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Chris cycled through checking the alleyway entrance in case of even further hostilities, looking around for, you know, the girl he had been following (more water, huh? Talk about melting under pressure), and staring at the purple heart… thing in his hand. He really couldn’t understand it, like, he knew it was important, and he knew him having it was probably going to bring more trouble, probably from the Kalo family if he had to guess, but the actual thing itself was way outside his comprehension. The only one he felt he could ask about it was Estellise, too. He wasn’t about to go to any old appraiser to talk about something this… unique. There was also that small part of him that wondered how much it was worth, though. A small part. “Alright,” Chris said. He wasn’t talking to anybody in particular; if he was talking to anything it was the purple heart in his hand. “I realize it might be absurd to be talking to this thing, but you might still be hanging around somewhere anyway so I gotta at least try. Um, my name is Chris. I get the feeling you’re going to keep popping up around me so figure you’ll want to know that. If you can talk, I’m sure you’ll tell me at some point? But it doesn’t have to be right away. “I guess we should have some ground rules in the meantime?” Chris continued after a breath. “You probably shouldn’t be showing up at The Drooling Dragon, I mean, I don’t know how you get anywhere, but there’re a lot of people staying there, not to mention those goons showed up. You probably saw that too, actually. I’d say we meet up here sometime, but, like, maybe more goons than those are following you, so not here then? “What about Riverside Church? You know where that is? Well, if you can hear this, and you feel like opening yourself up more than giving me this,” -- he held up the purple heart thing a bit -- “I’ll stop by this afternoon. I know, those might be big ifs, but, uh…” That was really it, wasn’t it? He didn’t even know if the girl had heard any of that, or, even if she had, that she would go through with it, but at least he felt like he’d done something. Chris took a stretch, massaging his left shoulder. “If you want to see me in the meantime,” he said, “I mean, you’ve been finding me pretty well so far.” He sighed. Why him, too? Hopefully, the universe deigned to give him an answer to that, at least. In the meantime, he pocketed the heart and started his way back to the inn.

Keep It Together “Go home,” Emily had been told. Well, she was going home, she was just dragging a watchdog along with her. She would not call herself reinvigorated by any means -- the most she could do was disguise her fatigued shuffle as best she could -- but the alternative was, well… She’d had this whisper in her head since the previous night (since her mother… if she really wanted to dwell on that some more), something daring her to give up. The whisper was not somebody she recognized; it certainly wasn’t hers. There was a crowd gathering outside Taros’ temple, and Emily resisted the urge to wonder just what was going on that a second (or was it third? She was having a hard time keeping track) mass of people needed to gather. Surely those attracted must have been annoyed at the very least, right? Maybe they wondered why they’d bothered dispersing after Simon had died in the first place if they were just going to be called back, Emily thought. She resisted the urge to grab at the Taros watchdog’s wrist, trying to trust that he would follow her instead of being sucked in by anything else. Fortunately, her home was close, and even in her rattled state she wasn’t about to forget the path. But Emily didn’t go in, she stopped at the threshold. Even being near the house provoked this indescribable feeling in her. What was it, nausea? Vertigo? A mix of both? She knew she had to continue -- the whisper in her mind was still there, perhaps even louder than before -- and yet just like in Dia’s temple her willpower could not manage to overcome her weakness. “You are going to have to observe what remains of my parents without me. I…” She leaned against her door frame to avoid collapsing completely. “I cannot. Even with Simon Weatherson dead and their souls laid to rest, perhaps I cannot bear to look again.” One of Us What pleasant negotiation and interview session that was! Rose and Gil certainly thought so as they exited Medeis’ shell -- husk, even -- of a temple. They were a religion!... at least, in the sense that Nuumu had indeed provided them a stable place to preach and worship. There was still the fallout of Simon Weatherson’s death to deal with, but the added stability could only help in such matters. There was a crowd gathering. Curious. “I wonder if somebody else is about to die,” Gil said. “Though we would have known if another one of ours had gotten in the way of these watchdogs, correct?” “We would have known,” Rose affirmed. “Or we would have known about anyone of consequence.” “Nevertheless, we should see what is going on,” Gil said. “Just because Simon does not need to be told of Galatea’s goings-on does not mean we should not still be aware. Perhaps we should even more so now.” “Yes,” Rose said. “I will go inform Nuumu’s temple of our agreement with his watchdog. I will catch up in but a moment.” Rose turned off, away from the center of the Temple Square, but Gil stopped them. “A thought occurred, Rose. Just making sure, when Simon met with Dia’s watchdog last night… Do you still…?” Rose nodded and patted their chest. “Yes. I assume you do as well?” Gil reciprocated both the nod and the gesture, feeling the pocketed stone against their breast. “Do not be long, then. See you soon.” OOC

The sheer amount of effect damage Peter took at the end of Laurie’s turn staggered him. He was still in the duel and he still had a few options, he thought, what with four cards in hand before his draw phase, but he still needed to collect himself before he moved past the end of Laurie’s turn. The cheering from both sides didn’t help either. He wasn’t expecting it to be completely quiet, but there was a different atmosphere back when he’d dueled Charlie that he couldn’t seem to find in this foreign gym. Not that he was about to blame anything other than his play if the trend continued; the voices of his parents in his head wouldn’t let him. “Draw,” Peter said. He didn’t look at the card right away, though, instead shuffling it into his hand to see his full set of options without regard to his previous inclinations. He had to find the line here. “I’ll start by summoning Master with Eyes of Blue,” he said. “It lets me get back another level one tuner from my Graveyard. I’ll choose…” Even as the wizened master stepped onto the battlefield Peter hesitated, double-checking to the fullest extent. But he did know which he had to choose, and why. “I’ll choose Sage, but I’ll send it right back along with Master. You remember my last turn when I did that, right? I can’t get a bunch of Blue-Eyes like with Priestess, but I still get to summon the one, and that one is Dragon Spirit of White!” The dragon that stepped forth was more ethereal than the other ones Peter had summoned in the duel thus far, or even in any duel any of the spectators were likely to have seen. It radiated power, it seemed, which, along with the normal hologram effect, certainly made the “Spirit” name seem apt. “Dragon Spirit of White always counts as a Blue-Eyes monster,” Peter said. Indeed, anyone paying closer attention than most could see through its radiating miasma and notice the dragon’s tell-tale blue eyes. “That’s how I was able to summon it. But it has another effect when summoned, too: I can banish a spell or trap of my choosing. “And there’s really only one target for that, isn’t there?” A part of the dragon’s essence split off from the main body and flew forward, headed straight for Laurie’s face-down. Frowning, Lauriel said, “Well, I didn’t want to use this so readily, but here. I activate my trap card, Red-Eyes Spirit. Now, this lets me revive one Red-Eyes monster from my graveyard and bring it to the field, so Red-Eyes Baby Dragon is coming back yet again. In defense mode.” As the dragon came back onto the field, Laurie smirked. “And you remember what this guy does, right? So, unless you’ve got a lot more in the tank seems I’m going to be safe from damage for another turn.” He did, in fact, have more in the tank. “I have some more tricks in my Graveyard,” Peter said. “White Stone of Ancients has this ability where I can banish it from there to get back a Blue-Eyes, and you so helpfully put my Alternative Dragon there, so let’s just make that happen.” A faded afterimage of that gleaming white egg appeared on the field for a moment as Peter moved his cards around. Even after the exchange was finished it remained on the field, though, seemingly anticipating what Peter was about to do next. “I still have that Blue-Eyes in hand that I got last turn, so why not just show you that again and just bring it to the field? Here’s Blue-Eyes Alternative Dragon once again!” The egg shook and cracked for a few moments before exploding, creating a cloud of smoke that obscured Peter’s side. It was only for a moment -- the smoke dissipated quickly -- but then, in the egg’s place, was that same Blue-Eyes Alternative Dragon. “It’s not as strong as your Archfiend,” Peter remarked, “but, then again, it doesn’t have to be. With Alternative Dragon, I can just forgo attacking with it to destroy it with its effect. How’s that?” Shrugging, Laurie said, “Can’t be helped, I didn’t expect him to last that long. But” -- she said this as the destruction followed, Blue-Eyes Alternative Dragon sending a ball of energy straight through her Archfiend -- “I’ve still got Baby Dragon on my board.” “Right. Well, I’ve one final play,” Peter said, “then I’ll get to attacking. I have Chaos Form in hand. I have Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon in hand. By playing the former, and banishing this Blue-Eyes White Dragon you also destroyed, I can summon the latter. Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon!” Ocean Coast’s gym was bigger than Horizon’s but that just meant that when Chaos MAX Dragon dominated the room, it really dominated it. Peter wasn’t sure even he had seen it this large, and yet there it was, towering over everything else. “It does double piercing damage,” he said. “Let’s send it right at your Baby Dragon.” Laurie’s nonchalance broke away as genuine shock filled her expression, as the dragon reared back its head charging its breath weapon. Then, with one explosive blast of white lightning, Laurie’s Red-Eyes Baby Dragon was instantly destroyed. Laurie 8000 LP → 1400 LP Standing there for a second, the girl cleared her throat trying to recollect herself. “Well, um, that was a lot. But, Baby Dragon’s effect still goes off, and I can now summon Meteor Dragon Red-Eyes Impact onto the field in defense mode.” As the dragon was brought out onto the field, Red-Eyes Baby Dragon came back, equipping itself to the burning black dragon. “It’s not as big as your Spirit Dragon but it’ll still take it on, I’m sure.” She had a nervous smile on her face as she said it. “Yeah?” Peter said. “Let’s see. Spirit Dragon, you’re up.” Dragon Spirit of White roared its assent, rising up to challenge Laurie’s new monster, bringing a ghostly claw swiping down diagonally, cutting Red-Eyes Impact in two. “Looks like it’s his loss then, but he did his job well to protect me,” Laurie said. “And because Baby Dragon went from the field to the graveyard, I can add the Black Stone of Legend in my grave back to my hand. Anything else?” The “anything else” part of the question had a significantly more nervous tone than the rest of the statement. Peter took that as a dare, even though he couldn’t follow through with taking it any further. He surveyed the board and the one card remaining in his hand one final time. “No, I think that’s it,” he said. “Do your worst.” Laurie let out a large sigh of relief. “Thank goodness.” Looking back to Peter, the girl cleared her throat trying to regain her composure before saying, “Right, uh, my turn!” As she drew though, a confident smile appeared on her face, and she began to play. ”Just like last time, it’s my turn to counterattack,” Laurie said. “First, I activate the Fusion Substitute in my Graveyard. By banishing it I can draw a card from my deck and put a fusion monster in my grave back into my Extra Deck.” Taking Black Skull from her graveyard, she placed it back in her Extra Deck before drawing and continuing. “Now, I activate the spell card Dragon’s Mirror. With it, I can banish monsters in my field and Graveyard to summon a Dragon Fusion Monster. So, I’ll use the Meteor Impact you just sent and the Black Flare dragon as the materials, and then...” A mirror appeared on Laurie’s field, and the two dragons were sucked into it before the mirror started to glow black and red. Suddenly, the mirror ignited, exploding into black and red flame bringing out a different large dragon than the one before. “I Fusion Summon Meteor Black Comet Dragon! “Here comes Black Comet’s effect:” Laurie continued, “When it’s Fusion Summoned, I can send a Red-Eyes Monster from deck to the grave and deal half of its attack to you as damage. So, I’ll take another Red-Eyes Flare and deal 1200 points of damage to you.” The dragon roared, conjuring a few small meteors that peppered the field around Peter. Peter 5300 LP → 4100 Peter grit his teeth. Just because it didn’t sting as much as last time didn’t mean it didn’t sting. Laurie wasn’t finished, though. “Now to set up the final piece,” she said. “I summon the Black Stone of Legend, and, using its effect, I can tribute it to bring out Red-Eyes Black Dragon. And now, by tributing a Red-Eyes monster, I can Special Summon my very own Red-Eyes Alternative Dragon!” The Black Stone appeared, breaking for the namesake dragon of the Archetype to appear, only for that too to be engulfed in flames, as if using them to evolve into the alternate form. “Now everything’s set up. Red-Eyes Alternative Dragon attacks Dragon Spirit of White!” Hold on. “Twenty-four hundred attack to twenty-five hundred,” Peter said. Laurie was so confident that he was the one nervous now. “You sure?” Laurie answered immediately, the smile never fading from her face. “You bet I am! See, as you might be aware my dragons are pretty tenacious and he’s no different. Because when Alternative Dragon is destroyed, I can special summon a Red-Eyes monster from my graveyard onto the field.” As she called this out, Alternative Dragon let loose a breath of flame towards the Spirit Dragon, only for both the attack and itself to be destroyed by the dragon's ghostly white claw. Laurie 1400 LP → 1300 LP “So now, I bring back Red-Eyes Black Dragon! And that’s not all. If the monster that was summoned was Red-Eyes Black Dragon its original attack is doubled!” Laurie said. As she declared this, a plume of flame erupted from behind her, the namesake dragon of her deck arising from it. As it did, though, it was clear that the dragon was far larger than it had been the first time it was summoned, now seeming to even surpass Chaos MAX. Red-Eyes 2400 ATK → 4800 ATK “Now, with two dragons on the field that are bigger than yours, there’s only one thing to do. I end my battle phase!” “You what?” “I don’t attack. I can’t win if I do,” Laurie said matter-of-factly. “Because even if I brought down your dragons now, it wouldn’t be enough to win this turn. And who knows what else you’ve got. So instead, I’ll do this. I activate the Spell Card Inferno Fire Blast. Which means that when I have a Red-Eyes Black Dragon on the field, I deal damage to you equal to its original attack. Which just happens to be 4800 right now.” Looking up, the large Red-Eyes began to charge its breath attack, letting loose an enormous ball of flame towards Peter and striking at him directly. Peter 4100 LP → 0 LP “And that’s my win.”The blast had knocked Peter off his feet, but he didn’t hurry to get back up. He stared at the gymnasium ceiling as his dragons dissolved around him, immediately going through and picking apart various aspects of his play. Surely there had to be something he could have done differently, but if he acknowledged that it meant he had been outplayed somewhere, and his mental parents -- maybe even his real ones if they found out -- would never let him hear the end of it if that were the case. At the moment, at least, they were only reminding him to be gracious in his defeat. He did have to stand up for that, lurching himself back to standing before trundling along to the center of the gym where Laurie was waiting for him. “Good game,” Peter said, offering his hand. He almost added “I’ll beat you next time,” though he just managed to stop himself. “You put up a good fight,” Laurie said, reciprocating the handshake. “I got a little scared there for a moment. Thanks for the match.” Peter still felt numb as he walked back to Horizon’s side of the gym, back to the rest of the team (most of them winners, too, which made it worse), and he was still trying to place why. Was it the holograms, maybe? His loss to Makoto hadn’t felt nearly as terrible. Peter dismissed that reason with a shake of his head. Coach Clara had been right when she’d said that the disks and the visual cues were ancillary to the actual cards themselves. His parents would probably agree with that too, not like he was about to ask. Was it having victory snatched away, the jaws of defeat crunching down just as it escaped his grasp? Maybe, but, like, Charlie had seemed pretty okay when Peter had done it, so if that was the reason it just made him feel worse for how much he still had to grow up. Maybe it was the inherent rivalry in the cards, then, Red-Eyes versus Blue. Maybe it was… “I need to take a walk,” Peter muttered to himself. Well, he needed to face Coach Clara first, probably. But he did need to do at least something to get out of his funk.

←Previous Post -- Next Post→ Duel 29 -- Azure Paler Than Sky Or: Ruka Would Totally Be The Type To Break Up Over Text. He Only Doesn’t Here Because Cell Phones Don’t Exist Yet Content Warning: Today’s episode features a sexual assault in the scene with Juri and Ruka in the three chairs room. Before we get into that, though, we do have some manga to go over. It’s a little fortuitous, actually, because we’ll be going over the two remaining side stories, “The Black Rose Seal,” and “A Deep Azure Shadow.” The titles probably give the stories away, the former focuses on Utena’s duel with Mikage and the latter encompasses the events of these past two episodes. So hey! Just get all the Ruka all at once. The manga Mikage is a bit more sympathetic. That’s what happens when there isn’t a preceding arc where he brainwashes people or hits on a fourteen-year-old. I mean, it’s still implied, but, like, you can ignore it. He also has more interest in exposing Anthy’s secrets to Utena rather than just killing Anthy. Utena rebuffs these efforts, obviously, otherwise, the plot wouldn’t work, though her method of doing so continues to demonstrate her naivete with regards to her relationship. If it sounds like I’m skipping large swaths, I’m really not. The whole side story moves at this sort of pace, Mikage appears, talks to Utena, a bit of backstory, and then they fight. If you’ve seen the episode, it’s basically that. So let’s talk about Ruka, then. Remember, Juri doesn’t love Shiori in this version -- Shiori doesn’t even exist -- she loves Touga, so there is significantly less hostility between the two fencing captains. In fact, the relationship is commented on as romantic; Miki speculates that they might have been a couple. The almost-kiss here is even consensual! The story might as well have been called “How Juri Got Her Groove Back.” Ruka returns from his hospital break and tries to get Juri’s confidence back up after having lost to Utena in Chapter Two. Juri doesn’t get to challenge Utena a second time like she will in “Azure Paler Than Sky” but she does come back stronger. She’s certainly less obsessed with Touga, in any case. So yeah, both of these stories take a lighter tone than the anime, which is consistent with the rest of the manga, though they are still rather dark in their own right. Both end with a significant character’s expulsion from Ohtori, and in the case of the Ruka story, a significant change in the characters. They’re certainly darker than the Chu-Chu stories, at any rate. I'm going to ignore Ruka for a moment to talk about Juri. If we’re following the model I established a few posts ago, her initial episode set her as someone who was conflicted in her crush on Shiori. She wanted the power to revolutionize the world to prove to herself that that relationship was even possible. In Shiori’s Black Rose episode, we found out that this self-destructive behavior happened on both sides, with Shiori going out of her way to hurt Juri on multiple occasions, even last episode! So what is the solution? What’s the synthesis between these two perspectives? Well, if both sides are acting in a self-destructive manner, and yet both seem to be dependent on the other, the conclusion is a sort of mutual destruction. That’s what Ruka was hoping to avoid, in any case. By inserting himself into the equation, Ruka both shows Shiori what it is like to be hurt and strips Juri of her self-hatred of even loving Shiori in the first place. “For miracles to occur,” he says, “you need a sacrifice.” I mentioned this last post, but to do that he did have to go through with the machinations of End of the World. In that lens, Ruka might just have come out on top in terms of “knows they’re being manipulated but goes through with it anyway” as he gets what he wants. I still hate him for his actions, but it does make him compelling to talk about. I mean, it’s less obvious than the manga, given Juri leans much more WLW and is more focused on Shiori, but the Shadow Girls do mention it in the final moments of the episode. Ruka wanted to spend the last of his energy helping the woman he loved in whatever way he could. There are other good details in this episode, like how Juri isn’t convinced to duel in the rather sexualized car sequence, her path was already set after losing her match with Ruka. I like how Juri continues to not have lost to Utena straight up, with her first fight losing to a “miracle” and this one where the power of Dios symbolically strips her of her locket. Despite what goes on in there, I like the three chairs room’s metaphorical point, that Shiori is absent for these discussions about her, a point emphasized by her appearance where the Shadow Play girls would be. Shiori is removed from the physical world, and in doing so Juri is fighting for the concept of her. We saw how that went over for Miki. Unlike Miki’s episode, though, this episode ends with a small glimmer of hope for both of them. Having been stripped of their complexes (or at least having had them lain bare for all to see), this is an opportunity for both Juri and Shiori to start anew. The hope is, of course, that they won’t need miracles, or maybe that the miracle already happened. -r Next Time: Akio makes his move. ←Previous Post -- Link to Episode -- Next Post→