planet Groove. Hang out with friends. A normal Saturday.” Chip answered as him mom set a glass full of pulpy orange liquid down in front of him, next to a plate full of freshly made pancakes topped with butter and rich syrup.
“You never want an unusual Saturday?” his mom asked jokingly. She brushed her red hair from in front of her eyes and behind her ears to clear her vision. Freckles ran all across her skin. In contrast, Chip’s skin had maybe five freckles in total.
“At least with a normal Saturday I know what to expect,” Chip responded, stabbing a pancake with his fork and shoving the majority of it into his mouth. He grabbed his glass of juice and poured some into his mouth to wash down the choky mass of dough. “What about you? What are you going to do without me?”
“I would like to sit down at my sewing machine for a change, but that’ll never happen with all the work piled up around here. I wish I had a strong man handy to help me,” his mom hinted.
“Well I sincerely hope you find one!” Chip teased as he held out his scrawny arm for his mother to examine.
Their breakfast continued like this until they exhausted their supply of pancakes and orange juice. Chip grabbed his dish and walked it over to the sink. Just as he began to run water over it, the doorbell rang. Chip glanced out the window in front of him and saw a deep purple bicycle parked in their driveway. Chip sighed then groaned as a person on a cerulean blue bicycle also pulled into his driveway. That person hit a crack in the pavement and flipped head first onto the front lawn.
Chip moved away from the window as him mom opened the door to welcome the visitors. “Hello, Ms. Rogers!” Ember greeted.
“Hello, Ember!” Chip’s mom motioned for her to come inside.
“Hello, Ms. Lexis!” the other person said as they wobbled up to the door, their bike supporting them.
“Why hello, Kenny!” Lexis said, leaning his bike against the wall and helping him inside.
“Hey, Chip!” Ember waved as Chip came around the corner. He noticed she was wearing the pendant around her neck like a necklace, tied with flimsy golden-colored string.
“A little early I do believe,” Chip commented.
“I believe the term is punctual,” Ember corrected. “I did say I’d be here first thing in the morning.”
“Uh-huh,” Chip rolled his eyes then stared past Ember at the figures of his mom and Kenny. Kenny was collapsed on the floor, and Chip’s mom was panicking.
“Better?” Lexis asked Kenny as she finished applying a bandage to a scar on his leg no bigger than a grain a salt. Kenny wiped a tear away as he nodded.
“Silly, Theodore! You know you can’t ride a bike!” Ember wagged her finger at Kenny, calling him by his nickname. The nickname was from Alvin and the Chipmunks. Kenny was Theodore and Chip was Simon. They had yet to find an Alvin.
“Be quiet,” Kenny pouted as Lexis passed him an enormous chocolate chip cookie, which he accepted and began nibbling on.
“He is a chipmunk,” Chip whispered to Ember, who nodded.
“What brings you two here so early?” Lexis questioned.
Chip clamped his hand over Ember’s mouth. “Well, I had to show them, this, uh, cool movie on the web!” Chip explained, removing his hand from Ember’s mouth. “I forgot to tell you! Sorry! I’ll show it to them now! Come on!” he grabbed them both by their collars and half dragged them out of the chairs they were sitting in back to his room.
“Did you not tell your mom?” Ember asked, as she sat at the base of Chip’s bed as he closed the door behind them.
“I don’t want her to worry. Besides, it isn’t even there anymore! Look!” Chip held up his left hand for her to examine.
“I still don’t like this one bit,” Ember stated, gently pushing his hand away.
“I see you are wearing that thing as if it were a priceless jewel.”
“In a sense, it is a priceless jewel.”
“Fine. I just don’t want to touch it again.”
“So, what video did you want to show us?” Kenny asked innocently, finishing his cookie. Chip glanced at Ember and shook his head slightly. Obviously, Kenny hadn’t heard a word they had just said.
Chip sat at his desk and opened up his laptop. It was already on his desktop. A background picture of his Mock Trial team was showing. All three of them were in it. After opening his web browser and clicking a few links, Chip arrived at a video streaming site.
“Now what? You have to find an interesting video or he will get suspicious!” Ember whispered in his ear.
“It’s Kenny. Since when does he get suspicious?” Chip asked rhetorically as he clicked on a video called “The Yanaka War.”
“Sounds interesting,” Ember said sarcastically.
“Oh hush!” Chip sighed.
“Let me see!” Kenny shouted excitedly as he shoved past both of them to glue his face to the screen.
“Here, sit on this!” Ember commanded as she threw a pillow on the floor and Chip pried Kenny away from the screen. He landed with a thud on the pillow just as the video finished buffering.
“Three hundred years ago, all was not as peaceful as it is now. The Talantathis elves, the humans, and the wolves all clashed in a war with the fate of the world at hand. The source of the war was a mystical red orb called the Yanaka Orb. The orb granted whoever found it one wish, and all three sides wanted to be the dominant species on Earth. They all wanted to wish to eliminate the others.” The narrator said.
“Booorrriiinnggg…” Chip yawned.
“Shush!” Kenny held a finger to his mouth as he stared, hypnotized at the computer screen.
“The battles were fierce. The elves brought with them their warlocks, druids, warriors, and priests. The wolves brought their warriors and mages. The humans brought only warriors.” The voice continued. “However, the humans did have one thing on their side: the world’s first-ever bomb.
“Bombs had never been tested before, so the humans had no idea what power was inside. In the middle of the largest battle of the war, The Battle of End, the foolish humans dropped the bomb. Yes, it eliminated the wolves and elves, but it also wiped much of the human army. Not to mention a great deal of land as well. That single bomb created what is today known as the Grand Canyon. It did win the humans the war, however.” The video ended and a list of related videos popped up to replace it.
“That’s awful!” Ember exclaimed. “All those people were sacrificed!”
“That’s the way war is. It’s a terrible thing truly,” Chip said. “If I ever get drafted, I am moving to Australia.”
“What happened to the orb?” Kenny asked.
“I suppose it hasn’t been discovered yet.” Chip responded.
“It could be near the Grand Canyon since it said it was the largest battle. That could mean that it was going to be the final decisive battle.” Ember guessed.
“Maybe. That video didn’t give much information at all on anything,” Chip glanced at the time on the computer screen. “Ten minutes.”
“Until?” Ember questioned.
“I have to leave to go to Planet Groove.” Chip replied.
“Oh yeah. You have to play Magic and Wizards with all those nerds!” Ember joked as she punched him lightly.
“Exactly. You guys want to come?”
“No thanks,” Ember answered. “I’ll pass on the geek fest.” Chip gave her a stern look.
“Nope! I have some serious gaming to do!” Kenny said.
“Suit yourselves.” Chip shrugged as he hurried into the bathroom and began brushing his teeth. Kenny turned back toward the computer screen with wide eyes.
“Whatever you’re thinking about can’t be good! So forget it!” Ember crossed her arms as though that closed the subject. Ignoring her, Kenny climbed clumsily into Chip’s chair and began clicking around randomly.
“Kenny, stop that!” Ember commanded and walked up behind him. He didn’t seem to hear her. Ember sighed and grabbed his collar. She began to pull him out of the chair when something made her stop suddenly. An image had appeared on the screen of Chip about nine years ago. He was standing butt-naked, peeing in their school’s bed of petunias. Both Kenny and Ember burst out laughing. As soon as they were able to control their laughter, a new picture popped up showing Chip and a Megan Varosa, a classmate of theirs hugging each other tightly in a flower garden. It truly was an embarrassing picture. Another wave of laughter took over Kenny and Ember, which was only made worse as six more pictures flashed by. All of them were embarrassing pictures of Chip as a child.
“This is too funny!” Ember giggled.
“What’s too funny?” Chip asked as he walked into the room. Kenny hurriedly clicked out of the slideshow and opened up a game of Solitaire and began to click around.
“Oh, uh…this game of Solitaire!” Ember stammered, her cheeks going red. “Kenny’s doing everything wrong!”
“Yeah, what else is new?” Chip raised an eyebrow suspiciously.
“Oh! Look at the time! You need to get going! We’ll go too. Come on, Theodore!” Ember knocked over a pile of comic books with a few fantasy DVD’s on top of them onto the floor as she stumbled out of the room with Kenny right behind her.
“Bye!” Chip called out behind them, puzzled. “That was just a wee bit weird.” He bent over to pick up his comics and DVD’s. As he reached under his dresser for a Teen Titans comic, he noticed something next to it glimmering. He outstretched his hand in hopes of reaching the object, but all he clasped in his hand was a pile of dust.
He got back up on his feet and looked around for something to reach it. He saw a flag from his old Cub Scout camp. A cloth alligator head had been sewn onto the front, and all the den members had put phrases on the flag, but now all the fabric was peeling away at places. That didn’t matter for the task at hand. Chip grabbed the flag and stuck the end of it under his dresser and shoved it up behind the shining object. With one quick sweep, he launched the onject out from under the dresser and right into his mouth. He grabbed his mouth, and after a few moments, withdrew his hand to see blood on it. He wiped his lips with his shirt to remove the rest of the blood.
Grabbing hold of the object, he stood up and examined it. It was a golden watch, with a silver trim. The writing on the back told him that it was made in China. “One of them must’ve dropped it,” Chip said to himself. He stuffed the watch into his left jeans pocket next to his cell phone and walked across the room to an enormous trunk.
He reached down and lifted the lid on the trunk, revealing box after box inside. All of them were stuffed with trading cards. Chip selected the smallest of them and a medium-sized one and closed the lid back.
“Hey, mama!” Chip shouted as he walked into the kitchen. “I’m going to walk over to Denny’s, okay?”
Lexis set down the dishes she was scrubbing and walked over to him. She bent over and kissed him on the head. “Alright. Be careful!”
“I will!” Chip yelled as he grabbed his wallet from a shelf to his right. He ran out the door and disappeared down the street.
Denny was the owner of a store that sold items such as skateboards, CDs, DVDs, t-shirts, and above all, trading cards. A gathering of about twenty-five people came every Saturday to try to win the tournament. Chip had never actually won the tournament, but had gotten second two times. It really didn’t matter to him whether he won or not; he just enjoyed having fun with his friends.
After jogging for about a half of a mile, he stopped, out of breath, and rested on a wooden bench. He leaned back and watched the clouds go by and listened to the chirping of the mockingbirds and wrens as they flew from tree to tree, trying to find a mate.
Despite his determination to get to Denny’s as fast as possible, the heat of the sun and the melodic sounds of the birds caused him to doze off. He was running through a forest packed with pine trees and blackberry bushes. He could saw some turkeys in the distance and heard the cry of a hawk not too far away. He stopped running and stopped to pick some blackberries. As he plucked them off the bush, he noticed how plump and juicy they were. “These have to be the most tasty ones ever!” he thought as he selected the biggest one in his hand and plopped it into his mouth.
As soon as the red juices inside the berry exploded all over his tongue and teeth, the trees, the bushes, the turkeys, and the entire world reeled. Everything seemed to fly past him at an unreal speed. He looked around at the mix of colors as they zoomed by. There was the green of the pine needles, the brown of the turkeys, and some other colors that he couldn’t determine the origin of.
He turned his head back around and saw a black figure standing in front of him. Its eyes were jade green, and they seemed to be on fire. Two triangle-like protrusions erupted from where Chip guessed its head was. The silhouetted figure outstretched an arm, or what Chip supposed was its arm. At that moment, the world stopped rushing by and all faded into blackness. All he could see was the figure in front of him, no longer in shadow.
Before Chip could get a good look at him, a brilliant light shot from the figure’s hand and enveloped his face. A million images flashed through his mind. He saw a black tower, or an enormous tree carved into a tower, with a purple sky behind it, and a group of people walking up to its doors. That image flashed away to be replaced by an image of Ember balled up, crying out in pain because of some unseen force. Beasts launched themselves at him, his posterior burned, and a high-pitched squeal filled his ears.
All this vanished as he saw before him the broken pendant, swinging back and forth on the golden string Ember had attached it to.
Now a new voice rang out above everything else. “Chip? Aveeeerry…?” His vision was now blurry, and he had an aching pain in his neck. He sat up and rubbed at the pain. “Chip?” He cocked his head to see Fred Johnson standing over him.
“What?” Chip groaned, still massaging his neck.
“You fell asleep and it is time to be at Denny’s.”
“I fell asleep?” Chip asked. The dream he had had suddenly flashed through his mind, causing him to break out in a cold sweat.
“Yeah, so, I have this awesome idea for a strategy today…” Fred turned away and mumbled on, not realizing Chip was not listening.
Chip flipped over the palm of his hand and saw that the symbol was dimly flashing. As he tried to examine it more, it faded away into his skin again, as if it had never been there. He stared at his palm blankly for a few moments before snapping back to life. He was completely chilled to the bone by the dream, or nightmare, he had had.
“So what do you think?” Fred turned back to him.
“What? Oh, yeah. Sounds great,” Chip replied, unfocused. He stared back at the bare palm of his left hand. He shook his head in confusion and stood up. “Let’s go.”
Denny’s was only about another half-mile and so it didn’t take long for them to arrive. They stood outside the store, staring at all the posters, skateboards, and t-shirts with rock bands’ names printed on them displayed in the windows. It was either a nerd store or a cool person’s store, and no one could decide which was truer.
Chip opened the door wide, allowing Fred to go inside first, and then he filed in behind him. About twelve people were already there, and since the time was already eleven thirty, it didn’t seem that anyone else would be showing up.
They walked over to the counter in the back right corner of the store where a black-haired guy in his early twenties was talking to a brown-haired and bearded seventeen year old. The seventeen year old guy had a clipboard and pencil, which he was chewing on, and the black-haired guy was behind the counter counting out money.
“What’s up nerds?” the black-haired guy greeted them as they approached.
“Hey, Denny!” Chip shouted. “How’s it going?”
“A little slow today. Not many showed up.”
“Well, it is a bit cramped in here, so maybe its for the better,” Chip said.
“Maybe. But I do like more money in my pockets.” Denny laughed.
“Speaking of money…” the brown-haired guy hinted.
“Don’t worry Butch! Have I ever not paid?” Chip asked.
Butch shrugged. “Hey, I am the one running these tournaments and I get a split of the profit with Denny, so I’m going to always make sure you pay. Now then. May I see your five dollars?” He held out his hand, waiting.
Fred and Chip both whipped out their wallets and handed Butch a five dollar bill. “Why thank-you, gentlemen,” Butch said as she sniffed the dollar bills appreciatively and then handed them to Denny. “So let us see here. You are Fred and Chip.” He wrote their names on the clipboard at the bottom.
Sensing that there was nothing else to do there, they looked around for Tim and Greg, found them sitting at a table, and went over to sit with them.
As they sat down, they realized that they were immersed in a card game. They decided not to interrupt them, but to watch.
“I play my Earth Rose!” Tim cried as he placed a card on the table. “Now, it battles with your Dark Wizard!”
“But your Rose will lose,” Greg pointed out.
“Not when I use this card! It’s called Fertilizer and it makes my Rose strong enough to take down your Wizard!”
“Wait, no!” Greg cried as Tim began dancing in his seat.
“I won, I won! Oh yeah!” Tim cried. For the first time he noticed Fred and Chip. “Hey guys!”
“Hey, Tim,” Chip said in return.
“Hello, Stupid!” Fred grinned. Tim scowled and turned back to Chip.
“So what’s up?” Tim asked.
“A bunch of things. Many I would rather not discuss.”
“Whatever. Want to play cards?” Tim asked.
“Nah. I’ll wait for the tournament. I can beat all of you easily anyway.”
Fred coughed out some insult that was not understandable.
“You do know that we are having a tag tournament today, right?” Greg asked.
“A tag tournament?” Chip asked, astounded. “Great! I don’t have a partner!” He glanced at Fred. “Want to team up?”
“You said you could beat us all easily. So I think I’ll be someone else’s partner so I can beat you!” Fred chuckled.
“Well then who’s partner am I supposed to be?” Chip demanded.
“Alright, I need to know who is partnering with who!” Butch shouted above all the chattering.
“I don’t know, but you better find one soon,” Tim replied.
“Adam?” Butch asked.
“Dave is going to be my partner!” A boy with curly black hair and ear piercings shouted back. The two boys were brothers so it was really no surprise that they were teaming up.
“Tim?” Butch asked.
“I’m going to partner with Andrew!” Tim shouted.
Greg turned to face him. “What? I thought we were partners!”
“Not this time,” Tim responded, leaving Greg worried like Chip.
“Want to team up?” Chip asked Greg.
“No,” Greg said, although it was clear that he was desperate for a partner.
“Pete?” Butch asked.
“I’ll partner with you!” a tall greasy black-haired guy shouted back.
“Greg?” Butch asked.
Greg glanced around quickly. He saw absolutely no one besides Chip to partner with. He let out a deep sigh. “I’ll be partners with Av…” Just then the door opened and two dark skinned boy around seventeen walked in the door. One was tall and skinny with a bad eye, and the other was big in all aspects.
“Michael!” Greg cried.
The guy with the bad eye turned around to face him. “What?”
“Ok, well Michael, I’ll need you and Raus to pay before the tournament starts.” Butch said. “Sattir?”
“I’m partners with Fin,” a short kid with a bad ear announced.
“JIMMY?”
“Jack!” a tall guy in his twenties announced. He had highlights running through his blonde curly hair.
“Fred?”
“I suppose I get Drew…” Fred answered, glancing at a short black-haired kid wearing a black t-shirt and a pair of ragged khakis.
“Chip, that leaves you and Raus,” Butch announced.
“Fantastic…” Chip and Raus muttered at the same time.
“Alright! It’s double elimination!” Butch shouted. “First round matchups are as follows: Tim and Andrew versus Fred and Drew, Sattir and Fin versus Jimmy and Jack, Pete and me versus Greg and Michael, and Chip and Raus versus Adam and Dave! You may begin!”
Raus walked over to Chip. “You better not screw this up,” He took hold of Chip by the collar and shook him slightly.
“Same goes for you!” Chip sighed.
“You ready?” Adam asked the four of them took their places at a table.
“As we’ll ever be, I suppose,” Chip responded as he opened his small container he had brought and revealed a stack of cards. His deck.
They all shuffled their decks, let each other cut them, and rolled a die to see who went first.
“Looks like I am up first!” Dave shouted, taking off his skier’s cap, revealing his messy black hair. “Let’s begin!”

“Alright! These are the four teams going on to the semi-finals!” Butch announced. “After three rounds of hard fought battles, these two teams have a perfect score: the team of Fred and Drew and the team of Pete and me. Also in the semis are the teams of Greg and Michael and Chip and Raus!”
Fred glanced at Chip with a smug grin. Obviously his plan that he had talked about had been working. Greg looked pleased that Tim hadn’t made it this far.
“Chip and Raus will be going up against Pete and me! That leaves Fred and Drew with Greg and Michael! We will resume in thirty minutes!” Butch announced.
The people who hadn’t made it to the semis either began making trades with other people, which Chip had brought his box for, or either migrated next door to The Sandwich King.
“Wanna grab a bite before the next round? We need to keep our stamina up,” Chip said to Raus.
“Stamina? For a card game?” Raus chuckled. “Yeah, sure. Whatever.” They walked out the door and out into the blinding sunlight.
“Hey! We’re coming too!” Michael shouted as he and Greg ran out the door behind them.
Chip pulled open the door to The Sandwich King and allowed the others to go on inside. The air was full of bologna and salami, and the chattering of a thousand voices floated around continuously, not stopping until entering an unsuspecting person’s ear.
A middle-aged woman brunette was at the counter, taking orders. She saw them enter the building and smiled. She recognized most people at Denny’s. The Sandwich King got a good amount of business every Saturday from them.
“May I help you?” She asked Raus as the man in front of him grabbed a handful of napkins and his cup of tea and walked away.
“I’ll take a double bacon cheeseburger with everything on it. Also I would like an order of fries and mashed potatoes on the side, as well as a large coke, please,” Raus said as if he had recited it. In reality, he either ordered that or fried shrimp every week.
“That will be seven dollars and sixty-four cents,” the lady told him.
Raus counted out his money, then turned apologetically toward Chip. “Hey, man. Can I borrow two bucks?”
Chip reached into his pocket, grabbed his wallet, and pulled two wrinkled dollars out of it. “You do this every week. Sooner or later I’m not going to lend you this and you’ll have to buy it all yourself and pay me back all you owe me,” He sighed as he handed Raus the money, which he gave to the woman who punched a button on the register and put the money in and giving Raus two dimes back as change.
After they all had ordered, they found a booth at corner of the place where they usually sat. Chip and Greg sat across from Raus and Michael.
“So, it looks like you guys are going up against Fred and Drew next round. How are you going to prepare?” Chip asked Greg and Michael.
“Well, I really have no idea what weird strategy they are using. Fred always has something new as I’m sure you know,” Michael replied, sipping his lemonade.
“You hang out with Fred more than we do. I mean you two are in the same class. These two don’t even go to our school,” Greg pointed at Raus and Michael. They went to the county’s high school where as Chip and Greg went to a smaller school with students kindergarten through twelfth grade. “So what do you suggest we do to prepare?”
Chip took a long, thoughtful sip of his sweet tea before answering Greg. “Well, Fred did tell me he was trying out some new strategy today.”
“What is it?” Michael prodded.
Chip took a deep breath, then let it out as he answered. “I have no idea.”
“What do you mean no idea?” Michael demanded.
“I was, um, preoccupied when he told me about it,” Chip glanced at his left hand. Michael and Greg sighed.
“Why don’t you just try cards that work against really anything?” Raus suggested.
“That’s what got us this far I guess,” Greg said as a waiter with blonde hair brought out four trays of food. He laid an enormous burger in front or Raus, along with his potatoes. Greg had ordered just a small sub sandwich with ham, cheese, bacon, and mayonnaise. Chip had requested the fried shrimp dinner with baked beans and slaw. A huge plate of fries was laid in front of Michael.
“Well, let’s just do our best!” Chip said cheerfully as he dipped a fried shrimp in tartar sauce.
“Alright! Agree to meet in the finals?” Raus asked as he held out a fry.
“Agreed,” Chip said as he put his shrimp on top of Raus’ fry.
“No doubt about it!” Michael agreed, putting another fry on top of the shrimp.
“Well, I see some doubt, but here’s hoping!” Greg said as he simply laid his palm on top of everything.
“Yeah!” They all shouted at once and withdrew their food. Greg tried to grab for the food, but was too slow. Raus laughed as Greg’s hand slammed down on his sub, sending mayonnaise flying onto his face.
They continued to eat, and talked about how they planned to win today for the next half-hour. “Well, let’s get in there and show our stuff!” Raus commanded as he reached over and stole Chip’s last shrimp, leaving him pouting.
“Where were you guys?” Butch demanded. “We almost booted you all from the tournament!”
“For being ten minutes late?” Chip asked.
“Yes! Now hurry and get to dueling!”
Greg and Michael sat on a bench on the opposite side of a table from Fred and Drew. Butch motioned for Chip and Raus to follow him. He led them to a table with four black chairs seated around it. Pete had already occupied one, with his feet propped up on the table.
“Let’s get this over with and fast!” Pete groaned, taking his feet down.
After shuffling their decks, they rolled a die to see who went first. “Guess I do,” Chip shrugged.
He drew three cards and then thought hard for a few moments before making a move. “Ok! I play Dark Bird – Beta! And I’m going to activate Dark Bird Nest! Now I can play Dark Bird – Gamma even though it’s in my deck! I’ll let you go now.”
Butch drew three cards, as Chip had. “I’ll use Life Guardian Meguru, who will now attack your Dark Bird – Gamma!”
Chip removed Dark Bird – Gamma from the playing field.
“Idiot! You had no defense!” Raus shouted. “Now we only have three destruction counters left!” Every time a monster is destroyed in battle, players lose one destruction counter. When all four of them are gone, they lose the game.
Seven more turns passed by