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Box of Surprises Not entirely done. Have a few Misc Things to add, along with finishing touches on some things, but the base is done.

Knock, knock, knock. The sound of the rapping on a door could be heard echoing outward. A man with short black hair stood outside the door, sighing. Knock, knock, knock. With reluctance he grabbed the door's handle and said, "alright, alright already. I get it." As the door was opened, the man was greeted with the sight of a girl, at about the same height as the man with long blonde hair, standing there. A slight look of impatience on her face, the girl lowered her hand, which looked ready for another round of knocking, and stated, "you're late." Looking at his watch, the clearly tired handler merely looked back to the girl mumbling, "no, you just get up way too early. Seriously, it should be illegal to have to come in this early." The girl's eyes narrowed into a glare as he merely waved her off. "Right, sorry. But, today's your big day so, are you ready?" Looking to the mark on her arm and then looking back she nodded. "There's nothing more to prepare." With a faint grin on his face the man said, "well spoken. Let's get going." The two had spent the next hour or two in the car together, merely driving through Domino City en route to their next location. Most of the time was spent in silence, with Kiyoko looking out the car window taking in all the sights of the city around her. The people bustling around sidewalks and streets, the tall buildings that stretched high into the sky and the other cars that seemed to stretch on as infinitely as the road before them did. The girl looked at it all strangely, unsure of what to make of what felt like an entirely alien world to her. Furrowing her brow she simply asked, "hey. What is Project Crimson?" "Dunno." The man answered, the same as he had every time asked this question prior. And just like every other time, Kiyoko still couldn't tell how truthful he actually was. "However," her eyes shifted to the man. "Today you'll meet someone who does know." Curious, before Kiyoko could ask another question the handler spoke again. "Take a look outside kiddo, don't get this kind of view everyday." As he chuckled at his own joke, Kiyoko turned to look, with her eyes going wide at the side of the sea expanding in either direction as they crossed the Daedalus Bridge. "Amazing..." she muttered. As she continued to look, her eyes went from wonder to something more troubled. "Hey..." "Hm?" "...Nothing." "And here we are." The man had parked the car next to an old, run down building in a less populated area of the city. Getting out of the car, Kiyoko felt strangely more at ease here and began to walk towards the door of the building. Turning back to face her handler, who hadn't actually left the car and bowed towards him. "Thank you for all you've done these past few years." Being unable to hold back a small laugh at this unexpected gesture, the man simply said, "what are you an idiot? Most people wouldn't be thankful for this." Kiyoko stood back straight, though her expression didn't seem to have changed from it usual neutral state. Waving her off, he said, "well, good luck in there kid." With one final nod, the girl walked into the abandoned prison before her. Walking inside, the girl made her way forward until she was greeted with the sight of a few others already sitting at a round table for ten and a man with snow white hair sitting around. The girl looked at the man, both strangely dressed and with a strangely cheery demeanor to him that off put Kiyoko. Though, she didn't do much more than nod when he announced her to the room as Kiyoko and the bearer of the tail mark. Due to her shirt not having any sleeves, the others in the room would be able to confirm this themselves, as the brand shown clearly on her left arm. The girl looked at the others, giving only a nod of acknowledgement before taking her seat.

I....thought it was enabled. Oops.

Yeah, card potent but IMO it's fine, due to the requirements and dedication it needs. You have to tech WATERs and Fusion summoning power, and once you do it's a sort of floodgate-punisher monster but shouldn't be really threatening. Now that I think about it, Instant Fusion --> Mariner can act as a shortcut, but you would still be going a bit out of the way in HEROes by running Instant, plus it's not like the have any spare Extra Deck xD

I'd say, "Oh, I like all kinds," but that's a cop-out answer so instead, let's go through some albums I listened to recently. Starting with more acoustic: The Attractions of Youth by Barns Courtney. Wikipedia lists Barns as "Folk-Pop" which I guess works? The album kind of splits that distinction down the middle, with songs like Glitter & Gold and Champion much more pop and songs like Goodbye John Smith and the title track a little more folk-leaning. I admit I like the former more than the latter but I can appreciate both. Haunted by Poe. The title track, Not A Virgin, and both versions of Hey Pretty stand out in particular. I also like the story behind it -- a woman going through tapes her father recorded of her before she died. Or maybe I'm just a huge House of Leaves nerd. Either works. Nonagon Infinity by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. I stuck Robot Stop on one of your "Yui Rates Music" threads, but this album is definitely something to listen to all the way through, letting each song blend into the next until it loops back to the beginning like an endless loop. Other King Giz albums are good too, but this one's my favorite. And on the electronic side: Studio Killers' self-titled album. Jenny is, of course, very good, and deserves all the attention it gets, but I'm also partial to All Men Are Pigs and Friday Night Gurus. Anything by Justice. † ("Cross"), their debut album, can sound half-unfinished, like somewhere along the line they forgot to put in a melody, but I think that's what attracted people to it (and, by extension, the reason some don't like their other two albums), while Audio, Video, Disco and Woman both act as extensions of that same philosophy. There are so many songs I could put here, but special mention has to go to Planisphere, which goes almost 18 minutes and, in my opinion, never gets boring. I also have developed strong feelings towards the Eurobeat and Electro-Swing genres. I think I got into those the same way most people do: come for the memes, stay because, hey, some of these songs slap pretty hard. Recommendations for each of these categories would be The Top for Eurobeat and Fear and Delight for Electro-Swing.

Deep inside of a hidden facility within Cradle City, a teenage girl awoke. The sun was just beginning to rise, although she didn't know it. She hadn't seen the sun in years. But that was just one of many trials she had to overcome, and she had long since made peace with it. Sitting up in her cot, she grabbed her brush and began to tend to her hair. Flowing, beautiful, with the colors of the rainbow seemingly shining through it, despite her dimly lit cell. Standing with a stretch, she smoothed her nightgown off and walked to the door of her cell, knocking on it. "Jacob, I need my best suit for today. I trust it was taken to the cleaners?" "Of course, Ms. Almaz." By all accounts, the girl's behavior did not make any sense. She seemed to be locked in a room with little-to-no comforts, but she acted as if she was the queen of her castle. And, if the speed with which the door opened and a clothing rack was pushed in was any indicator, she probably was. The girl examined the black suit, looking for any wrinkles, lint, or other issues... and smiled softly as she found none. "Perfect. Thank you, Jacob, leave the door unlocked and I'll be out when I'm done getting dressed." ----- Walking down the hall with Jacob, her handler, the girl seemed to be in charge of the facility. Headed towards a destiny she had been informed of the night before, the girl hummed softly, watching her prison leave her sight for the last time. And, in a way, she would miss it. It became clear fairly early into her stay that she would not give them any trouble. Protocol was followed strictly early on, but they had loosened the rules for her with time, realizing that she was determined to get through it, whether she chose it or not. Her room being locked at night was about the only thing they actually enforced, and that was just a formality. After all her trials, all the experiments, the girl had finally manifested the mark of the chosen one earlier this month. And today was the day where she would meet the "others" she had heard about for so long. Would she get along with them? Would they follow her lead, as the most chosen among them? Well, of course they would. Shannon Almaz was born to be a hero. A leader. A savior. Looking at the mark on her arm, the dragon's head looked fierce and foreign to her, yet somehow... perfect. The true mark of the leader of this group to be formed. Surely, this new power would serve the world well. And Shannon had taken the mantle upon herself with her teeth grit. With arms outstretched. Truly, she had overcome to reach this point. ----- As Shannon and her handler stepped out of the car, the girl raised a brow. This dump was where her story would begin? It didn't seem like much, but... She would take what the world gave her. With a somewhat sad look on her face, Shannon turned to Jacob and embraced him, the older gentleman hugging her in return. "I'm going to miss you, Jacob. Thank you for all that you and the others have done for me over the years." The old man furrowed his brow as Shannon thanked him and closed her eyes, letting out a sigh and making sure his appearance was back to normal before she opened her eyes. He was worried for the girl, but it was out of his hands. "Of course, Ms. Almaz. We wish you the best." Wiping a tear from her eye, Shannon turned away and nodded, taking her first step towards the prison. "I'll live up to what you all have given me." ----- Shannon sat down at the table with a smile on her face, her hand clutching the mark hidden underneath her right sleeve. Here she was, with her new peers. Her new family. And why should she be nervous? She was there to guide them. Lead them. Her hand was trembling with excitement, of course. With a deep breath, she opened her mouth to speak, her sweet voice flowing from her lips like a melody. "Nice to meet you all. I am Shannon Almaz. I look forward to working with you all, and I hope to be a good example."

Long time no see, my guy. You could probs use 1 or 2 utility cards in the lands area, just stuff like Bojuka Bog and Reliquary Tower (probably really want that last one when you're doubling your Skullclamp triggers). Living Death is batshit-insane-bananas, especially after you've sacced everything to an Altar or something. If you want some more ramp (you're kinda light there) Black Market gets doubled triggers from Teysa. MIGHTY SPICE. Grave Titan synergizes well with Teysa too, as she buffs its tokens.

Hiraku Tsukino If Hiraku had to pick one thing that he didn't like about being on the dueling team, he would have to say it was entirely the captain. In fact, that was the one and only thing he disliked about being on the duel team, but it was something he more or less had to swallow his pride on to a degree. If he ever wanted to cement his position as the school's number one duelist, then being on the duel team wasn't something that he could just neglect, even if the captain was the one to make a mockery of him at last year's tournament. In fact, this was even considering Club Day and how every member of the duel team was tasked with helping out at the booth. Hiraku, as voted unanimously by the entire team, was not considered to be a good person to have at the front of the booth talking to new students. "It's not that we don't think you can be polite," they had said. "It's just that... your reputation kinda... follows you around. We just don't want any drama at the table, okay?" "Reputation indeed," Hiraku scoffed to himself, as he spent the entire time behind the scenes unpacking boxes of fliers and grabbing various things for the members at the front of the table. It wasn't Hiraku's fault that most of the new students that wanted to be on the team weren't of particularly good stock, and most of them couldn't even duel half as good as the game they talked up. As if on cue, a short girl who introduced herself with perhaps the longest name that Hiraku had ever heard, and definitely one that couldn't be true. Princess, yeah. As if any monarchies still existed around these parts. ...would be willing to allow you to have me on your team." And that's when Hiraku couldn't take it anymore. "Allow us? I'm pretty sure it's the other way around, kid," Hiraku called out from near the back of the booth.

Another day. Deep beneath the cracked roads and dilapilated buildings of Hearthome City, a hidden laboratory - far too pristine to belong in this garbage fire of a city - sounded off with the ringing of an alarm clock. 5 o'clock in the morning, on the nose, just like every day before it. Natsumi shut the alarm off as soon as it started ringing. Ever since successfully manifesting her mark, the details on the next step forward had been kept a tight secret that she couldn't get to. What was the point of having this at all if she was going to just waste away in some hidden facility!? Natsumi had been up long before the alarm clock she'd set to wake her went off; she'd been getting restless lately. And, much like any other day, mere seconds after the alarm went off, the door to Natsumi's room opened up. This place wasn't exactly luxurious, but it was more than good enough for her. "Good morning, Natsumi," her handler greeted. "Up early again, I see?" "Yes. The experiment was a success, so what does KaibaCorp plan to actually do with us now?" "Ahh, today's your lucky day. You're going to find out. Come, it's time we got out of here and had you meet up with the others." "Finally," Natsumi sighed in relief, eager to get started with... whatever it was she was supposed to be doing. "This is the place?" Out of Hearthome and into Satellite. She wasn't sure if she was happy or sad to call this place a step up from home. What she was sure of, however, was that there was no way this was where the rest of Project Crimson would be meeting up. It was, of all things, an abandoned prison. "You must have made a wrong turn or something." "Nope, this is the place. You get going now. Wouldn't want to keep the others waiting, would we?" "...very well." With only a small amount of hesitation, Natsumi walked into the prison, making more of an effort to not default to her usual limp. She was pretty sure it wasn't working, judging by the look the white-haired boy gave her when she walked in, before confirming that she was Natsumi, bearer of the Foot mark, and promptly returning to his book. Not exactly a warm welcome, was it? Looking around, Natsumi spotted a table for ten. Quite a few more than she was expecting, to be honest. Natsumi had expected to have to work in a group of five, maybe six people. This project must have been a greater success than she'd imagined. The boy already sitting there - the only one that got here before her, as it turned out - looked like trouble. It would probably be in her best interest to associate with him as little as possible. Natsumi sat down at the seat furthest from him, and turned her attention to the door, sitting upright and waiting for the others to arrive. Hopefully they wouldn't keep her waiting for long.

Card sure is potent, and I can see the flavor from Drowning Mirror Force and the removal nature of Absolute Zero. However, HEROes nowadays rely on their DARK side with Mist, Law, Vyon and Malicious for Link laddering/Gumblar plays, while WATER HEROes, or rather Bubbleman, nor the Fusion Spells see little play. Well, Poly sometimes for grabbing it with Vyon and OTKing with Trinity. However, a card like this could encourage the tech Bubbleman, maybe even Connector --> Dolphin. Makes sense for you to pick on HEROes after the Omni Heroes because those were who took them into the meta. Brings me memories of Gemini HERO with Alius, Skyscraper, Gemini Spark, Miracle Fusion and Super Poly xD