A Change of Heart

Chapter 5

I ran up behind my sister, who was dueling some guy that I couldn't see, "Mai!" I shouted, seeing her devastated look after her Harpy Ladies were defeated, dropping her life points down to zero.

I heard the guy laughing, "You're next girly." I heard him say in a deep, gravelly voice, causing me to shudder, "And you, give me your star chips. Loser!" The man said before he began to laugh again as Mai took out her star chips, looking down.

"Now, you're next girl." The man said, after scooping up Mai's star chips and grabbing my wrist and holding it in a tight grip.

"O-ow!" I cried, "Let me go!" I tried pulling my arm out of the man's grasp, but he just tightened his grip on my wrist and I could feel the bones grinding together.

"Mai!" I heard Yugi's shout from behind us, "Are you okay?!" He asked and Mai looked up, seeing the others quickly running over to us and the man jerked me closer to him.

"You're too late." Mai told them, before she noticed the guy practically man-handling me, "Let go of my sister, you big creep!" She then shouted, turning from defeated to pissed in a matter of seconds. Grabbing her duelist glove and taking it off, she wacked the tall man in the face, making him let go of my wrist, only for Mai to grab my wrist and quickly pull me out of harm's way.

"Hey, is the sideshow freak giving you both a hard time?" Joey asked, bringing his fist up as Mai pulled me over to Yugi and the others while I stared at the ugly bruise that covered my entire wrist.

"That's right." The man cackled, "Just like Pegasus pays me to do. Root out all the dueling filth on this island and dispose of it."

"Doesn't that make you a garbage man?" Tristan asked smartly and Ryou stepped away from the two boys and over to where Mai and I stood.

"I-I could take a look at it." Ryou said timidly, pointing at my wrist and with a glance from Mai, he led me a little ways from the others as he gently, but firmly held my wrist.

"This is no joke!" Mai told Tristan, "Panik's one of the island's eliminators." She informed them as Ryou carefully rolled my wrist, making me suck in a breath and he gave me an apologetic glance. "And if you don't get out of here,  he's gonna do to you what he did to me."

Yugi stared at Mai, shocked, "Eliminator? What's that, Mai?" I looked over quickly when I heard my sister gasp when Panik grabbed her arm, raising it into the air to expose the missing star chips.

"Looks. This is what she means, right here." He said, an almost insane look in his eyes, "Check out her Duelist Glove, not a star chip left."

I gave a dark glare towards Panik, only to turn my attention back to Ryou, "It's not broken." He said quietly, with that British Accent that I'm absolutely weak for, "But it'll be bruised and sore for a couple of days." He said, giving me a sweet, apologetic smile.

I nodded, "I-I see..." I murmured, my face must have been red, "Th-thanks, Ryou." I said, giving him a small smile, which he returned. I then turned to see Mai being shoved to the ground by Panik.

"Ha! She was one of my easiest victims yet!" The man laughed, and I narrowed my eyes, standing up from my kneeling position beside Ryou.

"You creep!" Joey shouted, about to charge towards Panik, but Ryou and Tristan held him back.

"Calm down, Joey. I know how you feel, but that guy's more than twice your size." Ryou said to Joey, while I stood, silently fuming behind them. I then reached into my bag, grabbing an apple and I stared down at it for a moment before tossing it up and catching it.

I pursed my lips and thought better of it, but casting a glance at Ryou I walked over to him. "H-hey, Ryou?" I looked down a bit after getting the boy's attention before handing the apple to him.