Blake

The shifter had slinked away, returning to their room before the others got back. Of course, this involved climbing up the wall, which wasn't exactly inconspicuous... but it was what it was. They would never truly be full from everything they ate, but... at least it was filling in a metaphysical sense. Settling in, they looked around the depressing room with a sigh, before sitting on the bed. They couldn't just stay holed up in here forever, could they? Building up courage in their chest, quite literally with some mass growing there, they stood up and headed to the door, their form shifting back to the hooded appearance from before, but with blue eyes beneath it...

“Devin, are you in there?” The shifter paused, and so did Melissa, if only for a moment. “I, um, I don’t remember if you were around to hear this earlier, but a bunch of us went back to that mall today. It’s still standing if you can believe that. Anyway, um, I met someone who recommended these fish things, and they were interesting enough, I thought, to share with everyone back here. I came to you first, though, because, I don’t know, I figured if words didn’t work yesterday some sort of gift might, so you can take the best, most appetizing ones first if you want.

“That being said, I’m actually pretty bad with food gifts -- I remember this one time a friend of mine put honey in her coffee because I had brought it for her -- so if you don’t take any I won’t be offended or anything. But if you do, well, they’re here.”

Devin's face contorted at the mention of the fishsicles again, trying to figure out how she managed to bring those abysmal things back in one piece. Gulping and trying to look normal, they opened the door, meeting her gaze for a moment, before quickly looking aside. They took one of the fishsicles and nodded sheepishly.

"I, uh... heard, I just... didn't feel comfortable. I'm sorry. For everything." they lifted the fishsicle up, taking a nibble of it... Their form losing shape somewhat immediately, before they nodded. "It's a bit, uh... yeah, it's pretty dreadful. I do appreciate it, though." 

Devin laughed a bit, though it sounded slightly hollow. They wanted to meet her head on, person to person, but...

"I'm mostly asking cause I need time to kinda... Edit my deck a bit to prepare, you know? It's nice to have the time to think about it, if that's available."

“Mm… Well, usually we’ll have at least a week and a general idea of what we’re up against, but this time around it’s double blind,” Vega mused a bit, cocking her head then busting out a toothy grin, “Though, I suppose you’re not in this match, so it solved itself!”

The chatter continued on for a while as Vega moderated only when absolutely necessary, enjoying the camaraderie and ideas the team presented. After a while she clapped loudly. She ushered everyone out with well wishes, and giving them each a pat on the back as they left… And one she was alone, she closed the door, walking back to the center of the room. Taking a deep breath, she looked around, humming ever so softly as she closed her eyes.

-----

Saturday, February 22

A week came and went in no time. As the three duels prepared to begin, with information being supplied to the MC, Vega led Rosalia, Eve, and Kendra into the indoor arena, turning around and stretching her arms wide. The stands of the small stadium weren’t very full, with maybe about a third of the seats taken, with a turbo dueling track in the center of it. Within the oblong track, the center area was split in two, with a small portion towards the far end, separated for the standard duel, and a larger area reserved for action duels.

“Take a good look! I mean, there aren’t a ton of people here… But hey, this is about twice as much as a new team would normally get!” the coach froze in place, averting her eyes to the side as she muttered, “Wait is that because there’s two new teams…?”

Kendra's hand rubbed at her eye for a moment, a little sigh escaping her as she glanced towards Vega. Her brow raised for a moment, "Is... Is that a question or is that you remembering that there are two?"

“Yyyyyes?” Vega replied, sounding less than confident, a nervous grin on her face, “A-anyway! We’re gonna head up to the booths on either side of the arena. The others have already been given instructions to meet us there, if their duels wrap up early. Refreshments are provided, though, here in the minor leagues… It’s just water and some chips, but that’s better than nothing! And hey, there’s a TV for each match, so we can tune in as we need, plus comfy seating! Honestly, it’s not that bad, I swear!”

-----

As Falisha arrived at the track 15 minutes early, she would find a girl standing a good six inches taller than her stretching next to a scarlet duel runner, which seemed to have markings like a pair of wolf eyes towards the front. Her loud voice carried as she began to speak.

“Aha, you must be the shrimp I’m up against,” The girl’s teeth gleamed as she grinned, extending a hand out to Falisha. “Sorrel Laluv, pleased to meet ya. Seems you’re an early bird like I am!”

Falisha blinked a bit, “Wait, what do you mean? I thought I was on time? Do I need to come back later? Wait no Sorrel is the right name. Ah well, if I’m here early then hi I suppose!” She reaches her hand out and grips Sorrel’s tightly, “Falisha Outsword. It’s great to meet you as well. Shame I won’t see you that much once the duel starts though.”

“Course ya won’t! You’ll be seeing my dust,” Sorrel snickered as she shook their hands, before letting go, “‘Sides, I can’t let Honey down. This means a lot to her… I’m sure you’ve got some similar stuff going on, so let’s just try to have fun with it, ye?”

“I mean of course we’ll have fun with it, it’s a duel. We wouldn’t be gigantic nerds with decked out runners if we didn’t enjoy it.” She smirked and let go as well, resting her arm at her side, “Oh I’m sure my team cares more than they’re letting on, got a bit heated at the team meeting earlier after all.”

“Ayy, I’m not the only one who overshares,” The girl laughed as she headed back to her runner, picking up her crimson helmet and boarding it, “May the best one win, I always say! Good luck!”

“Nah I do too. Good luck to you as well. See ya at the starting line!” She gave a smirk before going to her own runner, a rather colorful white runner inset with gemstones as she picked up a white helmet with pink stripes running down the sides of the visor and over the top, placing it on as she got her duel runner to the starting line.

-----

After the remainder of the team settled in, and Daichi, Sai, and Falisha were ready to go, the lights for the stadium went out… Only for them to come back on, focusing on the three different arenas. Three screen setups lit up near the ceiling, with four screens on each. On them, the duelists and their names were shown, with Daichi and his opponent, Honey, shown on the first. The second depicted Falisha and Sorrel, while the third depicted Sai and Avery, with their team logos plastered before each of their names, albeit in a smaller font.

“Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone in-between, we have a special event for you today!” boomed a voice from the speakers set up all over, “A premiere duel for not one but TWO teams! Team Wilding is making their first appearance today, led by their captain, Action Duelist Honey Froswald! Some of you in the audience may recognize her as the younger sister of Major League Champion Elliot Dritte! Cam she live up!?”

“Ah, so that’s probably why…” Vega muttered a bit more, eyes glancing out over the arena as more seats seemed to be filled than earlier, taking up maybe half of the available seating now. “Still, that seems a bit harsh to burden her with, don’t you guys think?”

"Is it?" Evelyn asked. "That's usually how it is in the Japanese circuit at least. 'This aspiring new pro is the direct relative of chart-topping duelist Yamada Taro! Expectations are high!' That type of deal."

“If you say so,” The coach pouted a bit, crossing her arms and puffing her cheeks, “But still! It’s a lot, even for someone we hopefully beat! She shouldn’t have to live in her brother’s shadow.”

“Her opponent is Daichi Raimu from Team Genesis! Not much is known about them, but perhaps we’ll learn some today! Can he measure up to the sister of a champion!?”

“Yeeesh, they’re really piling it on,” Vega’s mouth turned downward, teeth bared, almost cartoonishly so, “That’s a lot of pressure on her AND Daichi now, not to… Well, actually, I think the other two can handle that sort of thing.”

“The other two matches are between Standard Duelists Avery Froswald and Sai Sashisematta, as well as Turbo Duelists Sorrel Laluv and Falisha Outsword! Good luck to all involved, and…”
 
The audience joined in the next line from the MC, causing the room to erupt with noise.

“3… 2… 1… Duel!”

-----

“...Elliot Dritte…”

Honey grit her teeth as she took her place in the arena. Always his name. Always how she was his sister. Always, always, always. He hadn’t helped her get here, so why should he get to reap any glory off of it? And for the minor leagues, no less! This was her grand stage to shine, not his, yet-

“Ladies and gentlemen!! If you would please turn your attention this way to the center field and you’ll see our illustrious challenger...miss Honey!” the voice boomed as the spotlights pointed at the Duelist on the field. But all but one suddenly left the Duelist in a swift fashion. “...and who comes to take the stage to meet this challenger? Why...none other than I… Ladies and gentlemen, the Moonlit Magician has arrived.”

Her opponent appeared with all the smoke and mirrors he could manage. Letting her breath go, she turned to the audience and waved with a soft smile, not letting him take all the glory.

“I’m Honey Froswald! I don’t have any special epithet, but I want to give everyone an entertaining experience, all the same!”

“3… 2… 1… Duel!”

As the duel began, the Action Field appeared: Action Field - Grand Adventure. The action cards scattered across a wide plain, with artificial sunlight, trees appearing every so often, with a treasure chest laying here or there in the rocks, the hills, or the roots. Looking around, Honey couldn’t help but think how ill-suited this was to her, but Daichi managed to tear her away from her thoughts.

“If you don’t mind, I believe I’ll take the first move.” Daichi drew his five cards and looked at them, nodding slowly. “I shall set the Pendulum Scale, using my Dragonpit and Dragonpulse Magicians!” Soon two magicians appeared at either side of Daichi before rising into the air above him, being surrounded by a pillar of light. “The scales of 1 and 8, meaning monsters Level 2 through 7 are fair game!”

Oafdragon appeared after that, and Daichi set a card. Watching the audience’s reaction, a good amount seemed enthralled by all of his showy behaviors… But the majority seemed to be unmoved. Were those the ones there for her brother? Or were they simply not amused? After all, he seemed to be doing fairly basic Action Duel things...

"Alas, it's the first turn and I cannot attack. So instead, I’ll set one card face down and relinquish my t-”

“Not so fast!” the small girl threw her hand out as Daichi attempted to change phases, placing a card onto her disk shortly after, “I activate the effect of my Ursarctic Micbilis from my hand! By tributing another Level 7 or higher monster from my hand or field during either player’s Main Phases, I can Special Summon it! I tribute Ursarctic Mictanus!”

As she did, a large brown grizzly bear appeared! Well, a mecha one did, with a tail and electrified gauntlets on its hand. Without opening its maw, it seemed to roar.

“I then activate its effect! It allows me to summon another Ursarctic monster from my hand! Come down, Megapolar!”

As she slammed the card onto the disk, an even larger bear mech appeared behind her. Its body shone with pristine white metal, a heavy, powered hammer in its hands as it took a stance, looking far more humanoid than the previous mech.

“When this one is summoned, I can destroy one spell or trap… and I choose your set card!”

“Well well, now that is an impressive start from you!” he said with a smile, immediately flipping his face-down up: Pendulum Area. It did indeed shatter in front of him, but in quite the beautiful display. “I suppose my bait of Pendulum Area worked. Well, if that’s the case...then I shall now relinquish my turn...provided you have no other interruptions. Now go on, let’s see what we can do to entertain the masses!”

“If you insist,” Honey giggled a little. She was still feeling the pressure, but… If he wasn’t, why should she let them get to her either? Maybe she could learn from him. “Then I’ll draw for turn! And then I’ll immediately conduct a unique summon! By subtracting the level of Micbilis from the level of Megapolar, I can summon a Synchro from my extra deck!”

The two bear-mech’s bodies seemed to fade away, leaving black stars where Micbilis stood, and bright green rings in place of Megapolar. As the rings and stars attempted to align, sounds of electrical interference could be heard, with the rings and stars fading away… Until only one green ring remained.

“Appear, Ursarctic Polari!”

From the one remaining ring, a small, robotic teddy bear rose from it, cooing as it made its appearance. Rainbow colored lights poured from circuitry on its body, until the very space around them began to… distort. The field began to fade away, only for what appeared to be the deck of a battleship to appear beneath both Honey and Daichi’s feet, raising out out of the ground! The sunny day soon turned to the cold night sky, with only stars and the ship to light the arena as they faced off.

“When I summon it, it brings my field spell, Ursarctic Big Dipper out!” As it appeared, every scattered Action Card seemed to fade away, new ones appearing scattered across the flight deck and space debris floating around, “And now, I have the advantage! I activate the effect of Megabilis in my hand! It can also summon itself like Micbilis did, but with Big Dipper, I can instead banish an Ursarctic from my grave! I banish Megapolar, and it appears! When it does, I banish Pendulum Area from your grave!”

The brown bear mech came down again, but more human this time. Its gauntlets had now extended into long claws, causing a quake as it swung them, banishing the card.

“Impressive, my dear. I’m thrilled to see where this goes!”

“Then you’ll love what comes next! I use Megabilis as a tuner, with Polari as the non-Tuner…” She motioned to them as their forms became green rings for Megabilis, and a single black star for Polari, “to summon!”

As a green ring tried to encircle the black star, both faded away with the same crackle as before, leaving seven green rings spinning in place, stacked atop one another. With a snap, the energy swelled inside of them, causing the rings to burst apart, revealing a black mech wielding a scythe inside!

“Ursarctic Grand Chariot! When it’s summoned, it destroys two cards you control… So I’ll destroy Dragonpit and Dragonpulse!”

The massive mech reared the scythe back as Honey hopped onto the mech’s shoulder before shooting forward, swinging the mech through the pendulums set as scales and shattering them, leaving Daichi with just one card in hand and Oafdragon. She watched as Daichi rushed towards an action card, instead motioning for Grand Chariot to swing the scythe! She hopped on board as it did, rocketing her towards Daichi, hitting the ground in a roll as she took the Action Spell from under his nose!

“Now, Grand Chariot! Destroy Oafdragon!”

As Daichi recovered from missing the grab, he shielded himself with his cape, only for his monster to be destroyed! His life fell to 3400 from the battle damage, as Honey walked back up beside her ace, panting. The crowd cheered for the display it saw, only a bit louder than Daichi earlier. Maybe she had just been in her head. But then…

“I’ll set one, then it’s your turn. Let’s see you beat that!”

Surprisingly, Daichi was applauding Honey right now, the sounds of him clapping could be heard. “Impressive display...truly! But, we magicians don’t go down as easily...not when we still have so much to display and dazzle our audiences with! I draw!!”

Honey smiled a bit as she watched him having fun despite such a big swing, preparing for her counterattack. Yes, they had to dazzle the audience, so she had to time it right!

All the while, each special summon had caused another light to appear up at the command center of the ship, whether Daichi noticed or not...

-----

Avery stared up at the speakers, a harsh scowl on his face. Honey had already been feeling the pressure for weeks ahead of this, and now they piled this onto her? She tried so hard, but all they ever saw was the sister of Elliot Dritte, ignoring her. The man clenched his fist as the countdown began.

“3… 2… 1… Duel!”

The large man let out a sigh of relief, a light on his disk indicating that he had the first turn. He looked at the pale boy across from him, who looked to stand just a few inches shorter than Avery, wondering where that shit-eating smirk of his came from. Without a word, he set a card from hand, following up with…

“I activate Melffy Hide-and-Seek. And then I end my turn.”

However, as his turn came to a close, a soft yip, a quiet purr, and a happy bark all came from his side of the board as he placed three cards from his hand onto the field in defense position.

“During my End Phase, each of my Melffy monsters can summon themselves from my hand. Now, it’s your go, Mr. Sashisematta.”

-----

“3… 2… 1… Duel!”

As soon as the MC spoke, Sorrel shot off like lightning, taking the first bend way before Falisha made it to it. Pumping her fist up into the air, she quickly flicked one finger straight up.

“Oi, all you f...people watching! I guarantee this duel’ll be over within four of my turns, no matter who I’m up against!” the red-head declared boldly, laughing, “I draw for turn! I set one monster, as well as two in the backrow, and I pass. You’re up, shrimp!”
 

"I once saw a Magmar help a Gorebyss make an alcove to protect its clutch. Isn't that incredible?!"

 

-Glimmer of Hope-

Diana's jaw dropped as the scores were revealed. Sure, she had put her all into it... But 5th place? That was more than she had ever dreamed of! She held her hands tight together in front of her face, eyes closed as the biggest grin spread across her face! 

"[I can't believe that someone with a Quirk like mine can...!]" She spoke excitedly in her native tongue, visibly shaking with excitement.

"Mm? What do you mean, a [Quirk like mine]?" Diana whipped around to see Shannon standing behind her, that same soft smile still plastered on her face, "Perhaps I am not one fit to judge, Ms. Seigi, but I do believe you give it your all. Especially given what I saw befo-"

"Shhh! Not so loud!" Diana looked around warily, even though Shannon had barely spoken above a whisper, "I told you, I don't... I don't want it to impact this. And I got fifth place somehow, so why would I want to ruin my chances now?"

"That is indeed fair," Shannon hummed, taking a step closer to Diana, "By the by, would you happen to have a partner yet?"

"[I-Ieh], I don't. Why do you ask?"

"From what I gather, I am led to assume you are the optimal partner for me, Ms. Seigi."

"E-eh!?" the taller girl recoiled, "I-I don't have high mobility, I'm not very impressive overall, and I'm probably the weakest person in my class... What could you possible want from me?"

"The weakest person?" Shannon cocked her head, the smile falling to a confused frown, "Ms. Seigi, I don't know your quirk. It is the one Quirk that Madame Orikami absolutely refused to tell me about. However, your strength of character is why I believe you to be my best choice. With the little I know of you, your heart is soft, but you are tenacious and determined. What better traits are there when it comes to a competition of maintaining and reclaiming your lead?"

Diana froze, staring at Shannon as the smile crept back onto the smaller girl's face. She had only had three interactions with this girl now, yet here she was... giving Diana such praise. Tears came to Diana's eyes, raising her left arm to wipe them away.

"But surely someone else offered? There has to be someone whose quirk matches up better, or who knows you better!"

"Mmm... Only one other girl, and I barely even recognized her. Ayako? Akane? Something like that." The dragon girl shook her head, "Besides, between you and me, Tai would be my next choice, and... Well, you will see soon enough." Shannon gave a mischievous little giggle, prompting Diana's eyebrow to raise, but the smaller girl did not continue on her point. "So, we will be big targets, but we will also be airborne. Out of the rest of the competitors here, I do not believe any of them can easily reach us in the air. You are more than fit to be a great hero, Ms. Seigi. Please, by my partner for this round, and shine brightly."

Shannon held out her right hand, palm slightly up as if to beckon. Maybe this wasn't the right choice. Diana felt as if she didn't belong here, much less teamed up with someone this highly ranked and impressive. But, even so...!

The dragon girl yelped in surprise at how forcefully Diana took her right hand in her own as she nodded, shaking hard as more tears welled up. With a small laugh, Shannon looked up. 

"I knew I was making the right choice. Now, let us begin discussing our strategy..."

"You have too many 'friends'." Kira muttered. She looked at both of them again, particularly "Koobaroo", but this time with slightly narrowed eyes as she slowly moved over towards Dora protectively.

"Hey, don't worry, I'm just here cause yer kid dragged me along," The shifter held their hands up as if they had just been order to drop their weapon, "Anyway, kiddo, you can have the extra fishsicle or give it to Kira. I'm good, trust me."

The shifter turned to leave before things got any more awkward, having not been prepared to really interact, only to be caught by Melissa.

“It was nice to meet you also, and sorry you ended up with some food you don’t particularly enjoy,” she said. “I hope we weren’t too much of a nuisance. I should get looking for my friends, though.”

"Uh, yeah. It was nice to meet you, too, Melissa. You should really avoid those fishsicles though," The shifter flashed her a grin with their eyes closed before beginning to walk off, not wanting to meet her gaze. She was alright, at least. That was what mattered, wasn't it? They were still a villain who shouldn't get involved with someone that could be hurt by their presence. They were so caught up in these thoughts, that they failed to even register what they had just done...

"Boys, boys, calm doooown," Vega waved at Daichi and Sai, wearing a dramatic pout on her face, "There's merit to both. You're right that trying to win is absolutely in the best interest of a competitive player... But making a show is what earns you fans and sponsors, more often than not. Primrose used to play a lot flashier, as I'm sure our little superfan brought up. It's only natural that he's a bit concerned. After all, she even changed her ace not long after entering the majors..."

The coach paused mid-sentence as something Falisha said caught her ear, prompting a raised eyebrow.

"I suppose we could make an educated guess, after all, most tournament decks get registered and are public knowledge afterwards. I'll probably go look it up later and see what Spell or Trap cards hang out in his deck." 

"Sssadly no. Decklists for teams are very rarely available, as the league found it largely too difficult and time consuming to track every single card. On top of that, it hampered players in some matchups, since it's a best of one format."

"I see... Though I really want to know what that face-down was... Do you know, Vega? After all, you're just as much part of this discussion even if you're doodling."

"Hey, the doodles are important!" Vega huffed a bit before continuing, "But... I don't know the exact card. Given the type of guy he is, it's likely it was Blazing Mirror Force, but he knew it wouldn't stop his Dingirsu in that situation. He could have reached for an action card, but he was too confident in whatever he set saving him, is what I'd wager."

"Please excuse my tardiness!" Eve said, swinging the door open and power-walking into the room, box of donuts in hand. "My phone wasn't plugged in and ran out of battery overnight, but I brought something to make up for the delay. It looks like you were talking about the latest championship, but what else did I miss?"

"You're fine, you're fine~" Vega smiled and picked up one of the plain, cream-filled donuts, free hand motioning to the screen to the side, "We were just watching them and discussing some points that came up. The footage is still going if you wanna watch it, but this is mostly free time now. So, if any of you have anything to ask me before your first official match... Now's the time, y'know?"

OP - USO

OOC

-----

"Aiwass activates! By equipping itself to Dingirsu, I gain control of it!"

At the duelist's command, the frame-like body of the angel seemed to shift, the eyes closing as the rest of its body opened up, almost unhinging. It then shot forward, clamping around the towering knight and steed, making it look as if it was in pain... Before Dingirsu walked over to the duelist who activated Aiwass and turned around, looking down on its original player.

"In addition, it gains 1000 ATK and DEF while equipped with Aiwass! Attack your master directly!"

The monster's massive lance was thrust forward, bearing down on the duelist before it. His hand moved to activate a set trap, before cursing loudly and standing up straight, the attack hitting him head on. With that hit, his life points fell to zero.

"Team Trinity wins yet another match! It may not have been a 2-0 this time, but the showing was still impressive, especially from Captain Primrose Goitea!"

As the monsters began to fade with the end of the duel, Primrose stood solemnly, staring at Otto across from her... And then the footage cut out.

-----

Saturday, February 15

"Aaand that was the most recent championship match." Vega clapped as the lights in the room came back on, the screen behind her silent but playing the footage of the duels once more. The team would find themselves sitting at a conference table, though it seemed it may just be two foldable white tables stuck together and covered with a tablecloth. There were some windows covered with blackout blinds along one wall, with a sink and some cabinets on the wall opposite it.

"Of course, you don't learn much from watching pros in this sort of sport as you do others, but... y'know, can't hurt!" She hummed happily as she walked to the side to a whiteboard, she began to scribble some general observations she had made about the duels the team had been made to watch. However, there were plenty of doodles of the @Ignister blobs on the whiteboard as well, with encouraging messages written to appear as if they were saying them. Turning around with a big grin on her face, she revealed that there were plenty of bullet points left to be filled. "If anyone wants to discuss what we watched, and what sort of strategies you got from it, let's go for it! But that's the only thing I'm forcing you to do for the day, so if you guys just wanna talk amongst yourselves, that's fine, too! Just be ready for our first match next week!"

Vega turned around to doodle Achichi @Ignister with a red dry erase marker, making sure it gave an approximation of a thumbs-up to the group behind her, before freezing.

"Though, uh... you guys really need to decide on a name before then. Team ____ isn't really gonna cut it, y'know?"

-----

OOC

As the shifter walked off in a huff, they noticed the rat-like man weaseling off, and wondered if they should follow after... But something else caught their eye as well, causing them to freeze up. There she was in the middle of the food court, the source... Well, no, the victim of the maelstrom. She looked a little lost alongside a... was that a Quagsire? Aduain was one thing, but a literal P*kem*n? Huh. Wonders never ceased here. 

“We were supposed to be getting fishsicles, right? We still need to look for those. They have to be here somewhere.”

The voice hit the shifter's attuned ears, causing their stomach to sink a bit. She seemed okay... Was she really okay? Other than looking for those things. No one looking for those had to be okay, if their taste test had anything to say about it. But... 

"Well, if yer looking for fishsicles, they're right over there," The hulking "Kyubaru" walked up to the duo, scratching their neck and trying not to make eye contact, "I don't know why anyone would want one, but... Y'know, different strokes for different folks, I guess. Er, sorry, guess ya don't want a random stranger butting in, even if it's helpful, haha. Name's Kyubaru. I consider myself something of a foodie, so I can tell ya what places ARE worth eating at."

Because of how everyone that seems to be applying has gotten their apps to a place they are comfortable with, I'm gonna proceed with the acceptance. Given the first four are the only applicants of their type...

Daichi Raimu @Chaos Sonic
Rosalia Marlowe @Faytl
Kendra Brooke @Kazooie
Sai Sashisematta @()

Now, I do want to add a note. I like the group we have together in the server, and it hurts to have to reject any of you. I'm not going to ask anyone to leave the group, because I like the banter as-is. I'm sorry that this isn't a setup that lends itself towards a larger cast.

Without further ado, I'll go over the two apps for each summon type.

Firstly, we have the two Synchro Duelists.

Falisha Outsword @PhoenixOfCute
Theodore McCallum @Zai

Both are turbo, so that's not a deciding factor. They're honestly both solid overall. Mel's could have been a bit longer, and Zai's could have been a bit shorter. However, given my differing levels of experience between the two of you, as well as one of the aspects of the characters... I'm going to have to go with Falisha. I like the idea of someone who has to play highlander by virtue of monetary cost, as well as the luck element that adds with the effects of the cards in question.

On top of that, I simply think she melds better with the cast, though I haven't read the interaction notes myself. I did not wish for them to influence my decision making.

Next up, the two Ritual Duelists.

Katherine Lee @FourEyesIsAFish
Evelyn Takao @yui

This one... was quite difficult. While Katherine is slotted as an Action Duelist, this is a thing we could work with and figure something out from. But, in the end... I had to go with Evelyn. I think the idea of an action duelist who can faint from intensisty is an awkward one, even though I think the character idea is great now, overall. This is so far beyond a simple improvement from Katherine 1.0, and it's a damn shame to turn this down. I'm sorry that I felt that I had to pick Evelyn over Katherine, but it was a difficult decision.

The RP will start on either July 28 OR July 29. Thank you to everyone who showed interest and applied, and I hope that even the unaccepted players stick around in chat. Again, I'm sorry that this doesn't allow for everyone.

So, small update, which I will add to the OP when I’m home.

This is going to be a 6 Player RP, with my character being a team manager. As such LINKS ARE ON THE TABLE.

will also promote it to OOC when I do

Back by... a degree of demand!

OP - USO

IC

In the not-so-distant future, Duel Monsters has continued to work towards its latest and greatest evolution! Each of the headlining events of the past, such as Action Duels, Turbo Duels, and maybe even Deck Masters are the headlining events of major tournaments for the world’s most popular sport, with duelists specializing in each! But the real stars are those who participate in Team Duels, matches that feature multiple types of duels at a time!

You are a member of a team in the Minor Circuit of the World Duel Monsters Organization. Formed by some students attending college in Seattle, WA, your group came together over a flier for a Duel Monsters team, open to anyone in their age group attending or otherwise, though it was never anything serious… Just some duels for fun here, there, wherever, particularly against groups from different colleges. That is, until you were approached by a manager who saw the talent your group exhibited, and offered you a chance to form a team. With the official team being newly formed, your first order of business will be to give your team a name. After that, it’s off to the races!

Where your journey into the world of Professional Dueling will take you is anyone’s guess… But what you do know is that a new path has opened before you.

Rules + General Info

Database

Application

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One last thing. This IS limited acceptance. I am looking for 6 RPers to make the team of 6. I know that sort of thing doesn't sit well with a lot of people, and I apologize, but the structure comes first in this situation.

And, as mentioned, only one player per summoning type, at the start.

 

The competition actually ended a bit earlier than the shifter had expected. It seemed like standard fare overall, though the D was a bit... gaudy, even by their standards. But whatever, free shitty food was free shitty food! Humming a little for their amusement, they moved to stand up, only to be caught off guard by froggy. Maybe they should have become a giant cat, instead...

"You cheated! No way you didn't feel that spice at all! This was rigged wasn't it?" The shifter smirked as the frog stood his ground, even against the suited man. He was freaking out, sure, but... "You did some sort of trick didn't you!?"

"Well, I gotta say... if you're freaking out this much, you probably need it more than me." The large man handed the D up to the frog, flashing a toothy grin. "So take it. I just joined cause I thought it sounded like a nice way to kill time, hahaha!"

The frog quivers and seems to be struggling to speak out of anger, finally speaking out with a series of barely connected words "You...I...better than me...do you? Laughing...big....cheating...gah!"

Suddenly, one of the froggy legs was headed right for the shifter... Who took it right to the face, staring straight forward at the frog, their expression now flat. Instead of feeling his foot hit flesh, the shifter's skin had taken a texture similar to rubber, absorbing the shock. With a sigh, the shifter stood up.

"I didn't cheat. If you using your tongue to scoop more burgers in isn't cheating, how is using my body?" with teeth grit, the shifter lifted the silver emblem up... and pushed it into their mouth, swallowing it whole with a visible gulp, "And I guess you don't need that after all."

With a grumble, the shifter turned away. This had been fun, but people like that ruined everything.

Unlike the others, the shifter took their time at first, observing the other two... small eyes, almost invisible to the naked eye, opening on either side of their face to watch. Slowly chewing their first burger, they saw the fat man begin to freak out and chug his water after pigging out, while the frog just shoveled it in and kept shooting looks that could kill. With that in mind, the shifter finished their first burger with a smirk, then slammed their head into the pile, eating through them like a ravenous animal.

To an onlooker, nothing would be out of the ordinary... But if the only issue was a hot sauce, then they just had to have their mouth nice and ready for it. In fact, it began to secrete acid within their cheeks, similar to stomach acid but a biiit more potent. Just enough to stave off the heat as they chowed down, only taking a single gulp from the water as another tray was placed in front of them. They ran their arm across their mouth dramatically, with a satisfied "ahhh", before digging in once again on the second tray, happy as a clam. The food wasn't exactly what they would have called good, but sometimes shitty food was nice, too. Though, they may have to take a break from burgers for a while...

Hero Queen

While the dragon girl had intended to take care of the ferris wheel, she noticed it coming to a halt, earning a bemused smile. Why, who else was strong enough to do that? Surely not Meguru, as he would have sent it flying the other way.

Shannon flew over to the area to inspect, only to suddenly giggle giddily from up above. There it was! Shoshiki had actually found a bit of heroic spirit inside, and managed to save the day! She always knew he had it in him, though the boy himself did not... But she was proud of him, all the same. Hopefully this symbolized a change for her compatriot. On top of that, Mayu seemed to have begun to assist him. With not much left to do there, Shannon smiled softly, looking around at the rest of the area. Even though she already had a count nearing 40, she probably should keep going. After all, the idea was that this emulated real life.

"Surely Mmmadame Orikami would not design a test that cares only about points. So, where to next?"

Finishing her scan and flapping her wings, Shannon shot down towards a small bridge that seemed to be collapsing. Swooping underneath it, she caught the bridge, holding up the middle of it as some pedestrian plushies sat atop of it, doing her best to rise up, with only a slight faltering in her smile. This was nothing. She was the hero, so this had to be easy to resolve.

CRACK

Shannon's head whipped to the east entrance of the bridge, seeing the concrete begin to fall down from it, underneath where she had seen some of the plushies. She grit her teeth, trying to power through and lift it faster, but she was just a little shy of achieving it, the pieces of the bridge dropping into the water below...!

"[Watashi ga kitaaa!]"

-----

After getting the clowns safely off of the train, Diana had felt bad enough to turn back and try to stop the ferris wheel, but it seemed that she was beaten to the punch. Not that she minded, she had no plan for how to take care of that thing. Instead, she headed off towards the residential district, grabbing the occasional plushy from a tree as she did. Normally, an area like that wouldn't have a lot of issues... Or so people though. Diana knew better.

Or, at least, she thought she did. The area seemed to mostly be fine, just a few more trees with plushies... And she didn't feel like she was racking up enough points from the ones she was saving, having only managed a grand total of 12 so far. She was sure they were a good ways in by now, but she couldn't find anything else. She just had to hope that if she pressed on...!

CRACK

From ahead, Diana heard the loud noise, seeing a bridge on the horizon, with plenty of plushies on it. Heading towards it as fast as she could, she didn't even question why it would make that noise without falling suddenly. She just had to make it there in time. What if this was real life? What if people were actually in danger? She couldn't stop and question things at a time like that! As she got close enough, she lowered herself to the ground just enough to prepare, seeing those pristine wings flapping from either side of the bridge below as she did.

"I'm here!"

Then she leapt. She grabbed the plushies in her arms, letting out a bit of air as she felt her body skid across the pavement... and off the other side, holding the "citizens" tight as she panted, not a scratch on them, earning a grin from the hero-in-training as she stood up, just a bit shakily.

As soon as the pedestrians were safe, Shannon dropped the bridge into the water below, panting for just a moment before composing herself. She flew over to the road and landed right next to Diana, looking over the plushies.

"My, I must say that I am quite impressed. You showed up right on time, and you also kept the civilians from being hurt. Though, I suppose I cannot say the same for you..." Shannon looked over at Diana, looking her up and down... finding one of the legs of her pants hiked up from the sliding. As the dragon girl looked all the way down, her eyes widened for a moment. "Wait, you-"

"[Don't!]" Diana snapped back, before catching herself and holding a hand over her mouth, "I... I'm sorry. But this is nothing. I can make it. I'm used to taking a beating, so I'll walk it right off!"

"... Well. You are certainly more impressive than I gave you credit for, Miss Seigi." Shannon smiled, but to Diana this one felt... warmer. Like it was a genuine smile. "I will be off then, if you are sure you do not need assistance. Good luck, and I hope to see you in the next round."

"You too!" Diana grinned, holding out her right hand to bump fists with the dumbfounded dragon girl, earning a small chuckle from the latter. But, in the end, Shannon obliged, bumping her fist against Diana's before she took off, flying back into the sky. Diana watched until she was gone, then knelt down to adjust her clothing. Shannon may have a different viewpoint from her, but... maybe that was just something she had to understand. She seemed to try her best, same as Diana, and that was all she could really hope for from a fellow hero.

 

To the shapeshifter's eye rolling chagrin, the man offered... basically nothing of worth. Empty platitudes. Promise to get in with Mauvache. Anything that he thought the shifter might want to hear. But it didn't really matter, anyway. Might as well go along for the ride. They couldn't be poisoned, they could weasel out of any bad situation... And more food was good, maybe it would be something unique!

Instead, the shifter found themselves sandwiched between biggie and smalls, waiting for it to begin as the jester figure rattled off. The fat one seemed mostly concerned not about the shifter, but about the frog on the other side... who just glared at the shifter, earning a cocked brow.

"... got a problem?" they asked the frog man, only to be cut off by the jester asking them to introduce themselves. Clearing their throat, they began. "I'm Kyubaru. I like food. Not much else to say, yeah? A guy asked me to fill in cause he saw me shoveling it in at the food court, and I'm really not sure why I'm here... but if there's food in it for me, I'm your person. And let me tell ya, I've got a stomach of steel."

The shifter almost laughed as their stomach literally turned into one made of steel. Sure, no one else could tell, but... y'know, entertaining yourself was a plus. So much so, they didn't realize that they had forgotten all about the horrors of the day before.

”Go! You only have half an hour!”

As one of the competitors kicked up a storm of blue starlings, Shannon watched with a smile. She gave her wings a small stretch to prepare for takeoff, only to be interrupted by one of her classmates.

”Hey, Almaz,” one of the students, a good deal taller than most of the rest, stretched his shoulders as the wave of birds flew toward them all. His arms and legs appeared to be bulky pistons, compressing as he bent forward into a half-crouch”Let’s see who gets more points, yeah?”

"I believe that is a a foregone conclusion, Dear Meguru" she spoke, only for the boy to run off before she finished, prompting a small, airy laugh. "He is always so excitable, isn't he, Dear Mayu?"

Radiant Sun

After a short exchange with the girl, Shannon spread her wings wide and flapped, blowing Hakaro's flames away in an instant as she shot forward! Sailing past the two boys heading to the burning building, she broke through its crumbling walls, flapping her wings to clear the smoke... and grabbing the half dozen plushies from the upper floors before flying back out, giving Meguru a wink.

"You are going to have to be faster than that, boys~"

-----

”Go! You only have half an hour!”

17 minutes ago, Thar said:

begone, hex scum

hey i may not be binary but i'm not hex either

i'm blake

Damn I see how it is

keeping me and radio out just because we aren’t binary

Can we edit the logo so that removing the purple parts turns it into loss

Wow the forum looks naked

and white

i have taught myself how to be a villain

If we must, we must. No point fussing about it.

Other things.

Status Bar seems to not have the ability to like or reply from front page anymore? Might be a Borx issue.

The plugin that turns img links into pictures is bsuted or gone. Not necessarily a bug, but relevant to bring up, I suppose.

Uneasy Heart

"Miss Orikami, [wait!]"

Diana sprinted down the hall, managing to catch up with the teacher at the stairwell. She placed her hands on her knees as she regained her breath before standing, looking at Orikami with confusion.

"Why did she do it!? Why would Tsubasa sell us out like that!?"

Orikami refused to meet the girl's gaze, "She claims it was merely for fun, that she didn't understand the consequences of her actions. The truth of this claim is being... explored."

"[For... fun?]" Diana muttered in English, clenching her fists as hard as she could, "But that doesn't make sense! What's fun about this!? She had to be protecting someone, Tsubasa isn't a bad person!"

"I suppose she was bored. Foolish. We have yet to see if she is malicious, but don't expect the HPSC to go easy on her."

"I can't acc-"

"Cannot what? Accept it? Surely you are not as foolish as that girl was."

Diana turned to look up the stairway, seeing a girl much smaller than herself daintily descending them, leathery wings neatly tucked behind her. She wore a smile on her face, though to Diana it looked empty. As the girl brushed some of her glimmering, gem-like hair away, she continued.

"She spit on her role as a hero. A chosen one. A savior of society. There are many people in this world who are malicious by their very nature, so is it really such a shock that someone did this for fun?"

"Not now, Shannon. This isn't your place to speak. Miss Seigi knew her as a comrade. You only ever saw her back in the entrance exam."

"Apologies, Madame Orikami," the girl named Shannon with one arm under her front and the other at the side, "But I believe that this is something she can learn from. Miss Seigi, was it? I'm certain that you genuinely wish to defend your classmate, but you also must consider... She got your other classmate hurt. Still, she continued to be a source of information. Does that sound like the actions of a good person? Of a hero?"

"I... I guess not, but I-"

"Why is there a 'but', then?" Shannon glanced at her contemporary, still wearing that empty smile. "Why focus on a failure of a hero, someone who threw away her role as the chosen savior of society for 'fun'? After all, not everyone is chosen in the first place. It is a blessing we all received, would you not agree? Besides, I highly doubt she is the only one in your cla-"

"Shannon. It's time for us to leave."

"Y-yes," the dragon girl faltered before Diana's eyes for the first time, "Of course, Madame Orikami. Well, Miss Seigi, I look forward to seeing you in the future. I hope you have overcome this hurdle by the time I meet you again."

-----

It had been two weeks since her encounter with Shannon, but even so... The things that the girl had said bothered her. What if she was right? What if Tsubasa really was just a malicious person out to hurt them for fun? It wasn't like Diana hadn't met those kinds of people before... But was Tsubasa truly one of them? After her recommendation? And who else could Shannon have been referring to in their class? The only other person she should have even met would have been... 

"He could have killed us if he was a villain barging into the room like that with us being off-guard...."

Diana was caught off guard by the clone's voice, more than anything else. It was odd for Takehiko to be scared of a hero, wasn't it? Well... maybe not, all things considered.

 "Er.... my apologies... But yeah, like Ayane says we need to try and stay on the positive end of things, even if my thoughts don't match what I say. We need to get strong enough to pose a significant threat ourselves to being attacked if we're to remain students here."

With a sigh, Diana forced a small smile onto her face. A bit shaky, but genuine. Shannon could very well have been correct, but look at what doubt did to her in this moment. Suspecting each of her beloved classmates surely wouldn't help, especially with the numbers having begun to fall. No, the others were right.

"[Let's goooo]!" Diana grinned and thrust her dominant fist into the air, grinning as she did. "Come on, [meenah], this was bad, but... we should still try our best, right? Sitting here and moping won't help much, so let's get fired up instead! And the sports festival is gonna be way better for that than just a workout!"

I’m interested, duh.

https://you.visualdna.com/quiz/whoami#!/quiz

Instead of having more likely or less likely, you have pictures that you choose based on your opinion and how you would feel in given situations! It's always fun to do this sort of thing, too.