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It was some day in some city in some facility. Hotaru lay in bed watching the ceiling as she had been for the past three hours. The ceiling hadn't changed since she first was looking. There was a brief moment, around hour two, that she thought the texture had changed but it was just her eyes blurring for a moment. This is the view she had had for many days now. The only difference was a slight throbbing in her left shoulder where, partially covered by her dress, a wing-like symbol now resided. Hotaru hadn't thought she expected much would change after the mark appeared but, when she had been immediately sent back to her room, she realized that there was a small bit of hope that was dashed in an instant. The girl sighed. "What is it Tsukiko?" She said, finally speaking to the grinning woman who was standing by the side of her bed. "Ah, you have finally spoken. It only took twenty minutes this time. An improvement." The woman responded before covering her mouth and laughing softly. "Kukuku...Your days of waiting have come to a close, my dear, for today is the day you set foot outside of this facility of experiment and into the mysterious unknown. Come, follow me into the darkness of discovery." The woman turned and flung open the door before raising a foot. She waited. Waited some more, then gestured for Hotaru to follow. With not a small amount of reluctance the girl pushed her lanky body out of the bed and, having not removed her footwear from when she last went outside, followed the woman. When she saw the car Hotaru felt both a tingling anticipation and nerves. Seeing this, Tsukiko clucked her tongue. "I assure you my driving is more than adequate." It was not. However, once in the vehicle, Hotaru found herself not minding. If she were to go out this way then it would only be fitting. As they traveled Tsukiko kept talking. About destiny. And grand mysterious adventures. About powers beyond what most would deem normal. And then she stopped talking about herself and instead asked Hotaru how she felt about being outside. The girl stared out the car window, watching as the world passed by in a blur, and remained silent for around ten minutes before finally responding. "It's...fine. Doesn't feel different." Tsukiko nodded, a small smirk on her face, and spoke in a mysterious tone "For now." Ah. There it was again. That feeling of a small, unintentional, glimmer of hope being quashed in the waves of reality. So they were shipping her to a prison now. They must not have wanted to spend the funding it took to keep her housed in that facility. Well, one place was as bad as another. She slipped from the car and shuffled along her path as usual. Then Tsukiko stopped her before she entered. "My dear, before you go, I must tell you that I believe in you. I knew when I met you that you had a power and this is now your chance to show it." "By going to prison?" came Hotaru's rare sarcastic response. Tsukiko smirked. "Nothing is ever just what it seems." And with that the woman gently pushed Hotaru forward. Towards some unknown, and potentially unreal, destiny. "Oh, so the cute little bearer of the left wing, Hotaru arrives next. Well, I suppose little isn't the right word to describe you," Hotaru gave a barely visible nod. She was standing stiffly, almost eerily so, near the table where several others were already seated. Including one who seemed....excited to be here. Why? What was exciting about any of this? She mumbled something so quietly and rushed that even Hotaru herself didn't know what she was saying and sat awkwardly on the table. Her hands moved from her lap, to the table, until finally she just let them hang uselessly at her side. Hotaru lowered her gaze, letting her bangs cover her eyes, and waited for this to be over.

Tora Mori This morning started the same as every other. By now, Tora expected that she would have been used to it, but it never got easier each time it happened. At 4:30 on the dot the door to Tora's bare-bones dormitory burst open to the sound of a blaring air-horn. Standing in the doorway was a very tall, well-built woman with very short black hair and a thin scar running from her right eyebrow down to where her neck met her jawline. Tora awoke with a loud yelp, practically leaping out of her cot and landing on the ground in a heap of limbs and bed sheets. "WAKE UP, SLACKER. IT'S TIME TO GET A MOVE ON!" The woman shouted, planting the air-horn down to her hip. "Y-yes ma'am!" Tora shouted instinctively. "THAT'S MISS KATSUKI TO YOU, SLACKER. NOW MOVE!" Miss Katsuki was not Tora's original handler. Originally she was assigned a kind lady, but this was quickly changed as Tora had given them a difficult time. Tora was never a kid known to be problematic, but from day one of experimentation she did all that she could think of or stomach to get out of it. Then, she was assigned Katsuki, a handler to "whip her into shape". She insisted on being called by her first name, as "it means victory and that is the path that you will learn from me". Of course, Tora was only ever called "Slacker", for her performances in dueling as well as other tests. Miss Katsuki said that Tora would have to earn being called by her name. Every morning had the same routine: running, stretching, exercises, practice drawing cards, more running, and finally when it seemed like Tora would pass out, breakfast. At first it was never this hard, but once Tora's mark manifested, Miss Katsuki started working her to the bone. However, today was different, as after breakfast Tora was immediately lead to a vehicle waiting for her outside. Then Tora remembered: today was the day that she would be moved to the other facility in Domino City, and her stomach sank at the prospect that she would continue to be stuck in this program. The drive from Turbo City to Domino was long and boring. As soon as they had left Turbo City, the roads and the layouts became a lot more empty and boring, the routes just simple grids without anything of the sort to especially accommodate duel runners. Eventually they arrived at the facility. They weren't the last, but they certainly weren't the first, One by one they introduced themselves, mostly girls who were all more finely dressed and done-up than Tora who, in her hoodie and sweatpants, hair still tangled and disheveled from her running this morning, looked completely unkempt in comparison. Soon, it came to her turn, and Tora had not realized she was slouching in her stance until Miss Katsuki smacked Tora in the middle of her back. "Stand up straight and introduce yourself!" Katsuki barked. "H-Hello! M-m-my name is Tora M-mori! P-please to meet you all!" Tora said, bowing perhaps a little too deep, and so quickly she felt the blood rush to her head in an instant. With a sigh and a nod, Miss Katsuki turned on her heel and marched out of the room, leaving the teens to their devices, or whatever it was the administration had in store for them.

She had only just started down the road further into the city when she heard her name being called out. Odd, she didn't really know anyone here did she... "f-funny to see you here. L-l-looks like I caught up with you after all!" Oh, right, that was...that boy that she talked to earlier. She grinned when she saw him. Turns out that he did manage to follow her in the end. "Hey there!" She said loudly, moving closer. "You caught me at the tail-end of this test. Four down so far. Was about to go look for the last one. How bout you?" She gave a laugh as he told her he, too, had four badges in total. She punched his shoulder and gave him a thumbs up. "That's how it's done! Hey, since you're here, suppose we might as well look for a place with more of these things right? Follow me and let me know if you spot anything. We'll be done with this in a flash!" With that she adjusted the bag slung over her shoulder and began to jog down the middle of the road as if expecting Lesnar to follow. She did keep some distance though as the heat she was radiating was starting to grow more intense. The girl made a noticeable target as she didn't even try to keep from sight. Merely jogging down the road without any form of cover. A fact that someone could easily use to their advantage...

Last thing I gotta do in Dad of Boi before finishing the story is grind out all the Niflheim stuff, which is going much faster than I thought it would.

Good morning.

Turbo City...to be more precise...the Turbo City KaibaCorp branch building. Should be a beacon of the future for all Duelists everywhere. Could still be, but for Jet, he could only lay there on his bed staring up at the ivory ceiling. He had been tossing and turning quite a number of times already the night prior and succeeded in getting somewhere between an hour and a half of sleep. Whenever he kept trying to get any rest, his right arm where that damned mark was gave a bit of a feeling of the pain like he would when he would summon that monster. But he hadn't...it must've been his mind playing tricks on him again. Jet let out a low sigh, moving his arm slightly to his chest. Taking his left hand, he gripped tightly onto his marked arm, feeling it shake beneath it. The young man closed his eyes, just feeling exhausted. M-Maybe...I can just lay here...a-and... Unfortunately for him, the door to his room swung open and the lights flashed on, almost blinding the young man. Sitting up slowly, holding his arm up to shield his drowsy eyes from the light, he saw an older gentlemen adjusting his glasses with a bit of a scowl on his face. Dr. Aichi Akihiro...Jet's handler, and surrogate guardian...as well as resident asshole when he wanted to be. "Hoshimi. We're late." he spoke, looking at Jet. "The call has gone out. Project Crimson is in effect." This sentence made Jet sick to his stomach as well as made his right arm itch. Project Crimson...that phrase that he heard about since day one here. The one thing he never got 100% clarification of what it was and what it had to do with him. He looked at Akihiro, before looking down at his marked arm, then at the floor. An answer went through his head...he wanted to respond with: "Can I just not go? I'm exhausted...", however he flinched at what he figured would be the outcome: Akihiro striking his face...just depended on whether or not it would be a slap or a out right punch to the face. Needless to say, Jet didn't want to find out. "U-Understood sir..." Jet simply replied, getting up and beginning to make himself presentable. "D-Dr. Akihiro...?" "What is it Hoshimi?" Akihiro asked, already in mid-turnabout, about to make his exit from the youth's room. "...a-are the others...going to be there?" This caused Akihiro to scoff. "But of course. As I stated, Project Crimson is in effect. What a simple minded question. Now hurry up." ...joy. ...j-just keep to yourself...you'll be fine.... Jet thought, sighing slightly as he tossed on his green jean jacket. Jet enjoyed the fact that he was finally leaving Turbo City for a while...however the ride to their destination, he just happened to fall asleep in the back. Thankfully, Akihiro didn't bother him through the ride, since he was too busy typing away and checking data on his tablet. The drive from Turbo to Domino City seemed like it wasn't very long, but Jet didn't mind as he was sleeping as much as he could. Though one bump caught him off guard and had him wake up suddenly, to which his vision was looking at what seemed to be a prison...in the Satellite. "W-Wha...what's going o-..." "Quite simply, we're meeting here." Akihiro said sternly, looking up from his tablet, adjusting his glasses to where the glare from the tablet no longer obstructed Jet from seeing his narrow eyes. "Please keep your questions to a minimum, Hoshimi." "Y-Yes sir..." Jet nodded, looking at the floorboard, feeling the vehicle stop finally. Without another word, Jet was ushered out of the vehicle and into the prison building by Akihiro. The sounds their footsteps echoing in the halls was all that was heard, until the sounds of voices were beginning to be heard. Soon the location of the voices were found as the pair walked into an area that housed a white haired man in a white cloak, along with roughly seven other people, just standing or sitting around. Jet was ushered by Akihiro to sit, while the young man listened to the white haired man who commented that "Jet, bearer of the Heart, brings up the rear". The young man looked at the man before averting his eyes to just stare at the ground. He took the seat furthest from everyone else...just to keep to himself. He just had a feeling he wasn't going to enjoy this anymore than he already had...